There are a lot of different ways to build it, but regardless of which way you go, Soulflayer is legit and I'd love to hear from others who are playing it.
Greetings all,
I've recently started playing this deck after playing Eldrazi Tron for over a year. And, I have to say, while I miss some of the raw power of E-Tron, I really like how much faster this deck is, especially against the current meta. Over the last few weeks, my win % is over 70%, though I think some of that is variance and some due to how unfamiliar the deck can be.
One question though, why Gut Shot, specifically, in the SB? I can think of plenty of scenarios, but so far I haven't been in a situation where one more point of damage here or there would've made a big difference. Your experience is appreciated.
I agree with the last post in that you absolutely need Metallic Mimic and Vanquisher's Banner. If they're allowed to stick around for long, things quickly get out of hand.
SBMtG put out a deck tech recently and after playing the deck a half dozen or so times this weekend, I can say it does need fine tuning, but it also has a lot of potential and is a ton of fun to play: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoleArdqkXU
I strayed a bit from this list so I could include additional late game answers/finishers in the form of Vraska and Scarab God. But I like the addition of black so you can also bring in others like Hostage Taker and Kitesail Freebooter.
Finished 2-2 last night at a large-ish standard showdown.
Sadly, faced Ramunap Red in three of the 4 matches, finishing 1-2 in those, one of which went to turns, all three were tight matches that could've gone either way.
Lessons learned in the Ramunap matchup:
1. Being on the play AND having a turn one play like Siren Stormtamer is huge. I'm definitely glad I'm playing 4.
2. Getting to 5 mana for Scarab God before they get Hazoret, Chandra, or Glorybring out pretty much decided the games I won. Needless-to-say, it's a race.
3. As others have said, Champion of Wits is underwhelming early game. But, AMAZING as a target for Scarab God. Though, by that point, she's ensuring late-game inevitability.
4. This deck has a bit of an advantage, at least locally, in that many haven't played it much if at all. Example, more than one opponent misplayed by targeting one of my other creatures while I had a Stormtamer out. I don't expect that to last...
5. This deck is SUPER fun to play. Tons of options, tons of outs, tons of decisions.
Just wanted to share something I recently learned...
I have, thus far, been operating under the misguided assumption that Kitesail Freebooter and Hostage Taker both function the same way that Tidehollow Sculler does; namely, that if they're destroyed or otherwise removed while their ETB trigger is still on the stack, whatever they target is exiled permanently. It's not.
Here are the relevant rulings from Gatherer:
Tidehollow Sculler: "If Tidehollow Sculler leaves the battlefield before its first ability has resolved, its second ability will trigger. This ability will do nothing when it resolves. Then its first ability will resolve and exile the chosen card forever."
Kitesail Freebooter: "If Kitesail Freebooter leaves the battlefield before its enters-the-battlefield ability resolves, the opponent will reveal his or her hand, but no card will be exiled."
Hostage Taker: "If Hostage Taker leaves the battlefield before its triggered ability resolves, the target permanent won’t be exiled."
I'm now guessing that Sculler works the way it does because they're two separate abilities?
Several of the options that others have mentioned are great.
I've been doing some proxy testing and really like the frequency with which I can have Ranging Raptors and a Ripjaw Raptor out by turn 3, attack turn 4 and possibly kill opponent's weenies (triggering Enrage), pass, end of their turn, play Fiery Cannonade killing whatever they just played to recover, or Dual Shot, both of which trigger Enrage yet again. Ramp + card advantage. Rinse and repeat.
Triggering Enrage at least twice, often 3 times, in a game on each of those two is turning out to be easier than I expected.
Also, though Walking Ballista is a great card, and can be a great mana sink in the late game and maybe a SB include because of it, not having to rely as heavily on it and instead using budget-friendly burn spells will make things more affordable since Ripjaw Raptor looks poised to surpass Ballista in price.
Several of the options that others have mentioned are great.
I've been doing some proxy testing and really like the frequency with which I can have Ranging Raptors and a Ripjaw Raptor out by turn 3, attack turn 4 and possibly kill opponent's weenies (triggering Enrage), pass, end of their turn, play Fiery Cannonade killing whatever they just played to recover, or Dual Shot, both of which trigger Enrage yet again. Ramp + card advantage. Rinse and repeat.
Triggering Enrage at least twice, often 3 times, in a game on each of those two is turning out to be easier than I expected.
Also, though Walking Ballista is a great card, and can be a great mana sink in the late game and maybe a SB include because of it, not having to rely as heavily on it and instead using budget-friendly burn spells will make things more affordable since Ripjaw Raptor looks poised to surpass Ballista in price.
Several of the options that others have mentioned are great.
I've been doing some proxy testing and really like the frequency with which I can have Ranging Raptors and a Ripjaw Raptor out by turn 3, attach and possibly kill opponent's weenies (triggering Enrage), pass, end of their turn, play Fiery Cannonade killing whatever they just played to recover, or Dual Shot, both of which trigger Enrage yet again.
Triggering Enrage at least twice in a game on each of those two is turning out to be pretty easy and nets me 4 cards, at least two of which are lands. And building from that into say, a Raging Swordtooth on the next turn is pretty much insurmountable in most cases.
I must admit, I disagree with the OP and with all of you who are saying that the advantage to the player playing first is a 'problem to be solved'.
As has been pointed out, in tournaments, the advantage of going first actually evens out over multiple rounds.
On a game by game basis, the person who plays first has an advantage. Obviously. And, that's not a bug, it's a feature. Most games and sports are like this and it doesn't make them any more or less 'fair'.
One of the great things about Magic is that it's so flexible that you can actually adjust your play style (within the confines of your opening 8) based on play order. Or to put it in more concrete terms, if play order really were a huge issue, I think we'd be seeing more decks with Simian Spirit Guides and Gemstone Caverns for turn 0 shenanigans.
Another great thing about this game, and something I've loved since I started playing 24 years ago, is that it's as much as about skill as it is about luck. The comparison with Chess is apt, but so is the comparison with Poker. You have to do the best you can with the hand you draw.
If you take away the element of chance that the roll of the dice is a part of (and the choice of play/draw), you fundamentally change this game, in my opinion, for the worse because you remove some of that chance element.
Bellowing Aegisaur + Walking Ballista does seem like a great way to buff up an army before going in for the kill or even to protect against certain sweepers.
However, I don't think Ballista to ping any other dinos for the Enrage trigger is really gonna get the payoff we want.
I think to really take advantage of Enrage, you want multiple triggers each time. So something like Dual Shot on your opponent's end step targeting Ranging Raptors and Ripjaw Raptors is the better option. You get ramp and card advantage.
Yes, they're big. They're also expensive. They're unwieldy (so far) in 3 or more colors. They don't really seem to play well with other creatures, including other dinosaurs (which seems to be very much on theme for dinosaurs).
From what we've seen of Ixalan so far, I think we're intended to play them alongside humans. If we do, we're not REALLY creating a tribal dinosaurs deck then, are we?
But I think Enrage is the thing that will set dinosaurs apart from other tribes.
What I'm hoping we see among the as-yet unspoiled cards is something to really allow us to exploit this ability to it's fullest.
Something that we could do at instant speed, on our opponent's end step for example, that with the right creatures in play allows us to search up a land, draw a card, give all dinos +1/+1, would be ideal.
An example would be a card like Seismic Shudder. Dual Shot might be the closest thing we have so far. But, basically, I'm looking for a card that says, "Enrage all dinosaurs you control." Knowing full well that that doesn't actually mean anything... yet.
Solemnity and Chronozoa is just too nasty for my playgroup. Everybody'll go insane if I play this.
You can dial the power level to whatever is appropriate. It all comes down to how "fair" of a sac outlet you plan to use.
Solemnity is the switch that turns this deck on, in my opinion. You can choose to build something degenerate or you can choose to let everybody else play Magic.
I've been testing this combo out in an Esper shell using artifacts as my sac outlet (mostly to avoid going 4C).
So far, I've tried Claws of Gix, Blasting Station, and Spawning Pit. They each have advantages and disadvantages, but Claws is probably the least degenerate. But, honestly, event though Blasting Station is slower, it sure is fun simultaneously blowing stuff up while my army gets bigger.
Here's the budget list I've been running so far with pretty good results: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/2426365#paper
If you're interested in seeing the deck in action here are a couple options:
Here's Ross Meriam mopping up the floor and learning the deck simultaneously: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQYRWTgG8zs
And here's the video Magic Aids posted within a couple days of the new format being announced: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCx7i7m6NRU&t=356s
I've recently started playing this deck after playing Eldrazi Tron for over a year. And, I have to say, while I miss some of the raw power of E-Tron, I really like how much faster this deck is, especially against the current meta. Over the last few weeks, my win % is over 70%, though I think some of that is variance and some due to how unfamiliar the deck can be.
One question though, why Gut Shot, specifically, in the SB? I can think of plenty of scenarios, but so far I haven't been in a situation where one more point of damage here or there would've made a big difference. Your experience is appreciated.
Cheers!
Thanks for putting this together.
One thing I noticed you could add is Solemnity. It combos nicely with TONS of stuff. Blasting station, persist creatures, undying creatures, etc.
SBMtG put out a deck tech recently and after playing the deck a half dozen or so times this weekend, I can say it does need fine tuning, but it also has a lot of potential and is a ton of fun to play:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoleArdqkXU
I strayed a bit from this list so I could include additional late game answers/finishers in the form of Vraska and Scarab God. But I like the addition of black so you can also bring in others like Hostage Taker and Kitesail Freebooter.
I'm guessing that means I'm not the only one who's learned the hard way that this deck isn't as competitive as we would've liked?
Sadly, faced Ramunap Red in three of the 4 matches, finishing 1-2 in those, one of which went to turns, all three were tight matches that could've gone either way.
Lessons learned in the Ramunap matchup:
1. Being on the play AND having a turn one play like Siren Stormtamer is huge. I'm definitely glad I'm playing 4.
2. Getting to 5 mana for Scarab God before they get Hazoret, Chandra, or Glorybring out pretty much decided the games I won. Needless-to-say, it's a race.
3. As others have said, Champion of Wits is underwhelming early game. But, AMAZING as a target for Scarab God. Though, by that point, she's ensuring late-game inevitability.
4. This deck has a bit of an advantage, at least locally, in that many haven't played it much if at all. Example, more than one opponent misplayed by targeting one of my other creatures while I had a Stormtamer out. I don't expect that to last...
5. This deck is SUPER fun to play. Tons of options, tons of outs, tons of decisions.
I have, thus far, been operating under the misguided assumption that Kitesail Freebooter and Hostage Taker both function the same way that Tidehollow Sculler does; namely, that if they're destroyed or otherwise removed while their ETB trigger is still on the stack, whatever they target is exiled permanently. It's not.
Here are the relevant rulings from Gatherer:
Tidehollow Sculler: "If Tidehollow Sculler leaves the battlefield before its first ability has resolved, its second ability will trigger. This ability will do nothing when it resolves. Then its first ability will resolve and exile the chosen card forever."
Kitesail Freebooter: "If Kitesail Freebooter leaves the battlefield before its enters-the-battlefield ability resolves, the opponent will reveal his or her hand, but no card will be exiled."
Hostage Taker: "If Hostage Taker leaves the battlefield before its triggered ability resolves, the target permanent won’t be exiled."
I'm now guessing that Sculler works the way it does because they're two separate abilities?
Can anyone confirm that?
I also like the idea of pairing it with Tocatli Honor Guard, Kinjalli's Sunwing and other 'Death & Taxes' type hose cards that slow the opponent down.
In other words, I think there's a viable prison deck somewhere in the new Standard. And, 2 or so sideboard copies of Solemnity may have a home there.
I've been doing some proxy testing and really like the frequency with which I can have Ranging Raptors and a Ripjaw Raptor out by turn 3, attack turn 4 and possibly kill opponent's weenies (triggering Enrage), pass, end of their turn, play Fiery Cannonade killing whatever they just played to recover, or Dual Shot, both of which trigger Enrage yet again. Ramp + card advantage. Rinse and repeat.
Triggering Enrage at least twice, often 3 times, in a game on each of those two is turning out to be easier than I expected.
Also, though Walking Ballista is a great card, and can be a great mana sink in the late game and maybe a SB include because of it, not having to rely as heavily on it and instead using budget-friendly burn spells will make things more affordable since Ripjaw Raptor looks poised to surpass Ballista in price.
I've been doing some proxy testing and really like the frequency with which I can have Ranging Raptors and a Ripjaw Raptor out by turn 3, attack turn 4 and possibly kill opponent's weenies (triggering Enrage), pass, end of their turn, play Fiery Cannonade killing whatever they just played to recover, or Dual Shot, both of which trigger Enrage yet again. Ramp + card advantage. Rinse and repeat.
Triggering Enrage at least twice, often 3 times, in a game on each of those two is turning out to be easier than I expected.
Also, though Walking Ballista is a great card, and can be a great mana sink in the late game and maybe a SB include because of it, not having to rely as heavily on it and instead using budget-friendly burn spells will make things more affordable since Ripjaw Raptor looks poised to surpass Ballista in price.
I've been doing some proxy testing and really like the frequency with which I can have Ranging Raptors and a Ripjaw Raptor out by turn 3, attach and possibly kill opponent's weenies (triggering Enrage), pass, end of their turn, play Fiery Cannonade killing whatever they just played to recover, or Dual Shot, both of which trigger Enrage yet again.
Triggering Enrage at least twice in a game on each of those two is turning out to be pretty easy and nets me 4 cards, at least two of which are lands. And building from that into say, a Raging Swordtooth on the next turn is pretty much insurmountable in most cases.
As has been pointed out, in tournaments, the advantage of going first actually evens out over multiple rounds.
On a game by game basis, the person who plays first has an advantage. Obviously. And, that's not a bug, it's a feature. Most games and sports are like this and it doesn't make them any more or less 'fair'.
One of the great things about Magic is that it's so flexible that you can actually adjust your play style (within the confines of your opening 8) based on play order. Or to put it in more concrete terms, if play order really were a huge issue, I think we'd be seeing more decks with Simian Spirit Guides and Gemstone Caverns for turn 0 shenanigans.
Another great thing about this game, and something I've loved since I started playing 24 years ago, is that it's as much as about skill as it is about luck. The comparison with Chess is apt, but so is the comparison with Poker. You have to do the best you can with the hand you draw.
If you take away the element of chance that the roll of the dice is a part of (and the choice of play/draw), you fundamentally change this game, in my opinion, for the worse because you remove some of that chance element.
However, I don't think Ballista to ping any other dinos for the Enrage trigger is really gonna get the payoff we want.
I think to really take advantage of Enrage, you want multiple triggers each time. So something like Dual Shot on your opponent's end step targeting Ranging Raptors and Ripjaw Raptors is the better option. You get ramp and card advantage.
Yes, they're big. They're also expensive. They're unwieldy (so far) in 3 or more colors. They don't really seem to play well with other creatures, including other dinosaurs (which seems to be very much on theme for dinosaurs).
From what we've seen of Ixalan so far, I think we're intended to play them alongside humans. If we do, we're not REALLY creating a tribal dinosaurs deck then, are we?
But I think Enrage is the thing that will set dinosaurs apart from other tribes.
What I'm hoping we see among the as-yet unspoiled cards is something to really allow us to exploit this ability to it's fullest.
Something that we could do at instant speed, on our opponent's end step for example, that with the right creatures in play allows us to search up a land, draw a card, give all dinos +1/+1, would be ideal.
An example would be a card like Seismic Shudder. Dual Shot might be the closest thing we have so far. But, basically, I'm looking for a card that says, "Enrage all dinosaurs you control." Knowing full well that that doesn't actually mean anything... yet.
I've been testing this combo out in an Esper shell using artifacts as my sac outlet (mostly to avoid going 4C).
So far, I've tried Claws of Gix, Blasting Station, and Spawning Pit. They each have advantages and disadvantages, but Claws is probably the least degenerate. But, honestly, event though Blasting Station is slower, it sure is fun simultaneously blowing stuff up while my army gets bigger.