Keeping singles under $3 would be nice. I would make some budget room for some pricier cards if they are completely bonkers for this deck. One card I'm pondering is Skullbriar, the Walking Grave.
Militia's Pride gives you creatures on demand to put counters on for W.
Mobilization has been worth it just to give Anafenza Vigilance (not to mention all the other solders and soldier tokens that go well in this deck).
I've also been really liking Dimir Machinations, but I'm sure it's great in any black deck. It's an ok tutor, and also pretty great if you play it when your opponent is beginning to stall to exile anything good coming up and make their next draw worthless.
So this is a kind of a first draft, but it's been testing better than I expected. Most cards in here are dirt cheap. I don't think any of them are over $3 except for Inkmoth Nexus, but I had one laying around and felt like it goes pretty well in here.
Anafenza seems like a really good general this far. She has some neat little interactions. Cards that were surprisingly great were Mobilization, Gyre Sage, Militia's Pride, Champion of Lambholt, and Slith Bloodletter. Not surprisingly: Sheild of the Oversoul and Spirit Mantle were awesome. All the cheap equipments worked out great too. I might trim that down a bit though. The mana base is a little shaky, but I didn't run into any major mana problems so far. I need your standard tricolor mana package for sure, but I'm going to try to go the cheap route with tap lands.
I'd be interested to hear people's thoughts on what could improve this deck without breaking the bank. I'm trying to keep it fairly tightly budgeted with maybe a few exceptions. No singles over 5-ish bucks though. The only cards I think I MUST include that I don't have are Mikaeus, the Lunarch, Vault of the Archangel, aura shards, and Martial Coup.
So instead of just shoving every dang infect creature into a deck I decide to use a lot of them but also be a little more funbox/tinkery too. By "budget" I mean I don't want to spend much more money on this while I'm making it better. Also, this is a MOSTLY 1v1 deck. Doing two things ultra well is not easy, but I'm hoping to make it do multiplayer and 1v1 fairly well.
I know the arguments against using poison and getting "hated out" for it. I made this deck to evangelize people into realizing that infect is no worse than a fairly decent combo EDH deck and it's nearly impossible to win infect in a 4+ player game.
I divided the concept up into 6 categories:
infect (the whole point)
Clone (to copy infect creatures or really nasty opponent's creatures)
Elude/pump (unblockable, flying, pumps)
utility/mana (land gets, sol ring, draw cards, mill for mimeoplasm, etc.)
tutor - (I like the transmutes. They've been quite great in this deck)
control/removal (sleep, BSZ, Disk, Cyclonic Rift, etc).
I'm iffy about Torpor Orb. I have 5 creatures it will shut down, but the potential drawback might be worth the amount it hoses other decks. I think an infect deck is way less ETB-effect heavy than a lot of other decks. I also am considering putting in phage the untouchable to make it more silly so I can bury phage and mimeplasm or dimir doppleganger her.
If he sacs a creature with vish kal, blood arbiter , and i respond by playing polymorphist's jest do I have to sac my creatures or does polymorphist's jest work before that happens?
Can someone point me to an EDH-centric discussion about this? If it doesn't exist (but I'm sure it does) allow me to begin...
It seems to me like Avacyn vs. Avacyn = a really boring game that takes forever. I feel like there are quite a few matchups that would create a really "gridlocky" gamestate.
I just ordered oona's blackguard, abazan falconer, putrefy, and smother.
I'm considering Fleecemane Lion and Precinct Captain.
also on my radar currently:
Keeping singles under $3 would be nice. I would make some budget room for some pricier cards if they are completely bonkers for this deck. One card I'm pondering is Skullbriar, the Walking Grave.
Dragonlord Atarka or Bogardan Hellkite
Atarka, costs one less and has trample.
Hellkite can damage players.
Flash is only mildly relevant in Mayael.
Yes! my first thought was "I haven't seen anything exciting for my mayael deck in a while, but this dragonlord dromoka is definitely fits the bill."
If it's Curse of Predation, I just ordered one!
Militia's Pride gives you creatures on demand to put counters on for W.
Mobilization has been worth it just to give Anafenza Vigilance (not to mention all the other solders and soldier tokens that go well in this deck).
I've also been really liking Dimir Machinations, but I'm sure it's great in any black deck. It's an ok tutor, and also pretty great if you play it when your opponent is beginning to stall to exile anything good coming up and make their next draw worthless.
Anafenza, the Foremost
1 Ring of Kalonia
1 Behemoth Sledge
1 Loxodon Warhammer
1 snake umbra
1 Trailblazer's boots
1 Swiftfoot boots
1 Spirit Mantle
1 Felidar Umbra
1 Shield of the Oversoul
1 Mobilization
interactive:
1 Slith Bloodletter
1 Champion of Lambholt
1 Militia's Pride
1 Gyre Sage
1 vampire nighthawk
1 Dismember
1 Sundering Growth
1 Best within
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Unmake
1 Black Sun's Zenith
Ramp:
1 wood elves
1 farhaven elf
1 Dawntreader elk
Draw/tutor:
1 Mentor of the meek
1 Fauna Shaman
1 Green sun's zenith
1 Dimir Mechinations
1 Avoid Fate
Land:
1 Rupture Spire
1 Graypelt Refuge
1 Vivid Marsh
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Sandsteppe Citadel
1 Gavony Township
1 Inkmoth Nexus
3 forest
3 plains
4 swamp
Anafenza seems like a really good general this far. She has some neat little interactions. Cards that were surprisingly great were Mobilization, Gyre Sage, Militia's Pride, Champion of Lambholt, and Slith Bloodletter. Not surprisingly: Sheild of the Oversoul and Spirit Mantle were awesome. All the cheap equipments worked out great too. I might trim that down a bit though. The mana base is a little shaky, but I didn't run into any major mana problems so far. I need your standard tricolor mana package for sure, but I'm going to try to go the cheap route with tap lands.
I'd be interested to hear people's thoughts on what could improve this deck without breaking the bank. I'm trying to keep it fairly tightly budgeted with maybe a few exceptions. No singles over 5-ish bucks though. The only cards I think I MUST include that I don't have are Mikaeus, the Lunarch, Vault of the Archangel, aura shards, and Martial Coup.
other ideas:
I'm not sure how removal/sweep heavy I should be in this format but I just ordered a Forced March, Planar Collapse, ratchet bomb, Putrefy, and Smother... just in case.
Apparently ghostway has spiked in price. I got one when they were $2. go me!
wouldn't it have to say:
"Search for your library for a Demon or Demons creature"
?????
(I am building a shadowborn themed EDH deck)
So instead of just shoving every dang infect creature into a deck I decide to use a lot of them but also be a little more funbox/tinkery too. By "budget" I mean I don't want to spend much more money on this while I'm making it better. Also, this is a MOSTLY 1v1 deck. Doing two things ultra well is not easy, but I'm hoping to make it do multiplayer and 1v1 fairly well.
I know the arguments against using poison and getting "hated out" for it. I made this deck to evangelize people into realizing that infect is no worse than a fairly decent combo EDH deck and it's nearly impossible to win infect in a 4+ player game.
I divided the concept up into 6 categories:
infect (the whole point)
Clone (to copy infect creatures or really nasty opponent's creatures)
Elude/pump (unblockable, flying, pumps)
utility/mana (land gets, sol ring, draw cards, mill for mimeoplasm, etc.)
tutor - (I like the transmutes. They've been quite great in this deck)
control/removal (sleep, BSZ, Disk, Cyclonic Rift, etc).
Infect:
1 Corpse Cur
1 Glistener Elf
1 Viral Drake
1 Ichor Rats
1 Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
1 Flesh-Eater Imp
1 Phyrexian Crusader
1 Putrefax
1 Blighted Agent
1 Whispering Specter
1 Blackcleave Goblin
1 Blight Mamba
1 Plague Stinger
1 Phyrexian Swarmlord
Noncreature infect:
1 Corrupted Conscience
1 Contagion Engine
1 Decimator Web
Clone:
1 Dimir Doppelgänger
1 Rite of Replication
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Progenitor Mimic
Elude/Pump:
1 Hatred
1 Archetype of Imagination
1 Rancor
1 Wonder
1 Sleep
1 Glaring Spotlight
1 Dragon throne of Tarkir
1 Thassa, God of the Sea
1 Writ of Passage
1 Garruk Wildspeaker
1 Empyrial Plate
1 Increasing Savagery
1 Farhaven Elf
1 Sol Ring
1 Harrow
1 Bident of Thassa
1 Mimic Vat
1 Edric, Spymaster of Trest
1 Thrummingbird
1 Prophet of Kruphix
1 Rhystic Study
1 Mind Grind
1 Torpor Orb
Tutors:
1 Shred Memory
1 Ethereal Usher
1 Dimir Machinations
1 Dimir House Guard
1 Fauna Shaman
1 Hibernation's End
1 Trinket Mage
1 Buried Alive
Control/Removal:
1 Dosan the Falling Leaf
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Nevinyrral's Disk
1 Wickerbough Elder
1 Dismember
1 Black Sun's Zenith
1 Life's Finale
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Devastation Tide
1 Polymorphist's Jest
1 Spell Crumple
1 Faerie Trickery
1 Inkmoth Nexus
1 Tolaria West
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Grim Backwoods
1 Rogue's Passage
1 Cathedral of War
1 Alchemist's Refuge
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Magosi, the Waterveil
1 Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
1 Buried Ruin
1 Temple of the False God
1 Tainted Isle
1 Tainted Wood
1 Vivid Marsh
1 Vivid Creek
1 Dimir Guildgate
1 Thornwood Falls
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Lonely Sandbar
1 Barren Moor
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Golgari Rot Farm
1 Simic Growth Chamber
1 Dimir Aqueduct
3 Forest
3 Swamp
2 Island
I'm iffy about Torpor Orb. I have 5 creatures it will shut down, but the potential drawback might be worth the amount it hoses other decks. I think an infect deck is way less ETB-effect heavy than a lot of other decks. I also am considering putting in phage the untouchable to make it more silly so I can bury phage and mimeplasm or dimir doppleganger her.
Maybe board (of cards I already own):
Maybe buy list:
1 Halimar Depths
1 Thespian's Stage
1 Equilibrium
1 Spin into Myth
1 Reality Shift
1 Skyshaper
1 Midnight Banshee
1 Perplex
1 Crumbling Ashes
1 Lim-Dûl's Vault
1 Snake Cult Initiation
1 Quicksilver Gargantuan
1 Death's Shadow
1 Evil Twin
1 Trigon of Infestation
1 Shadow Rift
1 In Garruk's Wake
1 Blowfly Infestation
1 Nim Deathmantle
1 Aqueous Form
1 Phyrexian Splicer
1 Reality Strobe
1 Haunted Fengraf
1 Dauthi Trapper
1 Dauthi Embrace
Expensive, but possibly worth it if they make things super bonkers:
vish kal, blood arbiter
butcher of malakir
If he sacs a creature with vish kal, blood arbiter , and i respond by playing polymorphist's jest do I have to sac my creatures or does polymorphist's jest work before that happens?
It seems to me like Avacyn vs. Avacyn = a really boring game that takes forever. I feel like there are quite a few matchups that would create a really "gridlocky" gamestate.
rogue's passage ?
I feel like I'd rather have edric, spymaster of trest than Cold-eyed Selkie, but maybe you're hoping to pump selkie?
I also kinda like the idea of maybe doing more counters than pumps to support Vorel of the Hull Clade, but that might be way too slow... idk.
I also think about
Thrummingbird - I think I just have a soft spot for that card.
I've had good luck casting Carrion Call at their EOT.
Are all these ideas just way too slow? Is that why much of it isn't in your build?
and for that matter...
Plaxcaster Frogling or Novijen Sages ?
Also considering:
One of these (not sure which is the best choice):
Skeleton Ship / Trigon of Corruption /Harbinger of Night / Gnarled Effigy / Fevered Convulsions
Commander: The Mimeoplasm
1 Edric, Spymaster of Trest
1 Blackcleave Goblin
1 Blight Mamba
1 Thrummingbird
1 Core Prowler
1 Corpse Cur
1 Flesh-Eater Imp
1 Hand of the Praetors
1 Ichor Rats
1 Phyrexian Crusader
1 Phyrexian Hydra
1 Phyrexian Swarmlord
1 Plague Myr
1 Putrefax
1 Reaper of Sheoldred
1 Septic Rats
1 Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
1 Spinebiter
1 Triumph of the Hordes
1 Viral Drake
1 Viridian Corrupter
1 Whispering Specter
1 Sheoldred, Whispering O
1 Vorel of the Hull Clade
1 Zameck Guildmagene
1 Wood Elves
1 Mystic Snake
1 Clone
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Phantasmal Image
1 Sylvan Primordial
1 Havengul Lich
1 Phyrexian Dreadnought
1 Death's Shadow
1 Necroskitter
1 Corrupted Conscience
1 Asceticism
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Inexorable Tide
1 Crumbling Ashes
Artifacts
1 Contagion Clasp
1 Contagion Engine
1 Trigon of Infestation
1 Sol Ring
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Viridian Longbow
1 Akroma's Memorial
Sorceries:
1 Black Sun's Zenith
1 Genesis Wave
1 Deny Reality
1 Rite of Replication
1 Tidings
1 Foresee
1 Mind Spring
1 Skyshroud Claim
1 Tezzeret's Gambit
1 Urban Evolution
Instants:
1 Stonewood Invocation
1 Putrefy
1 Spell Crumple
1 Harrow
1 Spin into Myth
1 Fuel for the Cause
1 Tragic Slip
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Counterlash
1 Inkmoth Nexus
1 Bayou
1 Drowned Catacomb
1 Tropical Island
1 Underground Sea
1 Watery Grave
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Breeding Pool
1 Dimir Aqueduct
1 Llanowar Reborn
1 Golgari Rot Farm
1 Simic Growth Chamber
1 Sunken Ruins
1 Twilight Mire
1 Polluted Delta
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Command Tower
1 Alchemist's Refuge
1 Centaur Garden
1 Cathedral of War
1 Novijen, Heart of Progress
1 Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
1 Volrath's Stronghold
3 Swamp
3 Island
4 Forest