I've been trying out a Stasis/Black Vise build that I am so far pretty happy with. It's mono blue - just Islands and a set of Ghost Quarters (serves as a pseudo Wasteland against basic-light decks). 4 Black Vise and one Iron Maiden are my win-cons, Stasis, Propaganda, bounce and lots of counter magic keep me alive, and good old Howling Mine keeps my hand full of counter measures and keeps their hand full for Vise to do its thing. It's a slow and painful win as Stasis should be Oh and 3 Ancestral Visions and a set of Ponders also help keep the action spells flowing. Since the main is creatureless I figure the sideboard should have some True Names in there - beyond that I don't know yet. Despite being a new build I'm really liking where its at so far. Surprisingly resilient, and with Mine out it doesn't take long for Vise to kill...relatively speaking of course. Plus sometimes you get the nut of Vise into Boomerang your land etc which is fun.
My theory, silly as it may be, is that Sorin needed someone to watch over Innistrad and decided to use Nahiri for that purpose, turning her into Avacyn. Similar appearances (both all pale and stuff), both mono-white in game terms. I'm not sure the exact time frame, but Avacyn has been around centuries at least so that could work. Finally ...hedrons and the Helvault are pretty similar in functions...maybe the helvault is just a corrupted thing that avacyn/nahiri once knew
Pretty slim chance of being right, but it would be more interesting than vampire Nahiri
I will try to post an updated list when I am at my computer.
Mine is a very grindy deck, but can get it's aggro on with a timely LolTroll. A surprising number of decks have real trouble dealing with him. An early Tasigur can also provide some nice pressure. I run one Dryad Arbor because it, Loam and Troll are fun together, and being able to fetch at instant speed for a guy gives some protection against edict effects.
I played the fast combo version for a long time, and while you do get the odd turn 2 Borbor kill, I've found this build to be more consistent and resilient, at least so far.
FNM yesterday I went a solid 2-0-1 in matches (and my other Modern borrowed by a friend went 3-0 ...so a nice day overall for decks built by me).
Round 1 - draw 1-1. Game one I lost to a weird draw, and learned that zombie iinfestation, while a nice thought, doesn't do enough over all. Definitely getting replaced. Opponent was super slow but I didn't gripe because it's fnm. Should have of course, as it turned out that we drew despite me being firmly in control of game 3. This was against abzan midrange which feels like an easy match if a bit grindy.
Round 2 - win 2-0. This was against a mono green brew. In one game I was facing down a 40/40 primodial hydra, but comboed off and was at a healthy 64 life thanks to gnaw to the bone. That card is crazy in this deck - must have gained well over 100 life over the course of the night. The other game I Abrupt Decayed my own quillspike in order to combo. Fun stuff.
Round 3 - win 2-1. This was a UW control list splashing green for Kiora. I lost game one, but game two I got a quick Crime/Loam going and rode a Troll to victory. Game 3 was an epic one of fighting off Elspeth tokens and weaselling an Ooze through counter magic, gaining ridiculous life, and finally comboing off on turn 3 or turns. Whew. Ooze survived multiple attempts to remove it thanks to regeneration and giving it hexproof with prognostic sphinx.
Much fun, good deck, just needs a little tweaking I think.
While I opened zero dragons and zero mana fixing, I took Azorius (er...ojutai?) and built a nice blue/white tempo deck that performed well - 3-0 and then split the finals. Naturally it was pure skill that got me a Monastery Mentor and Narset. okay okay, lucksacked. Still a very fun event and Rebound is sweet - especially with Mentor
True - Varolz isn't ideal of course, and I'm leaning toward not bothering with him at the moment.
Prognostic Sphinx - I really like the 'free' hexproof ability (seeing as we want stuff in our graveyard anyway) but I seem to have it rotting in my hand a fair bit too. What other discard outlets and/or hexproof-ability-givers do we have access to? Zombie Infestation comes to mind (as a discard outlet, and nice synergy with Loam), but aside from pricey blue creature like Sphinx or aetherling I'm not sure.
I need to find a second Golgari Thug - I want to try a pair. Dryad Arbor seems sweet - I'll let you know how it goes.
Thoughts on Varolz? I know it borders on too cute again, and it doesn't have the hilarity that is Inkmoth - Death's Shadow - eat 14 infect. Upside though - a reasonable and resilient threat on his own, able to sac other guys in response to exile effects, gives that very relavent ability to Ooze along with regen, and scavenging an excess Ooze - +4/+4 for 4 mana isn't the worst value.
I'm a big fan of Life from the Loam - such an innocuous card but does so much for this style deck. I'm going from 2 to 3 and back again, so not sure yet. While not a bolt (as I've ditched the Borbor/Grisel plan in favor of more castable threats) it's still been good, and now I want to jam a Dryad Arbor - pitches to LolTroll and a recurring chumper with Loam. I've like Stinkweed and currently trying a couple Golgari Thugs as him chumping lets me potentially put a countered/killed/milled Ooze or other threat back on top. I'm sticking with Sultai colors for now - a second Prognostic Sphinx in now to give ooze more consistent hexproof.
There are so many great ways to use the Ooze, and it offers a ton of options and resiliency. I like that I can just run out the Quillspike/Druid and then if they are dealt with Ooze becomes the next threat - whereas before I was trying to get fatties in the yard and Ooze was the first real threat.
Though my record isn't great thus far, I feel like my losses have come from mana issues (hopefully fixed now) or poor play/decision making on my own part. Stuff like when to dredge - when to Raven's Crime, when to go all in with Troll, etc. There's a lot to decide and despite playing for a long time I still find myself making mistakes. Still trying to get better
Up to 22 lands now which should be okay along with Life from the Loam to get binned lands back. I have a Darkblast main and side now, but both may end up maindecked. One of the lands is a Creeping Tar Pit which (in theory) will help deal with annoying walkers on the other side. I have one Spellskite in the board myself and could see adding a second maybe. Lich...he's a pet card of mine that has some fun interactions with Ooze, but sadly doesn't do enough on its own. I do want to jam in a couple more dredge cards maybe - I could see Golgari Grave Troll even - definitely a consideration, though I'd have to pirate them from my manaless dredge deck
So at Modern night I went a rather disappointing 1-2 in matches, defeating Tezzeret control easily, losing to Abzan (game 1 never hit my third land, game 2 was another awkward draw that I misplayed badly...I probably lose anyway, but my play wasn't sharp) and narrowly lost to burn - another critical misplay coupled with being unable to find a Gnaw in time to stabilize.
I'v added a Darkblast to the main, crammed in two more lands, and am testing Trackers Instincts as a two-of - graveyard filler and lets me grab a creature I need, and can be flashed back if dredged. I've cut the Unburial Rites I was running and sadly Havengul Lich - too cute I guess. We'll see how it runs now. I feel like Burn should have been an easy win, and Abzan should have been much closer. Hopefully upping my land count will help consistency.
See that is helpful - I have never been a good sideboarder so I need work in that dept. Right now I've got 2 Decays, 1 Golgari Charm, 2 Ray of Revelation and a playset of Mana Leak as my maybe-board. Raven's Crime, Tasigur, Spellskite and Darkblast are also on my short list right now, though who knows how much that may change. I'd like to get more matches in against the top archetypes - pre-board my build seems soft to Twin and Storm - both seem like a race unless I can get the Crime/Loam engine going quickly. Postboard I think the control elements can shore up those matches. I think we are favored against most creature based matchups, and anything with discard we're happy to play against.
It is tricky, but I think multiple games will help figure out when to go all in with Mindshrieker/Loltroll aggro - those two can kill quickly and put a lot of pressure on the opponent to deal with them.
Edit - while a small sample size, I'm 2-2 vs twin pre-board, and the games were closer than I thought, so that is something.
My gf and I got this and yeah, Elspeth is dominant. We also got the box set with the original 8 duel decks and have been playing them against each other. Elves vs Elspeth has been particularly fun, and Kiora smacked around Angels. Because I'm a huge dork I've been keeping an excel spreadsheet of the matchups
I'm not sure there is a best combo necessarily. I've played a lot with thd Grisel/Borbor combo - even going as deep to add Stonefare Crocodile to give ooze lifelink...fling more, draw more, etc. I changed to the Sultai build because I wanted something a little more resilient, though at the cost of explosivenss. That just suits my playstyle more - I love grinding out small advantages over longer games.
Sidisi I could see trying - though I don't have any myself so happy to hear how it works if someone tries it.
I think right now we have a reasonably good game one as people largely won't know what we're up to and there isn't much maindeck graveyard hate. My big concern now is sideboard as that has always been my weak point - do we board to fight the hate or do we try the transition to a less graveyard/more control build? Do we keep some Ooze shenanigans in and hope to dodge the Rest in Peaces? As noted I'm leaning toward trying to be pseudo control, but definitely open to any and all ideas - aside from some number of Abrupt Decay and Golgari Charm my sideboard is wide open.
Edit: thoughts on Rapid Hybridization as a response to exile effects? Leaves us a dude and gets our pathed thing into the graveyard where our stuff belongs, and is a super cheap answer to Twin... Better they have a 3/3 than just winning on the spot.
Main deck against twin I think we have a shot to combo faster or get our Raven's Crime/Loam engine going (assuming a similar build to mine of course). Giving them access to only one card a turn really can cripple them. Post board I think the sultai build has even more game with further discard, counter magic, and Abrupt Decay.
With the understanding that Path to Exile is a thing, Lotleth Troll is still a hard to answer threat for sure, and I have won plenty of games off a big trampley troll while the opponent tries to keep Ooze off the board. Troll is pressure, an enabler, and grants relavant abilities from the grave - really everywhere we want to be in my experience.
That said, I would love to have some main deck way to sacrifice critters in response to exile effects. My jundy version ran Falkenrath Aristocrat for just that reason and I liked it. Any thoughts on other sac outlets that have fun abilities?
I have tried Civilized Scholar and really didn't care for it - but that is really just opinion, it just felt awkward. Maybe I was doing it wrong
Vengeful Pharoah definitely needs more testing, but I like the idea of it as an uncounterable kill spell... Sorta kinda. I found with my previous versions of Ooze that if I couldn't combo quickly I just died to an unanswered Delver/Seige Rhino/whatever. Pharoah + Gnaw give this deck what I think it needs in those matches - time.
Life from the Loam is great allows us to skimp on lands a bit, dredges nicely, and generally is a great utility spell that combos great with Raven's Crime. I typically run a fun-of Ghost Quarter as a catchall against troublesome lands, and with few basics in the format I have (slowly) stone-rained the opponents field. GQ also fixes our colors in a pinch, and with Loam at only a small disadvantage.
Some of the numbers may change, but I like where it's at right now.
Havengul Lich (or ooze) can let you play Goyfs from your opponents graveyard, for those of us who can't afford our own
Also, Pharika is a consideration...deathtouchy snakes seem like a reasonable stall tactic and potential way to get back what you want from Tasigur's ability.
Pretty slim chance of being right, but it would be more interesting than vampire Nahiri
Mine is a very grindy deck, but can get it's aggro on with a timely LolTroll. A surprising number of decks have real trouble dealing with him. An early Tasigur can also provide some nice pressure. I run one Dryad Arbor because it, Loam and Troll are fun together, and being able to fetch at instant speed for a guy gives some protection against edict effects.
I played the fast combo version for a long time, and while you do get the odd turn 2 Borbor kill, I've found this build to be more consistent and resilient, at least so far.
Round 1 - draw 1-1. Game one I lost to a weird draw, and learned that zombie iinfestation, while a nice thought, doesn't do enough over all. Definitely getting replaced. Opponent was super slow but I didn't gripe because it's fnm. Should have of course, as it turned out that we drew despite me being firmly in control of game 3. This was against abzan midrange which feels like an easy match if a bit grindy.
Round 2 - win 2-0. This was against a mono green brew. In one game I was facing down a 40/40 primodial hydra, but comboed off and was at a healthy 64 life thanks to gnaw to the bone. That card is crazy in this deck - must have gained well over 100 life over the course of the night. The other game I Abrupt Decayed my own quillspike in order to combo. Fun stuff.
Round 3 - win 2-1. This was a UW control list splashing green for Kiora. I lost game one, but game two I got a quick Crime/Loam going and rode a Troll to victory. Game 3 was an epic one of fighting off Elspeth tokens and weaselling an Ooze through counter magic, gaining ridiculous life, and finally comboing off on turn 3 or turns. Whew. Ooze survived multiple attempts to remove it thanks to regeneration and giving it hexproof with prognostic sphinx.
Much fun, good deck, just needs a little tweaking I think.
Prognostic Sphinx - I really like the 'free' hexproof ability (seeing as we want stuff in our graveyard anyway) but I seem to have it rotting in my hand a fair bit too. What other discard outlets and/or hexproof-ability-givers do we have access to? Zombie Infestation comes to mind (as a discard outlet, and nice synergy with Loam), but aside from pricey blue creature like Sphinx or aetherling I'm not sure.
Thoughts on Varolz? I know it borders on too cute again, and it doesn't have the hilarity that is Inkmoth - Death's Shadow - eat 14 infect. Upside though - a reasonable and resilient threat on his own, able to sac other guys in response to exile effects, gives that very relavent ability to Ooze along with regen, and scavenging an excess Ooze - +4/+4 for 4 mana isn't the worst value.
There are so many great ways to use the Ooze, and it offers a ton of options and resiliency. I like that I can just run out the Quillspike/Druid and then if they are dealt with Ooze becomes the next threat - whereas before I was trying to get fatties in the yard and Ooze was the first real threat.
Though my record isn't great thus far, I feel like my losses have come from mana issues (hopefully fixed now) or poor play/decision making on my own part. Stuff like when to dredge - when to Raven's Crime, when to go all in with Troll, etc. There's a lot to decide and despite playing for a long time I still find myself making mistakes. Still trying to get better
I'v added a Darkblast to the main, crammed in two more lands, and am testing Trackers Instincts as a two-of - graveyard filler and lets me grab a creature I need, and can be flashed back if dredged. I've cut the Unburial Rites I was running and sadly Havengul Lich - too cute I guess. We'll see how it runs now. I feel like Burn should have been an easy win, and Abzan should have been much closer. Hopefully upping my land count will help consistency.
It is tricky, but I think multiple games will help figure out when to go all in with Mindshrieker/Loltroll aggro - those two can kill quickly and put a lot of pressure on the opponent to deal with them.
Edit - while a small sample size, I'm 2-2 vs twin pre-board, and the games were closer than I thought, so that is something.
Sidisi I could see trying - though I don't have any myself so happy to hear how it works if someone tries it.
I think right now we have a reasonably good game one as people largely won't know what we're up to and there isn't much maindeck graveyard hate. My big concern now is sideboard as that has always been my weak point - do we board to fight the hate or do we try the transition to a less graveyard/more control build? Do we keep some Ooze shenanigans in and hope to dodge the Rest in Peaces? As noted I'm leaning toward trying to be pseudo control, but definitely open to any and all ideas - aside from some number of Abrupt Decay and Golgari Charm my sideboard is wide open.
Edit: thoughts on Rapid Hybridization as a response to exile effects? Leaves us a dude and gets our pathed thing into the graveyard where our stuff belongs, and is a super cheap answer to Twin... Better they have a 3/3 than just winning on the spot.
With the understanding that Path to Exile is a thing, Lotleth Troll is still a hard to answer threat for sure, and I have won plenty of games off a big trampley troll while the opponent tries to keep Ooze off the board. Troll is pressure, an enabler, and grants relavant abilities from the grave - really everywhere we want to be in my experience.
That said, I would love to have some main deck way to sacrifice critters in response to exile effects. My jundy version ran Falkenrath Aristocrat for just that reason and I liked it. Any thoughts on other sac outlets that have fun abilities?
I have tried Civilized Scholar and really didn't care for it - but that is really just opinion, it just felt awkward. Maybe I was doing it wrong
Life from the Loam is great allows us to skimp on lands a bit, dredges nicely, and generally is a great utility spell that combos great with Raven's Crime. I typically run a fun-of Ghost Quarter as a catchall against troublesome lands, and with few basics in the format I have (slowly) stone-rained the opponents field. GQ also fixes our colors in a pinch, and with Loam at only a small disadvantage.
Some of the numbers may change, but I like where it's at right now.
Havengul Lich (or ooze) can let you play Goyfs from your opponents graveyard, for those of us who can't afford our own
Also, Pharika is a consideration...deathtouchy snakes seem like a reasonable stall tactic and potential way to get back what you want from Tasigur's ability.