MTG Salvation

This idea came to me when replying to a thread about modern tribal decks. It needs work (primarily card draw), but here's what I came up with off the top of my head:



The idea is to combine Virulent Sliver's "poisonous 1" with infect via Triumph of the Hordes to give your opponent 10 poison counters very quickly. Sinew Sliver provides your slivers with a size boost, improving the effectiveness of Triumph of the Hordes. Shadow Sliver gives evasion, but should only be used when a win is imminent (aka "alpha strike"). Sliver Legion (coat-of-arms for slivers... on a 7/7 body!), Firewake Sliver (haste + a sac outlet granting +2/+2 until end of turn), Gemhide Sliver (all slivers are mana dorks), and Harmonic Sliver (Aura Shards on a stick) can all be fetched using Green Sun's Zenith ... and R or B can be conjured via Gemhide Sliver when those colours are needed for casting Sliver Legion or Firewake Sliver from your hand. Tezzeret's Gambit draws cards in the mid-game and adds a poison counter (assuming we've poisoned our opponent).

And for some board control, the deck has a sub-theme: Harmonic Sliver + Liquimetal Coating (or Enchanted Evening later in the game) turns every sliver spell thereafter into a Vindicate (sort of like Reaper King for slivers). An alternative would be to simply run Necrotic Sliver... but then you don't get to keep the sliver (and it can be mana-intensive at 3 + whatever the sliver costs).

I intend to try this out casually. Does anyone have suggestions or comments? I want to include AEther Vial but don't know what to cut (I could always cut the entire Harmonic Sliver / Liquimetal Coating / Enchanted Evening package to go straight-up aggro, but I don't think it can compete with Zoo, etc). And although I haven't tested it yet at all, I suspect the deck will suffer from running out of gas beyond turn 4-5 (hence the Tezzeret's Gambit), not to mention "auto-loses to removal / sweepers".

I'd go with more creature tutors. You're in modern, so chord of calling is a definite possibility as well. It's not limited to green creatures, either. That said, maybe giving it more sliver options would be better, or just removal. I could see path to exile being stronger than most of your current options. You could also run pulmonic sliver as a one of. Essence sliver also makes it possible to race zoo without much issue.

edit: I see the last two in your sideboard. If you get chord in the main, then I'd consider running at least one of each main as well. If you wanted another "sliver" that pumps (worthwhile with infect, no?), then maybe adaptive automaton has a place here. congregation at dawn is another possibility for creature draw, of sorts.

Quote from weltkrieg

I'd go with more creature tutors. You're in modern, so chord of calling is a definite possibility as well. It's not limited to green creatures, either.

That's definitely a possibilty. Most of the key slivers are (partly) green, so GSZ will grab most of them, but the ability to fetch Shadow Sliver (or perhaps Fury Sliver) late in the game could be useful.

Quote from weltkrieg

That said, maybe giving it more sliver options would be better, or just removal. I could see path to exile being stronger than most of your current options.

For removal, I like the versatility of the Harmonic Sliver / Liquimetal Coating package. Harmonic Sliver alone takes out equipment, combo enchantments and artifacts, etc. And of course with Liquimetal Coating (or Enchanted Evening), it can be used to take out creatures... but I was more thinking about taking out key lands vs 12-post, etc. Basically, I get a sliver and my opponent is deprived of a resource.

Quote from weltkrieg

If you wanted another "sliver" that pumps (worthwhile with infect, no?), then maybe adaptive automaton has a place here.

Good idea. He's basically Sinew Sliver 5-8 in a format that excludes Muscle Sliver.

Quote from weltkrieg

congregation at dawn is another possibility for creature draw, of sorts.

While it would line up slivers (for the Harmonic Sliver combo, for instance), it doesn't help me refill my hand. I'm going to want to play 2+ cards per turn by mid-game... so I need a way to net card advantage.

I guess I could steal a page out of the "combo elves" book and run a Cloudstone Curio / Dormant Sliver combo, where I keep bouncing and recasting a couple of cheap slivers (Virulent Sliver, Gemhide Sliver, Sinew Sliver), and finally bounce the Dormant Sliver so I can attack. Notice that if Firewake Sliver and Gemhide Sliver are in play, I can tap a sliver for mana before bouncing it. That combo would be especially nasty (read "epic") with Harmonic Sliver + Enchanted Evening in play: "Say goodbye to all your permanents!" (And if I only have Liquimetal Coating(s), once it's tapped, I could bounce the Harmonic Sliver to avoid blowing up my own artifacts).

Here's a revised list with a Cloudstone Curio combo in mind:



(No Adaptive Automaton because Cloudstone Curio says "nonartifact permanent"; ditto for Phyrexian Metamorph, which could otherwise be an extra Virulent Sliver or Liquimetal Coating, etc...)

I gave this deck a try today. It cleaned up against a control deck. Between AEther Vial, Liquimetal Coating, and a GSZ'ed Harmonic Sliver, it's not hard to start blowing up your opponent's permanents by turn 4. And if you can resolve a Sliver Legion and/or a Triumph of the Hordes, it's all over.

By the way, Mutavault is a champ in this deck. Getting an extra uncounterable 2/2 sliver for 1 to do a little extra poison/infect damage is sweet. It allows you to get Shadow Sliver in a turn or 2 earlier for the finishing blow (e.g. critical mass of slivers). Perhaps it's not surprising, since Mutavault and Sliver Legion are the only "non-budget" cards in the deck.

I'm not sure I need Enchanted Evening. I don't have a way to tutor for it, and when I've drawn it, I never cast it because 1 Liquimetal Coating in play was all I needed... and I have better things to be doing with 5 mana (e.g. I don't want to tap out to play Enchanted Evening and wait a turn to start casting slivers again). So I might take it out for another Liquimetal Coating and another Harmonic Sliver.

Also, I sometimes end up with a Fabricate in hand with nothing to tutor for (e.g. already have each artifact in play, or don't have a Dormant Sliver to go with the Cloudstone Curio, etc), so it might be worth adding a single Adaptive Automaton to give it another non-dead target.

Here's the current deck list I'm running:

*edit*
Further testing has shown that setting up the Dormant Sliver / Cloudstone Curio combo takes too long to assemble, and if I play Dormant Sliver, he just draws me a 2-3 extra cards before I chump-block with him or sac him via Firewake Sliver. More times than not, I'd be better off with Harmonize or Tezzeret's Gambit. And if I'm not running the Curio, then I don't really need Fabricate (I'd be better off with more Liquimetal Coating / AEther Vial).

Between Harmonize and Tezzeret's Gambit, I'm not sure which is better in this deck... so I'll run a couple of each until I feel that one is superior. Right now, the deck looks like this:

This deck has been doing very well in testing, but it just lost a key card (Green Sun's Zenith). No more cheating in Sliver Legion, or tutoring up Harmonic Sliver (or Dryad Arbor on turn 1, or Virulent Sliver for an extra shot of poison per hit). I'll give the following list a try before going back to the drawing board:

I think I've finally recovered from the modern loss of Green Sun's Zenith (may it rest in peace). It may not be "tier 1", but I've come up with a really fun, interactive deck to play. It's certainly not your typical "aggro beat down" deck.

Basically, I rediscovered Tezzeret the Seeker. He's better than Fabricate, as he puts an AEther Vial or Liquimetal Coating directly in play on his first turn; on his second turn, he can untap said cards for reusing the Harmonic Sliver EtB effect (drop a sliver on your turn, then Tezzeret untaps the Vial + Coating, then drop another sliver on opponent's turn); and he can fetch Adaptive Automaton later in the game when no slivers are in hand. The 3UU cost isn't that bad once you have a Gemhide Sliver in play. Besides, you won't be spending mana to play creatures once you get an AEther Vial (or two) rolling. And - surprisingly enough - he benefits from Tezzeret's Gambit.

Without further ado... Tezzeret's Slivers (Tezzliverzz?):



The sideboard is still under development. It really depends what my local meta includes. Harmonic Sliver alone (flashed in via AEther Vial) can handle Splinter Twin. I'm a little vulnerable to sweepers, although I try not to over-commit. Familiar's Ruse might help, as even if it's countered, I can at least bounce a (Harmonic) sliver. I'm also entertaining Cloudstone Curio and Crystal Shard, although I haven't been all that impressed with them.

I'm running a pair of Stirring Wildwoods to give me some defense against flyers. I tossed in some Vastwoods to beef up my green slivers (affects all but the lords and Shadow Sliver) and to give Tezzeret's Gambit something else to proliferate. EtBT'd lands don't bother me too much, as a turn-1 AEther Vial gives me all the tempo I need - especially if I can stick a Gemhide Sliver by turn 4 or so.

P.S. Nothing beats the feeling of vialing in a Sliver Legion to block an unsuspecting titan (and block his friends with your freshly pumped sliver horde), then cast Triumph of the Hordes to swing for 20+ infect with trample - and poisonous 2 on top of that!

I used to play slivers when sliver queen was legal and there was a an infinite combo with her (turn 4 none the less.)

I've been wanting an aggressive deck with some control elements.. This one just might be it.

Warning: I played this at a "modern tournament" at my LGS last week. All 3 of my opponents played standard-legal decks (sigh). I got crushed by mono-white humans and w/g humans (couldn't keep up with the tempo and drawing power of Mentor of the Meek), and then I rather easily defeated an illusions aggro/control deck (who, consequently, had no problems with the human decks). Of course, repeatedly targeting illusions with Liquimetal Coating didn't hurt.

Anyway, the deck seems to need more card draw that just 4x Tezzeret's Gambit. I don't have enough creatures for Lead the Stampede, but I'm not convinced Harmonize is the answer, either. I'm actually considering Mentor of the Meek in this sliver deck, as I'm less than impressed with his sliver counterpart. ** Unfortunately, Mentor of the Meek isn't compatible with sliver "lords".

P.S. In my defense, I had some terrible draws. In one game, I had all 4x Liquimetal Coating and 4x AEther Vials in play, but couldn't draw a sliver to save my life. In another, I had all 3x Triumph of the Hordes in hand and couldn't draw a green-producing land or Gemhide Sliver until turn 11 or so (when it was too late). The sideboarded-in Pithing Needle came in handy against a Garruk Relentless, and Path to Exile was used on several humans (as was the Harmonic Sliver / Liquimetal Coating combo, which I also used on another planeswalker at one point), but I simply couldn't slow them down enough.

Well I found an interesting little way to lock people down. Turn one vial, turn 2 liquimetal, turn 3 make one of their lands an artifact, then play harmonic sliver. You could keep them at 3 lands until you beat them down.

I almost want to build a green and white deck around this.

I did that in the first game I tested this deck, although I lost to a splinter twin deck that kept me tapped out from turn 2-5, which is when he went off with his combo.

I feel this deck could be very, very good if you got rid of the cute Harmonic interaction and focused hard on poisoning as quickly as possible.

Also, isn't there a Sliver that gives all Slivers Shroud? Are you running any of those?

Quote from Bedlam

Well I found an interesting little way to lock people down. Turn one vial, turn 2 liquimetal, turn 3 make one of their lands an artifact, then play harmonic sliver. You could keep them at 3 lands until you beat them down.

I almost want to build a green and white deck around this.

Yep, that's usually the idea... but unfortunately it doesn't always work out that way. Also, t3 Harmonic Sliver (casted) is a little risky unless you proliferate your Vial. Otherwise, it comes in t4 via Vial.

Ideally, it would go:
t1: AEther Vial;
t2: Liquimetal Coating; vial in a Virulent Sliver at the end of their turn;
t3: attack with the Virulent if possible; then Tezzeret's Gambit proliferating the poison and ramping Vial to 3; then it's a choice between Harmonic Sliver on your turn to take out a land, or at the end of their turn to blow up whatever their biggest threat is at that point.

Quote from feathers

I feel this deck could be very, very good if you got rid of the cute Harmonic interaction and focused hard on poisoning as quickly as possible.

Also, isn't there a Sliver that gives all Slivers Shroud? Are you running any of those?

There is (Crystalline Sliver), but it's not legal in Modern.

A purely aggro strategy might have a higher win rate. But there are certainly better aggro decks out there (zoo). I was hoping that this creature-based Vindicate theme would give some advantage over pure aggro. Perhaps I'd be best off running Mana Leaks and Path to Exiles main, putting the Harmonic Slivers in the side for artifact/enchantment-heavy decks and scrapping the Liquimetal Coating idea. e.g. just an aggro control deck with poisonous/infect slivers as the wincon. But I'm not done trying to make the current theme work.

I think you're on the right track here. Maybe add in some counterspells, specifically the ones that let you draw maybe?