So here's the story... I occasionally play at a small store in town that nets maybe 4 to 6 players for "Legacy" tournaments. This is a very non-competitive-deck environment. I mean to say, they play Legacy not because they like Legacy, but because they detest the very notion of a rotating format. Why they don't just play "Vintage" is beyond me, but in any case I'm very unlikely to see any decks worth more than a hundred bucks or so here at best. In contrast, my taste in cards tends to run to the more expensive side.
That said, there tend to be two flavors of opponent in this tiny tournament: A) "I play a creature and hit you with it", and B) "Burn, or sometimes Dragons". Essentially, one guy invariably plays either his Burn deck or his Dragon deck, while everyone else plays Timmy. Occasionally something more interesting hits the field, but that's essentially the nuts and bolts of the situation.
My goal here is to make a deck that can reliably placate Spike in this scenario. I'd like to be able to expect an undefeated first place victory with a fair deck, and not resort to combo tricks or something like Infect. I want it to feel like a difficult deck to face, without feeling cheated.
Beneath this spoiler is my current deck solution, thoughts and concerns, etc
3 Deathrite Shaman: Deathrite Shaman is fantastic. He does an enormous amount of work for me, whether ramping, handing out the hurt, or giving me back some much needed life. If he doesn't get burned or otherwise immediately removed he's pure gold. I've swapped out one copy of him for a singleton Chrome Mox though, as multiple Shamans don't seem quite as useful.
3 Dark Confidant: Without Sensei's Divining Top, Bob hurts. I rarely hit Batterskull with him though, so it's an easy pain to bear most of the time, especially once I stabilize with Jitte or Batterskull lifegain. That said, the card advantage is just nuts. Another must-remove-immediately creature for my burn-happy foes.
4 Stoneforge Mystic: My favorite creature of the bunch. Whether or not she gets removed, I still get to tutor up some game-ending equipment which (especially thanks to DRS) I should be able to easily hard cast if I need to. If she sticks around, all the better to flash in a blocking Batterskull with, my dear. Yet another creature that needs an immediate response or die.
3 Tarmogoyf: This will likely be made a full playset once I have the cash. Oh hells yeah, this thing is an absolute beast. Difficult to burn out, must answer, hard to kill with blockers... Slap a Jitte on this guy (or better yet, Batterskull), and it's pretty much game over if my opponent doesn't do anything about it.
Artifacts
1 Chrome Mox: Taking the place of 1 DRS, I find Chrome Mox to be a good ramper while helping me do something with extra cards in hand that I don't really need. Slap a DRS onto it and it basically becomes a Bayou.
1 Umezawa's Jitte, 1 Sword of Fire and Ice, 1 Batterskull: Any one of these cards can (and frequently do) win me the game with just about any creature on the board. That said, if the get smashed to smithereens, I can still win by straight up beatdown if need be (or swarming with Faeries and Spirits)
Enchantments
1 Bitterblossom: It's a rare thing when I run into Enchantment removal in my meta, so this is almost certainly a game winner every time it lands. Even if I can't get a Jitte or a Batterskull out, the sheer swarm of Faeries inevitably grind my foes into pulp before it kills me. That said, I rarely want more than one of these on the board, they don't do anything productive until at least turn 4, and the life loss can really hurt at times. So I'm only running 1 at the moment.
Sorceries
3 Cabal Therapy: With 4 Lingering Souls and 1 Bitterblossom, not to mention the ability to sack Bob if I have to, Cabal Therapy seems the targetted discard of choice. It's especially useful after resolving an Inquisition. My only thought is that perhaps I should run a second copy of Bitterblossom to increase my sackable token count? I dunno...
3 Inquisition of Kozilek: While Thoughtseize would probably be better, I have enough life loss going on between Fetches, Bob, and Bitterblossom that I really don't need more chances to hit myself in the face. Inquisition will get rid of most every threat that matters, most of the time.
3 Hymn to Tourach: And what Inquisition and Therapy don't get, Hymn will.
4 Lingering Souls: One of my primary sources of attackers and blockers. 4 flyers for 5 mana total, easy to mana fix, feeds Therapy, what's not to love? I guess it doesn't jive too well with Deathrite and Tarmogoyf, but I have enough other Sorceries to feed them that it shouldn't matter.
4 Swords to Plowshares: Best removal in Legacy, period. With all my equipment tricks and swarm tactics, their lifegain barely even matters.
2 Abrupt Decay: What I can't Swrods, I can Decay. Only currently running 2, but I'm open to running more if need be.
Planeswalkers
3 Liliana of the Veil: Oh man, how I love Lily. I invariably use her -2 as soon as she lands (possibly preceded by Swords or Decay to clear the board entirely). I try to use her +1 with either Lingering Souls or some card type I need to feed Tarmogoyf. Failing that I try to empty my hand before ticking her up. I usually then -2 her again to remove whatever else they happen to play, or just keep ticking her up if they don't play anything. I've never actually gotten to use her ultimate. I find I frequently seem to wind up with multiples of her in hand though, so sometimes I'll play her, -2, +1, -2, and then resolve a second and -2 again, lol. Oh man, she's just brutal.
Land
8 Fetchlands: 4 Marsh Flats, 2 Bloodstained Mire, 2 Windswept Heath
4 BW Dual Lands: 1 Scrubland, 3 Godless Shrine (Once I can afford 3 more Scrublands the Shrines will be dropped entirely)
1 GW Dual Land: 1 Savannah (Couldn't afford a Bayou at the time, Savannah seems perfectly acceptable, don't want to use Overgrown Tomb)
7 Basic Lands: 4 Swamp, 2 Plains, 1 Forest
0 Wasteland: Hardly anyone else in my local meta uses anything but basics. Sometimes they'll use crappy duals that come in tapped, or something like Evolving Wilds (I've yet to encounter another actual Fetchland), but frankly I'm not worried about having trouble beating those decks. Thus, Wasteland would be, well... wasted, lol. One guy does use a singleton Valakut, but he doesn't run Scapeshift (or any other combo with it, or any method of fetching lands at all...), he just relies on it as an occasional Lightning Bolt. I guess Wasteland would be good against that, but frankly, it's an expensive card to buy just to hose a small part of one deck. If he starts running multiple copies I might look into it I guess.
Some Questions:
* Am I going too heavy on Discard? 3 copies each of Liliana, Hymn, Inquisition, and Therapy feels like a lot, but maybe that's a good thing?
* I went from 3 Bitterblossom down to 1. This feels like it might not be enough. Should I increase this to 2?
* Should I find a way to fit Zealous Persecution in here somewhere?
* Am I running too many basics?
(Beneath this spoiler was my original deck solution. I've since updated with the deck discussed above, but I left this one here for posterity)
Here's what I've come up with so far... it has some weaknesses for sure, and I'm hoping to try and iron them out a bit. It's essentially Abzan Deathblade at the moment, with some twists and turns.
A note on Sideboards: There isn't one. This particular tournament is a round-robin one-and-done type of deal. Thus, any cards in the deck are the only cards in the deck.
Deathrite Shaman: A solid card, for sure. Though I'm almost certain it will eat a Lightning Bolt before it hits sees its first upkeep. For that reason alone I'm unsure if I should keep it in the deck. It will certainly do some work against my other opponents, but against my primary foe it mainly serves as burn-bait.
Stoneforge Mystic, Batterskull, Sword of Fire and Ice, Umezawa's Jitte: If SFM gets burned before I can use her ability to get Batterskull out, then Batterskull is largely useless. The Sword & Jitte are cheap enough that I could reliably get them out without using SFM to do it though.
Kodama's Reach: Need a late-game ramping strategy to power out Baneslayer Angel (or possibly Batterskull if SFM bites it)
Worldly Tutor: Reliable method to go fetch whatever creature I may need... which will likely mean either Stoneforge Mystic or Baneslayer Angel
Baneslayer Angel: This thing is a beast, especially since my primary foe tends to play Dragons if he's not running Burn.
Bitterblossom: My nemesis has a really bad habit of just burning any creatures that hit the field, rather than focusing on his opponent, so this card does double duty... either I get a swarm of creatures to hit him in the face, or he wastes all his burn spells dealing with faeries instead of me. Either way its a win for me. Against other opponents it's standard fare.
Vampire Nighthawk: Will almost certainly eat a Lightning Bolt, but if it sticks around it can get me back some life.
Abrupt Decay: No more Dragon's Claw for you, my friend! Removal card of choice. It helps out Deathrite Shaman; it hoses artifacts, enchantments, or whatever else I may need. Yes please!
Path to Exile: Oddly enough, my plan for including this is to get some benefit out of my creatures getting burned. If I play an SFM, for example, and it takes a Lightning Bolt to the face, I can PTE it first to go fetch myself some land. It does have the negative drawback of not helping out Deathrite Shaman very much though.
If I was you, I would take those pieces and add move more towards something like Maverick. Green Sun's Zenith and a bunch of green creatures should be a lot better in general than Worldly Tutor and Kodama's Reach. You could ramp to Thragtusk and make burn sad times, and Mother of Runes/Stoneforge is also generally pretty good. You've already got the lands and Stoneforge package, which are the more expensive parts.
Alternately, play more Lingering Souls to go with your equipment. Possibly also Hymn to Tourach is pretty good, and so is Cabal Therapy with tokens especially and move towards something more akin to Deadguy Ale.
Private Mod Note
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Legacy: WRDeath and Taxes UWRMiracles UBTezzerator GTrinity GBWRLoam URLandstill
Modern: WUBValue Titan UMerfolk WGDeath and Taxes
This is what I'm currently playing and it seems to be in a very similar vein to what you're trying to do. No combos, very fair, very grindy. I'm not sure what your exact budget looks like but I can assure you that if you can afford to spring for the Goyfs and Bobs they are definitely worth it. The only issue I see you having with this list stems from how effective Wasteland is in your local meta.
He likes burning creatures? I'd suggest using that to your advantage. No qualms about deathrite shaman: it's solid. However, why not let him burn something that you want dead anyways? I suggest using phyrexian tower and veteran explorer..borrowing from nic fit's bag of tricks. I would probably run them over kodama's reach, which mind you is a card I love. However, probably not in legacy, even legacy light. The only drawback to the strategy is you'll be ramping him, too, so you'll probably want to get a lifegainer down quick.
Worldy tutor? solid, but if it were me, I'd pay one more and run eladamri's call and put them straight into hand. Done at their end of turn, it allows you card parity and a chance at something additional rather than topdeck manipulation.
3 Deathrite Shaman: Deathrite Shaman is fantastic. He does an enormous amount of work for me, whether ramping, handing out the hurt, or giving me back some much needed life. If he doesn't get burned or otherwise immediately removed he's pure gold. I've swapped out one copy of him for a singleton Chrome Mox though, as multiple Shamans don't seem quite as useful.
3 Dark Confidant: Without Sensei's Divining Top, Bob hurts. I rarely hit Batterskull with him though, so it's an easy pain to bear most of the time, especially once I stabilize with Jitte or Batterskull lifegain. That said, the card advantage is just nuts. Another must-remove-immediately creature for my burn-happy foes.
4 Stoneforge Mystic: My favorite creature of the bunch. Whether or not she gets removed, I still get to tutor up some game-ending equipment which (especially thanks to DRS) I should be able to easily hard cast if I need to. If she sticks around, all the better to flash in a blocking Batterskull with, my dear. Yet another creature that needs an immediate response or die.
3 Tarmogoyf: This will likely be made a full playset once I have the cash. Oh hells yeah, this thing is an absolute beast. Difficult to burn out, must answer, hard to kill with blockers... Slap a Jitte on this guy (or better yet, Batterskull), and it's pretty much game over if my opponent doesn't do anything about it.
Artifacts
1 Chrome Mox: Taking the place of 1 DRS, I find Chrome Mox to be a good ramper while helping me do something with extra cards in hand that I don't really need. Slap a DRS onto it and it basically becomes a Bayou.
1 Umezawa's Jitte, 1 Sword of Fire and Ice, 1 Batterskull: Any one of these cards can (and frequently do) win me the game with just about any creature on the board. That said, if the get smashed to smithereens, I can still win by straight up beatdown if need be (or swarming with Faeries and Spirits)
Enchantments
1 Bitterblossom: It's a rare thing when I run into Enchantment removal in my meta, so this is almost certainly a game winner every time it lands. Even if I can't get a Jitte or a Batterskull out, the sheer swarm of Faeries inevitably grind my foes into pulp before it kills me. That said, I rarely want more than one of these on the board, they don't do anything productive until at least turn 4, and the life loss can really hurt at times. So I'm only running 1 at the moment.
Sorceries
3 Cabal Therapy: With 4 Lingering Souls and 1 Bitterblossom, not to mention the ability to sack Bob if I have to, Cabal Therapy seems the targetted discard of choice. It's especially useful after resolving an Inquisition. My only thought is that perhaps I should run a second copy of Bitterblossom to increase my sackable token count? I dunno...
3 Inquisition of Kozilek: While Thoughtseize would probably be better, I have enough life loss going on between Fetches, Bob, and Bitterblossom that I really don't need more chances to hit myself in the face. Inquisition will get rid of most every threat that matters, most of the time.
3 Hymn to Tourach: And what Inquisition and Therapy don't get, Hymn will.
4 Lingering Souls: One of my primary sources of attackers and blockers. 4 flyers for 5 mana total, easy to mana fix, feeds Therapy, what's not to love? I guess it doesn't jive too well with Deathrite and Tarmogoyf, but I have enough other Sorceries to feed them that it shouldn't matter.
4 Swords to Plowshares: Best removal in Legacy, period. With all my equipment tricks and swarm tactics, their lifegain barely even matters.
2 Abrupt Decay: What I can't Swrods, I can Decay. Only currently running 2, but I'm open to running more if need be.
Planeswalkers
3 Liliana of the Veil: Oh man, how I love Lily. I invariably use her -2 as soon as she lands (possibly preceded by Swords or Decay to clear the board entirely). I try to use her +1 with either Lingering Souls or some card type I need to feed Tarmogoyf. Failing that I try to empty my hand before ticking her up. I usually then -2 her again to remove whatever else they happen to play, or just keep ticking her up if they don't play anything. I've never actually gotten to use her ultimate. I find I frequently seem to wind up with multiples of her in hand though, so sometimes I'll play her, -2, +1, -2, and then resolve a second and -2 again, lol. Oh man, she's just brutal.
Land
8 Fetchlands: 4 Marsh Flats, 2 Bloodstained Mire, 2 Windswept Heath
4 BW Dual Lands: 1 Scrubland, 3 Godless Shrine (Once I can afford 3 more Scrublands the Shrines will be dropped entirely)
1 GW Dual Land: 1 Savannah (Couldn't afford a Bayou at the time, Savannah seems perfectly acceptable, don't want to use Overgrown Tomb)
7 Basic Lands: 4 Swamp, 2 Plains, 1 Forest
0 Wasteland: Hardly anyone else in my local meta uses anything but basics. Sometimes they'll use crappy duals that come in tapped, or something like Evolving Wilds (I've yet to encounter another actual Fetchland), but frankly I'm not worried about having trouble beating those decks. Thus, Wasteland would be, well... wasted, lol. One guy does use a singleton Valakut, but he doesn't run Scapeshift (or any other combo with it, or any method of fetching lands at all...), he just relies on it as an occasional Lightning Bolt. I guess Wasteland would be good against that, but frankly, it's an expensive card to buy just to hose a small part of one deck. If he starts running multiple copies I might look into it I guess. Maybe I'll toss in Ghost Quarter just for stuff like this.
Some Questions:
* Am I going too heavy on Discard? 3 copies each of Liliana, Hymn, Inquisition, and Therapy feels like a lot, but maybe that's a good thing?
* I went from 3 Bitterblossom down to 1. This feels like it might not be enough. Should I increase this to 2?
* Should I find a way to fit Zealous Persecution in here somewhere?
Hey, just checking up on the thread and happy to see some discussion going on.
In regards to your questions:
Discard:
I think you discard count is a little high, discard is great early but it's fairly irrelevant when top decked late. The 3 Lilis and 3 Hymns are great but I don't see Cabal Therapy being amazing in this list. It does have the obvious synergy with Lingering souls, which can make it devastating in certain situations, that being said that is something that won't come up until turn 3 at the earliest. Another Issue with Therapy, in this list at least, is that your creatue quality is so incredibly high that you would almost never want to sacrifice anything other than a spirit token to pay for the flashback, which is where a lot of the card's value is. I would also recommend Thoughtseize over Inquisition, the reason for this is because, even with the curve being so condensed in Legacy and IoK hitting a large amount of the commonly played cards, the things that are truly back-breaking against you cost more than three mana, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Sneak Attack, Past in Flames/Ad Nauseam to name a few. As far as the life loss is concerned, between Batterskull, Jitte and Deathrite Shaman you should be able to gain a bunch of life if you find yourself running low.
Bitterblossom:
This is interesting, it's not something I considered when building my list but seems perfectly serviceable. It provides lots of evasive bodies for your equipment or a steady stream of blockers. Also has the corner case application of pitching to Liliana to put two fairly uncommon card types into the graveyard for Tarmogoyf. Overall I think it's pretty sweet tech and if it's working for you, play it, I would definitely stay at one copy though.
Zealous Persecution:
I personally play this card in my sideboard but I can see why you would want to maindeck it considering the token sub-theme you have. It's ability to make your goyf beat your opponent's goyf in combat is pretty sweet, also very good against opposing lingering souls while being simultaneously insane with yours. It is also probably most importantly a removal spell for True-Name Nemesis out of the blue based Stoneblade decks, I can remember quite a few games where I've just died to a Nemesis with an equipment on it while my opponent had a Stoneforge Mystic or Snapcaster Mage to insulate it from Liliana's edict effect.
Lands:
4 Scrubland seems like too many, but I would certainly try to pick up a second copy, at least 1 Bayou is very worth having access to as well. Verdant Catacombs is obviously better than the Mires or Heaths, but I suspect card availability to be the issue there. As for the basics, 7 is quite a few, something that you could try since Wasteland is so unnecessary in your meta is running some number of man lands. They are quite powerful just by nature of increasing your threat density while also fixing your mana, and with how low your curve is coming into play tapped isn't much of a downside after turn four-ish. Shambling Vent would probably be the best place to start, it also has the benefit of offsetting some of the life loss from Dark Confidant and Bitterblossom. This isn't something I have tried but if you decide to go this route I would really like to hear some feedback on how they perform.
Elspeth, Knight-Errant is a card that is a pretty serious trump in the midrange mirrors, Nahiri, the Lithomancer fills the same roll, but also has the ability to bring back a dead equipment if the need arises.
Abrupt Decay is really very good and I'm surprised to not see the full amount here, However I can understand this being a meta call given your slightly unusual metagame.
Regarding Discard: Yeah, I agree. 12 forms of discard is simply too high. Good points regarding Therapy and Thoughtseize, though I still really like Inquisition - granted it may be weak against the cards you listed, but most of those cards are also cards I'm very, very unlikely to see. (If my meta ever gets to the point where I need to worry about Jace showing up, well... I've done my job to encourage the growth of the meta, lol!) That said, I agree about the lack of concern regarding Thoughtseize's life loss. I think I'll drop Hymn and Cabal entirely and replace them with 3 Thoughtseize.
Regarding Bitterblossom: Yeah, Bitterblossom can be really amazing. The fact that it's Tribal hadn't even occurred to me in regards to Goyf, holy crap! The temptation to run a second copy is really, really tempting, but I'll keep it at one for now. I rarely want more than one in play anyway, and I certainly don't need it to win - though the steady stream of chumps carrying equipment is very nice indeed. I really can't speak more highly of this card, lol.
Regarding Zealous Persecution: Yeah, I guess I was mainly looking at this as a form of wide removal vs other tokens, though I really only know of one guy in my meta who runs tokens... sometimes. Too niche for mainboarding I guess, and my meta doesn't run sideboards, so I guess Persecution gets the axe for now.
Regarding Scrublands: Hmm... I had figured since Black White were my primary colors that running 4 BW Duals would be kindof a no-brainer? Especially since I don't need to worry about land destruction. Then again, I guess I don't really need a ton of land in play with this deck... hmm... you've given me a lot to think about with this one... I'll drop down to 1 Scrubland and 1 Godless Shrine (to be replaced with Scrubland when my LGS has more in stock)
Regarding Bayou: Yes. This is quite true.
Regarding Verdant Catacombs: Yes, this is also true. Gonna see what I can do about picking up a couple of these.
Regarding Basics: Yeah, granted. I'll trim down the basics.
Regarding Wasteland and Manlands: Hmm... The notion of manlands is something I hadn't considered. With my creature base though, I'm not really sure I need them, but they're certainly worth considering. That said, I think I talked myself into running Wastelands after all though. Giving Valakut the boot is a strong enough motivation on its own I think, but hell, even if I'm up against Guild Gates the Wastelands would still be just as disruptive. Plus they're frankly just good to have anyway. Adding a playset of Wastelands and 1 Shambling Vent.
Further Land Notes: Adding 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Regarding Catchall Removal: Yeah, you may be right. Not sure I'm ready to drop one in just yet given my meta, but those are all very worthy of consideration.
Regarding Planeswalkers: I've considered Elspeth Tirel and Sorin, Solemn Visitor a few times, but neither really proved gamebreaking. Hadn't thought about Knight Errant, though I can see the use. Nahiri seems intriguing in the unlikely event that my equipment gets destroyed though - I'll have to give her some thought - she'd really hurt on a Bob flip though.
I really think you're going to like the Wastelands, even if your opponent's lands aren't particularly threatening playing a turn 1 Deathrite into a turn 2 Wasteland plus 2 drop (especially Bob) puts you so far ahead that it feels hard to lose. One small point about Wasteland is that when constructing a manabase I usually only count it as half of a land, just because it doesn't cast a fair number of the spells in your deck, I like to think of it as part of the deck's disruption suite. That being said, your land count seems to be getting dangerously low, but then again I've never tested with less than 21 lands so I might be able to reasonably cut a land from my list.
Hmm... What if I dropped one Swords to Plowshares to up the land count by one? Any suggestions for what land to increase? Considering a basic Forest...
A Forest would be good, nice to be able to play your green spells around Wasteland. Also lets you cast Abrupt Decay under Blood Moon and Back to Basics if your Deathrites have been killed. As for what to take out, that's pretty difficult, could maybe start by trimming down on a Lingering Souls, it's a very good card but it's a little on the expensive side.
Not sure I'm a fan of trimming Lingering Souls. It's kindof a cornerstone of the deck, plus it's usually my first choice of cards to pitch to Liliana of the Veil's +1. I'd much rather trim a copy of Swords to Plowshares, since it's more likely to be a dead card with all the other removal and discard I'm running.
I took out 1 Swords to Plowshares and replaced it with a Forest yesterday, and tested it at my LGS. They didn't run a tournament due to lack of attendance, but a couple people showed up and I managed to get a few casual games in. Results were very, very nice. It was painfully obvious that the deck I was running was a professional heavyweight boxer going up against a schoolyard bully, but since it's largely a pretty fair deck (if absurdly powerful), there weren't many hurt feelings or much frustration involved.
I'm not really a fan of Shambling Vent. Coming in tapped means I really don't want it as a land, especially in my opening hand. Its manland ability is kinda nice, but way too expensive - having to set aside three mana in case I need it as a blocker is cost prohibitive, and activating it on my main phase seems sub-optimal. There was one point where I had 3 Deathrite Shaman on the board, a Batterskull, and Shambling Vent. My foe was at 12 life and running mill, so I had plenty of fuel in my graveyard but I was facing two Jace's Phantasms. I could either tap the three shamans and exile some spells to deal 6 damage (and then do it again the next turn) or I could tap the shamans (and the rest of my mana) to both activate Shambling Vent and equip Batterskull onto it to gain back some life. I opted for the Vent, but I wish I had just machine gunned him down with the shamans as the game dragged on longer as a result of my choice. End result: I wished Shambling Vent was another Scrubland, or at least that it's manland ability was cheaper.
Going down to 3 Stoneforge Mystic seemed to be the right choice. I got her out when I needed her, but I wasn't overly flooded and always seemed to have a reason to play her. Confident in my decision to go from 4 to 3.
Chrome Mox showed up a couple times, once in my opening hand which let me get Dark Confidant out on turn one (and I'm pretty sure won me the game), and again later on in a different game when I imprinted a Swords to Plowshares for some extra white. The extra white wasn't utterly crucial, but it did help a bit to have even a tiny amount of ramp. Plus it gave me something useful to do with an at-the-time dead Swords to Plowshares. Overall, I can attest that a singleton Chrome Mox seems to be a good decision.
I wish I had a 4th Tarmogoyf. I will eventually finish the playset, and it will probably take the place of Chrome Mox, despite the Mox's occasional usefulness.
Abrupt Decay + Swords to Plowshares + Liliana of the Veil = Boardwipe, and a very frustrated opponent, lol. He's a good friend of mine though, so no harm no foul. It's funny though, he was getting quite frustrated that I was playing control (and quite frustrated that control was even a thing that could be played). The funny thing is that I realized that up until now, I hadn't actually thought of this as a control deck, though yeah, I guess it certainly is. With all the targeted discard and removal effects, it certainly accomplishes that end. Granted there are no counterspells, which is what I traditionally think of when I think of control, but still, in the end I was controlling the board state quite effectively. Huh, go fig.
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth showed up a few times and really did a lot of work. Being able to tap my fetchlands for black if I didn't need them for their normal purpose was very useful. Also, since most of the time my opponents were running basic lands, being able to use Wasteland for something other than colorless mana was a welcome change.
I faced a foe that relied on resolving a creature, Quicksilver Dagger, and Mind Over Matter. Wasteland and Thoughtseize straight up won me G1, no questions asked - Thoughtseize let me axe his Mind over Matter, and Wasteland took out his Izzet Boilerworks; dude never stood a chance. G2 he wisely played nothing but basic lands (of which he had plenty), and I made a tactical error Seizing out a Counterspell instead of a Suffocating Blast when I had an Inquisition of Kozilek in hand. It was a stupid mistake that hit me in the face later in the game (I was still tired from the midnight prerelease the night before). I still easily won the match though by way of all my creature removal. He couldn't keep anything on the board that could ping me, let alone repeatedly.
Overall, in my current local meta, Wasteland is not an optimal land choice. With little exception, every time it showed up I wished it was a fetchland or a dual of some sort. Even Shambling Vent, despite coming in tapped, would at least give me colored mana the next turn. There were a couple hands I needed to mulligan because they were full of nothing but colorless mana. However, that said, on the rare occasion when I faced an opponent playing a non-basic land, it did come in useful. Especially when they had to spend two turns to get that land out in the first place (the aforementioned Izzet Boilerworks)
I went up against a budget Auras deck that didn't seem to involve any hexproof creatures (why?). He wound up turning a Satyr Wayfinder into a 5/6 (or was it 6/5? I can't remember, eh...) with Trample from Rancor and Protection from Black (I had a Deathrite Shaman out at the time). I resolved a Tarmogoyf as a 4/5 and he gave the Satyr Protection from Green instead, making his own Rancor fall off. Why he did this when my Goyf would have died anyway if I blocked is unknown to me, but w/e. I resolved a Lingering Souls and slapped Umezawa's Jitte back and forth between attacking and blocking spirits. It was the beginning of the end.
At one point the night before (before the prerelease event started), a friend of mine asked if I was playing my Abzan deck. Another guy the next table over was like "Hell yeah! Abzan rocks the kazbah!" and we had a mutual moment of brotherhood over the awesomeness of color preference. Later I asked him what he was running in his Abzan deck and discovered he was referring to Standard. I showed him my deck and his eyes popped out of his head, lol. It was delicious.
That said, there tend to be two flavors of opponent in this tiny tournament: A) "I play a creature and hit you with it", and B) "Burn, or sometimes Dragons". Essentially, one guy invariably plays either his Burn deck or his Dragon deck, while everyone else plays Timmy. Occasionally something more interesting hits the field, but that's essentially the nuts and bolts of the situation.
My goal here is to make a deck that can reliably placate Spike in this scenario. I'd like to be able to expect an undefeated first place victory with a fair deck, and not resort to combo tricks or something like Infect. I want it to feel like a difficult deck to face, without feeling cheated.
Beneath this spoiler is my current deck solution, thoughts and concerns, etc
3x Deathrite Shaman
3x Dark Confidant
4x Stoneforge Mystic
3x Tarmogoyf
Artifacts: 4
1x Chrome Mox
1x Umezawa's Jitte
1x Sword of Fire and Ice
1x Batterskull
1x Bitterblossom
Sorceries: 13
3x Cabal Therapy
3x Inquisition of Kozilek
3x Hymn to Tourach
4x Lingering Souls
Instants: 6
4x Swords to Plowshares
2x Abrupt Decay
Planeswalkers: 3
3x Liliana of the Veil
4x Marsh Flats
2x Bloodstained Mire
2x Windswept Heath
1x Scrubland
1x Savannah
3x Godless Shrine
4x Swamp
2x Plains
1x Forest
Further Thoughts
Creatures
3 Deathrite Shaman: Deathrite Shaman is fantastic. He does an enormous amount of work for me, whether ramping, handing out the hurt, or giving me back some much needed life. If he doesn't get burned or otherwise immediately removed he's pure gold. I've swapped out one copy of him for a singleton Chrome Mox though, as multiple Shamans don't seem quite as useful.
3 Dark Confidant: Without Sensei's Divining Top, Bob hurts. I rarely hit Batterskull with him though, so it's an easy pain to bear most of the time, especially once I stabilize with Jitte or Batterskull lifegain. That said, the card advantage is just nuts. Another must-remove-immediately creature for my burn-happy foes.
4 Stoneforge Mystic: My favorite creature of the bunch. Whether or not she gets removed, I still get to tutor up some game-ending equipment which (especially thanks to DRS) I should be able to easily hard cast if I need to. If she sticks around, all the better to flash in a blocking Batterskull with, my dear. Yet another creature that needs an immediate response or die.
3 Tarmogoyf: This will likely be made a full playset once I have the cash. Oh hells yeah, this thing is an absolute beast. Difficult to burn out, must answer, hard to kill with blockers... Slap a Jitte on this guy (or better yet, Batterskull), and it's pretty much game over if my opponent doesn't do anything about it.
Artifacts
1 Chrome Mox: Taking the place of 1 DRS, I find Chrome Mox to be a good ramper while helping me do something with extra cards in hand that I don't really need. Slap a DRS onto it and it basically becomes a Bayou.
1 Umezawa's Jitte, 1 Sword of Fire and Ice, 1 Batterskull: Any one of these cards can (and frequently do) win me the game with just about any creature on the board. That said, if the get smashed to smithereens, I can still win by straight up beatdown if need be (or swarming with Faeries and Spirits)
Enchantments
1 Bitterblossom: It's a rare thing when I run into Enchantment removal in my meta, so this is almost certainly a game winner every time it lands. Even if I can't get a Jitte or a Batterskull out, the sheer swarm of Faeries inevitably grind my foes into pulp before it kills me. That said, I rarely want more than one of these on the board, they don't do anything productive until at least turn 4, and the life loss can really hurt at times. So I'm only running 1 at the moment.
Sorceries
3 Cabal Therapy: With 4 Lingering Souls and 1 Bitterblossom, not to mention the ability to sack Bob if I have to, Cabal Therapy seems the targetted discard of choice. It's especially useful after resolving an Inquisition. My only thought is that perhaps I should run a second copy of Bitterblossom to increase my sackable token count? I dunno...
3 Inquisition of Kozilek: While Thoughtseize would probably be better, I have enough life loss going on between Fetches, Bob, and Bitterblossom that I really don't need more chances to hit myself in the face. Inquisition will get rid of most every threat that matters, most of the time.
3 Hymn to Tourach: And what Inquisition and Therapy don't get, Hymn will.
4 Lingering Souls: One of my primary sources of attackers and blockers. 4 flyers for 5 mana total, easy to mana fix, feeds Therapy, what's not to love? I guess it doesn't jive too well with Deathrite and Tarmogoyf, but I have enough other Sorceries to feed them that it shouldn't matter.
4 Swords to Plowshares: Best removal in Legacy, period. With all my equipment tricks and swarm tactics, their lifegain barely even matters.
2 Abrupt Decay: What I can't Swrods, I can Decay. Only currently running 2, but I'm open to running more if need be.
Planeswalkers
3 Liliana of the Veil: Oh man, how I love Lily. I invariably use her -2 as soon as she lands (possibly preceded by Swords or Decay to clear the board entirely). I try to use her +1 with either Lingering Souls or some card type I need to feed Tarmogoyf. Failing that I try to empty my hand before ticking her up. I usually then -2 her again to remove whatever else they happen to play, or just keep ticking her up if they don't play anything. I've never actually gotten to use her ultimate. I find I frequently seem to wind up with multiples of her in hand though, so sometimes I'll play her, -2, +1, -2, and then resolve a second and -2 again, lol. Oh man, she's just brutal.
Land
8 Fetchlands: 4 Marsh Flats, 2 Bloodstained Mire, 2 Windswept Heath
4 BW Dual Lands: 1 Scrubland, 3 Godless Shrine (Once I can afford 3 more Scrublands the Shrines will be dropped entirely)
1 GW Dual Land: 1 Savannah (Couldn't afford a Bayou at the time, Savannah seems perfectly acceptable, don't want to use Overgrown Tomb)
7 Basic Lands: 4 Swamp, 2 Plains, 1 Forest
0 Wasteland: Hardly anyone else in my local meta uses anything but basics. Sometimes they'll use crappy duals that come in tapped, or something like Evolving Wilds (I've yet to encounter another actual Fetchland), but frankly I'm not worried about having trouble beating those decks. Thus, Wasteland would be, well... wasted, lol. One guy does use a singleton Valakut, but he doesn't run Scapeshift (or any other combo with it, or any method of fetching lands at all...), he just relies on it as an occasional Lightning Bolt. I guess Wasteland would be good against that, but frankly, it's an expensive card to buy just to hose a small part of one deck. If he starts running multiple copies I might look into it I guess.
Some Questions:
* Am I going too heavy on Discard? 3 copies each of Liliana, Hymn, Inquisition, and Therapy feels like a lot, but maybe that's a good thing?
* I went from 3 Bitterblossom down to 1. This feels like it might not be enough. Should I increase this to 2?
* Should I find a way to fit Zealous Persecution in here somewhere?
* Am I running too many basics?
(Beneath this spoiler was my original deck solution. I've since updated with the deck discussed above, but I left this one here for posterity)
Here's what I've come up with so far... it has some weaknesses for sure, and I'm hoping to try and iron them out a bit. It's essentially Abzan Deathblade at the moment, with some twists and turns.
A note on Sideboards: There isn't one. This particular tournament is a round-robin one-and-done type of deal. Thus, any cards in the deck are the only cards in the deck.
4x Deathrite Shaman
4x Stoneforge Mystic
4x Kodama's Reach
3x Worldly Tutor
1x Sword of Fire and Ice
1x Umezawa's Jitte
Attackers:
4x Vampire Nighthawk
3x Baneslayer Angel
3x Bitterblossom
1x Batterskull
4x Abrupt Decay
4x Path to Exile
Land:
4x Marsh Flats
4x Windswept Heath
1x Bayou
1x Savannah
1x Scrubland
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4x Forest
4x Plains
4x Swamp
Notes:
Deathrite Shaman: A solid card, for sure. Though I'm almost certain it will eat a Lightning Bolt before it hits sees its first upkeep. For that reason alone I'm unsure if I should keep it in the deck. It will certainly do some work against my other opponents, but against my primary foe it mainly serves as burn-bait.
Stoneforge Mystic, Batterskull, Sword of Fire and Ice, Umezawa's Jitte: If SFM gets burned before I can use her ability to get Batterskull out, then Batterskull is largely useless. The Sword & Jitte are cheap enough that I could reliably get them out without using SFM to do it though.
Kodama's Reach: Need a late-game ramping strategy to power out Baneslayer Angel (or possibly Batterskull if SFM bites it)
Worldly Tutor: Reliable method to go fetch whatever creature I may need... which will likely mean either Stoneforge Mystic or Baneslayer Angel
Baneslayer Angel: This thing is a beast, especially since my primary foe tends to play Dragons if he's not running Burn.
Bitterblossom: My nemesis has a really bad habit of just burning any creatures that hit the field, rather than focusing on his opponent, so this card does double duty... either I get a swarm of creatures to hit him in the face, or he wastes all his burn spells dealing with faeries instead of me. Either way its a win for me. Against other opponents it's standard fare.
Vampire Nighthawk: Will almost certainly eat a Lightning Bolt, but if it sticks around it can get me back some life.
Abrupt Decay: No more Dragon's Claw for you, my friend! Removal card of choice. It helps out Deathrite Shaman; it hoses artifacts, enchantments, or whatever else I may need. Yes please!
Path to Exile: Oddly enough, my plan for including this is to get some benefit out of my creatures getting burned. If I play an SFM, for example, and it takes a Lightning Bolt to the face, I can PTE it first to go fetch myself some land. It does have the negative drawback of not helping out Deathrite Shaman very much though.
Marsh Flats, Windswept Heath: Self-explanatory
Bayou, Savannah, Scrubland: One of each should be sufficient for all my color-fixing needs
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth: Always helpful
Forest, Plains, Swamp: Can't go wrong with Basics
Alternately, play more Lingering Souls to go with your equipment. Possibly also Hymn to Tourach is pretty good, and so is Cabal Therapy with tokens especially and move towards something more akin to Deadguy Ale.
Modern: WUBValue Titan UMerfolk WGDeath and Taxes
4 Dark Confidant
4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Tarmogoyf
Sorceries (9)
3 Hymn to Tourach
1 Lingering Souls
1 Maelstrom Pulse
4 Thoughtseize
4 Abrupt Decay
4 Swords to Plowshares
Planeswalkers (3)
3 Liliana of the Veil
Artifacts (2)
1 Batterskull
1 Umezawa's Jitte
Lands (22)
2 Bayou
1 Forest
4 Marsh Flats
1 Plains
1 Savannah
2 Scrubland
2 Swamp
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Wasteland
1 Windswept Heath
This is what I'm currently playing and it seems to be in a very similar vein to what you're trying to do. No combos, very fair, very grindy. I'm not sure what your exact budget looks like but I can assure you that if you can afford to spring for the Goyfs and Bobs they are definitely worth it. The only issue I see you having with this list stems from how effective Wasteland is in your local meta.
Worldy tutor? solid, but if it were me, I'd pay one more and run eladamri's call and put them straight into hand. Done at their end of turn, it allows you card parity and a chance at something additional rather than topdeck manipulation.
Credit to DolZero for this awesome sig!
3x Deathrite Shaman
3x Dark Confidant
4x Stoneforge Mystic
3x Tarmogoyf
Artifacts: 4
1x Chrome Mox
1x Umezawa's Jitte
1x Sword of Fire and Ice
1x Batterskull
1x Bitterblossom
Sorceries: 13
3x Cabal Therapy
3x Inquisition of Kozilek
3x Hymn to Tourach
4x Lingering Souls
Instants: 6
4x Swords to Plowshares
2x Abrupt Decay
Planeswalkers: 3
3x Liliana of the Veil
4x Marsh Flats
2x Bloodstained Mire
2x Windswept Heath
1x Scrubland
1x Savannah
3x Godless Shrine
4x Swamp
2x Plains
1x Forest
Further Thoughts
Creatures
3 Deathrite Shaman: Deathrite Shaman is fantastic. He does an enormous amount of work for me, whether ramping, handing out the hurt, or giving me back some much needed life. If he doesn't get burned or otherwise immediately removed he's pure gold. I've swapped out one copy of him for a singleton Chrome Mox though, as multiple Shamans don't seem quite as useful.
3 Dark Confidant: Without Sensei's Divining Top, Bob hurts. I rarely hit Batterskull with him though, so it's an easy pain to bear most of the time, especially once I stabilize with Jitte or Batterskull lifegain. That said, the card advantage is just nuts. Another must-remove-immediately creature for my burn-happy foes.
4 Stoneforge Mystic: My favorite creature of the bunch. Whether or not she gets removed, I still get to tutor up some game-ending equipment which (especially thanks to DRS) I should be able to easily hard cast if I need to. If she sticks around, all the better to flash in a blocking Batterskull with, my dear. Yet another creature that needs an immediate response or die.
3 Tarmogoyf: This will likely be made a full playset once I have the cash. Oh hells yeah, this thing is an absolute beast. Difficult to burn out, must answer, hard to kill with blockers... Slap a Jitte on this guy (or better yet, Batterskull), and it's pretty much game over if my opponent doesn't do anything about it.
Artifacts
1 Chrome Mox: Taking the place of 1 DRS, I find Chrome Mox to be a good ramper while helping me do something with extra cards in hand that I don't really need. Slap a DRS onto it and it basically becomes a Bayou.
1 Umezawa's Jitte, 1 Sword of Fire and Ice, 1 Batterskull: Any one of these cards can (and frequently do) win me the game with just about any creature on the board. That said, if the get smashed to smithereens, I can still win by straight up beatdown if need be (or swarming with Faeries and Spirits)
Enchantments
1 Bitterblossom: It's a rare thing when I run into Enchantment removal in my meta, so this is almost certainly a game winner every time it lands. Even if I can't get a Jitte or a Batterskull out, the sheer swarm of Faeries inevitably grind my foes into pulp before it kills me. That said, I rarely want more than one of these on the board, they don't do anything productive until at least turn 4, and the life loss can really hurt at times. So I'm only running 1 at the moment.
Sorceries
3 Cabal Therapy: With 4 Lingering Souls and 1 Bitterblossom, not to mention the ability to sack Bob if I have to, Cabal Therapy seems the targetted discard of choice. It's especially useful after resolving an Inquisition. My only thought is that perhaps I should run a second copy of Bitterblossom to increase my sackable token count? I dunno...
3 Inquisition of Kozilek: While Thoughtseize would probably be better, I have enough life loss going on between Fetches, Bob, and Bitterblossom that I really don't need more chances to hit myself in the face. Inquisition will get rid of most every threat that matters, most of the time.
3 Hymn to Tourach: And what Inquisition and Therapy don't get, Hymn will.
4 Lingering Souls: One of my primary sources of attackers and blockers. 4 flyers for 5 mana total, easy to mana fix, feeds Therapy, what's not to love? I guess it doesn't jive too well with Deathrite and Tarmogoyf, but I have enough other Sorceries to feed them that it shouldn't matter.
4 Swords to Plowshares: Best removal in Legacy, period. With all my equipment tricks and swarm tactics, their lifegain barely even matters.
2 Abrupt Decay: What I can't Swrods, I can Decay. Only currently running 2, but I'm open to running more if need be.
Planeswalkers
3 Liliana of the Veil: Oh man, how I love Lily. I invariably use her -2 as soon as she lands (possibly preceded by Swords or Decay to clear the board entirely). I try to use her +1 with either Lingering Souls or some card type I need to feed Tarmogoyf. Failing that I try to empty my hand before ticking her up. I usually then -2 her again to remove whatever else they happen to play, or just keep ticking her up if they don't play anything. I've never actually gotten to use her ultimate. I find I frequently seem to wind up with multiples of her in hand though, so sometimes I'll play her, -2, +1, -2, and then resolve a second and -2 again, lol. Oh man, she's just brutal.
Land
8 Fetchlands: 4 Marsh Flats, 2 Bloodstained Mire, 2 Windswept Heath
4 BW Dual Lands: 1 Scrubland, 3 Godless Shrine (Once I can afford 3 more Scrublands the Shrines will be dropped entirely)
1 GW Dual Land: 1 Savannah (Couldn't afford a Bayou at the time, Savannah seems perfectly acceptable, don't want to use Overgrown Tomb)
7 Basic Lands: 4 Swamp, 2 Plains, 1 Forest
0 Wasteland: Hardly anyone else in my local meta uses anything but basics. Sometimes they'll use crappy duals that come in tapped, or something like Evolving Wilds (I've yet to encounter another actual Fetchland), but frankly I'm not worried about having trouble beating those decks. Thus, Wasteland would be, well... wasted, lol. One guy does use a singleton Valakut, but he doesn't run Scapeshift (or any other combo with it, or any method of fetching lands at all...), he just relies on it as an occasional Lightning Bolt. I guess Wasteland would be good against that, but frankly, it's an expensive card to buy just to hose a small part of one deck. If he starts running multiple copies I might look into it I guess. Maybe I'll toss in Ghost Quarter just for stuff like this.
Some Questions:
* Am I going too heavy on Discard? 3 copies each of Liliana, Hymn, Inquisition, and Therapy feels like a lot, but maybe that's a good thing?
* I went from 3 Bitterblossom down to 1. This feels like it might not be enough. Should I increase this to 2?
* Should I find a way to fit Zealous Persecution in here somewhere?
* Am I running too many basics?
In regards to your questions:
Discard:
I think you discard count is a little high, discard is great early but it's fairly irrelevant when top decked late. The 3 Lilis and 3 Hymns are great but I don't see Cabal Therapy being amazing in this list. It does have the obvious synergy with Lingering souls, which can make it devastating in certain situations, that being said that is something that won't come up until turn 3 at the earliest. Another Issue with Therapy, in this list at least, is that your creatue quality is so incredibly high that you would almost never want to sacrifice anything other than a spirit token to pay for the flashback, which is where a lot of the card's value is. I would also recommend Thoughtseize over Inquisition, the reason for this is because, even with the curve being so condensed in Legacy and IoK hitting a large amount of the commonly played cards, the things that are truly back-breaking against you cost more than three mana, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Sneak Attack, Past in Flames/Ad Nauseam to name a few. As far as the life loss is concerned, between Batterskull, Jitte and Deathrite Shaman you should be able to gain a bunch of life if you find yourself running low.
Bitterblossom:
This is interesting, it's not something I considered when building my list but seems perfectly serviceable. It provides lots of evasive bodies for your equipment or a steady stream of blockers. Also has the corner case application of pitching to Liliana to put two fairly uncommon card types into the graveyard for Tarmogoyf. Overall I think it's pretty sweet tech and if it's working for you, play it, I would definitely stay at one copy though.
Zealous Persecution:
I personally play this card in my sideboard but I can see why you would want to maindeck it considering the token sub-theme you have. It's ability to make your goyf beat your opponent's goyf in combat is pretty sweet, also very good against opposing lingering souls while being simultaneously insane with yours. It is also probably most importantly a removal spell for True-Name Nemesis out of the blue based Stoneblade decks, I can remember quite a few games where I've just died to a Nemesis with an equipment on it while my opponent had a Stoneforge Mystic or Snapcaster Mage to insulate it from Liliana's edict effect.
Lands:
4 Scrubland seems like too many, but I would certainly try to pick up a second copy, at least 1 Bayou is very worth having access to as well. Verdant Catacombs is obviously better than the Mires or Heaths, but I suspect card availability to be the issue there. As for the basics, 7 is quite a few, something that you could try since Wasteland is so unnecessary in your meta is running some number of man lands. They are quite powerful just by nature of increasing your threat density while also fixing your mana, and with how low your curve is coming into play tapped isn't much of a downside after turn four-ish. Shambling Vent would probably be the best place to start, it also has the benefit of offsetting some of the life loss from Dark Confidant and Bitterblossom. This isn't something I have tried but if you decide to go this route I would really like to hear some feedback on how they perform.
General observations:
A catchall removal spell might be worth a slot, something along the lines of Maelstrom Pulse/Vindicate/Council's Judgment.
Elspeth, Knight-Errant is a card that is a pretty serious trump in the midrange mirrors, Nahiri, the Lithomancer fills the same roll, but also has the ability to bring back a dead equipment if the need arises.
Abrupt Decay is really very good and I'm surprised to not see the full amount here, However I can understand this being a meta call given your slightly unusual metagame.
Regarding Discard: Yeah, I agree. 12 forms of discard is simply too high. Good points regarding Therapy and Thoughtseize, though I still really like Inquisition - granted it may be weak against the cards you listed, but most of those cards are also cards I'm very, very unlikely to see. (If my meta ever gets to the point where I need to worry about Jace showing up, well... I've done my job to encourage the growth of the meta, lol!) That said, I agree about the lack of concern regarding Thoughtseize's life loss. I think I'll drop Hymn and Cabal entirely and replace them with 3 Thoughtseize.
Regarding Bitterblossom: Yeah, Bitterblossom can be really amazing. The fact that it's Tribal hadn't even occurred to me in regards to Goyf, holy crap! The temptation to run a second copy is really, really tempting, but I'll keep it at one for now. I rarely want more than one in play anyway, and I certainly don't need it to win - though the steady stream of chumps carrying equipment is very nice indeed. I really can't speak more highly of this card, lol.
Regarding Zealous Persecution: Yeah, I guess I was mainly looking at this as a form of wide removal vs other tokens, though I really only know of one guy in my meta who runs tokens... sometimes. Too niche for mainboarding I guess, and my meta doesn't run sideboards, so I guess Persecution gets the axe for now.
Regarding Scrublands: Hmm... I had figured since Black White were my primary colors that running 4 BW Duals would be kindof a no-brainer? Especially since I don't need to worry about land destruction. Then again, I guess I don't really need a ton of land in play with this deck... hmm... you've given me a lot to think about with this one... I'll drop down to 1 Scrubland and 1 Godless Shrine (to be replaced with Scrubland when my LGS has more in stock)
Regarding Bayou: Yes. This is quite true.
Regarding Verdant Catacombs: Yes, this is also true. Gonna see what I can do about picking up a couple of these.
Regarding Basics: Yeah, granted. I'll trim down the basics.
Regarding Wasteland and Manlands: Hmm... The notion of manlands is something I hadn't considered. With my creature base though, I'm not really sure I need them, but they're certainly worth considering. That said, I think I talked myself into running Wastelands after all though. Giving Valakut the boot is a strong enough motivation on its own I think, but hell, even if I'm up against Guild Gates the Wastelands would still be just as disruptive. Plus they're frankly just good to have anyway. Adding a playset of Wastelands and 1 Shambling Vent.
Further Land Notes: Adding 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Regarding Catchall Removal: Yeah, you may be right. Not sure I'm ready to drop one in just yet given my meta, but those are all very worthy of consideration.
Regarding Planeswalkers: I've considered Elspeth Tirel and Sorin, Solemn Visitor a few times, but neither really proved gamebreaking. Hadn't thought about Knight Errant, though I can see the use. Nahiri seems intriguing in the unlikely event that my equipment gets destroyed though - I'll have to give her some thought - she'd really hurt on a Bob flip though.
Regarding Abrupt Decay: Yeah, you're right. Adding 2 Abrupt Decay.
Here's my updated list:
3x Deathrite Shaman
4x Dark Confidant
4x Stoneforge Mystic
3x Tarmogoyf
Artifacts: 4
1x Chrome Mox
1x Umezawa's Jitte
1x Sword of Fire and Ice
1x Batterskull
Enchantments: 1
1x Bitterblossom
3x Inquisition of Kozilek
3x Thoughtseize
4x Lingering Souls
Instants: 8
4x Swords to Plowshares
4x Abrupt Decay
Planeswalkers: 3
3x Liliana of the Veil
Fetchland: 8
4x Marsh Flats
2x Verdant Catacombs
2x Windswept Heath
1x Scrubland
1x Godless Shrine
1x Savannah
1x Bayou
Basic Lands: 2
1x Swamp
1x Plains
Utility Lands: 4
4x Wasteland
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1x Shambling Vent
+1 Dark Confidant
+3 Thoughtseize
+2 Abrupt Decay
+2 Verdant Catacombs
+1 Bayou
+4 Wasteland
+1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
+1 Shambling Vent
-3 Hymn to Tourach
-3 Cabal Therapy
-2 Godless Shrine
-2 Bloodstained Mire
-3 Swamp
-1 Plains
-1 Forest
I really think you're going to like the Wastelands, even if your opponent's lands aren't particularly threatening playing a turn 1 Deathrite into a turn 2 Wasteland plus 2 drop (especially Bob) puts you so far ahead that it feels hard to lose. One small point about Wasteland is that when constructing a manabase I usually only count it as half of a land, just because it doesn't cast a fair number of the spells in your deck, I like to think of it as part of the deck's disruption suite. That being said, your land count seems to be getting dangerously low, but then again I've never tested with less than 21 lands so I might be able to reasonably cut a land from my list.
I took out 1 Swords to Plowshares and replaced it with a Forest yesterday, and tested it at my LGS. They didn't run a tournament due to lack of attendance, but a couple people showed up and I managed to get a few casual games in. Results were very, very nice. It was painfully obvious that the deck I was running was a professional heavyweight boxer going up against a schoolyard bully, but since it's largely a pretty fair deck (if absurdly powerful), there weren't many hurt feelings or much frustration involved.
Some stuff I noticed: (Note: I also went down to 3 Stoneforge Mystic in favor of a 4th Deathrite Shaman while keeping Chrome Mox, since I noticed a lot of Deathblade decks seem to use 3 Stoneforge Mystic)