This started out as a side project but has become my main EDH deck. I love using peoples cards against them, having an answer to everything without being 'that guy' unless it is absolutely needed and huge things that are unblockable. Given that Wrexial, the Risen Deep is all of these things he is great fun.
Just a note, I don't do a heavy mill or discard theme. Mill is in the deck but it is often hand-recycling or cards designed to ruin top style manipulation.
In my opinion Propaganda and No Mercy are two of the worst cards to be running in EDH. They do not disrupt the board and they force you into sacrificing two card slots for cards that essentially do nothing. If you want to protect yourself, run cards to destroy the threat. These cards simply force an opponent who has board position to destroy someone else before they destroy you.
In my opinion Propaganda and No Mercy are two of the worst cards to be running in EDH. They do not disrupt the board and they force you into sacrificing two card slots for cards that essentially do nothing. If you want to protect yourself, run cards to destroy the threat. These cards simply force an opponent who has board position to destroy someone else before they destroy you.
I understand the lack of board presence the cards create but in an aggro heavy meta those 2 cards are really helpful given the low creature count. I can only nuke the board so many times when Uril, the Miststalker comes out. No Mercy is a possible on the chopping block though since I'm having a good amount of success with the evacuation I just added.
No Mercy: This is my answer is Voltron generals like Uril, the Miststalker. They want a fast start and if those generals swing on me it slows them down considerably. By the time one gets huge enough I have a board wipe + tuck prepared or something like that.
Geth and Sheoldred were left over from another deck I dismantled. They looked good so I threw them in :tongue:. They are pretty close to the chopping block because of the 10 clone effects that pop up every game.
Myojin is part of a combo with Evacuation. Bounce every creature in response to triggering him and watch the whole table want to kill me.
Stell Hellkite is in there for enchantment/artifact removal. I couldn't find anything better in the colors that covers both of them.
Frost Titan I included because of promo art and a cute Rite of Replication target.
Grave Titan was included to get chump blockers before I added No Mercy. Another cute Rite of Replication target.
Kederekt Leviathan is going in ASAP. 3 mana with Necromancy and him in the grave to shut down aggro decks at instant speed is pretty much exactly what I was looking for.
Stormtide Leviathan is another one I feel stupid for not seeing before.
Bonus points for both of them being in theme.
Blatant Thievery, Elixir of Immortality, Withered Wretch, Reins of Power, Windfall, and Syphon Mind all seem pretty random. You might consider more draw and filtering spells to maintain card advantage and lower your curve. More tutors is always powerful too:
Blatant Thievery, Elixir of Immortality, Withered Wretch, Reins of Power, Windfall, and Syphon Mind all seem pretty random. You might consider more draw and filtering spells to maintain card advantage and lower your curve. More tutors is always powerful too:
Blatant Thievery helps me steal the biggest threats on the board that I couldn't otherwise get (Planeswalkers/Enchantments/Artifacts). Between Snapcaster Mage and Mnemonic Wall it gets cast at least 2 times if I draw into it or tutor it up.
Elixir of Immortality is because Bojuka Bog is always a problem in my meta and it helps me get back artifacts for Wrexial.
Reins of Power punishes token decks who over-extend with a massive haste powered swarm. Since said tokens can't swing and this deck uses so few creatures that leaves them wide open to the board wipe that inevitably comes.
Windfall is used with Evacuation. I pitch my bad hand and couple of creatures while the aggro players lose their board position AND hands.
Syphon Mind is just a draw spell with a bit of discard thrown in. It gets me 3 cards and Wrexial food for 4 mana which I can't really argue with.
My mana base is actually pretty solid with the current build. There has been one game I've been hurting for colors and it was because of no land to begin with. It may need a couple more duals because of the triple blue I added. Not adding any bouncelands though since those always get hit with LD.
Edit: I proxied up a list of changes and found that the deck does flow better without the splashy creatures. I hate to take them out but can't be helped. Updating the OP with changes.
Did some testing and didn't like Time Stretch overly. The meta isn't able to handle it and I feel like an ass taking 4 or 6 extra turns into a combo win for over half of my games. Thats out until people get answers or I move into a more competitive meta. Frost Titan is back in since it does a more soft lockdown and helps set up combo wins after being Rite of Replicated.
Myojin of Night's Reach was turning out to be a dead card over half of the times I drew into it and the other half drew too much hate. Mind Twist went in since that scales better and lets me hit one player without getting the entire table on me.
Just a note, I don't do a heavy mill or discard theme. Mill is in the deck but it is often hand-recycling or cards designed to ruin top style manipulation.
Kraken Searching Tools:
1 Mystical Teachings
1 Diabolic Tutor
1 Lim-Dul's Vault
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Praetor's Grasp
1 Fabricate
1 Soothsaying
1 Expedition Map
Kraken Draw Tricks:
1 Jace, Memory Adept
1 Syphon Mind
1 Mulldrifter
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Windfall
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Blue Sun's Zenith
Kraken in Your Base Clonin' Your Dudes
1 Evil Twin
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
Kraken Necromancy:
1 Necromancy
1 Animate Dead
1 Mimic Vat
Tools for the Kraken:
1 Darksteel Plate
1 Fireshrieker
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Elixir of Immortality
1 Withered Wretch
1 Leyline of Anticipation
1 Capsize
1 Twincast
Kraken Defensive Maneuvers:
1 Propaganda
1 Mind Twist
Removal for the Removal God:
1 Pongify
1 Doom Blade (meta has very little black creatures)
1 Go for the Throat
1 Sever the Bloodline
Kraken Nukes:
1 Decree of Pain
1 Life's Finale
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Evacuation
Kraken Say's 'Win!':
1 Rite of Replication
1 Crystal Shard
1 Reins of Power
1 Mnemonic Wall
1 Blatant Thievery
Kraken Say's 'No!':
1 Dissipate
1 Spell Crumple
1 Hinder
1 Desertion
1 Arcane Denial
1 Counterspell
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Talisman of Dominance
1 Mind Stone
1 Sol Ring
1 Dimir Signet
1 Coalition Relic
Kraken's Assistants:
1 Kederekt Leviathan
1 Stormtide Leviathan
1 Frost Titan
Kraken's Lair:
16 Island
11 Swamp
1 Mystifying Maze
1 Darkwater Catacombs
1 Halimar Depths
1 Buried Ruin (budget for Academy)
1 Jwar Isle Refuge
1 Underground River
1 Command Tower
1 Drowned Catacomb
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Tainted Isle
Misc. Stuff
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Underground Sea
1 Watery Grave
1 Sunken Ruins
1 Bribery
1 Academy Ruins
1 Creeping Tar Pit
Changes
-1 Geth, Lord of the Vault -> +1 Stormtide Leviathan
-1 Frost Titan -> +1 Time Stretch
-1 Steel Hellkite -> +1 Phyrexian Arena
-1 Sheoldred -> +1 Crystal Shard
-1 Trepanation Blade -> +1 Soothsaying
-1 No Mercy -> +1 Blue Sun's Zenith
I understand the lack of board presence the cards create but in an aggro heavy meta those 2 cards are really helpful given the low creature count. I can only nuke the board so many times when Uril, the Miststalker comes out. No Mercy is a possible on the chopping block though since I'm having a good amount of success with the evacuation I just added.
Propaganda: Holds off token swarms until I can tutor up Reins of Power to steal the tokens and kill the player who created them in the first place or board wipe. It also isn't uncommon to see a huge Boseiju, Who Shelters All fueled Genesis Wave for 50 or Tooth and Nail for Avenger of Zendikar and Primetime with an Akroma's Memorial or Crossroads.
No Mercy: This is my answer is Voltron generals like Uril, the Miststalker. They want a fast start and if those generals swing on me it slows them down considerably. By the time one gets huge enough I have a board wipe + tuck prepared or something like that.
They're splashy but don't enhance what your deck does.
Quicksilver Fountain
Stormtide Leviathan
Mask of Riddles
Kederekt Leviathan
Sphinx Ambassador
Whispersilk Cloak
Fabricate
Modern
RBig RedR
GMean GreenG
WWW AlliesW
BGScavengeBG
WUVenser SilenceWU
EDH
RWAurelia 1 vs 1RW
GWURoonGWU
GWSaffiGW
Geth and Sheoldred were left over from another deck I dismantled. They looked good so I threw them in :tongue:. They are pretty close to the chopping block because of the 10 clone effects that pop up every game.
Myojin is part of a combo with Evacuation. Bounce every creature in response to triggering him and watch the whole table want to kill me.
Stell Hellkite is in there for enchantment/artifact removal. I couldn't find anything better in the colors that covers both of them.
Frost Titan I included because of promo art and a cute Rite of Replication target.
Grave Titan was included to get chump blockers before I added No Mercy. Another cute Rite of Replication target.
Kederekt Leviathan is going in ASAP. 3 mana with Necromancy and him in the grave to shut down aggro decks at instant speed is pretty much exactly what I was looking for.
Stormtide Leviathan is another one I feel stupid for not seeing before.
Bonus points for both of them being in theme.
I don't know how your mana fixing does, but here are some more budget options:
Secluded Glen
Tainted Isle
Dimir Aqueduct
Frost Marsh
Vivid Marsh
Vivid Creek
Grand Coliseum
Blatant Thievery, Elixir of Immortality, Withered Wretch, Reins of Power, Windfall, and Syphon Mind all seem pretty random. You might consider more draw and filtering spells to maintain card advantage and lower your curve. More tutors is always powerful too:
Draw:
Phyrexian Arena
Recurring Insight
Filter/Draw:
Ponder
Brainstorm
Budget Tutor:
Beseech the Queen
Muddle the Mixture
Perplex
Modern
RBig RedR
GMean GreenG
WWW AlliesW
BGScavengeBG
WUVenser SilenceWU
EDH
RWAurelia 1 vs 1RW
GWURoonGWU
GWSaffiGW
Blatant Thievery helps me steal the biggest threats on the board that I couldn't otherwise get (Planeswalkers/Enchantments/Artifacts). Between Snapcaster Mage and Mnemonic Wall it gets cast at least 2 times if I draw into it or tutor it up.
Elixir of Immortality is because Bojuka Bog is always a problem in my meta and it helps me get back artifacts for Wrexial.
Withered Wretch is just grave hate.
Reins of Power punishes token decks who over-extend with a massive haste powered swarm. Since said tokens can't swing and this deck uses so few creatures that leaves them wide open to the board wipe that inevitably comes.
Windfall is used with Evacuation. I pitch my bad hand and couple of creatures while the aggro players lose their board position AND hands.
Syphon Mind is just a draw spell with a bit of discard thrown in. It gets me 3 cards and Wrexial food for 4 mana which I can't really argue with.
My mana base is actually pretty solid with the current build. There has been one game I've been hurting for colors and it was because of no land to begin with. It may need a couple more duals because of the triple blue I added. Not adding any bouncelands though since those always get hit with LD.
Edit: I proxied up a list of changes and found that the deck does flow better without the splashy creatures. I hate to take them out but can't be helped. Updating the OP with changes.
Soul Manipulation felt too situational. Fabricate is going in for another tutor.
Myojin of Night's Reach was turning out to be a dead card over half of the times I drew into it and the other half drew too much hate. Mind Twist went in since that scales better and lets me hit one player without getting the entire table on me.
Added Coalition Relic to help with mana fixing. Same with Tainted Isle.