I love Warp World. When I decided to build and play in the local EDH league it was the clear choice for what kind of deck I wanted. My philosophy was simple: everything in the deck needs to contribute to warp world. When I warp I wanted to end up with more that what I started with and my opponents with less. I wanted to leave my opponents in panic mode with jumbled boards. Then I wanted to do it again.
I am making this post for two reasons
1.) I am always looking to improve. Be it cards I may have overlooked, cards I am using wrong, cards I may be over valuing, overall deck construction. Anything and everything.
2.) A resource that other can use when trying to build their own decks. When I was laying the ground work for this deck I was looking at what other people were using to get an idea of what works and what doesn't. by taking my experiences and making them public I can help the next guy who comes searching for Riku or Warp World or decks that utilize ETB effects.
For me, there were two ways to build and EDH deck around warp world.
1. Use lots of non-permanent based spells to up your permanent count. This method generates a really good board state pre-warp. Lots of permanents. The down side is that the more non-permanent spells you have to get your permanent count up the greater the chance of hitting one of those spells after the warp. Also, if you have a really good board state why not just win from there.
2. Use permanent based spells to up your permanent count. You end up with a stable but not dominating board state. This method doesn’t generate as many permanents as method #1 but it means that when you warp you won’t end up with less than you started with. This method is good if you are going to rely heavily on the warp to get you to victory.
I decided on method #2 because, to me, Warp World was an all-or-nothing prospect. It does you almost no good if half the cards you reveal from Warp World go directly to the bottom of your library. Either you end up with the nuts and go on to win or the guy next to you does. The more cards you hit (permanents) the better your chance of winning.
This deck was made to be and plays in a competitive environment. I play in a league and there are prizes to be had for winning. If I’m going to pay to play, then I’m going to play to win. That being said, this league had adopted the “fair play and be nice constitution thing”. Some of the card choices or exclusions of cards are a result of having to play nice with others.
THE BUILDING PROCESS
Some insight into how I built the deck and some of the thought processes that I used. It may help you to get an understanding of what/how I’m thinking and why I would choose one card over another.
WHAT IF IT GOES WRONG
After I got done thinking about how I would always come out better than my opponents after the warp I thought about what would happen if I didn’t and what to do about it. Long story short, recursion was the answer I came up with. Every piece of permanent bases recursion is in the deck along with regrowth. If I don’t like the outcome of the warp then I can just do another one. Basically keep warping until I like what I see.
In the event that you can't warp again(not enough mana, didn't hit a recursioncreature) the board should will be sufficiently jumbled that you can play normal except now you are looking for something to bring the warp back rather than looking for the warp itself. Most of your opponents will try to get back on track with what their deck does before they worry about trying to hinder you.
KEEPING THE COUNT UP
Because everything in the deck is a permanent, everything at least adds to the permanent count by 1. While 1 is good 2 is twice as good. And don’t get me started on 3 or 4. The more permanents I end up with from a single card the better. After that the cost of the card is taken into account. 4 permanents from a single card is amazing, if it cost me 10 mana to play it you can forget about it. Nest invader and Farhaven elf are some of the best in terms of cost to permanent ratio. Primeval titan is actually towards the bottom of the list, unless he gets to attack. Then he skyrockets almost to the top.
Something interesting that I found early in my search for the best and most efficient permanent makers. None of them have a cost/permanent ratio greater than 2. I used this number as the cutoff when deciding if a card would make the cut as a permanent generator.
FINDING IT
Since Warp World is the center theme, I included as many ways to search for it as possible. These are the only spot I made available for non-permanents. Tutors in these colors are kinds sparse. After mystical tutor, gamble, Intuition and merchant scroll the well seems to dry up(I didn’t include personal tutor because I think it’s a worst mystical tutor. It’s crazy expensive $$$ and it gives away the big secret of this deck to anyone that hasn’t seen it before). Not being able to rely on tutors to find Warp World I turned to library manipulation. Sensei’s divining top, sylvan library and even crystal ball. Anything that can help me to dig deeper into my library.
WHY NO DRAW
Some of you might notice a distinct lack of card drawing ability in the deck. No, I didn’t forget about it. I will however admit that I have not spent enough time in this area. A deck like this doesn’t want to draw lots of cards at once. It would prefer to have a small, repeatable source to draw from. If ever there was a deck where you didn’t want excessive cards in your hand it would be this one. Skullclampfits the bill perfectly. Draw when you need it and use it in moderation.
ETB FTW
Since I had the ability to recur Warp World, infinitely if need be, creatures with outstanding enters the battlefield effects are right at home in here. Most of them are ways to reduce the permanent count of my opponents. Either damage (bogardan hellkite / flametongue kavu) or destruction (acidic slime / terastadon) or bounce (man-o-war / venser).
You should also notice that the permanent makers almost all generate their permanents from ETB effects and not activated abilities. This is deliberate.
WHAT TO WATCH OUT FOR
First off any type of mass destruction spell will be your doom. There isn't much you can do to play around it. Most people will try to get as much value from a wrath as they can. Skirt that fine line between giving them value and making them waste it. Hold back the bigger creatures(Avenger of zendikar/Bogarden Hellkite) and send out the small ones(Nest Invader/Ghitu Slinger). No one wants to waste a wrath on eldrazi spawn
The two big creatures that you have to be careful of are Massacre Wurn and Elesh Norn. Once again there isn't much you can do about them. With the wurn you hope to get lucky and hit a Grazing Gladehart to offset the life loss. Also, remember that most of the token generators are triggered abilities. The tokens won't hit the battlefield until after the -2/-2 effect(APNAP stacking).
The deck played extremely passively. Don’t attack. Don’t be afraid to take some damage. Try not to draw too much attention. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. Most people don’t see Warp World coming unless they have played against me before. Even then they sometimes aren’t sure what to do. If they don’t do anything they know I’m just going to get my permanent count up and dominate after the warp. If they try and over extend and get their permanent count high other players in the pod start to see them as the threat.
A word of caution to anyone thinking of playing or building around Warp World. Have some respect and compassion for your fellow players. Warping once is cool, twice is kinda fun, anything after three and your asking for trouble. It’s easy to tell when the players at the table are getting fed up with your shenanigans. Eyes start to roll, people start groaning. Pay attention to the signs. As with most combos that can and often do go infinite, sometimes all you need is a simple explanation of what you play on doing and how you’re going to do it to end the game. When your permanent count goes from 12 to 18 to 30 and theirs goes from 18 to 13 to 9, most people will see the writing on the wall and won’t make you go through the motions.
Please ask any and all question you may have. I’ve had the deck up and running for about 11 weeks now. It is incredibly fun for me and most of the people I play with. Resolving a Warp World in a 5 man pod generates more player interactions in that instance then some pods generate all game.
I have a few suggestions for you since I did run a Riku Warp deck at one point, but my list on MTGS is outdated. I had to take the core parts of the deck to assemble my Karador deck which is now my pet deck. (You can find my old Riku list here http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=333422 but i abandoned it around Scars block.)
You probably want some form of mass haste in the form of either Concordant Crossroads, Akroma's Memorial or Urabrask, the Hidden. These allow you to kill everyone before they can untap with whatever new mana and interactions you gave them. Right now it looks like your win condition is infinite warps as there is very little offense and mostly permanent generators. I would replace some of the permanent generators with things like Inferno Titan, big ETB effects that are helpful to copy with Riku and give you a large board state. Even if you don't find Warp, you can double up something like Frost Titan and have an already scary board.
You state that you are in a league and that it is competitive, but I don't know how they think of infinite combos and if there is a point system against it or something. Kiki-Jiki is a great card in the deck and the new Zealous Conscripts form an infinite combo with two creatures that work great in this deck alone. Together they create infinite durdles.
I would suggest cutting as many non creatures and only putting as few of them as possible. I think my old limit was 9, but I did use a large amount of noncreature ramp which in retrospect was probably not very good. I don't really like Worldly Tutor or Brainstorm. Neither of them chain into a way to tutor for Warp. Worldly Tutor nonbos with Riku, but it does give you tutoring, also as a non permanent. Brainstorm is just too weak to take up a noncreature slot. I highly recommend Gather Specimens for the game winning play of Specimens + Warping.
Kudos for the opening post. I think it's A Good Thing (tm) to identify a proper philosophy, as it gives the deck focus. Especially a deck like Riku can end up as a pile of good cards, and I don't know why people even bother to post those lists. Maybe you could elaborate on what the deck's weaknesses are. Also, I'm not sure what you're asking us (or maybe you're not asking anything and it's simply informative).
I have a couple of suggestions. The first is related to Lurking Predators. Now, that card certainly won't help not to draw attention. I run it in Ulasht, as I like the card and it creates a kind of minigame. In that deck I have the same problem with drawing cards, but after a while I realised that putting cards directly into play from the top of the library) nets card advantage as well (unlike something like Sneak Attack or Elvish Piper, which is nothing more than a way to cheat mana cost), so I decided to expand on that. I came across Call of the Wild in a Mayael-thread, and that card is exactly what my deck needs: a mana sink, card advantage, and it doesn't tutor (there seems to be a rise in Stranglehold lately). For a card like this to work you need a decent creature count, but it would fit in your deck quite nicely.
You can support Call of the Wild and Lurking Predators with Cream of the Crop and Sylvan Library (or simply SDT). There's even a fancy ramp spell that is great with these cards: Recross the Paths (granted, it's no permanent... but it works under Stranglehold!). If you can't draw cards, increasing card quality is the next big thing. As for pure card draw, you could look at Regal Force, or even simple things like Wall of Blossoms.
Kiki-Jiki is an excellent card in your deck, especially since almost all your creatures have an 'enter the battlefield' ability. I would cut Charmbreaker Devils for it, seeing that the Charmbreaker doesn't really do much in your deck. and you already have a lot of recursion for your non-creature spells.
Since you are playing so many mountains, why not replace one with Valukut, the Molten Pinnacle. The ability to deal damage out of a Warp World or Genesis Wave is well worth the 'enter the battlefield tapped' part.
Copy artifcat won't copy anything on a Warp just like how a Clone won't either.
False. Since Warp World specifically puts enchantments into the battlefield after putting all other permanents (including artifacts), it sees the artifacts in the battlefield, and thus is able to copy it. It doesn't work for Genesis Wave though.
It's still not colorless, and has no color. That's a paradox. So either you're a Zen master or an idiot, I'll assume the Zen master for sake of argument. This card will have no paradoxes because it has a clear paradox. Deep stuff man.
Appreciate the responses. Keep them coming. I am definitely going to update the original post with some more information. Things like reason for posting, deck weaknesses, card choice reasoning, etc.
Darchow: At one point the deck did include a concordant crossroads and a fervor. You hit the nail pretty well on the head, infinite warps is what this deck comes down to. I could not have said it better myself, this deck doesn't have a lot of offense and relies on big ETB effects. It's because of these reasons that I took out the haste enablers. They take up spots that could be used for good ETB effects or to help keep the cycle going.
As far as bigger ETB effects. Inferno titan, Kiki Jiki, and Woodfall Primus are on my short list of cards to acquire. There are about 550 creature with ETB effects that can be used in this deck and I've looked at all of the, I think. If there is one in particular you are thinking of please let me know.
The league that I play in uses a point system bases on achievements during a game. Utilizing an infinite combo earns you negative points. In my opinion, not enough negative points. The penalty for going infinite is only awarded once per infinite instance. I hope that makes sense. The points I lose from going infinite pales in comparison to the points I gain from it.
The brainstorm is acting as a place holder for primal surge. I wont spoil the card for those who are waiting to see it but. . well. . . its a doozy in this deck.
Shabbaman: I probably should have said in the original what I was hoping to accomplish with this post. 1. I am always looking for suggestions on how to improve. Be it cards I may have overlooked, cards I am using wrong, cards I may be over valuing. Anything and everything. 2. A resource that other can use when trying to build their own decks. When I was laying the ground work for this deck I was looking at what other people were using to get an idea of what works and what doesn't. Just trying to help the next guy who comes searching for Riku or Warp World or decks that utilize ETB effects.
As far as what the deck is weak to. Massacre Wurm and Elesh Norn make me a sad panda. Especially when they hit off of a warp. Big wrath effects are also scary. Because the deck is rather slow and tries not to lose many permanents any early or constant pressure can be hard to deal with. Either I take damage and get dangerously close to dying from some unseen fireball effect or I lose permanents to stay safe but have to delay the warp so I can get my permanent count back up.
Call of the wild is a card that is going to get swapped in eventually. Every week I try and swap one or two cards around. I have a list of about 10-15 cards that I want to see how they perform in the deck. I only get to play about 4 or 5 games/week so the process is rather slow. With 2/3rds of the permanents in the deck creatures I'm not too worried about ...missing the call...I take laughs where I can get them.
Cream of the crop is not a card that I had come across in my search. I really like it. It reminds me of a green soothsaying. Cards like wall of blossoms or elvish visionary are good once but if I start to recur them a lot I run the risk of losing because I drew my entire library. If the card drawing was a may effect I would run it but since its a must I can't take the risk of decking myself. Skull Clamp is the next card I'm going to swap in for next weeks games. With all the one toughness token and the ability to control when I draw I think it will do really well.
BeingHumanBeing: Kiki Jiki is going in as soon as I can get one. Trying to trade for one has proved more difficult than previously expected. Once I get one he will probably take the Devils spot.
I had considered Valakut but it seem to me like a win-more card. Although, now that I think about it I can't really think of a good reason not to put it in.
Because you made me re-read them I realized that Duplicant and Phyrexian Ingester are both may effects. For whatever reason I always thought they were must effects. I didn't want to have to ever exile one of my own creature. Now I just need to find something to take out so I can make a spot for them. Probably the Thran Dynamo.
Ah yes, The Fear... I have the fear as well. Not so much the praetor (if you want to shut out all opponents go ahead, we'll play for second place when you go home), but Massacre Wurm can be a blowout. I found two solutions: pumping up creatures to size 3, and sacrifice outlets.
Gilded Drake could help you with the praetor. You should look into the wording of the card, state based effects might prevent the swap. But it's a good card anyway.
I haven't updated in awhile so here is the latest and greatest with the deck.
Shabbaman: Gilded drake is unfortunatly too slow. By the time his ability gets put on the stack my tokens are toast from Elesh Norn. Since my triggers resolve last it will also be too late to trade for a Massacre Wurm to try and prevent the loss of life.
Policeman: Tunnel Ignus was taken out early in the deck construction. I didn't know how serious the league I was jumping into was so I figured I would start slow and work my way up the power level / blowout potential ladder. I would rather build up to the level of everyone else if I'm behind the curve rather than come in over the top if it's a non-competitive group. Long story short: Tunnel Ignus is going back in. So is Valakut. I just need to find some room for them.
I am making this post for two reasons
1.) I am always looking to improve. Be it cards I may have overlooked, cards I am using wrong, cards I may be over valuing, overall deck construction. Anything and everything.
2.) A resource that other can use when trying to build their own decks. When I was laying the ground work for this deck I was looking at what other people were using to get an idea of what works and what doesn't. by taking my experiences and making them public I can help the next guy who comes searching for Riku or Warp World or decks that utilize ETB effects.
For me, there were two ways to build and EDH deck around warp world.
1. Use lots of non-permanent based spells to up your permanent count. This method generates a really good board state pre-warp. Lots of permanents. The down side is that the more non-permanent spells you have to get your permanent count up the greater the chance of hitting one of those spells after the warp. Also, if you have a really good board state why not just win from there.
2. Use permanent based spells to up your permanent count. You end up with a stable but not dominating board state. This method doesn’t generate as many permanents as method #1 but it means that when you warp you won’t end up with less than you started with. This method is good if you are going to rely heavily on the warp to get you to victory.
I decided on method #2 because, to me, Warp World was an all-or-nothing prospect. It does you almost no good if half the cards you reveal from Warp World go directly to the bottom of your library. Either you end up with the nuts and go on to win or the guy next to you does. The more cards you hit (permanents) the better your chance of winning.
This deck was made to be and plays in a competitive environment. I play in a league and there are prizes to be had for winning. If I’m going to pay to play, then I’m going to play to win. That being said, this league had adopted the “fair play and be nice constitution thing”. Some of the card choices or exclusions of cards are a result of having to play nice with others.
1 riku of two reflections
1 acidic slime
1 anarchist
1 aveger of zendikar
1 bogarden hellkite
1 Kiki-Jiki, mirror breker
1 charmbreaker devils
1 cryptic annelid
1 deranged hermit
1 emrakul hatcher
1 eternal witness
1 farhaven elf
1 flametongue kavu
1 ghitu slinger
1 goblin marshal
1 grazing gladehart
1 hornet queen
1 izzet chronarch
1 kozilek predator
1 loaming shaman
1 lotus cobra
1 man o war
1 mnemonic wall
1 myr battlesphere
1 nest invader
1 nucklavee
1 ondu giant
1 oracle of mul daya
1 precursor golem
1 primeevel titan
1 rampaging baloths
1 riftsweeper
1 sakura tribe elder
1 siege gang command
1 solemn simulacrum
1 terrastadon
1 trinket mage
1 venser, shaper savant
1 wood elves
1 wort the raidmother
1 yavimaya granger
1 fierce empath
1 sensei's divining top
1 crystal ball
1 skullclamp
1 mana vault
1 thran dynamo
1 eldrazi monument
1 sol ring
1 elixir of immortality
Enchantment 4
1 fists of ironwood
1 sylvan library
1 lurking predators
1 defense of the heart
Instant 3
1 intuition
1 wordly tutor
1 mystical tutor
Sorcery 5
1 warp world
1 regroth
1 merchant scroll
1 gamble
1 genesis wave
Lands 38
1 breeding pool
1 city of brass
1 command tower
1 halimar depths
1 karplusan forest
1 khalni garden
1 maze of ith
1 misty rainforest
1 scalding tarn
1 shivan reef
1 steam vents
1 stomping grounds
1 taiga
1 tropical island
1 volcanic island
1 wooded foothills
1 yavimaya coast
1 gaea's cradle
1 mossport bridge
1 valakut, the molten pinnacle
6 forest
10 mountain
2 island
THE BUILDING PROCESS
Some insight into how I built the deck and some of the thought processes that I used. It may help you to get an understanding of what/how I’m thinking and why I would choose one card over another.
WHAT IF IT GOES WRONG
After I got done thinking about how I would always come out better than my opponents after the warp I thought about what would happen if I didn’t and what to do about it. Long story short, recursion was the answer I came up with. Every piece of permanent bases recursion is in the deck along with regrowth. If I don’t like the outcome of the warp then I can just do another one. Basically keep warping until I like what I see.
In the event that you can't warp again(not enough mana, didn't hit a recursion creature) the board should will be sufficiently jumbled that you can play normal except now you are looking for something to bring the warp back rather than looking for the warp itself. Most of your opponents will try to get back on track with what their deck does before they worry about trying to hinder you.
KEEPING THE COUNT UP
Because everything in the deck is a permanent, everything at least adds to the permanent count by 1. While 1 is good 2 is twice as good. And don’t get me started on 3 or 4. The more permanents I end up with from a single card the better. After that the cost of the card is taken into account. 4 permanents from a single card is amazing, if it cost me 10 mana to play it you can forget about it. Nest invader and Farhaven elf are some of the best in terms of cost to permanent ratio. Primeval titan is actually towards the bottom of the list, unless he gets to attack. Then he skyrockets almost to the top.
Something interesting that I found early in my search for the best and most efficient permanent makers. None of them have a cost/permanent ratio greater than 2. I used this number as the cutoff when deciding if a card would make the cut as a permanent generator.
FINDING IT
Since Warp World is the center theme, I included as many ways to search for it as possible. These are the only spot I made available for non-permanents. Tutors in these colors are kinds sparse. After mystical tutor, gamble, Intuition and merchant scroll the well seems to dry up(I didn’t include personal tutor because I think it’s a worst mystical tutor. It’s crazy expensive $$$ and it gives away the big secret of this deck to anyone that hasn’t seen it before). Not being able to rely on tutors to find Warp World I turned to library manipulation. Sensei’s divining top, sylvan library and even crystal ball. Anything that can help me to dig deeper into my library.
WHY NO DRAW
Some of you might notice a distinct lack of card drawing ability in the deck. No, I didn’t forget about it. I will however admit that I have not spent enough time in this area. A deck like this doesn’t want to draw lots of cards at once. It would prefer to have a small, repeatable source to draw from. If ever there was a deck where you didn’t want excessive cards in your hand it would be this one. Skullclampfits the bill perfectly. Draw when you need it and use it in moderation.
ETB FTW
Since I had the ability to recur Warp World, infinitely if need be, creatures with outstanding enters the battlefield effects are right at home in here. Most of them are ways to reduce the permanent count of my opponents. Either damage (bogardan hellkite / flametongue kavu) or destruction (acidic slime / terastadon) or bounce (man-o-war / venser).
You should also notice that the permanent makers almost all generate their permanents from ETB effects and not activated abilities. This is deliberate.
WHAT TO WATCH OUT FOR
First off any type of mass destruction spell will be your doom. There isn't much you can do to play around it. Most people will try to get as much value from a wrath as they can. Skirt that fine line between giving them value and making them waste it. Hold back the bigger creatures(Avenger of zendikar/Bogarden Hellkite) and send out the small ones(Nest Invader/Ghitu Slinger). No one wants to waste a wrath on eldrazi spawn
The two big creatures that you have to be careful of are Massacre Wurn and Elesh Norn. Once again there isn't much you can do about them. With the wurn you hope to get lucky and hit a Grazing Gladehart to offset the life loss. Also, remember that most of the token generators are triggered abilities. The tokens won't hit the battlefield until after the -2/-2 effect(APNAP stacking).
WAITING LIST. As soon as I acquire these cards they are going to be put in
Inferno Titan, Woodfall Primus,
Cards that need to be evaluated in the deck
Cream of the Crop, Proteus Staff, Volcano Hellion, Spitebellows. tyrant of discord, deadeye navigator, sphinx of uthuun.
Cards that need to be re-evaluated (chopping block)
lotus cobra, lurking predators, eldrazi monument, thran dynamo
Change Log Updated May 8
- Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre -> Elixir of Immortality: I was looking for a second shuffle effect. Elixir seems to work better.
- Brainstorm -> Intuition: Grab Warp World, Eternal Witness, and Anarchist. Good times ahead.
- Chancellor of the Spires -> Kiki Jiki: Chancellor was too inconsistent.
- Copy Artifact -> Fierce Empath: Copying things is cute. Getting Primeval Titan out on T4 is Brutal.
- Awakening zone -> Defense of the Heart: It's just better. Watch out for the huge target that you will paint on your forehead.
- Mind Stone -> Skullclamp:Just remember, always in moderation. Draw to fill your hand back up to 7.
The deck played extremely passively. Don’t attack. Don’t be afraid to take some damage. Try not to draw too much attention. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. Most people don’t see Warp World coming unless they have played against me before. Even then they sometimes aren’t sure what to do. If they don’t do anything they know I’m just going to get my permanent count up and dominate after the warp. If they try and over extend and get their permanent count high other players in the pod start to see them as the threat.
A word of caution to anyone thinking of playing or building around Warp World. Have some respect and compassion for your fellow players. Warping once is cool, twice is kinda fun, anything after three and your asking for trouble. It’s easy to tell when the players at the table are getting fed up with your shenanigans. Eyes start to roll, people start groaning. Pay attention to the signs. As with most combos that can and often do go infinite, sometimes all you need is a simple explanation of what you play on doing and how you’re going to do it to end the game. When your permanent count goes from 12 to 18 to 30 and theirs goes from 18 to 13 to 9, most people will see the writing on the wall and won’t make you go through the motions.
Please ask any and all question you may have. I’ve had the deck up and running for about 11 weeks now. It is incredibly fun for me and most of the people I play with. Resolving a Warp World in a 5 man pod generates more player interactions in that instance then some pods generate all game.
URG Riku shell with a Warp World center
You probably want some form of mass haste in the form of either Concordant Crossroads, Akroma's Memorial or Urabrask, the Hidden. These allow you to kill everyone before they can untap with whatever new mana and interactions you gave them. Right now it looks like your win condition is infinite warps as there is very little offense and mostly permanent generators. I would replace some of the permanent generators with things like Inferno Titan, big ETB effects that are helpful to copy with Riku and give you a large board state. Even if you don't find Warp, you can double up something like Frost Titan and have an already scary board.
You state that you are in a league and that it is competitive, but I don't know how they think of infinite combos and if there is a point system against it or something. Kiki-Jiki is a great card in the deck and the new Zealous Conscripts form an infinite combo with two creatures that work great in this deck alone. Together they create infinite durdles.
I would suggest cutting as many non creatures and only putting as few of them as possible. I think my old limit was 9, but I did use a large amount of noncreature ramp which in retrospect was probably not very good. I don't really like Worldly Tutor or Brainstorm. Neither of them chain into a way to tutor for Warp. Worldly Tutor nonbos with Riku, but it does give you tutoring, also as a non permanent. Brainstorm is just too weak to take up a noncreature slot. I highly recommend Gather Specimens for the game winning play of Specimens + Warping.
Finally, can I see your land base?
I have a couple of suggestions. The first is related to Lurking Predators. Now, that card certainly won't help not to draw attention. I run it in Ulasht, as I like the card and it creates a kind of minigame. In that deck I have the same problem with drawing cards, but after a while I realised that putting cards directly into play from the top of the library) nets card advantage as well (unlike something like Sneak Attack or Elvish Piper, which is nothing more than a way to cheat mana cost), so I decided to expand on that. I came across Call of the Wild in a Mayael-thread, and that card is exactly what my deck needs: a mana sink, card advantage, and it doesn't tutor (there seems to be a rise in Stranglehold lately). For a card like this to work you need a decent creature count, but it would fit in your deck quite nicely.
You can support Call of the Wild and Lurking Predators with Cream of the Crop and Sylvan Library (or simply SDT). There's even a fancy ramp spell that is great with these cards: Recross the Paths (granted, it's no permanent... but it works under Stranglehold!). If you can't draw cards, increasing card quality is the next big thing. As for pure card draw, you could look at Regal Force, or even simple things like Wall of Blossoms.
Since you are playing so many mountains, why not replace one with Valukut, the Molten Pinnacle. The ability to deal damage out of a Warp World or Genesis Wave is well worth the 'enter the battlefield tapped' part.
Since you are playing Trinket Mage, why not include Brittle Effigy for more permanent-based removals? Speaking of removals, Duplicant and Phyrexian Ingestor should also be included.
False. Since Warp World specifically puts enchantments into the battlefield after putting all other permanents (including artifacts), it sees the artifacts in the battlefield, and thus is able to copy it. It doesn't work for Genesis Wave though.
The only colour with a 99/99
Signature by Spongy Pengwin
UBR: Sedris
Darchow: At one point the deck did include a concordant crossroads and a fervor. You hit the nail pretty well on the head, infinite warps is what this deck comes down to. I could not have said it better myself, this deck doesn't have a lot of offense and relies on big ETB effects. It's because of these reasons that I took out the haste enablers. They take up spots that could be used for good ETB effects or to help keep the cycle going.
As far as bigger ETB effects. Inferno titan, Kiki Jiki, and Woodfall Primus are on my short list of cards to acquire. There are about 550 creature with ETB effects that can be used in this deck and I've looked at all of the, I think. If there is one in particular you are thinking of please let me know.
The league that I play in uses a point system bases on achievements during a game. Utilizing an infinite combo earns you negative points. In my opinion, not enough negative points. The penalty for going infinite is only awarded once per infinite instance. I hope that makes sense. The points I lose from going infinite pales in comparison to the points I gain from it.
The brainstorm is acting as a place holder for primal surge. I wont spoil the card for those who are waiting to see it but. . well. . . its a doozy in this deck.
Shabbaman: I probably should have said in the original what I was hoping to accomplish with this post. 1. I am always looking for suggestions on how to improve. Be it cards I may have overlooked, cards I am using wrong, cards I may be over valuing. Anything and everything. 2. A resource that other can use when trying to build their own decks. When I was laying the ground work for this deck I was looking at what other people were using to get an idea of what works and what doesn't. Just trying to help the next guy who comes searching for Riku or Warp World or decks that utilize ETB effects.
As far as what the deck is weak to. Massacre Wurm and Elesh Norn make me a sad panda. Especially when they hit off of a warp. Big wrath effects are also scary. Because the deck is rather slow and tries not to lose many permanents any early or constant pressure can be hard to deal with. Either I take damage and get dangerously close to dying from some unseen fireball effect or I lose permanents to stay safe but have to delay the warp so I can get my permanent count back up.
Call of the wild is a card that is going to get swapped in eventually. Every week I try and swap one or two cards around. I have a list of about 10-15 cards that I want to see how they perform in the deck. I only get to play about 4 or 5 games/week so the process is rather slow. With 2/3rds of the permanents in the deck creatures I'm not too worried about ...missing the call...I take laughs where I can get them.
Cream of the crop is not a card that I had come across in my search. I really like it. It reminds me of a green soothsaying. Cards like wall of blossoms or elvish visionary are good once but if I start to recur them a lot I run the risk of losing because I drew my entire library. If the card drawing was a may effect I would run it but since its a must I can't take the risk of decking myself. Skull Clamp is the next card I'm going to swap in for next weeks games. With all the one toughness token and the ability to control when I draw I think it will do really well.
BeingHumanBeing: Kiki Jiki is going in as soon as I can get one. Trying to trade for one has proved more difficult than previously expected. Once I get one he will probably take the Devils spot.
I had considered Valakut but it seem to me like a win-more card. Although, now that I think about it I can't really think of a good reason not to put it in.
Because you made me re-read them I realized that Duplicant and Phyrexian Ingester are both may effects. For whatever reason I always thought they were must effects. I didn't want to have to ever exile one of my own creature. Now I just need to find something to take out so I can make a spot for them. Probably the Thran Dynamo.
URG Riku shell with a Warp World center
Gilded Drake could help you with the praetor. You should look into the wording of the card, state based effects might prevent the swap. But it's a good card anyway.
Also, maybe Sundering Titan?
Shabbaman: Gilded drake is unfortunatly too slow. By the time his ability gets put on the stack my tokens are toast from Elesh Norn. Since my triggers resolve last it will also be too late to trade for a Massacre Wurm to try and prevent the loss of life.
Policeman: Tunnel Ignus was taken out early in the deck construction. I didn't know how serious the league I was jumping into was so I figured I would start slow and work my way up the power level / blowout potential ladder. I would rather build up to the level of everyone else if I'm behind the curve rather than come in over the top if it's a non-competitive group. Long story short: Tunnel Ignus is going back in. So is Valakut. I just need to find some room for them.
Some change notes:
- Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre -> Elixir of Immortality: I was looking for a second shuffle effect. Elixir seems to work better.
- Brainstorm -> Intuition: Grab Warp World, Eternal Witness, and Anarchist. Good times ahead.
- Chancellor of the Spires -> Kiki Jiki: Chancellor was too inconsistent.
- Copy Artifact -> Fierce Empath: Copying things is cute. Getting Primeval Titan T4 is Brutal.
- Awakening zone -> Defense of the Heart: It's just better. Watch out for the huge target that you will paint on your forehead.
- Mind Stone -> Skullclamp:Just remember, always in moderation. Draw to fill your hand back up to 7.
URG Riku shell with a Warp World center