MTG Salvation

There is a lot of (well deserved) criticism of Return to Zendikar, but for all its downsides there are some interesting nuggets with land matters cards. Now most land matters decks are green based and i have made a few of those over the years, but i wanted to build something non-green that abused land matters cards.

There are probably a few good generals around but i have been in a nostalgic mood so i went for good old Dakkon Blackblade. Basically the first phase is getting a land matters card online like a Retreat to Coralhelm. Then build up some lands while gaining some incremental advantages. Later on there are a few big mana sinks you can use. Dakkon usually doesn't get cast until well late in the game.

Planar Birth is pretty powerful and if you see it early you can build up into some kind of crazy combo with triggering a dozen landfall triggers in a turn. Emeria Shepherd may be the most powerful card in the deck with loads of interactions with pretty much everything.

Combo Engines:
Ruin Ghost + Retreat to Coralhelm + Other land fall = infinite nonsense.
Tidewater Minion + Retreat to Coralhelm + Thawing Glaciers = rampant growth for 1.
River Kelpie + Planar Birth = Draw a dozen.
Many more combos but you get the point. Find a combo engine, have a turn where you end up with a full hand and 15 or so lands in play. Dakkon attacks a couple times but really any big threat could win at that point.

With conspiracy 2 coming out i decided to add a Monarch package to the deck. Dakkon has some good defensive cards and some evasion as well. So it should be pretty good at holding and regaining the monarchy. Also if the monarch gets passed around the deck can sit back and dig to a landfall combos or a general damage threatening Dakkon.

Why should you play this?
1 - Like lands matters cards but are bored of the same old green decks.
2 - You like to sit behind defensive cards and wraths while building and advantage.
3 - You dont want to lean on generals.
4 - You like to occasionally general damage people out.
5 - Oddball combos with obscure cards intrigue you.

Move along if:
1 - You play in a highly competitive metagame with fast combo decks.
2 - You like doing things early.
3 - You find vanilla generals boring.

I just built a Karametra deck with Emeria Shepard and she is by far the strongest card in the deck. I'm probably going to take my Dakkon deck more towards a Solar Flare build, but I will absolutely be adding her to the deck and expect her to perform just as strongly there as well.

For your deck, is the 2 critical, or would Phyrexian Altar be a better choice? And if you're trying to get lands into your graveyard, have you considered Zuran Orb?

Emeria Shepherd's Blue cousin Guardian of Tazeem is also pretty solid especially in situations where Dakkon Blackblade is threatening lethal commander damage.

I dont have too strict color restrictions in this deck so Phyrexian Altar isn't a strict upgrade. Also the $20 price tag is silly. I considered Zuran Orb but it crosses the (albeit blurry) line between strong synergy card and pure combo.

The whole creature section of this deck is a bit of an unfocused mess. Looking for some goodies to slot in there and replace some of the Pilgrim's Eye type cards.

Well Emeria Angel and Roil Elemental should be included for sure.

Emeria Angel - For some reason i decided against this one early on but it really should get in there. If for nothing else it can pump out some chump blockers while i get more dangerous stuff online.
Roil Elemental - This card i put as too fragile and too much of a lightning rod. I might still slot it in and see.

Quote from Deep_Woods »

Emeria Angel - For some reason i decided against this one early on but it really should get in there. If for nothing else it can pump out some chump blockers while i get more dangerous stuff online.
Roil Elemental - This card i put as too fragile and too much of a lightning rod. I might still slot it in and see.

Well with your sac outlet you can always just use Roil as removal.

Thats true. Roil Elemental + instant speed lands is also a nice rattlesnake. I suppose i'll have to find one now.

Did a bunch of updates. Removed more narrow and combo focused cards and added some suggestions.

No Terrain Generator??

Terrain Generator is in a few of my decks but not this one. I am on the fence about it. Obviously it can put extra lands into play and at instant speed (which is quite good with landfall). But on the flip side i really want to max out the number of basics i run, also it runs afoul of Land Tax and variants.

I think that Terrain Generator has a lot more to offer you than some of the other nonbasics you are running, especially Prahv, Spires of Order. Prahv's ability costs so much mana that you'll have to seriously slow yourself down in order to actually use it, and the effect isn't that powerful. Most of the time it will just slow down games you're already losing. Terrain Generator gets you more landfall triggers and makes Dakkon bigger, so it seems a lot more proactive.

Quote from Groovelord »

I think that Terrain Generator has a lot more to offer you than some of the other nonbasics you are running, especially Prahv, Spires of Order. Prahv's ability costs so much mana that you'll have to seriously slow yourself down in order to actually use it, and the effect isn't that powerful. Most of the time it will just slow down games you're already losing. Terrain Generator gets you more landfall triggers and makes Dakkon bigger, so it seems a lot more proactive.

You are probably right. I'll swap em out and see how it works.

Might be a little expensive, but swapping out your basics for running Snow-Covered and running Scrying Sheets can help with the ramp. One of my pet favorites for non-green ramp is Druidic Satchel.

I think i have a stack of snow lands somewhere that i could use. But i tend to want more than just Scrying Sheets to justify going snow.

Druidic Satchel is something i get a kick out of and will swap in. All 3 modes help this deck out, life is good in control, 1/1's make nice chump blockers and the deck often uses tokens as a win condition and of course land drops are always excellent.

This deck has been performing well as the boring control deck of the group. With conspiracy 2 coming out i decided to spice it up a bit. The deck is pretty good at holding off opponents so i figure it would probably be decent holding the monarch. Also if the game goes long with the monarch being passed around it gives the deck more time to get some landfall combos going.


Path to Exile - Strong card and in a pinch you can nuke one of your own guys for a landfall trigger
Utter End - Solid
Ghostly Prison - Keeps you the Monarch
Marchesa's Decree - Gets you Monarch and does a bit of work on the life
Mindless Automaton - Pet card but has some good synergy with Land Tax and the like
Custodi Lich - Monarch time
Knights of the Black Rose - Monarch time
Keeper of Keys - Monarch time and can get Dakkon through
Protector of the Crown - Monarch time
Throne of the High City - Monarch time
Drownyard Temple
Polluted Delta
Marsh Flats
Flooded Strand
Underground Sea
Tundra
Scrubland
Watery Grave
Hallowed Fountain