I tested Dindon's deck for quite a bit last Saturday, and I have to say it works VERY well, even with 12 lands. I replaced Gitaxian Probe with Duress, though, since I expect a lot of Burn. Drops a fatty consistently by turn 2 and can win the game outright. I'm fond of Sickening Dreams in the SB too, since it just beats many aggro decks by itself.
....wait, what happened to this thread? I'm pretty sure it used to have more than one page.
The only point of life that matters is the last one. If we worried about life, we wouldn't be running Reanimate nor Gitaxian Probe.
If Cabal Therapy whiffs too often during game 1, Thoughtseize might be the better option, but I think Cabal Therapy is the best choice for discard since it can recur with Imp and it has synergy with Gitaxian Probe.
I've been in many situations where I couldn't cast Reanimate because my life was too low. I wouldn't run Thoughtseize in this deck because of that. Duress might be better than Thoughtseize since we really just want to take out those counters, grave hate, or combo cards.
I would guess it's there because of Flying. Hmm I get it, Thrax gets rid of planeswalkers pretty easily if he comes in early enough. Good call there.
I agree, though, I think Cabal therapy is the best discard in this deck because of Imp, and really the only card we want the opponent to discard is Force of Will while we're animating, so yeah. Not to mention Thoughtseize costs some life to use.
Great to see you here Jeremy!! Congratulations on the win! Your deck seems great, but what is Thraximundar good against? Is Thoughtseize really better than Cabal Therapy in this deck?
The list seems solid. No gimmicks, just good stuff. Gitaxian Probe and Cabal Therapy are perfect together, and running 12 animate spells practically guarantees that the deck will see them. Not sure what Thraximundar and Sky Swallower are for, though.
It's very much a budget list and it's in a small field, but it defeated UW Stoneblade with maindeck Karakas in the finals. That's got to count for something!
I was thinking about using Serum Powder in this deck. It's pretty easy to randomly get a ridiculous hand with turn 1 / turn 2 animate, and this deck is pretty redundant, so it might be worth a shot. I would run 4 Jins and more shroud creatures (Empyrial Archangel and Inky) in a deck with 4 Serum Powder though, since getting one killed will significantly reduce the chance of animating another if Powder was used.
Yeah it definitely makes the deck one turn slower, but it's better to be slow than to do basically nothing. The petals help too, and running Shred Memory will require 4 petals. I only have 7, and the other 4 are in another deck, so....
Ok since I can't find Beseech The Queen and Enlightened Tutor is obviously non-budget, I use Shred Memory instead. It can tutor for Exhume, Animate Dead, Hymn to Tourach, and my favorite: Gerrard's Verdict! Postboard it could grab Apostle's Blessing to protect the fatties.
It's true, Jin is the best. Even when he gets killed, he just puts you so far ahead that it's insane. It's just a little hard to Reanimate him again because he costs 10 life.
I don't know of any efficient black card that lets us destroy enchantments and artifacts, so a splash is probably necessary to get rid of those things. Tried removing 4 Duress and 2 Buried Alive for 3 Infernal Tutor and 3 Sickening Dreams. Seems to work alright, but it's still not perfect. I think Beseech The Queen is better than Infernal Tutor in this deck.
edit:
Tried my build out against some admittedly bad decks earlier with some changes, and it seems that the deck needs some way of protecting the fatties. Apostle's Blessing is probably ok, but two life can be pretty hard to pay sometimes.
The deck has some serious consistency issues. Sometimes it just doesn't have that last combo piece. I'm thinking of cutting some discard to fit a tutor engine in, like Infernal Tutors and something that lets me get Hell-bent, or Beseech The Queen, or even Enlightened Tutor for either Animate Dead or Zombie Infestation. The White splash seems decent here, since it gives us Swords/Path and answers to Leyline of the Void / Artifacts.
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....wait, what happened to this thread? I'm pretty sure it used to have more than one page.
edit: lol display options
I've been in many situations where I couldn't cast Reanimate because my life was too low. I wouldn't run Thoughtseize in this deck because of that. Duress might be better than Thoughtseize since we really just want to take out those counters, grave hate, or combo cards.
Dindon, how are you doing with 12 lands? @.@
I agree, though, I think Cabal therapy is the best discard in this deck because of Imp, and really the only card we want the opponent to discard is Force of Will while we're animating, so yeah. Not to mention Thoughtseize costs some life to use.
http://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=2504
16 Swamp
12 CREATURES
4 Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur
4 Putrid Imp
1 Angel of Despair
1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
4 Dark Ritual
4 Exhume
4 Reanimate
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Entomb
8 OTHER SPELLS
4 Lotus Petal
4 Animate Dead
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
4 Ratchet Bomb
1 Thraximundar
1 Simic Sky Swallower
4 Faerie Macabre
4 Pithing Needle
The list seems solid. No gimmicks, just good stuff. Gitaxian Probe and Cabal Therapy are perfect together, and running 12 animate spells practically guarantees that the deck will see them. Not sure what Thraximundar and Sky Swallower are for, though.
It's very much a budget list and it's in a small field, but it defeated UW Stoneblade with maindeck Karakas in the finals. That's got to count for something!
edit:
Tried my build out against some admittedly bad decks earlier with some changes, and it seems that the deck needs some way of protecting the fatties. Apostle's Blessing is probably ok, but two life can be pretty hard to pay sometimes.
4 Dark Ritual
3 Hymn to Tourach
4 Duress
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Entomb
4 Exhume
4 Reanimate
2 Buried Alive
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Terastodon
1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
3 Lotus Petal
The deck has some serious consistency issues. Sometimes it just doesn't have that last combo piece. I'm thinking of cutting some discard to fit a tutor engine in, like Infernal Tutors and something that lets me get Hell-bent, or Beseech The Queen, or even Enlightened Tutor for either Animate Dead or Zombie Infestation. The White splash seems decent here, since it gives us Swords/Path and answers to Leyline of the Void / Artifacts.