One of my buddies made Vizkopa Guildmage, and he said the most frustrating part for him was hitting the mid game and being at the mercy of topdecks. He figured it was probably because he really didn't have a lot of card advantage. Do you find yourself having the same problem for the BW color combo?
Forgot about this post, sorry for the late reply! Of course, if you're spoiled with something like simic (my favorite color combination by itself for PDH), then yeah, you're gonna miss the card advantage. Still, I think I manage to squeeze a lot of goodies in:
*4 draw/search creatures
*Lots of reusable removal or x-for-1s (sweepers)
*Casting of Bones, Read the Bones, Sign in Blood and Syphon Mind as excellent "pure" card draw + 2 more transmutors
*All my recursion is reusable or comes with card advantage (3 art/ench, 3 creature)
All in all, that's quite a lot of cards that can or will generate CA when they resolve. This allows me to run a few very powerful "pure burn spells", which is really what cards like Sunspring Expedition and Rest for the Weary are in the deck, despite them being card disadvantage. I think it's best to use these to finish opponents off or to finance even greater card advantage wins with pestilence effects.
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New small update - thanks to Comicalflop, I discovered the awesome Crypt Incursion, which led me to reexamine the life gain and removal suites of the deck. I think most of it is fairly optimized now.
I also included a small protection package with Shelter and Whispersilk Cloak to protect Vizkopa and other creature combo pieces (in addition to Cho Manno's Blessing) - a need that arises when people realize what you can do with Crypt Rats/Gangrenous Zombies.
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Journey to Nowhere is already a fine target in that capacity.
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Some major updates to the list ahead! Theros brought the now well known Gray Merchant of Asphodel and Read the Bones, but perhaps even more importantly for this deck - Scholar of Athreos. I've learned a lot from 60 card pauper since I first posted this thread as well, so all in all there's been quite a few changes:
OUT: Liliana's Shade, Expedition Map and Pilgrim's Eye - really, these were just expensive Swamps. Dromad Purebred: It was only really good with Pestilence, otherwise extremely overcosted for its relatively weak ability. The Hartebeest getting Soul Link instead is much better. Mine Bearer: Swapped for the far more reusable Heavy Ballista - a better rattlesnake in the long run. Kor Skyfisher: Not enough abilities to support it, making it out of place here. Lifelink and Mark of the Vampire: Swapped for the far more useful Soul Link and Vampiric Link (thanks xpolosp0rtsx!) Shade's Form and Unhallowed Pact: Not really very useful for the deck to be honest. Syphon Life: Much too weak an effect for the cost. Altar's Reap: Replaced with Read the Bones - far better for this deck. Diabolic Edict: Never really useful. Removal in this deck must come with massive lifegain, card advantage, high reusability potential etc. to merit consideration. Congregate: A shabby card, once I discovered I could just add lifelink to Crypt Rats/Gangrenous Zombies for the same effect AND get removal on top.
IN
Gray Merchant of Asphodel, Read the Bones, Scholar of Athreos: Thank you Theros!
Syndic of Tithes, Tithe Drinker, Basilica Screecher: I've re-evaluated extort since learning to use it without drawing hate. I simply pay for extort early WITHOUT using Vizkopa whenever my life drops, and then to add extra oomph on kill spells like Rest for the Weary or Corrupt later. Since I don't care about the body, I only run the 2 CMC extort dudes, since better life gain can be had for 3+ mana IMO.
Corrupt and Tendrils of Corruption: Late game finishers or mid game removal with extra life gain to finance pestilence effects - much more economical than the other Drain Life effects.
Soul Link and Vampiric Link: Awesome! These double as selective/political removal AND stack with Vizkopa's lifelink ability.
Pewter Golem, Terrus Wurm, Toxic Nim, Ulamog's Crusher: I've found that an almost embarrassingly easy way to get lots of life is by playing tough big guys that you can either lifelink with Vizkopa and/or the link auras. Especially when backed-up with creature recursion, a humble Pewter Golem will quickly kill the table unless Vizkopa can be inactivated somehow. These guys are also excellent with Pestilence.
Heavy Ballista: Oh my, it single-handedly defeats 4/4s all day (or x/2 flyers), and messes up combat math for even bigger guys.
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Protection will interfere with Soul Link. Soul Link cares about how much damage is dealt, and prevention of any strain including protection has to kick in before damage is dealt, or it'd be useless. So if you have a creature with protection from something, and soul link on it, you won't gain life for the damage dealt to it.
That's interesting, thanks. That means that cards like Cho Manno's Blessing or Inviolability might not be the best choice to grant survivability to Crypt Rats, pestilence and wall of hope-type creatures etc. I'm thinking Slagwurm Armor and/or Fanatical Devotion would be the best choice for this slot(s). Any other contenders that provide continous survivability without being totally crap cards?
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I like this version, it is a totally different playstyle from mine as i like to make enemies and bother the table. This looks cool too, i just worry about there being so few pestilence effects.
Wow! Soul Link is fantastic - I did not know about that card and it never came up in any of my gatherer searches. Now that you mention it, I vaguely recall having seen Vampiric Link a long time ago and thinking "hey, a black spirit link", but then I forgot about it long before I ventured into PDH. If I'm not mistaken, Vampiric Link should be even better than Lifelink since it would stack with Vizkopa's lifelink ability (and other lifelink abilities) whereas lifelink doesn't stack with itself. Am I also correct in thinking that protection (such as from Cho Manno's Blessing) wouldn't interfere with Soul Link (i.e. you'd still gain the life from damage dealt, before it was reduced to 0 thanks to protection)? I'm thinking about cutting Syphon Life and Haunted Fengraf for these two auras. Thoughts?
Yeah, the playstyle of this deck is more like straight BW control, with the advantage that you can actually get away with lots of life gain to mitigate the pestilence effects since they double as win conditions with Vizkopa. I too would like more Pestilence effects but I know of no others that kill creatures (I differ between pestilence effects and mass drain effects). I want them to kill dudes, because when I deal mass damage I want to do so under the guise of necessity for creature control while limiting the chance for retaliation I want my fellow players to thank me for slowly killing them, since the damage done by the threats I sweeped would have been greater in the long run. Anyway, I have 4 Pestilence effects + House Guard to tutor for either Pestilence or Evincar's Justice + all the draw I can muster. The deck can win without swepers though, as Vizkopa + lifegain doesn't really care about the red zone.
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IMO (and I've seen this echoed by other Viz players on this forum), extort is a trap. 1v1, the extort cost is not worth it and in multiplayer it is simply political suicide to deal 3+ damage to everyone whenever you cast a spell. They *will* gang up on you. I activate Vizkopa to kill at least one player - and only then. Continous, small mass damage will irritate the table and get you killed.
On withering wisps: Yeah, would have been an auto-include otherwise. Thanks for the tip though, didn't know about it.
EDIT: Added a small description on how I play the deck in the OP.
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As you can see, I have omitted most instant/sorcery removal since I can't reuse it and I'm running so much already. The deck wins through:
1) Pestilence effects + lifegain to get you ahead, or
2) Vizkopa + lifegain effects
Suggestions and feedback are very welcome
EDIT: A small note on how I play this deck. In multiplayer, apart from ramp/fix, I start by playing lots of "rattlesnakes" to deter attackers (seals, capsules, spellbombs and dudes like Stinkweed Imp and Mine Bearer). Then I wait while the big boys go about killing each other. If somebody is getting out of hand, I'll help out with some exiling removal or a small sweeper. Then, when life totals start dropping, I'll either use lifegain to stabilize and kill someone with Vizkopa, or to fuel bigger/continous plagues. Against the final opponent, I will simply use unfair amounts of stockpiled removal and lifegain to pull ahead while doing as much damage as I can, ideally while stealing his biggest threat. 1v1 it's much simpler - you are control and your opponent is not allowed to have non-land permanents. Save exiling stuff for his general. Vizkopa can come out much sooner and kill him while you pull ahead in life.
INTRODUCTION Vizkopa Guildmage is a commander that lets you slap mass untargeted lifeloss for your opponents onto lifegain effects - a powerful ability that proves to be a challenge both for political reasons and deckbuilding. Stocking up on Alabaster Potions is not the best way to go about it and the true power plays of the deck are typically not obvious to a new pilot.
The most important cards in the deck are Crypt Rats and Gangrenous Zombies. They can really abuse Vizkopa's first ability to gain massive amounts of life, which the second ability converts to damage. Consider a very modest example of 3 players, you having only 2 creatures (Zombies and Vizkopa, say) in play, with similar board states for the other players. That's still 9 targets that Gangrenous Zombies will hit for 2 damage each, gaining you a net of 16 life and causing net 20 life loss to all other players, while sweeping creatures at toughness 2 or below. And that's one of the most conservative multiplayer situations imaginable - most of the time, you will win the game on the spot or in one turn if you resolve one of these.
The second most important cards are Pestilence and Evincar's Justice, and their interactions with Children of Korlis, Wall of Hope, Dromad Purebred and creatures enchanted with Soul Link. The net result is largely the same, either taking everyone out with a bang or locking people out with repeatable board sweeps and assymetrical mass damage.
The rest of the deck is mostly orzhov goodstuff that you see in many control decks, but with a tendency to value tacked-on life gain higher than normal. As it turns out, it's still best to avoid pure single shot life gain (even though they are really undercosted mass burn in disguise) to avoid running out of steam later. It's much better to destroy a permanent and gain a moderate amount of life, than to maximize the life gain at the cost of card disadvantage.
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Forgot about this post, sorry for the late reply! Of course, if you're spoiled with something like simic (my favorite color combination by itself for PDH), then yeah, you're gonna miss the card advantage. Still, I think I manage to squeeze a lot of goodies in:
*4 draw/search creatures
*Lots of reusable removal or x-for-1s (sweepers)
*Casting of Bones, Read the Bones, Sign in Blood and Syphon Mind as excellent "pure" card draw + 2 more transmutors
*All my recursion is reusable or comes with card advantage (3 art/ench, 3 creature)
All in all, that's quite a lot of cards that can or will generate CA when they resolve. This allows me to run a few very powerful "pure burn spells", which is really what cards like Sunspring Expedition and Rest for the Weary are in the deck, despite them being card disadvantage. I think it's best to use these to finish opponents off or to finance even greater card advantage wins with pestilence effects.
EDIT: My most updated list for completeness:
2 Vizkopa Guildmage
CREATURES (23)
//Draw/Search (4)
4 Dimir House Guard
5 Totem-guide Hartebeest
3 Moriok Replica
3 Phyrexian Rager
2 Basilica Screecher
1 Children of Korlis
5 Grey Merchant of Asphodel
3 Scholar of Athreos
2 Syndic of Tithes
2 Tithe Drinker
1 Wall of Hope
3 Crypt Rats
3 Gangrenous Zombies
1 Kami of False Hope
3 Kor Sanctifiers
3 Stinkweed Imp
3 Auramancer
4 Sanctum Gargoyle
5 Pewter Golem
7 Terrus Wurm
6 Toxic Nim
6 Twisted Abomination
8 Ulamog's Crusher
ARTIFACTS (10)
//Mana (7)
2 Armillary Sphere
3 Darksteel Ingot
2 Mindstone
3 Orzhov Cluestone
2 Orzhov Signet
3 Pristine Talisman
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Sylvok Lifestaff
3 Whispersilk Cloak
ENCHANTMENTS (11)
//Non-Auras (5)
1 Sunspring Expedition
4 Pestilence
3 Oblivion Ring
2 Journey to Nowhere
2 Seal of Cleansing
3 Casting of Bones
2 Cho-Manno's Blessing
4 Faith's Fetters
3 Recumbent Bliss
3 Soul Link
1 Vampiric Link
SORCERIES (10)
3 Ashes to Ashes
5 Brainspoil
3 Crippling Fatigue
2 Disturbed Burial
4 Evincar's Justice
2 Mine Excavation
3 Read the Bones
2 Sign in Blood
4 Syphon Mind
5 Urborg Uprising
INSTANTS (10)
3 Crypt Incursion
2 Grim Harvest
4 Ray of Distortion
2 Rest for the Weary
2 Shelter
2 Shred Memory
4 Snuff Out
2 Sun's Bounty
4 Tendrils of Corruption
3 Unmake
1 Esper Panorama
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Orzhov Basilica
1 Orzhov Guildgate
1 Haunted Fengraf
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Kabira Crossroads
1 Drifting Meadow
1 Secluded Steppe
17 Snow-covered Swamp
8 Plains
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I also included a small protection package with Shelter and Whispersilk Cloak to protect Vizkopa and other creature combo pieces (in addition to Cho Manno's Blessing) - a need that arises when people realize what you can do with Crypt Rats/Gangrenous Zombies.
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[Click here for the articles!]
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"At least for those who can play cards, their present incarnation is not quite wasted."
[Click here for the articles!]
OUT:
Liliana's Shade, Expedition Map and Pilgrim's Eye - really, these were just expensive Swamps.
Dromad Purebred: It was only really good with Pestilence, otherwise extremely overcosted for its relatively weak ability. The Hartebeest getting Soul Link instead is much better.
Mine Bearer: Swapped for the far more reusable Heavy Ballista - a better rattlesnake in the long run.
Kor Skyfisher: Not enough abilities to support it, making it out of place here.
Lifelink and Mark of the Vampire: Swapped for the far more useful Soul Link and Vampiric Link (thanks xpolosp0rtsx!)
Shade's Form and Unhallowed Pact: Not really very useful for the deck to be honest.
Syphon Life: Much too weak an effect for the cost.
Altar's Reap: Replaced with Read the Bones - far better for this deck.
Diabolic Edict: Never really useful. Removal in this deck must come with massive lifegain, card advantage, high reusability potential etc. to merit consideration.
Congregate: A shabby card, once I discovered I could just add lifelink to Crypt Rats/Gangrenous Zombies for the same effect AND get removal on top.
IN
Gray Merchant of Asphodel, Read the Bones, Scholar of Athreos: Thank you Theros!
Syndic of Tithes, Tithe Drinker, Basilica Screecher: I've re-evaluated extort since learning to use it without drawing hate. I simply pay for extort early WITHOUT using Vizkopa whenever my life drops, and then to add extra oomph on kill spells like Rest for the Weary or Corrupt later. Since I don't care about the body, I only run the 2 CMC extort dudes, since better life gain can be had for 3+ mana IMO.
Corrupt and Tendrils of Corruption: Late game finishers or mid game removal with extra life gain to finance pestilence effects - much more economical than the other Drain Life effects.
Soul Link and Vampiric Link: Awesome! These double as selective/political removal AND stack with Vizkopa's lifelink ability.
Pewter Golem, Terrus Wurm, Toxic Nim, Ulamog's Crusher: I've found that an almost embarrassingly easy way to get lots of life is by playing tough big guys that you can either lifelink with Vizkopa and/or the link auras. Especially when backed-up with creature recursion, a humble Pewter Golem will quickly kill the table unless Vizkopa can be inactivated somehow. These guys are also excellent with Pestilence.
Heavy Ballista: Oh my, it single-handedly defeats 4/4s all day (or x/2 flyers), and messes up combat math for even bigger guys.
OP updated with list in spoiler below!
2 Vizkopa Guildmage
CREATURES (25)
//Draw/Search (4)
4 Dimir House Guard
5 Totem-guide Hartebeest
3 Moriok Replica
3 Phyrexian Rager
2 Basilica Screecher
1 Children of Korlis
5 Grey Merchant of Asphodel
3 Scholar of Athreos
2 Syndic of Tithes
2 Tithe Drinker
1 Wall of Hope
3 Crypt Rats
3 Gangrenous Zombies
4 Heavy Ballista
1 Kami of False Hope
3 Kor Sanctifiers
3 Stinkweed Imp
3 Blind Zealot
3 Auramancer
4 Sanctum Gargoyle
5 Pewter Golem
7 Terrus Wurm
6 Toxic Nim
6 Twisted Abomination
8 Ulamog's Crusher
//removal (2)
1 Executioner's Capsule
1 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Armillary Sphere
3 Darksteel Ingot
2 Mindstone
3 Orzhov Cluestone
2 Orzhov Signet
3 Pristine Talisman
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Sylvok Lifestaff
ENCHANTMENTS (13)
//non-auras (8)
1 Sunspring Expedition
4 Pestilence
3 Oblivion Ring
2 Journey to Nowhere
3 Oubliette
2 Angelic Renewal
2 Seal of Cleansing
3 Seal of Doom
3 Casting of Bones
2 Cho-Manno's Blessing
4 Faith's Fetters
3 Soul Link
1 Vampiric Link
SORCERIES (10)
3 Ashes to Ashes
5 Brainspoil
6 Corrupt
2 Disturbed Burial
4 Evincar's Justice
2 Mine Excavation
3 Read the Bones
2 Sign in Blood
4 Syphon Mind
5 Urborg Uprising
2 Grim Harvest
4 Ray of Distortion
2 Rest for the Weary
2 Shred Memory
2 Sun's Bounty
4 Tendrils of Corruption
LANDS (35)
1 Esper Panorama
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Orzhov Basilica
1 Orzhov Guildgate
1 Haunted Fengraf
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Kabira Crossroads
1 Drifting Meadow
1 Secluded Steppe
17 Snow-covered Swamp
8 Plains
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That's interesting, thanks. That means that cards like Cho Manno's Blessing or Inviolability might not be the best choice to grant survivability to Crypt Rats, pestilence and wall of hope-type creatures etc. I'm thinking Slagwurm Armor and/or Fanatical Devotion would be the best choice for this slot(s). Any other contenders that provide continous survivability without being totally crap cards?
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Wow! Soul Link is fantastic - I did not know about that card and it never came up in any of my gatherer searches. Now that you mention it, I vaguely recall having seen Vampiric Link a long time ago and thinking "hey, a black spirit link", but then I forgot about it long before I ventured into PDH. If I'm not mistaken, Vampiric Link should be even better than Lifelink since it would stack with Vizkopa's lifelink ability (and other lifelink abilities) whereas lifelink doesn't stack with itself. Am I also correct in thinking that protection (such as from Cho Manno's Blessing) wouldn't interfere with Soul Link (i.e. you'd still gain the life from damage dealt, before it was reduced to 0 thanks to protection)? I'm thinking about cutting Syphon Life and Haunted Fengraf for these two auras. Thoughts?
Yeah, the playstyle of this deck is more like straight BW control, with the advantage that you can actually get away with lots of life gain to mitigate the pestilence effects since they double as win conditions with Vizkopa. I too would like more Pestilence effects but I know of no others that kill creatures (I differ between pestilence effects and mass drain effects). I want them to kill dudes, because when I deal mass damage I want to do so under the guise of necessity for creature control while limiting the chance for retaliation
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IMO (and I've seen this echoed by other Viz players on this forum), extort is a trap. 1v1, the extort cost is not worth it and in multiplayer it is simply political suicide to deal 3+ damage to everyone whenever you cast a spell. They *will* gang up on you. I activate Vizkopa to kill at least one player - and only then. Continous, small mass damage will irritate the table and get you killed.
On withering wisps: Yeah, would have been an auto-include otherwise. Thanks for the tip though, didn't know about it.
EDIT: Added a small description on how I play the deck in the OP.
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"At least for those who can play cards, their present incarnation is not quite wasted."
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2 Vizkopa Guildmage
CREATURES (24)
//Draw/Search (4)
4 Dimir House Guard
5 Totem-guide Hartebeest
3 Moriok Replica
3 Phyrexian Rager
2 Basilica Screecher
1 Children of Korlis
5 Grey Merchant of Asphodel
3 Scholar of Athreos
2 Syndic of Tithes
2 Tithe Drinker
1 Wall of Hope
3 Crypt Rats
3 Gangrenous Zombies
4 Heavy Ballista
1 Kami of False Hope
3 Kor Sanctifiers
3 Stinkweed Imp
3 Auramancer
4 Sanctum Gargoyle
5 Pewter Golem
7 Terrus Wurm
6 Toxic Nim
6 Twisted Abomination
8 Ulamog's Crusher
//Mana (7)
2 Armillary Sphere
3 Darksteel Ingot
2 Mindstone
3 Orzhov Cluestone
2 Orzhov Signet
3 Pristine Talisman
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Sylvok Lifestaff
3 Whispersilk Cloak
ENCHANTMENTS (11)
//Non-Auras (5)
1 Sunspring Expedition
4 Pestilence
3 Oblivion Ring
2 Journey to Nowhere
2 Seal of Cleansing
3 Casting of Bones
2 Cho-Manno's Blessing
4 Faith's Fetters
3 Recumbent Bliss
3 Soul Link
1 Vampiric Link
SORCERIES (9)
3 Ashes to Ashes
5 Brainspoil
2 Disturbed Burial
4 Evincar's Justice
2 Mine Excavation
3 Read the Bones
2 Sign in Blood
4 Syphon Mind
5 Urborg Uprising
3 Crypt Incursion
2 Grim Harvest
4 Ray of Distortion
2 Rest for the Weary
2 Shelter
2 Shred Memory
4 Snuff Out
2 Sun's Bounty
4 Tendrils of Corruption
3 Unmake
LANDS (35)
1 Esper Panorama
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Orzhov Basilica
1 Orzhov Guildgate
1 Haunted Fengraf
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Kabira Crossroads
1 Drifting Meadow
1 Secluded Steppe
17 Snow-covered Swamp
8 Plains
As you can see, I have omitted most instant/sorcery removal since I can't reuse it and I'm running so much already. The deck wins through:
1) Pestilence effects + lifegain to get you ahead, or
2) Vizkopa + lifegain effects
Suggestions and feedback are very welcome
EDIT: A small note on how I play this deck. In multiplayer, apart from ramp/fix, I start by playing lots of "rattlesnakes" to deter attackers (seals, capsules, spellbombs and dudes like Stinkweed Imp and Mine Bearer). Then I wait while the big boys go about killing each other. If somebody is getting out of hand, I'll help out with some exiling removal or a small sweeper. Then, when life totals start dropping, I'll either use lifegain to stabilize and kill someone with Vizkopa, or to fuel bigger/continous plagues. Against the final opponent, I will simply use unfair amounts of stockpiled removal and lifegain to pull ahead while doing as much damage as I can, ideally while stealing his biggest threat. 1v1 it's much simpler - you are control and your opponent is not allowed to have non-land permanents. Save exiling stuff for his general. Vizkopa can come out much sooner and kill him while you pull ahead in life.
INTRODUCTION
Vizkopa Guildmage is a commander that lets you slap mass untargeted lifeloss for your opponents onto lifegain effects - a powerful ability that proves to be a challenge both for political reasons and deckbuilding. Stocking up on Alabaster Potions is not the best way to go about it and the true power plays of the deck are typically not obvious to a new pilot.
The most important cards in the deck are Crypt Rats and Gangrenous Zombies. They can really abuse Vizkopa's first ability to gain massive amounts of life, which the second ability converts to damage. Consider a very modest example of 3 players, you having only 2 creatures (Zombies and Vizkopa, say) in play, with similar board states for the other players. That's still 9 targets that Gangrenous Zombies will hit for 2 damage each, gaining you a net of 16 life and causing net 20 life loss to all other players, while sweeping creatures at toughness 2 or below. And that's one of the most conservative multiplayer situations imaginable - most of the time, you will win the game on the spot or in one turn if you resolve one of these.
The second most important cards are Pestilence and Evincar's Justice, and their interactions with Children of Korlis, Wall of Hope, Dromad Purebred and creatures enchanted with Soul Link. The net result is largely the same, either taking everyone out with a bang or locking people out with repeatable board sweeps and assymetrical mass damage.
The rest of the deck is mostly orzhov goodstuff that you see in many control decks, but with a tendency to value tacked-on life gain higher than normal. As it turns out, it's still best to avoid pure single shot life gain (even though they are really undercosted mass burn in disguise) to avoid running out of steam later. It's much better to destroy a permanent and gain a moderate amount of life, than to maximize the life gain at the cost of card disadvantage.
A series of seven articles using Magic to explore the very stuff of the Universe!
"At least for those who can play cards, their present incarnation is not quite wasted."
[Click here for the articles!]