I've had this Rasputin deck for a while now. It started as just a pile of stuff I liked, then turned into UW Big Mana, and has slowly been evolving into an almost mono-blue 99-card combo deck. Here's the list:
Gone are the days of Hallowed Burial, Martial Coup, and Dispeller's Capsule -- who needs this "disruption" stuff, anyway? In fact, it's the lack of defense and countermagic that keeps the deck balanced for a multiplayer format. Rasputin has a one-track mind: make mana, and make lots of it. If it doesn't work, too bad! Should've ramped faster.
Here is a list of some of the more noteworthy interactions, some obvious, some more subtle:
1. Power Artifact + Grim Monolith or Basalt Monolith (well, duh. Kind of boring, to be honest)
2. Tidespout Tyrant + cheap mana artifacts (chain them together for infinite mana)
3. Future Sight + Sensei's Divining Top (to draw lots of cards! Add Helm of Awakening to go infinite)
4. Planar Portal + Beacon of Tomorrows (to take infinite turns, as long as you have enough mana)
5. Doubling Cube + untap and bounce effects (make stupid amounts of mana. This is my favorite)
6. Rasputin Dreamweaver + Blink effects (also generates lots of mana. Good for upping storm count)
7. Hurkyl's Recall + Mycosynth Lattice (bounce all of someone's permanents)
8. High Tide + Palinchron (good job, 1+1 = infinite)
9. Mindslaver + Academy Ruins (if you want to be a jerk by locking someone out of the game)
*NEW* 10. Doubling Cube + Capsize (probably the most elegant wincon, 2 cards for infinite mana, Storm, and bounce. Also original, as far as I know. You need 23 mana post-Cube to get it started, but that's hardly a problem for this deck)
*NEW* 10. Spawnsire of Ulamog (Dude, you can't complain about a ridiculous 30 mana win condition. He's cloggin' up your red zones and annihilatin' your people up.)
If it's not too much trouble, I'd love to hear what you think of the deck or any suggestions you may have. In any case, thanks for reading!
This deck has undergone several major overhauls in the past year. Perhaps the biggest change involved replacing the plethora of nonbasics with budget fetchlands to let me squeeze High Tide into the deck. The first post has been updated to reflect my current decklist.
I know the nature of the deck (noninteractive mono-blue-esque combo) might rub some people the wrong way, but keep in mind that I'm not going for optimization here -- this deck is a thought experiment taken to the extreme. More importantly, I play the deck in a friendly enough manner that I haven't gotten any complaints from my playgroup yet.
Leave a comment. Or better yet, proxy it up. Come on, come to the dark side. You know you want to hardcast Gleemax on turn 6.
I like the list, seems fun to play. Have you thought of copy artifact? If you're running sculpting steel it should make the cut (maybe over sapphire medallion?), rasputin always welcomes more doubling cubes. Also I find temple of the false god decent.
I like the list, seems fun to play. Have you thought of copy artifact? If you're running sculpting steel it should make the cut (maybe over sapphire medallion?), rasputin always welcomes more doubling cubes. Also I find temple of the false god decent.
Copy Artifact is freaking awesome; I can't believe I never thought of it! That has to fit in here somewhere. Sapphire Medallion and Helm of Awakening are indispensable because they help so much with building up Storm. It's either going to be Sakashima, the Imposter or Thirst for Knowledge that gets cut -- I guess Sakashima since she's been lackluster for a while now. Her main job was to copy Rasputin, but she's really clunky and Copy Artifact will typically be mana accel anyway. In it goes!
I don't think I run enough lands to get Temple of the False God online reliably. As a matter of fact, I can sometimes combo out with four or fewer lands anyway. Similarly, City of Traitors is probably better, but it's got a hefty price tag for such a relatively small upgrade in this deck.
Thanks so much for your suggestions, and for your compliments. The deck is really fun to play, and it just got a little bit better!
nice decklist, will definitely be trying this out
......also, so how good are the proliferate artifacts from scars gonna be in this deck!?
......and vedalken shackles, stroke of genius, both seem like auto includes, and for when storm building/drawing the deck; mox opal,mox diamond and chrome mox?!!!!!!...
on a more devious note, including march of the machines could be fun, it not only will give you an army of beating artifacts, will nicely kill off mana vault if your life total's running out.... but the interaction with mycosynth lattice means any auras (on say uril or zur?) are artifacts, become creatures, and thus unattach, and then are destroyed due to state based effects because they're still auras but not attached to anything...heehee
nice decklist, will definitely be trying this out
......also, so how good are the proliferate artifacts from scars gonna be in this deck!?
......and vedalken shackles, stroke of genius, both seem like auto includes, and for when storm building/drawing the deck; mox opal,mox diamond and chrome mox?!!!!!!...
on a more devious note, including march of the machines could be fun, it not only will give you an army of beating artifacts, will nicely kill off mana vault if your life total's running out.... but the interaction with mycosynth lattice means any auras (on say uril or zur?) are artifacts, become creatures, and thus unattach, and then are destroyed due to state based effects because they're still auras but not attached to anything...heehee
Hi, thanks for the input! To be honest, I didn't even realize that Proliferate works with Rasputin. Still, my first impression is that Proliferate won't be worthwhile in this deck. Here is a list of all the things we want to add counters to:
Sadly, that's only four cards. None of the proliferate cards seem awesome enough on their own to include in here, either.
On the other hand, Stroke of Genius is really good. Stroke was originally in here because my friend was letting me borrow his foil copy; however, he recently built a mono-U deck and needed it back. Stroke was a little expensive mana-wise, but it was cool because it made a good Merchant Scroll target. If I need to, I can still Merchant Scroll for Muddle the Mixture, then transmute for Braingeyser. I'm not opposed to Stroke, but I'm not going to actively search for one.
The moxen are freaking awesome; excellent suggestion! I'd give an arm and a leg to get some, but the vendors only accept cash. Maybe I could cheat the system, sell a kidney, then use the money to buy a mox. While we're on the topic of expensive cards, I really want a Timetwister, as well...
On March of the Machines and Mycosynth Lattice -- you do realize that particular combination of cards doesn't just destroy auras, right? Like, it's a freaking permanent Armageddon effect. Sounds fun to me. Maybe I should re-add Karn, Silver Golem? Something to think about.
Hi, thanks for the input! To be honest, I didn't even realize that Proliferate works with Rasputin. Still, my first impression is that Proliferate won't be worthwhile in this deck. Here is a list of all the things we want to add counters to:
Sadly, that's only four cards. None of the proliferate cards seem awesome enough on their own to include in here, either.
On the other hand, Stroke of Genius is really good. Stroke was originally in here because my friend was letting me borrow his foil copy; however, he recently built a mono-U deck and needed it back. Stroke was a little expensive mana-wise, but it was cool because it made a good Merchant Scroll target. If I need to, I can still Merchant Scroll for Muddle the Mixture, then transmute for Braingeyser. I'm not opposed to Stroke, but I'm not going to actively search for one.
The moxen are freaking awesome; excellent suggestion! I'd give an arm and a leg to get some, but the vendors only accept cash. Maybe I could cheat the system, sell a kidney, then use the money to buy a mox. While we're on the topic of expensive cards, I really want a Timetwister, as well...
On March of the Machines and Mycosynth Lattice -- you do realize that particular combination of cards doesn't just destroy auras, right? Like, it's a freaking permanent Armageddon effect. Sounds fun to me. Maybe I should re-add Karn, Silver Golem? Something to think about.
hadn't considered lands...hahaha, that's really strong....
moneywise...
aren't chrome mox like $12 at the moment, they dropped like a stone with the extended rotation.....moxy-d is awful expensive
re; twister I don't know how prescriptive your playgroup is?- but a proxy one maybe? The edh guys I play with allow a 1/10 ratio for proxies if desired....and you can get a pimp as hell foil proxy twister for about $6(I know cos that's what I paid for mine on eBay....or if you want a cheap one a CE or IE twister should be pretty cheap cos it's non-playable in vintage?
Timetwister is sick in a deck like this and it enables tons of tricks (ie: Time Spiral being in the list is solid) and pretty much any EDH deck I've run with Time Spiral loves having Timetwister too. Notice how much better each is that diminishing returns and johnny M11 twister attempt.
Stroke is good for the instant speed draw. That what makes it so much better than braingeyser in combo decks. You can draw tons of cards at the end of someone's turn and then go nuts your turn and win...or make someone draw out at instant speed. I'd honestly consider replacing braingeyser here straight up with stroke.
You've also got cloud key out there to further reduce costs. Copy Enchantment can be very good as well (ie, can copy copy artifact, etc).
Why no Jace's Ingenuity (over tidings) - granted 1 less card for 1 less mana, but instant speed is really clutch here.
Guilty Conscience + Stuffy Doll works in here too and you've got several tutors to grab each (one of the most hilarious plays I've been involved with was a Niv-Mizzet deck with 4 copies of stuffy doll (copy artifact, sculpting steal, copy enchantment) and starstorming for the win.
Tundra / Hallowed fountain also work well here. If you're considering twister, you should probably pick these up and stick in some "real" fetches. They count as islands (see high tide).
1 Rasputin Dreamweaver
Creatures (5)
1 Trinket Mage
1 Palladium Myr
1 Palinchron
1 Tidespout Tyrant
1 Spawnsire of Ulamog
Mana Ramp (15)
1 High Tide
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Vault
1 Grim Monolith
1 Basalt Monolith
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Coalition Relic
1 Worn Powerstone
1 Everflowing Chalice
1 Doubling Cube
1 Voltaic Key
1 Sapphire Medallion
1 Helm of Awakening
1 Sculpting Steel
Other Artifacts (5)
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Memory Jar
1 Mycosynth Lattice
1 Mindslaver
1 Planar Portal
Library Manipulation (21)
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Fabricate
1 Transmute Artifact
1 Brainstorm
1 Ponder
1 Preordain
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Frantic Search
1 Meditate
1 Recurring Insight
1 Braingeyser
1 Flux
1 Windfall
1 Timetwister
1 Diminishing Returns
1 Time Reversal
1 Time Spiral
1 Recall
1 Future Sight
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Rite of Replication
1 Temporal Fissure
1 Mind's Desire
1 Beacon of Tomorrows
1 Decree of Silence
1 Time Stretch
Other Utility (9)
1 Momentary Blink
1 Flicker
1 Capsize
1 Remand
1 Muddle the Mixture
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Power Artifact
1 Copy Artifact
1 Turnabout
Lands (36)
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Academy Ruins
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Ancient Den
1 Darksteel Citadel
1 Flood Plain
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Esper Panorama
1 Bant Panorama
22 Island
3 Plains
9001 Ulamog's Crusher
Here is a list of some of the more noteworthy interactions, some obvious, some more subtle:
1. Power Artifact + Grim Monolith or Basalt Monolith (well, duh. Kind of boring, to be honest)
2. Tidespout Tyrant + cheap mana artifacts (chain them together for infinite mana)
3. Future Sight + Sensei's Divining Top (to draw lots of cards! Add Helm of Awakening to go infinite)
4. Planar Portal + Beacon of Tomorrows (to take infinite turns, as long as you have enough mana)
5. Doubling Cube + untap and bounce effects (make stupid amounts of mana. This is my favorite)
6. Rasputin Dreamweaver + Blink effects (also generates lots of mana. Good for upping storm count)
7. Hurkyl's Recall + Mycosynth Lattice (bounce all of someone's permanents)
8. High Tide + Palinchron (good job, 1+1 = infinite)
9. Mindslaver + Academy Ruins (if you want to be a jerk by locking someone out of the game)
*NEW* 10. Doubling Cube + Capsize (probably the most elegant wincon, 2 cards for infinite mana, Storm, and bounce. Also original, as far as I know. You need 23 mana post-Cube to get it started, but that's hardly a problem for this deck)
*NEW* 10. Spawnsire of Ulamog (Dude, you can't complain about a ridiculous 30 mana win condition. He's cloggin' up your red zones and annihilatin' your people up.)
If it's not too much trouble, I'd love to hear what you think of the deck or any suggestions you may have. In any case, thanks for reading!
Draft my Mono-Blue Cube!
lichess.org | chess.com
I know the nature of the deck (noninteractive mono-blue-esque combo) might rub some people the wrong way, but keep in mind that I'm not going for optimization here -- this deck is a thought experiment taken to the extreme. More importantly, I play the deck in a friendly enough manner that I haven't gotten any complaints from my playgroup yet.
Leave a comment. Or better yet, proxy it up. Come on, come to the dark side. You know you want to hardcast Gleemax on turn 6.
Draft my Mono-Blue Cube!
lichess.org | chess.com
Copy Artifact is freaking awesome; I can't believe I never thought of it! That has to fit in here somewhere. Sapphire Medallion and Helm of Awakening are indispensable because they help so much with building up Storm. It's either going to be Sakashima, the Imposter or Thirst for Knowledge that gets cut -- I guess Sakashima since she's been lackluster for a while now. Her main job was to copy Rasputin, but she's really clunky and Copy Artifact will typically be mana accel anyway. In it goes!
I don't think I run enough lands to get Temple of the False God online reliably. As a matter of fact, I can sometimes combo out with four or fewer lands anyway. Similarly, City of Traitors is probably better, but it's got a hefty price tag for such a relatively small upgrade in this deck.
Thanks so much for your suggestions, and for your compliments. The deck is really fun to play, and it just got a little bit better!
Draft my Mono-Blue Cube!
lichess.org | chess.com
......also, so how good are the proliferate artifacts from scars gonna be in this deck!?
......and vedalken shackles, stroke of genius, both seem like auto includes, and for when storm building/drawing the deck; mox opal,mox diamond and chrome mox?!!!!!!...
on a more devious note, including march of the machines could be fun, it not only will give you an army of beating artifacts, will nicely kill off mana vault if your life total's running out.... but the interaction with mycosynth lattice means any auras (on say uril or zur?) are artifacts, become creatures, and thus unattach, and then are destroyed due to state based effects because they're still auras but not attached to anything...heehee
Hi, thanks for the input! To be honest, I didn't even realize that Proliferate works with Rasputin. Still, my first impression is that Proliferate won't be worthwhile in this deck. Here is a list of all the things we want to add counters to:
Sadly, that's only four cards. None of the proliferate cards seem awesome enough on their own to include in here, either.
On the other hand, Stroke of Genius is really good. Stroke was originally in here because my friend was letting me borrow his foil copy; however, he recently built a mono-U deck and needed it back. Stroke was a little expensive mana-wise, but it was cool because it made a good Merchant Scroll target. If I need to, I can still Merchant Scroll for Muddle the Mixture, then transmute for Braingeyser. I'm not opposed to Stroke, but I'm not going to actively search for one.
The moxen are freaking awesome; excellent suggestion! I'd give an arm and a leg to get some, but the vendors only accept cash. Maybe I could cheat the system, sell a kidney, then use the money to buy a mox. While we're on the topic of expensive cards, I really want a Timetwister, as well...
On March of the Machines and Mycosynth Lattice -- you do realize that particular combination of cards doesn't just destroy auras, right? Like, it's a freaking permanent Armageddon effect. Sounds fun to me. Maybe I should re-add Karn, Silver Golem? Something to think about.
Draft my Mono-Blue Cube!
lichess.org | chess.com
hadn't considered lands...hahaha, that's really strong....
moneywise...
aren't chrome mox like $12 at the moment, they dropped like a stone with the extended rotation.....moxy-d is awful expensive
re; twister I don't know how prescriptive your playgroup is?- but a proxy one maybe? The edh guys I play with allow a 1/10 ratio for proxies if desired....and you can get a pimp as hell foil proxy twister for about $6(I know cos that's what I paid for mine on eBay....or if you want a cheap one a CE or IE twister should be pretty cheap cos it's non-playable in vintage?
is extraplanar lens viable?
Gauntlet of power, Extraplanar lens to have more high tide.
Lattice + Karn is mean. Stone Rain for 1.
Timetwister is sick in a deck like this and it enables tons of tricks (ie: Time Spiral being in the list is solid) and pretty much any EDH deck I've run with Time Spiral loves having Timetwister too. Notice how much better each is that diminishing returns and johnny M11 twister attempt.
Stroke is good for the instant speed draw. That what makes it so much better than braingeyser in combo decks. You can draw tons of cards at the end of someone's turn and then go nuts your turn and win...or make someone draw out at instant speed. I'd honestly consider replacing braingeyser here straight up with stroke.
You've also got cloud key out there to further reduce costs. Copy Enchantment can be very good as well (ie, can copy copy artifact, etc).
Why no Jace's Ingenuity (over tidings) - granted 1 less card for 1 less mana, but instant speed is really clutch here.
Guilty Conscience + Stuffy Doll works in here too and you've got several tutors to grab each (one of the most hilarious plays I've been involved with was a Niv-Mizzet deck with 4 copies of stuffy doll (copy artifact, sculpting steal, copy enchantment) and starstorming for the win.
Tundra / Hallowed fountain also work well here. If you're considering twister, you should probably pick these up and stick in some "real" fetches. They count as islands (see high tide).
Trade/Sell me your Demonic Attorney!