I love modal spells, and casting a spell, then returning it and casting it again but as a completely different effect pleases me on an intrinsic level, so I made this deck to support that. This is a deck, in short, that wants options.
The basic idea is that, if there's something that's bothering me or the table in general, my deck should be able to produce an answer to it. Each card in my deck either a) is modal, that is, there are multiple different ways of casting the spell in such a way that the spell does different things, b) fixes my mana (which is horrible as this deck is budget as I can't afford shocklands, fetches or duals) or c) gets me "value" in some way by getting back the modal spells I cast, as most of my spells are 1-for-1s of which I need to get some return on. There is some general good stuff, but most of it plays in to themes or ideas prevalent throughout the rest of the deck.
I haven't tested the deck that much (just a number of games against my friend on MWS) but it seemed fine in practice, though as I haven't tested the deck in my semi-competitive multiplayer LGS environment (for which this deck was intended to be used in), it's hard to say for sure. I'm posting it up here mainly to figure out what is/isn't good so I know what/what not to order from SCG when I finally get around to making the deck for real.
Sideboard
Now, this wouldn't be a modal deck if the deck itself wasn't modal, would it? The sideboard is a collection of cards that I can swap in for other cards if I feel like it; really, it's just a way of changing up how the deck plays to get a bit more variance. For example, if I want to go the big mana route, I can side in Mana Reflection, Solemn Simulacrum, and the two X spells and try to get big with the rest of the X spells in the deck. It's also a place for me to put cards like Shriveling Rot which can be fun to mise people with, but gets worse after the first time they've seen it.
Out of all the 5C generals, Cromat is the only one who really encapsulates the idea of being prepared for any situation, and he's my main win condition. Everything I do should be, in some way, aiding me in my attempt to kill my opponents with general damage, whether that means taking out creatures that Cromat has problems dealing with or stopping my opponents from winning.
Charms
The seven charms I have in the deck(+Evolution Charm) are pretty much always going to do something relevant regardless of the board state, where the charms I left out either have modes that are too situational (Grixis Charm) do things the deck really doesn't care about (Darigaaz's Charm) or just have bad modes in general (Rith's Charm).
Withered Wretch
Because a lot of the removal/"destroy target X" effects in my deck don't exile, I threw Withered Wretch in as a way to stop the recursion/value my opponents are getting, as well as a nod to the numerous graveyard-based decks that are in my meta (Jund Charm and Bojuka Bog are in here for similar reasons). This deck also ends up with a lot of mana floating around that I leave up for possible instants I want to cast, so having the option (!) of just getting rid of a bunch of stuff for good is nice. Also a creature to hold Sunforger.
Sunforger
While were on the topic... Sunforger has a lot of value in this deck; it gets all of my tri-colour charms and a number of other useful spells to have access to (Grab the Reins in particular, which is one of the few ways this deck can get around indestructability). It's the main reason I'm running Kher Keep, since while chump blocks are nice, having dispensable bodies to carry Sunforger is more important to me.
Rite of Replication
This deck lacks wincons, and RoR provides me with one that is not only flexible, but also more easily returned with the rest of the cards in the deck. I know it's rather "common" in that it appears in about every other deck, but this deck actually needs it.
Tolarian Academy is just a good fixer and can find me a creature producer if I need something for Sunforger (Kher Keep) gravehate (Bojuka Bog) or something I can kill someone with (Creeping Tar Pit).
Vedalken Orrery
The flexibility to cast anything at any time is invaluable to this deck; the more mana I leave up, the more options (!) I have available to me, which is especially relevant with Cromat and his many abilities.
Cards that aren't in here:
Battlemages (Thunderscape Battlemage et. all)
While the battlemages perfectly represent what this deck is all about, I found they were just too slow, and I'd much rather have a disenchant than the 2/2 body it left behind. When I had them, I also ran Riptide Lab/Vedalken Aethermage/Erratic Portal/Anarchist+Scrivener as a little wizard toolbox/recursion engine.
Volvers (Anavolver et. all)
These were simply too weak to be any use, and if they get Warp Worlded/Living Deathed into play, they're reallyyyy bad.
More Signets
I tried my best to have a low nonland permanent count, partly to be more protected from wraths (both my opponents and my own), but also because this deck interacts with spells more than it does with any other type.
Life from the Loam
While this would definitely go in a version of the deck that could actually afford fetchlands and the like, it's high price and relative uselessness in this deck put me off of it, though I would still like this sort of effect as a way of protecting my weak manabase should someone go after my lands (which is the main way this deck loses).
Primeval Titan
While the mana fixing provided by the Titan is certainly good, in my experience, he gets abused by other people at the table so much that casting him actually hurt you more than it helped you, and this deck does not want to give free advantages to the opponents, especially not mana. It also makes my deck less of a good Bribery target once people find out the best target in my deck is probably Charnelhoard Wurm (which is fine, but not nearly as good as most other decks are packing).
Are there any cards that should be in here? Any that shouldn't? Any suggestions for how to make the deck a bit more competitive while staying within the limits of the deck's theme? Please help me out.
While they do bounce a land back to your hand, it can be untapped. And they don't enter the board tapped, either. I might recommend these over the storage lands.
I also use utopia sprawl and fertile ground for fixing--but my casual meta doesn't have a lot of land destruction.
"For me metaphysics means something more like realism. That there is a reality that escapes any of its manifestations. You can never be quite sure what it is, but you can offer some description of what the structures of reality are." Graham Harman, The Prince and the Wolf
Although it only does one thing, lavalanche probably helps your deck. I'm looking to get a copy of Cruel Ultimatum, though I can't tell before playing with it if it is a game changer or just a win more card.
"For me metaphysics means something more like realism. That there is a reality that escapes any of its manifestations. You can never be quite sure what it is, but you can offer some description of what the structures of reality are." Graham Harman, The Prince and the Wolf
While they do bounce a land back to your hand, it can be untapped. And they don't enter the board tapped, either. I might recommend these over the storage lands.
I also use utopia sprawl and fertile ground for fixing--but my casual meta doesn't have a lot of land destruction.
Hmmm...while the manafixing the Lairs provide is certainly needed, I don't think my deck can really afford to be putting myself back land drops; I already feel like my deck is slow enough as it is. Having them come into play tapped (and letting you tap the land you return for mana) is nice, but the early turns of this deck are generally pretty do-nothing for me, so having the mana generally won't even matter. I'd probably run more Ravnica Karoos before I ran the Lairs.
Cutting down on the storage lands is an idea, though; while I've liked them in this deck (as I've sad, I have a lot of spare mana floating around), drawing multiples is pretty bad. I might just cut down to the R/B one and G/W one, as they allow me to use the most of Cromat's abilities if I drew them together (R/W, B/W, and G/B are his best ones, which the lands can make an abundance of together). Storage lands + Mana Reflection is also pretty hilarious.
And running Utopia Spawl effects might be an idea, even if it's another nonland permanent...I'll have to see how the deck plays out, and how much LD my meta runs (from what I've seen, not that much, lol).
EDIT: I played a few games with the deck and the storage lands really screwed me over. Changed 3 of them to some basics and Reliquary Tower, which I somehow forgot from this list.
Although it only does one thing, lavalanche probably helps your deck. I'm looking to get a copy of Cruel Ultimatum, though I can't tell before playing with it if it is a game changer or just a win more card.
Oh man, Lavalanche is pretty sweet; a tutorable wrath that I can get with both Drift of Phantasms/Perplex AND Supply/Demand is something this deck could use. I doubt I'll run it maindeck, but I could definitely bring it in along with the ramp/X-spell plan I've got going on, so I'll definitely pick one up. I think I can bump Exsanguinate off the list for it(one non-modal spell for another, right?).
Cruel, while fun, is probably a bit too win more, I think you're right. This deck won't be able to take advantage of the creature-return often enough (unless I side in the creature package) and while drawing cards and draining is fine, it's rather expensive and doesn't effect the board in any way (aside from the edict), which is something this deck is always trying to do. The mana cost is also a BIT ridiculous, and if I draw too many of the "wrong sources", I might not be able to cast it till turn 11 or something, lol.
I just want to say this is one of the most interesting and unique builds I've seen in a while. I'm likely to try it soon...
How do you feel about running the suite of ultimatums? Cruel Ultimatum was mentioned earlier, but the others are nice as well. At 7 mana, pricey -- but the effects on most of them are worthwhile, and you have ways to get them back.
The basic idea is that, if there's something that's bothering me or the table in general, my deck should be able to produce an answer to it. Each card in my deck either a) is modal, that is, there are multiple different ways of casting the spell in such a way that the spell does different things, b) fixes my mana (which is horrible as this deck is budget as I can't afford shocklands, fetches or duals) or c) gets me "value" in some way by getting back the modal spells I cast, as most of my spells are 1-for-1s of which I need to get some return on. There is some general good stuff, but most of it plays in to themes or ideas prevalent throughout the rest of the deck.
I haven't tested the deck that much (just a number of games against my friend on MWS) but it seemed fine in practice, though as I haven't tested the deck in my semi-competitive multiplayer LGS environment (for which this deck was intended to be used in), it's hard to say for sure. I'm posting it up here mainly to figure out what is/isn't good so I know what/what not to order from SCG when I finally get around to making the deck for real.
Without further ado, the deck:
1x Cromat
CREATURES (13):
(ETB Dorks)
1x Eternal Witness
1x Izzet Chronarch
1x Mnemonic Wall
1x Brutalizer Exarch
1x Entomber Exarch
1x Solemn Simulacrum
1x Duplicant
1x Angel of Despair
1x Withered Wretch
1x Drift of Phantasms
1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
1x Oracle of Mul Daya
1x Charmbreaker Devils
MODAL SPELLS (29):
(Entwine)
1x Grab the Reins
1x Journey of Discovery
1x Promise of Power
1x Reap and Sow
1x Supply/Demand
1x Crime/Punishment
1x Pure/Simple
1x Odds/Ends
1x Hide/Seek
1x Spite/Malice
1x Research/Development
1x Naya Charm
1x Jund Charm
1x Esper Charm
1x Bant Charm
1x Treva's Charm
1x Crosis's Charm
1x Dromar's Charm
1x Evolution Charm
1x Cryptic Command
1x Primal Command
1x Austere Command
1x Perplex
1x Mortify
1x Putrefy
1x Soul Manipulation
1x Decree of Pain
1x Invoke the Firemind
1x Akroma's Vengeance
GOODSTUFFZ (7):
(Permanents)
1x Maelstrom Nexus
1x Obelisk of Alara
1x Conflux
1x Praetor's Counsel
1x Sunforger
1x Vedalken Orrery
1x Crystal Shard
(Permanents)
1x Mirari's Wake
1x Darksteel Ingot
1x Prophetic Prism
1x Simic Signet
1x Golgari Signet
1x Cultivate
1x Kodama's Reach
1x Explosive Vegetation
LANDS (42):
(ETB Tapped)
1x Jungle Shrine
1x Crumbling Necropolis
1x Arcane Sanctuary
1x Seaside Citadel
1x Savage Lands
1x Woodland Cemetary
1x Isolated Chapel
1x Drowned Catacomb
1x Sunpetal Grove
1x Dragonskull Summit
1x Rootbound Crag
1x Izzet Boilerworks
1x Boros Garrison
1x Simic Growth Chamber
1x Raging Ravine
1x Creeping Tar Pit
1x Celestial Colonnade
1x Lavaclaw Reaches
1x Stirring Wildwood
1x Rupture Spire
1x Command Tower
1x Exotic Orchard
1x Mirrodin's Core
1x Evolving Wilds
1x Terramorphic Expanse
1x Bojuka Bog
1x Tolaria West
1x Kher Keep
1x Reliquary Tower
4x Forest
3x Swamp
2x Island
2x Plains
2x Mountain
1x Charnelhoard Wurm
1x Galvanoth
1x Mistmeadow Witch
1x Solar Tide
1x Shriveling Rot
1x Profane Command
1x Muddle the Mixture
1x Rite of Replication
1x Lavalanche
1x Mana Reflection
1x Return to Dust
1x Exsanguinate
A few explanations:
Sideboard
Now, this wouldn't be a modal deck if the deck itself wasn't modal, would it?
Cromat
Out of all the 5C generals, Cromat is the only one who really encapsulates the idea of being prepared for any situation, and he's my main win condition. Everything I do should be, in some way, aiding me in my attempt to kill my opponents with general damage, whether that means taking out creatures that Cromat has problems dealing with or stopping my opponents from winning.
Charms
The seven charms I have in the deck(+Evolution Charm) are pretty much always going to do something relevant regardless of the board state, where the charms I left out either have modes that are too situational (Grixis Charm) do things the deck really doesn't care about (Darigaaz's Charm) or just have bad modes in general (Rith's Charm).
Withered Wretch
Because a lot of the removal/"destroy target X" effects in my deck don't exile, I threw Withered Wretch in as a way to stop the recursion/value my opponents are getting, as well as a nod to the numerous graveyard-based decks that are in my meta (Jund Charm and Bojuka Bog are in here for similar reasons). This deck also ends up with a lot of mana floating around that I leave up for possible instants I want to cast, so having the option (!) of just getting rid of a bunch of stuff for good is nice. Also a creature to hold Sunforger.
Sunforger
While were on the topic...
Rite of Replication
This deck lacks wincons, and RoR provides me with one that is not only flexible, but also more easily returned with the rest of the cards in the deck. I know it's rather "common" in that it appears in about every other deck, but this deck actually needs it.
Transmute
Transmute in this deck is pretty awesome. My two 3-mana transmuters (Drift of Phantasms and Perplex) get:
- every tri-colour charm
- Eternal Witness
- Ramp spells and mana rocks like Cultivate, Journey of Discovery and Darksteel Ingot
- Pure/Simple (pseudo vindicate/good utility card against Voltron) + Supply/Demand (wincon/another tutor to add to the chain)
- some answer spells (Mortify etc)
- Sunforger
- Crystal Shard
- Invoke the Firemind
Muddle the Mixture gets:
- 4/6 of my split cards
- Mistmeadow Witch (resue/protect my creatures) or Withered Wretch (gravehate)
- signets
- Evolution Charm
- sideboard X spells
Tolarian Academy is just a good fixer and can find me a creature producer if I need something for Sunforger (Kher Keep) gravehate (Bojuka Bog) or something I can kill someone with (Creeping Tar Pit).
Vedalken Orrery
The flexibility to cast anything at any time is invaluable to this deck; the more mana I leave up, the more options (!) I have available to me, which is especially relevant with Cromat and his many abilities.
Cards that aren't in here:
Battlemages (Thunderscape Battlemage et. all)
While the battlemages perfectly represent what this deck is all about, I found they were just too slow, and I'd much rather have a disenchant than the 2/2 body it left behind. When I had them, I also ran Riptide Lab/Vedalken Aethermage/Erratic Portal/Anarchist+Scrivener as a little wizard toolbox/recursion engine.
Volvers (Anavolver et. all)
These were simply too weak to be any use, and if they get Warp Worlded/Living Deathed into play, they're reallyyyy bad.
More Signets
I tried my best to have a low nonland permanent count, partly to be more protected from wraths (both my opponents and my own), but also because this deck interacts with spells more than it does with any other type.
Life from the Loam
While this would definitely go in a version of the deck that could actually afford fetchlands and the like, it's high price and relative uselessness in this deck put me off of it, though I would still like this sort of effect as a way of protecting my weak manabase should someone go after my lands (which is the main way this deck loses).
Primeval Titan
While the mana fixing provided by the Titan is certainly good, in my experience, he gets abused by other people at the table so much that casting him actually hurt you more than it helped you, and this deck does not want to give free advantages to the opponents, especially not mana. It also makes my deck less of a good Bribery target once people find out the best target in my deck is probably Charnelhoard Wurm (which is fine, but not nearly as good as most other decks are packing).
Are there any cards that should be in here? Any that shouldn't? Any suggestions for how to make the deck a bit more competitive while staying within the limits of the deck's theme? Please help me out.
Crosis's Catacombs
Darigaaz's Caldera
Dromar's Cavern
Rith's Grove
Teva's Ruins
While they do bounce a land back to your hand, it can be untapped. And they don't enter the board tapped, either. I might recommend these over the storage lands.
I also use utopia sprawl and fertile ground for fixing--but my casual meta doesn't have a lot of land destruction.
WG Gaddock Teeg and the Reveillark Experience [M][c]
U Azami Draws You Crazy [M][$]
WBVish Kal, the Patient [M]
WRGUBScion of the Double Dragon [M]$
WGBTeneb, the Home Wrecker [M]$
"For me metaphysics means something more like realism. That there is a reality that escapes any of its manifestations. You can never be quite sure what it is, but you can offer some description of what the structures of reality are." Graham Harman, The Prince and the Wolf
WG Gaddock Teeg and the Reveillark Experience [M][c]
U Azami Draws You Crazy [M][$]
WBVish Kal, the Patient [M]
WRGUBScion of the Double Dragon [M]$
WGBTeneb, the Home Wrecker [M]$
"For me metaphysics means something more like realism. That there is a reality that escapes any of its manifestations. You can never be quite sure what it is, but you can offer some description of what the structures of reality are." Graham Harman, The Prince and the Wolf
Hmmm...while the manafixing the Lairs provide is certainly needed, I don't think my deck can really afford to be putting myself back land drops; I already feel like my deck is slow enough as it is. Having them come into play tapped (and letting you tap the land you return for mana) is nice, but the early turns of this deck are generally pretty do-nothing for me, so having the mana generally won't even matter. I'd probably run more Ravnica Karoos before I ran the Lairs.
Cutting down on the storage lands is an idea, though; while I've liked them in this deck (as I've sad, I have a lot of spare mana floating around), drawing multiples is pretty bad. I might just cut down to the R/B one and G/W one, as they allow me to use the most of Cromat's abilities if I drew them together (R/W, B/W, and G/B are his best ones, which the lands can make an abundance of together). Storage lands + Mana Reflection is also pretty hilarious.
And running Utopia Spawl effects might be an idea, even if it's another nonland permanent...I'll have to see how the deck plays out, and how much LD my meta runs (from what I've seen, not that much, lol).
EDIT: I played a few games with the deck and the storage lands really screwed me over. Changed 3 of them to some basics and Reliquary Tower, which I somehow forgot from this list.
Oh man, Lavalanche is pretty sweet; a tutorable wrath that I can get with both Drift of Phantasms/Perplex AND Supply/Demand is something this deck could use. I doubt I'll run it maindeck, but I could definitely bring it in along with the ramp/X-spell plan I've got going on, so I'll definitely pick one up. I think I can bump Exsanguinate off the list for it(one non-modal spell for another, right?).
Cruel, while fun, is probably a bit too win more, I think you're right. This deck won't be able to take advantage of the creature-return often enough (unless I side in the creature package) and while drawing cards and draining is fine, it's rather expensive and doesn't effect the board in any way (aside from the edict), which is something this deck is always trying to do. The mana cost is also a BIT ridiculous, and if I draw too many of the "wrong sources", I might not be able to cast it till turn 11 or something, lol.
How do you feel about running the suite of ultimatums? Cruel Ultimatum was mentioned earlier, but the others are nice as well. At 7 mana, pricey -- but the effects on most of them are worthwhile, and you have ways to get them back.
Also: Archaeomancer. =)