MTG Salvation

This is my rendition of Prossh, Skyraider of Kher. I feel he's a top teir commander for the reason that he's a both a prolific token producer and an instant speed sac outlet that doesn't require any other cost, in our COMMAND ZONE! This makes cards like Grave Pact very attractive. It also means we can get insane mileage with cards like Skullclamp and Greater Good. Prossh demands a boatload of ramp however and lot of tutors to keep up with our blue friends. Win conditions here are Purphoros, God of The Forge and Craterhoof Behemoth.

And then there's Food Chain. Food Chain is the ideal expression of what Prossh is best at - getting sacced for value and being recast, creating more kobolds. Except this time it goes infinite. You get infinite kobolds and infinite mana for creatures. All you've got to do is find a way to beef up those kobolds and give them haste and the game is over. But Purphoros, God of the Forge is probably one of the most reliable ways to win with this combo. Chancellor of the Forge also works. Now, you could hyperfocus solely on this combo, and in a super competitive meta, this is advisable. But I've find these kinds of decks to be simply win or loose. The game itself is lost to some degree. The interaction is lost. It just becomes an all out race to get your combo into place first and win. That's not the path I chose for this deck, but it's still capable of winning on turn 3.

I've chosen to make reanimation and grave interaction a huge part of the deck. Yes, the iconic Hermit Druid has a spot here. I've found a lot of ways to selectively put my own stuff in my graveyard with Faithless Looting, Nostalgic Dreams, Survival of the Fittest and even Decree of Pain. I can then cheat stuff back out onto the battlefield using Reanimate, Dread Return and friends. When you've got high cost creatures like Chancellor of the Forge, Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger and Craterhoof Behemoth this is a powerful and efficient strategy especially if they have an ETB ability. This also grants me a ton of resiliency to removal which is a big problem for a creature based deck.

The three Praetors are here mostly for flavor I feel they contribute to our gameplan enough I can justify running them. I could be running more ramp, tutors, card draw, or removal and the deck would be faster. I just kind of liked the phyrexian theme here because it's good to be evil, and it's fun to cheat these guys into play. Yes, eldrazi would be more powerful... but it's off theme!!

And without further ado, here's the list:

I'm bumping this with a nod to my not sure list, consideration list, and changelog. Would really appreciate some feedback.

I'm considering the following swaps:

Genesis Wave --> Shivan Harvest - genesis wave feels unnecessary. It's a late game bomb that can be hit or miss. I can see shivan harvest just hosing most decks.

Disciple of Bolas --> Greater Good - disciple could sit in my hand a long time before finding something juicy to sac. With greater good I can cast it and forget about it - and later, use it multiple times for a lot of value.

Fleshbag Marauder --> Attrition - what's not to like here? trading my tokens for my opponent's best creatures sounds like a great strategy. The nonblack restriction is a bit lamentable but I think it wouldn't hold me back too much.


But I'm wondering if these permanent sac outlets are going to take away from the synergy I have with Craterhoof Behemoth and Overwhelming Stampede. With the tokens, I can either be sacrificing them or buffing them up. At this point I'm wondering if I should go one way or the other. But it might not matter because I've got so many reliable ways to generate tokens. I'd appreciate some input here. Sac or pump, or both?


Additionally I'm thinking about these swaps:

Thromok the Insatiable --> Terastodon - Thromok is a bit too gimicky without any built in haste or evasion. It doesn't even have trample. Terastodon is a reliable 18 power for only 8 mana. And yes, doubles as removal He would be awesome to sac to Greater Good and then recur and is a prime target for Kiki if I decide to add him at some point. It might still mot be ideal for the deck since mana is kind of a lot even with the ramp. Maybe Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker would just be better as a token maker, combo piece.

Praetor's Counsel --> Dread Return - I feel that counsel costs too much. I think I'd prefer the efficiency and repeatability of Dread Return. Victimize is decent but really depends on having something to sac.

Syphon Mind --> Mikaeus, the Unhallowed - I'm thinking that since I've got so many tutors in the deck, I should be able to find my draw engines pretty reliably. Mikaeus basically negates the disadvantage of saccing my bigger creatures and gives me a lot of mileage with ETB triggers.

Anger --> Ogre Battledriver - Anger isn't too hard to set up but doesn't give me a ton of value for my investment really. Battledriver is a haste enabler which also pumps my tokens for a lot of damage. For example, Prossh suddenly gives me 19 damage to the face the turn he comes out! This isn't nearly as powerful as Purphoros who will give me 14 damage all round, but the haste IS nice. The drawback is that he doesn't work with things like Dragon Broodmother or Rapacious One.


EDIT: If I end up adding Ogre Battledriver and Kiki Jiki I think I'm going to want more creatures that are ETB token producers. Chancellor of the Forge, Hornet Queen, Siege-Gang Commander, and Emrakul's Hatcher are some of the better ones I can think of. Overall I think this would be a pretty solid little "pocket of synergy".

So maybe:

Dragonlair Spider, Dragon Broodmother --> Chancellor of the Forge, Hornet Queen - the ETB producers just have a lot more synergy with the rest of the deck.

However, I actually really like the eldrazi token makers because they serve me as ramp. These include Emrakul's Hatcher, Kozilek's Predator, Awakening Zone, Growth Spasm, Pawn of Ulamog. They seem to fit pretty well into my gameplan.

What exactly are you going for with this deck? Are you tuning it to win often and brutally fast or are you seeking more of a balance between fun, power, and interactivity?

That should be obvious with the kinds of cards that I'm putting into it My goal is for this to be as competitive as possible. That's what I find to be fun.

I like taking Disciple out for Greater Good.

I agree that G Wave is unnecessary here.

I might look into Red Elemental Blast and Pyroblast to help protect your win cons.

Yes, blue could be an issue, and those kinds of blue hate cards are already in my sideboard along with Dosan the Falling Leaf and Vexing Shusher if I need them

But honestly, I feel like this deck will steam roll the majority of control decks out there. This deck is capable of very early wins. The ramp helps a lot with that. As will Shivan Harvest if I can get it online early. Creeping Corrosion, Shatterstorm, or Vandalblast might end up getting maindecked as well - most competitive blue decks rely pretty heavily on artifacts (mine do).

I'm wondering if I can do without a couple of basics in place of some more ramp

Quote from Rowan »

Yes, blue could be an issue, and those kinds of blue hate cards are already in my sideboard along with Dosan the Falling Leaf and Vexing Shusher if I need them

But honestly, I feel like this deck will steam roll the majority of control decks out there. This deck is capable of very early wins. The ramp helps a lot with that. As will Shivan Harvest if I can get it online early. Creeping Corrosion, Shatterstorm, or Vandalblast might end up getting maindecked as well - most competitive blue decks rely pretty heavily on artifacts (mine do).

In regards to Vandalblast et al, I like Shattering Spree as well. It's often a good early game option because you can spend less to get rid of two or three problem artifacts quickly pumped out. I run Hull Breach in my Prossh but it's not a win centric combo deck. It's mostly built just to troll with blue players (though I'm still missing some key things like Choke).

Have you considered Snake Basket? Seems possibly more reliable than some of your more conditional token generators. Sure, it's a one-time effect but with enough mana it's pretty easy to kill a table in conjunction with Purphoros.

I'm sure you already know this, but Food Chain is one of the most dangerous cards in your deck, as it+Purphoros+Prossh is pretty much an auto-win. You already have enough tutors to fish for it, and if I was running Prossh, it would usually be the first thing I'd tutor for. Those mana dorks you're considering could also be excellent fodder for the Food Chain. If you run a number of 1-2 drop mana dorks you could pretty easily ramp into a turn 2 Food Chain and a turn 3 Purphoros to set up a turn 4 blowout with Prossh. I know you mentioned you're not really going for a combo approach but mana dorks are pretty good in their own right so I think you could justify cutting sorcery-speed ramp for them.

EDIT: I also like Red Elemental Blast and Pyroblast. I love running them in decks without access to blue.

Yes, Thromok the Insatiable is definitely coming out. Probably for Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker for his combo potential. I'm also going to put in more creatures with ETB abilities.

Sheoldred, Whispering One is staying in for the foreseeable future. She's combolicious. With any ETB creature (or "when this creature dies...") and a permanent sac outlet you've got some insane card advantage going on. And not only that but she forces my opponents to play around her forced sac. She demands removal, otherwise she'll be winning the game for me.

I'm certainly not against combos - Food Chain is arguably my primary win condition next to Craterhoof Behemoth. And as of now I'm sitting on 11 mana dorks that are 3 cmc and under, which is mighty fine.

Bitter Ordeal is certainly a great sideboard card for this deck. I'll get a copy. I'm curious what else strikes you as being unnecessary in my list.

I'm thinking that while I really like the cards, Skyshroud Claim and Explosive Vegetation might go out for Emrakul's Hatcher and Kozilek's Predator. They also provide ramp, but can be sac fodder and pumped for attack.

Chancellor of the Forge is definitely going in, probably in place of one of the slower token makers. Yeah, his cmc is pretty outrageous but I think it's actually justified in this deck.

Snake Basket is interesting but doesn't have much combo potential. I'd really like to steer away from artifacts in this deck and focus on creature based token production for synergy purposes.

Defense of the Heart doesn't have to fetch me creatures. It doubles as a board lock. If they're no creatures on the other side of the battlefield, I'll be swinging mostly unopposed. If anything, it demands removal. Because if it pops, chances are pretty good that I'll be winning.

Pattern of Rebirth looks pretty solid too though. Thanks for the recommendation.

@Rowan: What combo potential are you talking about with Kiki-Jiki?

@Rowan: What combo potential are you talking about with Kiki-Jiki?

Well nothing infinite, but he has great synergy with anything that has an ETB (or dies) ability. He also provides sac fodder and additional combat damage if nothing else.

Quote from Domantas »

Bitter Ordeal is also a yet another way to finish the game because if you leave three regular mana open you can cast it after combing into a ton of tokens. It also helps to remove combos or things that could harm you from the libraries of your opponents.

I'll give it a run.

Quote from Domantas »

With Earthcraft already in your 99, you might as well add Squirrel Nest. These cards together provide a effect similar to Prossh+Food Chain but without mana (you could still sacrifice these tokens for value of kill people with Purphoros nonetheless).

I've run squirrel nest and took it out. I just didn't like how fragile it was. Easily strip mined. And by itself, Squirrel Nest isn't that spectacular.

Quote from Domantas »

Regarding your ramp decisions, I am not so sure that these Eldrazi Spawn generators are good because they provide colourless mana, which is relevant in a three-coloured deck. Moreover, after passing Ice Bear's school in his Karador thread I would recommend swapping the four-mana ramp spells with cheaper alternatives like Nature's Lore, Farseek and Three Visits because there are better things to do with four mana.

Yeah, you're probably right here. I haven't actually play tested those eldrazi at all.

Quote from Domantas »

Since you are running mana dorks and an overall decent amount of creatures, Birthing Pod would be an obvious inclusion for your deck.

Yeah, seems good

Quote from Domantas »

Artifact Mutation is also a card that you should consider adding. Artifacts are vastly played in Commander, thus its downside of only targeting artifacts is not so bad and the fact that it also usually provides from 3 to 6 tokens (sometimes even more) makes it a very solid choice.

I'd really prefer creature based token production if possible and I don't like being reliant on my opponent's board for cards to be usable. But I'll probably get myself a copy and see how it plays in my meta.

Quote from Domantas »

Next on the list is the Ashnod's Altar&Phyrexian Altar duo. These altars can be used to turn your creatures into mana (and put them into graveyard which can be relevant if you want to recur a particular creature to get extra ETB trigger or when you need to prevent Prossh from getting tucked) and if you have them both on board, you get an effect similar to Food Chain's except that you can spend that mana on any cards.

Ashnod's Altar will definitely go in. Not sure how that one slipped my mind.

Quote from Domantas »

Moving further, I would also suggest Mikaeus, the Unhallowed, complemented with Deathbringer Thoctar. Mike is good for pumping your army, providing extra ETB value when combined with a sac outlet while Thoctar synergizes with dying tokens, is a solid way to win after combing out with Food Chain or by having him, Mikaeus and a sac outlet on board (sac Thoctar to get him back with a counter, then remove it to deal one damage to any target, sac Thoctar again and repeat the process described earlier).

That seems like a really solid combo. Thanks for the suggestion

Quote from Domantas »

Before I move on to suggestions of cards that could be cut in your list I believe I should clarify some aspects of my deck. As a result of an abundance of board sweepers for creatures as well as for artifacts I do not play mana dorks nor mana rocks (excluding Sol Ring). Instead I focus on cheap ramp spells that go well with duals. Since the number of Armageddons and Obliterates is not as high as the number of mentioned sweepers but still fairly uncommon, I am running 39 lands and a Crucible of Worlds so I could recover after the mentioned cards faster. I run some fairly awkward cards like Acidic Slime and Rune Scarred Demon with the intention of getting them via the creature tutors, if needed. Slime manages most annoying permanents while Demon turns the creature tutor into a regular tutor, which is relevant when I am missing a combo piece.

Yeah, the creatures that tap for mana are quite fragile. That's why they need to be cheap, so I get a chance to use them before they get sweeped. My favorites are cheaper land fetchers like Yavimaya Dryad and Wood Elves.

Quote from Domantas »

As for the cards from your list that could be dismissed, I do not find these to be good enough for being played: Viridian Emissary (conditional ramp is not good since Prossh is a very mana-greedy general), Explosive Vegetation and Skyshroud Claim (explanation above), Syphon Mind (Slate of Ancestry seems to be a better alternative), Mycoloth (you devour your tokens just to see it being dealt with before your upkeep), Rapacious One; while these could be cut if you need extra slots: half of the mid-ramp section cards (except Primal Growth, Wood Elves and Somberwald Sage) for putting lands tapped, Fleshbag Marauder (you already have Toxic Deluge to deal with creatures that can not be dealt with regular removal and Marauder does not work when your opponents have spare fodder), Decree of Pain (costs too much mana), Dragonlair Spider and Dragon Broodmother (both do nothing the turn you cast them), Overwhelming Stampede (you have Craterhoof for this job, I would rather add a Worldly Tutor instead).

Yeah, I pretty much agree with everything here. Mycoloth is certainly a risky investment because you've got to wait a full turn before anything happens. Smart players will always remove it if they can. But if I cut that and the others my token production options seem pretty slim.

I like having the backup option of Overwhelming Stampede. It's cheaper than Craterhoof and if something exiles Craterhoof out of the deck (or yard), I'm pretty handicapped. I've got plenty of creature tutors already anyway. I'd rather just have the redundancy I think. I'll have to playtest more though to be certain.

Since you're already running earthcraft, squirrel's nest seems like an auto-include in here for me. I mean you can Wolf Run for 1 to give Trample then make infinite tokens and one shot somebody.

Look above. The reason I'm not running it is because it's almost worthless on its own and therefore seems a bit gimmicky. It's just too easy to Strip Mine.

I took a look at MCRs hyper focused list. I like what he's done but it's fragile. Sort of a glass cannon approach.

7/2/14

Syphon Mind --> Mikeaus, the Unhallowed - Mikeaus gives me a lot value with the ETB creatures in the deck. Syphon Mind is pretty weak next to Fecundity and Skullclamp

Anger --> Ogre Battledriver - Battledriver is just the better card in this deck since it doubles as damage application for the same cmc. I never liked Angers "mountain restriction" in a 3 color deck.

Fleshbag Marauder --> Birthing Pod - Pod is both a sac outlet and a multi use tutor at a very efficient cost. Has great synergy with ETB and dies effects.

Thromok the Insatiable --> Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker - Kiki gives me a lot of mileage with ETB triggers and dies triggers while multiplying damage dealt and creatures to sac.

Genesis Wave --> Deathbringer Thoctar - Deathbringer combos with Mikaeus to kill the table but is also a solid beater on his own.

Viridian Emissary --> Ashnod's Altar - Altar is a solid sac outlet and mana engine.

Dragonlair Spider --> Chancellor of the Forge -- Chancellor is such a bomb drop that can be abused with Kiki and Mikaeus. Dragonlair Spider does nothing the turn it comes out.

Praetor's Counsel --> Dread Return - I feel that counsel costs too much. I think I'd prefer the efficiency and repeatability of Dread Return. Victimize is decent but really depends on having something to sac.

Dragon Broodmother --> Terastodon - kinda hate to see the old dragon mom go but I think Terastodon is more competitive and works better with the deck overall.

Birthing Pod, I've realized, is incredibly powerful in this deck, and I'd like to increase synergy around it a tad more if at all possible.

I'm considering:

Woodfall Primus - combos with Mikaeus for infinite non-creature destruction. Overall, this would be the most likely to go in I think. maybe even over Deathbringer Thoctar

Siege-Gang Commander - a lot of value for 5 cmc.


Greater Good, Attrition, and Shivan Harvest are all still in debate. They are amazing when I've got stuff to sac, but in a vacuum they are completely dead. Thankfully though, Prossh is always in my "hand" and so the chances of these being dead is less.

Other cards I'm considering are:

Summoner's Pact - while this is a lot better than Wordly Tutor IMO I'm not sure it's any better than the tutors I've already got. I may end up swapping this for Overwhelming Stampede though since Craterhoof is just a boss. There's other good backup targets as well. Overall, I think the more tutors, draw, and ramp I can squeeze in while still remaining resilient, the more competitive this list will be.

Mana Vault - can help with those explosive early wins.

Sensei's Divining Top - honestly, there's no reason for this NOT to go in since it can dodge my own boardwipes.

I agree with the majority of your swaps and logic.

However, Faithless Looting is a pretty strong card really and I'm not likely to cut it. It can go a very long way towards fixing a bad opening hand.

Life // Death really is a perfect card for this deck. Both effects are highly useful since I can smash everyone's face in with my lands and Craterhoof, or sac them in a pinch. The reanimation part is also quite strong - the fact that it costs one more than Reanimate makes up for the card's dual use. Imagine casting Faithless Looting on turn 1 and on turn 2 reanimating something like Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger O.o

Rapacious One should be strong in a vacuum and I want to give it a good test run before I cut it.

I don't really see the point of running both Ashnod's Altar and Phyrexian Altar for the sole purpose of being a Plan B to Food Chain. They are not good in a vacuum. I would rather be able to tutor for Food Chain reliably since you just need the one card and Prossh. Craterhoof would be my secondary win condition.

If you look at MCR's list even he doesn't run Ashnod's Altar or Phyrexian Altar as backup. His sole win condition is Food Chain and the rest of the deck is built to make that happen consistently without interruption. While this is certainly competitive, I personally believe in having at least 2 - possibly 3 primary win conditions that have the strongest synergy with the rest of the deck. This is mostly because of cards like Bitter Ordeal and Jester's Cap which will cripple the deck if it's too focused on just one combo.

Decree of Pain is a card that I think can really shine and I want to thoroughly test it. The 8 cmc is a bit mitigated by it's cycling effect. But honestly, the effect is well worth 8 in multiplayer I believe, since chances are you will be drawing a crap ton of cards. Even if you've just got Prossh and kobolds out, that's 6 new cards. For 6BB, that's already as good as a Mind Spring. And Prossh is a creature that actually wants to get sacced himself since he'll only give you more kobolds the turn after.

Mitotic Slime seems decent but it's yet another token producer that in a vacuum does nothing the turn you put it out. But it's pretty boss with any decent sac outlet.

I see Blood Artist and Vicious Shadows as being alternate win conditions that could be used in a different deck. I've already chosen Food Chain and Craterhoof Behemoth as my primary win conditions. Adding anything else that is weak in a vacuum will be unfocusing the deck. I like Kiki-jiki and Zealous Conscripts as a backup winning combo because both are good on their own and serve other functions in the deck. Mikaeus, the Unhallowed and Deathbringer Thoctar/Woodfall Primus are similar but not quite as good because they aren't as cheap - more difficult to set up, but they also serve solid functions in the deck. Deathbringer Thoctar a bit less so because he needs things to die. I feel he's a bit too slow.

Some swaps today:

5/9/14

Explosive Vegetation, Skyshroud Claim, Far Wanderings --> Llanowar Elves, Fyndhorn Elves, Elvish Mystic - This batch of swaps is for the sake of speed as well as to increase my creature count. These elves are all one drop mana producers that can later be buffed or sacced as needed.

Disciple of Bolas --> Sensei's Divining Top - needed to make space for this commander staple and bolas wanted to be cut for the moment.

Overwhelming Stampede --> Natural Order - I decided that Overwhelming Stampede was unnecessary redundancy. In addition to grabbing Craterhoof Behemoth Natural Order will tutor for Oracle of Mul Daya, Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger, Avenger of Zendikar, and Eternal Witness among others. This card isn't monetarily cheap, but I think it fits this deck very very well. I should never be short of sac fodder.

Mycoloth --> Zealous Conscripts - conscripts gives me an immediate effect with synergizes with other things in the deck as well as being an infinite win combo.

Rapacious One --> Woodfall Primus - etb effects synergize quite well in this deck. This combos infinitely with Mikaeus, the Unhallowed. Rapacious One just isn't fast enough for the effect.

Swamp, Mountain, Forest --> Mana Confluence, City of Brass, Cavern of Souls - should help strengthen the mana base. Since I'm steering away from land fetches as ramp I can afford to run less nonbasics. Also the one drop elves only tap for G.

At this point I'm suspecting that the main improvement to make next is to streamline the deck even further - perhaps bring it closer to MCR's list. I have to ask myself "What is the easiest way for this deck to win?" Undoubtedly the answer to that will be Food Chain, Craterhoof Behemoth, and Purphoros, God of the Forge.

It's certainly worth noting that Prossh and Food Chain can't kill the table by themselves. There needs to be a third component.

So what I'm thinking is that I'm going to have to cut any alternate win conditions that are slower or less easy to set up than the above three. In other words, the ones that don't combo directly with Prossh and his kobolds. I will swap these cards for additional ramp, tutors, draw, and removal.

I don't want to copy MCR's list card by card but clearly his list is more competitive than mine at this point probably for the simple reason that he has a much lower average cmc and even more ramp. Half of his deck is tutors. I'll link it again if you guys missed it the first 2 times.. It is incredibly focused and efficient while being resilient against control players which is something my list will probably struggle with.

I'm a tad bit worried now because the only true token producers I have now are Avenger, Chancellor of the Forge, and Prossh himself. With as much tutoring as I have going on, that shouldn't really be a problem, but I need to playtest. Also, the mana dorks are usually great sac fodder.

I guess I haven't updated this in a while.

Yes, just like Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger, Sheoldred has the ability to win you the game almost by herself. While they don't necessarily contribute towards my win conditions, I find them to be very powerful creatures that get tutored for often in certain situations.

Greater Good, Craterhoof, and Sheoldred is just obnoxious together. In multiplayer this sort of repeatable effect is nice because you often can't kill everyone at once if all you've got is Prossh, kobolds and Craterhoof.

8/6/14

Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker --> Flamekin Harbinger - I find Kiki to be a bit win more in this deck. Yet another tutor increases consistency. Flamekin grabs Skullmulcher and Avenger.

you need butcher of malaria and dictate of erebos. so while going stronger by killing your pawn you weaken your opponents as much, with a tempt with vengeance and a imprint card you could create an army in a flash...

one turn 9 death with mine,sword of feast and famine and the hellkite charger.

Thanks for the suggestions. Even though many of us know the cards, it still really pays to use card tags


Grave Pact, Dictate of Erebos, and Butcher of Malakir are all pretty similar. It's a good effect but I like Sheoldred because she's also reanimation and can be tutored for since she's a creature. Attrition is cheap. Out of the former three, Dictate of Erebos would be the first to go in because it needs less B than Grave Pact. Butcher costs too much mana for what it does IMO.

Tempt with Vengeance - I don't really need any other token producers besides what I've got. Avenger of Zendikar and Chancellor of the Forge are more than enough backup for Prossh.

Sword of Feast and Famine + Hellkite Charger, Aggravated Assault - It's a good combo but not something I want to do in this deck. Mainly because I have no equipment subtheme and no desire to add one. That's RW specialty.

The only thing I miss in your list is a continous token maker if you catch my drift. One that triggers at upkeep to avoid stuff like torpor orb & the torpor bird.

Eh, I've considered something like Living Hive or Rapacious One, because with a haste enabler, the effect comes close to being ETB power level. Dragon Broodmother or Dragonlair Spider look good on the surface but they do nothing the turn they come out. I like explosive ETB effects in this deck. Torpor Orb dies to removal, of which I have plenty.

How about Xenagos, God of Revels? Acts as haste source. Makes Prossh instantly a 1 shot kill. Seems like auto include.

8/7/14

Attrition --> Dictate of Erebos - Prossh is both a token producer AND an instant speed sac outlet in the command zone. The Grave Pact effect gets past indestructibility AND hexproof/shroud. It also requires no mana - just a sac outlet and something to sac. It's one of the best creature hate cards there is. However triple black can be hard to get in this deck, so Dictate it is. If I can tune my mana base a bit more, I might end up just going with Pact because it's slightly more efficient (and iconic?). Flash is relevant though.

Yeah, I agree with Domantas about Xenagos, God of Revels. I'm not really going voltron with Prossh here anyway. Kessig Wolf Run + Earthcraft is about as voltron as this build gets.


I maintain that Squirrel Nest just dies too easily to Strip Mine and friends. It's card disadvantage 85% of the time.


Grave Titan is decent but the tokens he makes aren't Skullclampable, so that cuts him out for me.

How is Goblin Bushwhacker working out? Is the haste for R actually worth a card?

I'm not liking it too much to be honest. It works very well in a Food Chain focused build but here I'm think something a bit more permanent would be good. Mass Hysteria? Or Fires of Yavimaya? Concordant Crossroads?

Some swaps that I'm pretty happy with...

8/20/14

Terastodon --> Helm of Possession - Terastodon is a big fatty I'm not all that excited to see. I rarely tutor for it. Helm of Possession on the other hand I think has the potentially to almost totally dominate the board. It's both an instant speed sac outlet and creature theft. The idea of Prossh actually NOMNOMING my opponents' stuff is just too enticing to pass up. With something like Fecundity on board it becomes pretty broken.

Goblin Bushwhacker --> Sarkhan Vol - Bushwhacker is good in a pure combo approach, but I think my build needs a bit more permanency. My rule is that a haste enabler needs to do something other than just grant haste and it needs to affect ALL my creatures. Sarkhan's -2 is a relevant effect at a pretty efficient cost and I won't mind if that's all I get from him sometimes. His +1 is also great with Prossh allowing him and kobolds to hit for a cumulative 12 right off the bat. Finally, the ultimate isn't too hard to get.

Phyrexian Arena --> Diabolic Tutor - arena is just too slow. I've got to wait a full turn before it has a chance to do anything for me. Adding another tutor helps me be more consistent. It can grab any of my better draw engines, as well as anything else in the deck.