I haven't made any updates to this deck in a while as I've been building up a deck collection on MTGO and have been trying to get those tested and tuned.
One thing I've noticed, however, is in some games where I play Gonti and the opponent has a Helm of the Host in their deck, it tends to make our deck more explosive. If they play green, they're most likely running Primeval Titan, which when coupled with Helm, can significantly improve our mana.
While the cost is fairly high, I think giving another go to Helm could be good for this deck.
Does anyone else have any ideas as to what can make Gonti even better than he already is?
Lifeline did some serious work for me when I had my deck together.
Personally, I'm a HUGE fan of Lifeline. I can recall a few games where it made everything fun and sort of hilarious. For instance, I had Lifeline and Noxious Gearhulk out, and the next player played their own Noxious Gearhulk, and the following player played a Phyrexian Metamorph copying Noxious Gearhulk, and it just kept going and everyone was gaining life, and it turned out to be quite the interesting game.
The problem I'm seeing, however, is that if Lifeline is out, and I want to kill a problematic creature, it's only a temporary fix until the end of the turn. If I want something dead, I'd like for it to stay day, and Lifeline just doesn't do that. Sure, I can boardwipe, but then I lose out on my creatures coming back, unless I can get another one on the board before the end of the turn.
I still do swap it in and out at times if I'm feeling a little frisky...
The full spoiler for the new returning Core Sets is live as of today, so I took a gander to see if Gonti got any loving. I honestly wasn't expecting much, and that's pretty much what we got. There were only two cards that caught my eye, so let's take a look at them.
Abnormal Endurance: We get a third instant-speed reanimation spell to join Undying Evil and Supernatural Stamina. In fact, it's an exact copy of Stamina, but with one slightly disappointing difference: it costs two mana instead of one. It's one thing to have one mana left open, but it's another thing to have two left. While I don't think the cost will make much difference, it will take some testing to see if it is a viable option.
Isareth the Awakener: A repeatable reanimation enabler on a 3/3 with Deathtouch body for only 3 mana isn't a terrible thing to have. She does have her downfalls tho. In order to bring a creature back, she has to be able to attack. If something is preventing that from happening, all you have is a creature doing nothing. You also have to pay the full mana cost for the creature, so depending on what you're trying to bring back, it could be quite costly. It only brings back something from you graveyard, which isn't terrible, but still kind of a bummer. Her biggest downfall is that if the creature leaves the battlefield, it will get exiled, so you can no longer bring it back. Not a big deal if you're bringing back Gonti, but it is if you're trying to bring back Gray Merchant of Asphodel.
I'll give both a good test once they are released on MTGO, and let everyone know my findings.
Is there anything else you noticed from the set that appeals to you?
So, I'm looking into changing the list up a bit, and am considering cutting the following cards:
Fleshbag Marauder: While this gets around hexproof/shroud, more often than not if an opponent has more than one creature on board, we aren't going to get rid of the one we want, so it is a very situational card. I would rather have more control over what I kill, and a board wipe will still do the trick.
Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed: I like being able to recur our other black spells, but the timing restriction on coupled with the fact we have to cast, sac, and hopefully have the mana available to cast what we brought back makes this a pretty mana intensive card.
Cloudstone Curio: We won't really have the mana available to abuse this, as all of our creatures have a mid-high cost to them, so we can't loop them for their ETBs. We end up returning a creature to our hand to play next turn, so it slows our plays down a bit.
Mimic Vat: The main guy we want to bring back is Gonti, as this is the main purpose of the deck. If he is imprinted on Vat and it gets removed, we lose out on Gonti for the remainder of the game. Not something I really feel like risking.
Ritual of the Machine: Too situational of a card, to be honest. I really liked it at first, but it's a dead card against mono black or artifact decks.
Entomb: Entomb is a great card, but I feel like the slot could be dedicated to something more impactful.
Dead Man's Chest: Honestly, it did not live up to the hype I had for it. It's a real bummer when the creature you want to enchant that will give you the most value is someone's Commander. And even if you can enchant a good creature, it has to die to get the exile effect, and we don't run too many removal cards, so it's a real lackluster card.
Gate to Phyrexia: Too situational for artifact removal. Can only be activated during your upkeep, and only once per turn. Sometimes there's more than one artifact you need to get rid of. And since it doesn't touch enchantments, I feel like it's too narrow of removal.
With these cuts, we need to fill in some spots that could help the deck out, and I've narrowed it down to these so far:
Abhorrent Overlord: Gives us 1/1 flyers based on the amount of devotion we have. He's also a sac outlet, even if it's mandatory and only on our upkeep. Can also be used in our combo to generate infinite C.
Diabolic Intent: Sac outlet and tutor. Having another low-cost tutor will help us grab a card we need, and it gives us another creature to reanimate for value.
Lifeline: I've honestly missed this card. Even though it can help our opponent's out as well, and renders almost all of our removal null, I think the value we gain from it far outweighs any negativity it has.
Makeshift Mannequin: Instant speed reanimation spell. Can get us a surprise blocker/ETB effect. The only downside I see with it is that it's a non-bo with Conjurer's Closet.
Morbid Curiosity: More card draw. With the creatures we run, we can draw anywhere from 4-7 cards for the low cost of 1BB and a creature, which can be reanimated later.
Oblivion Stone: Need another answer for artifacts and enchantments to go alongside Neviyrral's Disk. As long as we have the mana and aren't pressured into popping Stone early, we can protect a few of our things before blowing it all up.
Sign in Blood: Card draw will allow us to dig deeper for a key piece or a problem. This has the bonus of killing and opponent if they have 2 or less life.
Wake the Dead: Another instant speed reanimation spell. Can only be used during an opponent's combat step, but has the ability to reanimate more than one creature for some surprise shenanigans.
Wurmcoil Engine: We tend to use our life as a resource, so we sometimes end up getting fairly low. The Lifelink helps buffer our life total, and the Deathtouch deters attackers. Can be used in conjunction with Nim Deathmantle/Ashnod's Altar for our infinite C engine, but also pump out a bunch of Deathtouch Wurms for defense, or Lifelink Wurms to gain an absurd amount of life.
Does anyone care to give any input on these possible changes? Nothing will be set until I get the time to actually test them.
Huzzah! Gonti has finally reached Primer status! I hope to continue to grow this thread and keep every one updated with changes, gameplay reviews, etc. In order to do that, however, I need you guys to help keep this thread active as well.
So far in testing I'm liking the changes from above. A few more games and I will have an update!
I have been toying with Gate to the Afterlife with my squee build. Its probably a lot different here given the differences in commanders but.... I don't know I figured I would slide it past you to see what you thought. It is obviously at its best when you move a lot of bodies repeatedly to grave and I suppose its been long enough since I played Gonti to really assess it myself.
It is a card I wrote off early but someone played it just as is and I was impressed. I suppose there is the question of if you would ever want to use the card it searches up but honestly I have been playing it just as is with some good results in a few decks.
I have been toying with Gate to the Afterlife with my squee build. Its probably a lot different here given the differences in commanders but.... I don't know I figured I would slide it past you to see what you thought. It is obviously at its best when you move a lot of bodies repeatedly to grave and I suppose its been long enough since I played Gonti to really assess it myself.
It is a card I wrote off early but someone played it just as is and I was impressed. I suppose there is the question of if you would ever want to use the card it searches up but honestly I have been playing it just as is with some good results in a few decks.
I've given Gate to the Afterlife some thought before, and even though the life gain and filter could be good, I'm just not too sure how well it will work in here. I feel like I don't run too many creatures to trigger it very often. I don't think I'd play God-Pharaoh's Gift either, as I don't want my creatures to be exiled.
So, Lifeline was definitely an all-star in this game. Being able to sac and return every turn makes the deck bonkers. I'm starting to think Homeward Path should find a spot in my lands somewhere, just in case I run into a lot of steal effects. Also thinking I need another one or two sac outlets, just in case Ashnod's Altar gets removed.
As far as the game play review, how does that formatting look? Should I use card tags for everything? Is it too crowded? Should I only do the game-winning play instead of every turn?
So, Lifeline was definitely an all-star in this game. Being able to sac and return every turn makes the deck bonkers. I'm starting to think Homeward Path should find a spot in my lands somewhere, just in case I run into a lot of steal effects. Also thinking I need another one or two sac outlets, just in case Ashnod's Altar gets removed.
As far as the game play review, how does that formatting look? Should I use card tags for everything? Is it too crowded? Should I only do the game-winning play instead of every turn?
I guess I have a few things:
1) Yes card tags would be nice in above.
2) Understandable on Gate of the Afterlife.
3) It is also possible for someone to clone your Homeward Path so take into account how often you steal creatures with your commander and how many clone lands are run in your meta.
4) How are you not running Razaketh, the Foulblooded in here? I mean.... you run Rune Scarred.... isn't this guy kind of just an improvement especially if you do kind of need sac outlets?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
So, Lifeline was definitely an all-star in this game. Being able to sac and return every turn makes the deck bonkers. I'm starting to think Homeward Path should find a spot in my lands somewhere, just in case I run into a lot of steal effects. Also thinking I need another one or two sac outlets, just in case Ashnod's Altar gets removed.
As far as the game play review, how does that formatting look? Should I use card tags for everything? Is it too crowded? Should I only do the game-winning play instead of every turn?
I guess I have a few things:
1) Yes card tags would be nice in above.
2) Understandable on Gate of the Afterlife.
3) It is also possible for someone to clone your Homeward Path so take into account how often you steal creatures with your commander and how many clone lands are run in your meta.
4) How are you not running Razaketh, the Foulblooded in here? I mean.... you run Rune Scarred.... isn't this guy kind of just an improvement especially if you do kind of need sac outlets?
1) I added the card tags, but tried not doing too many if the card has already been tagged.
2)If I do add Homeward Path, I will have to keep that in mind when making my Gonti selections, and if I choose to reanimate one of their creatures.
3) I opted to run Rune-Scarred Demon over Razaketh, the Foulblooded due to his ETB trigger. Razaketh could be good, as it is a sac outlet and tutor in one. However, if it's late game and I'm low on life, he may not be the best. Although he did a fairly good job when I stole him one game. I guess it depends on the situation. I will have to give him some more consideration and possibly test him.
The main theme of these changes is effectiveness. Fleshbag/Merciless, while they are removal and abusable ETB creatures, don't let us select what creatures we want to remove, which can be a devastating thing. Xiahou Dun was just too slow as his ability has a timing restriction, so no surprise shenanigans. Our creatures cost too much to be able to abuse with Curio, and Mimc Vat has the potential of permanently losing one of our creatures, even our commander. Ritual was too narrow, as a lot of the time we would like to steal a black or artifact creature. Entomb is a sort of narrow tutor card, and almost useless unless we can reanimate right away. Dead Man's Chest is bad if the only creatures out are commanders, so we get no value, and even if there are creatures out, we have to have a way of killing it and sending it to the graveyard. Gate also has a timing restriction, and we can only use once per turn.
Abhorrent and Wurmcoil can replace Grave Titan in our mana engine, and can create a ton of bodies for attacking/blocking/sacrificing. Intent is another cheap and efficient tutor. Lifeline, Wake, and Makeshift are great cards for reanimating creatures and abusing things. Oblivion Stone is another mass removal that can hit artifacts, enchantments, and even planeswalkers. Sign in Blood and Morbid Curiosity for more card draw to get to our good cards.
I can't believe I overlooked Meteor Golem for this deck. He's another answer to artifacts and enchantments, even planeswalkers and other things. He can be recurred constantly, and can get really disgusting with Lifeline. Looks like I got another card to test!
So, playing Gonti means almost no artifact/enchantment removal. In order to cover that, I have to run N-Disk and O-Stone, which puts a damper on things if I have a bunch of stuff out. I’ve been trying out Meteor Golem as a way to get rid of those things without blowing up my board. I’ve been really impressed thus far and am thinking about replacing them with something else. I’m currently thinking of Sengir Autocrat as another option for infinite mana with Deathmantle/Altar (this would make it option 4; is that too many?) and Sandstone Oracle for card draw. Would these be good choices, or should I find something else. I have a whole list of other options.
========================================
Currently, I am testing out the following changes:
After testing these changes, I've decided to make all of them final for the deck. Oblivion Stone and Nevinyrral's Disk were put in here as more efficient ways of dealing with artifacts and enchantments over Gate to Phyrexia. However, when we have an established board presence with our artifacts, they tend to hurt us just as much as the opponent(s). Geth, Lord of the Vault isn't a very efficient reanimator. Yes, he can bring back artifacts, but if no opponent has a legal target in their graveyard, he does nothing. Nirkana Revenant is an overcosted Crypt Ghast and hurts us more if it gets removed. Ob Nixilis Reignited is still a great card, but I needed to make another cut, and he seemed to have the least impact over other choices. Yawgmoth's Will was definitely a hard choice, and one I'm not sure of keeping out of the deck. It can be easily brought back in.
I'm bringing in Meteor Golem to repalce Stone/Disk. He hits any nonland permanent, can be reanimated since he's a creature and it's an ETB effect. He is easily abused with Panharmonicon/Conjurer's Closet/Lifeline. Phyrexian Altar is in as another sac outlet. Has a harder time going infinite than Ashnod's Altar, but it is possible with Panharmonicon. Abnormal Endurance is another surprise reanimation spell, although a bit higher costing thatn Supernatural Stamina/Undying Evil. Helm of the Host is coming back in as it is a great card to have. Yes, it will most likely see removal the first chance someone gets, but it's too good with all of our ETB creatures. Sandstone Oracle is in here to fill our hand back up. It's an ETB effect so easily recurrable in here. We tend to run out of gas fairly quickly, and this has the means of filling our hand back to full. Sengir Autocrat was added for redundancy for our infinite mana combo. Comes down earlier than the others as well.
Unfortunately, we didn't get mana cards to consider in this year's Commander set. There's only two that I am considering trying out in the deck, and even they may not make it in. Here they are:
Entreat the Dead: Black's first Miracle card! When cast for it's standard cost, it acts as a Beacon of Unrest, but only for creatures. But when you cast it for its Miracle cost, we can return three creatures for the same cost as Beacon. When I do test this card out, I am also going to test out Insidious Dreams in conjunction with Entreat, as not only will it set up for the Miracle next turn, but it can also set up our graveyard with some good creatures to reanimate.
Isolated Watchtower: Black isn't the best at land ramp. This will give us a chance to get some extra lands into play, especially if we are playing against decks that run land ramp, as an opponent has to have at least two more lands than us to even activate. Not entirely sold on the card yet, but will test it out to see if it can make the cut.
If you run lifeline it might be worth considering Silence the Believers. Lets you still take care of nasty stuff on the board and if you ever can generate a bunch of mana it could act as a one sided board wipe...
If you run lifeline it might be worth considering Silence the Believers. Lets you still take care of nasty stuff on the board and if you ever can generate a bunch of mana it could act as a one sided board wipe...
I believe I tried it out before, but was never in a position to get more than 1 or 2 creatures. I run Faceless Butcher to deal with creatures I want to get rid of permanently, as long as I have a sac outlet.
I’ve thought about it before, but in all honesty, I’d rather run Caged Sun simply because of removal. If they remove Lens, we lost a land as well. If they remove Caged that’s it. Besides, I just like full art lands. Lol.
Gonti seems really fun and like a solid deck to build for my less competitive tables.
Torpor Orb seems really hard to beat, do you just not run into it often?
I haven't run into Torpor Orb very much, if at all lately. We do run into the problem where if we encounter it, we have no way of stopping it. If it's a card prevalent in your area, I'd say for you to run Gate to Phyrexia, Oblivion Stone, or Nevinyrral's Disk to help deal with it.
Cutting Yawgmoth's Will was a mistake. It's not exclusively how I win but many of my own lines of play in Erebos involve tutoring for Will and going bananas. It's such an incredibly busted card that I don't think I could play my deck without it. I'd cut Sheoldred, Whispering One for it. I know, Sheoldred is fantastic on paper, but when I played her in Chainer she was always extremely underwhelming when I got her into play. While she does synergize with your game plan of all-the-Gonti-triggers, so does Will, but Will is cheaper and leads to insanely powerful plays.
Cutting Yawgmoth's Will was a mistake. It's not exclusively how I win but many of my own lines of play in Erebos involve tutoring for Will and going bananas. It's such an incredibly busted card that I don't think I could play my deck without it. I'd cut Sheoldred, Whispering One for it. I know, Sheoldred is fantastic on paper, but when I played her in Chainer she was always extremely underwhelming when I got her into play. While she does synergize with your game plan of all-the-Gonti-triggers, so does Will, but Will is cheaper and leads to insanely powerful plays.
I will probably have to revisit Yawgmoth's Will; it's definitely a game-changing card.
Really digging the deck man. Its hella fun. Thank you.
Any upcoming changes?
So, I haven't had too much time to play recently, but I've been contemplating a few things, mainly:
Arcane Lighthouse: We have a hard time dealing with things that have Shroud/Hexproof, so using this land can help with that, and could prove to be invaluable, especially against something like Uril, the Miststalker.
Oblivion Strike: Having access to removal that exiles is something we lack in. Strike also has Devoid, meaning it is a way to get rid of something with ProBlack, or even Iona, which would shut this deck down almost completely. It's something I've been thinking about a lot lately.
I'm still waiting for C18 to release on MTGO, since I would really like to try out Entreat the Dead in here, and possibly Insidious Dreams to go alongside it.
Yay! After about a year or so of not having a physical deck, I've finally bought into one, and I chose Gonti to be the first one! I'm hoping to get some games in soon, so I'll have to let everyone know how those go.
I love this Rogue so I put together my Gonti deck again and then decided I wanted to focus it even more on Gonti and that kind of strange control so I busted the CMC of the deck down a bunch and centered it very largely around Gonti himself.
This is definitely an interesting take on Gonti. I like how you focused specifically on him, and not multiple ETB creatures. How has it been working for you?
I feel like I would have a hard time going with a build like this, since I've been having too much fun abusing multiple different ETB effects..
I love this Rogue so I put together my Gonti deck again and then decided I wanted to focus it even more on Gonti and that kind of strange control so I busted the CMC of the deck down a bunch and centered it very largely around Gonti himself.
Personally, I'm a HUGE fan of Lifeline. I can recall a few games where it made everything fun and sort of hilarious. For instance, I had Lifeline and Noxious Gearhulk out, and the next player played their own Noxious Gearhulk, and the following player played a Phyrexian Metamorph copying Noxious Gearhulk, and it just kept going and everyone was gaining life, and it turned out to be quite the interesting game.
The problem I'm seeing, however, is that if Lifeline is out, and I want to kill a problematic creature, it's only a temporary fix until the end of the turn. If I want something dead, I'd like for it to stay day, and Lifeline just doesn't do that. Sure, I can boardwipe, but then I lose out on my creatures coming back, unless I can get another one on the board before the end of the turn.
I still do swap it in and out at times if I'm feeling a little frisky...
[EDH Non-Primers] Newzuri | Breya
The full spoiler for the new returning Core Sets is live as of today, so I took a gander to see if Gonti got any loving. I honestly wasn't expecting much, and that's pretty much what we got. There were only two cards that caught my eye, so let's take a look at them.
Abnormal Endurance: We get a third instant-speed reanimation spell to join Undying Evil and Supernatural Stamina. In fact, it's an exact copy of Stamina, but with one slightly disappointing difference: it costs two mana instead of one. It's one thing to have one mana left open, but it's another thing to have two left. While I don't think the cost will make much difference, it will take some testing to see if it is a viable option.
Isareth the Awakener: A repeatable reanimation enabler on a 3/3 with Deathtouch body for only 3 mana isn't a terrible thing to have. She does have her downfalls tho. In order to bring a creature back, she has to be able to attack. If something is preventing that from happening, all you have is a creature doing nothing. You also have to pay the full mana cost for the creature, so depending on what you're trying to bring back, it could be quite costly. It only brings back something from you graveyard, which isn't terrible, but still kind of a bummer. Her biggest downfall is that if the creature leaves the battlefield, it will get exiled, so you can no longer bring it back. Not a big deal if you're bringing back Gonti, but it is if you're trying to bring back Gray Merchant of Asphodel.
I'll give both a good test once they are released on MTGO, and let everyone know my findings.
Is there anything else you noticed from the set that appeals to you?
[EDH Non-Primers] Newzuri | Breya
With these cuts, we need to fill in some spots that could help the deck out, and I've narrowed it down to these so far:
Does anyone care to give any input on these possible changes? Nothing will be set until I get the time to actually test them.
[EDH Non-Primers] Newzuri | Breya
So far in testing I'm liking the changes from above. A few more games and I will have an update!
[EDH Non-Primers] Newzuri | Breya
It is a card I wrote off early but someone played it just as is and I was impressed. I suppose there is the question of if you would ever want to use the card it searches up but honestly I have been playing it just as is with some good results in a few decks.
Signature by Inkfox Aesthetics by Xen
[Modern] Allies
I've given Gate to the Afterlife some thought before, and even though the life gain and filter could be good, I'm just not too sure how well it will work in here. I feel like I don't run too many creatures to trigger it very often. I don't think I'd play God-Pharaoh's Gift either, as I don't want my creatures to be exiled.
============================================================
I just got done playing a four-player game, and it ended better than I could have hoped.
I was playing against Ghave, Zedruu, and Runinia. I keep my opening hand of Swamp, Arch of Orazca, Sol Ring, Ashnod's Altar, Oblivion Stone, Lifeline and Duplicant. It's kind of a risky keep, but all I need is one Swamp to make this really good. Turn order is as follows: Ghave, Zedruu, Rubinia.
Turn 1: Jungle Hollow/Highland Lake/Plains/Swamp, Sol Ring
Turn 2: Forest, Golgari Signet/Sulfur Falls/Forest, Narnam Gobra/Arch of Orazca, Ashnod's Altar
Turn 3: Command Tower, Deathspore Thallid, Spore Flower/Island, Tel-Jilad Stylus/Island/Swamp, Lifeline
Turn 4: Selesnya Sanctuary bouncing Forest, attacks me with Deathspore/Battlefield Forge, Thassa, God of the Sea/Plains, Edric, Spymaster of Trest, Narnam attacks Zedruu/Thespian's Stage, Gonti, Lord of Luxury targeting Rubinia and grab Helm of the Host, sac Gonti, cast Helm, return Gonti target Zedruu, grab Gilded Lotus
Turn 5: Temple of Silence, Ghave, sac Gonti at end of MP2, return Gonti target Ghave, grab Saproling Symbiosis/Rubinia concedes and we lose Helm, Zedruu, Wandering Fumarole, sac Gonti at end of MP2, return Gonti target Zedruu, grab Helm of the Host/Kokusho, sac Gonti and Kokusho, G:36, Z:32, Me: 49, cast Helm, return both at end step, Gonti target Rubinia grab Walk the Aeons
Turn 6: Forest, Verdant Embrace targeting Spore Flower, sac Gonti/Kokusho, G: 31, Z: 27, Me: 59, return at end step, Gonti target Ghave and grab Winding Constrictor, Ghave creates Saprolings to kill Gonti/Temple of the False God, Light of Day, sac Kokusho, G: 26, Z: 22, Me: 69, return Gonti/Kokusho at end step, Gonti target Zedru grab Kirtar's Wrath/Sac Gonti/Kokusho, G: 21, Z: 17, Me: 79, cast Gilded Lotus, Gray Merchant of Asphodel, G: 19, Z: 15: Me: 83, sac Gray, Lilian of the Dark Realms, tutor and play Swamp, return Gray/Kokusho/Gonti, target Zedruu grab Knowledge Pool, G: 11, Z: 7, Me: 99
Turn 7: Forest, Corpsejack Menace, sac Gonti/Gray/Kokusho, G: 6, Z: 2, Me: 109, return Gray/Gonti/Kokusho, Gonti target Zedruu grab Venser, the Sojourner, Gray drains for game, G: -2, Z: -6, Me: 125
============================================================
So, Lifeline was definitely an all-star in this game. Being able to sac and return every turn makes the deck bonkers. I'm starting to think Homeward Path should find a spot in my lands somewhere, just in case I run into a lot of steal effects. Also thinking I need another one or two sac outlets, just in case Ashnod's Altar gets removed.
As far as the game play review, how does that formatting look? Should I use card tags for everything? Is it too crowded? Should I only do the game-winning play instead of every turn?
[EDH Non-Primers] Newzuri | Breya
I guess I have a few things:
1) Yes card tags would be nice in above.
2) Understandable on Gate of the Afterlife.
3) It is also possible for someone to clone your Homeward Path so take into account how often you steal creatures with your commander and how many clone lands are run in your meta.
4) How are you not running Razaketh, the Foulblooded in here? I mean.... you run Rune Scarred.... isn't this guy kind of just an improvement especially if you do kind of need sac outlets?
Signature by Inkfox Aesthetics by Xen
[Modern] Allies
1) I added the card tags, but tried not doing too many if the card has already been tagged.
2)If I do add Homeward Path, I will have to keep that in mind when making my Gonti selections, and if I choose to reanimate one of their creatures.
3) I opted to run Rune-Scarred Demon over Razaketh, the Foulblooded due to his ETB trigger. Razaketh could be good, as it is a sac outlet and tutor in one. However, if it's late game and I'm low on life, he may not be the best. Although he did a fairly good job when I stole him one game. I guess it depends on the situation. I will have to give him some more consideration and possibly test him.
[EDH Non-Primers] Newzuri | Breya
OUT:
Fleshbag Marauder
Merciless Executioner
Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed
Cloudstone Curio
Mimic Vat
Ritual of the Machine
Entomb
Dead Man's Chest
Gate to Phyrexia
IN:
Abhorrent Overlord
Diabolic Intent
Lifeline
Makeshift Mannequin
Morbid Curiosity
Oblivion Stone
Sign in Blood
Wake the Dead
Wurmcoil Engine
The main theme of these changes is effectiveness. Fleshbag/Merciless, while they are removal and abusable ETB creatures, don't let us select what creatures we want to remove, which can be a devastating thing. Xiahou Dun was just too slow as his ability has a timing restriction, so no surprise shenanigans. Our creatures cost too much to be able to abuse with Curio, and Mimc Vat has the potential of permanently losing one of our creatures, even our commander. Ritual was too narrow, as a lot of the time we would like to steal a black or artifact creature. Entomb is a sort of narrow tutor card, and almost useless unless we can reanimate right away. Dead Man's Chest is bad if the only creatures out are commanders, so we get no value, and even if there are creatures out, we have to have a way of killing it and sending it to the graveyard. Gate also has a timing restriction, and we can only use once per turn.
Abhorrent and Wurmcoil can replace Grave Titan in our mana engine, and can create a ton of bodies for attacking/blocking/sacrificing. Intent is another cheap and efficient tutor. Lifeline, Wake, and Makeshift are great cards for reanimating creatures and abusing things. Oblivion Stone is another mass removal that can hit artifacts, enchantments, and even planeswalkers. Sign in Blood and Morbid Curiosity for more card draw to get to our good cards.
[EDH Non-Primers] Newzuri | Breya
[EDH Non-Primers] Newzuri | Breya
========================================
Currently, I am testing out the following changes:
OUT:
Geth, Lord of the Vault
Nevinyrral's Disk
Nirkana Revenant
Ob Nixilis Reignited
Oblivion Stone
Yawgmoth's Will
IN:
Abnormal Endurance
Helm of the Host
Meteor Golem
Phyrexian Altar
Sandstone Oracle
Sengir Autocrat
If I make an changes final, I will then provide another update with my reasoning for the changes.
[EDH Non-Primers] Newzuri | Breya
OUT:
Geth, Lord of the Vault
Nevinyrral's Disk
Nirkana Revenant
Ob Nixilis Reignited
Oblivion Stone
Yawgmoth's Will
IN:
Abnormal Endurance
Helm of the Host
Meteor Golem
Phyrexian Altar
Sandstone Oracle
Sengir Autocrat
After testing these changes, I've decided to make all of them final for the deck. Oblivion Stone and Nevinyrral's Disk were put in here as more efficient ways of dealing with artifacts and enchantments over Gate to Phyrexia. However, when we have an established board presence with our artifacts, they tend to hurt us just as much as the opponent(s). Geth, Lord of the Vault isn't a very efficient reanimator. Yes, he can bring back artifacts, but if no opponent has a legal target in their graveyard, he does nothing. Nirkana Revenant is an overcosted Crypt Ghast and hurts us more if it gets removed. Ob Nixilis Reignited is still a great card, but I needed to make another cut, and he seemed to have the least impact over other choices. Yawgmoth's Will was definitely a hard choice, and one I'm not sure of keeping out of the deck. It can be easily brought back in.
I'm bringing in Meteor Golem to repalce Stone/Disk. He hits any nonland permanent, can be reanimated since he's a creature and it's an ETB effect. He is easily abused with Panharmonicon/Conjurer's Closet/Lifeline. Phyrexian Altar is in as another sac outlet. Has a harder time going infinite than Ashnod's Altar, but it is possible with Panharmonicon. Abnormal Endurance is another surprise reanimation spell, although a bit higher costing thatn Supernatural Stamina/Undying Evil. Helm of the Host is coming back in as it is a great card to have. Yes, it will most likely see removal the first chance someone gets, but it's too good with all of our ETB creatures. Sandstone Oracle is in here to fill our hand back up. It's an ETB effect so easily recurrable in here. We tend to run out of gas fairly quickly, and this has the means of filling our hand back to full. Sengir Autocrat was added for redundancy for our infinite mana combo. Comes down earlier than the others as well.
[EDH Non-Primers] Newzuri | Breya
Unfortunately, we didn't get mana cards to consider in this year's Commander set. There's only two that I am considering trying out in the deck, and even they may not make it in. Here they are:
Entreat the Dead: Black's first Miracle card! When cast for it's standard cost, it acts as a Beacon of Unrest, but only for creatures. But when you cast it for its Miracle cost, we can return three creatures for the same cost as Beacon. When I do test this card out, I am also going to test out Insidious Dreams in conjunction with Entreat, as not only will it set up for the Miracle next turn, but it can also set up our graveyard with some good creatures to reanimate.
Isolated Watchtower: Black isn't the best at land ramp. This will give us a chance to get some extra lands into play, especially if we are playing against decks that run land ramp, as an opponent has to have at least two more lands than us to even activate. Not entirely sold on the card yet, but will test it out to see if it can make the cut.
[EDH Non-Primers] Newzuri | Breya
I believe I tried it out before, but was never in a position to get more than 1 or 2 creatures. I run Faceless Butcher to deal with creatures I want to get rid of permanently, as long as I have a sac outlet.
[EDH Non-Primers] Newzuri | Breya
I’ve thought about it before, but in all honesty, I’d rather run Caged Sun simply because of removal. If they remove Lens, we lost a land as well. If they remove Caged that’s it. Besides, I just like full art lands. Lol.
[EDH Non-Primers] Newzuri | Breya
Torpor Orb seems really hard to beat, do you just not run into it often?
I haven't run into Torpor Orb very much, if at all lately. We do run into the problem where if we encounter it, we have no way of stopping it. If it's a card prevalent in your area, I'd say for you to run Gate to Phyrexia, Oblivion Stone, or Nevinyrral's Disk to help deal with it.
[EDH Non-Primers] Newzuri | Breya
[Primer] Erebos, God of the Dead
HONK HONK
Any upcoming changes?
I will probably have to revisit Yawgmoth's Will; it's definitely a game-changing card.
So, I haven't had too much time to play recently, but I've been contemplating a few things, mainly:
Arcane Lighthouse: We have a hard time dealing with things that have Shroud/Hexproof, so using this land can help with that, and could prove to be invaluable, especially against something like Uril, the Miststalker.
Oblivion Strike: Having access to removal that exiles is something we lack in. Strike also has Devoid, meaning it is a way to get rid of something with ProBlack, or even Iona, which would shut this deck down almost completely. It's something I've been thinking about a lot lately.
I'm still waiting for C18 to release on MTGO, since I would really like to try out Entreat the Dead in here, and possibly Insidious Dreams to go alongside it.
[EDH Non-Primers] Newzuri | Breya
[EDH Non-Primers] Newzuri | Breya
Here is what came out the other side:
1 Gonti, Lord of Luxury
Ramping Gonti
1 Pitiless Plunderer
1 Crypt Ghast
1 Cabal Coffers
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Mana Vault
1 Lotus Petal
1 Sol Ring
1 Mind Stone
1 Chrome Mox
1 Dark Ritual
1 Cabal Ritual
1 Bubbling Muck
Killing Gonti
1 Viscera Seer
1 Yahenni, Undying Partisan
1 Fleshbag Marauder
1 Bontu the Glorified
1 Infernal Tribute
1 Ashnod's Altar
1 Phyrexian Altar
1 Culling the Weak
Gonti Reanimation or Reclamation
1 Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
1 Animate Dead
1 Necromancy
1 Phyrexian Reclamation
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Command Beacon
1 Cloudstone Curio
1 Nim Deathmantle
1 Corpse Dance
1 Wake the Dead
1 Supernatural Stamina
1 Reanimate
1 Footsteps of the Goryo
1 Exhume
1 Strip Mine
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Damping Sphere
1 Misinformation
1 Sudden Spoiling
1 Go for the Throat
1 Hymn to Tourach
1 Mind Twist
1 Phyrexian Tribute
1 Bitter Ordeal
1 Sadistic Sacrament
1 Praetor's Grasp
1 Toxic Deluge
1 Damnation
1 Living Death
Combo Stuff
1 Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed
1 Blood Artist
1 Deserted Temple
1 Staff of Domination
1 Rings of Brighthearth
1 Walking Ballista
Tokens and Bodies
1 Abhorrent Overlord
1 Grave Titan
1 Bitterblossom
Dark Depths Stuff
1 Vampire Hexmage
1 Dark Depths
1 Thespian's Stage
1 Mirage Mirror
1 Necropotence
1 Scroll Rack
1 Skullclamp
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Treasure Map
1 Night's Whisper
1 Sign in Blood
Tutors
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Entomb
1 Diabolic Intent
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Expedition Map
Misc
1 Isochron Scepter
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Crucible of Worlds
Other Lands
1 Vesuva
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Polluted Delta
1 Myriad Landscape
16 Swamp
Should probably add in a Disciple of Bolas somewhere seeing how many ways I put in to make Marit Lage
I feel like I would have a hard time going with a build like this, since I've been having too much fun abusing multiple different ETB effects..
[EDH Non-Primers] Newzuri | Breya