MTG Salvation

After dropping the "persist combo" because assembling it was too hard without CoCo and multiple copies I wonder if a weaker combo that requires less pieces can work here, maybe Devoted Druid + Quillspike ?

So I kind of like Rishkar, but I think Courser is probably just correct. I don't think we can turn Flayer on effectively enough :/ as for the Quillspike combo, I just don't think it is very good!

I'm rather pleased with the deck so far.

The core imho is:

#4x Birds of Paradise, 1x Scavenging Ooze, 3x Strangleroot Geist, 2x Eternal Witness, 4x Kitchen Finks, 1x Glen Elendra Archmage, 1x Shriekmaw, 1x Thragtusk, 1x Grave Titan, 1x Wurmcoil Engine.

#My flex slots are:
2x Coiling Oracle, 3x Rogue Refiner, 2x Tireless Tracker, 1x Entomber Exarch, 1x Polukranos, World Eater.

I feel that the 3-drop slot is very strong however the 4,5-drop slots could use better options and to some degree the 2-drop slot as well.
Casting Eldritch Evolution on turn 3 targeting Strangleroot Geist/Kitchen Finks should put you clearly ahead in the game and I don't feel that the current line-up of creatures does it
(I would use Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet but I don't have it at the moment and it is rather pricey).

I was looking for more SB cards and found Yixlid Jailer, is it good enough as a GY hate tech together with the MD Scooze ?
Or is Loaming Shaman the better option ?

#The spell based combo decks are difficult as well, would Brain Maggot be a reasonable SB option to help with that ?
Nath of the Gilt-Leaf might also be an option but seems too slow.

Right now my plan is to board in Thoughtseize, Venser, Shaper Savant and Acidic Slime (to attack their mana) and hope to land Glen Elendra Archmage or Entomber Exarch (discard mode) as soon as possible.

I'm still really not sold on Giest but you do you

Yixlid Jailer has a fine pedigree of being graveyard hate, I think that sounds like a sold option. I'm not sure about spell based combo...

For spell-based combo try Glen Elendra, boarding in some extra discard/counters if you have them. My pet card against spell-based combo and control is Mindslicer. It's probably garbage but if your deck contains a sac outlet it can be pretty funny.

What do you think about Consuming Aberration for a big threat in the 5-drop slot ?
It can get huge rather quickly and messes with opponents' draws, the downside is that it lacks evasion like Verdurous Gearhulk which is also very big.

Another card that I consider for my list is Evil Twin which might be useful as tutorable kill spell which happens to copy the best creature on the opposing side.

Some other random 5,6-cmc finisher ideas I thought about:
Priest of the Blood Rite, Vorapede, Oona, Queen of the Fae, Sphinx of Magosi, Sire of Stagnation, Sagu Mauler.
Is any of them worth including ?

Grave Titan/Wurmcoil should be fine as finishers. Out of the ones you mentioned I'd probably take either Mauler or Vorapede because of resilience to removal. I've thought about Sheoldred, Whispering One as well but a 7-drop is probably close to impossible with either chord or evolution.

Can you explain why entomber exarch to me? It seems to just be bad as a 4 drop that doesn't really win the game although it's not bad to cord or evolution into.

It is just a decent flexible value creature which can be either Gravedigger or a (better) Sin Collector depending on the match-up which is pretty good imho.


Btw, while looking for good finishers for the deck I found Kalonian Hydra which can close games really fast if not dealt with which can be really useful in non-interactive match-ups.
It also has trample which makes it better than Consuming Aberration which was previously considered.

I"ll probably swap out Polukranos, World Eater for it.

That game was great, the deck really shines in grindy games though beating better card quality (Lily, Goyf, Flayer) can be an issue.

Kalitas does indeed seem like the best 4-drop for the deck and I would definetely pick it up when it drops to a more reasonable price (if that happens).

Altered Ego seemed like a cool idea but I'm not sure it is actually good enough or even better than other clone options:
Phyrexian Metamorph (can be cast for 3 and copy artifacts), Clever Impersonator (copies anything), Evil Twin (has a removal ability).

Tireless Tracker seems like a good option to generate CA and there is also Courser of Kruphix.
There is also Shadowmage Infiltrator but he seems a bit slow and vulnerable.
Maybe some PW's from the SB can be an option as well: Nissa, Vital Force or Liliana, the Last Hope (also very expensive).

I personally run Rogue Refiner which is like a bigger Elvish Visionary and find him rather decent.
I also run 7x persist/undying creatures: 4x Kitchen Finks and 3x Strangleroot Geist which are great with Eldritch Evolution and decent at grinding out creature matchups.

The deck has some slow draws and has trouble against go-wide strategies (SB: Massacre Wurm and Maelstrom Pulse should help with that).

I also have no idea how to beat "RG Valakut" as it is difficult to interact with and can pretty much ignore what I'm doing and win rather quickly.

I agree that White is probably better but once you splash it that is very little reason to keep Blue in and it should then be "Abzan Evolution" which can run multiple copies of Siege Rhino (which BUG has no equivalent to) and a Sun Titan to get every thing you sac'ed back or loop Eternal Witness.

It also opens up the 2-card combo option of Archangel of Thune + Spike Feeder which is much easier to assemble in an Eldritch Evolution deck than (Melira, Sylvok Outcast + Viscera Seer + Murderous Redcap).

You also get to run Gavony Township for the late game.

Here is a similar Abzan thread - http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/deck-creation-modern/743663-abzan-toolbox

The deck seems ok in the fair match-ups and I feel I have chance to win the game most of the time.

The unfair match-ups can be difficult if I don't have the right silver-bullet and can cast it on time, some match-ups seem almost unwinnable (Storm/Valakut).

Very fast aggro can also be problematic with a slow start and not enough removal.

If you want to be more competitive Abzan will probably be better.

I want to see what the guy from Tcgplayer would come up with though.

It was mentioned, the exact list is unknown as it could include many different cards.

Quote from daviusminimus »

Hey Guys,
Round 1 of this Sultai deck on SCG plays AGAINST our deck. Not finished watching yet!
http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/article.asp?ID=13825&writer=Corbin Hosler&articledate=2-27-2017

Still messing around with the deck, just slowly trying to build some tix to sort the manabase. I've picked up my 2nd Witness, and a Phantasmal Image over Myr Superion (it can copy a thought-knot / reality smasher to trade, but also has applications everywhere else).

Quote from D90Dennis14 »

I want to see what the guy from Tcgplayer would come up with though.

Here it is - http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/article.asp?ID=13870

I like Mikaeus, the Unhallowed as a 6-drop but not sure if it is better than Wurmcoil Engine in this deck as it requires a board to shine while Wurmcoil is good on its own.

Catacomb Sifter is pretty good but maybe Courser of Kruphix would be better.

Solemn Simulacrum is decent but I'd rather have Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet in the maindeck.

The recent standard all-stars Hostage Taker (the stricly better Faceless Butcher) and The Scarab God might be a reason to go back to this deck, they are very powerful creatures and work incredibly well with what the deck is doing.

Here is how I'd update the deck with the new additions:


I'm still unsure about the 2-drop slot:
Other options might be going back to some ramp creatures like: Devoted Druid, Wall of Roots or Sylvan Caryatid.
Viridian Emissary can be a decent Evolution fodder while still having 2-power if I need to attack early (unlike Coiling Oracle).
The new Merfolk Branchwalker looks interesting as a more aggresive Coiling Oracle with a less restrictive mana cost and a potentially bigger body.

In the 4-drop slot I wonder if Polukranos is the best maindeck option over things like:
#Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet (the deck probably doesn't have enough removal to use it to its full potential).
#Maindeck copies of Entomber Exarch/Glen Elendra Archmage (or Venser) against spell decks (though a bit narrow for the maindeck and don't represent a threat).
#More copies of Hostage Taker, though it might be weak in match-ups without good targets or those that can deal with it right away.
#Chameleon Colossus or Obstinate Baloth, solid midrange cards but don't have a lot of additional utility and there is already Thragtusk (or Wurmcoil) for similar uses.

The new Ravenous Chupacabra is a great addition to the deck.

There probably isn't room for it in the maindeck (as Hostage Taker is usually better) but I'd put it in the SB
replacing Shriekmaw and Evil Twin.

This deck has been off my mind for a while but I think you're right there have been some really great additions lately. I'll have to see what I can brew up...

The new Demonlord Belzenlok looks like a decent Evo target at the top of the curve.
Not sure if it can replace Grave Titan or Wurmcoil Engine though.

Muldrotha, the Gravetide looks pretty interesting as well but also rather slow.

With the printing of Neoform I wonder if it should replace Chord in the deck as Chord often felt really clunky and hard to cast here (though maybe I just run a high curve and not enough mana dorks).