I know that this is a bit of a necro, but I wanted to share my current list for those who may be interested. I've updated the list with the one that I'm currently using, which has been tuned over the past couple of months through an immense amount of playtesting and several hours of math. Please let me know what your suggestions are, as I know this deck can continue to improve.
Playtesting results:
This deck's performance continues to be amazing. The deck is extremely consistent, and continues to win around the 4th turn. It shows tons of resiliency through Reclaim effects, which are hilariously amusing to use with the miracle cards in the deck. Specifically Devastation Tide. Will be back with precise results and numbers in future posts.
I tested the above list extensively, and was quite satisfied with the results. A lot of the time you can play generic stax-like cards and sit back on your disruption until the right moment, or you can turn one Neheb into a turn 2 infinite combat steps with Aggravated Assault. I treated Neheb like a Gilded Lotus with legs a lot of the time, and was very satisfied with the results.
7-Land Belcher is a variation of the legacy version, 2-Land Belcher. Since we don’t have Land Grant available to us, it uses various search spells to filter out the basic lands to set up a lethal Goblin Charbelcher activation within the first 4 turns of the game.
Why should you play 7-Land Belcher?
1. You enjoy playing lightning fast combo decks
2. You like playing a deck that boast numerous synergies
3. You appreciate decks with a streamlined process, allowing you to focus on game state
4. You enjoy playing decks with unique strategies
Wall of Roots – Great mana accel, while still being able to stave off aggro.
Wild Cantor – Great mana accel, while having great synergy with Caravan Vigil.
Ancient Stirrings, Caravan Vigil, Lay of the Land, Safewright Quest – One mana spells that allow you to be able to filter out the lands in the deck, so you can ensure you hit your land drops as well as increase your chances for a lethan Goblin Charbelcher activation. Ancient Stirrings can also snag up a Goblin Charbelcher.
Forest – Basic lands are needed in greater number for the number of basic filters.
Grove of the Burnwillows – Acts as a dual land that doesn’t pain you. Helpful for the sunburst portion of Pentad Prism.
Stomping Ground – Tutorable with Safewright Quest and doubles the damage with a Goblin Charbelcher. Helpful for the sunburst portion of Pentad Prism.
Temple Garden – Tutorable with Safewright Quest for increased sideboard options. Helpful for the sunburst portion of Pentad Prism.
I didn’t put my sideboard on here, because I’m still working it out for my local meta.
This is the beginning stages of deck creation, so I am looking for all the suggestions I can get. So far, in testing this deck has been a blast. Generally I’ve been able to get turn 4 wins, on average. I feel that, with finer tuning, this deck will be able to put out turn 2 and 3 wins pretty consistently. Thanks for reading and your help!
Iname, Death Aspect has had some minor success throughout Commander, whether it’s 1v1 or multiplayer. People just seem to enjoy flooding the board with all sort of spirits and such!
I’ve played numerous commanders and several different types of strategies, and I have to say that this is one of the most fun takes I’ve tried. I haven’t seen a primer or a post in a while, so I thought I would create one.
Introduction:
Iname, Death Aspect is a graveyard-based combo deck, focusing on flooding the board via Patriarch’s Bidding, or Living Death, and overwhelming your opponents with massive card advantage and numerous synergies.
The deck is primarily spirit-based, and uses the most efficient of this tribe to maximize its potency. The deck utilizes ‘nullification’ and mana denial to effectively deal with most graveyard hate that you might come across.
***More to Follow***
Why should you play Iname?
You enjoy graveyard-based strategies.
You enjoy never being mana screwed. That’s for any mono colored deck, though.
You like using several synergies to overwhelm your opponents.
You want to play a deck that is easily interchangeable from multiplayer to 1v1 games.
Why shouldn’t you play Iname?
You don’t enjoy building around your commander.
You don’t like being limited to playing one color.
There’s a lot of graveyard hate in your local meta.
Iname. His very name told his story - the word means both the nothingness of death and the budding of life. Long before the Kami War, the tale of Iname (ee-NAH-may) was a well-known lesson in the balance of yin and yang.
Before the first dawn of the material world there was the spirit world. Even then, all the kami existed, but in chaos - each trying to fin its place, its call. Long after most had discovered their purpose, young Iname was lost.
However, in his lowest moment he grasped a miraculous idea: he would create another kami. Perhaps his creation could tell him what his purpose should be. At once, Iname began to shape the spirit realm, giving form and substance to void. As he did, his own shape changed; his body became longand green, his hair took on the colors of Autumn, and from his back grew a canopy of leaves. His creation found life, and Iname found his purpose. Iname's child was the first flower kami.
Many ages passed and the flower kami grew older and wiser. one day, the flower asked, "What is my purpose?" Iname replied, "Your purpose is to be my child." But the flower was dissatisfied. In time she began to pull away from Iname, and Iname resisted. He felt that without his child, his purpose would be gone. Iname grew bitter and selfish, and became consumed by thoughts of abandonment.
The day came when the flower told Iname that she was leaving. Iname raged and wept, but the flower insisted. Something inside Iname broke in two. Another part of him emerged, with a long body like the rotten spine of a dragon, with terrible claws and leathery cowl. It engulfed the flower and snuffed out its life. It was the first time a kami had died. Only then did Iname realize that he was two selves, one of life and one of death, each meaningless without the other. And in the eons since, the first Iname has created life countless times, only to watch as his other self snuff it out.
There have been a few lists that have caught my attention while I was building mine. They should prove useful in your own deck creation.
(*) = Cards that I’ve placed for my specific local meta game.
Against Control:
Generally, you will want to play Contamination, Defense Grid, or Infernal Darkness to ensure that your opponent has little to say about what you are doing. Proceed to flood the board with spirits a throw in a Patriarch's Bidding.
Against Aggro:
This is generally your best match up, unless they are extremely disruptive (which, lucky for us, dilutes their game plan to an extent). These are the games where it's ok to just fill your graveyard up and Living Death it up.
Against Combo:
Utilize Duress, Thoughtseize, and Cabal Therapy to ensure your opponent stay off of their main combo pieces. Proceed to pretend that you’re playing against aggro.
Against Hate:
Several cards in the deck will help you fight hate, but the most predominate are Null Rod (good vs Tormod’s Crypt and Nihl Spellbomb} and Gate to Phyrexia. Also, if you expect hate, don’t grab every spirit in your library with Iname. Seems obvious, but it’s something that I had to fail at a couple of times to really grasp.
Plan B:
The deck doesn’t always win by playing Iname and a big recursion spell. I’ve won several just by playing the deck as a mono black reanimator variant. It’s quite effective when it needs to be. There are several soft locks (Contamination + Bloodghast) to give you the time you need.
For now, this is all I have! I will be on here often to make updates and answer any questions, as well as take suggestions!
Not Stifle and Misdirection have worked well for me, but that could also be due to differing playstyles. I understand how CDA is really bad for this, or really any, style of control, but it hasn't been an issue for me to the point of warranting a cut.
Finding something to win with Narset is never really the issue, as soon as you've stabilized and are swinging with Narset, that almost always means you've won (and most opponents will scoop at that point).
Cerebral Vortex is great because it's a 3 ccm draw 2 cards instant, with an ignorable downside, it's one of the easiest 2-card draw spells to curve and obviously any deck that can run it probably should.
Of course sometimes you can do some silly trick with it and target your opponent who just triggered Griselbrand or something to kill him, but that's not the reason it's played.
You're absolutely right. I'll pick up a copy and start testing. Just need to find what would be best to cut for it. At this point I'm leaning towards Complicate.
Ryan, what does your primary win-con look like? I ask mainly because I am not familiar with control decks of this nature...obviously Narset attacking, Celestial Colonnade, PW ultimates but I feel those are rather limited and could be difficult to achieve at times. Any luck with Cerebral Vortex? I feel it doesn't have a ton of relevant support here but could be good to get 8 damage through for the win...it's run in all the Top 8 lists it seems. How often are you getting PW ultimates off in general?
Honestly, almost every game, I win off of a swarm of creatures with a Narset emblem. Once this deck starts rolling, there is little other decks can do to stop it. Every once in a while, I'll win off of Narset being pumped up with Elspeth, Knight-Errant. Of Course I also have the games where everyone just scoops up the cards because I removed their board positions and flooded the board with card advantage. PW ultimates are generally easy to achieve because of all of the extra turn effects, so I always feel comfortable investing in that route as a win con. I have not attempted to use Cerebral Vortex, but it may need to come in for testing. Please keep in mind that my build is a different control strategy than the ones in all the top 8 lists, so vortex may not be worth a slot but I don't see that being the case. I see it being worth a good testing and making its way in the final 99.
Thanks for the update, Ryan. I think it'd be helpful if you had a change log, too! I will document my changes here, too once I get up and running and there likely will be a lot!
Very solid records, hard to argue with results. I have to question a couple choices (more like hear reasoning, actually): Arcane Denial, Oblation, Orim's Chant, Stifle, Mind's Desire. How do you feel about these cards? I feel Denial could be Counterspell/Memory Lapse/Dissolve/Remand with little downside. Oblation is a meta call I assume? Chant is one I could see working--do you use it primarily to protect Narset if she doesn't have haste? Stifle seems to not help our biggest cause (getting Narset to stick)--why not Swan Song? I don't really understand Desire's inclusion?
No Ugin or Karn? Anything that really screws you up that you can't deal with? What about the lack of Spell Pierce and Spell Snare? Especially Snare helps win the counter war. How about 45 lands with all those rocks/medallions? I found once I added the rocks, 44 seemed to much and I'm at 42 with Tolaria West (to get Hall of the Bandit Lord) and seems solid.
Your mass destruction approach is interesting and definitely warrants testing--I'd like to include some form of geddon/Razia/etc. I will report back to see what seems to work best over in this neighborhood. Great job on the matches!
Arcane Denial has been a rockstar in every deck I've ran it in. Just a solid, non-mana intensive counterspell that allowed me to smooth out my "counter curve."
Oblation is more for when I play in multiplayer pods. It allows me to focus more on the threats targeting me, post resolution, so I'm not wasting counterspells on threats that aren't directly affecting me. Plus, it's always a great utility card, as you never really care about them drawing cards.
Orim's Chant is against many styles of decks, such as opposing control/combo and aggressive strategies. It can act as a Time Walk or a way for me to resolve an important spell with Narset. Great value for 1-2 mana.
Stifle is in here for general utility, but it shines in a format running rampant with fetch lands. Allows you to keep the control player off of their mana enough to stall them out into a win.
Mind's Desire was my added flavor to the mix. Often times it just acts as a 2nd Narset trigger, allowing me to play several more cards for free. It's worked well, so far, in testing.
45 lands does seem like a bit of a stretch, but I've found that when I lose, it's always because either 1) they one shot "combo'd" me, or 2) I missed 1-2 land drops. 45 has been working well for me, but I tend to not really worry if Narset's ability wiffs, as then she is just smoothing out my natural draws. I don't play her to do incredibly broken things, minus Time Stretch, I more play her for pure card advantage and filtering. This approach has worked well with me, so far.
I started playing Ugin and Karn, but found them sitting in my hand way too many times. The other planeswalkers benefit from medallions and signets, so dropping them early has never been an issue, but the big colorless ones felt underwhelming or unnecessary when I did play them. It may just be more of a playstyle preference.
Spell Pierce and Spell Snare often finds themselves in the list, from time to time. I'm still working out which counterspells are best suited for this build. They may make their way back into the 99, in the end.
Me and a buddy of mine began brewing a new idea to combat our local meta, which is filled with both extremes of control and fast aggro. We were expecting a lot of Atarka Red and Esper Dragons so the challenge of being innovative and fresh would prove difficult.
So the idea behind the deck was to generate immense card advantage by using manifest and morph to swing the control matches way in our favor. The deck was designed to be very resilient vs mass removal, spot removal, and counterspell.
Cards, like Sultai Emissary, gives the deck an edge against aggressive aggro strategies, and Ruthless Ripper gains a lot of early tempo for the deck to stabilize.
After a few hours of brewing, we sleeved it up for its first test run at a store vs store event. Here are the results:
4 Rounds, Swiss
Match 1 - Atarka Red ( 0-1)
Game 1: Game was pretty fast, due to double Goblin Rabblemaster. I couldn't stabilize quick enough.
Game 2: Much like Game 1, double Rabblemaster. I had a Bile Blight in my opening hand, but just couldn't get my second black source of mana. If I had I easily had control of the game, as he overextended.
Match 2 - Atarka Red (1-1)
Game 1: I start off with a Ruthless Ripper, which keeps his Zurgo from attacking, buying me a few turns to stabilize. I overwhelmed him with Deathmist Raptors and Den Protectors. He was never able to maintain a board presence.
Game 2: I board in 2 Drown in Sorrow, 1 Bile Blight, 2 Duress, and 2 Hornet's Nest. I side out 3 Ruthless Ripper, 1 Mystic, 1 Wildcall, and 2 Whisperwood Elemental. He overextends into a Drown in Sorrow, and I flood the board with raptors and Den Protectors.
Match 3 - Esper Dragons (2-1)
Game 1: I come out the gate with triple Raptor, due to a third turn Collected Company. He couldn't keep up, and I easily stole the game.
Game 2: He locks me out with Perilous Vault and Ugin. I couldn't keep up at this point.
Game 3: He mulligans to 3, to my relief. I chain Duresses with Den protectors to seal the deal.
Match 4 - Esper Dragons (3-1)
Game 1: I rush him with raptors and Sultai Emissary. He kills both Emissary and Raptor, and I morph over a Hooded Hydra for 2 mana. He couldn't keep pace, afterwards.
Game 2: He uses Ashiok to steal a Whisperwood Elemental. I follow with my own, and he ends up milling me with Ashiok. Game took forever. I at least managed to get him down to 5, before losing, despite the heavy disadvantage.
Game 3: I rush him, he plays Ashiok, and I kill Ashiok in 2 turns with a Deahmist Raptor and an Emissary. Afterwards, his draws proved useless, and I landed a Whisperwood Elemental, following a Duress, to seal victory.
I took 2nd place.
Overall, I was very impressed with the decks versatility and resilience. It's very consistent and doesn't truly have a bad matchup. The one game I lost was a run of bad luck, but afterwards the deck proved that it could hang pre-sideboard with the same deck.
A few thoughts I had afterwards:
Sultai Emissary is absolutely nuts. It essentially reads "2cc 1/1 that gives you a 2/2 and draws you a card when it dies". Unbelievably awesome. He did a lot of work in every match, even though I didn't really mention him in my report. I love this card. "True love" kind of love
Elvish Mystic was placed to offset the tempo loss from our come into play tapped lands. I honestly found it unnecessary. The deck is fine playing things normally.
Wildcall was mostly filler, but for a lot of the same reason emissary was in. I found it to be absolutely awful.
Ruthless Ripper did amazing work, and it's numbers had to increase.
A split of Whisperwood and Hooded Hydra had to be made. 6 5cc cards bogged the deck down terribly, though they did amazing things when they were played.
After putting a lot of thought into it, below is the refined list I feel would do amazing:
I increased the threat count, with Pharika and Warden, and maximized utility with Minister (who is amazing vs Atarka Red).
I'm definitely impressed with how the deck has played and am excited to see how it develops. Would really appreciate you thoughts on this, as I feel it is a spicy contender for the current meta. Or really any meta, to be honest.
Though the untap ability on Basalt Monolith is not and can be copied.
Playtesting results:
This deck's performance continues to be amazing. The deck is extremely consistent, and continues to win around the 4th turn. It shows tons of resiliency through Reclaim effects, which are hilariously amusing to use with the miracle cards in the deck. Specifically Devastation Tide. Will be back with precise results and numbers in future posts.
1 Neheb, the Eternal
Creatures - 6
1 Metalworker
1 Workhorse
1 Masticore
1 Goblin Welder
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
Instants - 7
1 Pyroblast
1 Lightning Bolt
1 Fireblast
1 Final Fortune
1 Fork
1 Price of Progress
1 Red Elemental Blast
Sorceries - 13
1 Cave-In
1 Seize the Day
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Gamble
1 Last Chance
1 Ruination
1 Insurrection
1 World at War
1 Chain Lightning
1 Fireball
1 Pyroclasm
1 Flame Rift
1 Reckless Charge
1 Heart of Ramos
1 Defense Grid
1 Lotus Petal
1 Worn Powerstone
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Tangle Wire
1 Fire Diamond
1 Voltaic Key
1 Jeweled Amulet
1 Memory Jar
1 Planar Portal
1 Mind Stone
1 Mox Diamond
1 Howling Mine
1 Gauntlet of Might
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Helm of Awakening
1 Ruby Medallion
1 Scroll Rack
1 Sol Ring
1 Grim Monolith
1 Basalt Monolith
1 Skyship Weatherlight
1 Blood Moon
1 Sulfuric Vortex
1 Mana Flare
1 Aggravated Assault
1 Need for Speed
1 Pandemonium
1 Furnace of Rath
Lands - 41
1 Ancient Tomb
1 City of Traitors
1 Crystal Vein
1 Eye of Ugin
37 Mountain
I tested the above list extensively, and was quite satisfied with the results. A lot of the time you can play generic stax-like cards and sit back on your disruption until the right moment, or you can turn one Neheb into a turn 2 infinite combat steps with Aggravated Assault. I treated Neheb like a Gilded Lotus with legs a lot of the time, and was very satisfied with the results.
Thanks for reading!
Why should you play 7-Land Belcher?
1. You enjoy playing lightning fast combo decks
2. You like playing a deck that boast numerous synergies
3. You appreciate decks with a streamlined process, allowing you to focus on game state
4. You enjoy playing decks with unique strategies
Creatures – 16
4 Chancellor of the Tangle
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Wall of Roots
4 Wild Cantor
Sorceries – 16
4 Ancient Stirrings
4 Caravan Vigil
4 Lay of the Land
4 Safewright Quest
4 Goblin Charbelcher
4 Lotus Bloom
4 Pentad Prism
4 Serum Powder
Enchantments – 5
4 Utopia Sprawl
1 Fertile Ground
4 Forest
1 Grove of the Burnwillows
1 Stomping Ground
1 Temple Garden
Card Choices:
This is the beginning stages of deck creation, so I am looking for all the suggestions I can get. So far, in testing this deck has been a blast. Generally I’ve been able to get turn 4 wins, on average. I feel that, with finer tuning, this deck will be able to put out turn 2 and 3 wins pretty consistently. Thanks for reading and your help!
I’ve played numerous commanders and several different types of strategies, and I have to say that this is one of the most fun takes I’ve tried. I haven’t seen a primer or a post in a while, so I thought I would create one.
Why should you play Iname?
- You enjoy graveyard-based strategies.
- You enjoy never being mana screwed. That’s for any mono colored deck, though.
- You like using several synergies to overwhelm your opponents.
- You want to play a deck that is easily interchangeable from multiplayer to 1v1 games.
Why shouldn’t you play Iname?
- You don’t enjoy building around your commander.
- You don’t like being limited to playing one color.
- There’s a lot of graveyard hate in your local meta.
Before the first dawn of the material world there was the spirit world. Even then, all the kami existed, but in chaos - each trying to fin its place, its call. Long after most had discovered their purpose, young Iname was lost.
However, in his lowest moment he grasped a miraculous idea: he would create another kami. Perhaps his creation could tell him what his purpose should be. At once, Iname began to shape the spirit realm, giving form and substance to void. As he did, his own shape changed; his body became longand green, his hair took on the colors of Autumn, and from his back grew a canopy of leaves. His creation found life, and Iname found his purpose. Iname's child was the first flower kami.
Many ages passed and the flower kami grew older and wiser. one day, the flower asked, "What is my purpose?" Iname replied, "Your purpose is to be my child." But the flower was dissatisfied. In time she began to pull away from Iname, and Iname resisted. He felt that without his child, his purpose would be gone. Iname grew bitter and selfish, and became consumed by thoughts of abandonment.
The day came when the flower told Iname that she was leaving. Iname raged and wept, but the flower insisted. Something inside Iname broke in two. Another part of him emerged, with a long body like the rotten spine of a dragon, with terrible claws and leathery cowl. It engulfed the flower and snuffed out its life. It was the first time a kami had died. Only then did Iname realize that he was two selves, one of life and one of death, each meaningless without the other. And in the eons since, the first Iname has created life countless times, only to watch as his other self snuff it out.
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/commander-edh/multiplayer-commander-decklists/211966-edh-iname-death-aspect
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/commander-edh/forum-1-vs-1-commander-decklists/206135-army-of-darkness-the-iname-death-aspect
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/commander-edh/forum-1-vs-1-commander-decklists/204771-1v1-iname-death-aspect
2 Bloodghast
2 Dark Confidant
2 Nether Traitor
4 Balthor the Defiled
4 Horobi, Death’s Wail
4 Krovikan Horror
5 He Who Hungers
6 Kokusho, the Evening Star
9 Kuro, Pitlord
9 Spirit of the Night
Instants – 9
1 Dark Ritual
1 Demonic Consultation
1 Entomb
1 Songs of the Damned
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Vendetta
2 Cabal Ritual
2 Diabolic Edict (*)
4 Snuff Out
Sorceries – 20
1 Cabal Therapy
1 Duress
1 Innocent Blood (*)
1 Reanimate
1 Thoughtseize
2 Chainer’s Edict (*)
2 Demonic Tutor
2 Exhume
2 Hymn to Tourach
3 Buried Alive
3 Cruel Tutor
3 Victimize
3 Yawgmoth’s Will
4 Damnation
4 Diabolic Tutor
4 Unmask
5 Hellfire
5 Living Death
5 Patriarch’s Bidding
6 Twilight’s Call
0 Lion’s Eye Diamond
0 Lotus Petal
0 Mana Crypt
0 Mox Diamond
1 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
2 Defense Grid
2 Grim Monolith
2 Jet Medallion
2 Null Rod
Enchantments - 9
2 Animate Dead
2 Dance of the Dead
2 Gate to Phyrexia
3 Contamination
3 Dystopia (*)
3 Necromancy
3 Necropotence
3 Phyrexian Arena
4 Infernal Darkness
Lands – 41
0 Ancient Tomb
0 Bojuka Bog
0 Cabal Pit
0 City of Traitors
0 Crypt of Agadeem
0 Crystal Vein
0 Ebon Stronghold
0 Lake of the Dead
0 Peat Bog
0 Snow-Covered Swamp (30)
0 Strip Mine
0 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
(*) = Cards that I’ve placed for my specific local meta game.
Generally, you will want to play Contamination, Defense Grid, or Infernal Darkness to ensure that your opponent has little to say about what you are doing. Proceed to flood the board with spirits a throw in a Patriarch's Bidding.
Against Aggro:
This is generally your best match up, unless they are extremely disruptive (which, lucky for us, dilutes their game plan to an extent). These are the games where it's ok to just fill your graveyard up and Living Death it up.
Against Combo:
Utilize Duress, Thoughtseize, and Cabal Therapy to ensure your opponent stay off of their main combo pieces. Proceed to pretend that you’re playing against aggro.
Against Hate:
Several cards in the deck will help you fight hate, but the most predominate are Null Rod (good vs Tormod’s Crypt and Nihl Spellbomb} and Gate to Phyrexia. Also, if you expect hate, don’t grab every spirit in your library with Iname. Seems obvious, but it’s something that I had to fail at a couple of times to really grasp.
Plan B:
The deck doesn’t always win by playing Iname and a big recursion spell. I’ve won several just by playing the deck as a mono black reanimator variant. It’s quite effective when it needs to be. There are several soft locks (Contamination + Bloodghast) to give you the time you need.
Thanks for reading!
-Ryan
You're absolutely right. I'll pick up a copy and start testing. Just need to find what would be best to cut for it. At this point I'm leaning towards Complicate.
Honestly, almost every game, I win off of a swarm of creatures with a Narset emblem. Once this deck starts rolling, there is little other decks can do to stop it. Every once in a while, I'll win off of Narset being pumped up with Elspeth, Knight-Errant. Of Course I also have the games where everyone just scoops up the cards because I removed their board positions and flooded the board with card advantage. PW ultimates are generally easy to achieve because of all of the extra turn effects, so I always feel comfortable investing in that route as a win con. I have not attempted to use Cerebral Vortex, but it may need to come in for testing. Please keep in mind that my build is a different control strategy than the ones in all the top 8 lists, so vortex may not be worth a slot but I don't see that being the case. I see it being worth a good testing and making its way in the final 99.
Arcane Denial has been a rockstar in every deck I've ran it in. Just a solid, non-mana intensive counterspell that allowed me to smooth out my "counter curve."
Oblation is more for when I play in multiplayer pods. It allows me to focus more on the threats targeting me, post resolution, so I'm not wasting counterspells on threats that aren't directly affecting me. Plus, it's always a great utility card, as you never really care about them drawing cards.
Orim's Chant is against many styles of decks, such as opposing control/combo and aggressive strategies. It can act as a Time Walk or a way for me to resolve an important spell with Narset. Great value for 1-2 mana.
Stifle is in here for general utility, but it shines in a format running rampant with fetch lands. Allows you to keep the control player off of their mana enough to stall them out into a win.
Mind's Desire was my added flavor to the mix. Often times it just acts as a 2nd Narset trigger, allowing me to play several more cards for free. It's worked well, so far, in testing.
45 lands does seem like a bit of a stretch, but I've found that when I lose, it's always because either 1) they one shot "combo'd" me, or 2) I missed 1-2 land drops. 45 has been working well for me, but I tend to not really worry if Narset's ability wiffs, as then she is just smoothing out my natural draws. I don't play her to do incredibly broken things, minus Time Stretch, I more play her for pure card advantage and filtering. This approach has worked well with me, so far.
I started playing Ugin and Karn, but found them sitting in my hand way too many times. The other planeswalkers benefit from medallions and signets, so dropping them early has never been an issue, but the big colorless ones felt underwhelming or unnecessary when I did play them. It may just be more of a playstyle preference.
Spell Pierce and Spell Snare often finds themselves in the list, from time to time. I'm still working out which counterspells are best suited for this build. They may make their way back into the 99, in the end.
I will definitely add a changelog!
Happy brewing!
The below list is what we came to:
MainDeck 60cards
Creatures
4 Deathmist Raptor
4 Den Protector
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Grim Haruspex
4 Merciless Executioner
4 Sultai Emissary
3 Hooded Hydra
3 Ruthless Ripper
3 Whisperwood Elemental
4 Collected Company
Sorceries
1 Wildcall
Lands
6 Forest
4 Jungle Hollow
4 Llanowar Wastes
4 Swamp
4 Temple of Malady
4 Duress
2 Ainok Survivalist
2 Drown in Sorrow
2 Foul Tongue Invocation
2 Hornet's Nest
1 Bile Blight
1 Hero's Downfall
1 Ultimate Price
So the idea behind the deck was to generate immense card advantage by using manifest and morph to swing the control matches way in our favor. The deck was designed to be very resilient vs mass removal, spot removal, and counterspell.
Cards, like Sultai Emissary, gives the deck an edge against aggressive aggro strategies, and Ruthless Ripper gains a lot of early tempo for the deck to stabilize.
After a few hours of brewing, we sleeved it up for its first test run at a store vs store event. Here are the results:
4 Rounds, Swiss
Match 1 - Atarka Red ( 0-1)
Game 1: Game was pretty fast, due to double Goblin Rabblemaster. I couldn't stabilize quick enough.
Game 2: Much like Game 1, double Rabblemaster. I had a Bile Blight in my opening hand, but just couldn't get my second black source of mana. If I had I easily had control of the game, as he overextended.
Match 2 - Atarka Red (1-1)
Game 1: I start off with a Ruthless Ripper, which keeps his Zurgo from attacking, buying me a few turns to stabilize. I overwhelmed him with Deathmist Raptors and Den Protectors. He was never able to maintain a board presence.
Game 2: I board in 2 Drown in Sorrow, 1 Bile Blight, 2 Duress, and 2 Hornet's Nest. I side out 3 Ruthless Ripper, 1 Mystic, 1 Wildcall, and 2 Whisperwood Elemental. He overextends into a Drown in Sorrow, and I flood the board with raptors and Den Protectors.
Match 3 - Esper Dragons (2-1)
Game 1: I come out the gate with triple Raptor, due to a third turn Collected Company. He couldn't keep up, and I easily stole the game.
Game 2: He locks me out with Perilous Vault and Ugin. I couldn't keep up at this point.
Game 3: He mulligans to 3, to my relief. I chain Duresses with Den protectors to seal the deal.
Match 4 - Esper Dragons (3-1)
Game 1: I rush him with raptors and Sultai Emissary. He kills both Emissary and Raptor, and I morph over a Hooded Hydra for 2 mana. He couldn't keep pace, afterwards.
Game 2: He uses Ashiok to steal a Whisperwood Elemental. I follow with my own, and he ends up milling me with Ashiok. Game took forever. I at least managed to get him down to 5, before losing, despite the heavy disadvantage.
Game 3: I rush him, he plays Ashiok, and I kill Ashiok in 2 turns with a Deahmist Raptor and an Emissary. Afterwards, his draws proved useless, and I landed a Whisperwood Elemental, following a Duress, to seal victory.
I took 2nd place.
Overall, I was very impressed with the decks versatility and resilience. It's very consistent and doesn't truly have a bad matchup. The one game I lost was a run of bad luck, but afterwards the deck proved that it could hang pre-sideboard with the same deck.
A few thoughts I had afterwards:
Sultai Emissary is absolutely nuts. It essentially reads "2cc 1/1 that gives you a 2/2 and draws you a card when it dies". Unbelievably awesome. He did a lot of work in every match, even though I didn't really mention him in my report. I love this card. "True love" kind of love
Elvish Mystic was placed to offset the tempo loss from our come into play tapped lands. I honestly found it unnecessary. The deck is fine playing things normally.
Wildcall was mostly filler, but for a lot of the same reason emissary was in. I found it to be absolutely awful.
Ruthless Ripper did amazing work, and it's numbers had to increase.
A split of Whisperwood and Hooded Hydra had to be made. 6 5cc cards bogged the deck down terribly, though they did amazing things when they were played.
After putting a lot of thought into it, below is the refined list I feel would do amazing:
MainDeck 60cards
Creatures
4 Deathmist Raptor
4 Den Protector
4 Grim Haruspex
4 Merciless Executioner
4 Ruthless Ripper
4 Sultai Emissary
4 Warden of the First Tree
2 Hooded Hydra
2 Whisperwood Elemental
1 Minister of Pain
1 Pharika, God of Affliction
4 Collected Company
Lands
6 Forest
4 Jungle Hollow
4 Llanowar Wastes
4 Swamp
4 Temple of Malady
4 Duress
2 Ainok Survivalist
2 Drown in Sorrow
2 Foul Tongue Invocation
2 Hornet's Nest
1 Bile Blight
1 Highland Game
1 Ultimate Price
I increased the threat count, with Pharika and Warden, and maximized utility with Minister (who is amazing vs Atarka Red).
I'm definitely impressed with how the deck has played and am excited to see how it develops. Would really appreciate you thoughts on this, as I feel it is a spicy contender for the current meta. Or really any meta, to be honest.
Thanks for reading!