I like it, the only problem is that once you get the Crusher out you don't get to draw lands again until you drop a Reforge the Soul. I guess you could add Life From the Loam and go G/R, but that's Travis Woo's Assault Loam, and I'm definitely not improving on that in this thread.
Under $20 to build this main deck. Probably not your best staying power deck, but I think it's a blast to use. If you're interested in variations, I made a thread for it: Budget Seismic Crusher
So I recently decided that I want to make a fun, All-In-Red deck based on Countryside Crusher. I've had him in my collection for a while, but I was always running something like this:
I asked myself "How could I make this at least MODERATELY competitive while still having a budget deck?" I don't plan to win any PTQs with this plan, but it could be fun to play once in a while. So I set to making a deck. Here is what I considered for choices:
BOMBS:
Countryside Crusher - Obvious. He is the reason for this deck. If you keep the land count high, he digs pretty effectively to your other cards (answers, threats, etc.)
Seismic Assault - This guy was thrown around in the old Assault-Loam decks, which were fairly popular at one time. If you're going to be running a pile of lands in mono-red, might be good to have around.
OVER THE TOP:
Soul's Fire - I figure this is a good way to translate his power directly into damage, since he doesn't regularly gain trample.
Rouse the Mob - This could be good as a way to smash through when direct damage isn't an option. You can also use it on multiple Crushers if you have 4, 7, or 10 mana available.
DRAW:
Reforge the Soul - My favorite way to gas up. As long as you have Crusher out, this will usually be played for its miracle cost, since you don't draw as part of his upkeep effect. Also, if you have lands in your hand, they pump Crusher when dumped to the graveyard. It can also help
Dangerous Wager - I liked it at first, but I think Reforge is superior.
Faithless Looting - Flashback is nice, dumping lands is nice, but if you actually need to dig for something, it won't get you there.
Desperate Ravings - I like it more than looting, but you can't flash it back without splashing blue, and you could actually lose a useful card.
ACCELERATION:
Desperate Ritual - If you think that the chances of having this and a Crusher within your first nine cards is possible, and you aren't worried about diluting your land count, could speed things up a bit.
I started thinking about sideboarding, and other non-budget considerations, though I'm not sure how that will effect the price (even a $30 sideboard squeaks us in around $50]. Obviously you could throw in Scalding Tarn and Arid Mesa, which would help pump the Crusher if you wait until turn 4 to play him, thus getting him out of Lightning Bolt range, but I don't think they're necessary, hence the Budget tag.
The sideboard consideration I have aren't exactly budget, if anyone has any budget suggestions for similar effects, I'd love to hear them. This is what I considered:
SIDEBOARD:
Blood Moon - Few decks can withstand the wrath of this card, some will scoop to it altogether.
Fulminator Mage - Great for destroying non-basics and blocking.
Molten Rain - Effective destruction of land as well as damage.
Sowing Salt - My favorite, this could be just excellent against Tron, or Amulet combo, as well as a number of other decks.
Spellskite - Great against Twin, Scapeshift, just a good card to have.
Torpor Orb - With Pod banned, this might not be as incredible a hoser, but it still shuts down Snapcaster Mage and the currently popular Siege Rhino and that's enough for me.
Shattering Spree - My favorite since is can take out an Amulet of Vigor or multiples for little mana. If can also destroy a lot of Affinity cards, even if you have four or five mana, it can be crippling. Kills Spellskite to clear the way for your Soul's Fire as well.
Dragon's Claw - I think this could really help in the race against Burn, which I imagine will be a virtually un-win-able matchup game one.
Ensnaring Bridge - Maybe, but if you're hitting your Reforges, I think it won't do much.
Leyline of Punishment - Could be good if you expect Soul Sisters, or Rhinos. Maybe someone brings Melira back without Pod.
Aura Barbs - Only thing I can think of specifically for Bogle decks.
Lavaball Trap - Could be useful if Amulet takes off. Not sure if it'll stop Scapeshift resolution, someone will have to clear that up for me. But sometimes they'll play three lands anyway, and it'll work then.
Mindbreak Trap - Possible if Storm comes back, but if Finkel gave up on it, it's probably dead.
Ricochet Trap - Best solution I can think of to counter magic besides:
Defense Grid - Might be a better idea than Ricochet Trap, wider applications.
Eidolon of the Great Revel - This could be useful against some matchups, but almost all of your cards will hurt you. Not sure about suicide red.
Rouse the Mob - I already mentioned this above, but I'd rather have it in the sideboard because I don't want to dilulte my land count too much. I'd rather swap a couple in for Soul's Fire if my opponent saw it game 1 and I suspect a Leyline of Sanctity might be coming in against me.
So, with all of that said, the version I'm looking forward to playing (though I haven't actually priced it out with my sideboard) is:
HOW TO PLAY
I think that the strategy for this deck is just to Mulligan aggressively for Crusher or Assault and hope for the best. Reforge could help you dig, but six mountains and a reforge means you're hoping for a Crusher by turn six, and that's definitely too slow. I imagine you want to just land the Crusher, make him big, smash, burn, win. Assault is more of a side-effect or backup plan. In other words: All-In-Red
Unfortunately, I haven't tried it on MTGO or taken it to an FNM yet, so I don't have any actual matchup data. I have the physical deck, though, and I'm thinking about making it online and taking it around the block. If anyone has any suggestions, likes the deck, alternate card, budget sideboard options, I'd love to hear them. I might make this my Modern deck for sheer WOW potential.
2 Seismic Assault
2 Souls Fire
2 Reforge the Soul
50 Mountains
Under $20 to build this main deck. Probably not your best staying power deck, but I think it's a blast to use. If you're interested in variations, I made a thread for it: Budget Seismic Crusher
4 Soul's Fire
52 Mountain
I asked myself "How could I make this at least MODERATELY competitive while still having a budget deck?" I don't plan to win any PTQs with this plan, but it could be fun to play once in a while. So I set to making a deck. Here is what I considered for choices:
BOMBS:
Countryside Crusher - Obvious. He is the reason for this deck. If you keep the land count high, he digs pretty effectively to your other cards (answers, threats, etc.)
Seismic Assault - This guy was thrown around in the old Assault-Loam decks, which were fairly popular at one time. If you're going to be running a pile of lands in mono-red, might be good to have around.
OVER THE TOP:
Soul's Fire - I figure this is a good way to translate his power directly into damage, since he doesn't regularly gain trample.
Rouse the Mob - This could be good as a way to smash through when direct damage isn't an option. You can also use it on multiple Crushers if you have 4, 7, or 10 mana available.
DRAW:
Reforge the Soul - My favorite way to gas up. As long as you have Crusher out, this will usually be played for its miracle cost, since you don't draw as part of his upkeep effect. Also, if you have lands in your hand, they pump Crusher when dumped to the graveyard. It can also help
Dangerous Wager - I liked it at first, but I think Reforge is superior.
Faithless Looting - Flashback is nice, dumping lands is nice, but if you actually need to dig for something, it won't get you there.
Desperate Ravings - I like it more than looting, but you can't flash it back without splashing blue, and you could actually lose a useful card.
ACCELERATION:
Desperate Ritual - If you think that the chances of having this and a Crusher within your first nine cards is possible, and you aren't worried about diluting your land count, could speed things up a bit.
Pyretic Ritual - Probably worse than Desperate.
LANDS:
Kher Keep - Why not? Cheap blockers when there's pressure.
Smoldering Spires - If you have one in hand, you can help the crusher get through.
Mountain - MMMMM. DELICIOUS RED MANA!
So my main deck ended up looking like this:
2 Seismic Assault
2 Soul's Fire
2 Reforge the Soul
4 Kher Keep
2 Smoldering Spires
44 Mountain
This deck comes to about $20 online.
I started thinking about sideboarding, and other non-budget considerations, though I'm not sure how that will effect the price (even a $30 sideboard squeaks us in around $50]. Obviously you could throw in Scalding Tarn and Arid Mesa, which would help pump the Crusher if you wait until turn 4 to play him, thus getting him out of Lightning Bolt range, but I don't think they're necessary, hence the Budget tag.
The sideboard consideration I have aren't exactly budget, if anyone has any budget suggestions for similar effects, I'd love to hear them. This is what I considered:
SIDEBOARD:
Blood Moon - Few decks can withstand the wrath of this card, some will scoop to it altogether.
Fulminator Mage - Great for destroying non-basics and blocking.
Molten Rain - Effective destruction of land as well as damage.
Sowing Salt - My favorite, this could be just excellent against Tron, or Amulet combo, as well as a number of other decks.
Spellskite - Great against Twin, Scapeshift, just a good card to have.
Torpor Orb - With Pod banned, this might not be as incredible a hoser, but it still shuts down Snapcaster Mage and the currently popular Siege Rhino and that's enough for me.
Shatterstorm - Great against affinity.
Smash to Smithereens - Could be good if you want the damage.
Shattering Spree - My favorite since is can take out an Amulet of Vigor or multiples for little mana. If can also destroy a lot of Affinity cards, even if you have four or five mana, it can be crippling. Kills Spellskite to clear the way for your Soul's Fire as well.
Dragon's Claw - I think this could really help in the race against Burn, which I imagine will be a virtually un-win-able matchup game one.
Ensnaring Bridge - Maybe, but if you're hitting your Reforges, I think it won't do much.
Anger of the Gods - Best red sweeper right now.
Combust - Usually kills Tarmogoyf, Batterskull, and Siege Rhino. Kills an infect creature who hasn't been pumped sometimes.
Dismember - Probably better than Combust.
Leyline of Punishment - Could be good if you expect Soul Sisters, or Rhinos. Maybe someone brings Melira back without Pod.
Aura Barbs - Only thing I can think of specifically for Bogle decks.
Lavaball Trap - Could be useful if Amulet takes off. Not sure if it'll stop Scapeshift resolution, someone will have to clear that up for me. But sometimes they'll play three lands anyway, and it'll work then.
Mindbreak Trap - Possible if Storm comes back, but if Finkel gave up on it, it's probably dead.
Ricochet Trap - Best solution I can think of to counter magic besides:
Defense Grid - Might be a better idea than Ricochet Trap, wider applications.
Eidolon of the Great Revel - This could be useful against some matchups, but almost all of your cards will hurt you. Not sure about suicide red.
Rouse the Mob - I already mentioned this above, but I'd rather have it in the sideboard because I don't want to dilulte my land count too much. I'd rather swap a couple in for Soul's Fire if my opponent saw it game 1 and I suspect a Leyline of Sanctity might be coming in against me.
So, with all of that said, the version I'm looking forward to playing (though I haven't actually priced it out with my sideboard) is:
4 Countryside Crusher
Spells
2 Seismic Assault
2 Soul's Fire
2 Reforge the Soul
4 Kher Keep
2 Smoldering Spires
44 Mountain
2x Rouse the Mob
1x Defense Grid
1x Dragon's Claw
1x Spellskite
1x Torpor Orb
1x Dismember
1x Anger of the Gods
1x Aura Barbs
1x Blood Moon
1x Combust
1x Leyline of Punishment
1x Ricochet Trap
1x Shattering Spree
1x Sowing Salt
HOW TO PLAY
I think that the strategy for this deck is just to Mulligan aggressively for Crusher or Assault and hope for the best. Reforge could help you dig, but six mountains and a reforge means you're hoping for a Crusher by turn six, and that's definitely too slow. I imagine you want to just land the Crusher, make him big, smash, burn, win. Assault is more of a side-effect or backup plan. In other words: All-In-Red
Unfortunately, I haven't tried it on MTGO or taken it to an FNM yet, so I don't have any actual matchup data. I have the physical deck, though, and I'm thinking about making it online and taking it around the block. If anyone has any suggestions, likes the deck, alternate card, budget sideboard options, I'd love to hear them. I might make this my Modern deck for sheer WOW potential.
Thanks for reading!