This is great and fun to watch, but it wasnt hitting grinding station all the times it would have been helpful. Feeling like its trying to do too much; as if it has sideboard cards in the main deck.
The Squadron Hawk effect has always been a strong card advantage effect. There are three cards with that effect now. The prison shell slows down play and gives the deck a chance to unload those drawn Hawks.
It would be interesting to use in Scapeshift decks. This set feels like an overflow set for what they couldn't stuff into Modern Horizons to some degree.
What Im looking to do with this version of the Loam deck is really exploit the 1cmc Cycle Lands for draw and the disruption lands, primarily, Ghost Quarter and to a lesser extent Blast Zone combined with Surgical Extraction to play as unfairly as possible. The idea being to slow play down in the same manner that Control does. Grind, grind, grind. If someone gets hit with Surgical Extraction once, its pretty bad for them. Twice, via Regrowth, can be crippling. Regrowth is a VERY direct path to reuse cards. It being reprinted into Modern is fertile ground for exploitation. Dreadhorde Arcanist would be something of a Snapcaster Mage for this deck.
The reprinted cheap Cycle lands + Life from the loam is a very good draw engine once online. The draw trigger from cycling is the perfect for dredge on Life from the loam for grinding out great card advantage.
Main deck Surgical Extraction is always pretty ruthless. If Wrenn and Six goes ultimate, you can hit them several extra times. A couple Noxious Revival, or now Regrowth, would be worth running for that type of interaction by its self.
Any combination of Waste Not's or Liliana's Caress's and a hand dumping effect creates an untenable inevitability.
The purpose here is to cycle your, and mostly importantly thier, hand as many times as possible. After the first dump there will likely be no untapped lands, then the double Black mana from Waste Not fuels additional dumps using Dark Deal and Simian Spirit Guide provides free mana and Chromatic Star fixes mana.
Liliana's Caress hitting for 14 is a powerhouse; one or two hand dumps is lethal is nearly all contexts. Waste Not can produce far more zombies than usual given that even if the opponent runs few creatures, those same few creatures are returned to thier decks from the yard.
The deck can start going off without Echo of Eons being in the yard by using Dark Deal directly from the hand if no discard outlet could pitch Echo of eons.
"Faithless Eons" is going to be a deck. I don't know if it will be the same deck that focuses on Phoenix, but this helps negate the drawback of Faithless Looting while also providing a way to reshuffle them into the deck to draw again.
"Echo Looting" or "Looting Echo" sounds better than "Faithless Eons"
Do you have a deck list for Paradoxical Urza?
Rampage of the Clans
(Instant speed GG)
In the game play video, too often he was stuck with a bunch of tapped artifacts and if there was no grinding station they were effectively useless.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgpxjgiurEA
4 Riddlesmith
1 Sai, Master Thopterist
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Urza, Lord High Artificer
1 Saheeli, Sublime Artificer
Spells
4 Echo of Eons
Artifacts
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Engineered Explosives
4 Everflowing Chalice
4 Mishra's Bauble
4 Mox Opal
2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Grinding Station
1 Mirrodin Besieged
Lands
1 Cavern of Souls
4 Darksteel Citadel
1 Fiery Islet
1 Geier Reach Sanitarium
1 Gemstone Caverns
2 Shivan Reef
3 Snow-Covered Island
4 Spire of Industry
2 Tormod's Crypt
1 Welding Jar
1 Abrade
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Arc Trail
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Negate
1 Ray of Revelation
1 Whipflare
1 Ghirapur Aether Grid
1 Narset, Parter of Veils
2 Teferi, Time Raveler
1 Karn, Scion of Urza
This is great and fun to watch, but it wasnt hitting grinding station all the times it would have been helpful. Feeling like its trying to do too much; as if it has sideboard cards in the main deck.
Would this not be more consistent?
4 Riddlesmith
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Urza, Lord High Artificer
Spells
4 Echo of Eons
Artifacts
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Engineered Explosives
4 Everflowing Chalice
4 Mishra's Bauble
4 Mox Opal
1 Welding Jar
3 Grinding Station
3 Mirrodin Besieged
Lands
4 Darksteel Citadel
4 Glimmervoid
4 Gemstone Caverns
3 Snow-Covered Island
3 Spire of Industry
Mirrodin Besieged on Mirran performs the same basic function as Sai, Master Thopterist or Saheeli, Sublime Artificer and its also the wincon. Those can be sideboarded if they are needed for a specific match up, but cutting red is a big plus...
4 Squadron Hawk
4 Legion Conquistador
4 Battalion Foot Soldier
Prison
4 Ghostly Prison
4 Blood Moon
4 Leyline of Sanctity
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Oblivion Ring
4 Surgical Extraction
Cheat
4 Aether Vial
14 Plains
6 Mountains
The Squadron Hawk effect has always been a strong card advantage effect. There are three cards with that effect now. The prison shell slows down play and gives the deck a chance to unload those drawn Hawks.
Trying to fit Runed Halo in, to pair with Surgical Extraction, for more complete field of play coverage...
VERY much so.
What Im looking to do with this version of the Loam deck is really exploit the 1cmc Cycle Lands for draw and the disruption lands, primarily, Ghost Quarter and to a lesser extent Blast Zone combined with Surgical Extraction to play as unfairly as possible. The idea being to slow play down in the same manner that Control does. Grind, grind, grind. If someone gets hit with Surgical Extraction once, its pretty bad for them. Twice, via Regrowth, can be crippling. Regrowth is a VERY direct path to reuse cards. It being reprinted into Modern is fertile ground for exploitation. Dreadhorde Arcanist would be something of a Snapcaster Mage for this deck.
Likely Better:
4 Wrenn and Six
4 Life from the Loam
Draw
4 Faithless Looting
3 Regrowth
Disruption
4 Assassin's Trophy
4 Raven's Crime
4 Surgical Extraction
3 Zombie Infestation
2 Molten Vortex
Soft Locks
4 Ghost Quarter
2 Blast Zone
Mana Package
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Overgrown Tomb
2 Stomping Ground
4 Tranquil Thicket
2 Barren Moor
4 Wrenn and Six
4 Life from the Loam
Draw
4 Faithless Looting
4 Dark Confidant
Disruption
4 Assassin's Trophy
4 Raven's Crime
4 Surgical Extraction
4 Ayula's Influence
Soft Locks
3 Blast Zone
3 Ghost Quarter
Mana Package
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Overgrown Tomb
2 Stomping Ground
4 Tranquil Thicket
2 Barren Moor
The reprinted cheap Cycle lands + Life from the loam is a very good draw engine once online. The draw trigger from cycling is the perfect for dredge on Life from the loam for grinding out great card advantage.
Ghost Quarter and Blast Zone apply a steady and repeatable board pressure. Against many decks Ghost Quarter quickly becomes a Strip mine.
Main deck Surgical Extraction is always pretty ruthless. If Wrenn and Six goes ultimate, you can hit them several extra times. A couple Noxious Revival, or now Regrowth, would be worth running for that type of interaction by its self.
Surgical Extraction --> Noxious Revival + Tranquil Thicket --> Surgical Extraction
Good bye threats or wincons!
4 Echo of Eons
4 Glimpse the unthinkable
4 Waste not
4 Faithless Looting
4 Raven's Crime
4 Dark Deal
4 Liliana's Caress
4 Gurmag Angler
Comboing Mana-fixing
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Chromatic Star
Any combination of Waste Not's or Liliana's Caress's and a hand dumping effect creates an untenable inevitability.
The purpose here is to cycle your, and mostly importantly thier, hand as many times as possible. After the first dump there will likely be no untapped lands, then the double Black mana from Waste Not fuels additional dumps using Dark Deal and Simian Spirit Guide provides free mana and Chromatic Star fixes mana.
Liliana's Caress hitting for 14 is a powerhouse; one or two hand dumps is lethal is nearly all contexts. Waste Not can produce far more zombies than usual given that even if the opponent runs few creatures, those same few creatures are returned to thier decks from the yard.
The deck can start going off without Echo of Eons being in the yard by using Dark Deal directly from the hand if no discard outlet could pitch Echo of eons.
Work in Progress
3 Runeflare Trap
4 creeping chill
4 Alms of the Vein
2 Zombie Infestation
4 Hollow One
3 collective brutality
4 Golgari Thug
2 Necrogen Spellbomb
2 Dream Salvage
2 Call to the Netherworld
2 Vengeful Pharaoh
"Echo Looting" or "Looting Echo" sounds better than "Faithless Eons"
Teferi, Time Raveler?