You don't need to go with on thin ice and snow lands though. While 2 mana is a lot more than 1 mana, you can play something like Temporal Isolation to remove a blocker. Has flash so it can stop tricks like ravager on an inkmoth or other such shanahans.
The reason I recommend On Thin Ice is because space is super tight and with just one copy you have five virtual copies with Open the Armory. Even paying 1WW to exile a creature isn't bad. Chained to the Rocks can also work if you run enough Mountains and fetches. Either way, you'd need a completely different manabase.
If someone does go on the fetchland plan then a copy or 2 of Dryad Arbor could raise your % a little here and there. I can see them swing out and you have to throw up blocks. Eot fetch then equip on your turn and crackback for 11.
That's definitely another upside to running a mana base with fetches. So on the one hand, you can have 5 removal spells (1x On Thin Ice and 4x Open the Armory) and a ton of virtual copies of Dryad Arbor. On the other hand, you're might be giving up the Horizon Lands, which have really helped with the consistency, and you may have a little more trouble finding the right colors. I think it will take a lot of testing to get the correct balance.
Along with Thud, the 2 mana options should also be explored. Fling is an instant. While the black on gives you life back. Either could be more critical than the 1 mana discount.
They're all worth considering. What's the black one?
Last point... the SB could lose a copy or 2 of the black leyline. You can be every bit as fast as Hoogak and other degenerate combos. Maybe put in some IoK, Collective Brutality, or something could help out with percentages of other matches? I like CB here as it can kill a blocker and duress them at the cost of a redundant combo piece.
One of the key questions with a deck like this is how fast you want it to be. Right now, it's built for speed, because it struggles with most forms of interaction and I think you really want turn 2 and turn 3 kills more than anything else (It's what you're best at), but I could be wrong, and slowing down a turn to interact a bit might be worthwhile. Again, needs more testing.
Edit: I just found out about bridge getting banned. So Hogaak will lose a lot of its threat density, but the point still stands that on your best you can turn 2 someone. Which is just as fast as Gristlebrand reanimator and the like. So still can cut a copy or 2 of leyline as you still threaten to kill just as fast as the other graveyard decks.
I still think we should be trying to maintain our speed so free spells are excellent. Maybe Gut Shot to remove small blockers?
Brineborn Cutthroat is next on my to-test list! However, it's just a beater and doesn't play as well with Ephemerate, nor does it have evasion, nor is it great at ambushing attackers, so I'm skeptical of it making the cut.
Opt over Serum Visions is totally your call. I originally ran a split, but found myself wanting the extra digging power more, especially in the early game. It helps you bypass extra copies of Vendilion Clique, make your land drops, keep your card draw engine going, keep at least one permission spell in hand at all times, dig for a needed Path to Exile, etc. Usually when I flashback a spell with Snapcaster Mage, it's a Path, Force, or Charm, and if I do need to flashback a Visions, doing it on my own turn hasn't been a big deal.
Still, it's totally fine to run Opt if you feel more comfortable with it. You might need to include an extra land though.
I just had another thought. Having all that weapon search is good, but maybe put in a living weapon or 2 to search in case you are missing a creature to equip hammer to. I'm thinking 1 Mortorpod, 1 Flayer Husk, and 1 Batterskull. 1 is cheap, 1 gives reach or removes small blockers, and the last is for the late game,
I've toyed with the idea of a Flayer Husk or Mortorpod myself. It's an interesting problem. You lose consistency in one area and gain it in another. So far having a creature on board has been the easiest condition to meet, but a single Flayer Husk could help fight through creature removal. I'll test it out.
Batterskull I've already tried. It's alright as a Plan B, but you're probably dead by then. I can't think of many matchups you can expect to win with just a Batterskull, and it's a dead draw when you're trying to kill them early. Every card counts, which is why you have Faerie Seer and the Canopy Lands despite already taking so much damage from your own mana, and also why you have Noble Hierarch (it does a few necessary things at once because space is tight).
If anyone decides to go with a Fetchland-based manabase, you can include a snow basic and a copy of On Thin Ice that you can fetch with Open the Armory to remove a blocker.
Your mana base looks painful as all get-out with its 8 shocklands and 8 fetchlands. The only deck where I play that many shocklands is UGrx Scapeshift (because it needs the Mountains). I'd replace 2 Breeding Pool with 2 Botanical Sanctum and 2 Hallowed Fountain with 2 Seachrome Coast. It's OK to have more fetchlands than fetchable lands.
Fair enough. I haven't yet optimized the mana base for minimal damage, but will do so. Thanks.
Wow, I must have read the card over 10 times and was only seeing what I THOUGHT it said! Thanks for pointing that out! At least all of those snow lands will be painless!
I like it. Seems to be missing something. I like a few more artifacts and Puresteel Paladin to allow for more equipping of the hammer, but if this works as is then I'm all in.
I feel the same way. I couldn't find any other artifacts that are better than just running more ways to find Hammer. I'm keeping my eyes open for when they print something else though.
I tried Puresteel. The problem with it is getting the metalcraft ability active. An extra card is nice, but you could also play Thraben Inspector for that. If you want another body that can cheat the equip cost, I much prefer Kazuul's Toll Collector, which is a fine option if you want another body or two and a few more ways to cheat Hammer.
Two other creature options are Giver of Runes and Judge's Familiar if you feel you need more protection. Also, you can run Inkmoth Nexus in a creature slot if you want something a bit slower and more durable that evades and gets a 1HKO with Hammer.
I tried Restoration Angel and Frilled Mystic. You don't really need Resto's body and you tend to have more options than the mana to cast all of them, so 4cc is a lot. Same reason why there's no Cryptic Command, and also Frilled Mystic, which is even more strict on the mana.
Nimble Obstructionist is fine, but I prefer the 4th Vendilion Clique because it's busted against control and combo if you Ephemerate it, you can pitch extras to Force of Negation or use them as surprise blockers, or bypass drawing them with Serum Visions.
I'm still not really sold on Ephemerate as "rebound" doesn't really work that well with the blink effect since it takes a creature off the board for 2 turns which is quite a luxury unless you're far ahead already and don't really need it in combat.
Ephemerate can help in combat though, since you can save a blocker before damage is assigned while reaping extra benefits. You can also Ephemerate a Snapcaster Mage to flashback a Path to Exile or Archmage's Charm (steal a 1-drop creature). Also, if you just can't beat them in combat with what you have, sometimes it's worth it to use Ephemerate to dig. Post-board, it helps you find Settle the Wreckage or a Snapcaster to flash it back.
Try testing it a few times on Cockatrice and you'll see how often you have more counterspells than you know what to do with. The Xerox properties of the deck are very good at making sure you have enough. In fact, with 4x Remand, 4x Pact of Negation, 4x Archmage's Charm, 4x Spell Queller, and 4x Snapcaster Mage, you effectively have 20 permission spells before you even factor in all the card draw.
I'll also note that I originally had Spell Pierce and Spell Snare, but found that they were dead too often past the first few turns. I tried Force of Negation and Archmage's Charm instead and haven't looked back. Pact is much better at protecting you at all times and you always have an extra card to pitch. Charm is just an incredibly strong and versatile spell that is excellent with Snapcaster if the game goes long since you can use it to refill your hand.
I've always prefered Resto to Cloudshift (Essence Flux/Momentary Blink) type effects as it has a reasonable body and isn't a dead card on an empty board and also isn't blown out by a well timed removal spell.
Restoration Angel is great. It's just that 4 is a lot in a deck that draws as many cards as this one and Snapcaster or counterspell + 1cc spell are already your "big plays."
Also, the thing with Ephemerate that makes it stand out is the fact that it only costs W and you get two uses out of it. In fact, I designed this entire deck around abusing Ephemerate, with a basic goal of lots of cheap ETB creatures with flash. The 1-mana cost and double blink really put it in a class of its own, and the deck wouldn't be nearly as powerful with any of the other options.
The sideboard isn't something I've put much thought into, but Leyline of Sanctity is to help against burn and discard strategies.
You could also use Absorb or something. Any suggestions?
Like many of my builds, this one showcases the power of a particular card. Here, that card is Leyline of Abundance.
The goal is a turn-2 planeswalker or mana disruption, followed by more of the same every single turn. You either overwhelm them with multiple early planeswalkers, lock them out of mana, or slow them down enough for your planeswalkers to take over.
Most of the planeswalkers can disrupt mana. Ajani can lock down a land each turn and Armageddon. Wrenn and Six can Ghost Quarter every turn and eventually cast a bunch of Stone Rains. Nahiri can exile mana artifacts and summon Emrakul to crush all of their lands, plus she digs for other mana disruption. Karn can grab Liquimetal Coating to lock down a land and then destroy one each turn, or Mycosynth Lattice to remove their ability to play spells altogether.
Post-board, Ghostly Prisons combined with all of this mana disruption can prevent the opponent's creatures from attacking at all.
Besides being excellent chumps to protect your planeswalkers, your mana creatures can also grow huge with Leyline of Abundance. Once you have 4 land and 2 mana creatures, you can play Leyline and another card in the same turn, or just start pumping your creatures. Leyline isn't really a dead card later on as it gives you something to use your mana for once your planeswalkers are deployed and gives you another path to victory.
Like many of my builds, this one showcases the power of a particular card. Here, that card is Colossus Hammer.
This deck is all about killing them ASAP with Colossus Hammer to "be sure they're really dead." It sounds gimmicky, and is probably a card or two short of being truly competitive, but it goldfishes an impressive number of turn 2 kills, a huge number of turn 3 kills, and at the latest kills by turn 4, outside of truly bad draws. It very rarely fizzles or needs to mulligan while goldfishing. Fewer than 5% of test games were lost due to luck alone.
With all of that said, it's fragile to disruption, but can be a fun way to take them out turn 2 or 3 before they figure out what you're doing.
Finally, a playtip. Remember you can use Sigarda's Aid or Magnetic Theft to equip Colossus Hammer at instant speed AFTER you've flown past their blockers. Also remember that, barring this trick, Hammer causes a creature to lose flying.
Like many of my builds, this one showcases the power of a particular card. Here, that card is Ephemerate.
With the release of Ephemerate, Ice-Fang Coatl, Force of Negation, and Archmage's Charm, Bant Draw-Go and Tempo strategies have been supercharged. Your permission wall can be up starting on turn 1 and stay up indefinitely with the strong card draw, and all of your creatures have flash.
Cards like Ephemerate, Archmage's Charm, Snapcaster Mage, and Serum Visions give you an abundance of options each turn. Force of Negation is easy to pitch because most cards are blue and your card draw is fantastic.
Ephemerate gets busted easily, as you can flash in a creature EOT to block, blink it, and get two ETB effects out of it. Similarly, you can blink in response to removal and get two ETBs. This is basically a 3-for-1 for W at instant speed, or one of the closest things we have to Ancestral Recall in the format.
The fact that it gives you great options pushes it over the edge. Ice-Fang Coatl gives you extra cards, Vendilion Clique totally shreds the opponent's hand, Spell Queller can counter a critical spell, and Snapcaster Mage can do almost anything two more times, such as refilling your hand with used Archmage's Charms.
EDIT: Updated the sideboard to include Collector Ouphe and Kitchen Finks instead of Stony Silence and Leyline of Sanctity.
Like many of my builds, this one showcases the power of a particular card. Here, that card is Crashing Footfalls.
The problem with Living End as a deck is it's hit by all the graveyard hate people are packing for decks like Dredge, the Hogaak Dredgevine deck, Phoenix decks, and a slew of others. The solution is to have a way to transform into something that does not use the graveyard and still has a ton of power. The card that allows that is Crashing Footfalls, giving you two 4/4 rhinos for only 3 mana, while also giving you something respectable to do on turn 1.
This build has a land destruction component to give you free wins against decks that would normally give you trouble, especially game 1. This includes other graveyard decks, control, and superfriends. Keeping them off a color and killing them quickly can win you games you otherwise couldn't.
After game 1, they will hopefully side in a bunch of graveyard hate to discover that you don't use the graveyard anymore, and will hilariously lose in short order to stampeding rhinos with a bunch of dead cards.
As a side note, the mana base is affordable, and isn't weak to fetchland hate, which is on the rise. The entire deck can be built on a budget and I recommend it for anyone who is just getting into Modern.
The reason I recommend On Thin Ice is because space is super tight and with just one copy you have five virtual copies with Open the Armory. Even paying 1WW to exile a creature isn't bad. Chained to the Rocks can also work if you run enough Mountains and fetches. Either way, you'd need a completely different manabase.
That's definitely another upside to running a mana base with fetches. So on the one hand, you can have 5 removal spells (1x On Thin Ice and 4x Open the Armory) and a ton of virtual copies of Dryad Arbor. On the other hand, you're might be giving up the Horizon Lands, which have really helped with the consistency, and you may have a little more trouble finding the right colors. I think it will take a lot of testing to get the correct balance.
They're all worth considering. What's the black one?
One of the key questions with a deck like this is how fast you want it to be. Right now, it's built for speed, because it struggles with most forms of interaction and I think you really want turn 2 and turn 3 kills more than anything else (It's what you're best at), but I could be wrong, and slowing down a turn to interact a bit might be worthwhile. Again, needs more testing.
I still think we should be trying to maintain our speed so free spells are excellent. Maybe Gut Shot to remove small blockers?
Brineborn Cutthroat is next on my to-test list! However, it's just a beater and doesn't play as well with Ephemerate, nor does it have evasion, nor is it great at ambushing attackers, so I'm skeptical of it making the cut.
Opt over Serum Visions is totally your call. I originally ran a split, but found myself wanting the extra digging power more, especially in the early game. It helps you bypass extra copies of Vendilion Clique, make your land drops, keep your card draw engine going, keep at least one permission spell in hand at all times, dig for a needed Path to Exile, etc. Usually when I flashback a spell with Snapcaster Mage, it's a Path, Force, or Charm, and if I do need to flashback a Visions, doing it on my own turn hasn't been a big deal.
Still, it's totally fine to run Opt if you feel more comfortable with it. You might need to include an extra land though.
I love the idea of Thud! The only question is how to fit it in.
I've toyed with the idea of a Flayer Husk or Mortorpod myself. It's an interesting problem. You lose consistency in one area and gain it in another. So far having a creature on board has been the easiest condition to meet, but a single Flayer Husk could help fight through creature removal. I'll test it out.
Batterskull I've already tried. It's alright as a Plan B, but you're probably dead by then. I can't think of many matchups you can expect to win with just a Batterskull, and it's a dead draw when you're trying to kill them early. Every card counts, which is why you have Faerie Seer and the Canopy Lands despite already taking so much damage from your own mana, and also why you have Noble Hierarch (it does a few necessary things at once because space is tight).
If anyone decides to go with a Fetchland-based manabase, you can include a snow basic and a copy of On Thin Ice that you can fetch with Open the Armory to remove a blocker.
Wow, I must have read the card over 10 times and was only seeing what I THOUGHT it said! Thanks for pointing that out! At least all of those snow lands will be painless!
I feel the same way. I couldn't find any other artifacts that are better than just running more ways to find Hammer. I'm keeping my eyes open for when they print something else though.
I tried Puresteel. The problem with it is getting the metalcraft ability active. An extra card is nice, but you could also play Thraben Inspector for that. If you want another body that can cheat the equip cost, I much prefer Kazuul's Toll Collector, which is a fine option if you want another body or two and a few more ways to cheat Hammer.
Two other creature options are Giver of Runes and Judge's Familiar if you feel you need more protection. Also, you can run Inkmoth Nexus in a creature slot if you want something a bit slower and more durable that evades and gets a 1HKO with Hammer.
I tried Restoration Angel and Frilled Mystic. You don't really need Resto's body and you tend to have more options than the mana to cast all of them, so 4cc is a lot. Same reason why there's no Cryptic Command, and also Frilled Mystic, which is even more strict on the mana.
Nimble Obstructionist is fine, but I prefer the 4th Vendilion Clique because it's busted against control and combo if you Ephemerate it, you can pitch extras to Force of Negation or use them as surprise blockers, or bypass drawing them with Serum Visions.
Ephemerate can help in combat though, since you can save a blocker before damage is assigned while reaping extra benefits. You can also Ephemerate a Snapcaster Mage to flashback a Path to Exile or Archmage's Charm (steal a 1-drop creature). Also, if you just can't beat them in combat with what you have, sometimes it's worth it to use Ephemerate to dig. Post-board, it helps you find Settle the Wreckage or a Snapcaster to flash it back.
Try testing it a few times on Cockatrice and you'll see how often you have more counterspells than you know what to do with. The Xerox properties of the deck are very good at making sure you have enough. In fact, with 4x Remand, 4x Pact of Negation, 4x Archmage's Charm, 4x Spell Queller, and 4x Snapcaster Mage, you effectively have 20 permission spells before you even factor in all the card draw.
I'll also note that I originally had Spell Pierce and Spell Snare, but found that they were dead too often past the first few turns. I tried Force of Negation and Archmage's Charm instead and haven't looked back. Pact is much better at protecting you at all times and you always have an extra card to pitch. Charm is just an incredibly strong and versatile spell that is excellent with Snapcaster if the game goes long since you can use it to refill your hand.
Restoration Angel is great. It's just that 4 is a lot in a deck that draws as many cards as this one and Snapcaster or counterspell + 1cc spell are already your "big plays."
Also, the thing with Ephemerate that makes it stand out is the fact that it only costs W and you get two uses out of it. In fact, I designed this entire deck around abusing Ephemerate, with a basic goal of lots of cheap ETB creatures with flash. The 1-mana cost and double blink really put it in a class of its own, and the deck wouldn't be nearly as powerful with any of the other options.
The sideboard isn't something I've put much thought into, but Leyline of Sanctity is to help against burn and discard strategies.
You could also use Absorb or something. Any suggestions?
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Stomping Ground
2 Horizon Canopy
1 Temple Garden
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Sunbaked Canyon
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Forest
1 Plains
1 Ghost Quarter
4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Noble Hierarch
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
PLANESWALKERS: (16)
4 Wrenn and Six
3 Karn, the Great Creator
3 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
3 Ajani Vengeant
3 Nahiri, the Harbinger
ENCHANTMENTS: (7)
4 Leyline of Abundance
3 Blood Moon
4 Stone Rain
4 Ghostly Prison
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Pithing Needle
1 Liquimetal Coating
1 Damping Sphere
1 Ratchet Bomb
1 Spellskite
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Batterskull
1 Mycosynth Lattice
1 Wurmcoil Engine
Like many of my builds, this one showcases the power of a particular card. Here, that card is Leyline of Abundance.
The goal is a turn-2 planeswalker or mana disruption, followed by more of the same every single turn. You either overwhelm them with multiple early planeswalkers, lock them out of mana, or slow them down enough for your planeswalkers to take over.
Most of the planeswalkers can disrupt mana. Ajani can lock down a land each turn and Armageddon. Wrenn and Six can Ghost Quarter every turn and eventually cast a bunch of Stone Rains. Nahiri can exile mana artifacts and summon Emrakul to crush all of their lands, plus she digs for other mana disruption. Karn can grab Liquimetal Coating to lock down a land and then destroy one each turn, or Mycosynth Lattice to remove their ability to play spells altogether.
Post-board, Ghostly Prisons combined with all of this mana disruption can prevent the opponent's creatures from attacking at all.
Besides being excellent chumps to protect your planeswalkers, your mana creatures can also grow huge with Leyline of Abundance. Once you have 4 land and 2 mana creatures, you can play Leyline and another card in the same turn, or just start pumping your creatures. Leyline isn't really a dead card later on as it gives you something to use your mana for once your planeswalkers are deployed and gives you another path to victory.
4 Faerie Seer
4 Glistener Elf
4 Kor Duelist
4 Kor Outfitter
4 Noble Hierarch
LANDS: (20)
4 City of Brass
4 Gemstone Mine
4 Horizon Canopy
4 Mana Confluence
4 Sunbaked Canyon
4 Open the Armory
4 Steelshaper's Gift
INSTANTS: (4)
4 Magnetic Theft
ENCHANTMENTS: (4)
4 Sigarda's Aid
ARTIFACTS: (4)
4 Colossus Hammer
3 Noxious Revival
4 Apostle's Blessing
4 Leyline of Sanctity
4 Leyline of the Void
Like many of my builds, this one showcases the power of a particular card. Here, that card is Colossus Hammer.
This deck is all about killing them ASAP with Colossus Hammer to "be sure they're really dead." It sounds gimmicky, and is probably a card or two short of being truly competitive, but it goldfishes an impressive number of turn 2 kills, a huge number of turn 3 kills, and at the latest kills by turn 4, outside of truly bad draws. It very rarely fizzles or needs to mulligan while goldfishing. Fewer than 5% of test games were lost due to luck alone.
With all of that said, it's fragile to disruption, but can be a fun way to take them out turn 2 or 3 before they figure out what you're doing.
Finally, a playtip. Remember you can use Sigarda's Aid or Magnetic Theft to equip Colossus Hammer at instant speed AFTER you've flown past their blockers. Also remember that, barring this trick, Hammer causes a creature to lose flying.
4x Hallowed Fountain
4x Breeding Pool
4x Flooded Strand
4x Misty Rainforest
2x Celestial Colonnade
2x Snow-Covered Island
INSTANTS: (20)
4x Path to Exile
4x Ephemerate
4x Remand
4x Force of Negation
4x Archmage's Charm
4x Snapcaster Mage
4x Ice-Fang Coatl
4x Vendilion Clique
4x Spell Queller
SORCERIES: (4)
4x Serum Visions
4 Rest in Peace
4 Collector Ouphe
4 Kitchen Finks
3 Settle the Wreckage
Like many of my builds, this one showcases the power of a particular card. Here, that card is Ephemerate.
With the release of Ephemerate, Ice-Fang Coatl, Force of Negation, and Archmage's Charm, Bant Draw-Go and Tempo strategies have been supercharged. Your permission wall can be up starting on turn 1 and stay up indefinitely with the strong card draw, and all of your creatures have flash.
Cards like Ephemerate, Archmage's Charm, Snapcaster Mage, and Serum Visions give you an abundance of options each turn. Force of Negation is easy to pitch because most cards are blue and your card draw is fantastic.
Ephemerate gets busted easily, as you can flash in a creature EOT to block, blink it, and get two ETB effects out of it. Similarly, you can blink in response to removal and get two ETBs. This is basically a 3-for-1 for W at instant speed, or one of the closest things we have to Ancestral Recall in the format.
The fact that it gives you great options pushes it over the edge. Ice-Fang Coatl gives you extra cards, Vendilion Clique totally shreds the opponent's hand, Spell Queller can counter a critical spell, and Snapcaster Mage can do almost anything two more times, such as refilling your hand with used Archmage's Charms.
EDIT: Updated the sideboard to include Collector Ouphe and Kitchen Finks instead of Stony Silence and Leyline of Sanctity.
4 Llanowar Wastes
4 Karplusan Forest
4 Sulfurous Springs
4 Graven Cairns
3 Forest
1 Stomping Ground
CREATURES (25):
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Fulminator Mage
4 Street Wraith
4 Horror of the Broken Lands
4 Monstrous Carabid
4 Desert Cerodon
1 Faerie Macabre
4 Beast Within
4 Violent Outburst
SORCERIES (7):
4 Demonic Dread
3 Living End
4 Crashing Footfalls
3 Faerie Macabre
2 Brindle Boar
2 Anger of the Gods
2 Ricochet Trap
2 Ingot Chewer
Like many of my builds, this one showcases the power of a particular card. Here, that card is Crashing Footfalls.
The problem with Living End as a deck is it's hit by all the graveyard hate people are packing for decks like Dredge, the Hogaak Dredgevine deck, Phoenix decks, and a slew of others. The solution is to have a way to transform into something that does not use the graveyard and still has a ton of power. The card that allows that is Crashing Footfalls, giving you two 4/4 rhinos for only 3 mana, while also giving you something respectable to do on turn 1.
This build has a land destruction component to give you free wins against decks that would normally give you trouble, especially game 1. This includes other graveyard decks, control, and superfriends. Keeping them off a color and killing them quickly can win you games you otherwise couldn't.
After game 1, they will hopefully side in a bunch of graveyard hate to discover that you don't use the graveyard anymore, and will hilariously lose in short order to stampeding rhinos with a bunch of dead cards.
As a side note, the mana base is affordable, and isn't weak to fetchland hate, which is on the rise. The entire deck can be built on a budget and I recommend it for anyone who is just getting into Modern.