I was always dissapointed by my pot-made ramen, so I tried cooking them in a frying pan one day. Haven't looked back since. Heat the water with seasoning as you normally would (no lid needed), and add the noodles when water boils. Just let most of the water evaporate while stirring the noodles. I like to whisk in an egg too.
It's rather difficult to get creative with a creature as a build-around-card...but I tried to do the best I can with it. I was originally playing around with Power/Toughness switchers in Red and Blue (ala Twisted Image, Mannichi, the Fevered Dream), but that left poor Uncle Istvan even more vulnerable to noncreature damage removal. So Doran it is. The deck's style is Pseudo-Defensive Aggro based around creatures that have more toughness than power. Turn 3 Doran into Turn 4 Uncle is no joke - a 3/3 pseudo-invincibile is much more scarier than a 1/3.
- Deathrite Shaman - Nice T1 drop with 2 toughness. The very definition of the defensive-aggro style. Remember that it targets any graveyard. Allows for occasional T2 Doran with Fetchlands.
- Birds of Paradise - Mana smoother/accelerant for T2 Doran, also can hit for 1 with it.
- Spellskite - Protection against removal. Fetch it with Congregation at Dawn. There are no blue mana sources except Birds and Deathrite Shaman, but you can activate this without mana anyway.
- Skinshifter - Super-versatile card that works even without Doran, but gets insane with it. Basically an 8/8 for 2-mana with Doran.
- Ohran Viper - Card advantage + pseudo-deathtouch makes for great defense and offense.
- Doran, the Siege Tower - The centerpiece that makes every creature in the deck better.
- Uncle Istvan - As with the other creatures, use it as defense or offense as you need it.
- Congregation at Dawn - Obviously for fetching the right combination of creatures (please don't use it if you don't have the mana to play those creatures...and it's not a good idea to depend on Birds/Deathrite Shaman to provide mana for 3 turns!). Also note that it is UP to 3 creatures.
- Vindicate, Maelstrom Pulse - Your removal, use conservatively.
- Profane Command - Versatile card that allows for final damage, removal, a way to salvage your creatures, or a way to get your creatures through.
- Ajani Goldmane - Mostly here for the Vigilance ability.
- Gideon Jura, Vraska the Unseen - The creatures in here make great defenders for Planeswalkers, so use them well.
- Murmuring Bosk - Please remember that this is a Forest, so you can use the Fetchlands to get it.
This is an optional sideboard. Use it only if you really feel like it. The deck doesn't really depend on these cards, but I like to showcase the full possibilities.
- Selesnya Charm - Is for decks that have creatures that are more powerful than yours, aka Power-5 and greater. Also as a method of providing trample if needed against chump blockers.
- Abrupt Decay - Is for control decks that run annoying cards like Propaganda/Ghostly Prison with countermagic backup.
- Consuming Vapors - Comes in against decks with creatures that have bigger toughness (although this will be rare...)
- Tree of Redemption - Is for against Burn decks.
- Ensnaring Bridge - For decks that swarm and attack faster than this deck.
- Avatar of Hope - Last resort against faster aggro decks.
So while the Judges are doing their work, I wanted to share some of mine with you in the meantime. As I was very eager to see what you can do with Conjured Currency I was having a closer look at the other decks and scribbled down some notes about them. This is by no means an official score and not ment to influence judges on their ratings.
dlink:
no enchantment kill in your sb
I considered Primeval Light, but cut it for other answers. I think permanent bounce (Cyclonic Rift) was sufficient, and Anarchy took care of the usually more problematic White enchantments.
According to Oracle text Propaganda = Ghostly Prison and thus doesn't work for all:(
antisynergy propaganda / manaflare + LD anti synergy.
Not sure what the first point of Propaganda and Ghostly Prison is trying to say... and while it's true that Mana Flare + Propaganda + LD don't work perfectly in sync, it's not as if they go completely contrary to each other. If I make it so that they still have to pay 1-mana to attack, so be it. And besides this is not a dedicated land destruction deck. This deck uses LD as a tempo advantage - not as a game winning strategy.
sheltered valley = not that great
I needed some lifegain card to offset the Land's Edge backlash. Sheltered Valley isn't great, but it's not bad either considering that the deck can work on a low-land count. The card of choice should have been Zuran Orb to go with Tolaria West - an unfortunate oversight on my part.
too expenisve things for a jokulhaps deck. banefire for finisher wtf?
wishboard contains too expensive stuff. Would have preffered more chepaer answers.
Banefire is a sideboard finisher, and considering the deck runs off Mana Flare, it's not a terrible idea. And I don't know where this "expensive" argument is coming from. The overall CMC of the deck is not high, not to mention your own deck runs almost the same number of high CMC cards.
And half of the wishboard is less than 4-CMC, with most of the removal answers at 2CMC. I don't know how that's considered expensive.
Currency too expensive for the deck. Also not very effective. 6 mana = play jokulhaups. siwtch back too string, grip of chaos hindering, but only one-off.
Grip of Chaos is not a card you want to run in multiples anyway. Not to mention I had a definite way of tutoring for it so this argument is pointless.
I don't know what you mean by the switch back was too strong, and Currency is effective enough as a post-Jokulhaups staller (steal 1st land or 1st threat), and also as a way to steal the opponent's best card off a Mana Flare.
Oppoinents will just keep the currency. its a may ability.
So what if they keep it?
too top heavy for my taste.
Your own deck is just as heavy.
lands edge only good with LotL.
That's why it's in the deck with so many tutors for it.
finsihing takes forever.
With LotL Land's Edge deals 6-damage per turn. Not exactly forever.
Irrelevant what enchantment they steal? --> well then they will grab your lands.
The point here is that my win condition doesn't get screwed over by the backlash on Conjured Currency. It's not as if they're stealing my threats by stealing lands.
With only 12 creatures I can't see Wicked Reward working out very well for you. You're better off with a free spell like Rouse or Mutagenic Growth. Also consider Tezzeret's Gambit in the Night's Whisper slot for Proliferating the poison counters, maybe splitting them 2/2.
A Hatred suicide deck should only focus on getting through to the opponent to evasion is key - Inkmoth Nexus should definitely be in here. Whispering Specter may be worthwhile too.
The deck is a Red-Blue + Green Splash Combo Control deck. The main concept is simple: Use Jokulhaups to blow up everything except for your Enchantments such as Conjured Currency. From there you slow down your opponent from recovering by stealing their first land or first big threat with Conjured Currency. Therefore we have a deck where Currency is preferred over similar cards like Confiscate and Puca's Mischief. The overarching theme of the deck is stealing irrelevancy - meaning it doesn't affect the game at all if you happen to steal my enchantments with Currency. Cards like Mana Flare and Land's Edge affect both players equally, no matter which side of the field they are on. The win-condition of the deck is Land's Edge backed up by Life from the Loam, or Banefire/Eternal Dominion off the Burning Wish sideboard.
1. Conjured Currency Tricks - This is preferably played prior to blowing up the field with Jokulhaups, but it's okay to play it after as well (only realistically feasible with Mana Flare on the field). Its purpose in the deck is to slow down the opponent's recovery by stealing their first land or first threat while you easily recover via Life from the Loam. Alongside Land's Edge this forms a double threat - will your opponent play lands to advance his board position? Will he discard lands instead to use Land's Edge? Both choices are unfavorable.
I put in a lot of subtle tricks in here specifically to work for this card, for example all of the Enchantments except Propaganda work from both sides of the field. So your opponent can steal Land's Edge and it doesn't matter at all. You don't have any creatures yourself so Propaganda is technically a worthless steal too unless the opponent is going to alpha strike.
Another cool trick is with the Fetchlands. Here is a scenario where you have Conjured Currency on the field, and you blow up everything with Jokulhaups. Your opponent plays his first post-apocalyptic land, and you steal it with Currency. Then you play a Fetchland. Your opponent will steal it with the Currency if the fetchland can help him - and sacrifice it getting a new land! This land is stealable with Currency! Alternatively, you can blow up all the nonbasic lands stolen from you with your own Wasteland while stealing all of your opponents lands with Currency.
2. Intuition Tricks: This card is absolutely crucial to forming the combo or getting pinch removal. Obviously you can get 3 copies of anything to guarantee a card to your hand. Besides that, here's a list of quick combos:
- Life from the Loam + 2 Wasteland (against nonbasic heavy decks)
- Life from the Loam + Lonely Sandbar + Forgotten Cave (Recurring draw engine)
- Triple Aether Burst to bounce 3 creatures at once.
- If you have only 2 copies of a card remaining in your deck and you need it, then fetch: 2 copies of that card + Burning Wish, which allows you to use Regrowth or Creeping Rennaisance off the sideboard to 100% guarantee that card.
3. Life from the Loam Tricks: This is another extremely crucial card to the survival of this deck. It allows for a smooth post-Jokulhaups recovery, forms a constant draw engine with the Cycling lands, destroys nonbasic lands by recurring Wasteland, and gives you 3 lands to discard per turn to Land's Edge.
Against nonbasic heavy decks, if you can find Life from the Loam early by drawing it or tutoring it via Burning Wish, don't hesitate to Wasteland them aggressively. Without Life from the Loam, don't use Wasteland early unless it's absolutely necessary. Never mana-screw yourself.
5. Misc.: Note that Land's Edge is a World Enchantment, so it behaves similarly to a Legendary card. A World Enchantment destroys all other "World-type" permanents when it enters the battlefield.
Mana Flare is another crucial card for the deck as it allows for a very fast Jokulhaups and Conjured Currency. More importantly, it allows the opponents to lay down their threats much more quickly, thus forming a "bait and switch" scenario with Jokulhaups or Currency. Card advantage garlore or steal their biggest threat.
Grip of Chaos is a fun inclusion that your opponent can steal with Currency and have no downsides do you. This card works in your favor as you'll have multiple permanents post-Jokulhaups, while your opponent will only have 1. So when your opponent tries to steal something with Currency he will be at a disadvantage. This is more of a fun casual inclusion that happens to work in this strategy, but don't try to tutor for it aggressively. If you have it you can play it.
I did put in a lot of cards that specifically dodge Grip of Chaos though - for example Cyclonic Rift only affects your opponents permanents (and Overload makes Grip irrelvant anyway) so the Grip can't make you target one of your own permanents. Additionally cards that have multiple targets (Aether Burst, Life from the Loam are also unaffected by the Grip). Land's Edge can be tricky with this card so you should play it with caution as it can backfire. It's interesting to note that it will make your opponent's Land's Edge activations a 50/50 chance as well, so that can work in your favor too. (I did include Sheltered Valley and Primal Command just in case...)
-Banefire - Win condition if you can pull it off via Mana Flare.
-Regrowth - Combos with Intuition as explained above, or use it in a pinch to get back whatever.
-Mizzium Mortars + Arc Trail + Slagstorm - Cheap removal (all three avoid Grip of Chaos)
-Windfall - Card draw. Sometimes you will play out your hand very fast off Mana Flare. Goes well with all of the bounce in here.
-Pillage - This supplements the land-destruction theme and also can get rid of a problematic artifact.
-Anarchy - For those White Enchantment decks...anti Leyline of Sanctity + Oblivion Ring.
-Bribery - For against those big creature decks or Eldrazi combo decks. Note that your opponent can't steal this creature back with Conjured Currency.
-Primal Command - Removal + Lifegain + Anti-Graveyard (multiple targets also dodge Grip of Chaos)
-Creeping Rennaisance - Anti mass-enchantment removal, or a way of getting back all of your lands at once.
-Amnesia - Another way of getting rid of all of your opponents threats post-bounce. A great follow-up to Cyclonic Rift.
-Eternal Dominion - You know you always wanted to play with this card. This is a solid win-condition since Land's Edge is unaffected by Epic, and your opponent can't try to steal it with Conjured Currency since the cards are owned by the opponent. Play it early off Mana Flare!
Well thank you if you read all of that. I think the deck is rather unique and immensely fun to play with. I hope you'll find it fun to play with as well!
This plan is too idealistic. You cannot rely on a flimsy combo like Lantern of Insight + Cathartic Adept and Screeching Sliver. They are 1/1's, and if they are destroyed, then you have to wait another turn before they can be effective. This kind of strategy requires an all-encompassing control - total lockdown type to be effective.
Right now all you have are 1-for-1 type cards: Counterspells, Needle, etc. You have no card advantage besides Scrying Sheets, and you're going to fall behind dramatically. The deck simply isn't viable in your primarily aggro-based meta since your creatures cannot win combat and your other cards are 1-for-1's.
So you'll need cards that can deal with multiple threats, like Propaganda for example. With Propaganda you can go after a land-denial strategy to prevent combat by milling only lands from your opponent's library. You don't necessarily have to mill every threat.
I don't see why you need 3 maindeck Pithing Needle either. Cut to 1 or 2, and I suggest Basilisk Collar to at least make your creatures a minor threat for combat.
For card advantage Predict and Foreshadow aren't bad, and they help with the milling theme as well.
Overall I think the deck needs a dramatic overhaul. I just don't see Oona being a decent finisher with only 22 lands and the deck lacks a method of stabilization.
You should consider Spawning Pool as a way to increase the black creature count and as minor early defense. I don't think the deck will suffer too much even if the land comes into play tapped.
The Red splash is really questionable...without Graven Cairns I feel like it would mess up the consistency quite a bit. Depending on the fragile Iron Myr for Red mana doesn't seem like a good plan. Also because of Damnation...
All Red does at this moment is give you Galvanic Blast and Assault Strobe. Strobe is a dead card with only 10 creatures and wouldn't you rather have more Fear/Unblockability effect in this scenario anyway? Galvanic Blast is okay, but it doesn't make a breaking case for including Red...
Also with Dark Ritual, what does this card really do for this deck besides the rare Vault-Ritual-Lich? Not too many Turn 1 3-mana plays here. I think you're better off with another dependable mana-stone like Talisman of Indulgence.
For other suggestions, Augur Spree is not a bad card that combos with the Lich (and Juggernaut at 5+) as an instant-speed combat trick or removal.
Trading Post is a jack-of-all-trades, master of none type of card. I've tinkered around with a lot of unique builds but it's really not feasible to make a 100% original yet powerful deck with this card. So let's just go with ~75% originality with a card that makes Trading Post so, so unfair: Rings of Brighthearth. Let's make one thing clear - this is not a Rings of Brighthearth deck. There are lots of activated abilities to abuse, but most of the cards either benefit or benefit from Trading Post.
1. The main strategy is simple. Trading Post combined with Rings of Brighthearth means you can pay:
- 3 and discard 1 card for 8-life.
- 3 and 1 life for for 2 goat tokens.
- 3 and 1 creature to get back 2 artifacts.
- 3 and 1 artifact to draw 2 cards.
This is of course cumulative with each copy of Rings of Brighthearth. You're essentially getting a 2-for-1 deal every time. This is a combo deck that stops aggro with 8-life per turn and laughs at control by getting back destroyed/countered artifacts.
2. As combo decks are typically weak against control decks, I centered the deck around an uncounterable land-based strategy backed up by Expedition Map. You can continue to recycle Expedition Maps using Trading Post as well. Almost all of the lands have activated abilities to abuse with Rings of Brighthearth:
- Hellion Crucible - This normally requires 3 activations, but with Rings you can put both counters on at the same time, and then copy the 2nd ability as well, putting out two 4/4 hasted tokens in only 2 turns.
- Dust Bowl - Punish those nonbasic decks by destroying 2 lands at once with Rings. You have a continous supply of lands if you sacrifice Great Furnace and get it back via Trading Post. Alternatively you keep using Expedition Map off Trading Post.
- Maze of Ith - Copying this ability with Rings is crucial! Holds off 2 attackers at once.
Walking Atlas is in here to help accelerate the deck with all of its lands. It also works great as a surprise instant play to drop Maze of Ith. Normally you won't have much use for the Atlas after Turns 3~4 so you can safely sacrifice it to a Block or to Trading Post. This has been errata'd to be an Artifact Creature so you can use it for 2 ways on Trading Post.
3. The Win-Conditions:
- Suspend Greater Gargadon asap, and remember that it also has an activated ability. So you can use the Rings to take off 2 counters at once! Trading Post continously supplies sac-fodder for it.
- Hoarding Dragon + Monkey Cage - The dragon is used to find combo pieces, but it also allows for a win-condition in Monkey Cage. One plausible scenario would be with Greater Gargadon suspended, cast Hoarding Dragon, find Monkey Cage. Next turn, sacrifice the Dragon to the Gargadon, cast Monkey Cage, and do whatever to make the Gargadon come into play. Voila, ten 2/2 tokens and a hasted 9/7.
- Monkey Cage also plays very well with Trading Post, even if your opponent tries to minimize the Monkey token output. You'll almost always get at least 1~2 tokens off the Cage, and you can then sacrifice that token to Trading Post to get back Cage to recast it again.
- Pyrite Spellbomb - is great for early removal/draw, but it becomes really scary when combined with Rings of Brighthearth. 4-damage per activation + reusuable with Trading Post.
4. Misc.:
- Prototype Portal allows you to spam artifacts like crazy, especially with Rings. Remember you can imprint Great Furnace if you're desperate for mana, and if you want to imprint something else, sacrifice it to Trading Post and get it back.
- Ensnaring Bridge plays very well with Greater Gargadon - so sacrifice the artifact to Gargadon right before it comes into play.
- Ratchet Bomb is a reusable method of destroying problematic permanents. Use the Rings to get double the counters. On the rare occasion that you get this out with Prototype Portal, you can safely sweep your own stuff to since tokens have a CMC of 0.
I designed the deck much more liberally than I normally would since the scores didn't count I'm sorry if that led to any...displeasures.
It's a type of deck I would create for my personal pleasure only. As such it's also a tester's nightmare I feared as much as in my OP. Sorry for testing the waters like that. You'll see more removal next time.
I run multiples of Privileged Position because when you have two out they protect each other. If I just play one, my other cards can't be targeted but if I play two then nothing can be targeted. I see what you're saying about dropping it to two but then a board wipe leaves me with none remaining. I'll consider that because the card total is a tad higher than I'd like.[/c]
But Privileged Position doesn't protect you from a board wipe, only targeting spells. Another reason why you don't need privileged position is because it is a win-more card in this deck. After you resolve Defense of the Heart the deck should be an auto-win for you. There's no need for additional cards. Also your creature choices for Defense of the Heart are not as good as they can be. Why do you need Spawnsire of Ulamog in the maindeck with an Eldrazi Sideboard when you can just use Emrakul, the Aeons torn in the maindeck? There is no need to have an Eldrazi army on the sidelines when you can just put in in your maindeck fine.
I don't understand what you mean about Defense of the Heart though. All I need is my opponents to have 3 or more creatures. That happens a lot in our games, especially when someone runs an elf deck. Are you saying I would be killing their creatures to fast?
I suppose this is a meta/playgroup issue. Not everybody plays creature decks. You have Royal Assassin and Vampire Nighthawk - I assumed you would be using them to get rid of their good creatures, so sometimes you would fall below the 3-required.
You're using White just for Idyllic Tutor - this is complicating your manabase unnecessarily. If you're going to play with no banned cards why not just use Vampiric Tutor or Demonic Tutor?
Drop Privileged Position to 1 copy, 2 at most. This is redundant in multiples, especially when you have a tutor.
Also you're never going to meet the requirements for Defense of the Heart with all of your creatures. You're going to have to use something like Mercy Killing to forcefully give your opponents creatures, or Hunted Troll.
i dont like something but i don't know how to point my finger to it, so i'll just give the scenario you need to eliminate.
the primal surge is amazing but if you use the ring to get primal surge, you risk flipping the primal surge that is still in your deck. I have no suggestions for what to change, because im tired, but i thought i'd give you my 2 cents on a worst case scenario that you may have missed/already know about... that should be addressed for consistency's sake.
I've already identified this in the first post...it's why I have 2 Eternal Witness in addition to 3 Rings. The idea is that I will flip into one of these before I run into the 2nd copy of Primal Surge. Will the combo fizzle out sometimes? Of course - but I feel that it is small enough to be passable at the moment.
Alternatively there is Planar Portal which can be used to search out the remaining copy of Primal Surge. But it is 1-turn slower than the Ring because it is 6-mana to play and activate. If the deck takes on a more control-stall route or has too many inconsisencies after playing a while, Planar Portal may be the way to go.
Pawn of Ulamog is somewhat similar. Though making it provide black mana rather than colorless allows for more combo potential.
You should change that to Well of Lost Dreams, which I assume you meant over the similarly named Well of Knowledge.
3 Windswept Heath
3 Verdant Catacombs
4 Bayou
3 Savannah
1 Scrubland
2 Murmuring Bosk
1 Shizo, Death's Storehouse
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Yavimaya Hollow
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Vault of the Archangel
1 Miren, the Moaning Well
2 Forbidding Watchtower
2 Congregation at Dawn
2 Vindicate
2 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Profane Command
Creatures 24
3 Deathrite Shaman
4 Birds of Paradise
2 Spellskite
4 Skinshifter
4 Ohran Viper
4 Doran, the Siege Tower
3 Uncle Istvan
Planeswalkers 4
2 Ajani Goldmane
1 Gideon Jura
1 Vraska the Unseen
4 Selesnya Charm
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Consuming Vapors
2 Tree of Redemption
1 Avatar of Hope
4 Ensnaring Bridge
- Birds of Paradise - Mana smoother/accelerant for T2 Doran, also can hit for 1 with it.
- Spellskite - Protection against removal. Fetch it with Congregation at Dawn. There are no blue mana sources except Birds and Deathrite Shaman, but you can activate this without mana anyway.
- Skinshifter - Super-versatile card that works even without Doran, but gets insane with it. Basically an 8/8 for 2-mana with Doran.
- Ohran Viper - Card advantage + pseudo-deathtouch makes for great defense and offense.
- Doran, the Siege Tower - The centerpiece that makes every creature in the deck better.
- Uncle Istvan - As with the other creatures, use it as defense or offense as you need it.
- Congregation at Dawn - Obviously for fetching the right combination of creatures (please don't use it if you don't have the mana to play those creatures...and it's not a good idea to depend on Birds/Deathrite Shaman to provide mana for 3 turns!). Also note that it is UP to 3 creatures.
- Vindicate, Maelstrom Pulse - Your removal, use conservatively.
- Profane Command - Versatile card that allows for final damage, removal, a way to salvage your creatures, or a way to get your creatures through.
- Ajani Goldmane - Mostly here for the Vigilance ability.
- Gideon Jura, Vraska the Unseen - The creatures in here make great defenders for Planeswalkers, so use them well.
- Murmuring Bosk - Please remember that this is a Forest, so you can use the Fetchlands to get it.
- Selesnya Charm - Is for decks that have creatures that are more powerful than yours, aka Power-5 and greater. Also as a method of providing trample if needed against chump blockers.
- Abrupt Decay - Is for control decks that run annoying cards like Propaganda/Ghostly Prison with countermagic backup.
- Consuming Vapors - Comes in against decks with creatures that have bigger toughness (although this will be rare...)
- Tree of Redemption - Is for against Burn decks.
- Ensnaring Bridge - For decks that swarm and attack faster than this deck.
- Avatar of Hope - Last resort against faster aggro decks.
I considered Primeval Light, but cut it for other answers. I think permanent bounce (Cyclonic Rift) was sufficient, and Anarchy took care of the usually more problematic White enchantments.
Not sure what the first point of Propaganda and Ghostly Prison is trying to say... and while it's true that Mana Flare + Propaganda + LD don't work perfectly in sync, it's not as if they go completely contrary to each other. If I make it so that they still have to pay 1-mana to attack, so be it. And besides this is not a dedicated land destruction deck. This deck uses LD as a tempo advantage - not as a game winning strategy.
I needed some lifegain card to offset the Land's Edge backlash. Sheltered Valley isn't great, but it's not bad either considering that the deck can work on a low-land count. The card of choice should have been Zuran Orb to go with Tolaria West - an unfortunate oversight on my part.
Banefire is a sideboard finisher, and considering the deck runs off Mana Flare, it's not a terrible idea. And I don't know where this "expensive" argument is coming from. The overall CMC of the deck is not high, not to mention your own deck runs almost the same number of high CMC cards.
And half of the wishboard is less than 4-CMC, with most of the removal answers at 2CMC. I don't know how that's considered expensive.
Grip of Chaos is not a card you want to run in multiples anyway. Not to mention I had a definite way of tutoring for it so this argument is pointless.
I don't know what you mean by the switch back was too strong, and Currency is effective enough as a post-Jokulhaups staller (steal 1st land or 1st threat), and also as a way to steal the opponent's best card off a Mana Flare.
So what if they keep it?
Your own deck is just as heavy.
That's why it's in the deck with so many tutors for it.
With LotL Land's Edge deals 6-damage per turn. Not exactly forever.
The point here is that my win condition doesn't get screwed over by the backlash on Conjured Currency. It's not as if they're stealing my threats by stealing lands.
A Hatred suicide deck should only focus on getting through to the opponent to evasion is key - Inkmoth Nexus should definitely be in here. Whispering Specter may be worthwhile too.
2 Scalding Tarn
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Wooded Foothills
4 Volcanic Island
2 Tropical Island
2 Taiga
4 Wasteland
2 Tolaria West
1 Lonely Sandbar
1 Forgotten Cave
1 Sheltered Valley
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
3 Conjured Currency
1 Grip of Chaos
3 Land's Edge
3 Propaganda
4 Mana Flare
Spells 21
3 Jokulhaups
4 Cyclonic Rift
4 Aether Burst
4 Intuition
2 Life from the Loam
4 Burning Wish
1 Banefire
1 Regrowth
1 Life from the Loam
1 Mizzium Mortars
1 Arc Trail
1 Windfall
1 Pillage
1 Slagstorm
1 Anarchy
1 Bribery
1 Primal Command
1 Creeping Rennaisance
1 Amnesia
1 Jokulhaups
1 Eternal Dominion
I put in a lot of subtle tricks in here specifically to work for this card, for example all of the Enchantments except Propaganda work from both sides of the field. So your opponent can steal Land's Edge and it doesn't matter at all. You don't have any creatures yourself so Propaganda is technically a worthless steal too unless the opponent is going to alpha strike.
Another cool trick is with the Fetchlands. Here is a scenario where you have Conjured Currency on the field, and you blow up everything with Jokulhaups. Your opponent plays his first post-apocalyptic land, and you steal it with Currency. Then you play a Fetchland. Your opponent will steal it with the Currency if the fetchland can help him - and sacrifice it getting a new land! This land is stealable with Currency! Alternatively, you can blow up all the nonbasic lands stolen from you with your own Wasteland while stealing all of your opponents lands with Currency.
2. Intuition Tricks: This card is absolutely crucial to forming the combo or getting pinch removal. Obviously you can get 3 copies of anything to guarantee a card to your hand. Besides that, here's a list of quick combos:
- Life from the Loam + 2 Wasteland (against nonbasic heavy decks)
- Life from the Loam + Lonely Sandbar + Forgotten Cave (Recurring draw engine)
- Triple Aether Burst to bounce 3 creatures at once.
- If you have only 2 copies of a card remaining in your deck and you need it, then fetch: 2 copies of that card + Burning Wish, which allows you to use Regrowth or Creeping Rennaisance off the sideboard to 100% guarantee that card.
3. Life from the Loam Tricks: This is another extremely crucial card to the survival of this deck. It allows for a smooth post-Jokulhaups recovery, forms a constant draw engine with the Cycling lands, destroys nonbasic lands by recurring Wasteland, and gives you 3 lands to discard per turn to Land's Edge.
Against nonbasic heavy decks, if you can find Life from the Loam early by drawing it or tutoring it via Burning Wish, don't hesitate to Wasteland them aggressively. Without Life from the Loam, don't use Wasteland early unless it's absolutely necessary. Never mana-screw yourself.
4. Removal & Stall: You have Jokulhaups, Cyclonic Rift, Aether Burst, Propaganda, Conjured Currency, The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale and possibly 4 more via Burning Wish. Please note that Land's Edge can only target players unlike Seismic Assault.
5. Misc.: Note that Land's Edge is a World Enchantment, so it behaves similarly to a Legendary card. A World Enchantment destroys all other "World-type" permanents when it enters the battlefield.
Mana Flare is another crucial card for the deck as it allows for a very fast Jokulhaups and Conjured Currency. More importantly, it allows the opponents to lay down their threats much more quickly, thus forming a "bait and switch" scenario with Jokulhaups or Currency. Card advantage garlore or steal their biggest threat.
Grip of Chaos is a fun inclusion that your opponent can steal with Currency and have no downsides do you. This card works in your favor as you'll have multiple permanents post-Jokulhaups, while your opponent will only have 1. So when your opponent tries to steal something with Currency he will be at a disadvantage. This is more of a fun casual inclusion that happens to work in this strategy, but don't try to tutor for it aggressively. If you have it you can play it.
I did put in a lot of cards that specifically dodge Grip of Chaos though - for example Cyclonic Rift only affects your opponents permanents (and Overload makes Grip irrelvant anyway) so the Grip can't make you target one of your own permanents. Additionally cards that have multiple targets (Aether Burst, Life from the Loam are also unaffected by the Grip). Land's Edge can be tricky with this card so you should play it with caution as it can backfire. It's interesting to note that it will make your opponent's Land's Edge activations a 50/50 chance as well, so that can work in your favor too. (I did include Sheltered Valley and Primal Command just in case...)
-Regrowth - Combos with Intuition as explained above, or use it in a pinch to get back whatever.
-Mizzium Mortars + Arc Trail + Slagstorm - Cheap removal (all three avoid Grip of Chaos)
-Windfall - Card draw. Sometimes you will play out your hand very fast off Mana Flare. Goes well with all of the bounce in here.
-Pillage - This supplements the land-destruction theme and also can get rid of a problematic artifact.
-Anarchy - For those White Enchantment decks...anti Leyline of Sanctity + Oblivion Ring.
-Bribery - For against those big creature decks or Eldrazi combo decks. Note that your opponent can't steal this creature back with Conjured Currency.
-Primal Command - Removal + Lifegain + Anti-Graveyard (multiple targets also dodge Grip of Chaos)
-Creeping Rennaisance - Anti mass-enchantment removal, or a way of getting back all of your lands at once.
-Amnesia - Another way of getting rid of all of your opponents threats post-bounce. A great follow-up to Cyclonic Rift.
-Eternal Dominion - You know you always wanted to play with this card. This is a solid win-condition since Land's Edge is unaffected by Epic, and your opponent can't try to steal it with Conjured Currency since the cards are owned by the opponent. Play it early off Mana Flare!
Right now all you have are 1-for-1 type cards: Counterspells, Needle, etc. You have no card advantage besides Scrying Sheets, and you're going to fall behind dramatically. The deck simply isn't viable in your primarily aggro-based meta since your creatures cannot win combat and your other cards are 1-for-1's.
So you'll need cards that can deal with multiple threats, like Propaganda for example. With Propaganda you can go after a land-denial strategy to prevent combat by milling only lands from your opponent's library. You don't necessarily have to mill every threat.
I don't see why you need 3 maindeck Pithing Needle either. Cut to 1 or 2, and I suggest Basilisk Collar to at least make your creatures a minor threat for combat.
For card advantage Predict and Foreshadow aren't bad, and they help with the milling theme as well.
Overall I think the deck needs a dramatic overhaul. I just don't see Oona being a decent finisher with only 22 lands and the deck lacks a method of stabilization.
Edit: Buried Alive + Bloodghast also isn't a bad idea.
All Red does at this moment is give you Galvanic Blast and Assault Strobe. Strobe is a dead card with only 10 creatures and wouldn't you rather have more Fear/Unblockability effect in this scenario anyway? Galvanic Blast is okay, but it doesn't make a breaking case for including Red...
Also with Dark Ritual, what does this card really do for this deck besides the rare Vault-Ritual-Lich? Not too many Turn 1 3-mana plays here. I think you're better off with another dependable mana-stone like Talisman of Indulgence.
For other suggestions, Augur Spree is not a bad card that combos with the Lich (and Juggernaut at 5+) as an instant-speed combat trick or removal.
4 Mountain
4 Great Furnace
2 Barbarian Ring
3 Forgotten Cave
3 Smoldering Crater
3 Hellion Crucible
2 Buried Ruin
1 Kher Keep
1 Dust Bowl
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
2 Maze of Ith
4 Walking Atlas
4 Greater Gargadon
2 Hoarding Dragon
Non-Creature Artifacts 23
4 Trading Post
4 Rings of Brighthearth
4 Expedition Map
1 Monkey Cage
1 Prototype Portal
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Pyrite Spellbomb
1 Ratchet Bomb
1. The main strategy is simple. Trading Post combined with Rings of Brighthearth means you can pay:
- 3 and discard 1 card for 8-life.
- 3 and 1 life for for 2 goat tokens.
- 3 and 1 creature to get back 2 artifacts.
- 3 and 1 artifact to draw 2 cards.
This is of course cumulative with each copy of Rings of Brighthearth. You're essentially getting a 2-for-1 deal every time. This is a combo deck that stops aggro with 8-life per turn and laughs at control by getting back destroyed/countered artifacts.
2. As combo decks are typically weak against control decks, I centered the deck around an uncounterable land-based strategy backed up by Expedition Map. You can continue to recycle Expedition Maps using Trading Post as well. Almost all of the lands have activated abilities to abuse with Rings of Brighthearth:
- Forgotten Cave and Smoldering Crater - Cycling is an activated ability, so you can copy it with Rings to draw 2 cards.
- Hellion Crucible - This normally requires 3 activations, but with Rings you can put both counters on at the same time, and then copy the 2nd ability as well, putting out two 4/4 hasted tokens in only 2 turns.
- Dust Bowl - Punish those nonbasic decks by destroying 2 lands at once with Rings. You have a continous supply of lands if you sacrifice Great Furnace and get it back via Trading Post. Alternatively you keep using Expedition Map off Trading Post.
- Maze of Ith - Copying this ability with Rings is crucial! Holds off 2 attackers at once.
Walking Atlas is in here to help accelerate the deck with all of its lands. It also works great as a surprise instant play to drop Maze of Ith. Normally you won't have much use for the Atlas after Turns 3~4 so you can safely sacrifice it to a Block or to Trading Post. This has been errata'd to be an Artifact Creature so you can use it for 2 ways on Trading Post.
3. The Win-Conditions:
- Suspend Greater Gargadon asap, and remember that it also has an activated ability. So you can use the Rings to take off 2 counters at once! Trading Post continously supplies sac-fodder for it.
- Hoarding Dragon + Monkey Cage - The dragon is used to find combo pieces, but it also allows for a win-condition in Monkey Cage. One plausible scenario would be with Greater Gargadon suspended, cast Hoarding Dragon, find Monkey Cage. Next turn, sacrifice the Dragon to the Gargadon, cast Monkey Cage, and do whatever to make the Gargadon come into play. Voila, ten 2/2 tokens and a hasted 9/7.
- Monkey Cage also plays very well with Trading Post, even if your opponent tries to minimize the Monkey token output. You'll almost always get at least 1~2 tokens off the Cage, and you can then sacrifice that token to Trading Post to get back Cage to recast it again.
- Pyrite Spellbomb - is great for early removal/draw, but it becomes really scary when combined with Rings of Brighthearth. 4-damage per activation + reusuable with Trading Post.
4. Misc.:
- Prototype Portal allows you to spam artifacts like crazy, especially with Rings. Remember you can imprint Great Furnace if you're desperate for mana, and if you want to imprint something else, sacrifice it to Trading Post and get it back.
- Ensnaring Bridge plays very well with Greater Gargadon - so sacrifice the artifact to Gargadon right before it comes into play.
- Ratchet Bomb is a reusable method of destroying problematic permanents. Use the Rings to get double the counters. On the rare occasion that you get this out with Prototype Portal, you can safely sweep your own stuff to since tokens have a CMC of 0.
It's a type of deck I would create for my personal pleasure only. As such it's also a tester's nightmare I feared as much as in my OP. Sorry for testing the waters like that. You'll see more removal next time.
But Privileged Position doesn't protect you from a board wipe, only targeting spells. Another reason why you don't need privileged position is because it is a win-more card in this deck. After you resolve Defense of the Heart the deck should be an auto-win for you. There's no need for additional cards. Also your creature choices for Defense of the Heart are not as good as they can be. Why do you need Spawnsire of Ulamog in the maindeck with an Eldrazi Sideboard when you can just use Emrakul, the Aeons torn in the maindeck? There is no need to have an Eldrazi army on the sidelines when you can just put in in your maindeck fine.
I suppose this is a meta/playgroup issue. Not everybody plays creature decks. You have Royal Assassin and Vampire Nighthawk - I assumed you would be using them to get rid of their good creatures, so sometimes you would fall below the 3-required.
Drop Privileged Position to 1 copy, 2 at most. This is redundant in multiples, especially when you have a tutor.
Also you're never going to meet the requirements for Defense of the Heart with all of your creatures. You're going to have to use something like Mercy Killing to forcefully give your opponents creatures, or Hunted Troll.
I've already identified this in the first post...it's why I have 2 Eternal Witness in addition to 3 Rings. The idea is that I will flip into one of these before I run into the 2nd copy of Primal Surge. Will the combo fizzle out sometimes? Of course - but I feel that it is small enough to be passable at the moment.
Alternatively there is Planar Portal which can be used to search out the remaining copy of Primal Surge. But it is 1-turn slower than the Ring because it is 6-mana to play and activate. If the deck takes on a more control-stall route or has too many inconsisencies after playing a while, Planar Portal may be the way to go.