I have been putting up some solid results in my playtests. The basic idea is to play a close game, and then hit for giant chunks of damage when they leave you with an opening. This deck can really surprise you with sudden bursts of 5-10 damage. Lifelink gives us some survivability, esp. when suddenly tacked on to a 7+ power creature.
The cheap enchantment creatures do several jobs for us - both as cheap bodies to enchant, and as enchantment targets themselves. Often a single enchantment creature can add 2-3 power to the board, sometimes more - not even counting its own. Things get silly when you load up several of the variable power creature/enchantments (Ethereal armor / Eidolon of Countless battles) onto a single creature and then let it either eat away at their defences, or die to spawn a swarm.
Would love suggestions, and to discuss options for a sideboard.
This deck is not going to reliably hit 5 mana many games, though this would be good against mono R aggro. Side out some low drop cards, side in those for the high end?
Hey, all. So, when I saw Nyxborn Rollicker, I began thinking about some sort of RW aggro deck that focused on cheap bestow and old favorites like Ethereal Armor to alternatively voltron or swarm the opponent.
This is a current list that I really like. It is a skill testing deck - knowing when to drop an armor, when to swarm and when to suit up, etc - is something I definitely haven't mastered yet. I'd love to hear some feedback.
Basic Strategy: Try to drop solid 1-2 drops and get in early. You'll eventually grab a bestow package with either the Eidolon of Countless Battles, Nysborn Shieldmate, or the game-winning Ethereal armor. Curve stops at 4 with 2x Ajani's Chosen and 2x Heliod, God of the Sun, which give us insane value for dropping enchantments as well as some flood insurance. Both of them out at once is crazy (2WW: Put 2 2/x creatures on to the field). Brave the elements works against Targeted removal, as well as a solidly aggressive way to just steal a victory, especially in a mono-colored meta. Boros Charm works as insurance against Supreme Verdict, as well as another way to just steal a victory.
Let me know what you think - this deck is very fun to play, and I think it might be interesting you y'all as well.
We're still fairly early in the process, but we've got a team of about 8 who have been throwing stuff against the wall and seeing what sticks.
Here's the Flavor (we have no name for the plane, so it's not complete yet)
The plane of ~~ has seen better days. The strong mana that once flowed through the plane has been cut off for reasons unknown, and now the inhabitants of ~~ have begun spreading out in search of new sources of power and new opportunities. This destabilization has made people desperate, with crime and corruption running amok in the new, lawless frontier. Judges and bounty hunters do what they can to keep the criminal element in check, but on the edge of civilization, it is every man for himself.
We *are* trying to make it compatible with other sets, mostly because we don't want to get into insular design patterns.
The general thought is to get across a sense of desperation. We are, admittedly, playing with fire, but we like what we've done so far and are willing to scrap the whole concept if it doesn't play well.
Our first mechanic was "Scarcity". It reads:
Scarcity {Cost} - You may cast this card for it’s scarcity cost. If you do, sacrifice a land.
Wording could probably be cleaned up, and a new name (Pioneer?) could be used. Here are some examples:
Noble Savage - 2GG
Scarcity: G
t: add GG to your mana pool.
1/1 - Uncommon
Burn the Harvest 2RR
Sorcery
Scarcity - R
Destroy target land. -Uncommon
Here is a card that definitely helps with scarcity
Fertile Soil
Land
T: Add {1} to your mana pool.
When ~ would go to the graveyard, you may search your library for a basic land
card and put it onto the battlefield tapped. Shuffle your Library.
Uncommon
Then we have Bounty, here are some a few cards for that.
Blue Bandito - 1U
Creature - Human Rouge
~ is Unblockable
Bounty - When this creature dies, any opponent may pay
1. If they do, they Draw a card
2/2 Uncommon
Goblin Bandit 2R
Creature - Goblin Rouge
Bounty - When this creature dies, any opponent may pay
1. If they do, they may deal 2 damage to target creature or player.
4/3 Common
Here is a shiny mythic, with weird templating issues.
J'on, Geist born 1BBB
Legendary- Spirit Assassin
BB: exile target creature
DeathTouch
Bounty - When ~ dies any opponent may pay 1. If they do, they may take a creature exiled with ~, and then repeat this process until all creatures are gone.
4/3 - Mythic Rare
And then we have the most under-developed mechanic so far, Scrap. The idea here is that they have to reuse what they have. It reads:
Scrap X - when this card goes to the graveyard, you may pay X. If you do, put X 1/1 Artifact Creature scrap tokens into play with "Sacrifice this creature: add {1} to your mana pool.
Prospectors Axe - 3
Artifact - Equipment
Equipped creature gets +2/ +0
Whenever equipped creature deals combat damage to a player you may
search your library for a basic land card and put it into your hand. Shuffle your library.
Equip 1
Scrap 1
Uncommon
Here's a card that is meant to interact with scrap tokens.
Assembled Contraption {4}
Artifact creature - Horror
When ~ ETB, ~ gets a -1/-1 counter for each tapped land you control.
6/6 uncommon
And here is just a cool creature that I designed that I like.
Field-Swarm Beetle - 2BB
Creature - Insect
Flying
~ power/toughness are equal to the number of insects you control
Sacrifice a land, T : Put two tokens onto the battlefield tapped that are a copy of
Field-Swarm Beetle.
*/* - Rare
The whole "Sacrifice Land" thing is definitely playing with fire, but we intend on exploring that space and seeing if there is any meat on that bone.
I actually misrepresented Bounty a bit. While it does appear on some creatures (and some doozy's - it is definitely a drawback that allows us to play with power levels) it will appear on more enchantment-aura's, allowing you to 'place a bounty' on another creature.
Thanks for the feedback on Judge's Brother! I now just need to show overwhelming support/opposition...
Hey, all. Making a custom set with my friends, that includes (at this moment, very early in the process) a mechanic called 'Bounty', that goes on creatures. Bounty reads:
Bounty - Whenever this creature dies, any opponent may pay 1. If they do, {A thing happens}.
That isn't what I am worried about (though criticisms are welcome!). Someone suggested a bounty hunter creature that reduces all bounty costs to zero. Thinking a little out of the set, I thought about wording it differently. Here's a sample of the creature I came up with:
Judge's Brother
2BB
Creature - Human Rogue
Whenever a creature dies, add 1 to your mana pool.
2/2
My friends believe this is unprintable, opening up too much room for overall brokenness (we are pretending that this is a real set, or rather, that it could interact with other cards). I, chuckling with glee, see this as a perfect interaction.
What do you think, MTGS? If it is broken, would adding 'an opponent controls' make it less so?
I had a strange thought. This one is strange and would require some serious card support:
Powerful creatures with severe drawbacks. Say, a 3/3 for 2 with 'At the Beginning of your upkeep, lose 1 life" or something like that. And they keyword:
Traitor (When this spell resolves, you may have it enter the battlefield under an opponents control.)
Then, you have spell support for "permanents that you own but don't control", or some such.
@Division I guess I meant targeted removal. I might be too picky here, but I've seen too many weenies willing to pitch their t1 little guy to a consuming vapors. PtE is cheap, efficient, and easy to pull out in a moments notice.
Speaking realistically, it is also a lot harder to get 4 copies of Knight of the Reliquary. I know I say this with 4 Maelstrom pulse in my deck, but I am willing to admit I got supremely lucky and likely don't have the cash to spend on the Knights. They are incredibly efficient, but I can see the deck fall a bit out of focus with their inclusion.
Splashing white would essentially be only for path and oblivion ring - I have no interest in sliding towards junk with a Knight of the reliquary and was just interested in a way to kill off nonblack creatures without getting into the smother/doom blade debate.
Sideboard considerations include Great Stable stag, Duress, and Oblivion ring.
I would appreciate more disruption in this deck, but mind shatter and its analogs always felt too clunky. One card I would be interested in testing is Acidic slime. In the build that runs harrow, it could come out on turn three - and pitching one of their lands so early is always fun, especially when it leaves behind a 2/2 deathtouch body.
Cards to consider:
I love Pelakka Wurm, and it would be great to include him... but the GGG is impossible, especially in the white-ified version. I used to run Putrid leech, but the lifedrain really hurts when matched up against basically any aggro deck. He hits hard, but it is a little too risky. Swapped in the vampire nighthawk instead.
Thought Gorger seems so fun, and not impossible to run in duplicate if paired up with Grim discovery... yet I feel it might be too risky in this build, destabilizing it further.
Mind Rot is an interesting card for G/B. Not sure where it fits in - maybe a stand in for Fleshbag marauder? I am having a hard time fighting polymorph with my build, specifically with all the Spawn tokens flying around, a turn 4 poly into emakrul or Iona is not uncommon.
RDW and Polymorph are the toughest matchups I've come against. The good news is thatI've been consistently rolling Jund Decks like no one's business.
My deck is very similar to Talroma's, save the sideboard (which I am still working on, namely, how do we not just scoop to red deck wins?) and running 3x harrow instead of the borderland ranger (the extra body netting us another fleshbag marauder) and 2 Dread Statuary, removing one tectonic edge.
The thing is, with harrow you have a variable strat: I just steamrolled a U/w Control deck with a triple bloodghast accelerated by the Harrow on turn 2. I can understand the distrust, but the tempo I've gotten with it is nothing short of amazing.
Interestingly enough, the one card I find myself often wishing i didn't have was Birds of paradise. Is that next on the chopping block? it really only works as a t1 drop, IMHO.
4x Boon Satyr
4x Eidolon of Countless Battles
4x Ethereal Armor
8x Forest
4x Gladecover Scout
4x Hero of Iroas
4x Hopeful Eidolon
4x Nyxborn Shieldmate
10x Plains
4x Spirit of the Labyrinth
4x Temple Garden
4x Voice of Resurgence
4x Glare of Heresy
4x Imposing Sovereign
3x Mistcutter Hydra
4x Skylasher
Link to deck @ TappedOut.net
===SELESNYA PIGGYBACK===
I have been putting up some solid results in my playtests. The basic idea is to play a close game, and then hit for giant chunks of damage when they leave you with an opening. This deck can really surprise you with sudden bursts of 5-10 damage. Lifelink gives us some survivability, esp. when suddenly tacked on to a 7+ power creature.
The cheap enchantment creatures do several jobs for us - both as cheap bodies to enchant, and as enchantment targets themselves. Often a single enchantment creature can add 2-3 power to the board, sometimes more - not even counting its own. Things get silly when you load up several of the variable power creature/enchantments (Ethereal armor / Eidolon of Countless battles) onto a single creature and then let it either eat away at their defences, or die to spawn a swarm.
Would love suggestions, and to discuss options for a sideboard.
3x Boros Charm
3x Brave the Elements
2x Chained to the Rocks
4x Eidolon of Countless Battles
4x Ethereal Armor
2x Heliod, God of the Sun
4x Hero of Iroas
4x Hopeful Eidolon
4x Mountain
4x Nyxborn Shieldmate
14x Plains
4x Sacred Foundry
2x Spear of Heliod
4x Spirit of the Labyrinth
2x Blind Obedience
1x Boros Charm
1x Brave the Elements
2x Chained to the Rocks
3x Last Breath
4x Mizzium Mortars
2x Mountain
Link to deck @ TappedOut.net
Hey, all. So, when I saw Nyxborn Rollicker, I began thinking about some sort of RW aggro deck that focused on cheap bestow and old favorites like Ethereal Armor to alternatively voltron or swarm the opponent.
This is a current list that I really like. It is a skill testing deck - knowing when to drop an armor, when to swarm and when to suit up, etc - is something I definitely haven't mastered yet. I'd love to hear some feedback.
Basic Strategy: Try to drop solid 1-2 drops and get in early. You'll eventually grab a bestow package with either the Eidolon of Countless Battles, Nysborn Shieldmate, or the game-winning Ethereal armor. Curve stops at 4 with 2x Ajani's Chosen and 2x Heliod, God of the Sun, which give us insane value for dropping enchantments as well as some flood insurance. Both of them out at once is crazy (2WW: Put 2 2/x creatures on to the field). Brave the elements works against Targeted removal, as well as a solidly aggressive way to just steal a victory, especially in a mono-colored meta. Boros Charm works as insurance against Supreme Verdict, as well as another way to just steal a victory.
Let me know what you think - this deck is very fun to play, and I think it might be interesting you y'all as well.
We're still fairly early in the process, but we've got a team of about 8 who have been throwing stuff against the wall and seeing what sticks.
Here's the Flavor (we have no name for the plane, so it's not complete yet)
The plane of ~~ has seen better days. The strong mana that once flowed through the plane has been cut off for reasons unknown, and now the inhabitants of ~~ have begun spreading out in search of new sources of power and new opportunities. This destabilization has made people desperate, with crime and corruption running amok in the new, lawless frontier. Judges and bounty hunters do what they can to keep the criminal element in check, but on the edge of civilization, it is every man for himself.
We *are* trying to make it compatible with other sets, mostly because we don't want to get into insular design patterns.
The general thought is to get across a sense of desperation. We are, admittedly, playing with fire, but we like what we've done so far and are willing to scrap the whole concept if it doesn't play well.
Our first mechanic was "Scarcity". It reads:
Scarcity {Cost} - You may cast this card for it’s scarcity cost. If you do, sacrifice a land.
Wording could probably be cleaned up, and a new name (Pioneer?) could be used. Here are some examples:
Stop that! - 2UU
Instant
Scarcity 1U
Counter Target spell - Common
Noble Savage - 2GG
Scarcity: G
t: add GG to your mana pool.
1/1 - Uncommon
Burn the Harvest 2RR
Sorcery
Scarcity - R
Destroy target land. -Uncommon
Here is a card that definitely helps with scarcity
Fertile Soil
Land
T: Add {1} to your mana pool.
When ~ would go to the graveyard, you may search your library for a basic land
card and put it onto the battlefield tapped. Shuffle your Library.
Uncommon
Then we have Bounty, here are some a few cards for that.
Blue Bandito - 1U
Creature - Human Rouge
~ is Unblockable
Bounty - When this creature dies, any opponent may pay
1. If they do, they Draw a card
2/2 Uncommon
Goblin Bandit 2R
Creature - Goblin Rouge
Bounty - When this creature dies, any opponent may pay
1. If they do, they may deal 2 damage to target creature or player.
4/3 Common
Here is a shiny mythic, with weird templating issues.
J'on, Geist born 1BBB
Legendary- Spirit Assassin
BB: exile target creature
DeathTouch
Bounty - When ~ dies any opponent may pay 1. If they do, they may take a creature exiled with ~, and then repeat this process until all creatures are gone.
4/3 - Mythic Rare
And then we have the most under-developed mechanic so far, Scrap. The idea here is that they have to reuse what they have. It reads:
Scrap X - when this card goes to the graveyard, you may pay X. If you do, put X 1/1 Artifact Creature scrap tokens into play with "Sacrifice this creature: add {1} to your mana pool.
Here are a few.
Special Hoe - 2
Artifact - Equipment
Equipped creature gets +2/+0
Equip 3
Scrap 2
Prospectors Axe - 3
Artifact - Equipment
Equipped creature gets +2/ +0
Whenever equipped creature deals combat damage to a player you may
search your library for a basic land card and put it into your hand. Shuffle your library.
Equip 1
Scrap 1
Uncommon
Worker Golem 6
Artifact Creature - Golem
Trample
Scrap 4
5/4
Common
Here's a card that is meant to interact with scrap tokens.
Assembled Contraption {4}
Artifact creature - Horror
When ~ ETB, ~ gets a -1/-1 counter for each tapped land you control.
6/6 uncommon
And here is just a cool creature that I designed that I like.
Field-Swarm Beetle - 2BB
Creature - Insect
Flying
~ power/toughness are equal to the number of insects you control
Sacrifice a land, T : Put two tokens onto the battlefield tapped that are a copy of
Field-Swarm Beetle.
*/* - Rare
The whole "Sacrifice Land" thing is definitely playing with fire, but we intend on exploring that space and seeing if there is any meat on that bone.
I actually misrepresented Bounty a bit. While it does appear on some creatures (and some doozy's - it is definitely a drawback that allows us to play with power levels) it will appear on more enchantment-aura's, allowing you to 'place a bounty' on another creature.
Thanks for the feedback on Judge's Brother! I now just need to show overwhelming support/opposition...
Bounty - Whenever this creature dies, any opponent may pay 1. If they do, {A thing happens}.
That isn't what I am worried about (though criticisms are welcome!). Someone suggested a bounty hunter creature that reduces all bounty costs to zero. Thinking a little out of the set, I thought about wording it differently. Here's a sample of the creature I came up with:
Judge's Brother
2BB
Creature - Human Rogue
Whenever a creature dies, add 1 to your mana pool.
2/2
My friends believe this is unprintable, opening up too much room for overall brokenness (we are pretending that this is a real set, or rather, that it could interact with other cards). I, chuckling with glee, see this as a perfect interaction.
What do you think, MTGS? If it is broken, would adding 'an opponent controls' make it less so?
Powerful creatures with severe drawbacks. Say, a 3/3 for 2 with 'At the Beginning of your upkeep, lose 1 life" or something like that. And they keyword:
Traitor (When this spell resolves, you may have it enter the battlefield under an opponents control.)
Then, you have spell support for "permanents that you own but don't control", or some such.
Just a thought.
Here is my current decklist.
4 Marsh Flats
4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Stirring wildwood
5 Swamp
5 Forest
2 Plains
4 Abyssal Persecutor
4 Putrid leech
4 Lotus Cobra
3 Acidic Slime
2 Ob Nixilis, the Fallen
2 Rampaging Baloth
4 Path to exile
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Maelstrom Pulse
3 Harrow
2 Consuming Vapors
2 Momentous Fall
My problem: I need a sideboard!
Thoughts:
Smother - side in for either Maelstrom pulse against RDW, or something for polymoph. path generally still better v. jund.
Duress - They run control, goodbye Inquisition of Kozilek.
Vampire Hexmage - Could be good against RDW or Jund. extra tech against planeswalker control.
Consume the Meek - Get thee Behind me, Weenies.
Great Stable Stag - against jund. Not sure what to side out.
Any more suggestions? I am also currently debating which deserves a 2-of in my deck, Rampaging Baloths or Master of the Wild Hunt. Also, Putrid leech is great, but should he be replaced with something sturdier, like an Overgrown battlement, or even Wall of Omens?
Speaking realistically, it is also a lot harder to get 4 copies of Knight of the Reliquary. I know I say this with 4 Maelstrom pulse in my deck, but I am willing to admit I got supremely lucky and likely don't have the cash to spend on the Knights. They are incredibly efficient, but I can see the deck fall a bit out of focus with their inclusion.
Sans white:
-2 Stirring Wildwood
+2 Dread Statuary
-4 Path to Exile
+4 (as of yet undetermined removal)
-3 Borderland Ranger
+3 Harrow
-2 Consume the Meek
+2 (Who knows, man)
-2 Marsh Flats
+2 Misty Rainforest
4 Forest
2 Plains
6 Swamp
2 Stirring Wildwood
4 Marsh Flats
4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Tectonic edge
4 Abyssal Persecutor
4 Birds of Paradise
3 Borderland Ranger (This is normally Harrow)
4 Bloodghast
4 Vampire Nighthawk
2 Consume the Meek
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Momentous Fall
4 Maelstrom Pulse
4 Path to Exile
Sideboard considerations include Great Stable stag, Duress, and Oblivion ring.
I would appreciate more disruption in this deck, but mind shatter and its analogs always felt too clunky. One card I would be interested in testing is Acidic slime. In the build that runs harrow, it could come out on turn three - and pitching one of their lands so early is always fun, especially when it leaves behind a 2/2 deathtouch body.
Cards to consider:
I love Pelakka Wurm, and it would be great to include him... but the GGG is impossible, especially in the white-ified version. I used to run Putrid leech, but the lifedrain really hurts when matched up against basically any aggro deck. He hits hard, but it is a little too risky. Swapped in the vampire nighthawk instead.
Thought Gorger seems so fun, and not impossible to run in duplicate if paired up with Grim discovery... yet I feel it might be too risky in this build, destabilizing it further.
Thoughts?
RDW and Polymorph are the toughest matchups I've come against. The good news is thatI've been consistently rolling Jund Decks like no one's business.
Is there a place in this deck for Acidic Slime? Vampire Nighthawk?
My deck is very similar to Talroma's, save the sideboard (which I am still working on, namely, how do we not just scoop to red deck wins?) and running 3x harrow instead of the borderland ranger (the extra body netting us another fleshbag marauder) and 2 Dread Statuary, removing one tectonic edge.
Any suggestions on the RDW mashup? Maybe Suffer the past?
Interestingly enough, the one card I find myself often wishing i didn't have was Birds of paradise. Is that next on the chopping block? it really only works as a t1 drop, IMHO.