Sweet build. I'm learning a lot from it as I tune my Nekusar deck. Thanks.
Have you considered the following: Sire of Insanity - because who doesn't love to discard. Runehorn Hellkite - wheel from the graveyard. Mindcrank - it's like burning the wick a both ends. Kaervek the Merciless - not only does your opponents not want to draw, now they don't want to cast either.
Our meta will select their deck secretly and then we all do a big reveal. Often times if we are bringing a new deck to the table, we'll announce 'new deck tech' as a warning that something likely weaker is about to be played....players choose with that in mind. If you win the game, consider picking a weaker deck next game. If you lose the game, consider picking a stronger deck for next game.
Nothing is strict rules though....only bummer is when one player has their best deck against everyone else who doesn't...that rarely happens though as we generally tend to increase power level as the evening goes on...
Both games played struggled with the land base. I'm kinda hoping that this was because of the deck not being shuffled as good as it could have been. Otherwise, I'm not certain as the what the problem would be. Is my cmc curve too high for 35 lands and 5 rocks? Am I overlooking some obvious must includes for RB ramp?
First game was quite slow and I had trouble getting my goblins out. A lack of fliers made defending quite difficult and I ended up losing control of the board to a Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon and lost to poison. Definitely found out that it's really difficult to win from behind...gotta keep the tempo pressure going.
Second game I did just that. Really pushed the tempo and was quite a bit more successful with the early game damage. Then slowed down once the mid-late game creatures started to drop. Had some control to mitigate, but was running out. Living Death was then cast by my parner (2HG) to wipe the opponents field and allow me to apply more pressure again, but it was copied so the final board state was going to be the same. However, I stumbled across the power of a sacrifice outlet and was able to sacrifice my entire board state after resolution of the first copied Living Death for maximum pressure after the resolution of the actual Living Death. Smashed across the field with 30+ damage for the win.
Overall, I see some room for deck improvements. I've highlighted some potential cuts and adds in the original post. This is definitely a deck that I'm finding I have to pilot very carefully to be successful.
Greetings fellow gamers. Well, I'm at it again - is it possible to make burn a viable EDH strategy at the kitchen table? My journey started off with Wort, the Raidmother goblin tribal, conspiring as many burn spells as I could. I had a brief respite before trying again with Omnath, Locus of Rage, again with a focus on burn, though this time it was dependant on creatures entering and leaving the battlefield.
Now it's time to try again - I'm mixing both elements together. "Goblin tribal" and "Burn ETB's and LTB's" - to be led by Vial Smasher the Fierce. Will this be competitive? probably not...but I'm at least hoping it will be fun. and I have the cards....
I call the deck: Vial's Secret Hot Sauce
Objectives of this deck is to grab the key pieces to make my plan work. Vial Smasher the Fierce will damage opponents on the cast (would love 1-2 more effects of this nature). Cards like Impact Tremors will burn on the ETB. Cards like...Goblins...will aggro combat damage...and then will burn on the way out with cards like Goblin Bombardment.
Would love to hear from the community on ways I can spice this hot sauce up more. Comments, suggestions, and criticisms are always welcome.
All my decks try to adhere to these guidelines:
1) Be able to win.
2) Be mostly true to a flavor and a theme.
3) Be good against one or multiple opponents.
5) Be fun to pilot or to play against and interactive.
6) Have multiple paths to victory.
7) Have lots of cool interactions and synergy.
8) Play out differently every game to keep it fun over a long time.
9) Be streamlined and fast to play without excessive upkeep, time-consuming play or overcomplicated boardstates.
10) Integrate the Commanders abilities into the strategy at least a little, but be able to win without ever playing the commander.
The number in front of the card will denote CMC of the creature/spell.
Wizards found out that EDH was becoming more popular than standard at the casual kitchen table. Then wizards found out how to power creep EDH separate from the standard format. They introduced Commander and everyone bought into it. Now, Commander power creep will continue to drive a separate market. Old 'blue-sky' generals are quickly becoming a thing of the past unless house rules will ban Commander cards from the table...
Personally, I don't mind most of the Commander decks, though I do wish the EDH committee would take a bit of a harder line against cards that power creep too fast.
So a major overhaul of my Animar deck has recently taken place. I had a number of decks that made want of some pretty sweet cards that I only had in Animar, and so I had to do some serious tweaking in order to bring him back to the kitchen table. Please refer to the OP for decklist details and changelog.
So far for play testing, the decklist is all meat. Massive swing, that if left unchecked for a turn or two, will really ruin the opponent's day. I think it has fair ability to ignore most elements in the aggro realm.
Was able to playtest the deck over the weekend and received some mixed results. The deck does was I wanted it to accomplish - it stifles ramp players from running away from the game. However, as I expected it would be, it's also annoying for non-ramp players to play against too. This often led to the difficult choice of "do I target the on board threat or do I target the on board annoyance?". Unfortunately, sometimes annoyance is chosen above threat and that left me on the defensive more often than I wanted.
Also, I found it difficult to get to the mid-game. Often times I just wouldn't have the manabase available to cast what I wanted to cast. As such, I'm adding Brainstorm, Ponder, and Treasure Cruise in an attempt to help filter the early game manabase a bit better. Any suggestions to help fine tune in this area are also appreciated.
Of course, all suggestions will be considered. Thanks.
@Elminster
Thank you for the suggestion. I wanted to avoid Brago as the Commander - we've had 2 past decks in our meta with Brago at the helm and so I didn't want a repeat of that deck archetype. Also, I've been patiently waiting to bring GAAIV to the table for the better part of 8 years, so this is a long time in coming. I do appreciate the suggestion though.
I was playing my Ghave saproling deck and my opponent was playing Ramos, Dragon Engine counters deck. Other two players were recently knocked out and the boardstate was chaotic.
I drew and cast Altar of Dementia and proceeded to mill my opponent. Next turn, my opponent was able to sacrifice his own Progenitus so that he had a card to draw in his next draw step. He cast Primal Vigor and ramped up his counters to have lethal on the next swing with Ramos, Dragon Engine. However, in a turn of events, he held priority and stacked up Etched Oracle to force me to draw 56 cards - an irony that he would deck me after I tried to deck him. After the first draw resolved, I handed Aura Mutation which allowed me to destroy his Mirari's Wake for 10 additional saprolings which was just enough to sac them to Zulaport Cutthroat triggers with Deathspore Thallid (targetting, it didn't matter, but I targeted Ramos, Dragon Engine just in case he was able to attack still) and brought his life total to 0. He had no further responses.
Love the build. I had a very similar one myself. Problem I really struggled with was having was enough ramp - I just couldn't get enough land out fast enough. Have you experienced this? How have you dealt with this?
It's perhaps worthwhile to consider what about infinite combos makes them so disputed.
An infinite combo is: getting value for free....infinitely. That value is card draw, mana, damage, taps/untaps,...basically in one way or another: board state.
I think it's worth drawing a line in the sand: How much "value for free" is too much value? Too warping of the game? I think there are different degrees that should be considered here.
For example, a really efficient spell, say Athreos, God of Passage. Wow, a 5/4 indestructible with sweet recursion for only 3 mana. What if your deck consisted of this kind of 'free value' throughout - major upside when going against decks that don't have the same efficient mana costing spells for the same boad state impact.
Another example, Edric, Spymaster of Trest - huge free value if your deck is tuned for it. Cards is the generally the key to success in the game I understand - it's where board state emerges from. When up against decks that don't have that same kind of impact, Edric will stomp.
Another example, a combo like Rings of Brighthearth + Basalt Monolith gives infinite mana, but does nothing for the player if there is no cards to cast with that mana. The board state still needs to be present.
Finally, a combo like Zealous Conscripts + Kiki-Jiki Mirror Breaker which slams down a win pretty quick still requires the necessary board state in order to achieve that win.
So I guess what I'm trying to get across here is that infinite combos are aimed to win outright. For each example, the 'line in the sand' that represents how much free value the player is getting is notched up. Groups that say 'no infinite combos' are just drawing that line in the sand....but I would suggest that there are non-infinite plays that can be more oppressive as infinite plays.
Ultimately I think it comes down to the power level of the meta that you are playing in. The general 'available access' to board state. The easily it becomes to access the cards and mana a meta needs to win, the more like they are willing to allow infinite combos. Likewise, the metas that tend to have less access to cards and mana tend towards not permitting the 'free value' plays. I think this is becase, ultimately, the more cards and mana access a meta has, the less impact 'free value' has on the meta itself - it's able to cushion the impact better.
Anyways, these are my views on the matter. There is nothing wrong with either way you choose to play - no infinite comobos or infinite combos, private banlists, proxies, or whatever else so long as the meta/group follows by the same rules. My meta doesn't play with Commander damage for example, we general enjoy not having voltron generals swing with toolbox decks - the private rule helps dissuade that particular style of build. Again, nothing wrong with that build, only out of preference that we don't care for it.
Extra attacks, double damage, Blue tutors, and solid alternates for swinging creatures is definitely what I was hoping to find. I'll certainly admit, I wasn't expecting this type of build to be T1-competitive....I'll be quite happy if I can hold up against 2017 pre-Commanders out of the box. I have a tonne of grixis on hand and a tonne of equipment on hand and was thinking....."what if"!
Please keep the suggestions coming. It's a big help. I'll post a decklist compilation soon.
So, I've been playing around with the idea of building a Grixis Equipment deck led by Thraximundar. I know for EDH, anything is "viable", but I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with this style of build? is it good? is it competitive?
Are there some good 'go to' creatures that would make for solid alternates in case my Commander keeps being killed off?
What are some good thematic non-equipment cards that will strongly support a equipment themed deck in Grixis?
Equipment I'm playing around with running is as follows:
Well, I decided this deck needs to run All is Dust so I rummaged through my collection for a few cards that I've never put to table and traded in for a copy. Also getting a copy of Titan's Presence - thanks for the suggestion SlaveToPhage.
I'll keep Alhammarret's Archive and Memory Jar on my watchlist - thanks for the suggestions SlaveToPhage and benjameenbear. Both are great cards - just don't know how many non-playables I have left in my collection.
Also very much in the realm of 'finding it hard to cut'. I did take a wicked turn though - took out Obsidian Fireheart (oh how I love this card) and put in Warp World instead with the hopes of some giggles at the table. Should be really good at my deck only has 9 non-permanent spells in it - most of my deck will stick. Will play with it for a bit.
I gotta say, still having a problem with the ramp in this deck. Any suggestions to help belch out mana to the 8+ mark would be appreciated. Thran Dynamo is another card that I'd love to get a hold of to help in this regard.
Good Morning toctheyounger77. Thanks for stopping by.
I have considered Beastmaster Ascension, however I've found it as well as Collective Blessing just seemed to be a bit 'win-more' once I have the counter-loops going. In a non-combo Ghave, I definitely think it would be worth a spot.
Again, with the counter theme going, I've really found Retribution of the Ancients to be worth it's weight. After tempo control in the early game, it often turns into one-sided wipes to swarm an opponent with tokens. It works better the more counter produces I have. As I've recently taken a few out, it's probably lost a little bit of power, but still probably worth the spot...
Illusionists' Bracers has been fantastic. It's a combo enabler for Ghave - really a must answer. Naturally, there's the two for one risk, but once on Ghave, it's pure value.
I think you have a really good suggestion with Fertilid instead of Realm Seekers. Early game ramp/utility is better than mid game. I'll make that change....pretty sure I still have a Fertilid in my box.
Have you considered the following:
Sire of Insanity - because who doesn't love to discard.
Runehorn Hellkite - wheel from the graveyard.
Mindcrank - it's like burning the wick a both ends.
Kaervek the Merciless - not only does your opponents not want to draw, now they don't want to cast either.
Hope this helps.
Nothing is strict rules though....only bummer is when one player has their best deck against everyone else who doesn't...that rarely happens though as we generally tend to increase power level as the evening goes on...
Both games played struggled with the land base. I'm kinda hoping that this was because of the deck not being shuffled as good as it could have been. Otherwise, I'm not certain as the what the problem would be. Is my cmc curve too high for 35 lands and 5 rocks? Am I overlooking some obvious must includes for RB ramp?
First game was quite slow and I had trouble getting my goblins out. A lack of fliers made defending quite difficult and I ended up losing control of the board to a Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon and lost to poison. Definitely found out that it's really difficult to win from behind...gotta keep the tempo pressure going.
Second game I did just that. Really pushed the tempo and was quite a bit more successful with the early game damage. Then slowed down once the mid-late game creatures started to drop. Had some control to mitigate, but was running out. Living Death was then cast by my parner (2HG) to wipe the opponents field and allow me to apply more pressure again, but it was copied so the final board state was going to be the same. However, I stumbled across the power of a sacrifice outlet and was able to sacrifice my entire board state after resolution of the first copied Living Death for maximum pressure after the resolution of the actual Living Death. Smashed across the field with 30+ damage for the win.
Overall, I see some room for deck improvements. I've highlighted some potential cuts and adds in the original post. This is definitely a deck that I'm finding I have to pilot very carefully to be successful.
Comments and suggestions appreciated.
Now it's time to try again - I'm mixing both elements together. "Goblin tribal" and "Burn ETB's and LTB's" - to be led by Vial Smasher the Fierce. Will this be competitive? probably not...but I'm at least hoping it will be fun. and I have the cards....
I call the deck: Vial's Secret Hot Sauce
Objectives of this deck is to grab the key pieces to make my plan work. Vial Smasher the Fierce will damage opponents on the cast (would love 1-2 more effects of this nature). Cards like Impact Tremors will burn on the ETB. Cards like...Goblins...will aggro combat damage...and then will burn on the way out with cards like Goblin Bombardment.
Would love to hear from the community on ways I can spice this hot sauce up more. Comments, suggestions, and criticisms are always welcome.
All my decks try to adhere to these guidelines:
1) Be able to win.
2) Be mostly true to a flavor and a theme.
3) Be good against one or multiple opponents.
5) Be fun to pilot or to play against and interactive.
6) Have multiple paths to victory.
7) Have lots of cool interactions and synergy.
8) Play out differently every game to keep it fun over a long time.
9) Be streamlined and fast to play without excessive upkeep, time-consuming play or overcomplicated boardstates.
10) Integrate the Commanders abilities into the strategy at least a little, but be able to win without ever playing the commander.
The number in front of the card will denote CMC of the creature/spell.
3 Vial Smasher the Fierce
//Planeswalkers (2)
4 Angrath, Captain of Chaos
5 Jaya, Venerated Firemage
//Goblins (24)
1 Skirk Prospector
1 Mogg Raider
1 Goblin Bushwhacker
1 Legion Loyalist
2 Goblin Wardriver
2 Goblin Cratermaker
2 Grenzo, Havoc Raiser
2 Frogtosser Banneret
2 Skirk Drill Sergeant
3 Goblin Chieftain
3 Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin
3 Zo-Zu the Punisher
3 Mad Auntie
3 Goblin Warchief
3 Goblin King
3 Sensation Gorger
3 Goblin Sharpshooter
4 Goblin Trashmaster
4 Krenko, Mob Boss
4 Beetleback Chief
4 Boggart Mob
4 Goblin Ringleader
4 Wort, Boggart Auntie
5 Siege-Gang Commander
2 Metallic Mimic
3 Burnished Hart
3 Judith, the Scourge Diva
4 Hellrider
//Card Advantage (6)
1 Skullclamp
3 Risk Factor
4 Slate of Ancestry
5 Reforge the Soul
5 Vanquisher's Banner
5 Torrent of Souls
//Buff (7)
2 Impact Tremors
2 Goblin Bombardment
2 Throne of the God-Pharaoh
3 Boggart Shenanigans
4 Whip of Erebos
5 Dictate of Erebos
5 Exquisite Blood
//Control (10)
1 Vandalblast
2 Go for the Throat
2 Terminate
3 Chaos Warp
3 Bedevil
4 Fodder Launch
5 Murderous Cut
5 Living Death
5 Mogg Infestation
9 Blasphemous Act
3 Hordeling Outburst
4 Empty the Warrens
5 Goblin Rally
//Ramp (8)
1 Sol Ring
1 Brightstone Ritual
2 Ruby Medallion
2 Battle Hymn
2 Talisman of Indulgence
2 Rakdos Signet
3 Darksteel Ingot
3 Ashnod's Altar
//Land (36)
0 Command Tower
0 Foreboding Ruins
0 Akoum Refuge
0 Bojuka Bog
0 Molten Slagheap
0 Goblin Burrows
0 Terramorphic Expanse
0 Evolving Wilds
17 Mountain
11 Swamp
100 cards so far...
//WISHLIST
//IDEAS
2 Goblin Deathraiders (cut?)
2 Goblin Outlander (cut?)
1 Faithless Looting (cut?)
2 Goblin Lore (cut?)
5 Tamiyo's Journal
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
3 Commander's Sphere
3 Rakdos Cluestone
4 Hedron Archive
Oct 26 2017:
Goblin Arsonist >> Guttersnipe
Squeaking Pie Sneak >> Goblin King
Tar Pitcher >> Kaervek the Merciless
Crux of Fate >> Living Death
Dark Ritual >> Battle Hymn
Curse of Opulence >> Vandalblast
Ruby Medallion >> Dragonrage
Mountain >> Bojuka Bog
Nov 24 2017:
Warren Pilferers >> Krenko, Mob Boss
Signal Pest >> Throne of the God-Pharaoh
Barrage of Expendables >> Impact Tremors
Aftershock >> Chaos Warp
Strionic Resonator >> Grenzo, Havoc Raiser
Jan 5 2018:
Gravepurge >> Swamp
Kaervek the Merciless >> Ruby Medallion
Painful Quandary >> Dictate of Erebos
Goblin Ruinblaster >> Slate of Ancestry
Spike Jester >> Ogre Battledriver
Dragon Fodder >> Goblin Ringleader
Krenko's Command >> Goblin Sharpshooter
Tempt with Vengeance >> Goblin Rally
April 28 2018:
Smoldering Marsh >> Swamp -- Need for Darigaaz deck. Will replace again when I get another copy.
Ogre Battledriver >> Garna, the Bloodflame
Swamp >> Squee, the Immortal
Goblin Spymaster >> Basilisk Collar
Aug 15 2018:
Murderous Redcap >> Goblin Trashmaster
Squee, the Immortal >> Zo-Zu the Punisher
Voracious Dragon >> Exquisite Blood
Nov 1 2018:
Guttersnipe >> Metallic Mimic
Clickslither >> Goblin Cratermaker
Garna, the Bloodflame >> Necrotic Wound
Carnage Altar >> Risk Factor
Wheel of Fate >> Vanquisher's Banner
Feb 16 2019:
Necrotic Wound >> Bedevil
Phyrexian Reclamation >> Judith, the Scourge Diva
May 5 2019:
Boggart Harbinger >> Krendo, Tin Street Kingpin
Basilisk Collar >> Angrath, Captain of Chaos
Dragonrage >> Jaya, Venerated Firemage
Howl of the Night Pack
Kessig Cagebreakers
Master of the Wild Hunt
Wolfbriar Elemental
Wolfcaller's Howl
Also, Wren's Run Packmaster would be ideal expect for the 'elf' requirement. Ashame.
Hope this helps.
Personally, I don't mind most of the Commander decks, though I do wish the EDH committee would take a bit of a harder line against cards that power creep too fast.
So a major overhaul of my Animar deck has recently taken place. I had a number of decks that made want of some pretty sweet cards that I only had in Animar, and so I had to do some serious tweaking in order to bring him back to the kitchen table. Please refer to the OP for decklist details and changelog.
So far for play testing, the decklist is all meat. Massive swing, that if left unchecked for a turn or two, will really ruin the opponent's day. I think it has fair ability to ignore most elements in the aggro realm.
Let me know what you guys think.
Was able to playtest the deck over the weekend and received some mixed results. The deck does was I wanted it to accomplish - it stifles ramp players from running away from the game. However, as I expected it would be, it's also annoying for non-ramp players to play against too. This often led to the difficult choice of "do I target the on board threat or do I target the on board annoyance?". Unfortunately, sometimes annoyance is chosen above threat and that left me on the defensive more often than I wanted.
To that end, I've found Fog Bank, Guard Gomazoa, and Wall of Denial to be invaluable against tall attacks. Stonehorn Dignitary and Lavinia of the Tenth were also very helpful in suppressing wide attacks. I think I may be in need of a few more spells of this nature. Any ideas?
Also, I found it difficult to get to the mid-game. Often times I just wouldn't have the manabase available to cast what I wanted to cast. As such, I'm adding Brainstorm, Ponder, and Treasure Cruise in an attempt to help filter the early game manabase a bit better. Any suggestions to help fine tune in this area are also appreciated.
Of course, all suggestions will be considered. Thanks.
@Elminster
Thank you for the suggestion. I wanted to avoid Brago as the Commander - we've had 2 past decks in our meta with Brago at the helm and so I didn't want a repeat of that deck archetype. Also, I've been patiently waiting to bring GAAIV to the table for the better part of 8 years, so this is a long time in coming. I do appreciate the suggestion though.
I was playing my Ghave saproling deck and my opponent was playing Ramos, Dragon Engine counters deck. Other two players were recently knocked out and the boardstate was chaotic.
I drew and cast Altar of Dementia and proceeded to mill my opponent. Next turn, my opponent was able to sacrifice his own Progenitus so that he had a card to draw in his next draw step. He cast Primal Vigor and ramped up his counters to have lethal on the next swing with Ramos, Dragon Engine. However, in a turn of events, he held priority and stacked up Etched Oracle to force me to draw 56 cards - an irony that he would deck me after I tried to deck him. After the first draw resolved, I handed Aura Mutation which allowed me to destroy his Mirari's Wake for 10 additional saprolings which was just enough to sac them to Zulaport Cutthroat triggers with Deathspore Thallid (targetting, it didn't matter, but I targeted Ramos, Dragon Engine just in case he was able to attack still) and brought his life total to 0. He had no further responses.
For reference: decklist
An infinite combo is: getting value for free....infinitely. That value is card draw, mana, damage, taps/untaps,...basically in one way or another: board state.
I think it's worth drawing a line in the sand: How much "value for free" is too much value? Too warping of the game? I think there are different degrees that should be considered here.
For example, a really efficient spell, say Athreos, God of Passage. Wow, a 5/4 indestructible with sweet recursion for only 3 mana. What if your deck consisted of this kind of 'free value' throughout - major upside when going against decks that don't have the same efficient mana costing spells for the same boad state impact.
Another example, Edric, Spymaster of Trest - huge free value if your deck is tuned for it. Cards is the generally the key to success in the game I understand - it's where board state emerges from. When up against decks that don't have that same kind of impact, Edric will stomp.
Another example, a combo like Rings of Brighthearth + Basalt Monolith gives infinite mana, but does nothing for the player if there is no cards to cast with that mana. The board state still needs to be present.
Finally, a combo like Zealous Conscripts + Kiki-Jiki Mirror Breaker which slams down a win pretty quick still requires the necessary board state in order to achieve that win.
So I guess what I'm trying to get across here is that infinite combos are aimed to win outright. For each example, the 'line in the sand' that represents how much free value the player is getting is notched up. Groups that say 'no infinite combos' are just drawing that line in the sand....but I would suggest that there are non-infinite plays that can be more oppressive as infinite plays.
Ultimately I think it comes down to the power level of the meta that you are playing in. The general 'available access' to board state. The easily it becomes to access the cards and mana a meta needs to win, the more like they are willing to allow infinite combos. Likewise, the metas that tend to have less access to cards and mana tend towards not permitting the 'free value' plays. I think this is becase, ultimately, the more cards and mana access a meta has, the less impact 'free value' has on the meta itself - it's able to cushion the impact better.
Anyways, these are my views on the matter. There is nothing wrong with either way you choose to play - no infinite comobos or infinite combos, private banlists, proxies, or whatever else so long as the meta/group follows by the same rules. My meta doesn't play with Commander damage for example, we general enjoy not having voltron generals swing with toolbox decks - the private rule helps dissuade that particular style of build. Again, nothing wrong with that build, only out of preference that we don't care for it.
Food for thought.
Extra attacks, double damage, Blue tutors, and solid alternates for swinging creatures is definitely what I was hoping to find. I'll certainly admit, I wasn't expecting this type of build to be T1-competitive....I'll be quite happy if I can hold up against 2017 pre-Commanders out of the box. I have a tonne of grixis on hand and a tonne of equipment on hand and was thinking....."what if"!
Please keep the suggestions coming. It's a big help. I'll post a decklist compilation soon.
This is a think-tank request...
So, I've been playing around with the idea of building a Grixis Equipment deck led by Thraximundar. I know for EDH, anything is "viable", but I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with this style of build? is it good? is it competitive?
Are there some good 'go to' creatures that would make for solid alternates in case my Commander keeps being killed off?
What are some good thematic non-equipment cards that will strongly support a equipment themed deck in Grixis?
Equipment I'm playing around with running is as follows:
1 Infiltration Lens
2 Hero's Blade
3 Nemesis Mask
3 Fireshrieker
3 Whispersilk Cloak
3 Loxodon Warhammer
4 Assault Suit
1 Basilisk Collar
1 Bloodforged Battle-Axe
3 Sword of Vengeance
3 Quietus Spike
4 Deathrender
4 Grappling Hook
4 Hammer of Nazahn
6 Argentum Armor
I'm specifically avoiding the swords at this time.
Any suggestions?
Thanks
Well, I decided this deck needs to run All is Dust so I rummaged through my collection for a few cards that I've never put to table and traded in for a copy. Also getting a copy of Titan's Presence - thanks for the suggestion SlaveToPhage.
I'll keep Alhammarret's Archive and Memory Jar on my watchlist - thanks for the suggestions SlaveToPhage and benjameenbear. Both are great cards - just don't know how many non-playables I have left in my collection.
Also very much in the realm of 'finding it hard to cut'. I did take a wicked turn though - took out Obsidian Fireheart (oh how I love this card) and put in Warp World instead with the hopes of some giggles at the table. Should be really good at my deck only has 9 non-permanent spells in it - most of my deck will stick. Will play with it for a bit.
I gotta say, still having a problem with the ramp in this deck. Any suggestions to help belch out mana to the 8+ mark would be appreciated. Thran Dynamo is another card that I'd love to get a hold of to help in this regard.
I have considered Beastmaster Ascension, however I've found it as well as Collective Blessing just seemed to be a bit 'win-more' once I have the counter-loops going. In a non-combo Ghave, I definitely think it would be worth a spot.
Again, with the counter theme going, I've really found Retribution of the Ancients to be worth it's weight. After tempo control in the early game, it often turns into one-sided wipes to swarm an opponent with tokens. It works better the more counter produces I have. As I've recently taken a few out, it's probably lost a little bit of power, but still probably worth the spot...
Illusionists' Bracers has been fantastic. It's a combo enabler for Ghave - really a must answer. Naturally, there's the two for one risk, but once on Ghave, it's pure value.
I think you have a really good suggestion with Fertilid instead of Realm Seekers. Early game ramp/utility is better than mid game. I'll make that change....pretty sure I still have a Fertilid in my box.
Thanks for the comments.