Opponent had Urabrask, the Hidden in play with a strong X/1 creature. He attack, I play Deceier Exarch untapping himself to his ability and blocking. Nifty move!
Everyone talks about the Melira, Sylvok Oustcast/Phyrexian Unlife combo, but there is more to Melira combowise than just Unlife. I present to you, the Melira/Phyrexian Hydra combo! Prevent every damage to your Hydra, but don't put -1/-1 counters!
In the same line of thought, Melira also has great synergy with Black Sun's Zenith.
So, I thought these 3 cards would be good enough to put in a deck, and I opted on a rock deck for good removal and redundancy. I added Hex Parasite in case the Zenith or the Hydra came in without Melira and for the utility of it.
So this is just a quick list to get the idea going! Tell me what you think!
Just realized Bloodchief triggers the second they pay a Phybrid cost with life; this can quickly poke holes in a few strategies. I pioneered Burnchief Ascension for the longest time back in the day, I think this combo is just what we need to get back into the game!
THIS! Makes "missteping" a burn spell a biiiit less productive if you don't have mana.
Mindcrank/Ascension is a pretty awesome combo. Pretty cheap, efficient and it permits different strategies costing a total of only 1 colored mana. Plus, I think the deck can be made to rely not only on its combo to win, BCA has won on its own before.
But what I think can make this deck viable is Volt Charge. I ran a slightly more proliferate version before, and there was only one way to put 2 counters on Ascension in one turn, other than jankier combinations: Throne of Geth+Perilous Myr. Volt Charge does the same, but for 1 mana less if you pay the {p} cost and mostly for a single card, instant at that! I expect this card to be a nice topdeck very often!
At first glance, I prefer the Grixis combo/control although the RB one looks fun too. Playing Creeping Tar Pit, Preordain, Mental Misstep (even though you can still play it, it is better not to lose life...), Tezzeret's Gambit, Jace, Mana Leak and the likes seems just too good to pass for this combo: digging for your combo and protecting it are key.
For a controlling deck, I would go with few creatures, with mass removal like Slagstorm or BSZ and with efficient burn spells.
Those burn spells should be Bolt, Acr Trail, Forked Bolt and/or Staggershock, not necessarily in this order. Bolt needs no comment, but the other cards are very versatile and are quite possibly 2 for 1, especially since this deck is not favored in the aggro matchup imo. 2 damage and killing a Cobra, a Hawk or a Lynx turn 2 is a perfect play.
As for Leyline of Sanctity, because it does cause major problems even if it is played less than before, Into the Roil is a sideboard choice I guess. A build with more creatures is obviously less impaired by Leyline, but I think a creature build would fit the RB deck better.
I would also be interested in looking at it through a proliferate lens for a bit of fun. As I said, Volt Charge changes BCA completely and Tezzeret's Gambit is it's nice blue opposite. The question is, on what could it be most useful to proliferate? Pyromancer Ascension? Tumble Magnet? Chimeric Mass? Lux Cannon? Everflowing Chalice? Grindclock? Poison counters? Planewalkers? All of the above?
A Pyrochief Ascension deck sure sounds like a lot of fun, but I dont know about the UR Pyro deck much... Think it would be possible?
"...you may look at the top 2 cards of that library. If you do, you may exile one of them. Then put the rest on top of that library library in any order."
I don't understand "put the rest on top in any order"... Is it only in the case you didn't exile one?
Not sure I follow. The Phyrexian black mana is in addition to the X, not the X paid in Phyrexian black mana, as I understand it.
Choose random permanent, use ability on it as many times as you want for X=0 but paying two lifes each time until you are at 1 life, preferably during your opponent's end phase and (nearing the christmas land here) preferably with a Leyline of Sanctity in play for protection against burn.
UR Automill/Myr Welder combo? Pretty farfetched... I don't know, you have to ensure you have artifacts in your own graveyard for sure so automill seems like a good way to go.
4 Leatherback Baloth
4 Vengevine
4 Joraga Treespeaker
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Nest Invaders
4 Lotus Cobra
4 Priest of Urabrask
4 Lead the Stampede
4 Raging Ravine
4 Verdant Catacombs
5 Mountains
8 Forests
In the same line of thought, Melira also has great synergy with Black Sun's Zenith.
So, I thought these 3 cards would be good enough to put in a deck, and I opted on a rock deck for good removal and redundancy. I added Hex Parasite in case the Zenith or the Hydra came in without Melira and for the utility of it.
So this is just a quick list to get the idea going! Tell me what you think!
4 Phyrexian Hydra
4 Phyrexian Vatmother
2 Hex Parasite
4 Explore
4 Sign in Blood
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Black Sun’s Zenith
4 Green Sun’s Zenith
3 Beast Within
4 Tectonic Edge
7 Forest
7 Swamp
2 Inkmoth Nexus
THIS! Makes "missteping" a burn spell a biiiit less productive if you don't have mana.
Mindcrank/Ascension is a pretty awesome combo. Pretty cheap, efficient and it permits different strategies costing a total of only 1 colored mana. Plus, I think the deck can be made to rely not only on its combo to win, BCA has won on its own before.
But what I think can make this deck viable is Volt Charge. I ran a slightly more proliferate version before, and there was only one way to put 2 counters on Ascension in one turn, other than jankier combinations: Throne of Geth+Perilous Myr. Volt Charge does the same, but for 1 mana less if you pay the {p} cost and mostly for a single card, instant at that! I expect this card to be a nice topdeck very often!
At first glance, I prefer the Grixis combo/control although the RB one looks fun too. Playing Creeping Tar Pit, Preordain, Mental Misstep (even though you can still play it, it is better not to lose life...), Tezzeret's Gambit, Jace, Mana Leak and the likes seems just too good to pass for this combo: digging for your combo and protecting it are key.
For a controlling deck, I would go with few creatures, with mass removal like Slagstorm or BSZ and with efficient burn spells.
Those burn spells should be Bolt, Acr Trail, Forked Bolt and/or Staggershock, not necessarily in this order. Bolt needs no comment, but the other cards are very versatile and are quite possibly 2 for 1, especially since this deck is not favored in the aggro matchup imo. 2 damage and killing a Cobra, a Hawk or a Lynx turn 2 is a perfect play.
As for Leyline of Sanctity, because it does cause major problems even if it is played less than before, Into the Roil is a sideboard choice I guess. A build with more creatures is obviously less impaired by Leyline, but I think a creature build would fit the RB deck better.
I would also be interested in looking at it through a proliferate lens for a bit of fun. As I said, Volt Charge changes BCA completely and Tezzeret's Gambit is it's nice blue opposite. The question is, on what could it be most useful to proliferate? Pyromancer Ascension? Tumble Magnet? Chimeric Mass? Lux Cannon? Everflowing Chalice? Grindclock? Poison counters? Planewalkers? All of the above?
A Pyrochief Ascension deck sure sounds like a lot of fun, but I dont know about the UR Pyro deck much... Think it would be possible?
Note that Safe's Passage or Shieldmate's Blessing or Hedron-Field Purist kills the Mindcrank Ascesion combo...
I don't understand "put the rest on top in any order"... Is it only in the case you didn't exile one?
Choose random permanent, use ability on it as many times as you want for X=0 but paying two lifes each time until you are at 1 life, preferably during your opponent's end phase and (nearing the christmas land here) preferably with a Leyline of Sanctity in play for protection against burn.
EDIT: Random permanent that does not have shroud.