Alright, you deserve a special one...this is, I think, my best deck (out of 35 of them)...I worked quite a bit to bring it to the state it is in right now. When I found out that Ancestral Vision had a converted mana cost of 0, I wanted to cascade into it...so I made a Red/Green/Blue deck with no card with mana costs less than 3 so my Violent Outburst would cascade into it and let me draw 3 cards. The deck never worked and after a long time working on it, I broke it apart (Selling my 4 Ancestral Vision back when they were 5ish $ each wasnt my best move).
After a while, I thought to try it again but with Living End instead of Ancestral Vision..the result was much better:
This deck has been consistently winning games and my opponents had a real hard time at trying to control it.
1) Cast Violent Outbust during your opponent's attack step to exchange the graveyards and the board. The cascade can only reveal a Living End, if I still have one in my deck.
2) At the end of my opponent's turn, I sacrifice all my creatures (let's say i have 3 creatures with 6 power each) in Greater Good to draw cards equal to their power (18 in my example) and discard 3 cards per creature (9 cards - all creature cards if I can) and in my last discard effect, I discard Kozilek, Butcher of Truth. In response to the "shuffle your graveyard in your deck" trigger, I cast Violent Outburst to bring the 3 creatures I sacrificed back in play plus the 9 I discarded, including the Kozilek I was about to shuffle. This also allows me to shuffle all the Living End and Violent Outburst I have in my graveyard back into my deck...including the ones I just cast. Then my turn begins, and I can attack withthe whole crowd that I just brought to play. This is the way I built the deck to allow it to last in games where it's first Living End doesnt work out or gets countered...or in games where I draw 3 Living End early in the game and I spend the rest of the game with these in my hand instead of having them in my library.
Before you flag it again, no, I dont run many lands in this deck...but look at the number of cycling cards I have (21 cards can be cycled, 11 of them allow me to search my deck for lands)...you will see that it's far from an issue.
I already know that some cards are weak in this deck...I never cast the Living Death because I prefer to cascade into Living End and Scion of Darkness might be a fun card but it simply costs too much to cycle.
Decimate is the answer to everything...assuming that everything is in play =)
Let me know if you have any suggestions to improve the deck...but, keep in mind that it must not cost less than 3 mana or it will interfere with my combo.
Twincast on Bribery doesn't let you search through two decks at the same time. To say it like that is misleading.
I don't feel you run enough green creatures to warrant 2x Oran-Rief, the Vastwood, if any at all.
You should add some more lands if you want to consistently get out those 6-7 drops, as your curve is quite high.
Are you trying to say that each spell goes on the stack ? ...that the Twincast will resolve first ? ...and that the Bribery will still be on the stack while I search one of my opponent's library for a creature ? ...and I will have to wait to put that creature in play before I resolve the Bribery and search the second library ? ...HERESY ! ...they were burning players at the stake for much less than that back in the days when Phasing was still kicking arses ! ...wait till I tell my friends the next time they tell me to "search the damn libraries already and stop playing stupid combos" that they are wrong in their assumptions that I will search both libraries at the same time and that they should stop misleading people =)
You're lucky that I dont have a stake or matches laying around ;P
I'm looking at the deck list and I have no idea what could have motivated me to play Oran-Rief, the Vastwood...I guess I have too many Cauldron of Souls in my other green decks...I'll replace them with Forest
When it comes to this deck I think this is my least favorite of your decks and would delete it and re think it. The curve doesnt make sense, and... I guess nothing seems to make much sense overall to me. Everything seems Weak and inconsistent when you can be doing crazy things with training grounds. Maybe I'm the problem and Im missing something so dont take it personally.
My game isnt that awful...
Early game: I hope for a Training grounds or I use Baleful Strix to dig for it. Otherwise, I focus on flipping my Nezumi Graverobber (early game is the perfect time for that) or I start beating with my Mindshrieker...it doesnt take much for that critter to hit hard.
End game: If I have one or more Training Grounds in play, I am bound to have something else that combos well with it. Otherwise, I can still defend myself since every card can sort-of be useful in the late game.
I play Undying Evil because it can save my allies creatures if I have one or more ally, there are many Wrath of God effects in my group so this little instant can easily save a Rune-Scarred Demon or a Consecrated Sphinx. In my deck, I block with Baleful Strix and cast Undying Evil on it for another card draw or I just keep it to save whatever creature I wanna keep. At the end of the game, Azure Mage makes me draw so many cards that I'm looking for cheap cards that can have a big impact so I can reduce my hand size.
With the Sakura-Tribe Elder, I get to clamp it OR get an extra land, i cant do both....and I cant get a second land if I bring it back with Cauldron of Souls. Dawntreader Elk and Viridian Emissary allow me to do both.
I might not have many ways to go get my Training Grounds but I have many cards that are still very decent even without the enchantment in play (Mindshrieker, Nezumi Graverobber and my Baleful Strix help me reach my enchantment and offer me defense while I look for it.
Gilded Lotus allows me to get 3 blue mana to draw 3 cards with Azure Mage when I have 2 enchantments in play.
Soul of New Phyrexian allows me to protect my Training Grounds even when it's in the graveyard and I often use my creature's abilities at the end of my opponent's turn so I have available mana to protect my board from wipe effects.
Yeah, I have too many Blue/Green decks...I like the mix...green provides the mana and the brute strength...blue provides the cunning and the card-drawing stuff.
6) Wall of Roots can block if I need defense, gives me mana and can die pretty quickly if I need to draw cards (I Skullclamp it twice and I use it's mana ability in every opponent's turn, arranging for it to die during my next turn, after giving me mana).
Feel free to suggest cards that could interract well in this deck.
I have a bunch of spells worth casting Twincast on...and I am never stuck with that card in a 5-6 players game...someone is bound to cast Time Warp, Kodama's Reach or Decree of Pain (nope, you won't draw these 12 cards, I will ;P). I love to copy my Bribery and search through two decks at the same time ;P
The general goal of the deck is to get that 4GG to cast Primeval Titan and then cast a bunch of expensive cards to devastating results.
I wonder what is the land that you are talking about (the one giving one mana per counter on it, it doesnt ring a bell).
I'd play Thrummingbird if it had haste...otherwise, I dont think the bird will last long enough for me to attack with it.
I wouldnt play Darksteel Reactor...it will take too long to reach 20 counters and will flag me as an obvious menace for everyone else in the game. Im not a fan of "You win the game", i broke apart my Battle of Wits deck even if it was real strong and winning on a regular basis because I thought it was an horrible way to win.
In a typical game...I either have an Ascension running early game or I manage to get my hands on a Dispatch. The mana goes up quickly in this deck...between the moxes, the Chalice and the Tolarian Academy.
Defense-wise...I've managed alright so far...we very rarely see any type of weenie deck in my playgroup.
Parallax Wave is the kind of card that is good in all situations...if you're trying to get back in the game, you'll exile your opponent's creatures and buy some time...if you're trying to give the killing blow, it will remove their defense so you can finish them...and if someone tries to Wrath of God your board when you are ahead, they either won't do it because you have the wave in play, or they will see your board come back at the next upkeep.
It's the multiple options that the card gives you that makes it played so much in my playgroup. I see that card being played almost every night and it has a big impact on the game every time it is played.
Last friday (I try to play every friday), my friend played it, kept it for a few turns and then played Venser, the Sojourner to remove it at every turn so it comes back with 5 new Fade counters. The combo was annoying for a good 2 turns I believe (with 5 players, it's a long time) but I managed to come up with To the Slaughter and he had no creature on his board.
Overall, I think your suggestions are great...the deck is clearly lacking purpose and needs to come up with some great synergies or some decent combos. I'm willing to give a try to Grasp of Fate, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, Sun Titan and Myriad Landscape...assuming I can get my hands on the cards. I'm a bit doubtful about the Landscapes though...they give colorless while I heavily need colored mana, they come into play tapped and the lands it fetches also comes into play tapped =/ ...all that work to net me only 1 more mana than an ordinary Plains. Even when I bring it back with my titan, it will be tapped and I will have to wait for a turn to play with it. Shouldn't I play Burnished Hart instead ?
Wow, thanks for the extensive testing Artscrafter...I'm impressed ! ...I didnt know anyone could bring up this much interest for any of my decks ;P
Horizon Canopy is just too expensive for me...especially considering the minimal impact it will have on my deck.
I think that Balance would be a good card in the deck, considering that i dont mind discarding cantrip cards and that I rely on enchantments that wont be "equalized" by the balance.
I dont need the Sylvan Scrying to try to get my Forbidden Orchard. I usually play this deck in multiplayer games situation and there is always someone daring enough (or stupid enough ?) to play a creature when I have Oath of Druids in play =) ...the orchard allows me to continue feeding creatures to that player so i can continue to trigger the oath at every turn (or trigger multiple oaths).
I didnt think about Terminus...it's true that this card would fit way better in the deck...ensuring protection until I can play Oath or Eureka...I'll try to fit two of them in there. A Balance with two lands in play would have a bigger impact though ;P
Parallax Wave is usually a game finisher...I remove my opponent's defense and finish him...or it can allow me to save my creatures in a Wrath of God...I like the multiple options that this card gives me...but it's true that 4 is a big cost in this deck. I do like the fact that I can play it in my Eureka though =/
I thought about Sakura-Tribe Elder as well...helping me get lands and allowing me to shuffle my deck...but then I thought about the face I would make should I reveal one of these when triggering the Oath of Druids ...would almost be as bad as the previous version of this deck, which had 2 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn in it...I already had an Emrakul in play and I revealed my second when I triggered my Oath...doh ! ;P
EDIT: Oops...I am already running Balance in the deck...I didnt notice ;P
After a while, I thought to try it again but with Living End instead of Ancestral Vision..the result was much better:
4 Jungle Weaver
4 Valley Rannet
4 Krosan Tusker
4 Greater Good
4 Living End
4 Violent Outburst
3 Igneous Pouncer
2 Scion of Darkness
2 Decimate
2 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Demonic Dread
2 Living Death
2 Leyline of the Void
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
5 Forest
4 Bojuka Bog
1 Swamp
This deck has been consistently winning games and my opponents had a real hard time at trying to control it.
1) Cast Violent Outbust during your opponent's attack step to exchange the graveyards and the board. The cascade can only reveal a Living End, if I still have one in my deck.
2) At the end of my opponent's turn, I sacrifice all my creatures (let's say i have 3 creatures with 6 power each) in Greater Good to draw cards equal to their power (18 in my example) and discard 3 cards per creature (9 cards - all creature cards if I can) and in my last discard effect, I discard Kozilek, Butcher of Truth. In response to the "shuffle your graveyard in your deck" trigger, I cast Violent Outburst to bring the 3 creatures I sacrificed back in play plus the 9 I discarded, including the Kozilek I was about to shuffle. This also allows me to shuffle all the Living End and Violent Outburst I have in my graveyard back into my deck...including the ones I just cast. Then my turn begins, and I can attack withthe whole crowd that I just brought to play. This is the way I built the deck to allow it to last in games where it's first Living End doesnt work out or gets countered...or in games where I draw 3 Living End early in the game and I spend the rest of the game with these in my hand instead of having them in my library.
Before you flag it again, no, I dont run many lands in this deck...but look at the number of cycling cards I have (21 cards can be cycled, 11 of them allow me to search my deck for lands)...you will see that it's far from an issue.
I already know that some cards are weak in this deck...I never cast the Living Death because I prefer to cascade into Living End and Scion of Darkness might be a fun card but it simply costs too much to cycle.
Decimate is the answer to everything...assuming that everything is in play =)
Let me know if you have any suggestions to improve the deck...but, keep in mind that it must not cost less than 3 mana or it will interfere with my combo.
Are you trying to say that each spell goes on the stack ? ...that the Twincast will resolve first ? ...and that the Bribery will still be on the stack while I search one of my opponent's library for a creature ? ...and I will have to wait to put that creature in play before I resolve the Bribery and search the second library ? ...HERESY ! ...they were burning players at the stake for much less than that back in the days when Phasing was still kicking arses ! ...wait till I tell my friends the next time they tell me to "search the damn libraries already and stop playing stupid combos" that they are wrong in their assumptions that I will search both libraries at the same time and that they should stop misleading people =)
You're lucky that I dont have a stake or matches laying around ;P
I'm looking at the deck list and I have no idea what could have motivated me to play Oran-Rief, the Vastwood...I guess I have too many Cauldron of Souls in my other green decks...I'll replace them with Forest
My game isnt that awful...
Early game: I hope for a Training grounds or I use Baleful Strix to dig for it. Otherwise, I focus on flipping my Nezumi Graverobber (early game is the perfect time for that) or I start beating with my Mindshrieker...it doesnt take much for that critter to hit hard.
End game: If I have one or more Training Grounds in play, I am bound to have something else that combos well with it. Otherwise, I can still defend myself since every card can sort-of be useful in the late game.
I play Undying Evil because it can save my allies creatures if I have one or more ally, there are many Wrath of God effects in my group so this little instant can easily save a Rune-Scarred Demon or a Consecrated Sphinx. In my deck, I block with Baleful Strix and cast Undying Evil on it for another card draw or I just keep it to save whatever creature I wanna keep. At the end of the game, Azure Mage makes me draw so many cards that I'm looking for cheap cards that can have a big impact so I can reduce my hand size.
4 Baleful Strix
4 Mindshrieker
4 Nezumi Graverobber
4 Azure Mage
3 Undying Evil
2 Soul of New Phyrexia
2 Gilded Lotus
2 Lightning Greaves
2 Time Warp
2 Sepulchral Primordial
2 Wurmcoil Engine
2 Dark Impostor
1 Damnation
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Sol Ring
4 Dimir Aqueduct
4 Sunken Ruins
4 Island
2 Swamp
2 Bojuka Bog
Various cards that interract with Training Grounds...
I might not have many ways to go get my Training Grounds but I have many cards that are still very decent even without the enchantment in play (Mindshrieker, Nezumi Graverobber and my Baleful Strix help me reach my enchantment and offer me defense while I look for it.
Gilded Lotus allows me to get 3 blue mana to draw 3 cards with Azure Mage when I have 2 enchantments in play.
Soul of New Phyrexian allows me to protect my Training Grounds even when it's in the graveyard and I often use my creature's abilities at the end of my opponent's turn so I have available mana to protect my board from wipe effects.
Wurmcoil Engine doesnt really fit in the deck but it's fun to bring it back with the flipped Nezumi Graverobber.
Sepulchral Primordial grabs the creatures sent to the graveyard of my opponents by Mindshrieker, I could probably play some Diluvian Primordial as well to grab the spells.
Thanks for your help,
Kain
4 Dawntreader Elk
4 Viridian Emissary
4 Primeval Titan
4 Cauldron of Souls
4 Skullclamp
4 Aetherling
2 Curse of the Swine
2 Wall of Roots
1 Sol Ring
1 Sylvan Primordial
1 Time Spiral
1 All Is Dust
1 Wickerbough Elder
1 Time Stretch
1 Diluvian Primordial
1 Time Warp
6 Forest
4 Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
1 Yavimaya Hollow
1 Blighted Cataract
1) I'm using Skullclamp on Dawntreader Elk or Viridian Emissary to draw 2 cards as I go get my land. If I also have Cauldron of Souls, I give them persist to get an extra land.
2) Activating Oran-Rief, the Vastwood removes the -1/-1 counter on green creatures that came back with Cauldron of Souls this turn.
3) Aetherling can blink to remove the -1/-1 counter on it so the Cauldron of Souls is one more way to protect the already real hard to kill Aetherling
4) All Is Dust wipes everything except the Cauldron of Souls and the lands, it doesnt matter because it all comes back with the Persist ability.
5) End game Phantasmal Image copies an Aetherling so I can blink it when it's targetted by someone.
6) Wall of Roots can block if I need defense, gives me mana and can die pretty quickly if I need to draw cards (I Skullclamp it twice and I use it's mana ability in every opponent's turn, arranging for it to die during my next turn, after giving me mana).
Feel free to suggest cards that could interract well in this deck.
4 Kodama's Reach
4 Rite of Replication
4 Bribery
4 Consecrated Sphinx
4 Primeval Titan
3 Frontier Siege
2 Time Warp
2 Spelltwine
1 Sylvan Primordial
1 Sol Ring
1 Time Spiral
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Phyrexian Ingester
1 All Is Dust
1 Diluvian Primordial
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Phantasmal Image
4 Flooded Grove
4 Simic Growth Chamber
3 Forest
2 Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
1 Alchemist's Refuge
1 Reliquary Tower
I have a bunch of spells worth casting Twincast on...and I am never stuck with that card in a 5-6 players game...someone is bound to cast Time Warp, Kodama's Reach or Decree of Pain (nope, you won't draw these 12 cards, I will ;P). I love to copy my Bribery and search through two decks at the same time ;P
The general goal of the deck is to get that 4GG to cast Primeval Titan and then cast a bunch of expensive cards to devastating results.
Feel free to suggest goodies to add to the deck.
I'd play Thrummingbird if it had haste...otherwise, I dont think the bird will last long enough for me to attack with it.
I wouldnt play Darksteel Reactor...it will take too long to reach 20 counters and will flag me as an obvious menace for everyone else in the game. Im not a fan of "You win the game", i broke apart my Battle of Wits deck even if it was real strong and winning on a regular basis because I thought it was an horrible way to win.
Defense-wise...I've managed alright so far...we very rarely see any type of weenie deck in my playgroup.
4 Ichor Wellspring
4 Dispatch
4 Luminarch Ascension
4 Everflowing Chalice
2 Mox Opal
2 Rite of Replication
2 Tower of Fortunes
2 Parallax Wave
2 Venser, the Sojourner
2 Throne of Geth
2 Contagion Engine
2 Karn Liberated
2 Teferi, Temporal Archmage
1 Sol Ring
1 Balance
1 Time Spiral
1 Lux Cannon
1 Magistrate's Scepter
0 Niveous Wisps
4 Ancient Den
4 Plains
2 Island
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Academy Ruins
1 Kor Haven
Basically, Luminarch Ascension goes up very quickly in multiplayer games and my proliferate cards push it even farther.
Venser, the Sojourner interracts with Ichor Wellspring, Parallax Wave and other planeswalkers. Usually, though, I simply use him to untap my Tolarian Academy so I can pay for my Contagion Engine activation cost during my opponent's turn.
Feel free to suggest cards you would see in this deck.
Thanks,
Kain
It's the multiple options that the card gives you that makes it played so much in my playgroup. I see that card being played almost every night and it has a big impact on the game every time it is played.
Last friday (I try to play every friday), my friend played it, kept it for a few turns and then played Venser, the Sojourner to remove it at every turn so it comes back with 5 new Fade counters. The combo was annoying for a good 2 turns I believe (with 5 players, it's a long time) but I managed to come up with To the Slaughter and he had no creature on his board.
Overall, I think your suggestions are great...the deck is clearly lacking purpose and needs to come up with some great synergies or some decent combos. I'm willing to give a try to Grasp of Fate, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, Sun Titan and Myriad Landscape...assuming I can get my hands on the cards. I'm a bit doubtful about the Landscapes though...they give colorless while I heavily need colored mana, they come into play tapped and the lands it fetches also comes into play tapped =/ ...all that work to net me only 1 more mana than an ordinary Plains. Even when I bring it back with my titan, it will be tapped and I will have to wait for a turn to play with it. Shouldn't I play Burnished Hart instead ?
Horizon Canopy is just too expensive for me...especially considering the minimal impact it will have on my deck.
I think that Balance would be a good card in the deck, considering that i dont mind discarding cantrip cards and that I rely on enchantments that wont be "equalized" by the balance.
This deck used to run Show and Tell and Defense of the Heart but it wasnt working well.
I dont need the Sylvan Scrying to try to get my Forbidden Orchard. I usually play this deck in multiplayer games situation and there is always someone daring enough (or stupid enough ?) to play a creature when I have Oath of Druids in play =) ...the orchard allows me to continue feeding creatures to that player so i can continue to trigger the oath at every turn (or trigger multiple oaths).
I didnt think about Terminus...it's true that this card would fit way better in the deck...ensuring protection until I can play Oath or Eureka...I'll try to fit two of them in there. A Balance with two lands in play would have a bigger impact though ;P
Parallax Wave is usually a game finisher...I remove my opponent's defense and finish him...or it can allow me to save my creatures in a Wrath of God...I like the multiple options that this card gives me...but it's true that 4 is a big cost in this deck. I do like the fact that I can play it in my Eureka though =/
I thought about Sakura-Tribe Elder as well...helping me get lands and allowing me to shuffle my deck...but then I thought about the face I would make should I reveal one of these when triggering the Oath of Druids ...would almost be as bad as the previous version of this deck, which had 2 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn in it...I already had an Emrakul in play and I revealed my second when I triggered my Oath...doh ! ;P
EDIT: Oops...I am already running Balance in the deck...I didnt notice ;P