Aggravated Assault and Sunbird's are amazing value pieces but they aren't helping me win the game which is what I want to do now. Speedng up my clock would be great.
It That Betrays will help me finish the game; hell, it could assemble a combo based off of all of my opponent's permanents. Rubblehulk is to surprise Bloodrush someone to death.
Stolen Identity is cool but 6 mana Sorcery is a big ask for something that isn't saving my bacon. Dig Through Time can be played at any time, lets me dig deep and is easily reduced while hitting hard with Vial Smasher.
[/spoiler]Fauna Shaman will help tutor up Creatures I need. Skullclamp got axed because it wasn't drawing me cards anymore, it was an artifact of when the deck had a lot of X/1s that probably Ramped me on ETB.
I lived the dream and got a Helm of the Hose on Ruric Thar, turns out dreams can be nightmares. The game came to screeching halt as I couldn't get in anywhere and no one could cast spells lest they take 6 Ruric Thar triggers. One Ruric Thar is enough, it makes people need to answer him with Noncreature Spells and he punishes them. This is why I'm dropping in a lot of draw with this update. I want to be drawing so many cards, making plenty of land drops that my opponents must cast spells instead of sit there to the hostage of death. With that in mind, I cut Helm and Godo who tutors for it.
Garruk's Packleader goes in as he triggers off of most of the Creatures. I've put in Stormkirk Occultist as a way to punch in with a small trampler who triggers the Packleader. I've found that this deck doesn't really care if something 'good' gets Exiled from Outpost Siege, as the idea is to keep churning out threats so my opponents cast spells which Ruric Thar punishes them for doing that. Occultist is another way to get those extra land drops and other spells.
I think I have enough lifegain in the deck, so I added even more draw with Guardian Project.
If I want to Ramp, I should have Terrain Generator. I think its potential makes it pass the Phyrexian Arena test.
I like Dawn of the Dead but it is admittedly overcosted for what this deck is trying to do. I have been thinking of cutting it but the amount of times people will sandbag Stifles to keep Marchesa in the graveyard kept me from doing that. The LGS had a sale and I decided to add Nicol Bolas as he can resurrect Marchesa, he has a way to deal with Planeswalkers if I don't want to swing at them and he's a draw engine.
I did think of cutting Consecrated Sphinx and Shifting Shadow. Sphinx because it doesn't do as well as it would if it were in a Control deck. If a Control deck manages to stick a Sphinx, they manage to go so far ahead. In comparison, this deck's draw is more lacklustre. I decided against that because Sphinx is still really good. The reason why I wanted to cut Shifting Shadow is that it never did what is was supposed to do, in that it would always get removed. While that is disappointing, I thought about it and realized that it's such a threatening card that my opponent's must answer it. That's what made me keep the Aura.
Out of everything else, Dawn of the Dead was the most similar to form and function. I can also loop Nicol Bolas if I name Dragons with Metallic Mimic to strip my opponents for their hands.
After seeing what Tithe does in other decks, I'm certain it has a home in Jodah as part of the 'Haymaker Tribal' that the deck is apart of. Progenitus is pretty silly if it's cheated out but otherwise it is not worth the cost.
I found I needed less draw and more Instants, especially ones I could cheat out, so I put in a bunch of defensive options that will cost me very little and make Vial Smasher happy with their CMC.
On the haste enablers you should checkout Rhythm of the wild (great for protecting vaevictis when you cast him AND gives him haste) and Xenagos, god of revels. I have been eyeing Dragon Breath but can't find a slot for it to take,however, I am also trying out Arlinn Kord/Arlinn, embraced by the moon for some new spice atm(haste enabler, token generator, and removal/board pump if you flip her).
I cut Birthing Pod because I don't have a curve that can support it, the deck mostly poops out tokens for fodder instead of Creatures. I tried Haunted Crossroads but I didn't like it. To be fair, I got lucky and have a Volrath's Stronghold in the deck which is a fairly low opportunity cost way of getting the same effect. I am pretty happy with how Hasty Asmadi is in my list. The only thing I can think of is to perhaps add Oblivion Stone as another Wrath.
You are right about the Oblivion stone. I am playing an all-permanents build now and have been feeling like I needed more ways to wipe the board.
One card that I miss which works really good with the lands package is crop rotation. It gives you the ability of instant speed: grave hate, regeneration, recur a creature to top of your deck, ramp(with land that taps for more than 2), or color fixing at it's worst.
I'm probably going to go more permanent based as well. Latest changes:
Curse is a permanent and will let me negotiate better with other players, if they attack the Cursed player I can eat their Gold so they don't need to worry about losing permanents. Negotiating with players has drastically increased the deck's win rate, as I don't immediately go into Archenemy but can use my Commander as a scalpel against the perceived threat.
Trying Guardian Project out, cutting Outpost Siege because I don't like that I may have a card get Exiled with an untimely trigger.
Terrain Generator can Ramp me more than Temple of the False God. Also, I considered Temple to be a Ramp piece instead of a Land, so in a fashion I gained a Land.
I realized that the only way I could fetch duals is with Wood Elves who cannot grab the Blood Crypt. After looking through my pips, I decided to cut for a Forest.
Selvala is Ramp, Draw and pseudo-Group Hug which the deck kind of does, just to steer people away. The Ripjaw Raptor was mostly a bad block, not a draw engine, so Selvala will help with that. Also, with the various Untap effects, I can really take advantage of multiple activations.
Champion felt like it never had a good reason to Exert, I don't have enough Creatures to let that get setup. Constant Mists protects my face.
Quest for Renewal goes in as a way to take advantage of some of the tappers I've added, as well as covering Token and Non-Token Creatures which Always Watching didn't. Going from 1G from 1WW will also make it easier to cast.
Explosive Vegetation is probably the worst Ramp spell in the deck, so it got axed for Smothering Tithe.
I wanted more utility lands to take advantage of Seedborn Muse or other effects. There's plenty of interesting Nonbasics in any standard match, so Thespian's Stage will take advantage of that. Mikokoro is some draw as the deck felt a little light.
Right now there's a bunch of cards that are kind of awkward, I can't quite put them in a place until the deck gets more of an identity. I probably want more Instants for interaction, so I might want to get rid of Hull Breach. The deck isn't controlly enough to justify the windup time of Assemble the Legion. Aurelia, the Warleader is sometimes difficult to cast so I am thinking of whether I should keep her, but she's another way to cheat 'Vigilance' with my Creatures.
Was just thinking how cool it would be to have black in this kind of deck so you could play Archetype of Finality, vigilance and deathtouch make quite a nice wall. Saskia could head that, but Saskia is playing different politics than I think you're wanting here.
Funny you should say that, Saskia the Unyielding was the deck's previous iteration but I realized I couldn't make it work with the amount of fixing plus utility the deck required. I decided on Gahiji next for the Vigilance deck.
Yeah, definitely underrating Astral Slide. That's one of the few decks I took apart not because I was dissatisfied but because it's win percentage was too high. If you have access to Green, you may want to consider Life from the Loam and Tilling Treefolk as ways to continually recycle your Cycling Lands. Eternal Witness and other Regrows will be important, especially if someone nukes your important pieces.
I think Reaper King is a great suggestion, though adding Xenograft and all that might be too much. On the other hand, I can almost salivate over the thought of blocking with Gonti, Lord of Luxury, Sliding him out, blow something up on end step when he returns and take a look at the top four of an opponent's deck. But my inner bad player always dreams of the very best results, I've learned to smother them and put in more realistic cards.
Here's the deck if you want to crib some notes. The next bit of improvement with the deck was adding Perplexing Chimera to gain control of various spells and slide him out on end step to get him back. It would be an extra layer to protect my Slide from kill spells. Another addition would be Glen Elendra Archmage for pretty much the same reason and if I were made of money Gilded Drake as well.
Part of me wanted to make a Skybind Slide deck but I think that's just cramming too much into one deck.
I'm a huge fan of Gahiji... Enjoy the well-balanced look of your build. Always Watching is a card I keep forgetting about and very much need to play with.
Many steal stuff decks in your meta? I've had Gahiji stolen and cloned and I'd be tempted to put Homeward Path in here, though your colorless land count is already pretty high. Heroic Intervention also saves you from theft and cloning, but something else wouldn't hurt. Teferi's Veil would be ideal here, but not a cheap card. Ghostway maybe?
Enough enchantments to make Sphere of Safety worthwhile, to help protect your walkers? Yeah, I know vigilance also does this, but might be worth a slot.
Cool deck!
Thanks.
I am running a bit more coloured lands than usual, a Homeward Path isn't a bad idea. I was thinking of Mikokoro, Center of the Sea as another way to draw cards with low investment.
I'm actually a little conflicted on Always Watching, as I've added a lot of token makers since the first build. Suddenly I'm thinking should I run more generic Vigilance givers or add Intangible Virtue or something. Another overlooked Vigilance card, aside from lyonheart pointing out Reconnaissance, is Seedborn Muse.
I'm not a big fan of Ghostly Prison effects because they signal to any good opponent that you want to be left alone for some time, so they decide to not leave you alone and they can do that by paying some mana. I prefer subtler ways to make people go somewhere else, as then it isn't as obvious, such as a Marchesa's Decree or Dread. That way they can still hit me if they want to but I'm still appearing as unthreatening as before without such a 'large' obstacle. It's enough to make someone go after an easier target but not too much that alarm bells start ringing.
I dislike how much a Wheel costs and how casual this deck is. Swapping out a much cheaper card. Maybe if I treat this deck more seriously would I consider putting my Wheel back in.
The Slumlord didn't really impress me, a lot of the things that died were Commanders, noncreatures or tokens that I fed to Asmadi. I decided to put in a five drop that will draw me cards no matter if it is a token or cast with Garruk's Packleader.
Lifecrafter's OK but it can do better in a different deck which is the real reason I am shuffling it. With the Packleader taking up a draw spot, I decided to fill this with utility in the form of Aggravated Assault. We'll see how it'll play out now that the deck is much more aggressive.
Luxury Suite isn't fetchable so a City of Brss goes in to fix my colours further.
I dislike Harmonize, I rather have a reliable draw engine in its place. Since the deck has Vigilance to protect the Planeswalkers, I added Vital Force who will be one hell of a draw engine if I can protect her for the Ult. Since that's the main job, should be relatively easy.
Currently I am debating whether to add Nesting Dragon due to Flying Vigilance being quite strong once those eggs hatch. Others are all of the two man token Creatures just to swarm the board: Leonin Warleader, Hero of Bladehold and Hanweir Garrison. Another thought is to use Oketra's Monument to junk up the board with Vigilance Creatures.
1 Rubblehulk
1 It That Betrays
1 Aggravated Assault
1 Sunbird's Invocation
It That Betrays will help me finish the game; hell, it could assemble a combo based off of all of my opponent's permanents. Rubblehulk is to surprise Bloodrush someone to death.
1 Dig Through Time
1 Stolen Identity
1 Fauna Shaman
1 Stromkirk Occultist
1 Garruk's Packleader
1 Guardian Project
1 Terrain Generator
1 Skullclamp
1 Godo, Bandit Warlord
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Helm of the Host
1 Forest
I lived the dream and got a Helm of the Hose on Ruric Thar, turns out dreams can be nightmares. The game came to screeching halt as I couldn't get in anywhere and no one could cast spells lest they take 6 Ruric Thar triggers. One Ruric Thar is enough, it makes people need to answer him with Noncreature Spells and he punishes them. This is why I'm dropping in a lot of draw with this update. I want to be drawing so many cards, making plenty of land drops that my opponents must cast spells instead of sit there to the hostage of death. With that in mind, I cut Helm and Godo who tutors for it.
Garruk's Packleader goes in as he triggers off of most of the Creatures. I've put in Stormkirk Occultist as a way to punch in with a small trampler who triggers the Packleader. I've found that this deck doesn't really care if something 'good' gets Exiled from Outpost Siege, as the idea is to keep churning out threats so my opponents cast spells which Ruric Thar punishes them for doing that. Occultist is another way to get those extra land drops and other spells.
I think I have enough lifegain in the deck, so I added even more draw with Guardian Project.
If I want to Ramp, I should have Terrain Generator. I think its potential makes it pass the Phyrexian Arena test.
1 Nicol Bolas, the Ravager
1 Dawn of the Dead
I did think of cutting Consecrated Sphinx and Shifting Shadow. Sphinx because it doesn't do as well as it would if it were in a Control deck. If a Control deck manages to stick a Sphinx, they manage to go so far ahead. In comparison, this deck's draw is more lacklustre. I decided against that because Sphinx is still really good. The reason why I wanted to cut Shifting Shadow is that it never did what is was supposed to do, in that it would always get removed. While that is disappointing, I thought about it and realized that it's such a threatening card that my opponent's must answer it. That's what made me keep the Aura.
Out of everything else, Dawn of the Dead was the most similar to form and function. I can also loop Nicol Bolas if I name Dragons with Metallic Mimic to strip my opponents for their hands.
1 Smothering Tithe
1 Progenitus
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Swamp
1 Lethargy Trap
1 Snuff Out
1 Submerge
1 Curse of Verbosity
1 Mirage Mirror
1 Unwinding Clock
1 Curse of Opulence
1 Guardian Project
1 Terrain Generator
1 Forest
1 Pir's Whim
1 Outpost Siege
1 Temple of the False God
1 Blood Crypt
Trying Guardian Project out, cutting Outpost Siege because I don't like that I may have a card get Exiled with an untimely trigger.
Terrain Generator can Ramp me more than Temple of the False God. Also, I considered Temple to be a Ramp piece instead of a Land, so in a fashion I gained a Land.
I realized that the only way I could fetch duals is with Wood Elves who cannot grab the Blood Crypt. After looking through my pips, I decided to cut for a Forest.
1 Selvala, Explorer Returned
1 Constant Mists
1 Quest for Renewal
1 Smothering Tithe
1 Thespian's Stage
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
1 Windswept Heath
1 Ripjaw Raptor
1 Champion of Rhonas
1 Always Watching
1 Explosive Vegetation
2 Mountain
1 Plains
Champion felt like it never had a good reason to Exert, I don't have enough Creatures to let that get setup. Constant Mists protects my face.
Quest for Renewal goes in as a way to take advantage of some of the tappers I've added, as well as covering Token and Non-Token Creatures which Always Watching didn't. Going from 1G from 1WW will also make it easier to cast.
Explosive Vegetation is probably the worst Ramp spell in the deck, so it got axed for Smothering Tithe.
I wanted more utility lands to take advantage of Seedborn Muse or other effects. There's plenty of interesting Nonbasics in any standard match, so Thespian's Stage will take advantage of that. Mikokoro is some draw as the deck felt a little light.
Right now there's a bunch of cards that are kind of awkward, I can't quite put them in a place until the deck gets more of an identity. I probably want more Instants for interaction, so I might want to get rid of Hull Breach. The deck isn't controlly enough to justify the windup time of Assemble the Legion. Aurelia, the Warleader is sometimes difficult to cast so I am thinking of whether I should keep her, but she's another way to cheat 'Vigilance' with my Creatures.
I think Reaper King is a great suggestion, though adding Xenograft and all that might be too much. On the other hand, I can almost salivate over the thought of blocking with Gonti, Lord of Luxury, Sliding him out, blow something up on end step when he returns and take a look at the top four of an opponent's deck. But my inner bad player always dreams of the very best results, I've learned to smother them and put in more realistic cards.
Virulent Plague is a non-bo with Drake Haven. It's easier to abuse Archfiend of Ifnir.
Monastery Siege is a free 'cycle' discard outlet. If you're looking for more in that range, I highly recommend Unfulfilled Desires, that frequently won me the game if I got it out with Faith of the Devoted.
Here's the deck if you want to crib some notes. The next bit of improvement with the deck was adding Perplexing Chimera to gain control of various spells and slide him out on end step to get him back. It would be an extra layer to protect my Slide from kill spells. Another addition would be Glen Elendra Archmage for pretty much the same reason and if I were made of money Gilded Drake as well.
Part of me wanted to make a Skybind Slide deck but I think that's just cramming too much into one deck.
I am running a bit more coloured lands than usual, a Homeward Path isn't a bad idea. I was thinking of Mikokoro, Center of the Sea as another way to draw cards with low investment.
I'm actually a little conflicted on Always Watching, as I've added a lot of token makers since the first build. Suddenly I'm thinking should I run more generic Vigilance givers or add Intangible Virtue or something. Another overlooked Vigilance card, aside from lyonheart pointing out Reconnaissance, is Seedborn Muse.
I'm not a big fan of Ghostly Prison effects because they signal to any good opponent that you want to be left alone for some time, so they decide to not leave you alone and they can do that by paying some mana. I prefer subtler ways to make people go somewhere else, as then it isn't as obvious, such as a Marchesa's Decree or Dread. That way they can still hit me if they want to but I'm still appearing as unthreatening as before without such a 'large' obstacle. It's enough to make someone go after an easier target but not too much that alarm bells start ringing.
1 Lifecrafter's Bestiary
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Garruk's Packleader
1 Aggravated Assault
1 City of Brass
1 Ogre Slumlord
1 Lifecrafter's Bestiary
1 Luxury Suite
Lifecrafter's OK but it can do better in a different deck which is the real reason I am shuffling it. With the Packleader taking up a draw spot, I decided to fill this with utility in the form of Aggravated Assault. We'll see how it'll play out now that the deck is much more aggressive.
Luxury Suite isn't fetchable so a City of Brss goes in to fix my colours further.
1 Nissa, Vital Force
1 Harmonize
Some other cards I'm looking at cutting: Champion of Rhonas, Ripjaw Raptor and Wheel of Fortune. Wheel because it is pretty expensive, the other two are underperforming.
Currently I am debating whether to add Nesting Dragon due to Flying Vigilance being quite strong once those eggs hatch. Others are all of the two man token Creatures just to swarm the board: Leonin Warleader, Hero of Bladehold and Hanweir Garrison. Another thought is to use Oketra's Monument to junk up the board with Vigilance Creatures.