Welcome back one and all! This past week I finished the construction of a deck I’ve been building for a while. I played it virtually all night at the multiplayer table, and it worked a lot better than I hoped. At first it looks like a pile of junk, but as you take a look under the hood, you find some really powerful card interactions. Plus, the deck plays differently in every game.
I call the deck The Nexus, and it may become one of my better decks in recent history. It’s a blast to play. As an oversized highlander deck that smashes together six tribes, you wonder, “How does it work?” Don’t worry, you’ll see…
The Nexus began back when I had a deck that I called the JV Squad. At the time, I had a huge 800 card or so highlander deck called Abe’s Deck of Happiness and Joy (I still do… it’s just a lot larger now). I decided to create a large highlander deck using no cards other than basic lands that were found in the actual H&J deck. Sometimes cards would be promoted from the JV Squad or demoted down to it. It was a lot of fun, and I had them both together for a couple of years before stripping apart the JV Squad and adding a couple hundred of its cards to the H&J.
I had this cool nifty combo in the JV Squad with a Moggcatcher. I’d use a Moggcatcher to search up a Goblin Assassin. When it came into play, everyone had to flip a coin, and if it came up tails, you had to sac a creature of your choice. Even if I lost, I’d sac another creature. Then I’d search up a Goblin Marshal, which brings two goblin tokens with him. Three more flips ensued. Then, assuming I lost a flip, I’d sac the Goblin Marshal, who brings two more goblin tokens to the party when he dies, creating two more flips. By now, most players are devoid of creatures, but for those who are not, I can search up a Siege-Gang Commander. From there, I’m in a pretty powerful position to win the game.
I decided to build a deck around this combo. To get the Moggcatcher in play, one should note that it is a four-mana mercenary. Therefore, there are several mercenary options to search out a Moggcatcher, than can, in turn, search out the goblin combo.
From there, the deck just exploded. Here is the current version:
Creatures (47)
- 1 Goblin King
- 1 Ramosian Sergeant
- 1 Elvish Champion
- 1 Birds of Paradise
- 1 Moggcatcher
- 1 Lord of Atlantis
- 1 Whipcorder
- 1 Merfolk Looter
- 1 Quirion Elves
- 1 Gravedigger
- 1 Cateran Slaver
- 1 Skyshroud Poacher
- 1 Ambassador Laquatus
- 1 Doomed Necromancer
- 1 Undead Warchief
- 1 Siege-Gang Commander
- 1 Lord of the Undead
- 1 Viridian Shaman
- 1 Brass Herald
- 1 Proteus Machine
- 1 Fierce Empath
- 1 Mistform Wakecaster
- 1 Mistform Ultimus
- 1 Goblin Turncoat
- 1 Goblin Dynamo
- 1 Goblin Assassin
- 1 Elvish Soultiller
- 1 Mistform Wall
- 1 Mistform Mutant
- 1 Mistform Dreamer
- 1 Imagecrafter
- 1 Festering Goblin
- 1 Vodalian Illusionist
- 1 Silent Assassin
- 1 Cateran Overlord
- 1 Cateran Enforcer
- 1 Arms Dealer
- 1 Goblin Marshal
- 1 Seahunter
- 1 Rathi Assassin
- 1 Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero
- 1 Jolting Merfolk
- 1 Defiant Vanguard
- 1 Shield Dancer
- 1 Vodalian Zombie
- 1 Nullmage Shepherd
- 1 Amrou Scout
Lands (35)
- 1 Brushland
- 3 Forest
- 3 Plains
- 1 Sulfurous Springs
- 1 Adarkar Wastes
- 3 Swamp
- 3 Mountain
- 3 Island
- 1 Rith's Grove
- 1 Dromar's Cavern
- 1 Crosis's Catacombs
- 1 Mossfire Valley
- 1 Unholy Grotto
- 1 Shivan Oasis
- 1 Salt Marsh
- 1 Elfhame Palace
- 1 Yavimaya Coast
- 1 Shivan Reef
- 1 Overgrown Tomb
- 1 Blood Crypt
- 1 Hallowed Fountain
- 1 Arctic Flats
- 1 Highland Weald
- 1 Tresserhorn Sinks
- 1 Swarmyard
Spells (9)
As you can see, the deck is currently at ninety cards. The land base, by the way, is made up mostly of extra non-basic lands I had laying around and does not represent the perfect manabase that I would create if I could.
The Nexus is the interaction of several different tribes; specifically Goblins, Mercenaries, Elves, Merfolk, Zombies, and Rebels. This is not a catch-all for every tribe. Instead, each tribe has been carefully selected.
Rebels can search up a Skyshroud Poacher, which means that Rebels can lead into Elves. Mercenaries can lead into Goblins, as we’ve seen. They can also search out Seahunter, which adds in the Merfolk. The smallest tribe is the Zombies, included because there was some crossover already with established tribes (Vodalian Zombie, Festering Goblin) and I wanted to play a Gravedigger. Plus there’s this card called Dralnu’s Crusade.
You’ll note the distinct lack of Soldiers, Wizards, Birds (as a tribe, although there is a Birds of Paradise in the deck), Beasts, Clerics, Kavu, Samurai, and Spirits. The only two cards that specifically do not match the theme (BoP and Gilded Lotus) are for mana.
The interaction between the several tribes is very interesting. Let’s take a look at each tribe as a section of the deck.
The Goblins
As mentioned above, the goblins were the original idea behind the deck. The Goblin Assassin / Goblin Marshal / Siege-Gang Commander trio can be very devastating to creature-based decks. Other goblins are nice adjuncts to this strategy. Search up an Arms Dealer to have your goblins sac to take down creatures more easily than a Siege-Gang. Grab a Goblin Dynamo in order to Blaze-kill a player. You can even search out a Goblin King for bigger goblins.
The goblins have two cross-tribe creatures. The Goblin Turncoat is also a Mercenary, while the Festering Goblin is also a Zombie. The Goblins are one of two tribes that have two pumpers (Dralnu’s Crusade and Goblin King). Since the Crusade turns them into zombies, they also benefit from Lord of the Undead and Undead Warchief.
The Zombies
Since there are so few zombies, it’s probably best just to discuss them now while talking about the interaction between goblins and zombies. The only non-lord, non-dual creature type Zombie in the entire deck is the Gravedigger. With so many creatures, Gravedigger is quite powerful, and just one of two graveyard recursion creatures in the deck. However, the combination of the Lord of the Undead and Unholy Grotto ideally will create a nice Gravedigger recursion combo that will pull a lot of creatures out of the deck.
Ideally, at least. In reality, the Grotto probably isn’t good enough to remain in the deck after playtesting.
Like the goblins, the zombies have two pumpers – the Lord of the Undead and the Undead Warchief. These are more for pumping Dralnu’s Crusade goblins than the handful of zombies in the deck. They are also good for Conspiracy or Mistform critters.
The Mercenaries
The mercenaries interact with goblins in two ways. Through Goblin Turncoat, they have a dual-tribe creature. That’s not much of an interaction, but I wanted to get it out of the way. Then they can search a-go-go, including the searching up of the Moggcatcher.
On their own, mercenaries aren’t bad. In fact, they may be the best tribe in the deck. They provide the deck with several removal options in Rathi Assassin and Silent Assassin. The Cateran Overlord is a 7/5 beater with a modest form of regeneration, while the Cateran Slaver is a solid 5/5 with swampwalk. Even the Cateran Enforcer is a 4/3 with fear. Each of these can tap to bring a mercenary into play, which can include the other mercenary beaters, mercenary removal guys, or Seahunter and Moggcatcher.
All that is pretty good, but there is another mercenary you can search up – the Doomed Necromancer. Along with the Gravedigger, this is the only graveyard reanimation creature in the deck. One trick I like to do is tap a Cateran Slaver, or Overlord or Enforcer, just before it dies to some targeted removal and pull up a Doomed Necromancer, then use the Necromancer to bring back the dead mercenary.
Don’t ignore the power of the two assassins. They can really help you control a table.
The Rebels
After a close look at the mercenaries, let’s hit the Rebels next. The Rebels also have a small chain, from Ramosian Sergeant to Amrou Scout to Defiant Vanguard and Lin Sivvi. Once you hit Lin Sivvi, you can pull out any rebel you desire.
Once again we have some defensive creatures here like Defiant Vanguard, Shield Dancer, and Whipcorder. Rebels really only gets played for two reasons: to get elves, and to get several protective creatures. After that, it’s a pretty boring tribe.
The Elves
This was a hard tribe to figure out. Playing the Poacher is an easy decision. After that, what do you do? I threw in Quirion Elves to help out my mana. The Shaman is a removal spell. The Nullmage Shepherd is recurring removal, which is even better. The Fierce Empath can tutor for a large creature. And then you add an Elvish Champion and a Soultiller.
These are simple choices from the many possibilities. I went for a swiss-army-knife selection of elves, giving me a variety of choices for the deck, from a beater that shuffles creatures into your library to some artifact and enchantment removal and a minor tutor. This is all pretty straightforward stuff.
After that, I wondered if I should keep up the tribe theme with Elves. Timberwatch Elves would make creatures bigger, Wellwisher would give me some life, and Priest of Titania would bring additional mana. I ultimately chose to steer clear of these additional elves instead using them to round out my needs as opposed to giving me more tribal puzzles to solve.
The Merfolk
The last normal tribe are the merfolk. Led by a Seahunter and a Lord of Atlantis, these fish are content to pitch in occasionally. I really like the Jolting Merfolk because a lot of people do not expect it. It’s great to use the Seahunter to grab a Jolting Merfolk and toss it in play, pull off the counters to tap a bunch of critters, and then swing for damage. It will also lock down Akroma to the turns you need to find a better answer (Whipcorder, Vodalian Illusionist).
I also decided to go with Ambassador Laquatus. It’s nice to have an alternate kill condition in the deck. Search him up and then mill a few times to guarantee a quicker mill-kill. He’s also a great choice to search up and then immediately use after someone casts Vampiric Tutor or any of the other “put on top of library” tutors.
Aside from that, the merfolk weren’t really hitting a home run with their creatures. I could throw in a Seasinger or Reef Shaman. Maybe a Gaea’s Skyfolk would be nice. However, I prefer to just stick with the merfolk we already have.
The Helpers
Aside from the six tribes, this deck also has a lot of helpers. Let’s take a look at them:
I didn’t play every Mistform creature in the game, choosing to skip Mistform Sliver, Skyswift, Shrieker, Warchief, Skyreaver and Stalker. The five Mistform that I do use fit into the deck pretty well.
Mistform Wall makes a great blocker in a deck that can really use it. The Mistform Ultimus is one of the best creatures in the deck, getting pumped by every lord I play. The Mistform Dreamer is a cheap flyer, unlike the larger flyers in the Mistform family. Mistform Mutant is great because it can turn other creatures into different creature types. And Mistform Wakecaster is great because it can turn the entire team into a creature type.
All of these have a great purpose in the deck, instead of generic Mistform critters. If I were to toss in more Mistform creatures, I’d probably look at the Warchief and Skyswift because of their cheaper cost and actual impact on the board.
I have three other non-Mistform creatures that support the theme in the deck. The first is a Proteus Machine. It doesn’t look like much, but the ability to permanently become the creature type of whatever lord is currently in play is pretty powerful. I like to make it an insect and then use it as a great blocker without worry (Swarmyard regenerates it). I pulled off the Swarmyard / Proteus Machine trick twice in our multiplayer games.
The Brass Herald is golden because it is an additional lord for whatever I currently have in play, plus it helps me to find more creatures. That’s a great combination.
The third creature is the Imagecrafter, which can change a creature type with a simple tapping motion. By now, it should be obvious just how good he is, especially since he doesn’t use any mana.
Coat of Arms is a great tribal helper. That’s obvious, so I’ll move on. Unnatural Selection is one of the best card sin the deck, and every single time I’ve played it, it’s an MVP. It works well with so many other cards.
Peer Pressure is a surprise that opponent’s often do not expect. You can either turn a few of your creatures into the type of the creature you’d like to steal, or you can turn several opposing creatures into a type you have multiples of. Either way, it’s pretty good to grab extra creatures for your team.
Artificial Evolution is solid because I have used it on other creatures cleverly. I had out a merfolk and a Coat of Arms when an opponent played a Deranged Hermit. I Artificial Evolutioned the Hermit’s saproling love to Merfolk so that I could join in. Now he had Merfolk tokens and gave them +1/+1. He didn’t want to kill my with my Coat of Arms and Merfolk, so he began attacking others. In a later game, I prevented Scion of the Ur-Dragon from getting dragons by Artificial Evolutioning it to read Apes. Of course, I’ve also used it to change a lord to a different creature type I currently have. Overall, it’s a pretty useful card, rarely sitting in my hand for long.
Standardize is a good card for use with Peer Pressure, or to give all of my creatures the type of a lord for a major attack. In either of these roles, it’s pretty good. Outside of these roles, it has a more limited usefulness.
Shared Triumph is just a boring pumper enchantment for the right tribe of your choice when it gets played. Nothing fancy here.
I could write a whole article on how Conspiracy interacts with the deck. Conspiracy zombies, and now Unholy Grottos and Lord of the Undead recur every creature. Conspiracy goblins, and now Moggcatcher can tap for three mana and search into play any creature from your deck (ditto Seahunter, Skyshroud Poacher, or even Lin Sivvi). Make all of your creatures permanently pumped from whatever lord you have in play. I used this with great success, and it is another MVP.
The Swarmyard has proved very useful, and I’ve used it with the aforementioned Proteus Machine plus various Mistform creatures. In fact, I’d toss in more if I could. Too bad the deck is highlander.
With 91 cards in the deck, there is room for nine additional cards. (Why 100 cards? That way I only have to buy two packs of sleeves.) This deck is limited by my cardpool. What would I play if I could toss in any cards, regardless of cost? Here are other cards I’d consider:
Cho-Manno, Revolutionary – I only have one and he’s in my H&J deck. He’d be a great infinite blocker.
Eternal Witness – I have eight or nine, but they are all in decks. It’d be nice to throw one into the elf team.
Deadapult – Plays well with Dralnu’s Crusade, works wonders with Gravedigger and either recursion method, or just a Festering Goblin and a Lord of the Undead.
Deranged Hermit – Again, I only have one and it is in use. The squirrel tokens can be regenerated with Swarmyard in addition to the normal collection of 2/2 squirrels. The Hermit makes a great Poacher target.
Rootwater Thief – Another merfolk that plays with opponent’s library is the Rootwater Thief. Taking out specific cards can really help in certain situations.
Rappelling Scouts – There is yet another stall rebel, after the ones already played and Cho-Manno. Maybe you’d want to look at this.
Lawbringer, Lightbringer – If there aren’t enough rebel answers to opposing creatures in your deck, you can toss in the Bringers of Law and Light. This is a bit more limited, so I doubt I’ll run them, but hey, they aren’t that bad.
Mistform Warchief, Skyswift – Mistforms are pretty good, and these two aren’t as bad as some of the others that won’t get played. The Mistform Warchief’s tap ability makes it good for playing stuff for one less mana, but junk in changing type and then attacking with a pump or two.
The Elven Three (Priest of Titania, Timberwatch Elves, Wellwisher) – If you want to hurt your head with all of the tribal implications of your deck in combination with Mistforms, and searchers, and more, feel free to experiment with these three critters.
Goblin Matron – Much like the Fierce Empath is a creature tutor, so too is the Goblin Matron. Need a goblin? Get a Matron and find what you need. I don’t play this currently because, if I can search up a Matron, then I can search up what the Matron gives me, so this would be better as a card played from the hand.
Goblin Recruiter, Wizard, Shrine, Caves, Warchief, Burrows, Warrens, etc – At the end of the day, I can only include so many goblin enablers. There are a lot of cards out there that help out the goblins, and I only want so many. Each of these cards had various reasons for not being included; usually not being powerful enough to toss in. For the same reason, you don’t see Zombie Master and Zombie Trailblazer or Eladamri, Lord of Leaves.
…
With that, I’ve given you the basics behind The Nexus, the most recent multiplayer deck I’ve built for my casual nights. So far, it’s played very well, and won a few games. Hopefully, it’ll keep up the pressure and keep up with the Akromas.
I hope that all of your tribal concoctions work out!
Until later,