With the final major tournaments of 2011 behind us and almost three months of Innistrad Standard under our belts, the metagame is finally going to slow down a bit (in terms of its evolution). With a relatively stable metagame on the horizon and no major events for a few weeks, this is a prime opportunity to doing a little recreational brewing. This is not just brain candy, though. By exploring strategies that haven’t already been fully developed, we get to improve our game in a number of ways, as well as get an idea of what to be on the lookout for in Dark Ascension.
As a reminder, the metagame we have to deal with is:
1. Wolf Run
2. Illusions
3. Blue Control
4. Haunt Aggro (Tempered Steel, W/u Humans, or U/W Blade)
5. Mono-Red
Last week I asked for suggestions on underrated cards to work with this week. When it comes to inventing new technology, it isn’t just about power or synergy. Underrated cards are more likely to be the cards that the format isn’t set up to beat. Fair warning: the decks this week are going to be real rough. When we have the luxury of time, Brainstorm doesn’t always need (or want to be) constrained by “good ideas,” let alone already flawless execution.
Up first:
Mulch, Jace, Memory Adept, Bonehoard
While there is certainly no reason these cards need to be used together, I know that the Dredgevine concept is one that feels like it could potentially hit the big time if it gets a little support in Dark Ascension. Mulch is not only for dedicated graveyard decks, however. Even if you just play 23-24 land and 8-10 flashback cards, you are already talking about turning it into a very low cost draw-two. I could imagine a deck with Chandra’s Phoenix, Geistflame, Devil’s Play, and Desperate Ravings that used Mulch as a better than draw-two, likely feeding some sort of a Primeval Titan endgame. The question, of course, becomes why is this better than Wolf Run like people already play?
As for Jace, Memory Adept, he is a fine card drawer in its own right. There isn’t nearly the competition at five that there is at four or six. No question, Jace is a worthwhile option just as another threat that can’t be Doom Bladed. What is really interesting, however, is reflecting on how to use Jace’s 0 ability to the fullest. One possibility is to play some sort of turbo mill deck, with Shriekhorns, Grindclocks, Ghoulcaller’s Bells, Dream Twists, and maybe even Surge Node. While that is cute and fun, it sounds like a pretty awful Lava Spike deck (as far as Lava Spike decks go).
Bonehoard is a little stranger. You’d think it would have improved with all this dredging going on, but so many of the best dredge cards (cards that mill yourself or incentivize you to mill yourself, not just the keyword) count the number of creatures in your graveyard. So many of these cards require a critical mass of creatures, non-creature cards come at a heavy premium (and there is so much competition for the relatively few slots we do have).
Here is an attempt at Dredgevine:
Creatures (22)
- 1 Llanowar Elves
- 4 Birds of Paradise
- 4 Merfolk Looter
- 1 Jace's Archivist
- 4 Boneyard Wurm
- 4 Splinterfright
- 4 Armored Skaab
Lands (12)
Spells (26)
Sideboard
As you can see, we have more enablers (Shriekhorn, Mulch, Desperate Ravings, Merfolk Looter, Armored Skaab, Jace’s Archivist) than rewards (Boneyard Wurm, Splinterfright, Spider Spawning, and Desperate Ravings). This is because we absolutely must have an enabler (and really need multiples to function) just to make our green graveyard cards do anything at all.
Why Shriekhorn? Well, with 22 creatures, you are milling an average of 2.2 creatures (as well as 0.7 flashback spells). This makes Shriekhorn nearly a cantrip that gives your graveyard creatures better than +2/+2 (and gives you extra Spiders).
I briefly tried Dream Twist, but it was just too mana intensive, compared to the marginal value of being able to mill or discard it and still mill three. Shriekhorn mills just as many cards but for a third of the cost. Ghoulcaller’s Bell is so slow, sometimes it doesn’t get you to a creature by turn two to play your Boneyard Wurm. Additionally, milling your opponent is a very real drawback.
Merfolk Looter is a great enabler for cards like Splinterfright. If the Looter lives, you are rocking and rolling anyway. If they kill it, you can play your Splinterfright and get busy (now that you have a creature in your yard).
Desperate Ravings may seem a strange splash, but it is actually exceptionally well utilized here. Mulch gives us plenty of extra lands in hand to discard. Discarding a flashback spell is excellent. Discarding creatures turns on your deck. There really are just about no bad discards, making it come close to a draw two with flashback.
As anyone that has ever drafted the Spider deck in Innistrad draft can attest, Spider Spawning can be a very potent endgame. That the Spiders have reach is actually surprisingly relevant. Trying to end the game with Spider Spawning, Boneyard Wurm, and Splinterfright is definitely clunky, but a good mix of enablers and rewards leads to a stream of undercosted threats (like a 5/5 for two, or a 5/5 trample for three that grows each turn, etc.). Get enough of that action going, and often you can just brute force people.
I don’t think Skaab Ruinator actually fits here, since he shrinks all your future Boneyard Wurms, Splinterfrights, and Spider Spawnings. That said, it may be that the correct number is one (possibly out of the board). It would give you an alternative road to victory that you can dredge into.
Gnaw to the Bone is absolutely monstrous out of the sideboard. It is very easily gain 14-20 life with a cheap flashback. That you naturally dredge into multiple copies gives you an insane Martyr of Sands style game against red (a very difficult matchup game one). The ability to gain 60 or more life leads to a lot of concessions and certainly buys enough time for Spider Spawning to take over, which can be expensive, but Mulch and Desperate Ravings help you get enough land to fuel it.
Gut Shot is also important for fighting decks that can produce fast threats (and in fact the Silent Departure or one of the Dismembers may need to become a Gut Shot). Delver of Secrets in particular can be a real pain due to our trouble blocking fliers. We do need to be careful not to sideboard out too many creatures, so that our rewards don’t pay well. I suspect we can consider boarding out Shriekhorn against red, since they are just going to burn all our guys anyway (filling our graveyard).
Jace, Memory Adept and Bonehoard do end up making an appearance but as sideboard threats against control decks (just threats besides “more” creatures). Dismember is a nod to troublesome creatures like Olivia, as is Silent Departure (which can be “tutored up” through dredging). Ancient Grudge is important against Sword of Feast and Famine and Lashwrithe, but it is also just free value with all our dredging against someone like Tempered Steel.
While Desperate Ravings is fantastic in Dredgevine, it does add a 4th color to an already inconsistent deck. What if we considered cutting it and staying BUG?
Creatures (22)
Planeswalkers (2)
Lands (8)
As you can see, the Ravings have mainly been replaced with Ponder and Jace, Memory Adept. Ponder combines so well with all the dredging, letting us take the best card, then mill the junk. Additionally, the combination of Ponder + Mulch is a good time. It is so hard to fit all the non-creatures we want, but to make room for the fourth Ponder, I think you’d have to cut Shriekhorn or an Armored Skaab/Jace’s Archivist (though that is another card I am not 100%, since it is so good against people that can’t kill it).
Jace is often going to mill yourself for 10, completely taking over the game, but sometimes just drawing an extra card (and milling yourself) is where you want to be. It is important to keep a good eye on the game state, since you may want to switch into mill-them mode at any moment. Shriekhorn and Jace can kill someone pretty fast, if they aren’t ready for it.
Up next, we have a card that hasn’t found the right home yet but is filled to the brim with potential power, Heartless Summoning. Heartless Summoning has already experienced a small amount of success in U/B Rune-Scarred Demon/Sphinx of Uthuun decks, as well as B/G Birthing Pod lists; neither appears to have what it takes to break into the mainstream, yet. The U/B list needs a better plan B for when it doesn’t have HS. The B/G list struggles from not having good one- or two-drop creatures to play (given that they plan to give all their own guys -1/-1). Our eyes should definitely be on the lookout for these types of cards in Dark Ascension.
One type of Heartless Summoning that hasn’t really seen any major tournament play but that people ask about is B/R. A Heartless B/R list seems like it is likely to function like a ramp deck with some B/R control elements. Here is a possible starting point:
Creatures (19)
- 4 Solemn Simulacrum
- 3 Phyrexian Rager
- 4 Inferno Titan
- 1 Wurmcoil Engine
- 2 Urabrask the Hidden
- 1 Entomber Exarch
- 4 Olivia Voldaren
Lands (16)
Spells (25)
The idea is to start ramping into bombs as fast as possible. Heartless Summoning is obviously ideal, though Sphere of the Suns and Solemn Simulacrum can still get you to your fatties faster. Twenty-four land with four Spheres and four Simulacrums isn’t a ton for a ramp deck, but remember, Heartless Summoning is basically a Sol Ring in here, and Rager helps.
Every creature in the deck is chosen to work well with Heartless Summoning but still pulls its weight without it. Phyrexian Rager is a reasonable two-for-one in a strategy starved for card advantage. Once you have HS, it is almost free. That it is a one-drop is actually quite valuable for our curve, since we have so many four-drops that we want to play on turn three with HS in play.
Simulacrum costing only two is amazing, as you still get full value from the land, the cantrip, and even the chump block you were planning. Creatures with enters the battlefield triggers can be just excellent with Heartless Summoning, since it is like you are getting spells that cost two less. For instance, Entomber Exarch as a discard spell is quite strong (remember, he can hit land…), but he can also be another copy of your best threat (with a 1/1 attached).
Inferno Titan is our absolute best monster to Summoning early, since the earlier you play him, the better he is against cheap creatures. Taking a page out of Lotus Cobra + Inferno Titan’s playbook, we even have Urabrask for the dream curve of turn two HS, turn three Urabrask, turn four Titan. It’s only 17 damage, but realistically it is going to completely sweep your opponent’s board and have them at a low life total facing lethal.
Olivia is extremely exciting with Heartless Summoning, since giving her -1/-1 means almost nothing. If she lives, most people can’t win. HS lets us play Olivia on turn four and shoot immediately, so as to at least get some value against opponents that will kill her. Against opponents that can’t kill her, you can actually reliably turn two Sphere or HS, then turn three Olivia, and just start spraying on turn four.
The removal isn’t too surprising, but it is worth noting that we have chosen to max on Galvanic Blast rather than splitting evenly with Doom Blade (which was my first instinct) out of curve considerations. The majority of our cards cost an even amount, so having ways to get an extra play in a turn can be huge. Additionally, we have no one-drops, so Galvanic Blast effectively costs 0 in our opener (making it better than Gut Shot). We have too much to do with our mana to want to flash back a Geistflame, and besides, metalcraft is not out of the question.
Normally B/x control decks would look to sideboard discard against decks like Wolf Run and Control, but Heartless Summoning has me wanting to try Invader Parasite. Turn two HS into turn three Acidic Slime would be awesome, and Invader Parasite has the potential to be even better (when it works). Besides, both Wolf Run and Control are very reliant on their ability to hit six mana. Parasite could be the perfect angle to attack them from (especially given how few people attack land, compared to the number that attack hands).
What about Swords on infect creatures? Mono-Green Infect with Kessig Wolf Run?
Creatures (17)
- 1 Solemn Simulacrum
- 1 Birds of Paradise
- 4 Primeval Titan
- 1 Putrefax
- 1 Blight Mamba
- 4 Necropede
- 1 Viridian Corrupter
- 4 Glistener Elf
Lands (12)
Spells (31)
Kessig Wolf Run is well known for its combination with Inkmoth Nexus, but it actually does the same trick with all infect creatures. For a deck like this to exist, it needs to have some reason why it’s better than existing Wolf Run decks. Is it a better backup plan? Does it have more threats? Is it good against control? Most likely, the answer is that this deck really is just a bad Wolf Run.
That said, if you like the types of things going on here, the game is trying to find a way to prove that this deck either does or does not have a niche.
We need to ask ourselves, what does our latest brew do that is different from the closest analogue? Always remember The Prime Directive:
“Never, ever play a bad something else.”
It isn’t always clear when something is a bad something else, but that is why one of the most important skills we can develop as deckbuilders is the ability to figure this out. Which matchups is it better in? What are its strengths compared to the popular version? What are its downsides? This doesn’t mean “What areas is this deck actually better in?” What it really means is, “What areas could this deck possibly be better in?” This is, of course, within reason, and it is an important distinction to make.
When we envision all of the ways it could possibly be better, we can start to imagine what the world would have to be like for us to want to do that. Then we can start to get a better idea of if that is the world we actually live in.
Personally, I think the more promising place to put Swords on infect creatures is in Mono-B or at the very least, B/x infect. Phyrexian Crusader, Plague Stinger, and Whispering Specter seem like such better targets. Sword of Feast and Famine is my first choice, since Body and Mind makes non-infect creatures and War and Peace does mostly irrelevant damage (and our Crusader already has “the right” protection). That said, all three of the real swords are on the table.
Interestingly, it is not out of the question for a black infect deck to use Kessig Wolf Run, if it is ok with giving up Lashwrithe.
Creatures (15)
- 1 Birds of Paradise
- 3 Primeval Titan
- 4 Plague Stinger
- 1 Putrefax
- 4 Phyrexian Crusader
- 1 Viridian Corrupter
- 1 Glistener Elf
Lands (25)
Spells (20)
The problem we are going to keep running into is that once we add Kessig Wolf Run to a deck, why aren’t we playing Primeval Titan? Once we have Primeval Titan, why aren’t we some Wolf Run Ramp deck? After all, this does look a lot like a bad Wolf Run deck and a bad infect deck.
I suppose we could stick as close to the theme as possible:
Creatures (14)
Lands (27)
Spells (19)
The question is, are we really getting enough value out of Kessig Wolf Run to justify downgrading out Lashwrithes into Swords of Feast and Famine and making our mana a little worse? If only we actually wanted green or red spells, we might actually get there. This makes us want to look a bit closer in Dark Ascension for this possibility.
On the topic of black decks, two more cards multiple people asked about were Smallpox and Curse of Death’s Hold. Curse of Death’s Hold is easy as a sideboard card and already sees a fair bit of play in a range of control strategies from U/B to Grixis. Smallpox hasn’t really found a good home, but the first place people always seem to start is B/G… so we’ll avoid that:
The latest in a long line of merely mediocre Mono-Black Control decks, this attempt to use Smallpox doesn’t focus on abusing it too hard. Instead, it merely aspires to get enough synergy that it is better than a Geth’s Verdict. Reassembling Skeletons obviously make great discards, as well as a fine way to protect your Phyrexian Obliterator (if it comes to that). Lashwrithe makes every Skeleton a lethal threat, going long.
One of the most common mistakes people make with Smallpox is trying to cram it into decks that can’t afford to lose the land. With all of the threats costing four instead of six, this list can actually endure the land loss reasonably well. Remember, you don’t have to Smallpox on turn two!
The main problem with a deck like this, and Smallpox in general, is that the format is already hostile towards Liliana. Wizards knew what they were doing when they printed a walker that powerful (this time, anyway), so they made sure to seed the format with plenty of naturally strong cards against it. Doomed Traveler, Viridian Emissary, Solemn Simulacrum, Chandra’s Phoenix, Desperate Ravings, or Think Twice (in a creatureless deck), and so on. What does Liliana do? She makes you discard and edicts you. Smallpox is the same sort of thing, with the land destruction tacked on.
Curse of Death’s Hold is a little expensive for a Smallpox deck even with 27 land, but Tezzeret’s Gambit and Nihil Spellbomb help get us there. While the format has shifted away from G/W Tokens, it is still filled to the brim with Moorland Haunt decks. Additionally, Curse of Death’s Hold is an excellent tactical weapon against Kessig Wolf Run and does lock out most of Mono-Red’s creatures (and makes the Phoenix less of a problem). Just about the only mainstream matchup where it isn’t good is against control (where it still hits Snapcaster Mage).
What are we looking for from Dark Ascension to help Mono-Black decks? Well, Infect is already a real strategy and is more likely to be the Mono-B deck of choice with Dark Ascension. They are mostly just looking for the format to move away from blue decks. As for actually combating blue decks, infect could really use an Inquisition of Kozilek or Duress. Distress is fine, but costing two is actually much worse than two in this deck with plenty of two’s and a gap at one.
As for non-infect Mono-Black, they also desperately want a good spell to play for one mana. Inquisition of Kozilek would be absolutely perfect. More raw power would also be good (of course), but most of the recent black power cards have been printed with intrinsic weaknesses to the cards WotC has been pushing. For instance, Dismember with Phyrexian Obliterator, Lashwrithe with Ancient Grudge, and Liliana as discussed above.
While more power cards would help, the biggest thing Mono-Black could use is a less hostile format. Beyond that, they just desperately need a one-drop. Fume Spitter is probably the best of the bunch (though he is significantly less good in the Smallpox/Curse of Death’s Hold build). If you put a gun to my head and made me play non-infect Mono-Black Control, I would probably lean Fume Spitter, at the moment, but we really need something else from Dark Ascension to make it worth it.
One of the strategies I am most excited to work with after Dark Ascension is dedicated Werewolves. Full Moon’s Rise and Moonmist are actually pretty decent. Mayor of Avabruck, Kruin Outlaw, and even Instigator Gang are also pretty good incentives. So what is holding back Werewolves?
Well, the format is already full of Shocks and other cheap removal, which generally fare very well against Werewolves. Most players play so many cheap spells, it isn’t that hard to flip it back to day at least once or twice. Additionally, the Werewolf deck doesn’t actually have that great of spells to be playing on the opponent’s turn for the turns it wants to send the game to night.
It’s possible that the best dedicated Werewolf deck is going to need to rely on cards like Desperate Ravings and Mana Leak to generate action during opponent’s turns. Unfortunately, the mana currently sucks for such a deck. Sure you can play Birds of Paradise and cut down on the red, but for all the Werewolf rewards to be worth it, we really do need to find a critical mass of good Werewolves to play.
This is perhaps the easiest request to make, since it seems very likely that there will at least be a couple good Werewolves in Dark Ascension (seeing as that is the last set with double-faced cards for the foreseeable future, and it is one of the main selling points of the set). Obviously another good one-drop would be excellent, but another good two-drop would also help a lot (ideally one that is decent even when not flipped). The dream would be a one-drop 0/1 that taps for a green mana and flips into just about anything.
We can’t be sure if the format will move in a friendlier direction, but I wouldn’t count on it. What I would look for, however, is something to do with our mana in a straight R/G deck on the turns we don’t cast anything (or, alternatively, some good and unlikely U/R/G mana fixing).
One possibility that we already have available is Kessig Wolf Run, though it is not super exciting to Kessig Wolf Run on turn four or five.
Creatures (23)
Lands (12)
Spells (25)
Once again, is this just a bad Kessig Wolf Run deck? I suspect that if a dedicated Werewolf deck does emerge, it is going to want to be faster and lower to the ground than this. There are lots of ways to Crusade your Werewolves (Mayor, Instigator, Full Moon’s Rise) so I’d want to cut out non-Werewolves if possible.
One of the major problems I have encountered with dedicated Werewolf decks is running out of cards in hand. Desperate Ravings would help, if we somehow could support it, but we’d really need Birds of Paradise to go that route. That is also not the most efficient solution, as we are paying for stuff we don’t really want (the graveyard aspect, it being blue, being able to make our other instants “better”).
What I’d really like to see is some sort of cheap green card drawer that only gets Werewolves (ideally an instant). Lead the Stampede would be fine if it was an instant (and maybe, only get Werewolves). This is asking for an awful lot, so I wouldn’t hold my breath, but I will be keeping an eye out just in case.
The final strategy I was going to work on is Necrotic Ooze, but I am miles from somewhere playable, yet. If you have to get Bloodline Keeper and Grimgrin or Palladium Myr, Pentavus, and Grimgrin in addition to your Necrotic Ooze, we should win the game, not just have a 100/100. Trespassing Souleater may make him unblockable, but that is still using 4-5 cards just to make a monster. A four-card combo better win me the game outright. That said, I am definitely going to have an eye on all activated abilities in Dark Ascension, as even the craziest of cards can break Necrotic Ooze under the right conditions (like Triskelion and Phyrexian Devourer).
Next week we will break down the entire year’s worth of Legacy, as well as the Invitational Legacy results. What are the best decks in Legacy? How much room is there for it to grow? Why is Legacy so awesome?
See you next week!
Patrick Chapin
“The Innovator”