This deck started as my decks often do: I was trying to think of an efficient and/or hilarious way to kill people with Phage.

I came up with one.

Volrath's Shapeshifter.

As soon as I thought of it, I realized Paul Barclay had done this sort of thing (better) back in the day. He had a fantastically entertaining tournament report that I can no longer find, but the deck list and combo description can be found here. So I'm not claiming the idea is original. In fact, many other players may have thought of the same thing more recently. Kudos to you if you did.

Paul's deck used Survival of the Fittest to create a hasted 23/1 Volrath's Shapeshifter out of the blue. Now, Survival is recognized to be far too good, so I decided to build my deck without it - in fact, I went Extended-legal. The replacement for Survival? Tortured Existence + Buried Alive. Slower, but still quite effective in multiplayer.

The next question was the creature mix. As many Shapeshifters as possible are required. I tinkered with a full-blown toolbox approach for my Shapeshifter targets, but decided this deck isn't about tools. It's about smashing face and/or instant death. Then I just needed a few more discard outlets. When I realized that Psychatog, which is ridiculous at any time, is just unbelievably spectacular with Shapeshifter in play, I knew that this deck could end up being really special. I ended up with a full set of Togs, Thought Couriers, and the surprisingly effective Hapless Researchers.

I threw in a few defensive cards and tutors and this was the result. Strange card quantities can probably be explained by the fact that I don't own four of them.

Spells (16):
4 Tortured Existence
4 Buried Alive
2 Brainstorm
2 Echoing Truth
2 Vampiric Tutor
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Upheaval

Creatures (22):
4 Hapless Researcher
4 Psychatog
4 Volrath's Shapeshifter
4 Thought Courier
1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
1 Iridescent Angel
1 Phage the Untouchable
1 Platinum Angel
1 Squee, Goblin Nabob
1 Wonder

Lands (24):
8 Island
8 Swamp
4 Underground River
2 Polluted Delta
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1 Shizo, Death's Storehouse

The deck is an absolute blast to play. You'll spend the first couple of turns setting up. You deck will look like a Wizards theme deck, if anything. More likely it will look like a random collection of suboptimal blue and black cards. (Let's be honest - that's what it truly is.) Then, around turn 3, things get rolling. You will play either:

1. Psychatog - at which time you become public enemy #1
2. Buried Alive (for, say, Squee, Phage, and Akroma) - at which time your opponents get a little nervous, but laugh at you for being so stupid that you're playing Phage in a reanimation deck
3. Volrath's Shapeshifter - at which time your opponents all read the card a few times, then try to figure out what you've got planned.

Then you kill someone on turn 4.

The first game I played against competition (a three-person melee) went well.

Turn 1: Island, Hapless Researcher
Turn 2: Swamp, Hapless Researcher, Vampiric Tutor for Akroma
Turn 3: Land, Volrath's Shapeshifter. Sacrifice Hapless Researcher #1, discarding Akroma. Attack with 6/5 Shapeshifter. Put 6 first strike damage on the stack; sacrifice Hapless Researcher #2, discarding Phage. The damage resolves and Phage's ability triggers. Game over for the unlucky fellow I attacked.

I love the flavor of Akroma shapeshifting into Phage. It reminds me of the opening of the Ark of the Covenant.

Subsequent games against two to four opponents weren't always as brutally fast, but the deck is very powerful and versatile in the long game. You can recur threats over and over again through Squee + Tortured Existence, and if things get out of hand it's not too tough to find Upheaval and switch to a plain old Tog-Upheaval plan. Or even a Shapeshifter-Upheaval plan - just make sure to have a huge creature on top of your graveyard after you discard.

Psychatog does triple duty in this deck. He is a lethal late-game attacker, he is a great discard outlet, and, best of all, he is an amazing graveyard-manipulation tool. Shifter-Togs are almost as good.

One Phage and one Akroma are enough for my purposes. (Those being: win frequently while still having fun.) You might want more.

Be sure you know how the Shapeshifter works. When using its ability, the card is discarded on resolution - so opponents can respond before it shapeshifts. But for every other discard outlet - Tog, Researcher, Thought Courier, Tortured Existence - the discard is a cost, so the shapeshift takes effect before opponents can respond. Also, don't forget: if two Shapeshifters are in play, and the top card of your library is a Legendary creature, they die to the Legend rule. Watch out for opponents destroying a non-creature card; it will make your Shapeshifter a 0/1 again. Also, be careful that you're not leaving your Shifter vulnerable when you pop your fetchland.

If you're playing this one-on-one, or considering taking this to an Extended event, I would try all-out combo. Add Chrome Moxes and/or Mox Diamonds, and extra Brainstorms, tutors, and Phages, and go for the turn 2 kill. I assume it doesn't hold up too well against all the other combo decks out there, but I've never tested it.

Happy Shapeshifting!

Cheers,
Jonathan Andrews