scumbling1

8 Decks, 58 Comments, 4 Reputation

I like this deck -- it's creative, and looks like it ruins any creature-based strategy's day.

But I think you're running entirely too much single-shot creature removal spells. Having a few spells for early-game defense is alright, but you won't need much more once your Plagues are getting passed around. Running sixteen cards devoted to this task ensures you're going to draw too much over the course of the game. I'd pick one playset of your instants, and ditch the rest.

There are better early attack deterrents you could be using, too. Abyssal Gatekeeper would keep players from attacking you, and actually likes to get targeted by Necrotic Plague. No Mercy and Elephant Grass would also encourage your opponents to turn their creatures another way.

You might also consider Takklemaggot. It just feels right for this deck.

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Posted 10 September 2011 at 17:16 as a comment on Multiplayer Plague

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This deck is great -- it's a true mulitplayer deck, with an acknowledgement of additional players, and a clear path to victory. I see so many decks built for duels, mislabeled into this category, that lack any means of beating several other opponents. But Novablast Wurm and Biorhythm win games -- by themselves, or in conjunction with one another.

What I would change about this deck are Elvish Pioneer and Explore. You have eight cards devoted to dropping additional lands already. But without a way to ensure you have the lands in hand to begin with, your enchantments aren't going to help you much. I would look at adding Cultivate into the maindeck instead of Explore, as it will give you acceleration plus the a land in your grip. Elvish Pioneer might be replaced with Sylvan Ranger.

Cutting down on the number of Biorhythms might be appropriate, as it's a card you don't need to see in multiples. Running card draw or library manipulation in it's place would be useful (Harmonize, Sylvan Library, Sensei's Divining Top, ect), as then you'd have as have a better shot at seeing it only when you want it. Having card draw also helps keep the lands coming for Exploration / Burgeoning.

Otherwise, there's nothing I would change about this deck. It's powerful and elegant.

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Posted 10 September 2011 at 16:55 as a comment on NovaRythym Multi kill

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The deck is awesome! It features too many amazing card to be limited to a mere sixty, and yet still maintains internal synergy and a focused gameplan.

Does this deck really need to address Infect decks? They tend to be terrible in multiplayer -- an Infect deck usually takes out one opponent quickly, and then runs out of gas when it has to come up with landing the remaining 30-40 poison counters it takes to win the entire game. When the Infect players start to realize they have no chance at winning they"ll start to try different decks, and the problem will go away.

I don't see a problem with running some more mass removal, like you mentioned, though. Wrath and Damnation are staples, and work well against most decks you'll encounter. You might try out Propaganda and Ghostly Prison as well; it depends on what you play against. But before anything else in this vein, I'd max out the Pernicious Deed count.

The card I would strongly consider for this deck is Gifts Ungiven. I just assumed it was in the deck before looking at the list more closely (I was also surprised not to see Survival of the Fittest). You have Reveillark and Karmic Guide -- it would be so easy to just add Body Double for shenanigans.

Also, Green Zun's Zenith seems so limited in a five-color deck. You could swap that out easily for Chord of Calling, which is simply a superior card. You get to reshuffle the Zenith, but in a 300-card deck, is there any reliability in actually seeing it again? I'd take the Chord, given that it's instant, can be Convoked, gets any color of creature, and patiently waits for your Eternal Witnesses to reuse it.

Also, no fourth Kokusho? He's the legend that works better in multiples!

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Posted 10 September 2011 at 16:24 as a comment on multiplayer control v2

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I'd usually rather play a removal spell to clear a path for a creature, rather than something like Distortion Strike. They serve a similar function, but a Lightning Bolt is much more flexible.

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Posted 20 March 2011 at 11:13 in reply to #122454 on Wee Beats

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F****** hilarious! Totally worthy of Mr. Goldberg. It's just a shame that you can't use Ice Cauldron in this deck, as it's about the most needlessly-complex card in existence.

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Posted 21 February 2011 at 21:08 as a comment on Rube Goldberg

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Ornithopter and Thalakos Seer could both be strong ninjitsu enablers.

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Posted 31 January 2011 at 21:52 as a comment on Ninjas!

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I think this deck could afford to use Emeria, the Sky Ruin for the long games it's bound to stretch out.

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Posted 13 November 2010 at 10:29 as a comment on Rebirth

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Cool; it's similar to something I built myself.

I think this deck really wants [card]Kavu Predator[/card] and [card]False Cure[/card]. Those will give the deck more threats, which I think it needs foremost. If you have a hand of life gain but no way to turn it into damage, it's going to be hard to win.

I think there's better life-gain cards to be used as well. Alabaster Potion is outclassed by [card]Oracle of Nectars[/card] or [card]Dawnglow Infusion[/card]. Healing Salve should be replaced by [card]Heroes' Reunion[/card] or [card]Wall of Shards[/cards]. Reward the Faithful should go, unless you add more permanents; as it stands you have six cards that trigger it, and most of those are only two mana!

Take out the Plateau and add in Arid Mesa. The Mesa will allow you to find Badlands, Scrubland, or Savannah--that's any color you need at the time. The other benefit is that a fetchland can trigger Landfall on an opponent's turn in the case of Rest for the Weary.

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Posted 12 November 2010 at 22:04 as a comment on Kavu Bonds

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Well, you really want to designate a focus for your deck, as there are so many strong cards within these three colors. Do you want to go heavy on creatures? I've seen a few good B/R/U Zombie EDH decks. Or, I've also seen a lot of creature-light generic control / good stuff decks. But there's lots of other options as well; sometimes it's most rewarding to finding one or two cards that look like a lot of fun and building around a theme you get from that card.

For example:

Token deck featuring Oona, Queen of the Fae, Lich Lord of Unx, Goblin Infestation, Tombstone Stairwell, ect.

Megrim/Underworld Dreams deck with Crosis as the general, with Phyrexian Tyranny and Spiteful Visions.

"Hurt Everyone" deck with cards that scale in multiplayer such as Blood Tyrant, Syphon Mind, Breath of Malefagor, Lightning Reaver, and Blatant Thievery.

"Steal Everything" deck with Slave of Bolas, Control Magic effects, Insurrection, Dominous of Fealty...

As you can see, there are a lot of different approaches, and the value of different cards fluctuates depending on what type of deck you're going for.

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Posted 09 March 2010 at 22:06 as a comment on Grixis EDH

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You can't have a card that contains colored mana symbols on it that aren't in your general's CMC. Voracious Hatching, and Creakwood Ghoul & Liege are illegal in your deck, unfortunately. Your group may change this as a house rule, but I'd ask about it before hand so you're all on the same page.

In EDH, card advantage is king. You may want to look at reducing the number of cards that trade one-for-one with the opponent for cards that have more broad effects (i.e. less Mire Blight, more Damnation). Also, small to midsized creatures that can only deal damage tend to be of little use in this format, as they can't deal a relevant amount of damage before they get killed by a board sweeper is played or an opponents' creature is so large you're afraid to attack into it. Therefore, a card like Ruthless Cullblade (even though it's undercosted) is weak in EDH as it has virtually no hope in swinging the game in your favor by itself. A card like Vampire Hexmage is good, though, because it can attack or block, but the real benefit is in it's ability to kill planeswalkers; the 2/1 body is just a small extra benefit on a utility spell. You have to have a ton of Ruthless Cullblades to make a threatening army, and if you did you'd lose massive card advantage to an inevitable board sweeper. But with a Hexmage, 1) the main point isn't to supplement your offense, and 2) even if a Wrath comes down you can still hit someting with the ability and retain card parity.

That said, here are a few cards to look at adding:

Cabal Coffers/ Crypt of Agadeem- insane mana production
Journeyer's Kite/ Armillary Sphere- great for hitting later-game land drops
Grave Pact/ Attrition- both are great at trading your weenies with their bombs, and they work even better in tandem!
Damantion/Crypt Rats/Mutilate/Pestilence/Bane of the Living/Oblivion Stone/Nevinyrral's Disk- board sweepers are a staple in EDH, and these are some of the best available to black.
Diabolic Tutor/ Beseech the Queen- tutors are also great in EDH, and these are dirt cheap
Syphon Mind/ Mind's Eye- these are great multiplayer draw spells for obvious reasons
Balthor the Defiled/ Patriarch's Bidding- these cards can turn a game around for you
Gatekeeper of Malakir/ Ascendant Evincar/ Mephidross Vampire/ Cairn Wanderer- simply strong vampires I didn't see in your list

Also, I think you should add some more lands to the deck; 32 is asking for mana-screw. I typically run about 44 mana sources in my decks (between lands, mana artifacts, and rampant growth-type cards). I tend to err on the mana heavy side, but seriously consider going up to ~38 lands and throwing in a few mana stones like Coalition Relic, Phyrexian Totem, or Skull of Ramos.

Here are some cards I think can get cut for room:

Demon's Horn- it is slow and only gains life, consider you could just use a Drain Life instead and get a removal spell, too.
Acolyte of Xrathid/ Blightspeaker/ Giant Cockroach/ Giant Scorpion/ Viscid Lemures/ Dread Warlock- these are the small to midsized creatuers I warned you about. I seriously doubt any one of these creatures would deal a substantial amount of damage.
Unholy Strenght/ Smake Cult Initiation/ Soul Bleed- these cards don't do a whole lot (two power isn't much and you're not trying to win via poison) and they simply die with the creature they enchant. Equipment is a much better way to pump your dudes as it sticks around. (Nightmare Lash is insane in mone-black!)
Mire Blight/ Brink of Disaster- there are simply stronger removal spells available to you
Megrim- I don't see enough discard for this to be consistently useful for you
Urge to Feed/ Vicious Hunger- these cards won't have enought targets to kill, as the average creature in EDH is much larger than in other games of Magic.

I hope some of that helps!

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Posted 08 March 2010 at 22:06 as a comment on EDH needs help by friday

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I don't think Pyromancer's Ascension works with Enduring Ideal; the Ascension gets quest counters only when you cast a spell, while the Epic ability places a copy of the spell on the stack. The spell isn't technically cast, so it doesn't count for building up counters. The Pyromancer's Ascensions can probably be cut.

One idea that came to mind would be to replace them with Wild Research. Playing WR would allow you to fill up your graveyard with tons of enchantments, whereupon you could cast either Replenish or Open the Vaults to create a similar effect to having multiple copies of Enduring Ideal go off.

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Posted 23 February 2010 at 20:49 as a comment on Transcendent Flame

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One thing to keep in mind is that you can't pay life you don't have. Since you can't gain life, you have a finite amount or resources that can be used to untap the Colossus once you get your key enchantments down on the table. Perhaps you could play Force of Nature instead? He doesn't tap if you don't pay his upkeep, so it shouldn't matter if you don't pay it. His mana cost is pretty green-heavy, so he may not be the absolute best creature fo the job, but it's the only creature that fits the theme I can come up with right now.

Also, I think you should replace Path to Exile with Swords to Plowshares, as with a Forsaken Wastes out StP's drawback it mitigated completely.

Finally, perhaps a copy or two of Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth could find it's way into the deck to help get the necessary black mana to fuel Crypt Rats.

I'm curious to see the real deck this is based off of; did you actually have a Trancendence before this deck challenge came up?

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Posted 23 February 2010 at 20:22 as a comment on Forsaken Transcendence

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Nice build, though it seems you're short a few cards. I doubt you'd want to run 49 lands in the remaining spots. However, I would devote a few more slots to mana acceleration, such as Orzhov Signet or Coalition Relic, just to get to the midgame earlier. The chances of seeing your two current mana artifacts are really small.

Tower of Fortunes seems incredibly expensive, even for EDH. I think there's better options for card draw in Black like Promise of Power, Skeletal Scrying, Ancient Craving, and Ambition's Cost.

Overall, it looks like a really good deck. It's nice to see B/W deck that's not Teysa!

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Posted 17 February 2010 at 08:37 as a comment on selenia EDH

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Not a bad deck by any standard, but there are a few card choices that have me confused.

Wall of Shadows doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the deck; it is a purely defensive card, while the rest of the deck wants to beat the opponent ASAP. It's cliche, but sometimes the best defense is a strong offense. I'd suggest swapping out the Wall of Shadows for an additional attacker; you have all the decent shadow creatues in there already, so maybe go with a classic suicide one-drop like Carnophage, Sarcomancy, or Vampire Lacerator?

Also, where are Dark Ritual and Duress? Both cards are crucial to getting an early lead on the opponent. The hand disruption Duress offers is far better than the delayed benefits of hitting an opponent with a Sadistic Sacrament. If you strip the opponent of what they actually have in the moment, it buys you a window of opportunity to win with your small creatures. A card like Sadisitc Sacrament does nothing to effect the game in the present, so it has little relevance to a deck that wants to race the opponent to a quick victory.

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Posted 16 February 2010 at 20:17 as a comment on Shadow's Edict

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Yeah, the Storage lands are illegal in Karn, as are the Basics you have (also Mizzium Transreliquant and Cranial Plating). However, you don't really need them. It takes a lot of work to get them all, but there are enough colorless-producing lands out there to build the manabase. Definitely make it a priority to get Crucible of Worlds in here, and then Strip Mine, Wasteland, Ghost Quarter, Gargoyle Castle, and City of Traitors all become nuts!

Also, Rings of Brighthearth + Basalt Monolith is a nice infinite mana combo. Otherwise, you can make massive mana off of a Blinkmoth Urn. And Staff of Domination is a great mana-sink, that you can actually use to tap your own Urn down as not to supply your opponents with any mana!

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Posted 04 February 2010 at 21:12 as a comment on Karn EDH

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Is this for Legacy? Consider dropping four Swamps for four Lotus Petals if it is.

You may want to drop the expensive Diabolic Servitudes for something cheaper, like Life // Death, as additional pseudo-copies of Reanimate.

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Posted 04 February 2010 at 21:00 as a comment on Kokusho

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You seem to be short three cards, which I would reccomend using for Flamebreak. It's relatively cheap, manages to hit players, and lets you turn more of your burn to the opponent's face.

Also, unless lifegain is hugely prevelant where you play, would Prive of Progress be a better card? It's cheaper and has a bigger potential for damage.

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Posted 04 February 2010 at 20:55 as a comment on Return of the Bolt

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You only really need to cast one Ad Nauseum to win the game, so any extras would be taking up space in the deck for mana and card-draw.

The deck wins by drawing massive amounts of cards of Ad Nauseum, most of which are cheap to cast (if they don't actually net you a gain of mana), from which you cast ten spells in a single turn, the last of which is a Tendrils of Agony. Those nine Storm-generated copies, plus the original spell, make twenty damage in a single turn.

It's a very quick and annoying way to win. Nice deck.

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Posted 04 February 2010 at 20:48 as a comment on Ad nauseam

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The best way to speed up this deck is to run some artifact accelerants. You may want to add two or three more lands as well, to make sure you hit those later land drops. I'd reccomend going to at least 42 total mana sources between the two permanent types. Some good accelerants in your colors are:
Sol Ring
Mana Vault
Darksteel Ingot
Coalition Relic
Spectral Searchlight
Obelisk of Esper
Worn Powerstone

I have found Master Decoy-type creatures to be really ineffective in any multiplayer format: there never seems to be enough of them to hold down the fort. Getting a lot of tokens and an Opposition works better. I'd focus more on finding your Mist of Stagnation (and Opposition, should you add it) by removing some of the tappers for tutors; obviously Enlightened, Vampiric, and Demonic are great, but even Diabolic, Idyllic, Lim-Dul's Vault, or a transmuted Brainspoil can to the job just fine.

A couple decent grave-haters that could be added, too:
Withered Wretch
Nezumi Graverobber
Stonecloaker
Necromancer's Covenant

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Posted 01 February 2010 at 20:51 as a comment on EDH stall/ graveyard control/mill

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I wrote this long post, and then there was a server error and I lost it. Crap!

I like the deck; Treva is such an underplayed general that's it's really refreshing to see her take the reins. Here are a few cards that I think would make the deck even better:
Respite
Well of Lost Dreams
Congregate
Oracle of Nectars
Baneslayer Angel
Battlegrace Angel
Exalted Angel
Windbrisk Raptor
Behemoth Sledge
Loxodon Warhammer
Storm Herd!!!

You are running enough cheap Instants that Isochron Scepter might be worth a shot. The beauty of Isochron would be that it keeps your Fogs and whatnot from causing you too much card disadvantage. And EDH is largely about card advantage as the games can span a large number of turns, and casting a bunch of one shot effects (including spells that only gain life) can bleed you try in the long run. To this end, you may also consider adding some more hard card draw like Concentrate and Harmonize. You could also go for the Hondens of Seeing Winds and Cleansing Fire.

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Posted 01 February 2010 at 20:35 as a comment on Life Gain EDH

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