The Ballista Paradox

by CotyWithaT on 25 August 2017

Main Deck (60 cards)

Sideboard (15 cards)

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Deck Description

This deck is pretty fun and simple to use. Get lots of creatures out, create infinite mana and throw a Ballista at their face for the win. I'm sure this could be improved by making it faster and more efficient. Completely open to any and all advice!

How to Play

The point of this thing is to blink two Aviary Mechanics in and out of play while using mana dorks and Paradox Engine together to create infinite mana. I have Lifecrafter's Bestiary, Hedron Archive, Vizier of the Menagerie, and Pull From Tomorrow for card draw and I use Inventor's Fair to aid in finding the Ballista or the Engine. Once you have the pieces you can make an infinite Ballista.

Deck Tags

  • Standard
  • Casual
  • Combo
  • Selesnya
  • Help
  • Infinite Mana
  • Advice
  • Competitive

Deck at a Glance

Social Stats

2
Likes

This deck has been viewed 1,296 times.

Mana Curve

Mana Symbol Occurrence

8140010

Deck Format


Standard

NOTE: Set by owner when deck was made.

Card Legality

  • Not Legal in Standard
  • Legal in Modern
  • Legal in Vintage
  • Legal in Legacy

Deck discussion for The Ballista Paradox

That combo seems pretty unreliable to me. You need at least three creatures without summoning sickness plus two Aviary Mechanics, Paradox Engine, Cryptolith Rite and a win-condition, i.e. Walking Ballista. That's eight pieces or am I not seeing something? Does this work reliably?
How about other/more payoffs like X-damage spells? Burn From Within and Fall of the Titans are still in Standard.
Torment of Hailfire would work as finisher as well. Liliana's Indignation, too, but only if there are still enough creatures in your library.

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Posted 26 August 2017 at 01:57

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Thank you for the suggestions!!
You're right, the combo was pretty unreliable, I had the idea of abusing the vizier and Paradox Engine awhile ago and I've been really trying to make it work butI don't think the pieces are there yet. So I took the rites and added in a lot more mana dorks and pull from tomorrow for another x spell/ hard draw. I was hesitant about torment of hailfire because I didn't like how my opponent has a lot of options, do you think that's really worth considering? I'd have to splash a little. I'm alright with splashing but I was debating with red for Samut, the Tested and maybe Bloodlust Inciter for haste. I can cast both of those more easily than hailfire because they're creatures and I have the vizier, right? Or is that too hopeful? I just honestly haven't thought about black cards in this deck a whole lot so I'm probably unaware of some potential interactions.
I changed around some stuff, think it's any better? Or should I look into more black cards

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Posted 27 August 2017 at 02:35

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If you use the Cryptolith Rites generating red or black mana for a finisher is no problem at all. And when you're generating "infinite" mana no amount of choice can save your opponent from Torment of Hailfire. They'll lose. At some point - when they have discarded all their cards and sacrificed all nonland permanents - they HAVE to lose life. :D

Your combo works, the problem is just how to reliably assemble all the pieces since they're so many. For artifacts Glint-Nest Crane comes to mind. Traverse the Ulvenwald can get you creatures.

I think splashing for Samut or Bloodlust Inciter defeats the original purpose of the deck. You want to get infinite-mana and kill someone with that. Those cards don't help with that.

If you're playing this just for fun with friends or at FNM, I'd say go for the old version, maybe add some more finishers and surprise your opponents with a janky infinite-mana-kill. :)

If you want competitive, it's a bit harder to make it work. There are other infinite-mana combos in Standard that work better. Something with Eldrazi Deceiver and Panharmonicon and some scion token generator.
Or you can check out this list that already uses some of the cards you chose.
https://www.channelfireball.com/articles/paradox-engine-combo-in-standard/

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Posted 27 August 2017 at 03:49

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I really like the idea. You know you need at least 3 Rites on the field to make that Aviary blink work. Seems difficult to pull of reliably, but I guess when it works it's cool! I also have a deck or two like that including a landless, creatureless deck that has the same kind of problem. 50% of the time, the deck works flawlessly... but then other times.... That's the way it goes! Anyways, swing by my page to check it out and keep tinkering with your deck ideas! They only get better with practice!

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Posted 26 August 2017 at 11:58

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