I recently got back into magic; I was trying to build a woofs deck back when innistrad first came out, gave up on it, but with Immerwolf and a few others this is starting to look a lot stronger. I really like this deck, the balance of mana / aggro / removal, there are some things I might change but it comes down to preference and what you're up against. What I really like is that someone understands there's actually a psychological side to this game! I used to think wolves were too unreliable as well, until I realized it's more about how you play the cards than what's written on it. But there's one thing in this discussion that is pissing me off. All the comments of "this deck loses to ratchet bomb or BSZ, everyone is running ratchet bomb". Well everyone runs ratchet bomb because it's great against any aggro that uses a lot of cheap creatures or tokens. So wolves happen to have a flip side that makes them a little more vulnerable? Oooh, I can Ratchet Bomb with zero counters to kill all woofs, HURR DURR! WTF HAPPENED TO FULL MOON'S RISE PEOPLE?! DID I MISS THE PART WHERE THIS CARD WASN'T IN THE DECK?
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I like the idea, always been a fan of trinket mage, and its interesting to see a B/U version of the Shape Anew at least. I still think the W/U decks are a little better though, and for a simple reason. I really don't think getting an artifact to sacrifice is all that difficult; the hard part is just guaranteeing the Shape Anew. My friend does it the right way, putting SA as an extra win con in a Golem deck. Typical scrying/cantrips to find it, similar counterspells to guarantee it and stall until he does, much like what you have going on. But it's much easier to just run 4 Master's Call, 4 Blade Splicer, and other Splicers - now there are lots of cards that give you artifact tokens, and meanwhile you have decent creatures to block with or attack if SA gets countered. Besides, Wing Splicer is much more entertaining - as if Blighsteel Colossus (its a Golem!) actually needed flying.
I kind of doubt the use of Tumble Magnet here as well. You need some kind of control to stay alive, but I don't see it being that effective anymore. Maybe replace with Blinding Souleater if you have the life to pay, or make room for Spellskite/HexParasite/DoomBlade. I do think you'll want Hexmage/parasite in there somewhere. Surgery and Grasp are both really good here, though. This deck doesn't "win" by killing creatures and taking board position. It wins by making it impossible for your opponent to win, and Grasp gives you the advantage. Surgery is basically a free Fateseal - especially when all the cards like Extraction and Grasp force your opponent to shuffle, in addition to any saclands or Squawks. It's not about removing a card, its about leaving your opponent with the worst possible topdeck. I would keep a Life's Finale sideboarded for late-game cases where you might need the "destroy" but BSZ is infinitely superior against RDW. I do question the use of Norn's Annex. How effective will that really be? Against caw, its useless. RDW, the life cost on turn 3 will probably leave you dead anyways. It kills deceiver twin, but you already have many better ways to do that. I'd go for some Doom Blades or Gatekeepers, you'll need them against the rise of Wurmcoil. That or Mental Misstep for the mirror-match. I'd also switch Despise for Inquisition in the sideboard; Despise is a great card, but its more situational, and Inquisition will always give you a good advantage early on. I'd say the versatility makes it better for a mainboard. I really like the deck though. I'd love to try this and see how it plays; so much power at the crosspoint between black extraction and blue restriction. Good luck with the deck; I'm loving the rise of extraction in current standard, it's the one thing no-one in my area has really seen or put any credit in yet, but maybe a deck like this or surewhynot's can rock the foundations a bit.
W/G/U I meant. Obviously.
All of the comments on this page so far have made me laugh. 1)Yes, other people thought of it, and wizards might have even mentioned it in the fatpack; but so what, he thought of it he's happy with that. I've seen it several times, its still cool, its hard to do anything really original these days anyways. 2)No, you can't pay life if you're at 1 or less, and Spellskite doesn't work with Ascetism, but it's still really helpful. 3)There are still a lot of ways to win, namely Mill and Eldrazi ramp (you'll need that Elf that prevents you from sacrificing creatures) Any fast deck can kill you before you get the combo; but it's still really annoying when you're playing against this with a burn deck and no enchant removal. Trust me, I've been there. 4)So many people complaining that you need more protection....please. W/G? What are you doing? The best version I've seen so far is W/G/B. Splash for some Counterspells, Preordain to find your combo, and you're set for the game. So not originaly, but still really cool. I like it; it's very annoying to play against. So great job; and I like your win condition with the Soul Conduit that's just insulting to lose to :D
No rush infect deck is complete without Mutagenic Growth. Turn 2 kill with a Glistener, couple groundswells, and a free mutagenic. Also, consider adding Livewire Lash. Friend of mine is building a t2 infect deck with the Lash, Glistener, and Agent, its very effective. If you're running Distortion Strike, which doesn't buff very much, you can at least get more poison out of that than a Thrummingbird. So yes, I would use Ichorclaw instead of Necropede, if you're playing aggresive the Ichorclaw is less likely to be blocked so you'll win quick more often. Remove Thrummingbird, either add a different infect or use Livewire Lash - the lash makes Rot Wolf worth it, you can kill creatures from afar to clear the way and draw into a buff while you're doing it. Definitely add Mutagenic Growth, it scares the heck out of people because they can't let anything through even if all of your lands are tapped.
Rebuilding this deck now that I have some good cards, gonna make a decent artifact deck out of it. Running the pure spine combo was fun for a while, I laughed at all my friends but I'd like to start winning some games :P Still, I'll never forget destroying 30+ lands in a 3-way match before finally losing to a lightning bolt.
How did this randomly make it onto the home page? Someone got happy with the like button. This deck is simple and kinda funny, but destroyed by sac lands and Phyrexian Mana, there are easy ways to cheat yourself below 10 life before it resolves. Also, this was posted in 2007 and the creator has not signed on since 2008.....lol at the guys who commented on this suggesting Zendikar sac lands (did not exist yet) and replying to the guy about mana burn who asked that question 4 years ago. No idea how this made it up here, someone found it and linked a ton of friends I guess. Or maybe it was almost there and the people before me pushed it over. Admittedly, for a deck made four years ago, never adding Lightning Bolt is kind of a fail.
Foresee definitely hurts my brain. So many beautiful cards on here, there's a lot that I don't remember but I'll flip through my EDH decks and find some. Of the ones on the list already, Progenitus is my favorite, the mental image is scary if you imagine him. A lot of the NPH cards are really creepy too, I love Obliterator and Sheoldred If I had to post one, some old favorites from Alara: Rafiq of the Many, or his companion enchant Finest Hour. Love the colors in the Alara set, and the real fantasy-esque hero art.
Sorry to make two posts, responding to an earlier comment I just saw. You get extra like points :) I do think you're missing the point of Stoneforge Mystic + Batterskull = really cheap 4/4 vigilance lifelink. I would honestly remove the 1 surgical extraction; it doesn't do much for you. The extraction is a powerful card, and its very nice in your sideboard with enough extra discard spells. Once you know what your opponent is up to, you can bring that in second game to preempt them. But you're unlikely to both pull your only Surgical Extraction and get them to discard it before its too late with your current main board. If you're going to main board that, run less board control (Doom Blade), put in more discard spells; Despise works nicely, instead of killing a creature just prevent them from summoning it.
This looks a lot like the mono-black deck I was considering; some difference in the cards, yours has more balance and is probably more competitive against a range of decks. I just like mono-black for Lashwrithe, the free equip on a Vault Skirge makes for nice life gain. One suggestion? Add a Batterskull. I use them in mine, its not great because of the mana cost, but I think every deck with Stoneforge Mystic should have just one. Playing that on turn 3 means you can essentially gain 8 life per turn (if your opponent attacks) while hammering them hard. I think it's a good card for keeping the pressure up while keeping you alive; anyone have opinions?
A good idea, seen it before. My friend plays an EDH deck with Relentless Rats and Thrummingstone. The thrummingstone is obviously insanely good, but the fact that this deck has nothing else in it means you will either be stuck playing lands every turn, or just playing rats one by one until you pull it. You're going to need some kind of control to slow down your opponent, especially against a deck with Memoricide + Extirpate + Surgical Extraction. I like the idea, but if you're going to actually pull it off, I think you need something more than just the rats. I'll see if my friend has any suggestions.
The Bloodghast sac/return is a pretty standard combo; I like your approach though, adding the Viridian Emissary. The real weak point is the Bloodthrone simply because it can be chump blocked, so Unnatural Predation is a great card for you to have. Anything else that gives trample would be nice, but definitely add the Mirran Mettle as you will still lose to a quick Condemn. I also agree with the viscera seer as a way to scry; it takes away from the Bloodthrone, but it will help you find her if you don't pull her first turn. So basically, if you want to focus on Bloodthrone: +Pawn of Ulamog - more stuff to sac +Mirran Mettle - protection against Condemn/GftT If you want a more consistent win once people start anticipating the bloodthrone: +Viscera Seer +Khalastria Highborn I think you can afford to lose the Pulse Trackers, Lacerators, and maybe even Guul Draz. They don't serve much purpose except to chump block, so maybe sideboard a few Disfigure instead.
Ok, so after trying things out with other deck ideas, I like some of the things I've seen...and I've decided to actually turn around and go back in the other direction :) Gonna try to make this deck more infect-oriented for a faster trample kill, starting by taking out the Grave Titans so I can leave out Tainted Strike.
Simply the fact that it provides black mana instead of colorless, and the new Phyrexian Chancellor requires four black to cast. A Leaden Myr in my opening hand would allow me to cast a chancellor on turn 3. Although I'm working on balance, if I take out some of these I might add both just to have more ramp and food for the gravelord.
This deck makes me think of a cathedral. Big, tall, grand, imposing, but also safe, protective, filled with light and fancy ornaments - it seems like it's just a bunch of little white critters (the bad guy's never afraid of the priest) but then they start messing with your brain, and finally divine light smashes everything to pieces and suddenly the whole army of light is back with swords! :D So yeah, just call it Cathedral. It has that "don't touch me" "do not fear death, children" feel to it. Brings a little role play back to mtg at least :)
Ooooh....interesting thought.... Karn the Released could work exceptionally well in this deck....he's an interesting Planeswalker with powerful abilities, but I don't think he'll see much real use in tournament. On the other hand, this deck is perfect for him...exile 2 big fatties from my hand, then reset the game and come in swinging! Also, the control power from his -3 ability could be a huge addition to this deck against everything from Pyromancer Ascension to Emeria and Sun Titan. What do you think? Also, if I'm going to go there, what about Leaden Myrs for mana ramp? If nothing else when they die they'll just trip the Gravelord :) I think I'll add them in, see how helpful they are...
Wow thank you for the great advice. This is a deck that I'm still working on, so it could definitely use improvement. I was just looking to see if I could make a good mono-black deck, considering how black has been largely destroyed by Caw, SoFF, and Baneslayer Angel. I've been looking at some of the cards scheduled for Phyrexia, and I think the deck is actually going to shift away from infect, just focusing on big black baddies. (Phyrexian Chancellor instead of Vatmother, for instance). The swords I love as a cheaper alternative to BM/FF, but very nice with this deck. I do need to work on the balance, but I originally had that many to ensure an early drop on a Vatmother. With a little tweaking and better deck filtering, I could reduce it though. I also originally looked at Phyresis (there's another weird replacement card coming up in Phyrexia), but tainted strike could work well too. I'll sideboard the Hexmages, you're right they're just there for Planeswalkers, came off of an earlier build with lots of first strike. I need to work on the sideboard. Supposing I were to shift away from infect (or not, I'll make a separate deck to work on that idea), what's your opinion on some of these in this deck? Quest for the Gravelord - to get a big creature from killing early drops with counters Soul Stair Expedition - graveyard return, don't know if I need it but maybe against BSZ / DoJ The Sign in Blood I had though of....is there any other way to do card draw in mono black? If not, I guess that's the best option, and I think you're right it will help a lot.
This was a beginning configuration for a standard deck. I've pretty much decided to scrap it after a few play tests, I have better ideas to explore. The Glissa combo is very cool and a neat potential for control/damage in a green deck, but it's just not powerful enough to build a full deck around, least not enough for me. Glissa herself ends up being the weak point, people are afraid to block her but once they see what you're doing they focus GftT/Bolt/JtN on her and the deck fails, not enough power. There are better versions using Glissa as a side show while they GSZ into a big fatty; I'll leave this up here so I can see it, but I don't think I'll be coming back to it soon. Thanks for the input though, I'll look at the card maybe it will inspire me to try this again :)
I like the idea. To be honest, focusing on the hoard of creatures is probably a safer way to go. Maralen is more fun casually I think, but if you want to win she's very hard to use effectively. Most games I've tested she's helped my opponents more than me. The faeries are very neat. One thing I would add tho... Oona, Queen of the Fae!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just a few of her for turn 6-8 drop, your opponents will cry :) I love her, I think I'm going to steal a bit from Lucian and build an edh deck around her :)
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