Library assholes

by Puschkin on 03 May 2015

Main Deck (61 cards)

Sideboard (7 cards)

Sorceries (1)

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Deck Description

[RPG] I'd like to introduce you my new troupe, the infamous "Library Assholes"! They will enter the Thespian's Stage this August but to be honest I am nervous about their premier. I might have to make some last call changes regarding the cast. That's why I decided to invite you lovely critics to a sneak preview. Here is the synopsis of the play:

My actors are a band of mischiefs and outcasts that formed a gang of anarchists, the library assholes, that seeks to overthrow the establishment. It's a bunch of thieves, slackers and vagabonds, however, don't make the mistake thinking they are all proletarian. Among them are academics, too: Geralf who didn't find any supporters for his experiments, Thada Adel whose acquisition methods were deemed "too creative" for the government and that Sphinx that is now the spokesman of this organization.
And the mastermind behind all of them is Ashiok. He once had a dream where he turned all those oppressive methods of the superiors against themselves. Now he is trying to gather enough folk to make this dream become a true nightmare.[/RPG]

Ok, so all the creatures mess with the opponent's library and most of them let you play cards from them. That's why I don't run removal or anything like this myself, I just focus on getting my dudes through unblocked and everything else will be handled via the stuff and spells my opponents give me. Speaking of that, the Aqueous Forms and Whispersilk Cloaks are there to ensure my guys hit the target.

Problems, open questions and concerns (remember, I mostly play casual multiplayer, usually Pentagram):
* The mana curve is ugly, any ideas how to smooth that out?
* I do own 2 more Field of Dreams. Are they worth adding more? If yes, what to cut? On the one hand they allow me to pick targets well, otoh they are redundant if I draw more than one
* I may need some early blockers but can't find anything within the theme. Gamazoa would be perfect if it didn't force a shuffle.

How to Play

Use Nevermaker to put something on top you want to play with Daxos or other guys next attack.

Use Field of Dream to decide who to attack. Use Geralf prior to the attack if there isn't anything useful on top.

Thada Adel is actually a Rogue, so you can use Knowledge Exploitation's Prowl to cast it. You may need to fetch a mana artifact with Thada's own ability to have enough for the prowl cost.

Deck Tags

  • Casual
  • Library
  • Fun

Deck at a Glance

Social Stats

5
Likes

This deck has been viewed 2,431 times.

Mana Curve

Mana Symbol Occurrence

4481300

Card Legality

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

Deck discussion for Library assholes

I'd like to introduce you my new troupe, the infamous "Library Assholes"! They will enter the Thespian's Stage this August but to be honest I am nervous about their premier. I might have to make some last call changes regarding the cast. That's why I decided to invite you lovely critics to a sneak preview. Here is the synopsis of the play:

My actors are a band of mischiefs and outcasts that formed a gang of anarchists, the library assholes, that seeks to overthrow the establishment. It's a bunch of thieves, slackers and vagabonds, however, don't make the mistake thinking they are all proletarian. Among them are academics, too: Geralf who didn't find any supporters for his experiments, Thada Adel whose acquisition methods were deemed "too creative" for the government and that Sphinx that is now the spokesman of this organization.
And the mastermind behind all of them is Ashiok. He once had a dream where he turned all those oppressive methods of the superiors against themselves. Now he is trying to gather enough folk to make this dream become a true nightmare.

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Posted 24 July 2015 at 09:36

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On a sidenote, Chromatic Star more than 2 dollars, WTF!?

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Posted 24 July 2015 at 09:36

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You forgot Mindleech Mass.

Not that that helps with the mana curve problem, at all, but you still forgot it...

Cards that revolve around stealing people's cards from their libraries, hands, and fields all tend to have high CMCs, it makes decks like this challenging to effectively build.

Ashiok is one of the most efficient cards in this deck, but she is the only one in this deck that actually requires black Mana, there is only one of her and only 4 black mana sources. I would suggest either investing more heavily in black, or eliminating her. If you invest more in black then you shoud run some Dark Rituals for mana acceleration, even with your blue spells they could pay for the often high colorless mana costs.

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Posted 25 July 2015 at 23:21

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You are right, I forgot about Mindleech Mass, however, as you said, that doesn't help with the mana curve at all and would add a spell with double-black mana.

One Ashiok is all I have and I don't think I'll trade for more, that isn't exactly card I would put in other decks after this. Him requiring black is no problem though - I actually run 8 black mana sources (the Vivid Creeks and the Chromatic Stars) plus potentially two more in Thespian Stage. IF I would go with a build that has more black I could also add those Fiend of the Shadows even though they technically don't mess with the libraby.

EDIT: I could "upgrade" Chromatic Star to Terrarion to support a few double-off-colour splashs.

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Posted 26 July 2015 at 17:24

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Ah, I missed the Chromatic Stars as sources of mana fixing. I think you would be better off running swamps due to the high mana curve of this deck though.

Another thought is, if you're playing this in multiplayer, you are doubly vulnerable because unless I'm mistaken when a player is eliminated all permanents they own leave play. This means you invest mana and turns stealing people's cards, only to have them eliminated when the player you stole them from is eliminated, and if you ever come down to a 1v1 situation you have to entirely rely on stealing from the individual who is left. You will be in a weakened table state because the other competitors will have scooped their permanents, while your remaining opponent wasn't necessarily your main focus throughout the entire game.

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Posted 26 July 2015 at 18:31

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We are either 4 people wich means we play 2 vs 2 or 5 players which means we play Pentagram or French Emperor. No free-for-alls.
But yes, I'll lose permanents I stole if the owning player is killed. However, this may come in handy because it means I am less of a target. It could even encourage other players to oust the one I was stealing from so that I lose specific permanents :)
Besides, I made this deck more for the lols ...

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Posted 26 July 2015 at 20:17

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Yeah, it'll be an lols deck, it may be fun, but it will be very hard to play. 1v1 it relies on you being able to pull off your opponent's strategy faster and better than your opponent can, and with a mana curve like this that will once again be difficult.

Curse of Echoes or Hive Mind may be fun in a deck like this.

Also, you could turn this in to an Omniscience deck with Show and Tell (a classic combo, if not a bit cliche). That would actually make this deck a threat and you could forget about mana curves.

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Posted 27 July 2015 at 08:09

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Well, I don't play 1-on-1 :)

Hive Mind? I am working on a Hive Mind deck - more accurately I stopped working on one because I got stuck in the middle of it. The plan was to to have Hive Mind + Witchbane Orb so you won't get targetted yourself and then go bonkers with targetted sorceries and instants:
http://www.mtgvault.com/puschkin/decks/dont-mind-the-hive/
But I somehow doubt that merging these two ideas would smoothen out the mana curve :) Actually I fail to see how that (or Curse of Echoes for that matter) would help my cause ... I play their spells from their library and then give them copies of those spells?

You know what? I'll just cut some of the more expensive spells, add some mana ramp and call it a day.

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Posted 27 July 2015 at 15:28

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Ashiok... *Shiver*

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Posted 04 September 2015 at 03:09

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He isn't actually *that* good but most people have the same reaction as you, which is worth something inmultiplayer :)

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Posted 08 September 2015 at 18:06

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Any kind of field wipe would work well in combination with Ashiok, provided you can get it up to 10 loyalty it would be a powerful win con.

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Posted 14 September 2015 at 12:47

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Yeah but planeswalkers always never live long enough to do so, Ashiok needs 5 turns to do so - won't happen. I mean it might someday but that's nothing I can count on.
Board swipers can still be a good addition, there is always Nevinyrral's Disk (which spares planeswalkers).

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Posted 15 September 2015 at 05:54

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Okay, Puschkin, apologies in advance for spamming your deck...but what could possibly be more appropriate?!? My current mission (which I both created & decided to accept) is trying to get as many people as possible to listen to "Sowing the Seeds", & GIVE THAT SHITE SOME SERIOUS THOUGHT. It's always close, but Paris brought it closer. And since your deck is titled "Library Assholes", & since the song says, "Read it in the books, in the crannies & the nooks, there are books to read..." well, you know I couldn't resist. Happy whatever-day-it-is there, big guy...& may you read whatever you choose to read in good, sweet peace. :)

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Posted 21 November 2015 at 11:26

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Oh, yeah...forgot to spam "Advice for the Young at Heart"...but at YOUR age, I'm sure you understand. (Just kidding...I came across a reference on one of your decks to your 40th b-day, & I'm actually somewhat older. -.-)

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Posted 21 November 2015 at 12:38

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...which DOESN'T mean I'm senile, so don't even start. It may, however, explain the imperative I feel. It's one thing to have a child...it's another to have a grandchild, & to see the decades marching, w/ so much that's salient being passed by...there's a point at which you really just want to start shaking people. Only to realize, if only someone had shaken you.

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Posted 21 November 2015 at 12:42

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Actually, if you read the deck description, there is a small RPG explaining the deck and somehow the library assholes would more be on the side of the attackers of Paris ;)

That aside, Paris is covered enough (literally everywhere) and I am oversaturated with this topic (and sick of the western media reporting so lopsided - the west, espeically the USA, isn't exactly innocent here). Please leave me out of this discussion.

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Posted 21 November 2015 at 12:52

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Just for the record, I've heard no reporting of it beyond the immediate aftermath...I don't actually follow the news beyond what comes up on my homepage...& I thought it would have been obvious that I don't see the U.S. as being innocent...believe it or not, I didn't even think that when 911 happened (not everyone in the U.S. is an ignorant ass w/ their head buried in the political sand). There's no discussion, per se...just a world we're all living in. And like it or not, we're all included in that.

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Posted 21 November 2015 at 13:07

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Well, I am from germany which has a border to france, new refugees from syria arrive at my city daily etc. It's an omnipresent topic here and MTGVault was one of the few places that doesn't mention it. Let's keep it at that. And read the RPG, you really picked the wrongest decks of mine ;)

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Posted 21 November 2015 at 13:45

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So ironic...I was listening to an entirely different song on my computer while searching, & "Advice for the Young at Heart" queued up behind it, just as your comment came up. And no...I read the RPG, but for the reasons that I stated, don't believe I picked the wrongest deck, but we can agree to disagree on that. As for the rest, I will respect your feelings in that. Oh, more irony..."Everybody Wants To Rule The World" just came up...damn thing must be on some kind of auto-pilot (I actually just set out to listen to "Woman in Chains"). Still wishing you a peaceful day...if it helps, feel free to cuss me out loudly a few times. I never take that sort of thing personally. ;)

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Posted 21 November 2015 at 14:06

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And thank you for being frank w/ me...I've never been a fan of the alternative. ;) The fact is, we are all struggling w/ these things, to one degree or another, in one way or another. I just hope we find a way to achieve some sort of equilibrium, before humanity as a whole explodes.

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Posted 21 November 2015 at 14:48

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Also...realize in retrospect that I was insensitive...a distinct faux pas on my part (where's "Impulse" when you need it?). My sincere apologies for that.

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Posted 22 November 2015 at 16:05

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It's okay.

However, the library assholes wouldn't listen to your hippie music anyway, I am pretty sure they prefer Rage against the machine :) Let's see, "Bomb Track", "Know your enemy" and of course "Killing in the name of" are especially fitting.

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Posted 25 November 2015 at 20:40

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"Hippie" music...how degenerate... ;)

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Posted 25 November 2015 at 20:45

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(1) The Boys 'Round Here (2) Meanwhile Back At Mama's (3) Cruise remix featuring Nelly. I DEFY you to determine which 2 are favored by my GD. Prize to be awarded: Whatever we find in the next box of Crackerjacks we open (pending on my being able to afford the shipping). ;)

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Posted 04 December 2015 at 00:23

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(One of "my" songs: "Demons". And don't say nothin' 'gainst those boys...after all, if you can't imagine dragons, what are you doing in Magic??)

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Posted 04 December 2015 at 01:04

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Also: "Rocky Mountain High". I'm eclectic like that. (Yes...we "hippies" can be eclectic.) And just so you know...that's a beautiful song that I can relate to 100%, having had a similar experience at about the age of 12 or so.

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Posted 04 December 2015 at 01:19

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I'd suggest "Late Winter, Early Spring" off the same album as a nice instrumental piece that speaks the referred season very aptly, except I'm afraid it might make your teeth ache. Annie's Song, maybe? (Open minds = open hearts, big guy.) ;)

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Posted 04 December 2015 at 01:39

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Jesus, the damn thing just cued up "American Pie". Who or what controls these things?!

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Posted 04 December 2015 at 01:41

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And yes...I'm singing along.

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Posted 04 December 2015 at 01:43

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"Cat's In The Cradle"...?!? - Okay, these b@st@rds are just sick. Oh, wait...seriously...?...."Piano Man". Excuse me while I go regain control of my computer.

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Posted 04 December 2015 at 01:54

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pretty soon you'll be "Knocking on Heaven's Door" if you try to regain control of your computer. It is impossible to do so.

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Posted 03 May 2016 at 20:46

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Like the deck.

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Posted 03 April 2016 at 14:41

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Thanks. Any ideas how to get a better rounded mana curve?

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Posted 03 April 2016 at 17:58

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Well that would depend on which director you want to go. If you want to focus on playing Jace or Daxos. But think mirror mockery could help speed up the effect of your creatures that ant legendary. And talent of the telepath could work in place of have cheaper but no creature. And clever impersonator could work to replace the sorcery's but just copies something already out but don't deal with it if it's a problem.

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Posted 04 April 2016 at 00:52

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The focus is on Daxos because he is reuseable and I will need the lifegain. Mirror Mockery isn't sustainable enough but Clever Impersonator is ... clever ;) and might be a good solution to a lot of things. Finally need to trade for them.
Same for Talent of the Telepath, haven't boosted Origins which is why I run Stolen Goods. Since the spell mastery part of Talent will never trigger and since the Stolen Goods guarantee me a card I ran with Goods.

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Posted 04 April 2016 at 07:58

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That's understandable with talent of the telepath. And I thinking about mirror mockery being place on your creatures that have enter battlefield effects. And can be place on an opponent's creature to pretty much neutralize it.

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Posted 05 April 2016 at 00:24

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