Archetype initially developed by Michael Neilson and piloted to 3rd place in Frankenmuth SCG Invitational this year. This is my revision.
This is a Prison deck that ramps up to directly disrupt our opponents manabase. Using Trinisphere/Root Maze, and graveyard recursion of LD and bounce effects, we can lock the opponent out of the game as early as T2 and easily by T3. Then we work to lock their hand in place with Plow Under or Primal Command, soft loop with Eternal Witness (topdeck land, tutor for more Eternal Witness) so we can keep the lock while we stabilize through lifegain, or tutor for threats to end the game. We can also Tutor for Stampeding Wildebeests to bounce eternal witness for graveyard recursion every turn.
Walking Ballista is our tutorable removal and does work against Aggro decks that get out from under Trinisphere.
Acidic Slime is our blocker and Artifact/Enchantment destruction, or just a 5 drop LD effect
Mwonvuli Acid-Moss is our favorite card, a 4cmc LD that takes lands from our opponent and brings us to the magical silver number of 5 mana, where most of our business spells start.
Bramblecrush is there for more 4cmc LD effects, but also allows us to compete with Jace/Liliana. Primal Command can also topdeck walkers.
Reclaiming Vines is yet another 4cmc LD effect, which differs from Bramblecrush in that it hits artifacts or enchantment creatures, like Acidic Slime.
Plow Under topdecks two target lands, having the dual effect of locking the opponent out of the game, as well as drawing no new cards for 2 turns while we chip away, or use the turns to tutor for and play our main threats.
Lifecrafter's Bestiary helps us with our biggest weakness...grindy matchups reliant on topdecks. Great synergy with the Wildebeests/Eternal Witness bounce combo.
Root Maze is our T1 play, causing a massive halt in decks that run fetch/shock lands. It adds an extra turn of total lock out with Plow Under and Primal Command's topdeck. We can ramp around it so easily with Sakura-Tribe Elder, Arbor Elf, and Utopia Sprawl that we barely notice it past T3.
Trinisphere Comes in from the side against decks that run basic lands like us, and especially against very low to the ground decks that can threaten us with 1-3 lands. I normally replace all Root Maze slots with Trinisphere against decks like Storm and Burn.
I am experimenting with a post-sideboard split between Root Maze and Trini using the 2Lifecrafter's Bestiary slots against hyper-aggro decks that run fetches, where we'll never see the full benefit of scrying topdecks if we can't keep our opponent underwater first. The two work very well together, despite Trinisphere coming in tapped the first turn.
There are 2 flex threat slots in the deck, and I believe they should be 5-6 cmc at the most, as I've found this deck runs out of gas before it can get much bigger than that, and when we lose momentum (or control, rather), the opponent usually comes out fast and with a vengeance.
The primary contenders for these slots are:
Thragtusk - Big damage with lifegain and resilient to removal. Works great with Witness, and Wildebeests can bounce him back to hand for free tokens, and lifegain again next turn.
Cloudthresher - Actually an amazing card, as strange as it seems. Works wonders against spirit tokens and Affinity, can be flashed in after a Jace/Liliana has already activated to swing in on our turn, or is just a great flash blocker. Can also be bounced with Wildebeests as a wincon against Ensaring Bridge decks, when paired with lifegain to stay ahead in health.
Primeval Titan - Brings us from 6 to the golden number of 8 mana. With 8 mana, we can play eternal witness and recur primal command (or any of our power 5cmc spells) from the graveyard in a single turn. Often run with either a single mountain and Kessig Wolf Run, or two Treetop Village.
Carnage Tyrant - does some serious work against control or any removal heavy meta. I run this over Thrun, because we can, and because of Spell Queller
Hornet Queen - GREAT card against go wide strategies, immediately dropping 5 deathtouch blockers on the board. Queen can be recurred by witness for even more tokens, and wildebeests can bounce her for the same effect.
