This is the first pauper deck I've ever built, one that relies on the fantastic Transmutation ability to turn my deck into a toolbox! I can mill my opponent, tap down his creatures, massacre his tokens, or simply kill him with one of my build-arounds! Enjoy my take on Blue/Black control!
Dimir Infiltrator
is fantastic in this deck, and he's the first build-around I'll discuss. Not only can he bypass blockers, but he can also be transmuted for anything I need with a converted mana cost of two. Here's what he can fetch:If I already have another Infiltrator on the field, I can fetch a
Paranoid Delusions
to cipher onto it, milling my opponent each time he hits. If there's an annoying creature I can't kill but want to restrain, I'll fetch a Hands of Binding to cipher onto another Infiltrator in order to keep it tapped. If my board state is empty and I need a wall, there are plenty of creatures to choose from (I'll discuss those in a sec). If I want to start or accelerate a mill engine, I can fetch a Jace's Erasure or a
Chronic Flooding
so my opponent mills cards each time he draws or taps a land.
Doorkeeper
is the next build-around in the deck, the creature that kicks the mill win-condition into overdrive. I can pay mana to mill my opponent 1 card for each Defender I control (And, keeping with the Fullmetal Alchemist theme, he's a Homunculus to boot). This deck is loaded with Defenders!
Corpse Blockade
will kill anything that attacks,
Returned Phalanx
is a big body for two mana that can lose Defender for a turn if I pay mana (I'll do that only to perform an alpha strike). Oh, and did I mention that the
Doorkeeper
is also a defender? And that the
Dimir Infiltrator
can be transmuted to fetch him? This deck is loaded with synergy!
The third and final build-around is Drift of Phantasms, a creature that can search for any card with a converted mana cost of 3. It's also a Defender, so I can play it for synergy with the
Doorkeeper
as well. I can also transmute into
Psychic Strike
,
Pilfered Plans
, and Curse of the Bloody Tome to accelerate my mill strategy and draw more cards. If I have an Infiltrator on the field, I can transmute Phantasms for
Nimbus Naiad
, an enchantment creature that buffs the Infiltrator +2/+2 and gives it flying. Since the Infiltrator already can't be blocked, the Naiad is best used on
Returned Phalanx
so he can block flyers or land a hit should I choose to attack.
Bojuka Bog is for exiling all of the cards in my opponent's graveyard that I'm filling, in case that proves to be a good thing for him. Dealing damage to me is hard enough as it is unless you're playing burn, so Dismal Backwater is perfect for this deck.
Let's talk sideboard options for this deck.We want Gurmag Angler in the sideboard just in case, for some freak reason, we run into a mirror match or face another mill deck. Their strategy will make this creature easier to cast and it gives us a giant beater for cheap that we can use to end the game more quickly. We put
Gravepurge
in the sideboard on the same occasion, reloading our deck with any valuable creatures we may need but lost to milling.We put a few copies of
Shrivel
in the sideboard in case we run up against a white weenie deck, an elf deck, or any other kind of token swarming strategy. Fortunately, this spell doesn't kill any of our creatures and neither does the format staple
Electrickery
.
Spell Shrivel
is a semi-hard counter that also exiles the target spell, perfect for if we run into reanimation decks or spells with Flashback, Unearth, or any other kind of mechanic that allows it to be reused.
Crypt Incursion
is another tool against our worst enemies: opponents that love a full graveyard. It exiles all creatures in our opponent's graveyard so they can't be reanimated. Since the spell gives us life for each exiled card to boot, it works incredibly well when paired with
Shrivel
against cheap creature-heavy aggro, where our Defenders can't completely hold the line and our life total is in jeopardy.The classic Counterspell is a perfect, indisputable inclusion for if and when we face combo decks, also a bad matchup for us.
Wall of Corpses
is another creature that's perfect for this strategy. It can be fetched by
Dimir Infiltrator
and as a Defender it has synergy with
Doorkeeper
. Its ability to serve as universal removal spell when needed is crucial, as most common black removal spells at 2-3 CMC can only target nonblack creatures or creatures with power so low that our Defenders can stop them anyway. This creature will be sideboarded into the deck if our opponent has a monster that our other creatures can't stop, like a
Gearseeker Serpent
or a Gurmag Angler. Yes,
Corpse Blockade
has deathtouch but only at the expense of another one of our creatures.
Wall of Corpses
will be added as extra backup.
Enjoy this incredible, fun-to-play everyman deck filled with Alchemic goodness! Recommendations and upvotes are much appreciated!
