Ghost Dad's Circus Stampede

Standard* mrbloo1848

SCORE: 71 | 64 COMMENTS | 19523 VIEWS | IN 35 FOLDERS Top 8: 05/10


Playtest #7: BUG Control —Feb. 28, 2013

Had a chance to play against a BUG Control deck tonight. The list ran around removals, sweeps, a few counters, Duskmantle Seer, Garruk Relentless  Flip, and your usual suite of card advantage cards most control decks run.

Since he didn't have his sideboard with him, we just played with our mainboard the entire time.

In most of the games, we just spend the first couple turns playing land-go and Farseek and then I was able to open most games with a Loxodon Smiter and was able to get a decent pressure in early, usually getting removed by Abrupt Decay or Liliana of the Veil's -2 ability. Sigarda, Host of Herons was the star in this matchup as it was virtually unkillable if it resolves since by the time he has enough swamps for Mutilate to kill her, it's usually eithet already too late or he had to use it on the board against my other creatures (I almost always saved her for after he'd used his sweep and was tapped out since I had only one copy of her (plus Unburial Rites except that he usually has a Deathrite Shaman on the board)). Duskmantle Seer also turned out to be a complete flop against me in most of the games since I can easily take the CMC damage with all the life gain I have.

This, along with other playtests I performed against other variety of control decks, confirmed that this list does pretty well against control matchups, being able to still play out threats after board sweeps and other removals where many aggro decks would run out of steam.

Also decided to replace one Restoration Angel with a second Sigarda, Host of Herons since she's really strong in the current meta.

It also seems that I was having a bit of a land draw problem (which I shouldn't) and since I have only one spell to ramp with, I am cutting both Blind Obedience to throw in an extra Sunpetal Grove to better match the color pie and also a third Lingering Souls because that card's still awesome. Blind Obedience seems to better fit a pure control list or a pure aggro list.

I have also realized that my whining about this deck being a bit too slow for aggro is somewhat false. I just need more practice on knowing which opening hands to keep, whether on the play or on the draw. A half-decent hand should statistically be able to accelerate to keep up with aggro and eventually come out on top.

Thanks for all the +1's and suggestions so far, guys! This deck is definitely one of the top three (or even two), if not the top standard list I've come up with and I would live to see it improve and actually do well competitively. Keep those tips comin'!

miracleHat says... #1

why did you drop Lingering Souls ?

February 18, 2013 11:40 a.m.

Long_Con says... #2

Ray of Revelation can shut down Blind Obedience pretty efficiently.

February 18, 2013 11:51 a.m.

xCloudx says... #3

Might just be preference on my part, but in playtesting, I've found that Centaur Healer performs just slightly better than Smiter. Granted you're only getting a 3/3 out of it but the 3 lifegain early game can't be ignored and late game you're paying 3 for ~6 lifegain plus a chump blocker.

With Trostani out, a case could be made for Loxodon as you're gaining 4 (vs. 6 from centaur healer) and I'd say the 2 life tradeoff is negligible in that scenario, due to the greater P/T. With Rhox on the field though, you're looking at 0 lifegain out of the Loxodon.

Again, could just be preference on my part. They're very similar in this type of deck and I feel that a case could be made for either.

One other note that I think needs to be mentioned with Lox vs Healer. Lox CANT be countered. Which at first sounds good, unless you plan on dropping Trostani/Rhox/Ghost Dad next turn. If they have a counter, they could possibly be bated into countering a Centaur Healer. With Lox, they don't even have the option. Just a little thought for you.

February 18, 2013 11:59 a.m.

mrbloo1848 says... #4

I'm guessing you're talking about mainboarding Centaur Healer . In which case, you do have a point and I'll be testing it but the 4/4 body is pretty relevant in the current meta.

Also, I won't be seeing Blind Obedience very often in an event throughout the rounds. It's just that I was playing against just one deck multiple times and that card happened to screw me over, but if they do become more common, I can considering putting enchanter removal in my sideboard but as of now I can use Oblivion Ring and Abrupt Decay to deal with them.

I dropped Lingering Souls because there's no room for them and having to side them out against reanimators due to Rest in Peace is rather inefficient. If you can suggest what to take out to make rom for the cards, I'm all ears.

Thanks for all the comments, guys!

February 18, 2013 2:09 p.m.

miracleHat says... #5

well, i gues you do have a point about Lingering Souls , have you thought about Arbor Elf /card:Avacyn's Pilgrim?

February 18, 2013 3:38 p.m.

mrbloo1848 says... #6

I prefer to stay away from creature-based ramp mostly because of where the current meta and my local meta is. The format is currently aggro-oriented and thanks to that, most decks are packing a suite of removals and efficient board-sweepers and spending the board slots on what is usually a few turns of ramping at the risk of being unexpectedly screwed out of the one or two mana that you have been saving your bombs for is just going to hurt in the long run. I really don't want to give anyone the option of being able to decide how I curve and I think I am pretty good where I am in terms of ramping and curving.

I love mana dorks as much as the next guy and they can definitely accelerate my deck enough to secure my board position before being overwhelmed but the current meta really limits their usefulness below the point of justifying running them.

February 18, 2013 5:53 p.m.

Ertl says... #7

I hope this helps. Take a peak at deck:you-cant-touch-this-troll.

February 18, 2013 7:29 p.m.

smash10101 says... #8

+1 for the name

February 18, 2013 11:51 p.m.

Wow seeing this deck tells.me I am not the only one who sees how good Trostani and Obzedat live oneanother, lol. Any way I like the deck +1 from me. Check out ky Morglen Life Gain Deck if ya can you will like it!

February 20, 2013 7:27 p.m.

redsoxfan3244 says... #10

Nice Name, and Nice Deck!!!!

February 20, 2013 9:46 p.m.

SwiftDeath says... #11

+1 for a great deck build and using vraska she is such a good control walker but never see's top 8. hoping my deck does well in fnm as well. let me know what you think Junk Control.

February 23, 2013 12:13 a.m.

Great deck. +1 ! Love both Obzedat, Ghost Council and card:Trostani, Selesnya's Voice and any deck with both deserves a +1.

February 24, 2013 3:11 a.m.

mrbloo1848 says... #13

Thanks, guys! I couldn't take it to FNM this past Friday because I went out of town to visit a friend so I got about a few more days to test them yet! I have a feeling Vraska the Unseen will do better than Ajani, Caller of the Pride and I hope she keeps her spot!

February 24, 2013 9:58 a.m.

tempest says... #14

sorry if this had been mentioned already but Vampire Nighthawk ?

February 25, 2013 10:19 p.m.

Mekhami says... #15

Should have Chalice of Life  Flip as an alternate win condition. It seems very plausible.

February 26, 2013 1:44 a.m.

mrbloo1848 says... #16

I had Vampire Nighthawk competing for the three-drop spot against Loxodon Smiter and smiters ended up doing more work, having 4 toughness and uncounterable and all that.

I'll think about Chalice of Life  Flip . I'm feeling iffy about it as I don't really need an alternate-alternate-win-con. My planeswalkers are my alternate win-cons. I'll definitely keep it in mind though since I do love the card.

Thanks for all the +1's guys!

February 26, 2013 3:07 a.m.

ChiefBell says... #17

Knight of Infamy stalls a lot of the current aggro. As does Human Frailty .

One idea for board clear is to run Vampire Nighthawk with Predatory Rampage or Revenge of the Hunted . Could also be done without deathtouch as well but it's a lot better with deathtouch for sure.

February 26, 2013 5:53 a.m.

mrbloo1848 says... #18

I like Knight of Infamy , but he belongs in a more aggro deck. If I want a two-drop that can efficiently stall the board, I have the option of High Priest of Penance (which I might actually give him another chance for a spot).

I'm seriously considering Terminus as my board sweep of choice, but I have a feeling it will hurt me more than it does them since against aggro, my overall creature quality is higher. Worst comes to worst, if I really need a sweep due to prevalence of aggro, I probably will end up with Merciless Eviction or even Mutilate .

The thing is, a lot of people that are running aggro or weenies are splashing to get access to Boros Charm so combat- and destruction-based sweeps aren't always so reliable.

February 26, 2013 3:25 p.m.

ChiefBell says... #19

Not always but just keep an eye on the mana they leave open. You can guess what they're about to do. With planeswalkers out board clear that clears everything can be ok but I still feel like the green board clears are criminally overlooked ant can be used to great effect.

February 26, 2013 4:17 p.m.