The Lich's Reckoning (GRN)

Standard jeffvanlee

SCORE: 85 | 28 COMMENTS | 13308 VIEWS | IN 31 FOLDERS


wakawakawaka says... #1

I really like this list!

I think you're running a few to many Manglehorns though and I think you'd really benefit from running 25 lands. Thrashing Brontodon may or may not be better for this deck than Manglehorn because it synergizes with journey.

also!! Golden Guardian might be stupidly strong in this deck.

January 12, 2018 9:19 p.m.

jeffvanlee says... #2

Appreciate the feedback wakawakawaka! Thrashing Brontodon was an excellent suggestion, I love the 3/4 body and being able to hit enchantments is great. Added to the maybeboard, probably a solid sideboard piece. My concerns with the card are:

  • The mana cost (wanted a more reliable turn 3 play in a pinch, since I feel that being stuck with only -1/-1 creatures in hand early without being able to drop another creature first is really bad).

  • No etb trigger.

  • Paying to activate its sac ability, while cheap, is a cost and could interfere with early ramp.

  • Having 4 toughness can be a drawback when you want to slam Journey on a creature and then peg it with two -1/-1 counters and kill it.

January 13, 2018 8:13 a.m.

Nirb says... #3

There's a lot of really nice incidental synergies in this deck. Doomed Dissenter in particular works really well with Plague Belcher as a thing to dump neg 1 tokens onto and also trigger the secondary drain ability. Perfect 2 drop.

If you want to lean more into etb triggers perhaps Supernatural Stamina is worth considering?

As for the Manglehorn and Thrashing Brontodon thing, I agree with wakawakawaka it's a better fit imo and still has synergy. It can sacrifice itself so the 4 toughness really isn't anything to worry about.

4 toughness will also really help you against aggro decks.

You have about 20 other creatures that will die easily to counters or Yahenni's Expertise not to mention Yahenni, Undying Partisan himself. So I don't really think it'll be a problem however its something worth play testing to get right.

As for Golden Guardian personally I don't think its a great fit for this deck in particular. Has no sacrifice outlets, no etb, 4 toughness, defender and doesn't even go to the graveyard due to transform. It would fit much better in a deck like Aristocrats.

That being said it fits better here than in most other decks.

January 13, 2018 8:57 a.m.

jeffvanlee says... #4

A few thing I'm pondering:

January 14, 2018 10:32 a.m.

Trivmvirate says... #5

One synergy that you haven't yet explored is Journey to Eternity with Revolt. For example, putting it on Greenwheel Liberator and then killing it means the liberator returns as a 4/3

January 17, 2018 8:44 a.m.

jeffvanlee says... #6

Trivmvirate, good suggestion- I'm not sure how but I completely missed that card!I'll add Greenwheel Liberator to the list.

January 17, 2018 9:42 a.m.

Aethos says... #7

Doomed Dissenter seems a lot better then the revolt guys on 2 mana. T2 Doomed into T3 Plague Belcher is a good backup to Journey to Eternity.

I would cut 1 Noxious Gearhulk you don't want to draw multiple of those in the early game.

Thrashing Brontodon can alway sac itself targeting Journey if necessary. The additional stats make it a lot nicer in case you don't draw Journey - T2 Channeler Initiate into T3 Brontodon is a lot better then T3 Manglehorn with no targets. Being able to target enchantments might be quite important. The Brontodon also survives Yahenni's Expertise, which is very nice. But ...

... this deck abuses the land side of Journey to Eternity a lot more then the front side, which worries me a bit. A lot of decks that can afford it, will most probably run a few Field of Ruin. And with multiple double black and double green mana costs I don't see you run some to counter theirs. If a lot of decks run it, you might need to switch the Brontodon to the worse Manglehorn, just so you can run some Ruins.

January 17, 2018 11:32 a.m.

jeffvanlee says... #8

Excellent points Aethos, depending on my local meta I'll definitely run a few copies of Field of Ruin. Cutting a Gearhulk is probably a good call as well. Wondering if Creeping Mold is a viable option... seems pretty slow though. Maybe Heroic Intervention?

January 17, 2018 12:05 p.m.

EpicBox75 says... #9

Hey I was wondering could it be possible to add blue or splash blue for some Hostage Taker (2-3) to main and for side a The Scarab God (1) and couple of Negate (2-3)

Would it be too complex for the manabase or would it make the deck too unconsistant with 3 colors in?

But thanks for making this kind of deck because I love it and I love that you are playing Ravenous Chupacabra because I want to see it outside of limited and draft

January 17, 2018 1:24 p.m.

jeffvanlee says... #10

@EpicBox75 You're welcome, I'm glad you like the list! Thanks for your comment.

I think adding blue is definitely possible, however I'd like to keep the deck to two colors for maximum consistency in the early game. If I did add blue, Champion of Wits might be a nice option as well.

January 17, 2018 4:13 p.m.

Ogoki says... #11

Has anyone considered Benefaction of Rhonas for this deck? Seems like a good fit as you can grab both a creature and your enchantment potentially.

January 18, 2018 3:34 a.m.

jeffvanlee says... #12

Ogoki Yes, good call! I actually added Benefaction last night- digging 5 deep and keeping both seems great.

January 18, 2018 9:47 a.m.

Thrashing Brontodon is perfect for this deck. Casting journey on the brontodon on turn four allow you To sack brontodon for 1 targeting your journey. The magic happens when you finally check for the destroy enchantement both ur brontodon and the journey went in the graveyard. So u get Atzal, Cave of Eternity and your brontodon.

January 18, 2018 4:52 p.m.

jeffvanlee says... #14

@orcishbarbarian The ol' Brontski Feint.

January 18, 2018 7:36 p.m.

EpicBox75 says... #15

Today (19.01.2018) I made this deck for standard and I went 2-1 (WB Vampires 2-0, WG Cats 2-0 and 4c Energy 1-2) and it little bit surprised me that this deck was this consistent. Before FNM I did some testing games and I did small changes that I personally like more.

I didn't use Heroic Intervention because for me it didn't do anything because best sweep is Hour of Devastation at least in here it is the most used and Morbid Curiosity was changed to Costly Plunder because it was rare I ever wanted to use morbid and when I did want to use it I wanted to sacrifice 2-3 cost creature so I don't see any point to pay 1 more when you can have at instant almost same effect.

Also I took 1 Plague Belcher out and I added 3 Dusk Legion Zealot because it enabled to cycle deck faster + it is 1/1 that can die easily for journey and the card draw is nice at later stage as well (2 Heroics and 1 Belcher for 3 Zealots)

For lands I played 2 Field of Ruin and 1 Foul Orchard with 4 Marshs and 10 swamp and 7 forest. Maybe some Ifnir Deadlands even though it will need those 5 other lands to work

In the end I think that this deck is really consistent REALLY hard to beat after you flip Journey because the value is too good and if the reanimator land gets destroyed it is fast to flip another and laugh at your opponent.

January 19, 2018 2:51 p.m.

jeffvanlee says... #16

@EpicBox75 Thank you so much for giving the deck a try and taking the time to post your feedback here, it means a lot! I haven't had the chance to play it yet but I'll post an update as soon as I do.

January 19, 2018 3:33 p.m.

Room9 says... #17

Love this list! Have you considered using Banewhip Punisher as a sac outlet? It's quite powerful on curve, and can be followed up with Journey + sac. Check out my list for ideas if you're interested!

http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/rix-bug-journey/

January 24, 2018 11:39 a.m.

Hexaflexagon says... #18

This has reached #5!!! Congrats! +1.

Love the decklist, I wouldn't change much. But, have you considered Woodland Cemetery instead of Blooming Marsh as it coming into play untapped is a slightly bigger chance than Marsh.

July 16, 2018 10:27 p.m.

TLucas1018 says... #19

This seems to be pretty solid deck... just not sure how a $300 deck is budget.

October 2, 2018 1:45 p.m.

Ultramegalord says... #20

Llanowar Elves opens up a turning two Journey to Eternity  Flip potentially anyway

October 2, 2018 2:55 p.m.

Malikin says... #21

Not so sure about Lich's Mastery. Rest of the deck seems solid though.

October 2, 2018 3:09 p.m.

Limo says... #22

YAYYYYYY! Finally another person who uses Lich's Mastery. I recently made a very different esper control build of Lich's Mastery. It's called Deck yourself B4 you Wreck yourself (GRN Primer). +1 from me.

October 2, 2018 7:34 p.m.

Imsomguy says... #23

When you no longer care about this being standard legal, you can cut this deck's cost by ~32% by replacing Assassin's Trophy with Abrupt Decay , which is like 4-5 USD at the time of commenting, and get pretty much the same return on investment.

October 3, 2018 12:11 a.m.

_Delta_ says... #24

Have you ever given any thought to Bone Dragon?

October 3, 2018 9:33 p.m.

jeffvanlee says... #25

@TLucas1018 You're right, the deck is no longer "budget"- I've removed the #budget tag. Assassin's Trophy and Doom Whisperer may drop slightly in price but I'm just speculating. The former can be replaced with the full suite of Necrotic Wound, a 4x-2x swap of each may be the better option.

@_Delta_ I had not considered Bone Dragon, it seems like more of a sealed or limited bomb imo. Could be a decent replacement if you don't want to go the Lich's Mastery route.

October 4, 2018 7:08 p.m.

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