Stax is Back in Modern
only, now, it takes a different form...
World Curse
Experience the joy of watching your opponent slowly die, lose everything, and stare at pointless cards in hopeless despair!
"How?" do you ask?
Let's break it down...
(+1 Up-Vote for awesome rogue-brews!)
Turns 1 - 2
Disrupt your opponent's hand with discard (Inquisition of Kozilek, and Thoughtseize) to prevent early game threats or combos from hitting the board.
This allows us to set up our lock during the mid-game, as opposed to needing to assemble it as soon as possible, and race with aggro and combo strategies.
Turn 3
Key elements of our lock pieces should come into play during these turns. (Ghostly Prison, Blind Obedience, and Crucible of Worlds
+
Tectonic Edge
or Flagstones of Trokair + Smallpox
).
These pieces are strong because they fare well against many Tier 1 meta strategies (blind obediece stops twin, as does Ghostly Prison, and tecotnic edge hates on Tron and Scapeshift players, as does
Smallpox
)
Turn 4
This turn takes on a different role in different match-ups. Generally you may be playing a board wipe (Damnation or Wrath of God) to clean up the board whilst your lock stays in place.
But the most delightful turn 4 plays are those where we are able to resolve a particularly undervalued card in this deck.
What might that be?
That's right, this terrible card form Time Spiral that you had forgotten about and didn't think was modern relevant, will now make your opponent's board a nightmare.
Basically, every-other turn he will be forced to sacrifice a permanent. This effect alone would not have relevance enough, but the fact that your opponent is locked out and you have turns to spare, makes it effective enough.
Nay-sayers will invariably say "Gets countered, has no impact..not modern playable!" But you could say the same for Splintertwin or Scapeshift as well, though admittedly those cards win the game when they resolve. Bu the point is how this card creates synergy with the rest of the deck. Often, by turn 4, 5 or 6 when you go for resolving one of these puppies your opponent has quite expended his resources, or they are extremely limited due to Tectonic Edge's and
Smallpox
.
And oftentimes, the card will remain in exile, taxing your opponent a permanent every other turn. Real nasty when multiple hit the board!
Turns 5 - 6
Hopefully at this point you are able to resolve a World Queller, but honestly I rarely have as he usually eats removal. If he does resolve, your opponent will scoop.
Other than that, the game will progress indefinitely, and you will continue to strangle your opponent out of resources, and win the game via attrition.
Win Conditions
Over the course of 20 turns, that extort ability really adds up--and keeps your life total above 0, especially with multiple of these in play.
If your opponent doesn't have great removal, or this card appears late game, this can be a valid 4/4 flyer beating their face every turn--a very fast clock and a card many decks have trouble dealing with in a vacuum.
A 4/4 body helps finish any game on a clear board--but doesn't handle other creatures or removal well as he is without evasion. Do not jam this guy turn 5.
Ah, the BFZ man-land that most people seem to see little value in. "Dies to bolt!" Blah blah blah. You cna argue until you are blue int he face with the "Dies to Removal", but then why is Creeping Tar Pit a thing in modern? Even when removal does find our Shambling Vent, Crucible of Worlds makes this card a nightmare to deal with. Not to mention the lifelink really helps you stabilize.
Well I hope you playtest the deck!
If you do please get back to me with results, and enjoy!
