What's your most interesting deck to pilot?
General forum
Posted on Aug. 20, 2015, 1:34 p.m. by brcap
Ok Tapped, time to brag. I'm speaking mostly modern, but standard (or even rotated out of standard) welcome. I'm not asking about your best deck ever, just what you had the most fun piloting, and why.
Interesting/fun are clearly subjective, so let me narrow it down a little for conversation's sake.
What I don't mean: The deck ruthlessly designed to win. Burn, Tron, Affinity...etc. where Playing is somewhat mechanical because the deck is designed to one thing really really well. Not to say these aren't interesting to play (though personally I tend to be far more interested in their construction than actual playing, due to their mechanical nature)
What I am talking about: Decks that do all sorts of things in a viable way. Decks that give you hard choices every turn because the deck itself can run in different directions. Again, it doesn't have to be Splinter Twin kinda good - just fun and sorta viable.
VampireArmy says... #3
No Goyf? Love Midrange? No Problem!
Plays like Jund-Abzan hybrid. You have to choose very quickly whether your the aggressive deck or the controlling deck.
August 20, 2015 1:56 p.m.
JohnnyBaggins says... #4
Ivan Floch's deck from Pro Tour Magic 2015. You sometimes have to decide whether you want to risk missing a land drop or whether you want to risk not having two counter spells open.
No, I'm serious here. I love any control deck that's really been optimized to the core.
August 20, 2015 1:56 p.m.
Programmer_112 says... #5
I fail to see how Affinity doesn't qualify. Affinity presents larger decision trees than almost any other deck starting as early as T1. Interactions with Arcbound Ravager are perhaps the most difficult thing in all of Modern to master. Often, while I'm playing a game, I'll take a picture of the board state to analyze later, because I'm not sure what to do, and I want to figure out the right play. After the match, I'll look at the picture and try to figure out the absolute best play. At least 75% of the time, I'm able to find a play that plays around almost everything my opponent could have. The problem is, these plays often take 15 or more minutes to find, because Affinity gives you a ton of options.
Another deck that is awesome is Faeries. It's not particularly good, but it's extremely versatile. There's tons of nonsense with Mistbind Clique and Spellstutter Sprite, and the deck is very punishing if you make bad decisions. That said, if you play it well, it's enjoyable to no end.
August 20, 2015 1:59 p.m.
Havok.Bane says... #6
Mine was in standard back when innistrad block just came out. I called it my masochistic deck because I really wanted to have my own creatures die and have ten spawn sometimes 5-6 flying spirit tokens. The tricky part about this deck was wether to use my kill spells on my opponents creatures or on my own! And I gotta say the looks on my opponents faces when I swung in for 72 damage with just spirit tokens was awesome!
August 20, 2015 2:02 p.m.
weisemanjohn says... #7
Any deck I've built with Archetype of Imagination was fun for me. I originally built a UG kiora deck and managed to get flying krakens going off during the first test run in casual play. Unfortunately, that made kiora into public enemy number one, but 9/9 fliers every turn brought hilarious reactions.
After that was applying the idea to Kiora found a hydra which was a decently competitive FNM deck. Unfortunately, kiora got sided out, but the archetype became a big finisher as my opponent's couldn't stop the rush of creatures they had intended to block.
August 20, 2015 2:05 p.m.
Storm is one of the most interesting decks to pilot from the beginning of the game. "Do I have the right amount of lands?" "Can I keep a one Ritual hand?" "Is Island, 4x Serum Visions, Desperate Ravings, Goblin Electromancer keepable?"
Then it's all about the top of the deck. Because then every draw step is "Can I go off?" or "Can I keep going off?"
As far as a non-competitive deck, I love the play my Vorel and his Merry Counters deck has. Sometimes I can aggro people out with Experiment One, other times I sit back and win off the back of Doubling Season + any planeswalker.
August 20, 2015 2:14 p.m.
Ha! I knew i'd get some... But this thing is interesting to play! Agreed, Affinity n' Tron are interesting in their complex calculations of optimizing value. I run both and still love playing them, but they still do one thing (both you and your opponent know exactly where things are going) and it's all about running that thing out as best as circumstances allow. Its not a hard choice because you can go down different paths, its hard choice to figure out what the most efficient way to get to your one path is. Most top tier decks are in this category. Yes, interesting.. but not the kind of interesting i'm looking for here. I tried to narrow the conversation because everyone finds every deck they run interesting.. otherwise they probably wouldn't be running it
VampireArmy... very cool. I'll have to go check out that Ivan Floch's deck.
August 20, 2015 2:25 p.m.
FAMOUSWATERMELON says... #10
This thing. Difficult to play well, but insanely fun. I also love playing weird combo decks.
August 20, 2015 2:29 p.m.
fluffybunnypants says... #11
Miracles. Hands down. Unfortunately always going to time resulted in little time to do things like get food and go to the restroom.
August 20, 2015 2:30 p.m.
My Boneyard deck, because of the versatility. I have a lot of fun with it.
August 20, 2015 2:52 p.m.
canterlotguardian says... #13
G/B Tron - Something Old, Something New because who expects the Golgari Inquisi-Tron?
August 20, 2015 2:58 p.m.
For me it's my modern project: Obliterator ∞ze. I get to make some insanely powerful plays, and, since Necrotic Ooze is a major part of the deck, I never know what extra abilities my ooze will get from my opponents. New interactions are constantly popping up as I play more and more people.
August 20, 2015 2:59 p.m.
That Lovin' Feeling. It's a deck that requires you to know more about your opponents deck than your opponent does. You need to know exactly how your opponent wants to play their cards out, what they want to draw. It's a deck where your turn one Thoughtseize can mean the difference between winning and losing. My favorite comment recently said to me after I 2-1'd him "I bet your decks very inconsistent, huh?". I went 4-2 that night, and was 1-2 each of the losses. 8th in a 45 person tournament.The Best I ever did was 2nd in a 60ish person tournament.
August 20, 2015 3:01 p.m.
Servo_Token says... #16
Both of my current modern decks,
This RUG tastes like Dirt! Playtest
Modern
SCORE: 17 | 1 COMMENTS | 1180 VIEWS
and
Bacon Cheeseburger Playtest
Modern
SCORE: 13 | 0 COMMENTS | 932 VIEWS
Are very very difficult to pilot. You either need to know the entire deck inside and out to decide when to play what, or you need to know and/or be able to recognise the most opportune times to dredge or search or burn something or find the combos. The decks are hella fun to play, but can be very taxing over a 15 round tourney.
August 20, 2015 3:04 p.m.
My personal favorite deck is my Patron of the Moon EDH deck. The Commander just has such a weird ability for blue. The deck has a tendency to draw a lot of cards too, and we all know how fun that is.
August 20, 2015 3:05 p.m.
Cobthecobbler says... #18
Gotta Catch 'em All! (UPDATE) Playtest
Standard*
SCORE: 50 | 19 COMMENTS | 9337 VIEWS
In INN-RTR standard, I played this deck from the release of gatecrash until rotation. This deck was absolutely insane to play. The deck generated massive amounts of board advantage very early on in the game, and everything got bigger and bigger as the game progressed. Definitely had my friends hating me at one point.
August 20, 2015 3:07 p.m.
canterlotguardian, that is hands down the most interesting Tron build i've ever seen. 10 points to gryffindor.
Cobthecobbler, I love me some Zameck Guildmage + Vorapede abuse. I may have to integrate that into my own simic deck.
August 20, 2015 3:37 p.m.
AwesomeSean says... #20
One night at an FNM, Someone kindly let me play a 8rack/pox budget version deck. It took me by surprise at how controlling and punishing the deck is without a solid draw engine and not to mention every one loves Pack Rat.
August 20, 2015 3:39 p.m.
pumpkinwavy says... #21
This thread is everyone naming the deck they play and saying why it's great. Which is fine, because I guess that's what the thread is supposed to be about. It's cool that almost every single deck is one that is interesting and sometimes difficult to pilot, even the heroic deck I played during rtr-theros standard.
Oozing and Losing (Oooze Combos!) Playtest
Modern
SCORE: 12 | 5 COMMENTS | 1620 VIEWS
To self-advertise a little bit, this is the modern deck I play, and it features lots of difficult decisions and different lines that you must chose to setup your combo while not getting destroyed by your opponent.
While this deck is complicated and interesting, the most fun I've had playing a deck was a mono-green devotion deck I drafted in the Holiday Cube. Featuring Green Sun's Zenith, Garruk Wildspeaker, Craterhoof Behemoth, and Survival of the Fittest, you had tons of mana and lots of ways to spend it. It was also interesting because I had never played mono-green before, and drafting a new archetype was fun. I've found that limited can have some of the most interesting scenarios and decisions.
August 20, 2015 3:47 p.m.
meet my most feared deck:Burn the gobblins!
It was hated in my playgroup because it went off so many times. It killed and burned and drew me evrything I would ever need
and it's worthless in competitive, but oh so much fun to play with. waithing with lethal amount of goblins, just to burn their face :)
August 20, 2015 4:04 p.m.
Gorgosaurusrex says... #23
My stupid Descent of the Dragons + Dragon Tempest (Standard) combo deck is a blast to play. People have no idea what I'm doing until I win out of nowhere. It feels like a terrible Scapeshift + Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle deck.
Descent of the Dragons Combo Playtest
Standard
SCORE: 91 | 14 COMMENTS | 16573 VIEWS
It's really fun to play, but not consistent enough to be taken seriously.
August 20, 2015 4:39 p.m.
GreenGhost says... #24
I like black white tokens because it can take a couple routes within the game. Playing infect or elves? Just sit on Dismember or Path to Exile and kill the first threat. Even taking turn two to Zealous Persecution just to get one or two things off the board works. The same goes for affinity as well. Against combo decks using a Inquisition of Kozilek will steal the game usually and just holding up a mana to path or dismember the splinter twin target does the job. Against abzan midrange decks and go wide aggro the goal is to out aggro them because once Sorin, Solemn Visitor and Intangible Virtue are out they can't bring your health down enough.
August 20, 2015 5:27 p.m.
PepsiAddicted says... #25
when I joined tappedout I saw this and I thought "hey I have that stuff lying around, except like 2 or 3 cards" so i actually built this in paper and took it to several casual events.
Best.Deck.Ever. Playtest
Legacy
SCORE: 841 | 259 COMMENTS | 173344 VIEWS
i can only recommend playing a vanilla creature deck once in your life if you are looking to pilot a fun deck. it was not very competitive as you can imagine but it always drew alot attention. (so thx ShadeSlayer17 I only switched 4x Golden Bear for 1x Bearscape, 1x Alpha Status and 2x Aether Vial, the rest was your mainboard list)
<3
August 20, 2015 5:42 p.m.
Dalektable says... #26
It is very interesting and difficult to pilot UG Turbofog in current standard. I think a lot of people who don't play the deck assume it is a no skill "Draw, pass turn, play fog, draw, pass turn" deck. I think a lot of people with that opinion are just simply malicious because the deck has a hatred geared to it...which I love. But the deck actually is very difficult to play. Do I play this tap land to prepare better for next turn, or play this basic and drop a fog and dictate? Do I tap out for Orbs of Warding, or cast an enchantment and fog? Do I take the damage and risk dying to Atarka's Command, or just play the fog out anyways? The deck is very difficult to pilot, and the tiniest mistake will just kill you. But the feeling of Treasure Cruiseing for one mana and killing the opponent in the process is wonderful.
August 20, 2015 7:57 p.m.
MindAblaze says... #27
I hear Death and Taxes is super enjoyable to play with lots of potential lines of play and flicker shenanigans.
August 20, 2015 8:04 p.m.
quesobueno123 says... #28
Just gonna throw in a little scarecrow lovin: Building A Burnt Scarecrow
August 20, 2015 8:52 p.m.
ClockworkSwordfish says... #29
A Reaper King EDH deck that uses every Changeling to trigger Reaper King's ability, as well as tons of lords from all sorts of creature types to give you the nastiest Changeling army the world has ever seen. Using that many different lords, and seeing them synergize together in new, unexpected ways, is just too fun. For those curious: King of the Faceless.
August 21, 2015 3:22 a.m.
GR Tron, because of all the intricate plays and difficulty to pilot correctly. It's a great deck to win with.
August 21, 2015 7:09 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #31
Hit me up with an example of a difficult decision that comes up with Tron. Not disagreeing, just unsure. The deck always felt easier than Burn to pilot for me.
August 21, 2015 7:13 p.m.
GlistenerAgent, I've had issues with you in the past on this site and I'm not about to start again. I'd be glad to answer that question, but not for you. Please leave me alone.
August 22, 2015 12:59 a.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #33
Here's where I fail to understand why you couldn't give me your example and we couldn't be off on our merry ways afterwards.
Sorry, regardless. Hopefully we can be friends sometime.
August 22, 2015 2:06 a.m.
elpokitolama says... #34
Dragonstorm, because... Dragons. And Storm.
Playing this kind of deck is really hard, for the win or the loss is going to be decided by the only one time when you'll decide to go off. Deciding what to do while comboin' is also a hard thing to do, but the price you'll earn at the end is much more rewarding than a simple victory with a twin deck. :D
August 29, 2015 6:16 p.m. Edited.
elpokitolama says... #35
But my favorite deck stays my best one, the D&T that I piloted at the MKM European series and that almost granted me a top 16 (out of 121 players) if it wasn't for a stupid absent-minded moment which led me to do an extra draw! X)
There's not as many decisions to take as in storm, but the interaction and the reactiveness of the deck are making it really nice to play with. :)
GlistenerAgent says... #2
Mount Vesuvius Playtest
Modern GlistenerAgent
SCORE: 139 | 9 COMMENTS | 12837 VIEWS
August 20, 2015 1:44 p.m.