Exploration and Corrupt? Viable in Standard?

Standard forum

Posted on July 28, 2014, 10:16 p.m. by Phibbonacci

So, I never play standard because it is kind of a money sink and I haven't had the fundage recently, but considering getting into it with a black/green deck that focuses on the synergy between Exploration and Corrupt. Is this even a viable combo? I wanna use it 'cause of the new Exploration (which has beautiful art) in Conspiracy and because I already have a play-set of Corrupt. Any other ways to increase the synergy with this? The only card I've determined to be a must in this deck is Crypt Ghast, but he can get bolted pretty easily.

Also, what is the usual mana curve that people run in Standard? I primarily run Modern, so idk what the 'norm' is in this format.

accelerando11 says... #2

I don't believe Exploration is legal in Standard.

July 28, 2014 10:18 p.m.

CapnMooMoo says... #3

Conspiracy isn't standard legal, unfortunately.

:(

July 28, 2014 10:19 p.m.

Phibbonacci says... #4

Well damn... I should've known that. Is there any other way to ramp mana in green the way Exploration does?

July 28, 2014 10:21 p.m.

Rasta_Viking29 says... #6

Corrupt and Liliana of the Dark Realms is an option. Doesn't ramp but keeps you hitting land drops.

July 28, 2014 10:27 p.m.

Phibbonacci says... #7

Thanks Rasta_Viking29, but I think Liliana of the Dark Realms is a bit out of my budget range. I don't really wanna sink too much cash into this, but, I don't wanna have my ass handed to me obviously either by running a bunch of commons.

July 28, 2014 10:37 p.m.

BorosPlayer says... #8

You're probably think of Liliana of the Veil. Liliana of the Dark Realms is a $5 card.

July 28, 2014 10:59 p.m.

zandl says... #9

You're going to get your ass handed to you by using Liliana of the Dark Realms , too.

Someone had to say it.

July 28, 2014 11:40 p.m.

xlaleclx says... #10

Dear god... if exploration was legal in standard...

July 29, 2014 1:46 a.m.

Schuesseled says... #11

July 29, 2014 2:09 a.m.

sylvannos says... #12

You're best bet is to just load up on removal and play Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth . An example list of what you could work towards and tweak to your style/budget/meta:

4x Blood Crypt
4x Overgrown Tomb
4x Stomping Ground
2x Swamp
2x Temple of Malice
2x Temple of Abandon
2x Temple of Malady
3x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
------------------------------------------
23 Lands

3x Abrupt Decay
4x Corrupt
2x Dreadbore
4x Hero's Downfall
2x Mizzium Mortars
4x Thoughtseize
------------------------------------------
19 Other Spells

4x Courser of Kruphix
3x Scavenging Ooze
4x Sylvan Caryatid
------------------------------------------
11 Creatures

1x Chandra, Pyromaster
2x Vraska the Unseen
3x Xenagos, The Reveler
------------------------------------------
6 Planeswalkers

You could probably cut the red out of the list and just play B/G, swapping out red planeswalkers and spells for Putrefy , additional copies of Abrupt Decay , Doom Blade s, Gaze of Granite , and Duress .

July 30, 2014 6:11 p.m.

The deck list posted by sylvannos would definitely be a good way to play corrupt.

I'm sure there's a more budget friendly green/black version, though. In G/B you'll only have an $80 or so land base (4x Temple of Malady , 4x Overgrown Tomb , 4x Llanowar Wastes , a few Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth , then basics) as opposed to a more expensive 3 color land base.

Standard midrange decks typically curve out with 4 5 drops and an additional 0-2 5 or 6 drops. Decks with ramp can obviously run more expensive spells, but that should give you a good idea of where to start.

August 1, 2014 11:44 a.m.

zandl says... #14

Not sure if that list even needs Red. Green and Black together have more than enough removal to handle anything without needing Red, and then you're left with just Walkers and a muddled land-base. I'd play Green/Black and focus more on smoothing out the land-base (also letting you play more natural Swamps) and then I think the consistency would increase without losing any real power.

August 1, 2014 3:19 p.m.

This discussion has been closed