BNG Update
danglosson, 11 years ago
I have made some minor tweaks and helped establish the control style of this deck. My sideboard helps me handle aggro better although Pacifism, Soul Tithe and Blind Obedience seem to handle it fairly well.
Also, I am aware there are better side board options and I'm open to hear them but I've set it up this way because of my stores local meta.
Just fine-tuning the strategy.
Jamesborg99, 11 years ago
After playing a few games, I felt the strategy was too broad and wanted to make some more changes
Removed:
Darksteel Ingot, Words of Wisdom, True-Name Nemesis, Karn Liberated, Whispering Madness, Bribery, Phyrexian Tyranny, Thran Dynamo, Consuming Aberration, Dimir Signet, Izzet Signet
Reasons:
The mana rocks weren't doing a whole heap of lots. The Signets MAY come back, but Dynamo and Ingot are gone for good, I think. Words of Wisdom, like Vision Skeins before it, just provided too small of an effect. I wanna be dealing damage in chunks at a time, 'cause while I'm damaging my opponents, I'm also feeding them and giving them more ways to kill me. True-Name Nemesis, Karn, and Bribery just draws hate out REALLY quickly. Phyrexian Tyranny was often hurting me more than my foes. Consuming Aberration didn't really fit with the strategy. Maybe with something akin to a Megrim/Liliana's Caress build. Whispering Madness should have been cut a long time ago, I simply don't attack very often.
Added:
Toxic Deluge, Black Sun's Zenith, Viseling, Crawlspace, Propaganda, Phantasmal Image, Arcane Denial, Rakdos Charm, Wheel and Deal, Crosis's Charm, Nightscape Familiar
Reasons: Deluge and BSZ are board wipes that I found necessary for this strategy. Viseling is a second copy of Black Vise/Ebony Owl. Crawlspace and Propaganda adds to the necessary defense. Phantasmal Image is sweet. Arcane Denial to Shock my opponent, you know, if he wants it, while I replace AD. Rakdos Charm returns with its buddy Crosis's Charm for more utility. Wheel and Deal is a straight upgrade from Words of Wisdom. Nightscape Familiar jumps in for the loss of the mana rocks. Not entirely sold on him yet, but he's got regeneration, so he's got a degree of protection.
nalyd721, 11 years ago
Replaced two Thoughtflare with two Epic Experiment. Not really used as a win con, but it can definitely swing the game in my favor if i'm behind.
Version 1.2
neonordnance, 11 years ago
Updated to focus more around Rakdos's Return. I added some possibly janky stuff for testing.
Big changes!
skyw4rp, 11 years ago
i made some big changes on this deck, it's working really great
Jackdaw5, 11 years ago
I have lowered the amount of cards in the deck from 65 to 62. I've also included lands that can give red or green mana (Rootbound Crag and Stomping Ground)
Add/Drop
jbogli, 11 years ago
Added Goblin Marshal, Legion Loyalist, Warren Instigator
Dropped Goblin Balloon Brigade, Emberwilde Augur, Goblin Arsonist
Final Analysis
KrazyCaley, 11 years ago
Rankings & Deck Assessment:
1 - Wodar
Wodar possesses a dangerous green/black base with multiple win conditions, reasonable removal, and a strong curve throughout. The ability to splash blue for still more quality cards should not be discounted. Their probable wins are going to come from Gray Merchant of Asphodel and Reaper of the Wilds, while Akroan Horse, Bow of Nylea, and potentially Shipwreck Singer run primary interference. Time to Feed and Sip of Hemlock provide most of the kill. A very dangerous deck that is my favorite to win.
2 - actiontech
The only knock on this deck is that it doesn't have a lot in the way of removal, but honestly it doesn't really NEED it. Besides having a Xenagos, it has a Master of Waves, 2x Prognostic Sphinx, and an amazing 3x Agent of Horizons. The rest of the deck is designed to clog the ground, and it does so effectively. The only hole in the armor is aerial defense; the only answers are the 2x Prognostic Sphinx (which is effective!) and 1x Rage of Purphoros. A deck with lots of fliers and answers for Prog Sphinx can push through damage, but will they be able to answer the ground assault? A very powerful deck that could win it all.
3 - Deco_y
An incredibly strong B/W deck with good black devotion cards, strong levels of removal, and extremely high quality cards throughout the curve. Agent of the Fates will take over games, as will 2x Scholar of Athreos and 2x Sentry of the Underworld. Gary appears in this deck as well, alongside Abhorrent Overlord, and with Divine Verdicts, Sip of Hemlock, and Baleful Eidolons, this deck will be tough to kill even without the Agent. Not quite as flexible as our 1st or 2nd place projected finishers, but certainly not to be discounted as a possible tournament winner.
4 - GureiSeion
More G/B, with the primary focus on black devotion. They have 2x Abhorrent Overlord, 2x Gray Merchant of Asphodel, and like Wodar, they picked up a Reaper of the Wilds. Their removal is also stronger than Wodar's; they picked up a Hero's Downfall, a Pharika's Cure, and a Lash of the Whip. My only concern about this deck is that its curve is considerably awkward, but with the right draws, they should do well. Not sure the deck will be consistent enough to win everything, though.
5 - Goody
R/W aggro. This deck is VERY fast, and has plenty of pain to bring. It also packs removal for early blockers in 2x Magma Jet, Last Breath, etc. It has that vaunted aggro finisher Portent of Betrayal as well. Its creatures could certainly be higher quality, but the deck will be fast enough to win some games regardless of the nature of its aggro dudes.
6 - Absinthman
An W/U/R deck of reasonable strength that I would usually call strong, but this is a very good card pool with some very good drafters, and it's a bit below the curve here. The deck's main strengths are 2x Sea God's Revenge, which, when added to 1x Griptide, means SERIOUS tempo by the time 6 lands come down. The problem? Well, other than that, there's no removal, and the creatures are kind of messy/mostly low quality. While looking kind of like R/W aggro, the curve is a bit too expensive to run reliably aggro, so the deck has some higher-end creatures as well, mostly red. The best creatures in the deck are probably Heliod's Emissary and Purphoros's Emissary. My main question for this deck - will its tempo cards be relevant, or will it always be casting them from behind?
7 - Euphonatron
Our winning group from last time certainly did not reprise with a strong draft. They did not use what I believed to be their strongest card, Underworld Cerberus, and drafted in a bit of a confused circle for a while before settling on a Bant-ish strategy. The deck has some reasonable cards, but they are all really, really slow. Even the 3-cost cards are not great AS curve-out cards, for instance, Nimbus Naiad is just a 2/2 flier if you cast it for 3, and Dissolve is a counterspell. The deck will be strong if it can get a bunch of land out, but it will be playing from behind a lot.
8 - DeckBuilder345
This deck is a little bit of a mess. It's all-in on 2x Wingsteed Rider, though with only four activator cards, that might be a little questionable. The deck wants to push through early damage, it seems like, but inexplicably has Yoked Ox and Benthic Giant, not exactly aggro staples. Generally the whole deck is fairly ragged other than the Wingsteed and its heroic activator buddies. If this deck draws its Wingsteed Riders AND the activators for them, it will win. Otherwise, the deck is going to fall apart.
Thoughts of selection
Sarge84, 11 years ago
This is a pretty standard Esper control package with verdicts, spheres, and revelations. The idea of the deck is to maintain control and provide a slow but steady mill ending with an explosive spiral that not only resets my library but forces the other player mill for a substantial amount. Ashiok is a strong early threat that allows me to play creatures against them. I orginally thought about running phenax, but that would require me to run creatures (something I feel will water down the control aspect of the deck). The main deck is already geared to combat most of the other decks in the format. The sideboard is availible to bolster the defence against whatever deck I am facing, whether it is more creature, planeswalker, or counter spell hate.)
singingzombies, 11 years ago
Out: (Clan Defiance) In: Xenagos, God of Revels
Sideboard being pieced together
Dredg, 11 years ago
Added in Fulminator Mage for LD against Tron and other land-based decks.
Maybeboard
Osiriredmoon12, 11 years ago
+4 Brave the Elements to maybeboard. I'm not sure if it actually works on multicolored whites.
+4 Thoughtseize. Thought that I might just consider it.
singingzombies, 11 years ago
Out: Domri Rade In: Archetype of Aggresion
Card swap
gegonut, 11 years ago
Removed more non-tournament-legal cards. Added 2x Elixir of Immortality (1 for sideboard), 2x Fated Conflagration, 3x Giant Growth, and 2x Anger of the Gods.
Blood Baron
Jefft1804, 11 years ago
Added in Blood Baron of Vizkopa for a strong threat if the Vizkopa Guildmage/Ordeal of Heliod doesn't get through.
PaganFilth, 11 years ago
This deck is pretty consistent and brutal during play testing.
Pre-Playtest
ianbedingfield, 11 years ago
So I am still missing the x4 Gravecrawler but I will be taking this deck to my local play group to try it out in various, fairly casual encounters. Wish me luck!
Balancing
darkmist29, 11 years ago
It looks like I was somewhat wrong to count Bile Blight out. I think it actually takes care of many more situations than Drown in Sorrow. I think it isn't really the fault of the cards more than it is the fault of how I was playing them. The thought was that Drown in Sorrow was weaker removal but had the potential to take out lots of small creatures. However, my deck actually relies on strong 'one-shot' removal cards and drawing into new ones. I found myself in too many situations where Drown in Sorrow wasn't enough - because basically it doesn't make as much sense. If a player is playing a ton of small creatures - odds are you are in a situation where there are a lot of the same creature out. Bile Blight is perfect for that. Will there be a situation where you are swarmed by five small creatures, all different? That seems less likely.
I also started using Diabolic Tutor again. I found that I was in too many situations where I was searching for my big hits - Corrupt and Nightmare. If I'm in a situation where I can dig for a Corrupt and win, I'll do that. I can dig out a Nightmare when a Corrupt won't do. When I have a bit hit ready to play, and they have removal in hand, a Thoughtseize or Mind Rot might seem best. And obviously a timely Devour Flesh when a Blood Baron of Vizkopa is in play. All these things make sense to dig out on turn four and above. We will see if the tutor, Underworld Connections, and Read the Bones is too much card draw. I'll know if I'm taking too many turns drawing cards when I could be discarding and removing.
Lastly, there is a balancing issue with removal and discard. I found myself drawing way too many removal cards and not enough discard. So I thought that a Lifebane Zombie or three might be good for bait, alternate win condition, and possible discard.
