Ib Halfheart, Goblin Sac-tician [PRIMER]

Commander / EDH Liquidbeaver

SCORE: 704 | 404 COMMENTS | 62713 VIEWS | IN 266 FOLDERS

3000 views, and some experimentation! —April 5, 2017

In an effort to speed up the deck and make it more consistent, I am experimenting with some odd cards. This deck has really surprised me with its ability to make odd cards work well, so I am testing out some cards that look sub-optimal, but should perform strongly.

Creatures:

OUT

Goblin Marshal: Trying to cut down the higher costed spells to just the most potent ones. While I have liked Goblin Marshal, it has really limited what I did for the rest of my turn when I am spending 6 mana to get it out. On top of that, unless I can sac it immediately, its potency isn't realized until the beginning of my following turn. More often than not, that isn't fast enough.

Moggcatcher: I already have two other Goblin tutors, and this one is just really slow and expensive. I would rather have something else in its place. Probably..

IN

Godo, Bandit Warlord: I run a few pieces of equipment that can really turn the game around. Strongest among them is Nemesis Mask, but depending on how early in the game it is, Illusionist's Bracers,Lightning Greaves,Skullclamp, and Sword of the Animist can also be beneficial. This will also work well if I ever mainboard Thornbite Staff.

Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker: I think I am finally able to capitalize on Kiki-Jiki's ability. Only 7 of my creatures can't be targetted by him, and the rest have great tap or ETB effects. Will probably be part of a Lightning Crafter combo for FNM.

Walking Atlas: This little guy is pretty great source of ramp in this deck. A 1/1 for 2 that can put any land into play untapped is great. He can also pull from the graveyard when Crucible of Worlds is out, and untaps with Paradox Engine.

Artifacts:

OUT

Caged Sun: Out for a medallion, so that I can speed up the early game instead. The mana generation late game isn't really needed in this deck, because a lot of the interactions are free, or I can pay with sac'd creatures.

Coat of Arms: This just ended up being too risky to play more often than not. My meta has a lot of tribes, and I found myself holding this in my hand for many turns before I casted it, or never casting it at all. Out for something better.

Farsight Mask: Cut mainly because of cost, but also because my draw and defense is improving. Sideboarded for now.

Null Brooch: I don't have enough ways to recover from this, and since I'm not hellbent as much anymore because of previous deck revisions, this ended up being a death sentence whenever I countered with it. I'd like more counterspells in this deck, but other than the staple instants, I don't think the deck has room.

Sol Ring: Testing with Mana Crypt in its place, so that I can compare them one by one. If the speed of the deck is improved, the loss of life won't end up mattering.

IN

Defense Grid: This should go a long way for protecting me. I've never ran a Tax effect, so we will see just how well it performs. It does hurt Chaos Warp and Wild Ricochet, but that is it.

Expedition Map: Being able to fetch Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle, Boseiju, Who Shelters All, or Caverns of Souls is great. Also fairly easy to recur in this deck. However, now that I am running fewer non-basics, this becomes less important.

Illusionist's Bracers: These is just crazy when put on Ib. Can also be used on Krenko, Mob Boss, Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, Purphoros, God of the Forge, and even Burnished Hart to great effect. I didn't run them before because I misread them, and not that Rings of Brighthearth was a strictly better version. I was totally wrong, I really need to run both.

Mana Crypt: In for Sol Ring for testing.

Mox Diamond: I want to speed up the first few turns, which is the only time I feel this deck is lacking at the moment.

Phyrexian Altar: Much more comfortable with another sac outlet in the deck again, especially this one. Used as a backup to Skirk Prospector, so that I can guarantee that this effect is on the table more. In my search for the best card for this slot I did find Thermopod, which is a great card that is very thematic, just too expensive. I will be running it in my upcoming Zada, Hedron Grinder deck though, as effects-on-a-stick are more important in that deck.

Ruby Medallion: I'm only 75/25 on this addition. This replaced Caged Sun to speed up the early game, but I can't help but feel there is a better option, mainly because there are so many non-red cards in the deck. We'll see how it performs.

Enchantments:

OUT

Impact Tremors: I would rather use Purph for this, and not double up on the effect. I can already do that with Panharmonicon. I won't to focus less on ETB damage, and more on combat shenanigans. Dropping this balances that out more.

Stranglehold: This card is great, but just gets me hated on way too much, and I don't have strong enough defense to protect myself at this time. As I work on the deck more I may be able to create an environment where this card can come back in and shine. Sideboarded for now.

Gratuitous Violence: I love this card, but the cost is just so high. Sideboarding it for now.

IN

Kyren Negotiations: I've wanted to run Burn at the Stake for a long time, but couldn't justify the CMC, or the fact that it was a oneshot. The fact that this is an enchant, and gets you through a lot of STAX effects is amazing. Plus, you can tap creatures with summoning sickness for it.

Raid Bombardment: I missed this card somehow, but it is just fantastic in this deck, theme-wise and strength-wise. This replaces Coat of Arms, and is so much more potent.

Quest for Pure Flame: Testing this in place of Gratuitous Violence. I should have no issue building up the counters quickly.

Lands:

Through all of my playtesting, I've come to realize that I need just as many basics as I possibly can. Every single time I played Blood Moon it felt like the deck just burst wide open, and it wasn't because I was slowing others down, it was that I suddenly had more instant speed options. In light of this revelation, I am cutting down my non-basics to the absolute must-haves.

OUT

Buried Ruin: I devoted entirely too many cards to graveyard artifact recursion. Trading post does this effect, but better, faster, and more easily repeatable.

Lotus Vale: I loved running this, but as another commentor said it really makes me susceptible to land destruction, and being set back 2+ turns. I caught myself leaving Strip Mine untapped at all times just to protect the Vale from removal, which meant I wasn't playing my actual turns as optimally as I could. Also, because 2 untapped lands is part of the cost, I can't sac them in response and use them for goblins. Even when Crucible of Worlds is out, this still hurts.

Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx: Oftentimes I may have a great boardstate, and not a lot of devotion because of the sheer number of artifacts and tokens. On top of that, this is hurt by Blood Moon.

Reliquary Tower: Unless I am Skullclamping like a madman in a last ditch effort to draw up a boardwipe or wincon, this just doesn't benefit me. I thought about running Thought Vessel, but I just couldn't find a spot for it.

Scorched Ruin: See Lotus Vale.

IN

Snow-Covered Mountain x 5: Basics just make the deck run so much more smoothly. I may go up to 36 lands if I can find that I can get them out of my hand and put them to good use.

Planeswalkers:

OUT

Koth of the Hammer: While the -2 ability for mana was nice, sometimes I can be mid game with 2 mountains as a result of previous turns, and still have a great board state. I just didn't feel the impact very much, and there are many other 4 cost cards I would choose over him if they were in the same hand.

IN

No Changes

Sorceries:

No Changes

Instants:

No Changes

The deck has been playing very, very strongly, and even though it is awkward and under the radar, it is my winningest deck already. It can create an insane amount of damage out of nowhere, but the early game is still a little slow for my liking. I'm hoping some of the ramp, manarock, and damage output changes improve this.

As always, if you have any suggestions, especially outside the box ones, please comment below!

Long live our Glorious Leader Ib!