Tartarus, Obsignatorum

Vintage BUG (Sultai) Combo Dark Depths

Balaam__

Land (22)

• 4x Bayou
• 4x Dark Depths
• 4x Thespian's Stage
• 4x Tropical Island
• 4x Underground Sea
• 2x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

Sorcery (10)

• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 4x Grim Discovery
• 1x Reanimate
• 4x Regrowth

Instant (11)

• 1x Ancestral Recall
• 4x Crop Rotation
• 1x Demonic Consultation
• 4x Entomb
• 1x Vampiric Tutor

Enchantment (6)

• 2x Exploration
• 4x Fastbond

Artifact (6)

• 1x Black Lotus
• 2x Expedition Map
• 1x Mox Emerald
• 1x Mox Jet
• 1x Mox Sapphire

Creature (5)

• 1x Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle
• 4x Vampire Hexmage

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Sideboard

Instant (4)

• 4x Noxious Revival

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Maybeboard

Enchantment (4)

• 4x Necropotence

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My variation on a Dark Depths build. Work in progress.

The Gambit

If you’ve never seen a Dark Depths build before, here’s the idea: Dark Depths’ ultimate form is a 20/20 indestructible flying black creature named Marit Lage. Normally it takes forever to turn it from its initial land form into the unstoppable juggernaut, but if you could get around that disadvantage...that would really be something. This is precisely what we aim to do.

The strategy is to play Dark Depths, then either sacrifice Vampire Hexmage to instantly remove all DD’s counters, or else manipulate Thespian's Stage to achieve the same result. That’s just as simple to pull off, but more technical in its explanation. With both Dark Depths and Thespian's Stage in play, have the bard trod the boards to copy Dark Depths. Since the Stage is already in play, it won’t receive the counters. It will, however, necessitate the sacrifice of the actual Dark Depths, but that can be retrieved later if needed (see below). The Thespian's Stage is now a fully transformed Marit Lage, which is exactly what we want.

For good measure, I’ve thrown in Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle, so Marit Lage has someone to play with. Use the same logic to remove the counters from that as well.

The Mana Base

•Bayou is the coveted Turn 1 drop. Most of the deck is Black or Green; the brackish waters of this land will pay for either.

•Tropical Island will tap for Green or Blue; handy for hardcasting Arixmethes.

•Underground Sea funnels Black or Blue mana into our mana pool.

•Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth adds extra utility to our otherwise second-grade lands. Tropical Island becomes a Swiss army land; Thespian's Stage becomes much more productive; even Dark Depths itself can help out in a pinch. Aha, don’t forget about our lethargic leviathan—Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle becomes every bit as useful as a turbo charged Tropical Island; arguably more so.

Ramp

•Black Lotus is the rampiest of ramp to ever ramp. Here, have 3 free mana of any color.

•Mox Jet is free black mana.

•Mox Emerald is free green mana.

•Mox Sapphire is free blue mana. (I’m sensing a theme here)

•Fastbond is Glorious. This is without a doubt one of my all time favorite cards in Magic. It circumvents one of the prime restrictions of the game. For a mere 1 life point each, play as many lands as you want per turn.

•Exploration is like the nutrient deprived twin sibling of Fastbond. It wants so badly to be as capable and strong as its big brother, but was genetically shortchanged. It’ll do in a pinch to speed up land drops.

•Ancestral Recall is getting stuck in this category because it’s faux-ramp. You’re certainly ramping the number of cards in your hand when you cast it.

Tutors

•Demonic Tutor is everything we want in a tutor. Comb through your library for that combo piece or finisher, then add it to your hand.

•Vampiric Tutor functions similarly, with slight drawbacks. Instead of your hand, it’s placed on top of your library. Instead of costing 1B, it’s B and 2 life.

•Expedition Map will let us tutor up any land we need at instant speed, for only 3 mana.

•Demonic Consultation is a dangerous proposition fraught with perils. When used competently it can trim the fat and get you exactly what you need. There’s a reason it’s restricted...

•Crop Rotation fits the bill well enough; it’ll cost you a land in the process, but it will pilfer whichever land you need—at instant speed, no less, and without drawback.

•Entomb, lastly, will let us zero in on a creature or a land. You’ll be using this most often to grab Vampire Hexmage, but don’t forget you can find Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle too. If the luck of the draw and excessive ramping capability of the deck has somehow failed you thus far, then feel free to Entomb whatever land you’re lacking. As you’ll soon see, the graveyard is a perfectly safe place to store goodies until you need them.

Reanimation and Recovery

•Grim Discovery pulls its weight in this deck. For a mere 2 mana, recall both a creature and a land from your graveyard to you hand. It’s a perfect setup for chicanery.

•Regrowth is functionally identical to the previous card, but it’s a more genteel card. It lets you, I say, it lets you return one card from your graveyard to your hand instead of two. The advantage is it can be any card. So you managed to pull off the combo, only to have your Lovecraftian nightmare exiled away? Return that duplicate Dark Depths to your hand for revenge.

•Reanimate gives life to the inert Vampire Hexmage resting in your discard pile. Sacrificed it to wipe away the counters from Dark Depths? Reanimate it to awaken Arixmethes next turn. A 2 point life loss can usually be shrugged off.

Traditional Creatures

•Vampire Hexmage feels sad. She never gets to play. I feel like building a deck just so that she actually gets to do something, instead of just sacrificing her for her ability to wipe counters. The card should have just been called “Vampire Waitress”. That’s all she ever does; wipe counters:(

•Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle is a force to be reckoned with. A 12freakin12 is nothing to scoff at. There is the drawback of summoning sickness coupled with its mandatory ETB counters, but we’re specialized to deal with this. If you need the mana from its land-liness, then by all means tap it. Otherwise, use the vampiress to blow the magic conch shell and Release the Kraken!!

I could use some help with the sideboard if anyone feels like commenting.

”And he hurled him into the abyss and shut it and sealed it over him...After these things he must be let loose for a little while.”

Date added	3 years
Last updated	3 years
Legality	This deck is Vintage legal.
Rarity (main - side)	1 - 0 Mythic Rares 39 - 0 Rares 10 - 4 Uncommons 10 - 0 Commons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	1.32
Tokens	Marit Lage
Folders	Vintage