Umbris can clearly be a voltron deck or a horror tribal leader. I was looking for something more unusual and fun. This build relies on building up Umbris’s P/T through milling and exiling and then repeated sac'ing to grind value and the win - hopefully in spectacularly weird fashion! My group (usually 3-5 of us) doesn’t allow infinite combos or tutoring.
Would appreciate suggestions for any cuts or additions! Or if you like my take on Umbris please upvote this or comment!
Early game
Mana and protection — Build out some defenses and mana base. Propaganda, No Mercy or Hissing Miasma can help deter fast decks from overwhelming you while you build up Umbris. Typical mana rocks in here to try and get out ahead of the curve a bit.
Mill and draw — Essential that opening hand has at least 1 piece of mill. Helpful if opening hand also has some draw Folio of Fancies, Rhystic StudyGC, etc. to start to refill and fill your hand. Will be more important for midgame.
Early to Mid game
Exiling — Here you are looking to build Umbris up to at least 50-60 exiled cards via either direct exiling or milling and then graveyard exiling. The Mindskinner is super effective at filling graveyards though it will draw removal as the game goes on. Fractured Sanity, Mind Grind, Ruin Crab all mill opponents equally to quickly fill graveyards as well. Graveyard removal can be accomplished with one of many options - Grave Consequences, Bojuka Bog, Soul-Guide Lantern, Planar Void, Ashiok, Dream Render, etc.
Support pieces— Undead Alchemist and Zellix, Sanity Flayer all provide chump blockers from milling and also mana support if Ashnod's Altar is out. Captain N'ghathrod, Lazav, Dimir Mastermind and Mindshrieker will allow me to take advantage of opponents' milled creatures.
Draw — Filling your hand with cards quickly is needed through Folio of Fancies or Sire of Stagnation and will draw up wincons. Phyrexian Arena and Black Market Connections will help with consistency. Or an earlier sac of Umbris to Disciple of Bolas can get most all required pieces including either Reliquary Tower or Thought Vessel to hold on to everything.
Wipes — If the board state is getting out of hand, there are some board wipes Damnation, Toxic Deluge (which might even spare Umbris depending on the your exiled card state) and the unusual Profaner of the Dead which is basically an 'opponent only' Evacuation with a large exile count (also can also be a wincon if you have enough other creatures out).
Sac’ing Umbris to Ruthless Technomancer can revitalize your board state and potentially create alternate win conditions depending what is returned.
Win cons
So many options here!
Unsinkable Umbris - This will be crucial in my multiplayer environment where I want to sac him multiple times a turn to carry out any of the following scenerios. By this point I need to have some of the instant 'recursion' pieces in hand like Feign Death or Supernatural Stamina, etc.
-
Carrion is a blast here. Can win if Altar of the Brood is out upon Umbris sac. Can win by bringing Umbris back after sacing (either hardcast or instants like Feign Death, Supernatural Stamina etc.) and then equiping with Dragon Throne of Tarkir for an army of ridonkulous maggots. Can also win by sac’ing them all to Ashnod's Altar and using any of the ‘X’ abilities/spells (Mind Grind, Oona, Queen of the Fae ability, Folio of Fancies ability or potentially even make someone draw the rest of their library and then make another opponent mill out with Drown in Dreams. Or playing Carrion at the end of previous player’s turn and then on your turn smack down Phenax, God of Deception to mill 1-2 players out.
-
Sac Umbris to Ghoulcaller Gisa for an army of Zombies. Similar options to Carrion as above.
-
Essence Harvest will take care of one opponent without having to sac Umbris allowing for another of the win cons to be played in conjunction or soon after.
-
Also present as a backup is making Umbris unblockable with Krydle of Baldur's Gate, The Black Gate or Whispersilk Cloak. Or creating another Umbris to sac via Irenicus's Vile Duplication.
-
Still in the Maybeboard, but really thinking of adding Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor - this seems like a stylish win if it can be pulled off. Basically, if a large hand can be assembled via 1. sac'ing Umbris to draw 50+ cards (Disciple of Bolas) or 2. sac'ing an army of creatures to Ashnod's Altar and drawing via Drown in Dreams, or even through a healthy Sire of Stagnation over a few turns), Gix could be an unexpected win (and I'm all for the unexpected).
Maybeboard
- Maskwood Nexus - could be yet another wincon or value grinder with Captain N'ghathrod or Umbris itself
- Nanogene Conversion because who wouldn't want 50 50/50 Umbrises coming at them?
- Finale of Revelation might help with card draw late in game and recycle graveyard.
- (?) Bruvac the Grandiloquent the to increase the milling - but wondering what to cut and if it’s even worth it
- (?) Sword of the Paruns as this benefits a swarm of creatures from Carrion or Ghoulcaller Gisa - but otherwise is a rather dead card
