I'm not sure which one I should run tomorrow
Deck Help forum
Posted on Aug. 14, 2014, 11:11 a.m. by abenz419
Ok so I've been working on some changes to my deck. It's really strong in the mid to late game, but can be slow early on. At my local shop there is a lot of aggro decks that show up with maybe one or two control decks and a handful of midrange decks. Lately I've been trying to make some changes to keep up with all of these faster decks and I've been testing on cockatrice. I've had mixed results with each deck and I think it's partly because I run into a lot more control decks and don't really get an accurate representation of the meta I'm testing for. Anyways here's the options I've come up with, let me know which you think would give me the best chance at success tomorrow?
and if there are any suggestions you have.... feel free to comment
@kmcree. I only have one Deathrite Shaman and all of these decks are made up of cards I currently have since I plan to play one of them tomorrow. If I had a couple more Deathrites then I'd find a way to add them because dealing direct damage is nice. I used to play B/G, before I came across some ajani's and then picked up a couple elspeth, and ran Mistcutter Hydra in the sideboard then. I got away from it though because control pretty much died off at my shop (at least the pure U/W/x type). The few people who did play it haven't been around in a few months and the couple that haven't left don't run it regularly every week because they were getting too many draws and it was hurting how they placed. I definitely think it would still be useful for those rare occasion and against other blue decks. What would you recommend I take out of the sideboard to fit them in?
August 14, 2014 12:01 p.m.
I'm not really a huge fan of Genesis Hydra . I think Mistcutter could replace those pretty easily. I'm also not sure what matchups you face, but 3 Devour Flesh seems like a lot. I would maybe swap 1 of them for a 2nd Putrefy .
I totally understand where you're coming from in regards to DRS. If you can't get anymore, that's totally understandable. But even if you could just get 1 more and run him as a 2-of I think it could really help.
August 14, 2014 12:22 p.m.
I've come up with the number of 3 because I've always had a large part of my sideboard dedicated to anti-aggro and I've realized that in those matchups the minimal life gain they get is irrelevant. I just need to slow them down enough so that they run out of gas and my bigger creatures take over and adding more cheap instant speed removal is gets the job done better than the 3 mana downfall and Putrefy . So, they came in along with Drown in Sorrow against aggro. The reason they're Devour Flesh and not more Ultimate Price or Doom Blade is because Blood Baron of Vizkopa still shows up and Devour Flesh gives me the versatility to come in against the baron or aggro leaving me room for more things in the sideboard.
As far as Genesis Hydra
is concerned. I'm actually a big fan of this card because it provides a lot of card advantage for you. I don't know if this deck is really where they want to be at because of all the non-permanent removal I have but I'm trying him out in the sideboard for match ups against decks similar to mine. In match ups that 1-for-1 you with lots of removal, I'll bring it in with the Sin Collector
and give it a try. A hydra into any of the planeswalkers or a demon can really put me ahead. It can also hit things like Underworld Connections
or Banishing Light
(i keep going back and fourth with the number of lights). It just provides so much value that I think it's worth a shot for those kinds of match ups. It may get cut later on because I might not have enough permanents to cast this thing reliably for anything less than X=6, but getting a 6/6 Genesis Hydra
and Elspeth, Sun's Champion
into play on the same turn sounds like fun.
The more I look at it... I think... if i take out Putrefy , Phyrexian Revoker , and Bile Blight , then I could put 3x Mistcutter Hydra . I've only got the one revoker and I thought it may be useful against the jund walkers deck one guy has been playing but in reality it's only gonna do so much as they run tons of removal as well. Also after I sideboard against aggro with 2x Bile Blight already in the maind my removal will look something like 3x Devour Flesh , 3x Abrupt Decay , 2x Bile Blight , 2x Drown in Sorrow , and then maybe one or two of charms depending if they have a lot of 1 toughness guys. I know Bile Blight is good, but I don't think the 3rd is a must because I think I have a fairly strong aggro removal package and the double black mana does make it a little tougher to cast as consistently as the other 2 drop removal I have.
If I can pick up another Deathrite Shaman what do you think I should take out to make room for the 2 of them. I was thinking taking out 1x Scavenging Ooze and 1x Ajani, Mentor of Heroes .
August 14, 2014 1:06 p.m.
If you could get a couple DRS, I would drop 1 Scooze, and either 1 Ajani or possibly 1 Desecration Demon . I know he's a great card in a deck like this with so much removal, 4 just seems like a lot to me. And with so much removal running around in the meta, there are a number of matchups where he really gets marginalized. So maybe consider dropping him to 3 and keeping the Ajani?
August 14, 2014 1:22 p.m.
I guess that's a possibility but I'm a little leery of actually taking out a demon. Like you pointed out, there is a lot of removal running around and it's not like this deck is heavy in win conditions or creatures. I think cutting the demons down to a 3 of will make it that much harder for me to get something to stick on the board that can outright win me the game. Ajani is in the deck more for the card advantage of his second +1 ability. Adding counters to my guys is very useful and can turn caryatids and coursers into big beefy bodies but being able to dig for elspeth is his biggest upside then I can also get any creature or even Underworld Connections as I dig through the deck 5 cards at a time looking for elspeth (my draw for turn + the 4 I look at from him). Saying all that makes me not want to cut the 2nd copy if I get another shaman but I just think it's a more affordable sacrifice for the deck than cutting a demon. We'll see, you've been a lot of help and I'll sure I'll have some things to adjust once I actually get to play the deck against my local meta so those can always be numbers i toy around with.
August 14, 2014 1:38 p.m.
Yeah, a lot of it is a meta call, which you'll have a better idea of once you play a few games. Good luck!
kmcree says... #2
I really like option 1. With so much removal, you should be able to handle just about anything. My only suggestions to it would be 1st: consider adding Deathrite Shaman . He's just so powerful, and he could help your early game against aggro and burn. With all that removal, there will almost always be cards in the graveyard for him to eat. 2nd: throw Mistcutter Hydra in the side. I'm not sure if you had him already or not, but I didn't remember seeing him. He will really help you against any kind of U/W/x control deck. Other than those ideas, that deck looks very strong. I think Junk is really well positioned right now to be the "anti-meta" deck. Good luck!
August 14, 2014 11:33 a.m.