You're getting a Double Dose of Decks today. Congratulations. How did this come to be? I keep a list of themes/strategies and colors they fit nicely in. Sometimes I look back on it to see what's not there and use that to generate an idea. I recreated the list as best I could while I was traveling to Colorado last year. The decks I had been brewing at the time were very permanent heavy so I was seeing how to change it up. Spellslinger easily came to mind and I kept coming back to it. No reason to fight it, I had to see what was there. Spellslinger lives in comfortably in blue thanks to the the ability to draw more cards and reduce the costs of instants and sorceries. It pairs comfortably with red or black. Both have ritual effects to create bursts of mana and both can give access to a critical number of cards when you're ready to pop off. So I'm not touching any of that.
With Grixis colors ruled out I didn't have much left to fall back on. There are some universal options for cost reduction like Cloud Key and Primal Amulet. The Key lets me pick the type of card to reduce the cost of. There is flexibility there. The Amulet is what really sent me down this spiral. Beyond the cost reduction, the card can flip and allow me to copy spells. Stay with me here. I thought about payoffs for copying spells. There aren't a lot, but Magecraft was still fresh enough to me I went running to find payoffs there. I was underwhelmed. Some stuff that pumps until the end of turn and some stuff that pumps with counters. Spell Satchel is a poor rock but at least it gives me the option to draw cards. I was undeterred. I knew there was more to this idea under the surface. I just had to find the thread. It was that little word “copy.” What copies instants and sorceries? Not a lot outside Grixis. Twinning Staff? It's so pricey though. Panoptic Mirror? It's slow, painfully slow. It was there I just needed to brainstorm harder. Brain. Storm. Eureka. Storm! That was the thread. It copies itself based on how many spells I cast that turn. Why are there so few options for storm in these colors too? Just like magecraft. White is not holding its weight with this idea so I cut it loose at this point. What I know about storm comes from other formats mostly, Empty the Warrens and Grapeshot really. Swap out goblins for Squirrels and Chatterstorm fits the bill. Weather The Storm is the exact opposite of Grapeshot. But with Hunting Pack, we're back on the Warrens kick. I had my throughline. Green Storm.
With a clear direction, I knew I had to find a play to the strengths of the strategy and color. At least choosing the commander was simple. I had Aeve, Progenitor Ooze. 4 or 5 of these at once would be very powerful on the board. In reality, timing this is a challenge unless you have some recursion available. Either way, I'm back to permanents taking over the board but I was embracing it.
Storm relies on two things. Cards to play and mana to play them. Green can do that. Emerald Medallion is the best way to do this since it reduces the cost of all my green options. The color also has a unique series of enchantments that do this. Wild Growth replaces the mana used to cast it immediately. It's worth keeping it for the turn I want to pop off but no one would fault you for playing it turn 1 to start out on the right foot. Wolfwillow Haven and Fertile Ground are a little less lucrative on their own but ultimately worth playing. Don't worry, this isn't going to turn into an enchantress deck. I also like Blisterpod and Nest Invader here. Blisterpod needs to die to get me the ramp options while the Invader gives me the token right away. There are extra benefits with the eldrazi tokens. I can pump them and use them to attack for lethal damage. It's the best of both worlds. If all else fails I get access to Sprouting Vines here too. I can tutor up a ton of lands and fuel another explosive turn later in the game. 3 forests in hand is not a bad compromise to go off again two turns later. I like to play Explore before I cast Vines to capitalize right away.
The ramp fuels the storm plan. I can't just play ramp spells all day. I need to keep my hand stocked to set up my big turn. Explore is simple and direct. 3 cards offer a great likelihood I'll draw into an answer, a ramp option, or something cheap to fuel the plan further. Shamanic Revelation and Inspiring Call both reward me for having a full board. Timing is crucial here. It tends to work best when I pop off one turn but haven't closed out the game. I play one of these on the following turn and I'm ready for round two. Return of the Wildspeaker is the best of this class of card. The flexibility is king. If I can close out the cards with an attack it lets me, if I need to set up my plan a little more I can just draw cards instead.
Removal in this deck does a couple of things for me. By keeping it cheap I can use it early to slow down my opponents. I'm not afraid to go after an early Sol Ring or Mana Crypt. It's just as good later in the game to fuel my storm count and help clear the way for a lethal attack. Broken Bond clears out an artifact or enchantment sure, but it also allows me to drop an additional land. I draw enough cards in the deck that I always have lands in hand during the early and mid game. Nature's Claim is about as cheap as they come. The 4 life to my opponent is negligible with how wide the deck can go. Naturalize is somewhere in between these two and is always a welcome sight.
The last thing to talk about is free casting spells. If not free greatly reduced casting. It just doesn't have the same ring to it. Rishkar's Expertise draws me cards, which I already established was important, while also letting me cast anything 5 or less for free. That's two for my storm count right there. Obscuring Haze is a one sided Fog and better yet it's free if I have Aeve out. Oracle's Vault opens up impulse draw for the deck. After a few rounds, it improves to a free card on each of my turns. I just need to remember not to play a land on my turn until after I activate the vault. I don't love fight effects in general but Mage Duel can clear a troublesome blocker to let my attackers through. Why not just play Prey Upon as it would be the same cost? I like the pump.
Here's the deck at this stage.
Aeve, Progenitor Ooze
Chatterstorm Return of the Wildspeaker Experiment One
Hunting Pack Inspiring Call Mitotic Slime
Sprouting Vines Second Harvest Ochre Jelly
Weather the Storm Heroic Intervention Predator Ooze
Spell Satchel Shamanic Revelation Ravenous Slime
Titanic Brawl Deep Reconnaissance Scavenger Ooze
Mage Duel Dryad's Revival Biowaste Blob
Naturalize Krosan Reclamation Green Slime
Nature's Claim Moment's Peace Stormkeld Vanguard
Broken Bond Mouth//Feed Scorn Effigy
Fight Rigging Greater Good Struggle for Skemfar
Obscuring Haze Harmonize Beanstalk Giant
Oracle's Vault Explore Curious Pair
Rishkar's Expertise Extraplanar Lens Intrepid Trufflesnout
Tormod's Crypt Caged Sun Hollow Scavenger
Twinning Staff Life's Legacy Flaxen Intruder
Fertile Ground Emerald Medalion Prey Upon
Rampant Growth Cloud Key Crashing Drawbridge
Primal Amulet Nature's Lore Ezuri's Predation
Blister Pod Harrow Awakening Zone
Nest Invader Wild Growth Wolfwillow Haven
Rushwood Grove Karn's Bastion Castle Garenbrig
Gingerbread Cabin Oran-Rief, The Vastwood Scavenger Grounds
Hashep Oasis Desert of the Indomitable Slippery Karst
Tranquil Thicket Forest x26
The deck was serviceable but stayed stagnant for long stretches. What changed? We went back to Ravnica. The deck was a slow build before Murders at Karlov Manor. The deck was looking for something a little more prior to that. It felt like too thin of an idea. When the prespoiler teaser reveal that Mark Rosewater does for each set happened, I knew the deck could make a leap forward. A noncreature card in Green that I could add multiple copies of in a deck held a lot of intrigue. Once Slime Against Humanity was spoiled I knew a new piece of the deck was unlocked. I can use this card to fuel my storm count. There are a couple of lodestone cards to a deck that runs multiple copies that will push my storm count over the top. The only problem? Murders at Karlov Manor wasn't well received, so it wasn't opened en mase and this stupid Sorcery is over $3. That doesn't bode well for me. Right now I don't have enough Slimes to actually field the deck. This is more conceptual. One day I'll have enough copies. I'm still going to run you through the new build in the meantime. Send me Slime Against Humanity to make this a reality.
I mentioned some cards that were a homerun for multiple copies of the same card. Thrumming Stone is easy. Ripple 4 allows me to dig down into the next 4 cards in my deck and cast additional copies for free. That would push my storm count over the top for sure. Locket of Yesterdays does the cost reduction thing. There is a big difference between paying 1 and 4 for the slime. There is an interesting balance between this and Spellweaver Helix. I need to imprint at least one Slime Against Humanity for this. Doing so reduces the effectiveness of Locket of Yesterdays, especially if I target 2 copies of Slime. Overall, I prefer the free cast the Helix offers to the cost reduction of Locket if given the chance. What works best in one instance may not work the best in a different set of circumstances though, so I keep an open mind. Panoptic Mirror plays great with this part of the deck too. A free slime is important here. All the cards play into my requirements to push my storm count and casting spells and having spells to cast.
With so many copies of Slime Against Humanity in the deck I also need to make some significant cuts. I still need ramp, draw, and removal to keep the deck moving. That portion will remain very similar. If anything, it gets a little better. Take a look at Cloud Key. If I name Sorcery I have a lot more cards affected now than if I chose Creature in the old build.
I had to look at some of my creature options to cut and make room for the extra Slimes. Blisterpod can stay since it's so cheap to cast, but Nest Invader looks to take the axe. It's more costly and I need to prioritize cheaper spells with the influx of 4 drops in my average mana value. Ochre Jelly and Mitotic Slime can both come out. Making extra tokens is nice, but I'll have a critical mass sooner than later, so I can drop some of these effects. Some of my pricier Adventure options are also coming out. With the focus moving to non permanent spells I want to prioritize cards with cheaper adventure sides so I can maximize my benefit. If the creature side is pricey that's ok with me since I can deploy it on a slow turn when I'm not looking to pop off and don't want to spoil my Slime plan. So goodbye Flaxen Intruder. But I'll keep Green Slime. I'll Foretell it early and a one drop with Flash leaves me a lot of flexibility. Use it to pump my Storm count or just stop a problematic artifact cold.
I'm making some other changes. Something like Second Harvest becomes more of a liability as my copying a 0/0 will just result in the token dying immediately. I'm also moving away from some of the fight effects. Titanic Brawl feels more capped with the power levels I'm expecting my slimes to have. I'm also not crazy about fight effects to begin with and the potential to have an overcosted one is not value added in the deck.
This is how I have the list positioned right now.
Aeve, Progenitor Ooze Slime Against Humanity x27
Chatterstorm Thrumming Stone Ravenous Slime
Hunting Pack Locket of Yeterdays Scavenger Ooze
Sprouting Vines Spellweaver Helix Green Slime
Weather the Storm Twinning Glass Crashing Drawbridge
Spell Satchel Return of the Wildspeaker Stormkeld Vanguard
Mage Duel Shamanic Revelation Struggle for Skemfar
Oracle's Vault Rishkar's Expertise Naturalize
Twinning Staff Harmonize Nature's Claim
Fertile Ground Explore Broken Bond
Emerald Medallion Cloud Key Extraplanar Lens
Primal Amulet Explore Blister Pod
Wild Growth Ezuri's Predation Wolfwillow Haven
Heroic Intervention
Rushwood Grove Karn's Bastion Scavenger Grounds
Tranquil Thicket Slippery Krast Desert of the Indomitable
Oran-Rief, the Vastwood Blighted Woodland Forest x27
I think the deck will move in an interesting direction with these changes. My next idea needs to come in exploiting all these tokens. I can do more than just have them and attack with them. I can weaponize them like any other resource and I should. You'll see a different version of this by the time I actually build the thing, but not much different.
Yorumlar