I was a big fan of the Baldurs Gate sets when they came out. This was in part because I grew up playing Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn. I still have the discs and if I ever have real free time I'll go back and play it again. In addition to that nostalgia, I thought the sets were really well done. I have a Venture based deck already, which you can check out here. I had a big blind spot when the sets dropped. I largely overlooked the villains. Irenicus was the big bad for me with Bhaal a close second. The cards were interesting, but not really for me. I'm not in the habit of giving people my creatures and there is an upper limit for me when it comes to Goad. In hindsight with how weird all the bad guys are, they could make interesting builds for #MEDHWA. Of all the cards in the set, I've come to realize my biggest blindspot was Myrkul, Lord of Bones.
Myrkul is nuts. Turning dead creatures into enchantments can be very powerful. I get to repeat my ETBs which I'm always on board for. Not only that, but I can reuse any abilities that might be on my creatures. Enchantments are naturally insulated from being removed in a lot of ways. I could have a very powerful build just by playing creatures with strong abilities and letting them die when it is conducive to me. I could cost by on that idea, right? But that wouldn't be weird enough. A second read through of the text box set the rest of the deck in motion. The words were “creature you control.” I don't have to own the creature, just control it to get the enchantment token. Are there enough steal effects in Abzan colors to make this viable? You're about to find out!
I'm not in red or blue. Those are the two main steal colors. I don't have access to Threaten, Agent of Treachery, or even Switcheroo. This did make things more challenging. I quickly identified 2 types of theft to enable this strategy. The first is the traditional creature theft we're all familiar with. Eriette's Tempting Apple is a great place to start. It has an immediate impact, taking control of a creature. It still untaps the creature and gives it haste, so I can attack with it or use its tap ability right away. The sacrifice ability is never really relevant. I've never killed anyone with the 3 damage, but I'm happy to have the option. Debt of Loyalty is an old one and it's kinda strange. I can save an important creature on the board and get rewarded by gaining control of it. At 3 mana, that's a steal, pun intended. I was surprised with how well White played into this part of the strategy. Preacher and Evangelize are great examples. They both let an opponent choose what creature they want to surrender. Not ideal, but I can use some removal to make sure they don't have much of a choice. Preacher has the untap clause, which is supposed to be a downside. But if the creature doesn't live until my next turn that's even better for me. I can repeat the whole process next turn. Speaking of repeatability, Evangelize does offer buyback. It's very pricey. I used it once on an opponent who had 2 creatures I wanted. I got the first and payed the buyback but I didn't have enough mana to cast it again that turn. By the time it got back to my turn and I untapped the second creature was already off the field. From that point on I solidified my stance against paying for buyback.
The second way to steal is from the graveyard. If I can Reanimate a creature from an opponent's graveyard I not only have a powerful creature at my disposal, but I also get to keep it in some fashion after it dies. The gifts just keep on giving. Animate Dead is probably the spell most people are familiar with that does this. Even if the enchantment gets removed I win because I would have to sacrifice the creature. Puppeteer Clique lets me steal twice thanks to Persist. I just need to make sure the creature it reanimates dies before the end of that turn. If it exiles I'll never get the opportunity to have my copy.
There are a couple of other one-offs to get opponents' creatures. Thieving Amalgam manifests cards. I can turn them face up if they have valuable abilities. People don't love not knowing what they're losing, but they like it even less when I turn their great creature against them and keep a copy for my troubles. With Treacherous Urge I skip the middle man. I go right to a player's hand, get the best creature, then sacrifice it at the end of turn and let Myrkul do his thing. The last one to highlight is a repeatable version, Scythe of the Wretched. I let the equipped creature kill something, which is easier with the +2/+2, and then I immediately get it out of the yard and hand the scythe to it. I don't care if the equipped creature dies since I can recoup it anyway.
Once I have these creatures I need a reliable way to kill them. Combat is an easy choice and a fine strategy for any deck. I need to be able to dodge any exile removal or blink spells that might be fired off at instant speed. I have a couple of sacrifice outlets here to do just that. Spawning Pit is instant speed and at no cost. For every 2 creatures it eats I can pay 1 to get a 2/2 out of the deal. That's doubling up on the utility. My other two big ones are Ashnod's Altar and Phyrexian Altar. This deck is a little pricey to pilot, so the extra mana is always welcome. I recently added in Treacherous Greed as well. I want the creature I control to attack and do damage anyway. If it happens to survive combat and I need it to die I can just sacrifice it with this instant to draw cards, gain 3 life, and punish the rest of the table for 3 life.
Green isn't overly represented here. That's OK. Each color does not have to be evenly represented in a deck. In some ways it's easier if you don't dilute a strategy just to pump up the numbers. The first iteration of the deck really undersold what green could do. I wanted to include the color in a way that supports the strategy. It gave me access to some ways to fill my graveyard quickly like Commune with the Gods, but I don't really want my cards going to the yard. Traditional Enchantress effects were less powerful here as well. I'm accumulating enchantments but not casting them, they just come into being, so there's no need for Argothian Enchantress or Verduran Enchantress. I switched gears in my search for support cards. I quickly stumbled on Loyal Guardian. The Lieutenant ability is powerful but a little fragile. My Commander has the potential to be Indestructible so he sits around the field a little longer. Once my Lieutenant dies I lose the ability. But why? If the rhino dies while Myrkul is out I get to keep the ability. Now any time I'm forced to recast my commander it instantly gets the abilities left behind by those once noble creatures. Bastion Protector might seem unnecessary here since Myrkul can have Indestructible on his own, but with it, I don't have to worry about my life total being too high. I used to take hits early on just to get my life total below 20 if I knew I was casting Myrkul soon. Now I don't have to play that game to get the same effect.
Aside from the steal strategy, there are some cards I wanted to talk about that work in a unique way with Myrkul, Lord of Bones. Devoted Druid, Barrenton Medic, and Cinderhaze Wretch are all Shadowmoor creatures with a unique ability to add a -1/-1 counter to untap themselves coupled with a powerful tap ability. This was fair back then because you could only take so many -1/-1 counters on the creature before it went to the graveyard. Once the creature dies with Myrkul out though I can activate these abilities infinitely because the enchantment isn't a creature and can't be killed by the accumulated counters. They're all very on flavor effects. Druid will make infinite green mana, Medic prevents damage, and Wretch forces opponents to discard. They're all very powerful, but the Wretch is the most oppressive and not where I want the deck to be. I'm not doing anything too crazy with infinite mana. There are no Torment of Hailfires or Exsanguinates here. Even the Fog effect is manageable for most decks that have a non damage based wincon.
The core of the deck has been pretty solid. There was a big temptation to do too much with the deck though. There are a lot of one off effects that play into the steal creatures plan that pull the deck in unique ways. A deck can get bloated very easily if you're not careful. I tried to do it with intentionality here. For instance, Demon of Dark Schemes is a good board wipe with the upside to pull a creature out of a graveyard for my use if I pay a little energy. The demon makes its own energy when creatures die, which is fine on its own. But I can help it along. I need to hit my land drops, so Attune with Aether isn't a bad addition. It's a little low impact compared to other ramp spells out there, but I get some energy out of it. Live Fast is in the Read the Bones category of draw spells I tend to include. I just trade scry for energy. The last energy card to talk about is Architect of the Untamed. It's pretty slow on its own. I get rewarded for each land I play with an energy, but it becomes a race to get that beast before the Architect dies. If she becomes an enchantment though, I just get to accrue value every turn without fear.
The second mechanic I jammed in was snow. My two big hitters here are On Thin Ice and Blood On the Snow. On Thin Ice is good targeted removal. I already play Chained to the Rocks in Boros decks, so this isn't a far leap from that. If anything, this is easier to cast because all my basic lands can fit the Snow stipulation. Blood on the Snow is great removal. I always choose to destroy creatures, but the option is here. After I kill everything I get to pull something out of the graveyard for personal use. It could have been there from a previous turn, it doesn't matter. The Snow mechanic really shines with Draugr Necromancer though. He tucks away creature cards from my enemies with Ice Counters on them. This denies my opponents the opportunity to recur them or exile them to keep them out of my hands. Then I get to cast them when it's safe for me. We all know what happens when I get my hands on a creature at this point.
This last theme was arguably a bridge too far. It threatened to warp a huge portion of the creature base and it all started with Captivating Vampire. He pumps up other vampires and can steal creatures and turn them into vampires too. I need 5 vampires to make it happen though. That would be a lot of creature support for only one source of theft. It got worse though. I found New Blood during Lost Caverns of Ixalan and started to talk myself back into it. This Sorcery also steals a creature and makes it a Vampire in the process. I only need to tap 1 Vampire to make it happen. That might just be Captivating Vampire. So I walked further into this trap of my own making, looking for Vampires that fit the bill. Charismatic Conqueror gives opponents a opponents a choice to get slowed down or reward me with the right kind of token. Being 2 mana means I can get him out reliably and early to start the ball rolling. March of the Canonized on the other hand is fine early on but may be even better later on when X can get big. Either way it sits there and makes even bigger relevant tokens for me. Clavileno, First of the Blessed needs a little set up in the form of other attacking Vampires. It's even better for me when the chosen vampire dies once Clavileno gets his hooks in it. Bloodline Keeper would round out this Vampire package. It makes tokens, it pumps them after it flips. It would have been great for the deck.
Who are we kidding. Of course I went ahead and added the Vampires to the deck. I wrote a whole paragraph about it. This whole series is about getting weird. Have you read anything weirder than an Abzan energy/snow/vampire/creature theft deck? No. And you never will.
What I'm not doing with the deck though is playing Tergrid, God of Fright. I would have been able to churn through my opponent's decks much quicker and efficiently to recoup their creatures for personal use. People get weird when they see Tegrid already. I'm not trying to bring that level of heat on myself. I also don't care for the “It's not that deck” defense. I don't believe strangers when they say it. I don't even believe people I know when they say it. Anyway, Tegrid is a no go.
A couple of quick odds and ends to round this article out. Shigeki, Jukai Visionary is very powerful. I can recoup key cards with the Channel ability. This snake really shines with it's tap ability. Even after Myrkul changes it to an enchantment I can use the tap ability and return the snake to my hand. Fate Unraveler punishes opponents for drawing cards. As a creature it's fragile, but as an enchantment I just let it sit there and ping players. Valentin, Dean of the Vein comes down early and works as graveyard hate. It's a solid deterrent in most cases. People hold on to key creatures a little longer when he is out. Plus, he's a vampire. that's a lot of value, but value alone doesn't win a game. I included Starfield of Nyx for that reason. The recursion is interesting but not compelling. I want to turn my field of enchantments into an army to swing and kill opponents. The way Myrkul is worded, I make a copy of the card. That includes the mana cost in the corner. So my newly animated enchantments will have some substance to them. This is a trick I learned from Pack Rat/Gray Merchant of Ashpodel when I played Standard. The good old days.
So how did the deck turn out? Like this
Myrkul, Lord of Bones
Gisa, Glorious Resurector Devoted Druid Ashnod's Altar
Thieving Amalgam Barrenton Medic Phyrexian Altar
Draugr Necromancer Yenna, Redtooth Regent Spawning Pit
Helm of Possession Protector of the Crown Charismatic Conqueror
Eriette's Tempting Apple Palisade Giant Clavilgno, First of the Blessed
Evangelize Bastion Protector March of the Canonized
Liliana, Waker of the Dead Loyal Unicorn Bloodline Keeper
Preacher Loyal Subordinate Demon of Dark Schemes
Puppeteer Clique Loyal Guardian Architect of the Untamed
Treacherous Urge Starfield of Nyx Custodi Lich
Valentin, Dean of the Vein Rise of the Dark Realms Fate Unraveler
Captivating Vampire Sevine's Reclamation Shigeki, Jukai Visionary
Animate Dead Angrul's Bloodfast Deathreap Ritual
Scythe of the Retched Greed Cultivate
New Blood Broken Bond Abzan Banner
Fumigate Pest Infestation Mindstone
Ravenous Chupacabra Heliod's Intervention Liquimetal Torque
Intrepid Hero Damn Eviscerator's Insight
Fertilid Blood on the Snow Yavimaya Elder
Requisition Raid Attune with Aether Solemn Simulacrum
On Thin Ice Live Fast Treacherous Greed
Scrying Sheets Shimmering Veil Nesting Ground
Throne of the High City Voldaren Estate Aether Hub
Mouth of Ronom Snow Covered Plains x10
Snow Covered Swamp x10 Snow Covered Forest x9
There's a lot going on in the deck. When you play it though, none of the disparate mechanics seems to take away from another. There isn't enough snow hate in the format to make casually including snow permanents a liability. Energy is largely self contained too. I've had games where I don't see any energy and the deck still runs smooth. It's all a nice surprise and keeps my opponents guessing. Even after repeat matches. I hope this encourages you to jam some extra mechanics in a deck just because.
Aside from that, theft is a fun strategy. My deck never needs to have all of the strongest cards. Instead, I can steal the most powerful creatures and make my strategy more appropriate for whatever table I'm playing at.
Go ahead and use my TCGplayer link if you plan to build your own version or if you're looking to pick up other cards along the way.
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