- Tato Farmer is a Ramunap Excavator variant that doesn't require a land drop, similar to Undergrowth Recon. I think it's a miss though, unless you're running a lot of self mill - I'm not convinced you'll get enough fuel off only its rad counters.
- Contaminated Drink is an efficient draw spell that also fills the graveyard. There are plenty of good mono-blue instant-speed X draw spells, but the black options are significantly more limited - I think this is the first one I would actually consider playing. I guess Stinging Study exists?
- Raul, Trouble Shooter is another self-mill payoff.
- Alpha Deathclaw is an expensive but flexible piece of interaction. Six mana is a bit expensive compared to Reclamation Sage or Ravenous Chupacabra, but it has a good statline and can potentially kill a second thing.
- Viridescent Bog and Overflowing Basin are new options for fixing lands. I wouldn't ever want Darkwater Catacombs because this deck skews very heavily towards green, but I could see myself testing them.
Tasigur: A Tale of Lands, Graveyards, and Forks
Fallout spoilers are out. There is a Sultai deck that features a self-mill theme in the form of rad counters, which has some synergies with this deck. I'm somewhat ambivalent on the set overall though.
Tags:
Outlaws of Thunder Junction spoilers out! I think the mechanics are a bit of a miss for this deck - I only have 6 or so cards that are crimes, and a single outlaw. The creatures in graveyard theme sort of works with this deck, but I'm a bit creature-light to fully benefit from it. Still, plenty of fun cards in the set.
Black
- Gisa, the Hellraiser is a strong token producer if you have lots of crime triggers.
- Tinybones, the Pickpocket is adorable. Deathtouch makes it awkward to block, and it can generate some nice value if it connects.
- Rush of Dread is interesting. Not amazing, but it certainly will make your opponents question their life choices.
- Kaervek, the Punisher is an interesting recursion / value engine if you can commit crimes.
- Tinybones Joins Up is mildly interesting as a bit of disruption and mill / drain engine if you have a lot of legends.
- Insatiable Avarice is a nice draw spell that can also be a tutor. to draw 3 is already a decent rate.
- Hollow Marauder is sweet if you can stock your graveyard full of creatures - discount Syphon Mind that is also a 4/2 flyer sounds very nice.
- Lively Dirge is so-so as a three mana Entomb, but recurring some creatures or tutoring a 4-drop into play sounds very nice.
- Harvester of Misery looks like a reasonable board wipe creature, but I think Massacre Girl is generally better.
- Heartless Conscription is an interesting alternative to Decree of Pain. Worse against tokens, but it exiles instead of destroys.
Green
- Goldvein Hydra is effectively a green Fireball. Cast it for a big number, beat down, then make a bunch of treasure when it dies.
- Railway Brawler is a beefy creature. Plot is somewhat interesting in this deck because you can quickly redeploy after a board wipe.
- Smuggler's Surprise is a very flexible value card. This deck has about 55 creatures and lands, which gives a 96% chance of hitting at least one card off the first mode, and 77% for at least two - not amazing, but okay. The relatively low creature count makes it a bit less likely that I'll get full value from the second mode, but it's a strong tempo play if I can cheat in a pair of 6-drops. The last mode saves Tasigur and most of my other creatures from removal. Overall, I'm not sure if it makes my list, but certainly worth consideration in more creature-heavy builds.
- Outcaster Trailblazer is mildly interesting as a draw engine if you have lots of big creatures. Tasigur is 4 power, which works well with the set's 4+ power theme.
- Freestrider Lookout looks like a sweet ramp engine if you have lots of crimes.
- Colossal Rattlewurm has a ton of upside - big, flash, trample, ramps after it dies. You do want to be running deserts though, which conflicts with this deck's snow theme.
- Map the Frontier is another desert payoff.
- Spinewoods Armadillo is a beefy creature with pseudo-landcycling. Generous Ent / Troll of Khazad-dûm is generally better, but ward 3 is nice.
- Dance of the Tumbleweeds reminds me of Beanstalk Giant // Fertile Footsteps - ramp spell in the early game or a beefy body.
- Bristlebud Farmer is an alright value card. Oversized body, food, card advantage.
- Omenpath Journey looks like a lot of fun. It's slower than other 4 mana ramp spells, but getting five lands over the course of a long game sounds amazing.
- Vaultborn Tyrant is a sweet value creature - nice body, generates value (plus more value if you play Tasigur), then generates more value if it dies. Not sure where it lies in the Tasigur → Neoform rankings, but not bad.
- Dune Chanter is an alright way to fill the graveyard for value.
- Rumbleweed is a big beater that can be cheap with sufficient lands in graveyard.
- Vengeful Regrowth is more expensive than Splendid Reclamation, but getting three 4/2s plus flashback sounds sweet.
- Savvy Trader is an alright Eternal Witness variant.
- Tower Winder is interesting as an alternative to Sakura-Tribe Elder - worse to loop / recur, but 1/1 reach deathtouch is a much better body.
Gold and Lands
- Vraska, the Silencer looks fun - kill stuff, pay mana, then get the stuff you killed in the form of treasure. 3/3 Deathtouch isn't a bad baseline either.
- The Gitrog, Ravenous Ride looks fun if you have Rampaging Baloths or some other way to churn out expendable but beefy bodies. Smack people, ramp, and draw cards - all good stuff.
- Bonny Pall, Clearcutter is a very nice pile of value. Ramping and drawing cards is a little generic as a payoff, and you do need to attack, but the combination of a 6/5 reach and X/X ox represents a ton of board presence.
- Pillage the Bog is capable of digging extremely deep for the right card. You can plot it in the early game and save it for a rainy day.
- Make Your Own Luck is an interesting draw spell. Harmonize isn't that exciting, IMO, but plotting one of the cards you draw to cast for free later sounds sweet.
- Honest Rutstein is an alright Eternal Witness variant. Less flexible, but the cost reduction is nice if you have lots of creatures.
- Badlands Revival is an okay recursion spell.
- (edit) Cactus Preserve is an interesting manland - 3 mana to activate, and you get a 6/6 with reach. Like Reflecting Pool, it isn't quite a fixing land, but it is certainly interesting.
Last edited by Mookie 3 weeks ago, edited 1 time in total.
Swapping around some stuff in the interest of testing new cards. I've recently felt like I have a little too much air in the deck - ramp is great, and Tasigur is a great mana sink, but four mana for a card can feel painful at times. I'm adding in a little more card draw to offset this.
Adds:
I'll call out that I am slightly biasing in favor of permanents over nonpermanents. The addition of Up the Beanstalk means I now need to pay attention to how many 5+ mana cards I have in the deck. That said, it draws a card immediately and whenever I play Tasigur, so the floor seems pretty high even without other triggers.
Adds:
Cuts:
Not sure if the Nature's Lore cut is correct - my general sense is that it's great at getting to 4 or 5 mana, but less valuable than my bigger ramp spells if I want to hit 6+ mana. It's also a very easy pick for opponents to give back with Tasigur, which is a relevant downside.
I'll call out that I am slightly biasing in favor of permanents over nonpermanents. The addition of Up the Beanstalk means I now need to pay attention to how many 5+ mana cards I have in the deck. That said, it draws a card immediately and whenever I play Tasigur, so the floor seems pretty high even without other triggers.
Got in two games yesterday. The first one went pretty terribly due to a mull to 5. I technically won, but it felt pretty undeserved - my opponents effectively ignored me and took each other out. The last opponent took out another player instead of me, but ended up at three life while I had a Creeping Tar Pit on the battlefield that both they and I forgot about. I could claim it was good deckbuilding (I do include it in my list for a reason, and I also used Maze of Ith to deny them lifelink), but still a bit awkward. Not sure if I want to add another land or two to the deck, but worth considering. Lair of the Hydra and Simic Growth Chamber are my current top picks.
The second game went better - I ramped into Boundless Realms, nuked the board with Pernicious Deed, and proceeded to dominate the game. Things did sort of grind to a halt though - Tasigur activations tend to slow down the game, and my opponents were understandably reluctant to give me any way to actually close out the game. I feel like I'm currently a bit light on win conditions - not sure if I have any of note other than Exsanguinate. I guess Rude Awakening technically works, but I often forget about its 'just attack for a bunch' mode. I don't want to add Doppelgang back due to its easy combo potential, but I could consider adding back Villainous Wealth. I think the 'best' option are Torment of Hailfire and The Scarab God, but they're both above my price threshold. Hmmm...
I did cast Up the Beanstalk, which felt great - I have lots of expensive spells for it. Flotsam // Jetsam was also cast, and felt pretty reasonable - it's an extremely flexible spell.
The second game went better - I ramped into Boundless Realms, nuked the board with Pernicious Deed, and proceeded to dominate the game. Things did sort of grind to a halt though - Tasigur activations tend to slow down the game, and my opponents were understandably reluctant to give me any way to actually close out the game. I feel like I'm currently a bit light on win conditions - not sure if I have any of note other than Exsanguinate. I guess Rude Awakening technically works, but I often forget about its 'just attack for a bunch' mode. I don't want to add Doppelgang back due to its easy combo potential, but I could consider adding back Villainous Wealth. I think the 'best' option are Torment of Hailfire and The Scarab God, but they're both above my price threshold. Hmmm...
I did cast Up the Beanstalk, which felt great - I have lots of expensive spells for it. Flotsam // Jetsam was also cast, and felt pretty reasonable - it's an extremely flexible spell.
I have been really warming to the karoos lately. The virtual card advantage plus extra landfall they provide is often really good. :D
Indeed. They can sometimes feel a bit clunky, but they're a fantastic way to make up for a mulligan and avoid missing early land drops. Quite good with Exploration and other sources of extra land drops too.
...I saw someone fetch Arid Archway with Map the Frontier yesterday and felt extremely jealous. Fetchable karoo sounds awesome, even if it is colorless.
edit: on the topic of deserts, I just reread Cactus Preserve and noticed it has reach, which is... very interesting. It can't be as big as Lair of the Hydra, but 3 mana to activate for a 6/6 is pretty efficient, and it's excellent for warding off attacks from flyers. May give it a shot if it ends up being affordable. I don't think I'll add a desert package to my list, but it does bump Colossal Rattlewurm and other desert-based ramp up in my rankings.
Simic Growth Chamber will probably be my first addition though. I feel like karoos appeal to my greed - adding one feels like adding two lands to the deck, but only takes up one deck slot.
