[Developing] Blastodrake

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pektusman
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Post by pektusman » 4 years ago

The deck (and the deck's name) comes from the interaction of the "negative" effects of Blastoderm's fading and Wormfang Drake's ETB with a touch of Simic Acid Trip-esque game play on the side.
Version 1.3 (older versions can be found on MtG Sally)
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Blastodrake
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Current Build (07/16/2019)
*How to Play
Turns 1 to 3: Set up mana the first few turns. The ideal opening hand includes a Forest, an Arboreal Grazer, and a Simic Growth Chamber|Dissension. That way, you can accelerate to a very fast turn two Reality Acid ready to be bounced by turn three. It also helps that Arboreal Grazer, Wall of Roots|Mirage and Dream Stalker|Time Spiral have large butts to act as speed bumps to aggro decks as well as edict fodders to various control match ups.
Turns 4 to 6: Analyze if you need to prioritize blowing up opponent's lands or pick off impact creatures/enchantments/artifacts using Reality Acid. Attack with the 'Derm. If Blastoderm|Nemesis is fading away the next turn, tuck him in with Wormfang Drake. Check the Deck Tricks below for some of the things you can do during these turns.
Turns 7 onward: If the game goes long, you should be able to maximize most of your creatures' ETB effects using Teferi's Time Twist and Withdraw.

*Deck Tricks
1) Bouncing and blinking Reality Acid with Dream Stalker|Time Spiral/Invasive Species/Teferi's Time Twist for a repeatable Vindicate|Apocalypse.
2) Resetting the counters on Blastoderm|Nemesis and sideboard powerhouse Serrated Arrows either by bounce, flicker, and/or Wormfang Drake trigger.
3) Re-using the ETB lands either by Teferi's Time Twist, Simic Growth Chamber|Dissension, or Invasive Species, to gain 2 more life or arrange the top three cards of your library.
4) Exiling the various ETB creatures with Wormfang Drake and then blinking or bouncing it to bounce another permanent (preferably a Reality Acid in play), create another 1/1 scion to gum up the board or draw 2 more cards. Not to mention the Drake returning as a 4/5 flying nightmare.
5) If you have 3 and two U, you can evoke Mulldrifter|Lorwyn and then casting Teferi's Time Twist while the sacrifice trigger is on the stack to net you a 3/3 flyer and 4 cards. Yep, stack stuff.
6) When opponent is tapped out, you can use Withdraw to bounce 2 of their creatures. You can also bounce 1 of your opponent's creatures then target 1 of your own as the second target (not paying the 1, of course).

*Deck Strengths
The deck can go big aggro in a pinch with multiple ways of releasing a Blastoderm|Nemesis on turn 3, or it can go Ponza-style using Reality Acid as a recurring Stone Rain|Fourth Edition. Its also resilient to creature removal as Teferi's Time Twist and Withdraw can be used to sort of "counter" a Doom Blade|Magic 2010 or a Bolt. Will add more to this soon

*Deck Weaknesses
In playtesting, the deck usually has trouble with the very fast starts of Elves, Affinity, Burn and RW tokens. Most cards on the sideboard (Fade Away, Healer of the Glade, Pulse of Murasa|Oath of the Gatewatch, and Echoing Truth|Darksteel) are geared to combat these deck archetypes. Will add more to this soon
Last edited by pektusman 4 years ago, edited 5 times in total.

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Ulka
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Post by Ulka » 4 years ago

I'm loving this idea. I will have more thoughts soon but I'm loving it currently.

The only card I'm thinking about right now that I could see maybe making room for is Coiling Oracle as it is just a raw value engine but I can see why you may not be playing it.
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pektusman
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Post by pektusman » 4 years ago

Thanks Ulka! I've had Coiling Oracle|Dissension in my previous builds (as a 4-off, no less). The "problem" I'm having with it is its mostly a meh draw in the latter parts of the game. Arboreal Grazer took its spot as it can be played a turn earlier.

If I will be trying it again, I'll probably swap it for the Eldrazi Skyspawners or the Wall of Roots|Mirage (for the redundancy with Arboreal Grazer, perhaps? Hmn... :thinking: ).

I've been fine-tuning this deck for the longest time as it's my first pauper brew. Any and all input is greatly appreciated!

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Ulka
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Post by Ulka » 4 years ago

That's fair. The other one I kept looking at was Rishadan Cutpurse which has some interesting aspects similar to withdraw which can force opponents to play more carefully with mana.

Drake Familiar is a card I'd love to make work in pauper and paired with reality acid would be amazing. That said I'd want to have a wild growth or utopia sprawl ramp package I think to have the drake.
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The Fluff
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Post by The Fluff » 4 years ago

creative way to use Wormfang Drake and Blastoderm. Have always liked the drake, and I think it's the best among the blue nightmare creatures being a 3/4 for 3.

will try building this deck if ever my playgroup wants to do some pauper.
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How does this deck sideboard against established pauper decks like affinity, goblins, and mono black angler?
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pektusman
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Post by pektusman » 4 years ago

Ulka wrote:
4 years ago
That's fair. The other one I kept looking at was Rishadan Cutpurse which has some interesting aspects similar to withdraw which can force opponents to play more carefully with mana.

Drake Familiar is a card I'd love to make work in pauper and paired with reality acid would be amazing. That said I'd want to have a wild growth or utopia sprawl ramp package I think to have the drake.
Hey, good call on Rishadan Cutpurse! I will definitely try it in future play tests. I also tried tinkering with Abundant Growth|Avacyn Restored and Spreading Seas as repeatable draw engines using Drake Familiar in place of Invasive Species, but I felt it diluted the Blastoderm-Wormfang Drake interaction too much. Maybe as an all-in Simic Acid Trip, perhaps? :thinking:
The Fluff wrote:
4 years ago
creative way to use Wormfang Drake and Blastoderm. Have always liked the drake, and I think it's the best among the blue nightmare creatures being a 3/4 for 3.

will try building this deck if ever my playgroup wants to do some pauper.
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How does this deck sideboard against established pauper decks like affinity, goblins, and mono black angler?
The interaction between the two is just so good. One of my opponents had the difficult decision of killing a Wormfang Drake, letting loose a 5/5 shrouded beast or just deal with the 3/4 flying nightmare. :grin: You should definitely try the format.

As for sideboarding, against Affinity (30-70 match up), I bring in Wickerbough Elder|Eventide, which is a repeatable Naturalize, as well as Return to Nature, and that's really it; that match up is really very unfavorable. For Goblins (40-60), Healer of the Glade, Moment's Peace, and Fade Away usually does the trick until they're out of gas. And for mono black Angler (60-40), Pulse of Murasa|Oath of the Gatewatch, Nihil Spellbomb|Scars of Mirrodin and another Negate|Magic 2010 help to outlast the big zombie fish.

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Post by mosskirin » 4 years ago

One thing that's always seemed off about this deck concept is how the bouncers (Invasive Species, Dream Stalker, Wormfang Drake) are so much lower on the mana curve than the cards you wanna bounce (Blastoderm). Seems kinda awkward.

I wonder if you've considered trying a GB or GBu version of the deck, with Okiba-Gang Shinobi and Ninja of the New Moon? Seems like that could be strong, also with good ninja carriers that curve into it like Liliana's Specter.
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pektusman
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Post by pektusman » 4 years ago

SPOILER
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mosskirin wrote:
4 years ago
One thing that's always seemed off about this deck concept is how the bouncers (Invasive Species, Dream Stalker, Wormfang Drake) are so much lower on the mana curve than the cards you wanna bounce (Blastoderm). Seems kinda awkward.

I wonder if you've considered trying a GB or GBu version of the deck, with Okiba-Gang Shinobi and Ninja of the New Moon? Seems like that could be strong, also with good ninja carriers that curve into it like Liliana's Specter.
Thanks for the input mosskirin! It's true that Wormfang Drake kind of just sits around the hand more often than not, waiting for a Blastoderm|Nemesis that's fading away. That's why I included some one- and two-CMC creatures so that it can target them early, and then just Teferi's Time Twist-ing the drake when Blastoderm is on the battlefield. I've recently been testing a build that includes 4 Nest Invader|Rise of the Eldrazi in place of the 0/5 wall. I'll have to get back to you on this.

Regarding the GB version, I haven't really thought about the interaction between the Ninjas, actually. Now you've given me an idea. Brew time! :grin:

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