MTGNexus

I have been enamoured with Ratadrabik of Urborg since it was spoiled. I played it on Arena Brawl and something about making 5 Thalia, Guardian of Thrabens is super satisfying.

I had been collecting some cards towards a deck for a while, and started sleeving it up.
A few recent cards from Lord of the Rings are slam dunks in it - like Samwise the Stouthearted and Boromir, Warden of the Tower...

Until I played against a Ratadrabik deck that plays 9 Nazgûl which go infinite with a sac outlet.
Now I realize that Sam and Boromir are also instant win cons in this deck.

So now I am trying to figure out how to make the deck. Which one seems best to you (in terms of fun, perceived threat analysis, etc).
I really had to think about it once I started slotting in Nim Deathmantle and Ashnod's Altar. I had also been intending on including Sun Titan and Gift of Immortality. These cards are all individually great in the deck but are also combos when on board together.

Appreciate your feedback!

It does seem like it'd be very easy to make an extremely linear combo deck with Ratadrabik going all-in on ringbearers. Probably to the point that everything else becomes pretty much meaningless, Ratadrabik becomes KOS, and you're looking only for your window to combo out. You'd find yourself passing into the Shadow World. You'd soon become a wraith, like cEDH players.

If you're already running other infinites, then keeping in one ringbearer seems like a reasonably lateral move. You could always remove other combos to keep a similar power level if you prefer the ringbearer cards.

If it were me I'd eschew all the combos, but I recognize that my ethos puts me in the minority these days. As I say, if you're already running other combos then a single ringbearer seems fine.

DirkGently wrote: ↑

8 months ago

You'd find yourself passing into the Shadow World. You'd soon become a wraith, like cEDH players.

Okay this made me laugh a lot.

If it were me I'd eschew all the combos, but I recognize that my ethos puts me in the minority these days. As I say, if you're already running other combos then a single ringbearer seems fine.

I would want to make sure I don't accidentally put in an infinite combo. I think if I cut Sun Titan and Nim deathmantle I would cut out all combos from the deck.
But I really want Sam and Boromir in the deck. They are so good without going infinite.

So my other option is to cut free sac outlets but that seems like a bad move.

Bear in mind that Boromir, Warden of the Tower doesn't even need a free sac outlet, as he can sacrifice himself. It doesn't instantly win the game on its own, but it does infinitely trigger any other Alliance or dies triggers you may have, immediately completes the Ring, and can keep your board indestructible at basically all times.

If you want to keep the list casual but still run some Ringbearers, my suggestion would be to limit your free sac outlets (especially avoid ones that immediately win like Altar of Dementia and Goblin Bombardment plus probably the mana altars and Viscera Seer) and find alternatives with limitations that keep them from being immediately infinite (i.e. Barrage of Expendables, Culling Dais, Witch's Cauldron, Sepulcher Ghoul). Reduce or remove tutors so that you have to luck directly into the pieces to go off.

I think decks focused on winning via a combo can be fun for a handful of games, and then get stale, but that's me.

Certainly, Ratadrabik being built with a dozen or so cards that all combo with the commander is going to feel quite linear, especially when that can be assembled by turn 3-5 fairly reliably. If I were building it, I'd probably just include Boromir, and maybe Sam, and leave out the other combos. Even then, there's the distinct possibility of just curving into a combo on turn 4. I think that depends more on what your payoffs are: Boromir and Sam don't win the game, and don't generate any sort of card advantage, really, so it comes down to what else you're doing. The Nazgul are kind of in the same boat, but since you need a sac outlet, that probably becomes your source of advantage.