Antis wrote: ↑3 years ago
I wanted to just throw some cards on the wall here:
I'm getting closer and closer to it. As I feared,
Together Forever simply isn't good enough in this deck. A lot of the support ended up on the side, and there just isn't enough to make it more than cute.
Tortured Existence is getting very close to getting added back in, though I may try
Brought Back first. Brought Back can help protect my non-creature permanents, and also works with fetch lands, and honestly - is still par for mana if I even use it on the baubles, while netting a few cards in the process probably. So far
Cauldron Haze has been the shining MVP, and while this is quite different, filling the same mana slot for a similar effect is nice. This also makes me start thinking more about
Cauldron of Souls. Despite running 29 creatures, my creature count is feeling low in game. I wonder if I'm just not drawing enough cards?
Commander's Insignia - I had... actually forgotten that this was a thing. I was starting to look at
Marshal's Anthem again, as I like it as a piece of recursion, and anthem tokens is always nice, but I like the better bonus on the Insignia as well. I'll definitely start looking at it more.
Westvale Abbey // Ormendahl, Profane Prince - I tend to like to keep a high basic count for the ramp options, as well as Emeria/Coffers, however, I do find that I've been using
Strip Mine effects less frequently these days, so perhaps I can open a slot there.
Unholy Grotto has also not really been used yet, as I typically have better ways to recur creatures. I was waiting to see if I would upgrade it to
Volrath's Stronghold for Emeria/Sun Titan, but I started with the Grotto since most of the creatures are zombies.
Helm of Possession - I considered this, but without sac outlets, much of the power is lost once more. However, due to a weakness to flyers currently, I may need to look at it again, and also reconsider if I'm kneecapping myself too much by not including sac outlets.
Pontiff of Blight - With Pontiff, I'm mostly worried about mana. He's a pretty large mana sink, and I haven't seen the depth of mana generation I'd like to see for him to work. I do have
Ayara, First of Locthwain as an alt-win con, and I can also consider
Syr Konrad, the Grim, if I need more of that, both of which I feel would accomplish the alt win much better, though put me a step closer to the fear of an infinite combo. That said, lifegain is a bit lacking currently as well, so
===
So, I played one game tonight, which is too small a sample to really draw too many conclusions from, however, a few things came up, which I need to keep an eye on:
- Flyers. I got hit a couple times by available flyers due to my lack of air presence. Flying token generators might need to be considered more strongly.
- Life Recovery. After getting hit by a few flyers, as well as some non combat life loss, I was not looking pretty, and did not encounter my recovery.
- Commander Dependency. This may have just been this game, however both of my Commanders were removed several times, and the amount of tokens I was able to make was limited. My draws were fairly mana heavy though, and not many recursion items came up in the early game.
Additional cards that I am considering:
- Cavalier of Dawn - This may replace the general utility removal - This would help with my creature count, while also providing a decent body, and some added recursion.
- Cavalier of Night - Likewise.
- Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord//Whip of Erebos - Sorin was cute when I thought I might run Whip of Erebos, but Whip has a fairly high activation cost. Although I would mostly want it for just the lifelink anyways. Whip can be returned by Heliod's hall.
- Teysa Karlov - I don't think I have a huge abundance of dies triggers - I'll need to double check; however, the lifelink and especially vigilance on the tokens might be nice.
- Reconnaissance - I thought I could get by without it, but recon could add a lot of safety to the deck.
- Bitterblossom - Could replace crucible. In all honesty, without extra land drops, crucible represents one token a turn with Tormod out, and so far in playtesting, land drops haven't been an especially huge problem once the draw gets going. Sacred Mesa could be an option, but is more mana heavy than I would like. Field of Souls variants I don't think go with what I am trying to accomplish.
- Dark Prophecy - Replacing Grim Haruspex seems iffy to me right now - creature count is still being watched, however Haruspex is not a zombie, which does play with a few cards, and Prophecy triggers off of tokens, which Haruspex does not. (neither does Midnight Reaper, however he is a zombie, and also triggers on himself, which Haruspex does not).
- Nighthawk Scavenger, Vampire Nighthawk - These didn't make it due to slots, although they would have played well with +1 counters during the time that was an idea. But now, they can fulfill some limited recovery, while also posing as air defense, fitting into two potentially needed roles.
Potential cuts/trades include:
- Together Forever - Just... lacking. I want to like it, but another deck perhaps. Could become Brought Back.
- Basri's Lieutenant - I like the token generation, and think it's a seriously solid 4 drop all around, however token generation (of this type) isn't what I think I'm lacking right now. Could become Nighthawk Scavenger or Teysa, Orzhov Scion.
- Sorin, Lord of Innistrad - I thought emblems would be nice as non-removable anthems, however, one of the real anthems may be better. Could become Marshal's Anthem or Commander's Insignia.
- Nezumi Graverobber // Nighteyes the Desecrator - Always a good gravehate card in general, and late game reanimation can be nice, however, I don't seem to be lacking on either with the bauble package. Could become Nighthawk Scavenger or Vampire Nighthawk, or some type of flying token producer.
- Crucible of Worlds - Always nice to guarantee land drops, however card draw could possibly handle that, and could be better token production. Could become flying token producer.
- Heliod's Intervention - I like the scalability, however I have repeatable removal, perhaps something more catch all would be appropriate - Could become Cavalier of Dawn or Cavalier of Night. Dawn has the better removal ability, but Night has lifelink and the recursion.
- Auriok Salvagers - He may just be outdated at this point. 2 mana, and bringing only to hand is rather rough. Perhaps Station and Trading Post are enough. Could become Whip of Erebos or something like that.
Haven't gotten to try
Phyrexian Reclamation in a real game, but starting to think the cheaper activation of Tortured Existence may be more valuable.