Ozolith/Hardened Scales

[Androk]

I try to mix it up between netdecks and homebrews when I play Pioneer, here is a current brew I'm working on. I saw some old lists from around April 2020, but the deck never seemed to take off. I think it was trying to go too big with X cost creatures, rather than run as an aggro deck that can go big with a backup alternate wincon. Swarm Shambler in particular I think is a newer print that helps the deck.

Here is what I currently have.

Simic Scales

DecklistCMCManaPricesChartsDraw 7

Creatures:

4 Experiment One

4 Servant of the Scale

4 Swarm Shambler

4 Barkhide Troll

4 Pollenbright Druid

3 Yorvo, Lord of Garenbrig

Artifacts:

3 The Ozolith

Enchantments:

4 Hardened Scales

3 Simic Ascendancy

Instants:

4 Snakeskin Veil

Planeswalkers:

3 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar

Land:

4 Barkchannel Pathway

4 Botanical Sanctum

4 Breeding Pool

5 Forest

3 Lair of the Hydra

Sideboard:

3 Grafdigger's Cage

4 Mystical Dispute

4 Spell Pierce

4 Titanic Brawl

Approximate Total Cost:

[motleyslayer]

Simic Ascendancy is neat in this list, have you won any games off having enough counters on it?

[Androk]

Simic Ascendancy is neat in this list, have you won any games off having enough counters on it?

Well, I built the deck last week and just played my first tournament tonight...I had to cancel last week due to a blizzard:/

Anyways, I went 2-1, so I was happy with that.

I played a turn 2 Ascendancy in my very first game, I got it up to 9 counters, and I sideboarded it out the rest of the night. So I am sad to say I do not think it makes the cut. At best, I would start it in the sideboard and bring it in for grindy matchups, but I don't know what grindy matchups I would want it for.

I went 2-1 vs Grixis control, 2-0 vs mono-red, and 0-2 vs Izzet Phoenix (stuck on two land both games).

So I think I want to drop the Ascendancys and the Yorvos (which I included to help ramp Ascendancy), add a couple lands, and add 4 copies of something else that synergizes well.

If I drop the Ascendancys, it does mean I don't have to run blue. I think I will try different iterations with either white or black. White gives the deck Conclave Mentor, and black can give it Winding Constrictor. I like the idea of black giving me access to better removal and hand disruption, while white should offer more synergy with counters and Unbreakable Formation would be a good addition, at least in the SB.

I do like having access to counter spells in blue as well. So I will probably try out different builds over the next couple months. It was definitely fun to play, and it was competitive right out the gate, so it should only get better with some tuning.

[motleyslayer]

have you tried Stubborn Denial in the deck or can you not reliably get your creatures big enough to make it a hard counter?

[The Fluff]

I would prefer keeping the Yorvo in the deck. He's an early large threat that will attract removal away from your other creatures. Also, the rest of your creatures are not very big, if Yorvo is gone.. you might have problems against decks that bring out large creatures quickly.

[drmarkb]

Nobody talking about Lurrus?

[Androk]

I switched to Selesnya and had another 2-1 run. Haven't played it again since, I like to try out different stuff every week...but it feels like Selesnya is where it should be, I don't think I'll try Golgari.

Here is my updated list:

Selesnya Scales

DecklistCMCManaPricesChartsDraw 7

Creatures:

4 Experiment One

4 Servant of the Scale

4 Swarm Shambler

4 Barkhide Troll

4 Conclave Mentor

4 Luminarch Aspirant

Enchantments:

4 Hardened Scales

Artifacts:

2 The Ozolith

Instants:

4 Snakeskin Veil

4 Feat of Resistance

Land:

4 Branchloft Pathway

6 Forest

3 Lair of the Hydra

1 Plains

4 Sunpetal Grove

4 Temple Garden

Approximate Total Cost:

Funny enough, I could've run Lurrus, but didn't even think about it. Not sure NEO gives the deck anything, though I suppose a couple Forests could be replaced with Boseijus.

Overall, I like the lowered curve, and the 12 white cards are all perfect fits. Conclave Mentors are Hardened Scales 5-8, Aspirant dishes the counters out better than anything else in the deck, and Feat of Resistance are Snakeskin Veil 5-8 that can also end the game by getting the biggest threat past the chump blocks.

I don't think it's going to be a Tier 1 deck any time soon, but it's still pretty competitive and fun to play.

[Androk]

have you tried Stubborn Denial in the deck or can you not reliably get your creatures big enough to make it a hard counter?

That would definitely be a better option than Spell Pierce in the Simic build, but I think the Selesnya build is the better route.

[Androk]

I would prefer keeping the Yorvo in the deck. He's an early large threat that will attract removal away from your other creatures. Also, the rest of your creatures are not very big, if Yorvo is gone.. you might have problems against decks that bring out large creatures quickly.

I think it's best to stick to the 1 and 2 drops...you really want to be able to hold up Feats and Veils, as well as Troll and Shambler, so tapping out for a 3 drop is pretty much going shields down.