Krosan Tusker -- A Challenge

[4eak]

Krosan Tusker
Creature - Boar Beast 6/5, 5GG (7)
Cycling {2}{G} ({2}{G}, Discard this card: Draw a card.)
When you cycle Krosan Tusker, you may search your library for a basic land card, reveal that card, and put it into your hand. If you do, shuffle your library.1

I have an unhealthy attraction to this card. Control players every should understand. Two cards at instant speed, uncounterable, enhances your mana base, on a stick, and it isn't even in blue. I'm laughed at for my love of this card, and I'm trying to build a deck with Tusker that will trounce my buddies.

Basic rules for the deck:

-Runs 4x Krosan Tusker (and uses them)
-Legacy legal
-I would prefer if it was a budget deck and cost around 100 dollars or less (yes, a budget will drive home the point)
-Should torture my opponents. After all, I must punish their disloyalty to the card, right?

We'll be playing the games in a casual setting, but the decks I will be facing are fairly standard legacy decks. Lastly, I'm almost completely sure I won't see a single combo deck (none of my opponents care for it).

Here is a current deck idea:

Creatures: 8
4 Eternal Dragon
4 Krosan Tusker

Spells: 24
2 Akroma's Vengeance
4 Decree of Justice
3 Krosan Grip
4 Renewed Faith
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Wing Shards
4 Wrath of God

Artifacts: 4
4 Sensei's Divining Top

Lands : 24
4 Scrying Sheets
7 Snow-Covered Forest
13 Snow-Covered Plains


Anyway, if you have any suggests for this deck or if you have a totally different deck idea, please post it.



peace,
4eak

[Team-Hero]

On the established deck forums, there is a deck called Truffle Shuffle that uses Krosan Tusker and Eternal Dragon. It's really good. It's basically plays like GBW Rock, but with a higher mana curve.

[AngryTroll]

Well, if you're not expecting Combo, that looks like a beating for aggro. No non-basics to Waste, 24 land and the 8 landcyclers to ensure you make all of your land drops, even against Ports...nasty.

I'd bet that Decree and Dragon give you decent game against blue-based control (as opposed to your white based control). Your curve means you can pretty much ignore Counterbalance. I'd love to see a Gigapede in there...but with Dragon and Decree, you probably don't need any. I have an unhealthy love for that card.

With a pretty low number of instants, your Wing Shards probably won't hit more than one creature very often. Swords -> Wing Shards is awesome against some decks, but probably more often, you'll pay three to kill a single creature.

Some Windswept heaths certainly wouldn't hurt, making your Tops better, but their absence probably isn't a big deal.

If you face a lot of fast aggro, you'd probably need some more early game help. Martyr of Sands would work well with the 25 white cards you are running. Ghostly Prison would also work well; I'd even be tempted to run that in the main if you face a lot of aggro. One of the older white board control decks even ran Rune of Protections main, because you can always cycle them away.

The deck does have some good cards for the board against combo, but you'd end up spending more money on them. Orim's Chant and Gaddock Teeg are on color, and you can of course run Chalice of the Void to supplement them.

[yankeedave]

I started in Type 2 when Wing shards was very strong in Mono White Control. I learnt a new phrase that season - "The second Mainphase is your friend!"

Whilst I do love the card, I do think Swords is a much stronger choice. It is a nice supplement tho. That said, I do like the look of this deck, I love "cycling the pig" as my old playgroup used to call it, and the Renewed Faiths will give Burn fits!

[4eak]

We have access to play any card, but I'm just trying to make this a budget deck as a grudge-match to defend Krosan Tusker with style.


@ Team-Hero

Aye. I've read the thread and fished it a few times. It is definitely the type of punishing deck I'm looking to play at this tournament. I love that the deck can play less commonly played cards like Haunting Echoes and Eternal Witness.

My concern with the deck:

-It isn't all that budget, and if possible I want this deck to be a budget deck to rub it in. =)

-I will be facing a good deal of mana-denial, and I might need a bit more resilience to LD strategies, even if it means I sacrifice some very effective control cards like Deed and Duress.

@ AngryTroll


With a pretty low number of instants, your Wing Shards probably won't hit more than one creature very often. Swords -> Wing Shards is awesome against some decks, but probably more often, you'll pay three to kill a single creature.

What should I replace Wing Shards with? I thought I needed additional removal, but maybe I don't.


peace,
4eak

[Pinder]

So there's this guy, right? His name is Jack Elgin.

And he has this deck, right? It's called The Truffle Shuffle.

You might want to look into it.

[yankeedave]

So there's this guy, right? His name is Jack Elgin.

Funny, I thought we had to use the full version of his name, Jack Mother F*****g Elgin?

[Pinder]

Funny, I thought we had to use the full version of his name, Jack Mother F*****g Elgin?

Oh right, I forgot! I better edit that in there before Jack argues me to death. :eek:

[4eak]

@ Pinder

As I said, I have considered Truffle Shuffle, but the mana-base can be shaky (even with cyclers) in the face of mana-denial (which I expect to see), and it isn't a budget deck.

If you have a suggested list, I would appreciate it. Meanwhile, I'll see what form of Truffle Shuffle I can come up with that meets the above requirements.



peace,
4eak

[Pinder]

Ah, I suppose I should have read the thread more carefully. At any rate, here (http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3816&highlight=Truffle+Shuffle) is the thread for Truffle Shuffle. There should be at least a few lists in there if you want to check it out.

[TheInfamousBearAssassin]

1) What type of mana-denial? Are we talking TA/Dreadstill style with Stifles and Daze, or more like Vindicate, Sinkhole? Or Wildfire?

2) Is it multiplayer or duel?

3) Do you want super-budget? I can built a super-budget deck that destroys aggro if it'll make victory sweeter. Monogreen control? Hells yeah.

[Media314r8]

Monogreen control? Hells yeah.

Stall/accel
4 sakura tribe elder
4 wall of roots
4 kitchen finks
(4 factory)

Card Advantage
4 krosan tusker
4 eternal witness
4 harmonize
3 Crucible of worlds
3 Scroll Rack (well just great CQ unless paired with sheets)
(+3 scrying sheets)

Removal
4 Power Keg
4 Utopia Vow
(+3 mouth of ronom)

Lands
3 Scrying Sheets
3 Mouth of Ronom
4 Mishra's Factory
12 Snow-Covered Forest

I'd have to reload MWS on my lappy to test this, but other than the crucibles, the whole deck is cheap, possibly cheap enough for goyfs to replace the vows or walls. Turn three harmonize with a wall up is the hotness vs aggro.

[TheInfamousBearAssassin]

You're doing it wrong. You obviously didn't play during the rise of Raffinity.

Here, like this;

Cad Godeau- The Battle of the Trees

23x Forest

3x Maze of Ith
3x Moment's Peace

4x Search for Tomorrow
4x Sakura-Tribe Elder

4x Sensei's Divining Top
4x Eternal Witness
4x Krosan Tusker

4x Beacon of Creation
3x Rude Awakening

4x Nevinyrral's Disk

(www.essentialmagic.com tells me this deck costs 48$ to build)

[syssc9]

Piggy was a friend of mine, too. I always liked him with Astral Slide. If you add some Onslaught era Cycling lands you can think about Life from the Loam. To keep up with just about any LD strategy, my little buddy the Yavimaya Elder is a cool dude. Just my $0.02

[Obfuscate Freely]

I've always wanted to pair Krosan Tusker with reanimation effects. The thought of cycling him EOT, untapping, and bringing him into play as a 6/5 for :b: is pretty appealing.

However, the best reanimation spell is Reanimate itself, which, although not a bad card with everyone playing Tarmogoyfs for you to kill (especially if you have Witnesses or walls of your own to recycle), will cost you seven life if you target Tusker. I'm not sure it works with a slower, more card-advantage oriented strategy, which is obviously what Tusker's cycling trigger is meant for.

[Aggro_zombies]

I've always wanted to pair Krosan Tusker with reanimation effects. The thought of cycling him EOT, untapping, and bringing him into play as a 6/5 for :b: is pretty appealing.

However, the best reanimation spell is Reanimate itself, which, although not a bad card with everyone playing Tarmogoyfs for you to kill (especially if you have Witnesses or walls of your own to recycle), will cost you seven life if you target Tusker. I'm not sure it works with a slower, more card-advantage oriented strategy, which is obviously what Tusker's cycling trigger is meant for.
Genesis? For the low, low cost of :4::g::g: per turn, you get a land and another card!

[Anusien]

Oath of Ghouls and Oversold Cemetery both interact well here.

[freakish777]

I've always wanted to pair Krosan Tusker with reanimation effects. The thought of cycling him EOT, untapping, and bringing him into play as a 6/5 for :b: is pretty appealing.

However, the best reanimation spell is Reanimate itself, which, although not a bad card with everyone playing Tarmogoyfs for you to kill (especially if you have Witnesses or walls of your own to recycle), will cost you seven life if you target Tusker. I'm not sure it works with a slower, more card-advantage oriented strategy, which is obviously what Tusker's cycling trigger is meant for.


How about the something like the following:

4 Bayou
6 fetches
6 Forest
5 Swamp
1 Voltrath's Stronghold

4 Tusker
4 Goyf
2 Eternal Witness

4 Thoughtseize
4 Innocent Blood
4 Deed
4 Reanimate

3 SDT

+ other stuff. Tusker + Reanimate would more so be an option against control decks that aren't playing a lot of threats for you to Reanimate and would be a secondary plan.

[4eak]

@ TheInfamousBearAssassin


1) What type of mana-denial? Are we talking TA/Dreadstill style with Stifles and Daze, or more like Vindicate, Sinkhole? Or Wildfire?

I expect to see mostly Stifle/Wasteland/Daze. I might see a pox deck, and 2 MUC decks will definitely be present.


2) Is it multiplayer or duel?

Tournament, duels.


3) Do you want super-budget? I can built a super-budget deck that destroys aggro if it'll make victory sweeter. Monogreen control? Hells yeah.

Hells yeah. I think a budget deck that won't have to face combo could perform quite well. Who wouldn't like to take a 40$ Krosan Tusker deck and savagely rip through Threshold, MUC, and goodstuff.dec?


Cad Godeau- The Battle of the Trees

Will test the deck. With Disk, Fog effects, MoI, and STE block'n'sac it looks like a ton of fun against aggro. Should I run Shusher or something to make sure I can play Beacon and get Disk into play against permission?

@ Media314r8

Will try your deck. Thanks for posting it. =)

@ syssc9

Yavimaya Elder is a pimp. My problem is that he's in the same cc slot as Krosan Grip for his ability, and I'm wondering if a 2cc land effect wouldn't just be better.




peace,
4eak

[Team-Hero]

For a massive land boost, combine Tusker with Veteran Explorer or Sakura-Tribe Elder. You can also try cards like Recurring Nightmare or Victimize (thinking budget). Also, previously stated, Oversold Cemetery and Oath of Ghouls are great. Crime//Punishment is a good card that can sub for Deed in times of Budget. Beaters like Iwamori of the Open Fist, Kodama of the North Tree, Skyshroud Warbeast are also nice budget beaters. Primal Order, Choke, Tsunami are nice budget sideboard cards against control. Gigapede, Grave-Shell Scarab, and Sengir Nosferatu are good finishers also in the budget area. Duress, Nightmare Void, Bottomless Pit, Raven's Crime, and Strongarm Tactics are nice discard spells. Against graveyard heavy decks or just nice filter cards, Relic of Progentitus does the job very well. For a tutor card that works well when you have weenie creatures to spare, Diabolic Intent.

I hope these ideas helped. It's hard to think budget cards that get the job done against a Legacy format whereTarmogoyf, Dreadnaut, combo, etc. is running around.