BUG Necrotic Ooze [Archive]

ahg113

07-10-2012, 03:14 PM

Howdy,

So this is a fun deck put together that wins every once in a while. It has an instant win combo. Also, by playing a large number of creatures, it can stave off aggro, or become aggro if needed. But truly, in fun fashion, it durdles until it dies/wins.

My motivation was Necrotic Ooze, and the 8 Zendikar Fetchlands (V. Catacombs & Marsh Flats) I was damn sure gonna use in a deck. Fauna Shaman just made sense since it was going to be creature/graveyard based, along with Zombie Infestation. The rest just played itself out through searches in Gatherer.

I originally had Oracle of Nectar and Quillspike in the deck, but they never did enough work, and got cut. I've slowly adapted the deck, but this is where I'm sticking unless someone just says something brilliant.

Creature
4 Necrotic Ooze
3 Fauna Shaman
2 Devoted Druid
2 Morselhoarder
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Grimgrin, Corpse-Born
1 Bloodline Keeper
1 Cinderhaze Wretch
1 Griselbrand
1 Wickerbough Elder
1 Thornling
1 Sturdy Hatchling
1 Civilized Scholar
1 Scrib Nibblers
1 Undertaker
1 Spikeshot Elder

Artifact Creature
1 Grim Poppet
1 Molten-Tail Masticore
1 Trespassing Souleater

Instant
3 Gifts Ungiven

Enchantment
2 Zombie Infestation
2 Prismatic Omen

Sorcery
2 Unburial Rites
3 Mulch

Land
4 Marsh Flats
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Woodland Cemetery
1 Watery Grave
1 Temple Garden

Basic Land
4 Swamps
4 Forest

Side-Board
3 Riftsweeper
2 Nature's Claim
1 Vector Asp
1 Hex Parasite
3 Ground Seal
1 Vexing Shusher
1 Withered Wretch
1 Havengul Lich
2 Voidmage Husher

With the SB, the biggest pieces are more protection than answer. Ground Seal to keep our yard safe, Shusher to stop our stuff getting countered, Riftsweeper to get back removed pieces. Vector Asp is a cute trick, Hex Parasite for heavy counters/planeswalkers, Wretch for G.Y. hate (which I ponder cause I wouldn't want it flipped on me), Lich for G.Y. tricks (again, something I wouldn't want to play against), and Voidmage Husher has cute trick written all over it (EDH fav.)

favorite wish packages include -> Ooze, Shaman, Druid, Undertaker; Unburial Rites, Griselbrand, Ooze; any of the colors you might be short or Prismatic Omen

Scrib Nibblers has become a favorite card, and actually real good disruption with fetch lands (exile three cards a turn.)

Combo - Druid/Cinderhaze; Morselhoarder; Spikeshot in GY, infi mana/damage with Ooze in play, no taps for summoning sickness delay.

For alternate win conditions
Druid/Cinderhaze + Morselhoarder = infinite mana + infinite taps; combine with Scrib Nibblers to deck opponent too; combine with Bloodline Keeper for infinite tokens.

Cheers,
every new activated ability printed will make this deck more fun to play, but not triggered :(

(nameless one)

07-10-2012, 03:35 PM

What paths can you follow if Morselhoarder gets exiled (via Surgical Extraction)?

Can you win without Ooze? With the Fetchlands, would Bloodghasts be a good secondary win-condition ala Dredge?

ahg113

07-10-2012, 03:51 PM

What paths can you follow if Morselhoarder gets exiled (via Surgical Extraction)?

Can you win without Ooze? With the Fetchlands, would Bloodghasts be a good secondary win-condition ala Dredge?

Haven't tried to win without Ooze due to removal, but I've just beat face with Molten-Tail Masticore to win.

If Morselhoarder is gone, a graveyard combination of Grimgrin, Bloodline Keeper, Trespassing Souleater, is an infi-unblockable attack for win, with Thornling you can add haste.

To remove counters, other options include Grim-Poppet and Wickerbough Elder if there are targets. In a more convuluted manner, Grimgrin + Bloodline Keeper can put on +1/+1 counters to null effect the -1/-1 counters. Add that with an untapper & Scrib Nibblers for a decking win, no more infi mana + Spikeshot Elder win.

Don't have the Bloodghast, so never tried. Didn't want to be trading 2/1's into something and not be able to block back. Also, without having an activated ability, it does nothing while in graveyard for main cause.

Cheers,
the bad cards make the best cards

Phoenix Ignition

07-10-2012, 05:16 PM

ahg113

07-11-2012, 11:09 AM

This deck is riddled with 1-ofs. Can't you take out any of them to get some sort of consistency going? Is Thornling really a necessary card?

The more 1-ofs you have the worse the deck is going to do in a large tournament, try to cut some of those out and add in something that will either A) Give you an alternative way to beat people, or B) Give you more ability to go through your cards with cantrips or similar.

The flexibility of the deck is due to the multiple 1-of's. Besides obviously the Ooze and the Fauna Shaman (that used to be a 4-of), the only card I'd want to see multiples of are Devoted Druid. The only creature that makes sense to me in multiples would be Bloodline Keepers.

Give it a spin and lemme know what you think. There are multiple tutors to get the pieces that an individual situation might call for.

Thornling while not the strongest creature has proved to be a very valuable creature. Not so much for the +/- effects, but haste has proved important, as has indestructibility. And, as mentioned before, he makes for a good roadblock and durdle outlet if the rest of the combo isn't present, buying time.

Cheers,
the variance makes it fun, because i believe in the heart of the cards

ahg113

07-12-2012, 03:18 PM

Bump

I've decided I want to jam more/different cards into the deck. At least three, possibly four. It's just a question of what comes out.

Things I'd like to add - Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, Mogg Fanatic, Squee, Goblin Nabob

At least 1 of each, possibly 2 Squee. Thinking the weakest package of the deck is Grimgrin, Corpse-Born, Bloodline Keeper, Trespassing Souleater. While the Keeper can combo with the infinite untaps to make tokens, they won't have haste and involve the combat zone- as does the package itself. The package would also need Thornling to enable haste as to attack and win that turn.

The proposed change would still need Thornling to activate haste for the turn ooze is cast. However, an ooze that pass the turn could be enabled by discard a outlet or Gifts Ungiven, which may leave a window to handle Ooze while effects are resolving.

Is it just me, or is Trickbind never used as compared to Legacy and Stifle?

To get two Squee, it makes sense to cut the third Mulch, hanya?

tldr ...
+2 Squee, Goblin Nabob
+1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
+1 Mogg Fanatic
-1 Mulch
-1 Grimgrin, Corpse-Born
-1 Trespassing Souleater
-1 Bloodline Keeper

Cheers,
It should probably be called GRUB Ooze now, is it worth it to get a Blood Crypt?

ahg113

07-14-2012, 02:46 AM

I just played against a Maverick deck, and that is a strong hate game. Not as concerned with Thalia since so much of the deck is creatures. However, Aven Mindcensor and Linvala, Keeper of Silence just take me to frown town.

Looking for instant removal- what are the best options? GftT, Doom Blade, Terror, Dismember come to mind. Most creatures don't bother me, as there are kills in the deck to solve them, the two mentioned are particularly troublesome.

Best play while testing- he made a Metamorph to copy my ooze (it had summoning sickness.) I had a Kiki-Jiki in the yard, made a copy, then used his binned Qasali Pridemage to kill his copy. I thought that was clever.
Trick was to figure a way to kill his copy while not making mine vulnerable, obvi.

Cheers,
what removal should go into the sb? - a Nature's Claim, Havengul Lich and Vector's Asp got the cut for your suggestion!

ahg113

07-24-2012, 05:06 PM

The changes to the deck have worked out great, for the most part. The deck is still a tad slow (looks to win turn 5 - 6), and weak to removal if the combo can't be protected the turn Ooze hits play.

Most match-ups have been fun, interactive and not that troublesome, always felt I had outs.
Except for Affinity. Damn that deck is fast. I've decided to change my SB around, putting 7 destroy effects, 4 Nature's Claim & 3 Beast Within, in to go along with 3 Ground Seal. Vexing Shusher has been good out the board, and I expect to get a bit of mileage out of Hex Parasite, other creatures in my board typically don't do much. On random occasions the Riftsweeper has been worth the slot (most often to get back Morselhoarder, a large enabler.)

Has anyone else worked/read about a Modern Ooze deck?

ahg113

07-26-2012, 09:43 AM

Slowly realizing Modern is a bit faster than I expected. Other combo decks seem to take about the same amount of time to set-up, but the aggro decks tend to swarm and hit critical mass around turn 4/5. Affinity, Goblins and Knights have been a surprising pain. For that reason, I've decided that three Timely Reinforcements would be a good inclusion. (Also trying Ghostly Prison. Which do you think makes more sense?)

Also wondering if there are any decent sweepers to include (aside from Damnation.)

ahg113

10-04-2012, 12:50 PM

Some updates to the deck, and RtR was kind to us(me) for sure. Here is the current build. Lotleth Troll is fantastic, very easy to use and turn into threat. Cheap regeneration cost make him an excellent wall when needed as well.

Creature
4 Necrotic Ooze
3 Fauna Shaman
2 Devoted Druid
2 Morselhoarder
2 Lotleth Troll
2 Squee, Goblin Nabob
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Cinderhaze Wretch
1 Griselbrand
1 Thornling
1 Sturdy Hatchling
1 Civilized Scholar
1 Scrib Nibblers
1 Oona's Prowler
1 Spikeshot Elder
1 Mogg Fanatic
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker

Artifact Creature
1 Grim Poppet
1 Molten-Tail Masticore

Instant
2 Gifts Ungiven
2 Grisly Salvage

Enchantment
2 Zombie Infestation
2 Prismatic Omen

Sorcery
2 Unburial Rites

Land
4 Marsh Flats
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Woodland Cemetery
1 Watery Grave
1 Temple Garden

Basic Land
4 Swamps
4 Forest

Side-Board
2 Timely Reinforcements
3 Nature's Claim
3 Beast Within
1 Wickerbough Elder
3 Ground Seal
2 Vexing Shusher
1 Withered Wretch

bowvamp

10-05-2012, 12:59 AM

How does this deck fare against anything not control? I can't really see it winning vs. aggro or combo...

Ragoz

10-05-2012, 01:29 PM

I made a Necrotic Ooze deck when modern was first announced over a year ago. The format has shaped itself through bannings since then and now we see 3 main decks appearing; Delver, U/W, and Jund. The question when building any deck is to understand how it will approach the known metagame to exploit it. These top 3 decks have a weakness, the graveyard, because of their permission and discard.

I believe that if you include a Vengevine engine in your deck you will add a new, powerful aggro element backed up by a combo.

My original decklist:

Creatures:
3 Vengevine
1 Scryb Ranger
4 Fauna Shaman
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Tarmogoyf
2 Necrotic Ooze
1 Shriekmaw
1 Devoted Druid
1 Morselhoarder
1 Bloodrite Invoker
2 Kitchen Finks
2 Knight of the Reliquary
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Birds of Paradise

Sorcery:
4 Green Sun's Zenith
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Thoughtseize

Land:
4 Verdant Catacombs
1 Dryad Arbor
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Forest
2 Swamp
4 Marsh Flats
1 Temple Garden
1 Godless Shrine
2 Horizon Canopy

This deck approached the format as a midrange deck. The issues you have been having with your own list are because you have far too many high cmc cards and not enough early interaction with fast strategies.

My old deck also took a streamlined approach to the combo.

The combo is instant speed, can respond to removal, and works even when summoning sick.

1. Use Devoted Druid's ability to put a -1/-1 counter on Necrotic Ooze.
2. Use Morselhoarder's ability to remove the -1/-1 and produce a mana.
3. Repeat for infinite all colors of mana.
4. Use Bloodrite Invoker to drain 3 your opponent infinite times.

So how do you make a deck shell that abuses this combo and attacks the metagame at a new angle? I recommend zombies.

Gravecrawler, Lotleth Troll, and Tidehollow Sculler should create a strong core for the deck. They provide good bodies and abilities. Troll can discard combo pieces, Gravecrawler is removal resilient and can trigger vengevine, and Tidehollow provides disruption and a way to bring back Gravecrawler. If there is still room in the deck it might even be possible that Dreg Mangler is an option.

I don't have an optimal decklist but a good place to start might include:

4 Gravecrawler
4 Lotleth Troll
4 Tidehollow Sculler
4 Fauna Shaman
3 Vengevine
2 Necrotic Ooze
1 Devoted Druid
1 Bloodrite Invoker
1 Morselhoarder

3 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
4 Path to Exile and/or Abrupt Decay

Add a few other cards as you see fit to fill out the list. I'm fairly sure it wants more one drops to activate Vengevines and help the aggro plan but maybe not. Good luck with your deck.

ahg113

10-05-2012, 02:32 PM

How does this deck fare against anything not control? I can't really see it winning vs. aggro or combo...

Combo it's a race, as I'm a combo deck as well. If the cards are right, I just cast a few creatures and turn them sideways. Combo decks don't phase this deck at all. Combo players forget the pieces can attack too.

Aggro decks are a pain in the butt though. Typically a fast/sligh like start and I'm toast, if I'm allowed to get to turn 6 or so, then I can usually stabilize. Druids and Zombie Infestation were the best speed bumps I had pre-RtR. Out of the SB, included Timely Reinforcements as an anti-aggro card. Had three, recently changed to two, may swap numbers with Ground Seal in near future.
Against mid-range decks, there are few problems. Sometimes jund if they run enough Jund charm/pyroclasm effects. But bolting a dude here or there is perfectly acceptable.
The addition of RtR gives Lol Troll (and Grisly Salvage is beaucoup > Mulch), which is just a god send. It combo's with Ooze, near half the deck is dudes.
The recent addition of Oona's Prowler also makes the deck more aggressive. Every once in a while it's a pain that the opponent can ditch cards to shrink his power, or I provide an enabler to a Goyf, GY.dec, but those corner cases I'd just side it out for games 2 & 3.

The high casting cost creatures aren't really an issue. I don't intend on casting half of them anyway. Typically, the majority of my creatures end up getting cast only if I don't have access to an ooze. Fauna Shaman, Devoted Druid, Civilized Scholar are the business type guys I'd like to cast. Lol Troll and Oona's Prowler for a red-zone strategy.

There is redundancy in the combo pieces granted, but it allows for greater versatility. Typically ->

instant
Druid/Witch + Morselhoarder + Spikeshot Elder = dead (direct damage)
Druid/Witch + Grim Poppet = all non hex-proof creatures dead

non-summoning sick/haste enabled
Druid/Witch + Morselhoarder + Scrib Nibblers = dead (mill effect)
Kiki-Jiki + Mogg Fanatic = dead (direct damage)

utility/protection
Thornling, Sturdy Hatchling, Lotleth Troll, Molten-Tail Masticore

utility/discard
Fauna Shaman, Oona's Prowler, Lotleth Troll

utility/draw, card select
Fauna Shaman, Civilized Scholar

For spells,
Prismatic Omen is probably the weakest inclusion, and that was because once too often I had shockland ko'd and left with dead cards (provided ooze couldn't make the mana).
Gift's Ungiven is usually a game winner that turn, or the following. Sometimes it just goes Grizzle plus Unburial Rites, which is pretty decent.
Zombie Infestation does a lot of work. Dropped early enough it abuses Squee like no other, put's dudes in the yard for Ooze.
Grisly Salvage/Mulch - great at thinning deck. Grisly is just better than Mulch, Mulch only saving grace, may get more cards in hand to pitch to Zombie Infestation, maybe.
Unburial Rites - cute addition for Grisslebrand, sometimes get more mileage out of dead Ooze's. Often think about going to just one, adding back the third Gift's Ungiven.

ahg113

10-05-2012, 02:45 PM

I made a Necrotic Ooze deck when modern was first announced over a year ago. The format has shaped itself through bannings since then and now we see 3 main decks appearing; Delver, U/W, and Jund. The question when building any deck is to understand how it will approach the known metagame to exploit it. These top 3 decks have a weakness, the graveyard, because of their permission and discard.

I believe that if you include a Vengevine engine in your deck you will add a new, powerful aggro element backed up by a combo.

Thank you for the well wishes, I hope you begin playing an Ooze deck again soon.

I feel as though we're going for two different things with our decks. Your list feels more Green/black aggro, whereas mine is Black/green combo.
In a perfect world, I do not have to attack to win, but that is always an option. When playtesting, I'll often win the first game through gy tricks/combo. And in the second game, just bash face. I like the high variety of cards because Surgical extraction is a preferred piece of GY hate. I feel that your deck is weak to it, whereas mine is stronger. If they take an ooze, worst case scenario, it's not that bad. My decision tree gets easier, and I just get the most aggressive creatures I can online asap.

It may appear otherwise, but I don't need my GY to win games.

In the end it's a flavor question. Your deck has an Ooze combo, my deck is an Ooze combo. I'd say you're much more dependent on Fauna Shaman to find your black creatures, but have much greater access to find your green ones because of GSZ. I just play so many, that I hope to luck sack into what I need. (Like Grisly Salvage flipping a Kiki-Jiki and Mogg to an onboard Ooze.)

I like that the deck wins out of nowhere, split second isn't played enough (it really isn't) in order to give me great pause. Most often, if the player has a response, I'll respond by still combo'ing out.

Cheers,
happy someone has taken an interest in this thread, however briefly

Ragoz

10-05-2012, 02:49 PM

It looks like theres just a difference in the direction we both took designing the deck.

My plan A. is aggro with plan B. combo while yours is plan A. combo plan B. reanimate Griselbrand. I just have some issues with Griselbrand because of how it just dissappears to a path to exile, the unburial rites and gifts are easy to counter, and his ability isn't very powerful in this particular deck.

Are you sure you need all these off color cards like spikeshot elder and kiki? Are there situations where you have to mill your opponent with the rat instead of infinite damage? How often do you have to kill the board with grim poppet when the other options kill the opponent themselves? Are thornling and Sturdy Hatchling just more expensive Lotleth trolls when he gives regenerate? Is zombie infestation really worth the 3 cards it costs to make one 2/2 zombie?

There are quite a few questions that need to be answered and I think most of these cards can be cut in favor of cheap, faster cards for your strategy.

Edit: Also Green Sun Zenith is banned. The old decklist was a reference of a deck made over 1 year ago. The format has changed and pressures such as Wild Nacatl are gone but have virtually been replaced by Delver. You are right the original used fauana shaman more and could Green Sun for it better. The new deck is much more of an aggro deck.

ahg113

10-05-2012, 03:06 PM

Are you sure you need all these off color cards like spikeshot elder and kiki? Are there situations where you have to mill your opponent with the rat instead of infinite damage? How often do you have to kill the board with grim poppet when the other options kill the opponent themselves? Are thornling and Sturdy Hatchling just more expensive Lotleth trolls when he gives regenerate? Is zombie infestation really worth the 3 cards it costs to make one 2/2 zombie?

There are quite a few questions that need to be answered and I think most of these cards can be cut in favor of cheap, faster cards for your strategy.

For Grisslebrand - Drawing cards in order to pitch the selected is a powerful effect, he's better on board, but not dead in the yard. I often think about a lifegain measure, but didn't like the card I had used before (Oracle of Nectars) for infinite life (as that didn't win a game, but made it harder to lose a game.) Grisslebrand isn't always option B. I go out of my way for Ooze, but not Grissle.

In relation to the other questions, I'm giving myself options. They all do something different. Regen/indestructible/hex-proof all may keep Ooze on the field, but do so in different ways. Having the answer in my deck to what the other deck is attempting to do is better in my opinion rather than having 1 answer, to a problem that may, or may not exist.

kiki and spikeshot elder are the only off color cards I consider in the deck. Squee is never intended to be cast, and there is a land to produce W & U, with a bird and Prismatic Omen to further fix if necessary.

For Zombie Infestation- always worth it if using a Squee (never lived the dream of double Squee), most often worth it if pitching a GY only type dude to chump block.

I play the deck extremely loose, going for GOTCHA! type wins. That said, I still have to win before I die. Casting an Ooze is typically a game winning spell for me, whereas I think it's an "also can do," for you.

I have won games though by casting a turn 2 Lol Troll and just pitching dude after dude to him. He is bonkers.

Phoenix Ignition

10-06-2012, 02:23 AM

I'm still of my same opinion that there are just too many 1-ofs that are only good in the graveyard plastered to Ooze. Since they all have unique abilities, I suggest you make a list of which of these creatures you specifically pitch to the yard while playing games, figuring out which ones you use the most frequently, and also whether or not that card choice won you the game or was the best, in hindsight.

I just can't see ~10 cards being necessary for your Ooze to be good, and I have to think that there are better cards you can be playing. Even just a set of Tarmogoyfs to randomly win games bashing seems better to me. Or maybe that new Entomb + Primal command black/green card... Jarads something?

Mr. Safety

10-06-2012, 07:36 AM

Is it just me or is a deck focused on Necrotic Ooze just begging for Fauna Shaman and Birthing Pod?

Phoenix Ignition

10-06-2012, 07:06 PM

Well he's playing 3 Fauna Shaman, and I think if you're going to go through the hassle of Birthing Pod you might as well play the BP combo in here too. I really doubt that would help consistency or other issues though.

Mr. Safety

10-06-2012, 08:15 PM

Oops...missed the Fauna Shamans. I need to pay attention more.

ahg113

10-10-2012, 11:50 AM

I'm still of my same opinion that there are just too many 1-ofs that are only good in the graveyard plastered to Ooze.

And I still contest that these creatures are good on their own. They're not individually the strongest options available, but goyf doesn't do any cool tricks that Ooze can use either.

I'll concede on three easily- that Grim Poppet is a "don't lose" card; Oona's Prowler is a flyer, but more often a side-out card against a lot of decks; and that Sturdy Hatchling is a speed bump most often. But the other creatures (excluding Squee, which is a recurring piece of cardboard and not a "battlefield critter") do work whether or not they are on the field or in the yard, exclusion to rule is Cinderhaze Wretch, which is a duplicate effect of Devoted Druid to dodge GY hate (the piece to remove in all scenarios is Morselhoarder, but folks keep going for the Druid or Wretch...)
I'll concede on three others as off color - Spikeshot, Kiki-Jiki, and Mogg Fanatic. Kiki-Jiki will never get cast. Mogg and Spikeshot only if desperate for a chump blocker. Or, if I know the opponent doesn't have any tricks, still make infi mana with Ooze, cast Spikeshot, still combo out.

Jarad's Orders are an on color version of Gifts Ungiven, with less flexibility and at sorcery speed. Given the option, Gifts Ungiven seems better. That said, Grisly Salvage is much better than Mulch- instant speed, 1 card deeper, options of what to bring to hand if anything.

10+ creatures aren't needed for Ooze to be good, a combo of three creatures plus Ooze can end most games (two if Ooze isn't sick from summoning.) The high variety of creatures makes it so not having Ooze still leaves me in a position to win the game.

The deck is supposed to play loose, which is I know, antithesis of how most Magic is thought of. The high variance leads to flexibility.

For some of the snark in other threads about Legacy dying, Modern is crap, this is a skill intensive deck to play. When to eschew an Ooze combo and just attack with what you have. Which creatures are better for pitching versus casting to trade with opponents.

ahg113

10-10-2012, 11:54 AM

Is it just me or is a deck focused on Necrotic Ooze just begging for Fauna Shaman and Birthing Pod?

The creatures casting costs are all over the place. The main combo, Druid+Morselhoarder+Spikeshot is 2, 6, 1. Ooze is a 4. Plus, I never plan on casting Spikeshot for it to be on the field to sack into a 2 drop. Birthing Pod is a build around card, and I chose Ooze to build around instead.

Since I'm trying to get things into the yard, CC was never a concern.

ahg113

12-28-2012, 05:17 PM

E17

12-30-2012, 11:39 AM

kombatkiwi

01-14-2013, 06:02 AM

I'm excited because I plan on playing in the Philly PTQ tomorrow. Here's the list I plan on using-

Creature
3 Necrotic Ooze
3 Fauna Shaman
3 Deathrite Shaman
2 Lotleth Troll
2 Devoted Druid
1 Morselhoarder
1 Squee, Goblin Nabob
1 Cinderhaze Wretch
1 Griselbrand
1 Thornling
1 Sturdy Hatchling
1 Civilized Scholar
1 Scrib Nibblers
1 Oona's Prowler
1 Spikeshot Elder
1 Fulminator Mage
1 Mogg Fanatic
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker

Artifact Creature
1 Grim Poppet
1 Molten-Tail Masticore

Instant
3 Gifts Ungiven
3 Grisly Salvage

Enchantment
2 Zombie Infestation

Sorcery
2 Unburial Rites

Land
4 Marsh Flats
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Woodland Cemetery
1 Watery Grave
1 Temple Garden

Basic Land
4 Swamps
4 Forest

Side-Board
3 Timely Reinforcements
3 Nature's Claim
3 Beast Within
2 Ground Seal
1 Wickerbough Elder
1 Vexing Shusher
1 Withered Wretch

Hopefully I won't just waste $30, and I'll be able to gloat about how awesome this pet deck is, most likely, this will not be the case.

A serious question though- I obviously am not a fan of graveyard hate, but can and have played through it to win. As an anti-anti-tech card, does Leyline of Sanctity make more sense than Ground Seal? I'm seeing less of the targeted removal and more of the Relics & Crypts. However, casting a double white is just something this deck isn't really geared to do, 4 > 2 and Ground Seal not only is a cantrip, but it shuts off Snapcasters and Deathrites. Thoughts?

Cheers,
at least it will be fun

This deck has piqued my interest but I have a few questions about it
1. Why so many different infinite Ooze combos? It seems like either you would set one up and win or your first one gets disrupted and you lose before you can get to another one. It seems like you want either Morselhoarder + Druid + Spikeshot/Invoker because it can win in the face of removal or you want Kiki Jiki + Mogg Fanatic because it's only 2 cards.
2. A one-of Scrib Nibbler seems completely pointless
3. So does the one-of Oona's Prowler
4. People are unlikely to use MB Surgicals so it seems very odd to have a 1-of maindeck Cinderhaze over another Devoted Druid when the Druid is so much more useful to actually cast (or just use another card entirely). I think if you're worried about grave hate postboard then you need to have some sort of transformational sideboard plan instead of just playing 1 different card for Surgical protection
5. Why no overgrown tomb(s) MB
6. The Fulminator Mage seems really odd because I can't imagine you ever want to sacrifice an ooze once you have it in play, although I guess you can just find it with Fauna Shaman and cast it
7. I think you need some sort of maindeck Deathrite hate because the most popular deck in the format plays 4 of it and so do a host of others because it's a good card on its own and it just does so much more against this deck than most

ahg113

01-14-2013, 11:12 PM

PTQ Philly Shaming

There should've been a booby prize, then it would've been better. I came in last for those that didn't drop through the finish of 8 rounds. 8 rounds - 2-6. With one no-show win, I beat Eggs 2-0. My loses were split, 3: 1-2, and 3: 0-2. In my loses, I typically won the first game by turn 5 or 6, then brutally lost to hate in games 2 & 3. Notes are sparse, still getting use to recording and playing at the same time.

Rd 1 vs. Ian, Kiki-Pod
Game 1, me on play, him mull to 6 - The life totals ended up at Me 16, Him 14 before I combo with Ooze (Hoarder, Druid, Elder) - T4 Probably played a Lotleth Troll or Zombie Infestation as a discard outlet. He had played a Cannonist, 2 Birds and a Noble.

Game 2, me on draw (kept crap hand) - I didn't know what he was playing yet (thinking Bant, Naya, or 4c). He applied early pressure and kept it going. The ultimate play was a Linvala off of chord of calling. Pretty much reason to scoop, as I hadn't added any Beast Within for the game. By going the beats route, I did get him to 8 life before croaking.

Game 3, me on play (kept ? hand, no note) - life totals got to M - 10, H - 6, and he combo Kiki-Pod for the win. I had a Beast Within in hand, and obviously picked a sequence too late in the chain to disrupt his combo, but it was a close game. We were both just counting down to who could combo first.
0-1; 1-2

Rd 2 vs. Zach, GW Beats
Game 1, me on play - I take beats to 14 before combo on turn 5. I use Ooze with Kiki, Druid and Thornling in the yard. He hadn't taken damage yet, and cast 2 Birds, a Noble and a Qasali Pride.

Game 2, him on play - game gets to M - 12, H - 16, his damage is mostly self inflicted with sac & shock lands. Beaten down with Loxodon Smiter and Wilt-Lief Liege. And it was a sad day.

Game 3, me on play - he had a Relic which makes life tougher, but popped it with still leaving me many options. Unfortunately, he played a Linvala just before my critical turn and I get locked out effectively. M - 7, H - 16 Seriously considering Leyline of Sanctity here, as I am a hater of Relic, what seems to be the most used gy hate.
0-2; 2-4

Rd 3 vs. Michael, Jund
Game 1, him on play, mulligan - I take beats to 5 before combo (maybe turn 4/5) with Ooze, using Kiki, Thorn and Mogg Fanatic. He was at 17 at combo.

Game 2, him on play - stupid beats. Game ends with him at 15, prolly self inflicted.

Game 3, me on play - due to early disruption, I lose this game. Snagging things like Grisly Salvage put me in a bind with not a lot of good plays. Before death, scoreboard was M - 9, H - 12
0-3, 3-6

Rd 4 vs. Mitch, Reanimator something
Game 1, him on play - beats, lose to something reanimated. M - 4, H - 15

Game 2, me on play - durdle with Ground Seal, nerf DRS, win with Kiki and Druid combo via Ooze. Fauna Shaman is discard outlet.

Game 3, him on play, me mull to 6 - This one was there for the taking, and I punted it away. The game was at 12 - 12 and with Fauna Shaman I go get a creature, that should've been Withered Wretch, but instead is something irrelevant. I've opted to switch to beat down for this game. At my eot, he Gifts for Rites and Elish, which basically means he wins. Had I grabbed the Wretch, I could've nuked that plan because I had a mana open... too many options, lost site of what would hurt me.
0-4, 4-8

Rd 5 vs. Billy, Eggs
Game 1, I win on T6'ish with a Kiki Druid Ooze combo

Game 2, after much gnashing of teeth and grinding of gears, the Eggs player had two turns of mind numbing boredom but ultimately fizzled both times. He had gotten me to 14 before he scooped to damage on board. He had went to 18, 17, 12, 9. During his first attempt, he got about 3 cycles in and asked if I wanted to scoop, to which I calmly replied, I'll wait, let's play it out. I don't think he expected opponents to have the patience to wait that out. I wish more people were playing Eggs...
1-4, 6-8

Rd 6 vs. Matt, no-show
Rd6.5 vs. Sam, Reanimator (for non-fun types of great fun)
G1 - Lost to Elish
G2 - Lost to Iona (unsideboarded)
G3 - Lost to three DRS, I had two DRS. Jiminy-Crickets that guy is tough...
2-4, 8-8

Rd 7 vs. Shawn, White Enchantment Control (Shawn is a friend of Sam from the previous round and knew what I was playing before hand. I saw him playing against my Eggs opponent and knew somewhat his deck before we started.)

Game 1 - Lost in the face of sooo much hate. 2 Suppression Fields, a Ghostly Prison, the new Enchantment that is Ghostly Prison X, where X = number of enchantments. He then cast a Consecrated Sphinx and... onto game 2

Game 2 - More of the same, but this time I got him down to 12.
2-5, 8-10

Rd 8 vs. Tom, U/W control Beats

Game 1 - Yeah, even if I were mentally there, his deck just rolled me. Nothing much to say.

Game 2 - Ditto.
2-6, 8-12

It was a decent day, I had wanted to get to .500, and then just played to play. G0t my $30 worth (it did happen, Rd 1, 6.5 and 7 were good fun games. Beating Eggs was just satisfying, against the pilot and the deck. the other ones, not bad, obviously could've been better.) Would make many changes to deck, but not sure what. I'm in love with it's zaniness, but it's weak to hate, and gy hate is around in spades. The Enchantment deck was a novel pain as well.
I feared playing tribal-aggro and robots, and saw neither. Would've liked to play other combo decks, and didn't play those either. Such is life.

ahg113

01-14-2013, 11:30 PM

This deck has piqued my interest but I have a few questions about it
1. Why so many different infinite Ooze combos? It seems like either you would set one up and win or your first one gets disrupted and you lose before you can get to another one. It seems like you want either Morselhoarder + Druid + Spikeshot/Invoker because it can win in the face of removal or you want Kiki Jiki + Mogg Fanatic because it's only 2 cards.
I was a kid in a candy store putting the deck together. It was at first Druid + Quillspike, and Grimgrin + Bloodline Keeper. Seeing as how that required Ooze to stay out a turn, and involved the red zone, I decided against wanting to do that, and attempted to find more non-interactive pieces. Just never knew when to say when. Bloodrite Invoker is a good addition, in my deck it is a similar spot as Molten-Tail Masticore. Masticore included because if in play, acts as a discard outlet.

2. A one-of Scrib Nibbler seems completely pointless
Scrib Nibbler is another combo, but yes, it is an under performing slot. I liked the application of killing the opponent via another means than damage, hence it's initial inclusion. Casting him as a speed bump with slight disruption was the other appeal.

3. So does the one-of Oona's Prowler
This is a flier to replace Birds of Paradise as a chump blocker when desperate, and also a discard outlet, akin to Lotleth Troll.

4. People are unlikely to use MB Surgicals so it seems very odd to have a 1-of maindeck Cinderhaze over another Devoted Druid when the Druid is so much more useful to actually cast (or just use another card entirely). I think if you're worried about grave hate postboard then you need to have some sort of transformational sideboard plan instead of just playing 1 different card for Surgical protection
Not sure of a good transformative sb that doesn't involve yard. But yes, it is Surgical/Extirpate/Memori cide/Slaughter Game protection. In rare instances, he's used to force discard.

5. Why no overgrown tomb(s) MB
Didn't have access to the card cheaply at the time, didn't want to take too much damage from lands making myself more susceptible to attack and burn, a problem this deck experiences.

6. The Fulminator Mage seems really odd because I can't imagine you ever want to sacrifice an ooze once you have it in play, although I guess you can just find it with Fauna Shaman and cast it
It's more so to take care of problem lands, Tron in particular. Also, because Modern has a greedy manabase, Mage+Kiki will nuke most opponents land base. If not MD, then SB.

7. I think you need some sort of maindeck Deathrite hate because the most popular deck in the format plays 4 of it and so do a host of others because it's a good card on its own and it just does so much more against this deck than most
From the PTQ, I'm less in love with Gifts as a Fatty+Rites Tutor, so I'm def inclined to play Ground Seal. That card is obv. a nonbo with DRS, but shuts down the dude hard, plus makes Snappy irrelevant. Also don't have access to Damnation right now, but there were times I wanted that card.

As an anti-anti-tech card, Leyline of Sanctity just looks enticing. It feels overboard to have both Leyline and Ground Seal though.

Would definitely entertain changing the deck around after seeing it compete IRL. Cockatrice gave me some great pyrite. Not sure what's a good sideboard without invalidating the MD and not relying on the GY as much.

Cheers,
thanks for taking an interest