[Deck] Dryad Sligh

[Volt]

// land
5 Mountain
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Taiga
4 Wasteland

// creatures
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Kird Ape
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Quirion Dryad
4 Slith Firewalker

// burn
4 Chain Lightning
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Rift Bolt
4 Magma Jet
3 Fireblast

// sideboard
Krosan's Grip
Naturalize
Pyrostatic Pillar
R.E.B./Pyroblast
Tormod's Crypt
Engineered Explosives
Pithing Needle
Null Rod
etc.


Notable inclusions:
Quirion Dryad: Gives the deck some much-needed extra oomph. Drop it on the 2nd turn, and watch it grow. If your opponent doesn't answer it quickly, it can really get out of hand. Every spell in the deck adds a counter to the Dryad (other than the Dryads themselves, of course).


Notable omissions:
Ball Lightning: It's not a terrible choice for Sligh, but I find it to be a little slow and difficult to set up.

Jackal Pup: Simply not good in a metagame dominated by creature strategies. In a combo-heavy environment, it becomes much better.


Matchups:

Vial Goblins: 65-35

Use your burn to clear a path for your Dryads and Firewalkers, and you will usually be able to outrace them.


Threshold: 40-60

The first game is 50/50, but their sideboard cards tend to be better than yours.


Solidarity: 50-50

You are not favored in game 1. If you win the die roll and have a good aggro draw, you have a decent chance. With a good sideboard strategy, the matchup can swing to your favor after game 1. Combined with the natural speed of the deck, Gaea's Blessing is often enough to turn things around. Pyroblast and Pyrostatic Pillar can improve things further.


Iggy Pop: 30-70

You simply can't outrace them in game 1 if they get any sort of reasonable draw. The best sideboard options are Tormod's Crypt and Null Rod (shuts down their artifact mana, which makes it VERY difficult for them to win). Do NOT side in Pyrostatic Pillar, as it will almost always work against you.

[noobslayer]

Personally I'd cut Dryad, add black, and play Bob. He can be good for all the reasons you said he was bad. A well timed Bob can sap away a permission or removal spell. He still can be tossed infront of lackeys and such without a huge setback. Also, Dryad in perspective is a much worse card. The amount of invesment you put into him is not really worth it once he is dealt with. Any form of standard removal can set you back a turn. He's also slow, and in reality never gets huge. Only a few times has he ever gotten bigger than a Werebear for me.

[Volt]

I guess people just aren't going to believe me about Bob-sligh. What can I say? I tried it and wasn't impressed. After listening to the comments of others, I tried it again, and I still wasn't impressed. It just ain't that great. The problem is that your opponent will just save his removal for Bob since you have no other creatures that scare him. Black just doesn't offer any other creatures with punch. The first person who says Carnophage gets the buzzer.

[Watcher487]

Freash fromt the Gatherer:

Blind Creeper
Drekavac
Rotting Giant
Gobhobbler Rats
Barrow Ghoul
Flesh Reaver

Drekavac and Gobhobbler Rats are both obviously good in a 'Sligh' deck especially with Cursed Scroll.

Barrow Ghould and Rotting Giant both have anti-synergy with Grim Lavamancer. This is probably the better way to build Black/Red sligh w/Bob cause you have access to 8 sac-lands low-end and cheap removal to clear the way for both cards and since Barrow Ghoul is 4/4 and Rotting Giant is 3/3 they easily trade for both Werebear and Nimble Mongoose which should improve you Threshold match up easily.

[SuckerPunch]

Three other awesome creatures in a BR Sligh build include...

Carnophage/Sarcomancy
Wretched Anurid

I like your deck, a lot actually.

But no one's going to take the deck seriously if you're running seal of fire and cursed scroll imo. Seal of Fire does too little compared to a card like Flame Rift for example. And Cursed Scroll is good in slower more controllish decks with tons of extra mana to throw around, it hasn't been good in burn for years.

There are far better options available to the 2 colors. Flame Rift for one is worth considering. And you're dismissing Jackal Pup prematurely IMO. Check out other burn lists and sligh lists to make sure all your spells are the most efficent options you have.

Here's what I would run...

4 Wooded Foothills
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Taiga
7 Mountain
1 Forest

4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Kird Ape
4 Jackal Pup
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Quirion Dryad
4 Scab-Clan Mauler

4 Chain Lightning
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Magma Jet
3 Fireblast
2 Flame Rift
-1 Card

Even with the lower curve I made (no need to use cursed scroll for one), I'm still not convinced that you can support this deck with just 19 land esp with the prevalence of wasteland. I am suggesting you cut something for another land.

Yes, you run fewer removal. But between 4 Bolt, 4 Chain, 4 Magma, 4 Lavamancer and 4 Fanatic, you still have more than enough tools to deal with creatures.

[Volt]

Fresh from the Gatherer:

Blind Creeper
Drekavac
Rotting Giant
Gobhobbler Rats
Barrow Ghoul
Flesh Reaver

Drekavac and Gobhobbler Rats are both obviously good in a 'Sligh' deck especially with Cursed Scroll.

Barrow Ghould and Rotting Giant both have anti-synergy with Grim Lavamancer. This is probably the better way to build Black/Red sligh w/Bob cause you have access to 8 sac-lands low-end and cheap removal to clear the way for both cards and since Barrow Ghoul is 4/4 and Rotting Giant is 3/3 they easily trade for both Werebear and Nimble Mongoose which should improve you Threshold match up easily.

Some interesting suggestions. The only one I would really consider is the Rotting Giant, though. And like you said, it has bad synergy with Grim Lavamancer. The other ones have drawbacks that are too severe, imo. Well, maybe the Gobhobbler Rats would be okay. Meh.



The first person who says Carnophage gets the buzzer.


Carnophage/Sarcomancy

lol. I'm going to spare you the buzzer just because you went on to make some other pretty good suggestions.



But no one's going to take the deck seriously if you're running seal of fire and cursed scroll imo. Seal of Fire does too little compared to a card like Flame Rift for example. And Cursed Scroll is good in slower more controllish decks with tons of extra mana to throw around, it hasn't been good in burn for years.

There are far better options available to the 2 colors. Flame Rift for one is worth considering. And you're dismissing Jackal Pup prematurely IMO. Check out other burn lists and sligh lists to make sure all your spells are the most efficent options you have.

Here's what I would run...

4 Wooded Foothills
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Taiga
7 Mountain
1 Forest

4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Kird Ape
4 Jackal Pup
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Quirion Dryad
4 Scab-Clan Mauler

4 Chain Lightning
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Magma Jet
3 Fireblast
2 Flame Rift
-1 Card

Even with the lower curve I made (no need to use cursed scroll for one), I'm still not convinced that you can support this deck with just 19 land esp with the prevalence of wasteland. I am suggesting you cut something for another land.

Yes, you run fewer removal. But between 4 Bolt, 4 Chain, 4 Magma, 4 Lavamancer and 4 Fanatic, you still have more than enough tools to deal with creatures.

I've been down this road with Jackal Pup a few times. I just don't like the card in the current environment. It's not good against Threshold. It's not good against Goblins. It's not good against rAffinity. It's not good against r/g stompy. And it's really not good against Burn. That doesn't leave much.

I will agree that Seal of Fire and Cursed Scroll are currently the weak links in my deck list. I'll also agree that maybe 19 lands isn't enough. I do often find myself wishing I had one more land in play during my playtesting against Threshold. Of course, that's usually because I'm trying to play around Daze.

Okay, out with the Cursed Scrolls. In goes another mountain. In goes Fireblast #4.

I'm on the fence about what to replace Seal of Fire with, though. Maybe Lava Darts? Wastelands? I would only play Flame Rift in a single-minded burn deck, which this isn't.

[SuckerPunch]

If you're so offset against Flame Rift, how about running 2-4 Jitte. Yes, it won't pump dryad being colorless and all, but neither does Cursed Scroll.

Jitte serves a function very similar to Cursed Scroll but is a far better card. The only reason Pikula opts for the latter is that it doesn't run a large enough creature base to support Jitte.

Another card that I want to mention is Flametongue Kavu. It may not be the best card for the deck, but in the current format, it's one of the best creatures in Legacy IMO.

Wretched Anurid stays in play more consistently than Rotting Giant.

And while carnophage may not be awesome in Legacy, there is nothing wrong with Sarcomancy esp if you run other zombies like Anurid to supplement it.

Not saying that a black splash would be better mind you. Green might be the way to go. But honestly, how good is Dryad really. With all the removal in Legacy and you with no way to protect it, how often does it stay in play long enough to matter.

The main thing green brings to the fold is Kird Ape. It's awesome, better than Pup mainly against first strikers (WW).

But mainly as a G/R deck why would you run this deck over Zilla Stompy?

[Volt]

The merits of Zilla Stompy are pretty clear. While I appreciate the feedback, I don't think "why don't you just play such and such deck instead" comments are very helpful.

I think Carnophage, Sarcomancy, and Wretched Anurid are fine in a Sligh deck. Isn't that called Sui-sligh or something? Anyway, I'm not sure Bob would work in that deck, with all that loss of life going on. And B/R still doesn't have a way to deal with enchantments. Finally, I'm pretty sure it just rolls over and dies against Burn.

Getting back to Dryad Sligh... I agreed with you about taking out the Scrolls and adding a land. I don't think Jittes have a place in this deck, for pretty much the same reason as Cursed Scroll. They're too mana-intensive.

Still considering how to replace the Seals of Fire...

Btw, Kird Apes aren't the only thing green brings to the fold. The Maulers are pretty nifty, too.

[TheDarkshineKnight]

But mainly as a G/R deck why would you run this deck over Zilla Stompy?

I dunno, but maybe because they're completely different in regards to how they operate?

[SuckerPunch]

The two decks are not that different.

They both nearly run identical removal bases (Magma Jet, Chain Lighting and Lightning Bolt), and creatures to attack with once the removal removes blockers.

The old version of Zilla Stompy had a very similar creature base to this deck. It too ran Mogg Fanatic and Grim Lavamancer along with the Kird Apes.

Mechanistically and strategically, they're similar enouh to warrant comparison and a pro/con anaylisis.

I agree with you that why don't you just play Zilla Stompy instead was an unfair question.

But I am curious to know what if any match ups this does better against than Zilla Stompy because I am having difficulty coming up with them.

From what I can tell, they both have very similar matchups, a similar clock, except that Zilla Stompy due to its bigger fat fares better against aggro. And if that is true, there is no reason to play this deck over Zilla Stompy.

But to get back to the question at hand, what to run in Seal of Fire's slot, I would highly recommend Lava Spike.

Yes it can't target creatures, but you have enough instants to deal with creatures even before factoring in the Grim Lavamancers and Mogg Fanatics.

So what might fit best is something the fits the same cc curve as Seal of Fire, and thus can help you play the Maulers as 3/3s, while also helping your clock.

I can think of no better card for that purpose than Lava Spike. I can't figure out how I forgot about that little gem and recommended FlameRift instead.

[Volt]

The two decks are not that different.

From what I can tell, they both have very similar matchups, a similar clock, except that Zilla Stompy due to its bigger fat fares better against aggro. And if that is true, there is no reason to play this deck over Zilla Stompy.

Well, Zilla Stompy is probably the better deck overall. However, I'm pretty sure Dryad Sligh has better matchups against Burn and combo, although I don't presently have any numbers to back that up.



But to get back to the question at hand, what to run in Seal of Fire's slot, I would highly recommend Lava Spike.

Yes it can't target creatures, but you have enough instants to deal with creatures even before factoring in the Grim Lavamancers and Mogg Fanatics.

So what might fit best is something the fits the same cc curve as Seal of Fire, and thus can help you play the Maulers as 3/3s, while also helping your clock.

I can think of no better card for that purpose than Lava Spike. I can't figure out how I forgot about that little gem and recommended FlameRift instead.

Now we're talking. That's a great suggestion. I'm going to try it out.

[Volt]

Here's a very quick tournament report. I played at the Bat Cave in Vancouver, WA last Friday (7/7/06). This is the only Legacy tournament in the Portland/Vancouver area that draws a decent crowd on a weekly basis. This particular Friday, the turnout was lighter than usual; only 12 people. I showed up a little early so I could scrounge up some Lava Spikes. Yes, I have none of my own; I just started playing again a few months ago, and I have no Kamigawa stuff. Of course, the store was out of Lava Spikes. Luckily, some kid agreed to lend a set of them to me for the evening. Here's the deck list:

4 Wooded Foothills
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Taiga
7 Mountain
1 Forest

4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Kird Ape
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Quirion Dryad
4 Scab-Clan Mauler

4 Chain Lightning
4 Lava Spike
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Magma Jet
4 Fireblast

sideboard:
4 Naturalize
4 Pithing Needle
4 Scald
3 Tormod's Crypt


On to the report...

Round 1: Jared, playing Pox

Game 1: I get out some early beats, but Jared slows me down quite a bit with a Pox, a Contagion, and a recurring Nether Spirit. Still, I'm able to burn him out.

Game 2: Jared hymns a Mauler and Fireblast out of my hand on the second turn. I get stuck on 1 mountain and 1 forest for a long time and can't really mount an offensive. Eventually, Jared gets a Nether Spirit and Chimeric Idol in play. I'm way behind at that point, so I scoop.

Game 3: Jared keeps a land-heavy opening hand and pays for it. I roll over him.

1-0, 2-1


Round 2: ???, playing Angel Stompy

I didn't actually find out this was Angel Stompy until after the match. From what I saw, it looked like White Weenie. Anyway, I rolled over him both games. He was an inexperienced player and had never played the deck before. He made several play mistakes, like repeatedly attacking with his dual Silver Knights in the first game when he should have been using them to block.

2-0, 4-1


Round 3: Scott, playing Sligh (mono-red with Scalding Tongs & Ember-Fist Zubera)

My Kird Apes and Maulers carry me in the first game. In the second game, he throws a couple of Zuberas in my way, but I simply kill him with burn spells and an active Lavamancer. I actually kind of got mana-flooded in the 2nd game. I had an unactivated fetch-land in play, and two more fetch-lands in my hand. I ended the game at 5 life, and Scott showed me the Fireblast in his hand.

3-0, 6-1


Round 4: Noah Freed, playing Counter-Sliver (!)

First of all, I've got to give mad props to this guy for going 3-0 with a Counter-Sliver deck to this point, especially since it's one of my all-time favorite decks.

[EDIT: I later found out that Noah won a GPT with his deck]

Game 1: I keep a one-land hand and get stuck on that one land for 4 or 5 turns. A lone Kird Ape is holding off his landbound slivers, but I'm sure I'm going to lose. However, I finally draw into some land and go to town. I throw a bunch of burn at his dome, finishing him off with a Fireblast.

Game 2: First turn, he plays Aether Vial. I answer with Pithing Needle. Undaunted, he plays out the Sliver Trio (crystalline, muscle, winged) and then Worship. I don't draw any of the Naturalizes I sided in.

Game 3: He plays out some non-Crystalline slivers early on, and I burn them away while hurting him with some Ape and Mauler action. On turn 4, he plays out Worship with no creatures in play. On my turn, I burn him out.

4-0, 8-2


Some comments:

MVP: Fireblast - this card is stoopid good.

Quirion Dryad: Never got big. Opponents always go out of their way to kill it pronto. [edit: I lied. Upon reflection, it did get big in one of my games against Pox.]

Lava Spike: Although I never specifically mentioned it in the above report, I found it to be pretty solid. I never found myself thinking "I wish this were a Seal of Fire." However, this is a pretty small sample of games, so I would say the jury is still out.

[SuckerPunch]

Congrats on the win.

Good to hear the new mana base and Lava Spike worked out and glad that I could be of help.

I really like this new list.

How was Scab Clan Mauler. Did you ever have trouble casting this out as a 3/3?

[Volt]

Congrats on the win.

Good to hear the new mana base and Lava Spike worked out and glad that I could be of help.

I really like this new list.

How was Scab Clan Mauler. Did you ever have trouble casting this out as a 3/3?

I did cast one as a 1/1 in my second game vs. Pox where I was mana-screwed. I couldn't get that 2nd mountain I needed. Other than that, he was pretty good. I think I'd probably remove the Dryad before the Mauler. Then I'll have to rename the deck. :cool:

[Ch33bs]

With Time Spiral out I found that Rift Bolt is a pretty good replacement for seal. Has anyone made any other changes so far?

[Volt]

With Time Spiral out I found that Rift Bolt is a pretty good replacement for seal. Has anyone made any other changes so far?


I haven't played this deck in a while, although I still have it put together. I hadn't really given it any thought, but you're right, Rift Bolt does seem like a pretty good replacement for Seal of Fire. One of the reasons I've always liked Seal in this deck is that you could drop it on turn 1, then drop a Slith on turn 2 and use Seal to burn a clear path for it, if necessary. Alternately, you can use it to give Mauler bloodthirst, if you're playing it (SCM has fallen out of favor with me). Rift Bolt can fulfill those roles, while dealing an extra point of damage.

[kicks_422]

I might as well post my build here too, as the original Sligh thread isn't so aptly named anymore... :tongue:

4 Taiga
4 Mountain
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Stomping Ground

4 Kird Ape
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Slith Firewalker
4 Quiron Dryad

4 Chain Lightning
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Seal of Fire
4 Incinerate
4 Magma Jet
4 Fireblast

SB
3 Tormod's Crypt
4 Pyroblast
4 Pyrostatic Pillar
4 Naturalize

regarding Rift Bolt, I think it could fit the cut, but I would play Sudden Shock over it... I'm actually thinking of cutting the Seals and replacing them with 2 Sudden Shocks... With Madness and Affinity on the rise, it could be a very useful tool... :tongue:

[nightshade81]

Has anyone considered Magus of the Scroll? I'm not a huge fan of the Slith Firewalker and replaced them with the Magus and haven't been disappointed. One of the reasons I like them so much is because they are third in line to receive spot removal. Since Dryad/Mancer will get hit first the Magus stays around a while and wreak havoc.

I know people are going to say "Why not just play scroll?" but there are several advantages to playing the Magus over the scroll itself. The biggest advantage is being able to attack. The Magus can swing turns 2-4 where as the scroll would just sit there. Also there are even turns in the late game where I couldn't activate Scroll but the Magus could have attacked. Other advantages to the Magus include being able to block (really important in close games), pumping Dryad, and drawing spot removal off of Dryad and Mancer.

Though there are two main disadvantages which include colorless damage and invulnerability to creature hate. I feel the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.

The only other change I have to Volts current list is the inclusion of Lava Dart over Rift Bolt/Seal of Fire. It destroys in the Sligh mirror (especially since all the players here play Ball Lightning) and it hits every creature in our deck minus Kird Ape (and CAN hit Kird Ape on occasion). I think it also swings the Angle Stompy match-up into our favor (hits 12 creatures). This is just my meta-game choice and personal preference.

[greyareabeyond]

I haven't tried Magus of the Scroll yet. I have played Scab-Clan Mauler in that slot and liked him a lot. The mana was not a problem and he always came in as a 3/3 when it mattered. He trades with thresholded Mongoose and you have burn for the Werebears.

It's hard for me to even think Sligh without seeing Wastelands in the list. I also run a small utility artifact suite of 3-4 cards maindeck and a couple in the side. Jittes are good in any aggro matchup, scrolls can be very good against goblins (if you last that long) and control. Sometimes I put in a Scepter for fun (great with so many of the burn spells, but especially Magma Jet).

It was actually the Dryad slot that I thought about the most. There are a number of options:

Dryad: green damage, gets more use out of your burn (pump), can get big enough to fight most creatures in the format, but starts small and encourages tentative play (waiting until you have burn in hand to grow her)

Wild Mongrel: green damage, can win most fights, but there is no card advantage in this deck at all so most cards available to pitch are worth more if you cast them

River Boa: green damage, regeneration can be relevant against goblins and islandwalk is good against thresh, but can't get stronger than 2 power and encourages you to leave regeneration mana up

Tin-Street Hooligan: kills vials and equipment, doesn't require green mana, but can't get bigger than 2 power and isn't a green damage source

I considered this a 2 power plus slot so I didn't think smaller weenies (i.e. Granger Guildmage) would be appropriate. I also didn't want to go any more than two mana (i.e. for Flametongue Kavus, Burning-Tree Shaman).

Here's my list:
//creatures
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Kird Ape
4 Dryad
4 Scab-Clan Mauler

//burn
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Chain Lightning
4 Magma Jet
3 Fireblast

//other
2 Cursed Scroll
2 Jitte

//mana
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Taiga
5 Mountain
4 Wasteland

//sideboard
4 Pillar
4 REB/Pyroblast
2 Jitte
3 Naturalize
2 Tin Street Hooligan

The deck plays very much like the vintage sligh decks I played years ago with a splash of green to improve the creatures.

[Volt]

I haven't tried Magus of the Scroll yet. I have played Scab-Clan Mauler in that slot and liked him a lot. The mana was not a problem and he always came in as a 3/3 when it mattered. He trades with thresholded Mongoose and you have burn for the Werebears.

Yeah, I tried Scab-Clan Maulers for a while. I liked them a lot at first, but came to like them less and less with time. Yes, you can almost always meet the Bloodthirst requirement. The problem is that you often have to make suboptimal plays to do so, i.e. throwing a Mogg Fanatic at the opponent's head when you would rather keep it in play for blocking/attacking, or lavamancing your opponent when you would rather burn one of his critters, or casting Fireblast now when you would rather save it for the coup de grace. These little forced misplays can add up. That's why I went back to good ol' Slith Firewalker, even though it has issues of its own.

EDIT: Regarding Magus of the Scroll, I haven't tried it, but it seems like it would slow the deck down and make combo almost unwinnable. While Slith Firewalker will promptly get zapped against Burn or Sligh, it's surprisingly good against Goblins, and excellent against combo. Also, I try to minimize the number of 1cc and 1-toughness critters in my deck as much as possible to avoid getting x-for-1'ed by crap like Fire/Ice, Engineered Explosives, etc.