Clark Kant
09-17-2006, 02:01 AM
Ever since I built Pikula's deck, while I had been pleased with the deck's performance against combo and control, I had been displeased with it's performance against the the four main stompy decks (Fairie Stompy, Angel Stompy, Zilla Stompy and 9 Land Stompy) and more generally, it's weak performance against well built aggro decks of any form.
If you had been following the other deadguy thread, you'll note that I had been testing various different directions in which to take the deck for some time now (everything from Exalted Angel and Jotun Grunt to Juzam Djinn and Spectral Lynx).
Now after much playtime against aggro decks, primarily against the decks Fairie Stompy, Goblins, 9 Land Stompy and Zilla Stompy, I finally arrived at a deck that I have been extremely pleased with, one that is quite different from the original deck, enough that I believe it warrants a seperate thread.
First, here is the list.
Deadguy Remix
8 Swamp
4 Duals
4 Wasteland
3 Bloodstained Mire
2 Polluted Delta
1 Volrath's Stronghold
4 Dark Ritual
4 Sinkhole
4 Vindicate
4 Duress
4 Hymn to Tourach
3 Jitte
4 Hypnotic Specter
4 Dark Confidant
3 Rotting Giant (Withered Wretch in a select few metas) (Originally tested Jotun Grunt in this slot)
2 Nantuko Shade
2 Masticore
Update: I just cut 1 Shade for 1 Confidant as the mana cost is more managable. You can consistently play a 1B on second turn to at the very least act as a blocker. A BB often is sometimes unplayable till third turn when you have better cards to play and already took too much damage due to your inability to block their second turn onslaught. I also cut 1 Volrath's Stronghold for 1 Polluted Delta as was my original test list before I decided that higher artifact and lower white count lets me get away with running 2 Strongholds.
The key advantage of the above build is that it doesn't sacrifice Deadguys potency against combo and control by making such changes as cutting Wastelands to make room for more aggro hate, or subbing out Duresses with Funeral Charms in order to improve the aggro match.
Instead of replacing answers to combo and control with answers to aggro, it sought to improve it's aggro matchup by replacing previous answers to aggro with superior answers to aggro. One example of this is the replacement of Cursed Scroll with Jitte. Another such example is the replacement of Engineered Plague with Masticore. In testing, I have repeatedly found Jitte to be everything Scroll ever wanted to be, and then some. Lifegain, pump, and removal, without the conditionality of only being consistently useful if you have only one card in hand, without the limitation of only being able to kill threats with 2 toughness or less and without the need to invest 3 additional mana each and every turn makes for a far superior card.
Of course, the inclusion of Jitte required more threats and more resilient threats.
3 Ofs - Both Confidant and Shade are, though quite powerful, cards that you never want to see more than one copy of per game. Seeing as this is at it's core a controllish deck, this situation came up too often for comfort, and both cards were reduced to a 3 of.
Rotting Giant - A 3/3 for 2 mana with no drawback. The only arguement against this card is that it serves no additonal utility role. The other two replacements considered for this slot are Jotun Grunt and Withered Wretch. Jotun Grunt though an excellent creature, leaves play in just a mere two turns. Running it means that you are unable to play Jitte, and that in just two turns you run into the same situation the original Deadguy build runs into, being overwhelmed by threats. Withered Wretch on the other hand is a perfectly fine substitute in this slot as it does stay in play. In a meta with an abundance of Reanimator and Threshold type decks, Wretch is the obvious choice. In a meta with an abundance of traditional aggro, Rotting Giant deals with and trades with a far greater number of creatures. As by and far, most metas fit the latter criteria, Rotting Giant is more commonly the correct direction to go.
Nantuko Shade vs. Rotting Giant - I'll grant that overall Nantuko Shade is the stronger creature. The problem however is that early on, Giant is far better esp in the problem matchups. When you are being weenie rushed as early as turn 2 and 3, you are far better off having just cast a 3/3 on your side than you are tapping out to cast a 2/1 on your side. Shade requires a two mana pump each turn to get the same toughness that Giant has built in. Early on (the critical turns where you must stabilize against aggro) this is either not an option, or an option that disables you from playing the other threats in your hand.
Masticore - Originally tested Juzam Djinn in this slot but found Masticore all around a better choice. Testing has proved that Masticore is Jitte 3-4 in that it's every bit as potent, even more so, in wrecking aggro. The reason the card doesn't see much play in Legacy is because most decks are too fast to reliably be stopped by a 4cc creature. Deadguy on the other hand is the perfect fit, as it is the one deck that is extremely potent in slowing even the most aggressive of decks down to a more managable level. It also benefits from being one of the few decks very able to rob your opponents hands of any creature removal thus protecting your threats. The upkeep cost: discard is rarely painful, as Deadguy is notorious for having a glut of cards that though very potent early on, are far weaker in the midgame (Duress, Sinkhole, Hymn, Dark Ritual). The versatility of Masticore however is top notch. It can ping away creatures every bit as quickly as Cursed Scroll, all while dealing 4 damage to the face or providing a massive blocker. It can deal 6 damage a turn and provide a three turn clock for opponents running fetchlands. And regeneration is also quite a useful ability.
I highly encourage any previous Deadguy players or more generally, any fans of control decks, to take the above build out for a test drive.
If you had been following the other deadguy thread, you'll note that I had been testing various different directions in which to take the deck for some time now (everything from Exalted Angel and Jotun Grunt to Juzam Djinn and Spectral Lynx).
Now after much playtime against aggro decks, primarily against the decks Fairie Stompy, Goblins, 9 Land Stompy and Zilla Stompy, I finally arrived at a deck that I have been extremely pleased with, one that is quite different from the original deck, enough that I believe it warrants a seperate thread.
First, here is the list.
Deadguy Remix
8 Swamp
4 Duals
4 Wasteland
3 Bloodstained Mire
2 Polluted Delta
1 Volrath's Stronghold
4 Dark Ritual
4 Sinkhole
4 Vindicate
4 Duress
4 Hymn to Tourach
3 Jitte
4 Hypnotic Specter
4 Dark Confidant
3 Rotting Giant (Withered Wretch in a select few metas) (Originally tested Jotun Grunt in this slot)
2 Nantuko Shade
2 Masticore
Update: I just cut 1 Shade for 1 Confidant as the mana cost is more managable. You can consistently play a 1B on second turn to at the very least act as a blocker. A BB often is sometimes unplayable till third turn when you have better cards to play and already took too much damage due to your inability to block their second turn onslaught. I also cut 1 Volrath's Stronghold for 1 Polluted Delta as was my original test list before I decided that higher artifact and lower white count lets me get away with running 2 Strongholds.
The key advantage of the above build is that it doesn't sacrifice Deadguys potency against combo and control by making such changes as cutting Wastelands to make room for more aggro hate, or subbing out Duresses with Funeral Charms in order to improve the aggro match.
Instead of replacing answers to combo and control with answers to aggro, it sought to improve it's aggro matchup by replacing previous answers to aggro with superior answers to aggro. One example of this is the replacement of Cursed Scroll with Jitte. Another such example is the replacement of Engineered Plague with Masticore. In testing, I have repeatedly found Jitte to be everything Scroll ever wanted to be, and then some. Lifegain, pump, and removal, without the conditionality of only being consistently useful if you have only one card in hand, without the limitation of only being able to kill threats with 2 toughness or less and without the need to invest 3 additional mana each and every turn makes for a far superior card.
Of course, the inclusion of Jitte required more threats and more resilient threats.
3 Ofs - Both Confidant and Shade are, though quite powerful, cards that you never want to see more than one copy of per game. Seeing as this is at it's core a controllish deck, this situation came up too often for comfort, and both cards were reduced to a 3 of.
Rotting Giant - A 3/3 for 2 mana with no drawback. The only arguement against this card is that it serves no additonal utility role. The other two replacements considered for this slot are Jotun Grunt and Withered Wretch. Jotun Grunt though an excellent creature, leaves play in just a mere two turns. Running it means that you are unable to play Jitte, and that in just two turns you run into the same situation the original Deadguy build runs into, being overwhelmed by threats. Withered Wretch on the other hand is a perfectly fine substitute in this slot as it does stay in play. In a meta with an abundance of Reanimator and Threshold type decks, Wretch is the obvious choice. In a meta with an abundance of traditional aggro, Rotting Giant deals with and trades with a far greater number of creatures. As by and far, most metas fit the latter criteria, Rotting Giant is more commonly the correct direction to go.
Nantuko Shade vs. Rotting Giant - I'll grant that overall Nantuko Shade is the stronger creature. The problem however is that early on, Giant is far better esp in the problem matchups. When you are being weenie rushed as early as turn 2 and 3, you are far better off having just cast a 3/3 on your side than you are tapping out to cast a 2/1 on your side. Shade requires a two mana pump each turn to get the same toughness that Giant has built in. Early on (the critical turns where you must stabilize against aggro) this is either not an option, or an option that disables you from playing the other threats in your hand.
Masticore - Originally tested Juzam Djinn in this slot but found Masticore all around a better choice. Testing has proved that Masticore is Jitte 3-4 in that it's every bit as potent, even more so, in wrecking aggro. The reason the card doesn't see much play in Legacy is because most decks are too fast to reliably be stopped by a 4cc creature. Deadguy on the other hand is the perfect fit, as it is the one deck that is extremely potent in slowing even the most aggressive of decks down to a more managable level. It also benefits from being one of the few decks very able to rob your opponents hands of any creature removal thus protecting your threats. The upkeep cost: discard is rarely painful, as Deadguy is notorious for having a glut of cards that though very potent early on, are far weaker in the midgame (Duress, Sinkhole, Hymn, Dark Ritual). The versatility of Masticore however is top notch. It can ping away creatures every bit as quickly as Cursed Scroll, all while dealing 4 damage to the face or providing a massive blocker. It can deal 6 damage a turn and provide a three turn clock for opponents running fetchlands. And regeneration is also quite a useful ability.
I highly encourage any previous Deadguy players or more generally, any fans of control decks, to take the above build out for a test drive.