Negator131
09-25-2006, 07:04 PM
In conversation back and forth with Hanni on Rebel Stompy in Legacy, I was running through Gatherer for more Rebel tech and found something that I had initially discarded from Time Spiral:
Outrider en-Kor 2W
Creature - Kor Rebel Knight
Flanking (Whenever a creature without flanking blocks this creature, the blocking creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn.)
0: The next 1 damage that would be dealt to Outrider en-Kor this turn is dealt to target creature you control instead.
2/2
Time Spiral Uncommon
It seemed like just a worse version of the en-Kor creatures from Tempest block, until I realized that Task Force, from Mercadian Masques, was randomly a Rebel as well:
Task Force 2W
Creature - Rebel
Whenever Task Force becomes the target of a spell or ability, it gets +0/+3 until end of turn.
1/3
Mercadian Masques Common
The combo between these two cards and a Worthy Cause-type effect is a familiar concept, first seen in a W/G version in Extended. For reference:
Worthy Cause W
Instant
Buyback 2 (You may pay an additional as you play this spell. If you do, put this card into your hand as it resolves.)
As an additional cost to play Worthy Cause, sacrifice a creature.
You gain life equal to the sacrificed creature's toughness.
Tempest Uncommon
This combo has been thrown around Legacy for a while now, with older versions (mostly W/G as well) falling short due to the sheer speed and disruptive capabilities of decks like Goblins and Threshold. However, I think that with the printing of Outrider en-Kor, the deck may be viable, as the entire combo can be tutored up by the Rebel engine, a very viable engine for recurring threats, and also contains a built-in kill condition, if swinging becomes unviable as a way to kill your opponent (decking via Lin-Sivvi recursion and Worthy Cause sacrifice). This deck can be built entirely in mono-white, but in my opinion the color that best compliments the combo is blue, for its protection and library manipulation. A sample decklist:
WWu Rebel Combo
4 Ramosian Sergeant
2 Amrou Scout
1 Ramosian Lieutenant
2 Lin-Sivvi, Defiant Hero
1 Children of Korlis
3 Whipcorder
1 Outrider en-Kor
1 Task Force
4 Meddling Mage
4 Brainstorm
4 Serum Visions
4 Force of Will
4 Daze
2 Counterspell
3 Worthy Cause
4 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta
4 Tundra
2 Plains
2 Island
4 Ancient Tomb
2 Gaea's Cradle
This deck combines a lot of the strengths of Threshold (strong disruptive element through ten counterspells and four Meddling Mages, eight cantrips to smooth draws) with the Rebel chain aggro plan and the Life combo. The combo obviously doesn't have to be the main plan of the deck, as curving out with threats and counters can be more than enough against Control decks and anemic aggro opponents. However, against something like Goblins, where you can only really hope for a board stall, the combo is quite effective; Goblins will eventually deck out, no matter what they do, if you combo out. They have a finite number of cards in their deck, whereas you can infinitely recur your Rebel chain with Lin-Sivvi and Worthy Cause with Buyback.
It has been brought up that a Swords to Plowshares on one of the two combo creatures makes the other one relatively useless and negates the combo, but I feel that one is enough. Being that the beatdown plan is the main idea of the deck, it's not a huge deal if one combo piece does get Swords'd. Also, in a matchup where the combo is really important, you can counter the Swords, or drop Meddling Mage naming Swords to Plowshares, or even recruit up both combo pieces at the End Step with Worthy Cause in hand for an instant-speed win.
I think this deck is potentially more viable than other builds of Rebels or even other Aggro decks because it has a long-term plan against something like Rifter or Landstill, decks which typically have good aggro matchups. It can utilize the combo to put the kill permanently out of reach for those decks, and can deck them out reliably. Also, this deck doesn't have to rely on winning a war of attrition against Goblins either; you can simply tutor up the kill and put the game out of reach for them as well (again, you can simply let them deck out).
Thoughts?
Outrider en-Kor 2W
Creature - Kor Rebel Knight
Flanking (Whenever a creature without flanking blocks this creature, the blocking creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn.)
0: The next 1 damage that would be dealt to Outrider en-Kor this turn is dealt to target creature you control instead.
2/2
Time Spiral Uncommon
It seemed like just a worse version of the en-Kor creatures from Tempest block, until I realized that Task Force, from Mercadian Masques, was randomly a Rebel as well:
Task Force 2W
Creature - Rebel
Whenever Task Force becomes the target of a spell or ability, it gets +0/+3 until end of turn.
1/3
Mercadian Masques Common
The combo between these two cards and a Worthy Cause-type effect is a familiar concept, first seen in a W/G version in Extended. For reference:
Worthy Cause W
Instant
Buyback 2 (You may pay an additional as you play this spell. If you do, put this card into your hand as it resolves.)
As an additional cost to play Worthy Cause, sacrifice a creature.
You gain life equal to the sacrificed creature's toughness.
Tempest Uncommon
This combo has been thrown around Legacy for a while now, with older versions (mostly W/G as well) falling short due to the sheer speed and disruptive capabilities of decks like Goblins and Threshold. However, I think that with the printing of Outrider en-Kor, the deck may be viable, as the entire combo can be tutored up by the Rebel engine, a very viable engine for recurring threats, and also contains a built-in kill condition, if swinging becomes unviable as a way to kill your opponent (decking via Lin-Sivvi recursion and Worthy Cause sacrifice). This deck can be built entirely in mono-white, but in my opinion the color that best compliments the combo is blue, for its protection and library manipulation. A sample decklist:
WWu Rebel Combo
4 Ramosian Sergeant
2 Amrou Scout
1 Ramosian Lieutenant
2 Lin-Sivvi, Defiant Hero
1 Children of Korlis
3 Whipcorder
1 Outrider en-Kor
1 Task Force
4 Meddling Mage
4 Brainstorm
4 Serum Visions
4 Force of Will
4 Daze
2 Counterspell
3 Worthy Cause
4 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta
4 Tundra
2 Plains
2 Island
4 Ancient Tomb
2 Gaea's Cradle
This deck combines a lot of the strengths of Threshold (strong disruptive element through ten counterspells and four Meddling Mages, eight cantrips to smooth draws) with the Rebel chain aggro plan and the Life combo. The combo obviously doesn't have to be the main plan of the deck, as curving out with threats and counters can be more than enough against Control decks and anemic aggro opponents. However, against something like Goblins, where you can only really hope for a board stall, the combo is quite effective; Goblins will eventually deck out, no matter what they do, if you combo out. They have a finite number of cards in their deck, whereas you can infinitely recur your Rebel chain with Lin-Sivvi and Worthy Cause with Buyback.
It has been brought up that a Swords to Plowshares on one of the two combo creatures makes the other one relatively useless and negates the combo, but I feel that one is enough. Being that the beatdown plan is the main idea of the deck, it's not a huge deal if one combo piece does get Swords'd. Also, in a matchup where the combo is really important, you can counter the Swords, or drop Meddling Mage naming Swords to Plowshares, or even recruit up both combo pieces at the End Step with Worthy Cause in hand for an instant-speed win.
I think this deck is potentially more viable than other builds of Rebels or even other Aggro decks because it has a long-term plan against something like Rifter or Landstill, decks which typically have good aggro matchups. It can utilize the combo to put the kill permanently out of reach for those decks, and can deck them out reliably. Also, this deck doesn't have to rely on winning a war of attrition against Goblins either; you can simply tutor up the kill and put the game out of reach for them as well (again, you can simply let them deck out).
Thoughts?