Bryant Cook
07-17-2007, 06:34 PM
I applied to be a writer on MTG Salvation and waited for a response that never came, why do I have to write for them? I'm going to write here on MTGthesource, I know I'm not the greatest writer so I apologize. Although, I enjoy giving my views on the format, so I plan on making this a weekly article or possibly every other week depending on work. If this is a hit or miss will determine if I continue to write here.
Here it is boys and...girls? The new and exciting EPIC Ichorid, this deck is a port from its cousin in Vintage Manaless Ichorid. EPIC Ichorid is a deck that utilizes the graveyard to win the game in a quick and efficient manner using the ability Dredge. Dredge is an ability that lets you mill X cards off of your library to return a dredge card from your graveyard to your hand whenever you would draw a card. This makes cards like Breakthrough a :u: dredge my deck type of card. While this may not seem like the best idea, it can be degenerate in some decks; this is one of those decks. Dredging allows you to mill cards such as Dread Return, Cabal therapy, Bridge from Below, Ichorid, Dredgers (Stinkweed Imp, Goldari Grave-Troll and Goldari Thug), Flame-Kin Zealot and finally Narcomoeba.
Not getting the idea? That’s alright, Dredging puts important cards from your library to your graveyard so you can Flashback Dread Return and Cabal Therapy. While doing this if you dredge away a Narcomoeba you can put it into play, if you hit 3 or more Narcomoebas' you can flashback a Dread Return to return a Flame-Kin Zealot to play. But what’s the point of returning a 3/3 to play with haste? This is where Bridge from Below comes in, whenever an Ichorid or Narcomoeba hits the graveyard you get a 2/2 Zombie token! So if there’s 3 Bridge from Below and you had 3 Narcomoebas to flashback Dread Return you get 9 2/2 Zombies! Then Flame-kin Zealot comes it to play and makes those 9 2/2 Zombies into 9 3/3 Zombies with Haste! This can happen as early as turn one! How do I make sure I don't lose my Bridges to a Mogg Fanatic or Tinderwall? Leyline of the Void my friend, Leyline is a beautiful thing in this deck. The card slows down the rest of the format while protecting you and it puts most decks at a disadvantage.
But why play this over the old Vintage win with Sutured Ghoul? Sutured Ghoul was dismissed when the cards in Future Site were printed because of the craziness that Narcomoeba and Bridge from Below created. The Zombie tokens don't lose to Chain of Vapor or Swords to Plowshares. It's also a lot harder to hate on the graveyard with multiple Bridges than one Sutured Ghoul. With that here is the decklist.
EPIC Ichorid as of 7/17/07
By: Bryant Cook
Manabase// 14
4x Cephalid Coliseum
4x Polluted Delta
1x Underground Sea
1x Tropical Island
4x Lion's Eye Diamond
Draw// 7
4x Breakthrough
3x Deep Analsys
Protection// 8
4x Cabal Therapy
4x Leyline of the Void
Dredgers// 11
4x Goldari Grave-Troll
4x Stinkweed Imp
3x Goldari Thug
Combo// 12
4x Bridge from Below
4x Narcomoeba
3x Dread Return
1x Flame-Kin Zealot
Extras// 8
4x Ichorid
4x Street Wraith
Sideboard//
4x Chalice of the Void
4x Sickening Shoal
3x Reverent Silence
2x Pithing Needle
2x Chain of Vapor
Now you may be saying, "It doesn't even seem like Ichorid is that good in here." Well, to be honest it’s more along the lines of a secondary win. However, a much needed secondary win; without Ichorid if you draw or discard more than 1 Narcomoeba you can't win the game. Returning Ichorid during your upkeep by removing a Street Wraith from the game to be the third creature for Dread Returns is never a bad idea. Against Control decks Ichorid is the primary win condition, since they try and disrupt the combo very often. Since Ichorid dies at the end of your turn it’s never a bad idea to flashback Cabal Therapy to hit problematic cards in your opponent’s hand. Cabal Therapy is often used during your "combo turn" to make sure your opponent isn't holding a Force of Will to counter your Dread Return; you can also target yourself to get Dredgers or Bridges out of your hand. Cabal Therapy last and foremost is an extra sacrificing outlet for Bridge from Below to turn that 1/1 Narcomoeba into possibly 4 2/2 Zombies.
"How do you get the combo going without Bazaar of Baghdad?" Well it's not that difficult actually, the powerhouse play of EPIC Ichorid is to play a first turn Fetchland for Underground Sea, then play a Lion's Eye Diamond, casting a Breakthrough then discarding your hand to dredge 4 times on turn one. This will often lead to a turn one victory for Ichorid. Legacy may not have Bazaar but we do have the next best thing in Cephalid Coliseum, you often use this card like a Bazaar on turn one by playing a Lion's Eye Diamond (LED) then cycling a Street Wraith, then cracking LED in response. Using mana from LED to crack Cephalid Coliseum and start the combo.
The manabase is slightly different from what most people are running these days. The typical Legacy Ichorid deck plays...
4x Cephalid Coliseum
3-4x Dryad Arbor
4x Tropical Island or Underground Sea.
EPIC's Ichorid list is unique in that we play 3 colors with only two lands that effectively tap for mana, I know it sounds ludicrous but give me a chance to explain. With 4 Polluted Delta you're able to fetch for a Underground Sea or a Tropical Island on command a lot easier than taking your chances at drawing one. Because of this you are able to hardcast Cabal Therapy or cast Reverent Silence out of the sideboard by having access to a Tropical Island.
Now that you have a quick and easy rundown of the deck lets talk about a few match-ups. Goblins seems like a scary match-up on paper, I mean they have Wasteland, Mogg Fanatic, Goblin Sharpshooter, Goblin Lackey and Pyrokinesis(Out of the sideboard) but its not that scary in real life. You are just as fast as Goblins if not faster. Yes, they can potentially remove Bridge from Below from the game but you do have Leyline of the Void to prevent this. For Wasteland remember you only need that land for one turn, make the best of that mana. The deck can often win without even seeing a wasteland so don't worry about it. Goblin Sharpshooter is often slow and takes time to tutor and play, if you've given Goblins that much time you probably were in a bad position either way. But don't fret; you can play through Goblin Sharpshooter by sacrificing Zombie tokens off of Bridge from below whenever they kill a Narcomoeba.
UG/x Threshold or Gro people sometimes assume is a bad match-up because of we fill the graveyard for Tarmogoyf and Swords to Plowshares. However, thats not the case because of Leyline of the Void we can often take our time winning the game, we also have an uncounterable returning threat in Ichorid. Their clock is dramatically hurt because of Leyline of the Void, yes, Tarmogoyf being the beast he is still a 3/4-4/5. Other creatures are small enough to give you the time needed to win the game, such as Nimble Mongoose or Meddling Mage. Meddling Mage on Dread Return can be bad so be careful, in the sideboard we have Sickening Shoal to kill Meddling Magi and Yixalid Jailers (I'm aware they’re not in Threshold, but still useful to know). Using Ichorid is very effective in this match-up since they often force the combo to be out of reach. One last tip on this match-up is to remember to flashback Cabal therapy before flashing back Dread Return it gives you information and takes cards away from them.
Now that we have a few match-ups done, lets go through an average goldfish with EPIC Ichorid.
Opening hand: Stinkweed Imp, Tropical Island, Cabal Therapy, Goldari Grave-Troll, Deep Analysis, Lion's Eye Diamond and Street Wraith
So many insane plays as someone would say, I personally would play my Tropical Island, then cast Lion's Eye Diamond. Cycle Street Wraith, in response crack Lion's Eye Diamond for :u::u::u: dredge back Goldari Grave-Troll. Milling... Polluted Delta, Flame-Kin Zealot, Narcomoeba, Bridge From Below, Deep Analsys and a Street Wraith, put Narcomoeba into play. Cast Deep Analsys off the draw dredge back Stinkweed Imp milling... Goldari Thug, Ichorid, Narcomoeba, Goldari Grave-Troll and a second Bridge from Below! Put Narcomoeba into play. Off of the second draw dredge back Goldari-grave Troll milling... Cabal Therapy, Cabal therapy, Polluted Delta, Street Wraith, Stinkweed Imp, and Leyline of the Void.
Now you have :u: floating and an untapped Tropical island and in hand with 2x Grave-Trolls and a Stinkweed Imp in hand. Tap your Tropical Island and use the :u: floating to flashback the second Deep Analsys. Off the first draw dredge back Stinkweed Imp milling... Bridge from below, Narcomoeba, Dread Return, Dread Return and Leyline of the Void, put Narcomoeba into play. Second draw dredge back Goldari thug milling... Leyline of the Void, Goldari-Grave Troll, Deep Analsys and Narcomobea number 4! Put Narcomoeba into play.
Now sacrifice a Narcomoeba to Cabal Therapy (naming X) and get 3 2/2 Zombies. With the remaining 3 sacrifice them to Dread Return getting 9 more 2/2 Zombies (total of 12) to reanimate Flame-Kin Zealot and swing out for the win.
Thank you for reading the first of hopefully many more of "The Inside Scoop" with me, Bryant cook. I can't wait to hear your feedback!
-Bryant Cook (Wastedlife)
-Member of the EPIC Syndicate
Here it is boys and...girls? The new and exciting EPIC Ichorid, this deck is a port from its cousin in Vintage Manaless Ichorid. EPIC Ichorid is a deck that utilizes the graveyard to win the game in a quick and efficient manner using the ability Dredge. Dredge is an ability that lets you mill X cards off of your library to return a dredge card from your graveyard to your hand whenever you would draw a card. This makes cards like Breakthrough a :u: dredge my deck type of card. While this may not seem like the best idea, it can be degenerate in some decks; this is one of those decks. Dredging allows you to mill cards such as Dread Return, Cabal therapy, Bridge from Below, Ichorid, Dredgers (Stinkweed Imp, Goldari Grave-Troll and Goldari Thug), Flame-Kin Zealot and finally Narcomoeba.
Not getting the idea? That’s alright, Dredging puts important cards from your library to your graveyard so you can Flashback Dread Return and Cabal Therapy. While doing this if you dredge away a Narcomoeba you can put it into play, if you hit 3 or more Narcomoebas' you can flashback a Dread Return to return a Flame-Kin Zealot to play. But what’s the point of returning a 3/3 to play with haste? This is where Bridge from Below comes in, whenever an Ichorid or Narcomoeba hits the graveyard you get a 2/2 Zombie token! So if there’s 3 Bridge from Below and you had 3 Narcomoebas to flashback Dread Return you get 9 2/2 Zombies! Then Flame-kin Zealot comes it to play and makes those 9 2/2 Zombies into 9 3/3 Zombies with Haste! This can happen as early as turn one! How do I make sure I don't lose my Bridges to a Mogg Fanatic or Tinderwall? Leyline of the Void my friend, Leyline is a beautiful thing in this deck. The card slows down the rest of the format while protecting you and it puts most decks at a disadvantage.
But why play this over the old Vintage win with Sutured Ghoul? Sutured Ghoul was dismissed when the cards in Future Site were printed because of the craziness that Narcomoeba and Bridge from Below created. The Zombie tokens don't lose to Chain of Vapor or Swords to Plowshares. It's also a lot harder to hate on the graveyard with multiple Bridges than one Sutured Ghoul. With that here is the decklist.
EPIC Ichorid as of 7/17/07
By: Bryant Cook
Manabase// 14
4x Cephalid Coliseum
4x Polluted Delta
1x Underground Sea
1x Tropical Island
4x Lion's Eye Diamond
Draw// 7
4x Breakthrough
3x Deep Analsys
Protection// 8
4x Cabal Therapy
4x Leyline of the Void
Dredgers// 11
4x Goldari Grave-Troll
4x Stinkweed Imp
3x Goldari Thug
Combo// 12
4x Bridge from Below
4x Narcomoeba
3x Dread Return
1x Flame-Kin Zealot
Extras// 8
4x Ichorid
4x Street Wraith
Sideboard//
4x Chalice of the Void
4x Sickening Shoal
3x Reverent Silence
2x Pithing Needle
2x Chain of Vapor
Now you may be saying, "It doesn't even seem like Ichorid is that good in here." Well, to be honest it’s more along the lines of a secondary win. However, a much needed secondary win; without Ichorid if you draw or discard more than 1 Narcomoeba you can't win the game. Returning Ichorid during your upkeep by removing a Street Wraith from the game to be the third creature for Dread Returns is never a bad idea. Against Control decks Ichorid is the primary win condition, since they try and disrupt the combo very often. Since Ichorid dies at the end of your turn it’s never a bad idea to flashback Cabal Therapy to hit problematic cards in your opponent’s hand. Cabal Therapy is often used during your "combo turn" to make sure your opponent isn't holding a Force of Will to counter your Dread Return; you can also target yourself to get Dredgers or Bridges out of your hand. Cabal Therapy last and foremost is an extra sacrificing outlet for Bridge from Below to turn that 1/1 Narcomoeba into possibly 4 2/2 Zombies.
"How do you get the combo going without Bazaar of Baghdad?" Well it's not that difficult actually, the powerhouse play of EPIC Ichorid is to play a first turn Fetchland for Underground Sea, then play a Lion's Eye Diamond, casting a Breakthrough then discarding your hand to dredge 4 times on turn one. This will often lead to a turn one victory for Ichorid. Legacy may not have Bazaar but we do have the next best thing in Cephalid Coliseum, you often use this card like a Bazaar on turn one by playing a Lion's Eye Diamond (LED) then cycling a Street Wraith, then cracking LED in response. Using mana from LED to crack Cephalid Coliseum and start the combo.
The manabase is slightly different from what most people are running these days. The typical Legacy Ichorid deck plays...
4x Cephalid Coliseum
3-4x Dryad Arbor
4x Tropical Island or Underground Sea.
EPIC's Ichorid list is unique in that we play 3 colors with only two lands that effectively tap for mana, I know it sounds ludicrous but give me a chance to explain. With 4 Polluted Delta you're able to fetch for a Underground Sea or a Tropical Island on command a lot easier than taking your chances at drawing one. Because of this you are able to hardcast Cabal Therapy or cast Reverent Silence out of the sideboard by having access to a Tropical Island.
Now that you have a quick and easy rundown of the deck lets talk about a few match-ups. Goblins seems like a scary match-up on paper, I mean they have Wasteland, Mogg Fanatic, Goblin Sharpshooter, Goblin Lackey and Pyrokinesis(Out of the sideboard) but its not that scary in real life. You are just as fast as Goblins if not faster. Yes, they can potentially remove Bridge from Below from the game but you do have Leyline of the Void to prevent this. For Wasteland remember you only need that land for one turn, make the best of that mana. The deck can often win without even seeing a wasteland so don't worry about it. Goblin Sharpshooter is often slow and takes time to tutor and play, if you've given Goblins that much time you probably were in a bad position either way. But don't fret; you can play through Goblin Sharpshooter by sacrificing Zombie tokens off of Bridge from below whenever they kill a Narcomoeba.
UG/x Threshold or Gro people sometimes assume is a bad match-up because of we fill the graveyard for Tarmogoyf and Swords to Plowshares. However, thats not the case because of Leyline of the Void we can often take our time winning the game, we also have an uncounterable returning threat in Ichorid. Their clock is dramatically hurt because of Leyline of the Void, yes, Tarmogoyf being the beast he is still a 3/4-4/5. Other creatures are small enough to give you the time needed to win the game, such as Nimble Mongoose or Meddling Mage. Meddling Mage on Dread Return can be bad so be careful, in the sideboard we have Sickening Shoal to kill Meddling Magi and Yixalid Jailers (I'm aware they’re not in Threshold, but still useful to know). Using Ichorid is very effective in this match-up since they often force the combo to be out of reach. One last tip on this match-up is to remember to flashback Cabal therapy before flashing back Dread Return it gives you information and takes cards away from them.
Now that we have a few match-ups done, lets go through an average goldfish with EPIC Ichorid.
Opening hand: Stinkweed Imp, Tropical Island, Cabal Therapy, Goldari Grave-Troll, Deep Analysis, Lion's Eye Diamond and Street Wraith
So many insane plays as someone would say, I personally would play my Tropical Island, then cast Lion's Eye Diamond. Cycle Street Wraith, in response crack Lion's Eye Diamond for :u::u::u: dredge back Goldari Grave-Troll. Milling... Polluted Delta, Flame-Kin Zealot, Narcomoeba, Bridge From Below, Deep Analsys and a Street Wraith, put Narcomoeba into play. Cast Deep Analsys off the draw dredge back Stinkweed Imp milling... Goldari Thug, Ichorid, Narcomoeba, Goldari Grave-Troll and a second Bridge from Below! Put Narcomoeba into play. Off of the second draw dredge back Goldari-grave Troll milling... Cabal Therapy, Cabal therapy, Polluted Delta, Street Wraith, Stinkweed Imp, and Leyline of the Void.
Now you have :u: floating and an untapped Tropical island and in hand with 2x Grave-Trolls and a Stinkweed Imp in hand. Tap your Tropical Island and use the :u: floating to flashback the second Deep Analsys. Off the first draw dredge back Stinkweed Imp milling... Bridge from below, Narcomoeba, Dread Return, Dread Return and Leyline of the Void, put Narcomoeba into play. Second draw dredge back Goldari thug milling... Leyline of the Void, Goldari-Grave Troll, Deep Analsys and Narcomobea number 4! Put Narcomoeba into play.
Now sacrifice a Narcomoeba to Cabal Therapy (naming X) and get 3 2/2 Zombies. With the remaining 3 sacrifice them to Dread Return getting 9 more 2/2 Zombies (total of 12) to reanimate Flame-Kin Zealot and swing out for the win.
Thank you for reading the first of hopefully many more of "The Inside Scoop" with me, Bryant cook. I can't wait to hear your feedback!
-Bryant Cook (Wastedlife)
-Member of the EPIC Syndicate