Elficidium
01-01-2008, 02:31 PM
The idea for the deck came to be during the trainride on the way to the Belgian National Legacy Championship. One of our team members had put a Akroma, Angel of Fury in one of his Dragon Stompy slots, because he couldn't find the necessary Rakdos Pit Dragons. After hearing this we came to the conclusion that Akroma really was a winner in legacy. She evades almost all removal played in the format and gives you a 3-turn clock.
Must've been the fact that I didn't nearly get enough sleep that day, but I swore that I would create a deck centered around this Fire-Breathing Angel.
This also explains the somewhat exceptional deckname, the "of Doom" denoting the fact that the deck is R/B. I like long deck names.
Decklist
Lands
4 Ancient Tomb
3 Wooded Foothills
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Mountain
1 Swamp
4 Badlands
Creatures
3 Akroma, Angel of Fury
2 Tombstalker
2 Rakdos Pit Dragon
4 Gathan Raiders
Spells
3 Chrome Mox
4 Dark Ritual
3 Seething Song
3 Lion's Eye Diamond
4 Rite of Flame
4 Terminate
4 Magma Jet
4 Thoughtseize
2 Duress
2 Empty The Warrens
Sideboard
2 Shattering Spree
2 Pyroclasm
4 Leyline of the Void
3 Engineered Plague
4 Pithing Needle
Card Choices
Land
Badlands: Quite obvious. The deck needs acces to both colours of mana from turn 1, to play Rite of Flame, Duress/Thoughtseize or Dark Ritual.
Fetchland: Helps to get that first turn Badlands in play.
Ancient Tomb: Combined with Chrome mox the Tombs give you acces to turn 1 morphs.
Mountain/Swamp: To fetch against lands running Wasteland.
Rituals
Dark Ritual: Gives you access to the BB required for Tombstalker and gives you the possibility to fire off multiple Duress/Thoughtseize or a morph turn 1.
Rite of Flame: Decent mana acceleration, helps for turn 1 Magma Jet to set up your draws.
Seething Song: More Acceleration, mainly or the unmophing of Akroma or casting Pit Dragon
Artifacts
Chrome Mox: Combined with Ancient tomb it makes turn 1 morph possible. It also serves as an outlet for excess creatures or a otherwise useless terminate.
Lion's Eye Diamond: Has great synergy with the Pit Dragon and Gathan raiders, making the hellbent and pumping the Dragon. It also makes unmorphing Akroma very easy, allowing a turn1 morph & turn2 unmorph.
And when you don't really need it, you can always use it to drag out counterspells.
Creatures
Akroma, Angel of Fury: The star of the deck. It gives your opponent 3 turns to find an answer or die. Can't be countered, can't be bounced with echoing Thruth or Chain of Vapor, can't be Swordsed, can't be smothered, ...
Can be cast Turn 1 with a godhand full of rites, morphed and unmorphed turn 1 with 2 Lion's Eyes or, more commonly, morphed turn 1 and unmorphed turn 2 with a Lion's Eye or some acceleration.
Gathan Raiders: Confuses the opponent, making it a guess whether or not to counter a morph. It's also a very potent beatstick that's perfect for combat tricks, going from 2/2 to 3/3 at your whim and even 5/5 when going all-out.
Rakdos Pit Dragon: Has proven itself to be a very decent beatstick in Dragon Stompy, and goes well with the rest of the deck. Its synergy with Lion's Eye is huge, making it possible to make it 6/3 Double Strike at your whim, often surprising opponents (12 damage instead of 3).
Tombstalker: Easily cast with the rituals and a fun topdeck in the lategame. As with most of the creatures, it easily wins you the game if not dealed with swiftly.
Other
Terminate: Great removal that shoots down pretty much anything in the format, except mongeese. Especially fun to shoot manland down with.
Magma Jet: Shoots down small creatures, kills manland manland in response to pump and sets up your draw. Compensates somewhat for the lack of Dark Confidants in the deck and can take care of those last little bits of damage.
Thoughtseize/Duress: disrupts the opponent and greatly increases your chances vs combodecks. Also takes care of those few creatures you cannot Terminate and the removal that can kill your non-Angel Creatures.
Matchups
Goblins:
Pre-Side: Slightly positive.
Enough removal to keep them at bay and then damage-race them. it's vital to keep the lackey for connecting. The W splash is quite annoying in this aspect, since it can swords the morph you made to block and hit with the lackey.
Post-Side: Positive: Engineered Plague & Pyroclasm
You can easily cast a turn 1 Plague, which is pretty much a game won.
Threshold
Pre-Side: Slightly Positive, R Splash can go either way.
An active countertop wreaks havoc on your rituals, but your kills are beyond his range. Very importent to calculate in daze and try to get some creatures on the table as fast as possible. You can race goyf or Terminate it. The Red Splash is a bit more annoying, since your morphs tend to get shot down.
Post-Side: Slightly Positive: Leylines
The Leylines make the matchup slightly better.
It's very important to get the pressure on early, if it sticks you can win easily as he digs for an answer. The other option is to stall for as long as possible and keep playing threats, inevitability says you will at some point be able to hardcast Akroma.
Landstill:
Pre-Side: Slightly Negative
If you can cast a threat fast enough and evade counters you can win. A Turn 1 or 2 Akroma wins you the game, but if you allow the game to drag on they have more than enough time to set up enough answers and you easily get beat down by manland. Pernicious deed also hurts a lot in lategame, especially of it drags down your Chrome mox or Lion's eye.
Post-Side: Better, not great: Pithing Needle
Needle on manland or Deed buys you quite a bit of time. It still all depends if you can cast a creature and keep it on the table.
Fast Combo: Matchup to be tested Extensively later this week, results will be up this weekend.
Salvager game:
Pre-side: Positive
7 Duress Effects and creature destruction gives you the chance to heavily disrupt them and then smack them up at your leasure.
Post-side: even better: Leyline of The Void
Mulliganning to a leyline often means an automatic win, which even further improves the matchup.
Survival: Surprise is key here. A fast creature spell will win you the game if he does not have an answer, since it takes him some time to look up an answer. The duress effects also make this favourable.
MUC: Quite a difficult matchup. Your opponent can counter almost all your threats. Akroma is pretty much your only option here and you should thus mulligan agressively.
How it Plays
One of the most important merits of this deck is that it speaks to everyone's inner timmy. It gives you big creatures to smash your opponent's face in, and every game is different. I have had a lot of fun playtesting this deck, and those who take the time to build it will notice it's a blast to play.
Thanks to everyone who took the time to read through all this.
-Elficidium, Team Ironbreakers.
EDITED: Added Empty the Warrens, plays like a charm. there's something really sweet about a turn 2 ETW for 8 goblins and then following it up 2 turns later with a hardcast akroma for the win. Combo-matchup will be tested tomorrow. The only combo I seem to come across on mws is Enchantress, which doesn't meet the contest criterea.
Must've been the fact that I didn't nearly get enough sleep that day, but I swore that I would create a deck centered around this Fire-Breathing Angel.
This also explains the somewhat exceptional deckname, the "of Doom" denoting the fact that the deck is R/B. I like long deck names.
Decklist
Lands
4 Ancient Tomb
3 Wooded Foothills
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Mountain
1 Swamp
4 Badlands
Creatures
3 Akroma, Angel of Fury
2 Tombstalker
2 Rakdos Pit Dragon
4 Gathan Raiders
Spells
3 Chrome Mox
4 Dark Ritual
3 Seething Song
3 Lion's Eye Diamond
4 Rite of Flame
4 Terminate
4 Magma Jet
4 Thoughtseize
2 Duress
2 Empty The Warrens
Sideboard
2 Shattering Spree
2 Pyroclasm
4 Leyline of the Void
3 Engineered Plague
4 Pithing Needle
Card Choices
Land
Badlands: Quite obvious. The deck needs acces to both colours of mana from turn 1, to play Rite of Flame, Duress/Thoughtseize or Dark Ritual.
Fetchland: Helps to get that first turn Badlands in play.
Ancient Tomb: Combined with Chrome mox the Tombs give you acces to turn 1 morphs.
Mountain/Swamp: To fetch against lands running Wasteland.
Rituals
Dark Ritual: Gives you access to the BB required for Tombstalker and gives you the possibility to fire off multiple Duress/Thoughtseize or a morph turn 1.
Rite of Flame: Decent mana acceleration, helps for turn 1 Magma Jet to set up your draws.
Seething Song: More Acceleration, mainly or the unmophing of Akroma or casting Pit Dragon
Artifacts
Chrome Mox: Combined with Ancient tomb it makes turn 1 morph possible. It also serves as an outlet for excess creatures or a otherwise useless terminate.
Lion's Eye Diamond: Has great synergy with the Pit Dragon and Gathan raiders, making the hellbent and pumping the Dragon. It also makes unmorphing Akroma very easy, allowing a turn1 morph & turn2 unmorph.
And when you don't really need it, you can always use it to drag out counterspells.
Creatures
Akroma, Angel of Fury: The star of the deck. It gives your opponent 3 turns to find an answer or die. Can't be countered, can't be bounced with echoing Thruth or Chain of Vapor, can't be Swordsed, can't be smothered, ...
Can be cast Turn 1 with a godhand full of rites, morphed and unmorphed turn 1 with 2 Lion's Eyes or, more commonly, morphed turn 1 and unmorphed turn 2 with a Lion's Eye or some acceleration.
Gathan Raiders: Confuses the opponent, making it a guess whether or not to counter a morph. It's also a very potent beatstick that's perfect for combat tricks, going from 2/2 to 3/3 at your whim and even 5/5 when going all-out.
Rakdos Pit Dragon: Has proven itself to be a very decent beatstick in Dragon Stompy, and goes well with the rest of the deck. Its synergy with Lion's Eye is huge, making it possible to make it 6/3 Double Strike at your whim, often surprising opponents (12 damage instead of 3).
Tombstalker: Easily cast with the rituals and a fun topdeck in the lategame. As with most of the creatures, it easily wins you the game if not dealed with swiftly.
Other
Terminate: Great removal that shoots down pretty much anything in the format, except mongeese. Especially fun to shoot manland down with.
Magma Jet: Shoots down small creatures, kills manland manland in response to pump and sets up your draw. Compensates somewhat for the lack of Dark Confidants in the deck and can take care of those last little bits of damage.
Thoughtseize/Duress: disrupts the opponent and greatly increases your chances vs combodecks. Also takes care of those few creatures you cannot Terminate and the removal that can kill your non-Angel Creatures.
Matchups
Goblins:
Pre-Side: Slightly positive.
Enough removal to keep them at bay and then damage-race them. it's vital to keep the lackey for connecting. The W splash is quite annoying in this aspect, since it can swords the morph you made to block and hit with the lackey.
Post-Side: Positive: Engineered Plague & Pyroclasm
You can easily cast a turn 1 Plague, which is pretty much a game won.
Threshold
Pre-Side: Slightly Positive, R Splash can go either way.
An active countertop wreaks havoc on your rituals, but your kills are beyond his range. Very importent to calculate in daze and try to get some creatures on the table as fast as possible. You can race goyf or Terminate it. The Red Splash is a bit more annoying, since your morphs tend to get shot down.
Post-Side: Slightly Positive: Leylines
The Leylines make the matchup slightly better.
It's very important to get the pressure on early, if it sticks you can win easily as he digs for an answer. The other option is to stall for as long as possible and keep playing threats, inevitability says you will at some point be able to hardcast Akroma.
Landstill:
Pre-Side: Slightly Negative
If you can cast a threat fast enough and evade counters you can win. A Turn 1 or 2 Akroma wins you the game, but if you allow the game to drag on they have more than enough time to set up enough answers and you easily get beat down by manland. Pernicious deed also hurts a lot in lategame, especially of it drags down your Chrome mox or Lion's eye.
Post-Side: Better, not great: Pithing Needle
Needle on manland or Deed buys you quite a bit of time. It still all depends if you can cast a creature and keep it on the table.
Fast Combo: Matchup to be tested Extensively later this week, results will be up this weekend.
Salvager game:
Pre-side: Positive
7 Duress Effects and creature destruction gives you the chance to heavily disrupt them and then smack them up at your leasure.
Post-side: even better: Leyline of The Void
Mulliganning to a leyline often means an automatic win, which even further improves the matchup.
Survival: Surprise is key here. A fast creature spell will win you the game if he does not have an answer, since it takes him some time to look up an answer. The duress effects also make this favourable.
MUC: Quite a difficult matchup. Your opponent can counter almost all your threats. Akroma is pretty much your only option here and you should thus mulligan agressively.
How it Plays
One of the most important merits of this deck is that it speaks to everyone's inner timmy. It gives you big creatures to smash your opponent's face in, and every game is different. I have had a lot of fun playtesting this deck, and those who take the time to build it will notice it's a blast to play.
Thanks to everyone who took the time to read through all this.
-Elficidium, Team Ironbreakers.
EDITED: Added Empty the Warrens, plays like a charm. there's something really sweet about a turn 2 ETW for 8 goblins and then following it up 2 turns later with a hardcast akroma for the win. Combo-matchup will be tested tomorrow. The only combo I seem to come across on mws is Enchantress, which doesn't meet the contest criterea.