[Deck] Aggro Loam

[ESG]

There's only one Enchantress deck around here, and it definitely has Guile (and it is really good). That article, despite being almost a year old, had some pretty good insight. Would you say dreams is really most effective early in the game before there are a lot of enchantress effects or can it still be good late? I ask because blue.meta and the popularity of Spell Snare has made it fall out of favor in the main, but if I'm going to drop wish and go with a normal sideboard, it seems more flexible than narrow enchantment hate like Harmonic Convergence or Reverent Silence. The question then is how many spots I would have to devote to it for it to be effective.

The only times DD isn't great against Enchantress are when the player has a huge head start (permanents all over the table, maxed-out hand, etc.) and is sandbagging land and enchantresses to re-establish the board in anticipation of DD, or if he has all Presences but no Argothians. Even then, I'd probably still do it just to provide a speed bump and eat his Wild Growths.

If there's only one Enchantress player in your area, I don't know if you want to bother hating the deck out. It depends on how likely you are to get paired against Enchantress and how precious the rest of your maindeck and/or sideboard space is, and whether DD (or whatever) would be useful against other decks in your meta. Harmonic Convergence is ridiculously narrow, so you probably want to throw that out unless you have space to burn and want to surprise that Enchantress player. Reverent Silence is mainly for Leyline of the Void, but it's obviously strong against a deck full of enchantments. Other cards that are good against Enchantress and could be good elsewhere are Engineered Explosives, Firespout, Perish and Krosan Grip.

I play in a blue-based meta and haven't had problems with DD, but I run Wishes, so it takes up just one slot. If you don't have Wishes, you have to structure the deck around it more. (Micah Greenbaum's 4C list [http://sales.starcitygames.com/deckd...?DeckID=39297] is an example of that approach, although he runs some Wishes too.). Just because your opponent is blue doesn't mean he's always going to have cards in hand. Anyone without a hand is vulnerable to Wish --> DD, which is usually game. But, yeah, if you're not careful with it, you can get burned. And, sure, Wishes can get Snared, but so can Bob. Feel free to run something else in that slot if you're not happy with it; just make sure it gives you as much overall as the Wishes give you.

[marcel]

Guys, I now look at the thread I really can't understand WHY ARE YOU STILL PLAYING BLACK. I'm aware, it's hard to let go Bob, but ...

[Aggro_zombies]

An Aggro Loam deck did well at the Invitational, although it was erroneously labelled Red Maverick. I think this build is interesting but I don't like his curve or the Wish/Dreams slots.

[marcel]

An Aggro Loam deck did well at the Invitational, although it was erroneously labelled Red Maverick. I think this build is interesting but I don't like his curve or the Wish/Dreams slots.

Black only for sb cards seems strange.
I don't understand what Azusa does in this deck? we just don't need that much lands.
Also he doesn't play seismic assault?..

[grim confident]

Kessig Wolf Run can put in aggro loam？
It can give kotr and countryside crusher trample.
Huge crusher with trample can easily solve the opponent.
Goyf and qasali pridemage are enormous threats with wolf run.

[Justin]

Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. You can fetch it with KotR and get it back with Loam if it's in the yard. It might help you win a turn or two earlier against decks that have chump blockers for the big monsters in this deck.

[Antonius]

x-2 at scg LA

lost to reanimator (couldn't beat that retarded pile a third time)
and to lucksack jace rip off the top.

[BrazenSix]

Congrats on the run. What did you end up playing against during the day?

What's your general play strategy against Stoneblade and RUG Delver decks? I always seem to have a terrible match against 'blue' decks in general. :(

[Antonius]

I might write a tournament report, but seeing as how I lost my notes and am having a hard time remembering exactly what I played against, that might not pan out.

Reanimator (2-1)
Bant (1-2)
Reanimator (2-1)
Elves (2-0)
Reanimator (1-2)
Can't remember ?? but I won.
Delver/Snapcaster RUG (2-0)
Raging Goblin (2-1)

IDK how you could have a bad match against blue decks. Blue decks are typically the fodder that Loam feeds upon. If you start resolving loam before they get a jace, you'll probably get there. If you start resolving loam before they can get anything relevant on their side of the board, you're definitely going to win.

[Facethemindsculptor]

This guy's deck won the Jupiter games NELCQ, its worth thinking about.

1st Place David Rice
Aggro-Loam
Creatures:

4 Countryside Crusher

4 Dark Confidant

2 Scavenging Oooze

2 Grim Lavamancer

2 Tarmogoyf

Instants/Sorceries:

4 Life From the Loam

4 Lightning Bolt

2 Maelstrom Pulse

Artficacts:

2 Engineered Explosives

4 Mox Diamond

Enchantments:

3 Seismic Assault

Planeswalkers:

1 Liliana of the Veil

Basic Land:

1 Forest

2 Mountain

Non-Basic Land:

4 Wooded Foothills

3 Bloodstained Mire

2 Taiga

1 Bayou

1 Badlands

4 Wasteland

1 Volrath’s Stronghold

4 Forgotten Cave

3 Tranquil Thicket

Sideboard:

4 Chalice of the Void

2 Krosan Grip

2 Perish

3 Red Elemental Blast

3 Tormod’s Crypt

1 Nihil Spellbomb

[Antonius]

This guy's deck won the Jupiter games NELCQ, its worth thinking about.

1st Place David Rice
Aggro-Loam
Creatures:

4 Countryside Crusher

4 Dark Confidant

2 Scavenging Oooze

2 Grim Lavamancer

2 Tarmogoyf

Instants/Sorceries:

4 Life From the Loam

4 Lightning Bolt

2 Maelstrom Pulse

Artficacts:

2 Engineered Explosives

4 Mox Diamond

Enchantments:

3 Seismic Assault

Planeswalkers:

1 Liliana of the Veil

Basic Land:

1 Forest

2 Mountain

Non-Basic Land:

4 Wooded Foothills

3 Bloodstained Mire

2 Taiga

1 Bayou

1 Badlands

4 Wasteland

1 Volrath’s Stronghold

4 Forgotten Cave

3 Tranquil Thicket

Sideboard:

4 Chalice of the Void

2 Krosan Grip

2 Perish

3 Red Elemental Blast

3 Tormod’s Crypt

1 Nihil Spellbomb

yeah, some serious thinking about...

no, wait. That's my list. With -1 taiga +1 liliana.

[Koby]

yeah, some serious thinking about...

no, wait. That's my list. With -1 taiga +1 liliana.

Was just about to say... you don't run Liliana. LOL

Vindicated now Antonius?

[Antonius]

Was just about to say... you don't run Liliana. LOL

Vindicated now Antonius?

Don't need east coasters for vindication.

IDK why he's running 2 Verdant Catacombs. I would just guess he was short a foothills and a mire. But grats on the prize money.

[GoblinZ]

Hi, I just begin to play with your list...I like it very much
only question is whether lavamancer is necessary in this deck and if top is better than Bob?

[Aggro_zombies]

Hi, I just begin to play with your list...I like it very much
only question is whether lavamancer is necessary in this deck and if top is better than Bob?

Top is absolutely worse than Bob. Lavamancer is a good man and gives you early ways to control the board.

EDIT: I'm going to start testing Antonius's list for SCG Phoenix in April. I'll admit defeat: it seems the old Aggro Loam has more fight left in her than I'd thought.

[sdematt]

My question to you all is this: Why Lightning Bolt over Terminate? Don't get me wrong, I know Bolt is a bit more general, and still kills 90% of the creatures we want to kill (small Goyfs and Knights, Bob, Clique, SFM, etc.), but with all the Maverick, don't you want to kill Knight? I mean, it also hits Jace, which is a bonus, but I'm just curious on your thoughts. I'm still running Fires combo against Jace and the like, so maybe that's just my bias coming in (and I've still had success with Fires, so maybe I'm just not feeling the Bolts).

-Matt

[Aggro_zombies]

You can outsize Knight with Crusher. Plus, since Scavenging Ooze can remove any card in a graveyard, you can shrink Knights at will by sinking in some green mana. I think people forget that sometimes because it only gets a bonus from removed creatures.

Aside from that, you can run either Perish or Virtue's Ruin if you're looking to specifically punish Maverick.

EDIT: Looking at the DC list, I would probably start by boarding -2 Tarmogoyf, +2 Dreams. I don't think you need Grips versus equipment because of Pulse and EE.

[Richard Cheese]

IDK how you could have a bad match against blue decks. Blue decks are typically the fodder that Loam feeds upon. If you start resolving loam before they get a jace, you'll probably get there. If you start resolving loam before they can get anything relevant on their side of the board, you're definitely going to win.

I haven't tested the matchup a whole lot, but isn't the sheer number of StPs that UW Stoneblade has access to a problem for Loam? We don't really run a lot of guys or have any way to protect them. If they know enough to save their counters for Assault, it doesn't seem like an easy win on paper. I'm guessing you've had a different experience IRL? What's your game plan in that matchup?

Also @Zombies: Grip can be real good against Batterskull, just because the bounce ability can make it a real PITA.

[Aggro_zombies]

Grip is mostly bad versus the rest of their deck, though. Like, if there's a board full of creatures on both sides, drawing a Grip is mostly blank while a Pulse is at least a removal spell. Against a deck like Stoneblade I'd want Grips, but I don't think you can afford to load up your deck with situational removal versus an aggro deck. Their Plan A is going to be beating you down, and the equipment is a supplement to that.

EDIT: Against Stoneblade, I'm assuming you bring in Blasts, Grips, and possibly Noxious Revivals. Even if your guys only connect once or twice, it's still damage, and if you can neutralize Batterskull the amount of stuff you have to do to kill them is lower. This is a matchup where I'd really want Punishing Fires, for example, since they have no out to it (even Extirpate can't get the Fires because it's a trigger).

[routlaw]

U/W isn't a huge problem, as the Loam/cycle land draw engine will just out-attrition their attrition deck and they are not well equipped to play an actual tempo game against you. The U/W matchup was half of what made Aggro Loam so good during the Misstep era (the other half being the metagame beatdown of combo, which is still somewhat continuing thanks to the Delver decks) and it's still pretty true now.