[Deck] Pox/Death Cloud

[Sughayyer]

My thoughts on discard:

1) I might be convinced to play 4 Thoughtseize, maybe...but it's so terrible in the late game. Early game it doesn't always do much either. It's the resource denial that is good, which makes me feel that the Best option would be to go with 4 of Liliana. I may trade/buy my 4th for this deck. As you say, the games go longer and this deck is ACTIVELY trying to drag the game out. Thoughtseize is really only there as a preemptive answer to combo decks, and gets sideboarded out frequently. With 2x Duress in the sideboard, I think the targeted discard is covered.

2) Death Cloud, Smallpox, and Liliana are just so much better at disrupting opponents. They all bring more value than just a discard. All of them are huge tempo stalls, the weakest being Smallpox. While strong against agressive decks, Smallpox is weak against most everything else. I still think it's good enough to play, and good enough for a full set.

Other than that, the real open question for me is how to tweak my creature base to get full value. I am working on Kitchen Finks x4 (have 3 now) and beyond that, I'm not sure.

I once experimented with a BG(w) loam deck in modern that relied in bloodghasts, lingering souls and worm harvest. The deck didn't pack death cloud, was awfully slow and ultimately I decided to play monoblack infect.
However my strong The Rock roots force me to get here every now and then and I was wondering if we could try something that ramped/poxed/d. clouded and then used souls and harvest tokens to finish the match.

I'll try working on it in my spare time.

[FTW]

What about something like this...


//11 Pox
4 Smallpox
3 Death Cloud
4 Liliana of the Veil

//7 discard
3 Thoughtseize
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Raven's Crime

//12 profit
4 Life from the Loam
4 Bloodghast
4 Viridian Emissary

//4 tokens
1 Worm Harvest
3 Garruk Wildspeaker

//26 lands
2 Barren Moor
2 Treetop Village
4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Misty Rainforest
1 Marsh Flats
2 Overgrown Tomb
2 Woodland Cemetery
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2 Forest
5 Swamp


Too dependent on Loam and Pox effects? Are DRS and Abrupt Decay really necessary in all BG decks?

Your advantage is not running any creatures that might have to be negatively sacrificed to Poxing, thus no anti-synergy.
You basically go T1 discard spell, T2 profit (Emissary ramp or Smallpox or Loam), T3-4 planeswalker shenanigans.

Emissary chump blocks and attacks better than STE and can be your sacrifice fodder while still ramping you! Garruk+Emissary ramp, Liliana+Crime shred their hands and Death Cloud+Smallpox takes out their board and hand. Garruk+Harvest+Bloodghast give you both sacrifice fodder and a win condition.

[Sughayyer]

Forget it.
I lost a sh*tton of matches to gy-hate... not one-time only effects like bomb, but permanent removal like leyline and RiP. The list was pretty similar, only with sakura-tribe elder instead of viridian emissary

[Mr. Safety]

I fought through what seemed like endless Nihil Spellbombs in one matchup. It shrunk my goyfs (but they never lived anyways) and it made me wait a bit for Tombstalker...that's it. Deathrite Shaman is fantastic as a post-Cloud threat, and gets you to bigger mana faster but gets lost in the blitz. Regardless, Deathrite is still the right card to be playing in this deck, I am firmly convinced of it. Tarmogoyf...not so sure. I may swap them for Kitchen Finks honestly.

Lingering Souls just make you WEAKER to graveyard hate. I'm of this mindset: 4x Garruk Wildspeaker, 4x Death Cloud. Those two cards win games together, and both are great at grinding on their own. You could call it 'Garruk-Cloud', that's how important that interaction is. Garruk was my best threat bar none, and Death Cloud was always a welcome sight in my hand.

[Timber]

Hi everyone,

I'm just getting into Modern and I really like this deck idea. Has anyone tried Nihilith ? I saw a deck tech with Conley Woods from a few years ago where he used it as his post-Cloud beater.

Also, has anyone played their Cloud deck since the 4th of July and has results to share?

[Phoenix Ignition]

I'm just getting into Modern and I really like this deck idea. Has anyone tried Nihilith ? I saw a deck tech with Conley Woods from a few years ago where he used it as his post-Cloud beater.

I've tried multiple versions of this deck and my absolute best advice is this: don't play cards that are "good when you play death cloud," play cards that are all-around decent no matter when you draw them, and can have synergy with death cloud. I tested Nihilith a while ago and was not impressed. He's only good if you get him suspended before laying down a big Death Cloud. Well, what if they counter death cloud? Then he's just a big, slow suspend dude.

Garruk is decent because he powers up Death Cloud and can do well on his own before you draw it. You want to be running all cards with value, so stuff like Sakura Tribe Elder or Viridian Emissary, Liliana of the Veil, and shy away from 1-hit wonders that need the stars to align to go well.

Remember the best decks in the format kill or put you out of the game on turn 4 (splinter twin, Birthing Pod, Tron, Burn).

[Timber]

I've tried multiple versions of this deck and my absolute best advice is this: don't play cards that are "good when you play death cloud," play cards that are all-around decent no matter when you draw them, and can have synergy with death cloud.

I did get that from reading the whole thread and it makes sense to me. I don't have any Kitchen Finks, Fetches or Tombstalkers, so based on the cards I have access to right now, I’ll have to go a bit more aggressive. This is what I plan to try next week:

LAND
4x Overgrown Tomb
4x Woodland Cemetery
3x Treetop Village
1x City of Brass
8x Swamp
5x Forest

RAMP
4x Sakura-Tribe Elder
3x Wood Elves
3x Garruk Wildspeaker

DISRUPTION
4x Duress
4x Death Cloud
4x Smallpox
1x Mutilate
1x Black Sun’s Zenith
2x Putrefy
2x Inquisition of Kozilek

CREATURES
4x Geralf’s Messenger
2x Extractor Demon
1x Swagtusk

Since I haven't played Modern in my area yet, I plan to include sideboard cards based on what I've read in this (and other) threads. Any suggestions based on what I have access to right now:

1x Crime / Punishment
4x Smother
2x Appetite for Brains
3x Ratchet Bomb
2x Ghost Quarter
4x Gaze of Granite
1x Grafdigger's Cage
1x Ground Seal
2x Putrefy
4x Dryad Militant
1x Bramblecrush
4x Acidic Slime
1x Mental Misstep

[Phoenix Ignition]

Sideboards are tricky to talk about when you don't even know if the deck itself is solid. Some things you should be looking out for are the format normal decks.

Graveyard hate for the random Living End deck and the rogue graveyard deck abuseres. Something is definitely necessary to stop Splinter Twin/Birthing Pod combos, which Torpor Orb or similar effects can deal with, but be careful to run extra versions since all of those decks have at least 1 way of dealing with permanent hate. Tron is tougher to shut down with Black/Green, but hand hate, stuff like Pithing Needle, and even having some Ghost Quarters might be worth it in the side.

Mental Misstep is banned, so don't use that.

Also, you can easily tag card names by using the
[cards ]CardnameHere
Cardname here
cardname here
[/cards ] without spaces between the brackets.

[Timber]

Yeah, bad call on Mental Misstep. I found out it was banned right after I posted.

That is exactly the feedback I was looking for. I figured I'd put some cards in for: Tron, Pod, Living End, Storm and Affinity, but obviously not having played against them it might be more helpful to forget the SB and just run the deck so that I get more used to it while figuring out my area's meta. I picked up a Tombstalker yesterday and I'm still trying to get a 4th Garruk and some Kitchen Finks prior to Wednesday.

Thanks for the tip on card tags. I gave up on the [http = [/url ] way because it's exhausting.

[Timber]

So I ran my budget Death Cloud / Pox deck at a small FNM Modern tournament at my LGS. I went 3-1 (6-3 in games), but faced amateur competition about equal to myself. I was really happy with all of my opening hands except 1, I only had mana problems in one game (flooded) and I had a ton of fun playing the deck. Here was my deck list:

LAND
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Woodland Cemetery
3 Treetop Village
4 Forest
1 City of Brass
8 Swamp

RAMP
4 Skakura-Tribe Elder
3 Wood Elves
4 Garruk Wildspeaker

DISRUPTION
4 Duress
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Death Cloud
4 Smallpox
2 Putrefy
1 Mutilate
1 Black Sun’s Zenith

CREATURES
4 Geralf’s Messenger
2 Extractor Demon
1 Tombstalker

SIDEBOARD
2 Appetite for Brains
2 putrefy
1 Crime / Punishment
2 Smother
2 Ghost Quarter
2 pithing needle
2 Golgari charm
2 smother

The first match was against Naya blitz with lots of Eventide and Shards gold cards like Naya Hushblade and Woolly Thoctar. In game one, he got me down to 8 life before I got off a Cloud for 4 with a Geralf’s Messenger on the board, wiping out all of his creatures and lands. The next turn I top-decked and played a Tombstalker and he scooped. Game 2 I sided in 2x Ghost Quarter, but had a major misplay where I played a Ghost Quarter instead of a third black mana source, keeping me from getting off a second Death Cloud, allowing him to play a second Jund Hackblade and costing me the game. I had game three in control, but flooded after Death Cloud and he finished me off with a Jund Hackblade and a bolt to the dome. Overall I was happy with how the deck played.

The second match was against a RWU combo deck, but he was mana screwed in game one and flooded in game two so I never saw him cast anything more than mana ramp artifacts, Azorius Charm and telling time. Afterwards I played his Affinity deck and he stomped me in two games. It really showed me the weaknesses of my budget deck. I didn't side in my crime // punishment, but I only had one so I doubt it would have helped much.

The third match was against a RB goblin deck. She got the jump on me in game one with a festering goblin with madcap skills and an Auntie. I didn’t have an issue with the BBB to cast my Messengers all night, but this match really showed the weakness of them entering the battlefield tapped and unable to block. In the next two games the deck played perfectly and she never kept any threat on the table very long.

The fourth match was against an enduring renewal combo deck with blasting station and 0 CC artifact creatures. I beat him in game one by hitting his early Station with putrefy and ripping all of his other combo pieces from his hand. He got his combo off and won game 2. I sided in Pithing Needle and had it in my opening hand game 3 naming Blasting Station. He still managed to hold me off to the 5 minute warning because I never drew a Death Cloud. I eventually overran him with Beast Tokens, Treetop beats and a Messenger.

Lessons:

1. Kitchen Finks over Geralf’s Messenger, not so much for the life gain, but more because the Finks don’t come into play tapped.

2. I think I had the correct amount of discard. Duress only missed once and Inquisition only missed once, but they did exactly what they’re supposed to by getting rid of combo and evasion pieces. I didn’t see a time when thoughtseize would be have been more effective and would probably not provide the best return on investment.

I freakin' love this deck. It's a ton of fun to play.

[Tiago_B.]

A couple of questions:

LftL and respective toolbox (lands like ghost quarter, worm harvest, raven's crime, etc), is it worth it or will it make me very vulnerable vs graveyard hate? I wonder the same about Bloodghast.

Tombstalkers, would 3 be the right number? I think 4 its too much.

Also, i dont like smallpox here. Seems kinda win-more when ur ahead, and even then just after after you cast death cloud, than something to make you win the game when ur losing. Any thoughts on this?

What kind of hate do you advise versus Melira Pod decks? Kids around here play it a lot aparently.

[TableTopMagic]

So I have been playing Death Cloud for about two years now. One thing I have done that many players in this thread haven't is not play Smallpox. I do not play it in the Main, I do from time to time in the board, but it is a one for one swap. Death Cloud and Smallpox have a kinda anti synergy. Death Cloud is a Tempo-Ramp style deck. Smallpox might be great right when it gets played, but over all it slows you down.
Here is some thoughts I posted a on a forum about a few cards I have seen played in builds that I disagree with.

Smallpox- It plays in my sideboard sometimes depending on the meta. It looks like a good fit for Death Cloud on the outside, but generally is isn't. You really need your lands to drop a Death Cloud for the lock. It is ok, but I have since switched to [CARD]Fulminator Mage[/CARD]. Is is not a good choice for main board. You can try it as much as you want, but it will bite you in the butt except in certain match ups. Most of the time it just hurts you a lot. Remember most builds of Death Cloud are ramp decks. Losing your own lands before a game lock isn't ideal.

Bloodghast- Same as before, he looks good, but isn't a good fit. The fact that you can not use him to block is the biggest downfall. He comes back with the Landfall, but that doesn't get you very far when you need to set up into a Death Cloud lock or a field presence. Better with a Smallpox Control deck than Death Cloud.

Dark Confidant- This is a really good card for certain builds, but mostly in the side for when your facing combo after a lot of sideboarding. He is great in Jund, but this isn't Jund. Most Death Cloud build are a ramp style deck. We main board too many high casting cost spells. Jund has a average mana cost of around .95 with a peak of 4 Cmc sometimes 5 Cmc. The last two Death Cloud decks to place in any large event or MTGO event had a averaged about 1.28 Cmc. (One of those decks being my own deck that that I posted here:D) That about a .37 difference in the mana curve is a lot when you look into the fact that we cast Death Clouds for x=5 or more. Losing 5 or more life to your own Death Cloud, 3+ too Lands(Fetch and Shock), 2 for Thoughtseize, and 0-5+ for your added Bob puts you very close to to Death via Lightning Bolts.

These are just my thoughts and they don't necessarily reflect the view of other members...especially Chess most of the time."

Liliana isn't a one hit wonder. She can be, but with the right build and strategy she wins games. Lilly can be insane and she usually makes the lock after Post Death Cloud if Garruk didn't make if for some reason. (ie, Lightning Bolt ect...)
Here is a Quote from me from another forum about Liliana of the Veil.

"The very first thing all of my Death Cloud builds do is Stabilize. Liliana of the Veil is a key card to both pre-stabilizing and post-stabilizing. Liliana can help with the post stabilized game with her -2 effect. Where Liliana is absolutely insane and why I call her "My Main Bitch Lilly", is when you do stabilize and you start dropping her +1 effect. It destroys opponents. It turns every card in your hand into a blind Thoughtseize for free. If I have stabilized the board for the most part I don't need that land I top decks or the Tribe Elder. I need to Lock it down for the win. This is where she is amazing. She wins games.

If you deck isn't for the most part stabilizing prior to dropping Liliana, or very close to it, than you should reevaluate your build or playing style. Liliana is a staple."

Death Cloud is a Attrition deck. Meaning you have to out resource your opponent. Paying for a Duress that takes down Cryptic Command. Playing a Planeswalker that will cause immediate shifts in board state. A threat that has to be dealt with. Cards that will force them to over extend. Sakura-Tribe Elder, provides a body that can attack and block, but also helps our Ramp. In my newer build, it also provides a extra body to Scavenging Ooze. (We can get to that part later) Kitchen Finks has two body's for the price of one. His 3/2 and 2/1 body can trade with a lot of the meta, while it still nets you 4 life. Damnation, Death Cloud, and so on and so on. This is what you need to be putting into mind when working your builds.

Here is a sample list I built and played a few months back.
24 LANDS
4 Tectonic Edge
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Overgrown Tomb
3 Treetop Village
3 Swamp
2 Forest
2 Golgari Rot Farm
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Twilight Mire

CREATURES
4 Kitchen Finks
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder

INSTANTS and SORCERIES
4 Death Cloud
4 Duress
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Damnation
1 Dismember

11 OTHER SPELLS
4 Fertile Ground
4 Garruk Wildspeaker
3 Liliana of the Veil

SIDEBOARD
1 Abrupt Decay
2 Dismember
4 Surgical Extraction
3 Golgari Charm
1 Grafdigger's Cage
4 Leyline of Sanctity

I posted this deck online on the 18th of March with a short review of my weekend tournament. On the 25th on March someone net decked me "card for card," and did a MTGO Daily and went 4-0.

Since then I have changed things up a bit. I tested Deathrite Shaman for a little while after he was printed and he really didn't fit the deck I was playing at the time. He was kinda awkward getting him into the build since I was playing 4 Duress, and 4 Inquisition of Kozilek. Turn two I wanted to Fertile Ground or Tribe Elder, then Lilly and another Duress. lol My own fault for not rethinking my built. It's been several months, but I am going to go back to DRS.

Creature (17)
4 Deathrite Shaman
3 Fulminator Mage
4 Kitchen Finks
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
2 Scavenging Ooze

Instant (3)
2 Abrupt Decay
1 Dismember

Planeswalker (7)
3 Garruk Wildspeaker
3 Liliana of the Veil
1 Vraska the Unseen

Sorcery (9)
2 Damnation
3 Death Cloud
4 Thoughtseize

Land (24)
2 Forest
1 Golgari Rot Farm
3 Marsh Flats
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Swamp
3 Treetop Village
2 Twilight Mire
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Verdant Catacombs

SB: 1 Abrupt Decay
SB: 1 Dismember
SB: 2 Duress
SB: 1 Scavenging Ooze
SB: 1 Fulminator Mage
SB: 1 Eternal Witness
SB: 2 Primal Command
SB: 2 Gaze of Granite
SB: 1 Golgari Charm
SB: 1 Maelstrom Pulse
SB: 2 Surgical Extraction

(Yes the Decks are listed in two different formats, but it is call copy and paste. lol)
With the addition of DRS I moved my mana curve a little closer to , and I am trying to take advantage of that. Adding the three main board Fulminator Mage to help with tempo, man lands, and Tron. Also both cards can give a body to Scavenging Ooze. Turn two Lilly can be very detrimental to most opponents.

Vraska the Unseen was another choice I have made that I haven't seen much of here. She started as a test and became very fruitful as a one of. She give Aggro a hard time, and her downsized Maelstrom Pulse on a stick is great for when something absolutely positively has to die...*Cough* Karn*Cough Cough* Elspeth *Cough* Cough* Her final has actually won me a few games. Once she hits the field the clock starts. They have to deal with her then and there. The issue is that for the last 4 or 5 turn I have been playing quite a bit of Attrition. Meaning that there resources are very thin in most cases. Forcing them to try to crash creatures into her head first to slow her down. Ether way it is a win win. One day I will win with a Assassin tokens with +3/+3 and trample... One day...

Other than that the deck looks very straight forward from what you would expect. The board is something I have been working on for awhile now. A little extra spot removal, Maelstrom Pulse for token decks, and Duress for Control. What I think are my two most interesting choices are the two Primal Commands and the Eternal Witness. Those are there for for a couple of different reasons. One is for Burn. Primal for gain 7 life then search for Witness so I can gain another 7 life. Another is for graveyard hate for decks like Storm, Dredgevine, UW Tron/Gifts, and Living End. Gaze is for Affinity, WW and Zoo. I might find room for another 1 Golgari Charm to help with Twin and the Boggle decks that have been showing up.

The new build has very little playtesting, but I have faith it will require a few tweaks here and there. I am always open to other advice, tips, and "creative" criticism.


Ps, I don't play Goyf as a choice not because I don't have them. I like to let the deck do what it does, rather than try to punch threw. He dies to a lighting bolt before turn 4 and by then I want to Death Cloud next turn anyways.

[Phoenix Ignition]

I like the second decklist you posted. You might want to run Crime/Punishment over Gaze since it comes down earlier and is better against the matchups you mentioned. The sideboard seems a little disoriented in general, but as long as you have a specific plan of what to take out and put in against specific decks (like where you want the 1 Maelstrom Pulse), then it's probably fine. I've been really impressed with Golgari Charm lately, there are a lot of token decks and mono white life gain decks that it crushes.

You might consider Thragtusk over Eternal Witness as well. It's better against burn decks (cheaper overall, bigger bodies), and it's worth sideboarding in against fair decks where you have really grindy games. If you were playing red splash I'd say Huntmaster because he's just ridiculously good, but that's a splash most people don't consider.

[Timber]

LftL and respective toolbox (lands like ghost quarter, worm harvest, raven's crime, etc), is it worth it or will it make me very vulnerable vs graveyard hate? I wonder the same about Bloodghast.

Check out the rest of the thread. I think you'll find that most people here have had bad with experiences with Loam engines. 1) because GY hate got stupid with Deathrite Shaman and Rest In Peace and 2) because it waters the deck down. Your primary objective is to blow up the board with Death Cloud, keep your foot on the gas with Garruk Wildspeaker and Liliana of the Veil and then top deck better than your opponent to a win. The Loam engine is too cute and keeps you from drawing your focus cards.

[TableTopMagic]

I like the second decklist you posted. You might want to run Crime/Punishment over Gaze since it comes down earlier and is better against the matchups you mentioned. The sideboard seems a little disoriented in general, but as long as you have a specific plan of what to take out and put in against specific decks (like where you want the 1 Maelstrom Pulse), then it's probably fine. I've been really impressed with Golgari Charm lately, there are a lot of token decks and mono white life gain decks that it crushes.

You might consider Thragtusk over Eternal Witness as well. It's better against burn decks (cheaper overall, bigger bodies), and it's worth sideboarding in against fair decks where you have really grindy games. If you were playing red splash I'd say Huntmaster because he's just ridiculously good, but that's a splash most people don't consider.

Trust me, I have a plan for every card. Each card comes in on several different match ups to help sure up the numbers against multiple decks. Not just one deck that is a bad match up.
The issue with Crime//Punishment is that you can only target a single Cmc. So If you cast if for x=0 you will get Memnite and Ornithopter. Maybe even a Opal, but you won't get Signal Pest, Cranial Plating, Arcbound Ravager, Etched Champion, and so on. Afinitys mana curve goes from 0-4. The only 4 drops being Tezzeret and Frogmite. Crime is great against Tokens, and is ok against Affinity, but Gaze of Granite is the better card. Turn 4 if I'm on the play I can normally drop it for at least x=2. This often leaves them top decking. Damnation is also a star here. It doesn't hit the other artifacts, but it does hit hard to home. Another card to note against affinity is a well timed Dismember. Waiting for the right moment to destroy there Ink or Blinkmoth Nexus. Sometimes there is very little anyone can do about Affinitys "Nut Draws", but this helps the numbers line up.

As for Thragtusk... It is good in standard, but this isn't standard. I think you are underestimating the power of Witness and Primal Command. (I'm assuming your also talking about primal command when you mentioned Eternal Witness) Primal Command is a Swiss Army Knife of this build. Primal Command has "four" effects. You Choose two of those effects. It isn't just a anti burn spell is comes in on several match ups. With one Primal Command and one Eternal Witness I can gain 14 life, or more if I want to drag it out. Maybe you missed it, if you didn't let me elaborate of others who may have missed it.
(Step one.) Ramp into your 5th land or mana source. Many cases turn four or three. (That is still often outside burns kill window, sometimes very close too it.) (Step two.) Cast Primal Command, choosing Gain yourself 7 Life and Search for a Creature as the other. Search out Eternal Witness.
(Step Three.) Next turn play the Witness to gain back the Primal Command.
(Step Four) Cast Primal Command.
This can put you so far outside of burns window that other creatures like Kitchen Finks and Scavenging Ooze can take over and get you exactly where you want to be. Eternal Witness can also help you pull back cards like hand hate, Liliana, or Creatures that gain life. Every time you strip a card from a Burn players hand it buys you time. Duress is another card that would come in against burn.
Primal is also Graveyard hate against Dredgevine, Living End, Gifts, and any graveyard based deck. His other useful effects can put a Non-Creature Permanent on top of its owners Library. I point these out together because mixed in certain match ups, if necessity I can chose a Planeswalkers like Karn or a land, and put it on top if there library and shuffle it in with there Graveyard. It really helps with Temp if you turn two or three a Fulminator Mage then turn four or five a Primal for a land.
"I believe in the power of Primal."

I have tested Jund, BUG and Junk Death Cloud.
Huntmaster of the Fells is not that good in the build. if gives you nothing to your final goal of a lock for the win. The biggest gain from a Jund build would be Lightning Bolt. It is the single best removal spell in any format. Most likely the best Red spell ever printed. The next gain from Jund would be cards like Sowing Salts, Slaughter Games, and Jund Charm. I love the interactions with Jund Charm and Kitchen Finks. :P

Bug gives you access to cards like Snapcaster Mage, Vendilion Clique, and Venser, Shaper Savant. All of which go hand in had with Death Clouds Attrition Style play. It could also give you a little counter magic if needed, but I am not one for counter magic really.

Junk can give you a lot of reach. Voice of Resurgence can be insane! Mix that with 4 copy's of Lingering Souls. Maybe add a Elspeth, Knight-Errant to the mix. That is some crazy power. Junk also gives you a lot of flexibility in your sideboard. Cards like Stony Silence, Aven Mindcensor, and Linvala, Keeper of Silence.

[Mr. Safety]

Check out the rest of the thread. I think you'll find that most people here have had bad with experiences with Loam engines. 1) because GY hate got stupid with Deathrite Shaman and Rest In Peace and 2) because it waters the deck down. Your primary objective is to blow up the board with Death Cloud, keep your foot on the gas with Garruk Wildspeaker and Liliana of the Veil and then top deck better than your opponent to a win. The Loam engine is too cute and keeps you from drawing your focus cards.

Nailed it. The only thing I would add is how important Treetop Village is as a post-Cloud threat. I've won a lot of games by going Death Cloud then Treetop to the end.

[Phoenix Ignition]

As for Thragtusk... It is good in standard, but this isn't standard. I think you are underestimating the power of Witness and Primal Command. (I'm assuming your also talking about primal command when you mentioned Eternal Witness) Primal Command is a Swiss Army Knife of this build. Primal Command has "four" effects. You Choose two of those effects. It isn't just a anti burn spell is comes in on several match ups. With one Primal Command and one Eternal Witness I can gain 14 life, or more if I want to drag it out. Maybe you missed it, if you didn't let me elaborate of others who may have missed it.
(Step one.) Ramp into your 5th land or mana source. Many cases turn four or three. (That is still often outside burns kill window, sometimes very close too it.) (Step two.) Cast Primal Command, choosing Gain yourself 7 Life and Search for a Creature as the other. Search out Eternal Witness.
(Step Three.) Next turn play the Witness to gain back the Primal Command.
(Step Four) Cast Primal Command.
This can put you so far outside of burns window that other creatures like Kitchen Finks and Scavenging Ooze can take over and get you exactly where you want to be. Eternal Witness can also help you pull back cards like hand hate, Liliana, or Creatures that gain life. Every time you strip a card from a Burn players hand it buys you time. Duress is another card that would come in against burn.
Primal is also Graveyard hate against Dredgevine, Living End, Gifts, and any graveyard based deck. His other useful effects can put a Non-Creature Permanent on top of its owners Library. I point these out together because mixed in certain match ups, if necessity I can chose a Planeswalkers like Karn or a land, and put it on top if there library and shuffle it in with there Graveyard. It really helps with Temp if you turn two or three a Fulminator Mage then turn four or five a Primal for a land.
"I believe in the power of Primal."

Nah, I meant what I said about changing EW for Thragtusk. If your goal is to board it in against Burn decks as a target for Primal Command then you might as well do +7 life + find Thragtusk rather than +7 life find EW, use EW next turn, wait a turn to cast Primal, next turn cast Primal. You can do for 10 mana what you are doing for 13. Plus Thragtusk is a much more formidable threat against them and all other decks that try to use removal.

[TableTopMagic]

Nah, I meant what I said about changing EW for Thragtusk. If your goal is to board it in against Burn decks as a target for Primal Command then you might as well do +7 life + find Thragtusk rather than +7 life find EW, use EW next turn, wait a turn to cast Primal, next turn cast Primal. You can do for 10 mana what you are doing for 13. Plus Thragtusk is a much more formidable threat against them and all other decks that try to use removal.

Primal Command= +2 Four Effects, you chose two of them.
Eternal Witness= +2 You get a card back and a body on the field.
Thragtusk=3 (To be fair) A body, life and a token if/when it dies.

PC+EW+PC+Tutored Creature = 7
PC+Thragtusk=5
Even if you didn't use Primal Commands Tutor effect I still get virtual card advantage of 6 minimum.
True, your way is 3 cmc cheaper, but I gain 2 more life and still can pull another threat like Kitchen Finks or Scavenging Ozze.

[Timber]

I see a lot of lists on here use Golgari Rot Farm. I understand that it's ramp, but it feels like that would slow you down one turn. What are everyones' experiences with it? I have 2, but I haven't added them yet.

On another note, since I just got one in an M14 sealed event, I'm messing around with Haunted Plate Mail while I work on acquiring Kitchen Finks. I like that it can make one of my fetch creatures a beater if needed, if I don't have any creatures then it's a better blocker than Treetop Village and it can protect Garruk if I need to use his +1 and sac an STE to ramp into Death Cloud.

[TableTopMagic]

I see a lot of lists on here use Golgari Rot Farm. I understand that it's ramp, but it feels like that would slow you down one turn. What are everyones' experiences with it? I have 2, but I haven't added them yet.

On another note, since I just got one in an M14 sealed event, I'm messing around with Haunted Plate Mail while I work on acquiring Kitchen Finks. I like that it can make one of my fetch creatures a beater if needed, if I don't have any creatures then it's a better blocker than Treetop Village and it can protect Garruk if I need to use his +1 and sac an STE to ramp into Death Cloud.

Golgari Rot Far can set you back a little, but the trick is too tap for that mana prior to bouncing it back to your had. It is best used on a turn when you won't need that one mana from your land drop. The really great part about Rot Farm is the interactions with Garruk Windspeaker. (Tap for 2, Garruk +1, Tap for 2 Again) Death Cloud for X leaving Treetop Village, Golgari Rot Farm and Garruk in play is normally a game lock. Just pick the right times for it to drop into play. I wouldn't over do them tho. Two is the Max I would advise anyone to play.