[Deck] Aluren

[Tao]

So Mr.Toad is the David Gearhart of Aluren?

[Lukas Preuss]

Nope. He only knows some people (Gabriel Nassif and some other french pro, I think) that do well with the deck. He didn't put up any impressive results with the deck (maybe, because he was judging at GP Lille instead of playing Alluren), yet. David Gearhart actually T8ed (and won) some tournaments with his creation.

He says he playtested alot with these pros before the Grand Prix, though. I'm not sure on how good this deck is, because two T32 appearances at a single event don't prove much. Maybe its just a mediocre combo deck that got piloted by two very good players (much likely)... I mean, hey, 2-Land Belcher and Trix made day two at Lille and we know that those are mediocre combo decks.

[Tosh]

Imperial Aluren.dec

// Mana Sources 22
2 Forest
2 Island
4 Bayou
4 Tropical Island
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Swamp
4 Chrome Mox
// Aluren & Creatures
4 Imperial Recruiter
2 Ghitu Slinger
3 Spike Feeder
3 Man-o'-War
4 Cavern Harpy
3 Raven Familiar
4 Aluren

// Support Spells
4 Brainstorm
4 Impulse
3 Cabal Therapy
4 Force of Will

// Sideboard:
SB: 4 Monk Realist
SB: 4 Uktabi Orangutan
SB: 4 Pyroclasm
SB: 3 Duress
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This deck is pretty much self explanitory. Use Cavern Harpy to have a recurring Man-o'-War to return a Ghitu Slinger to deal infinite damage. Imperial Recruiter makes the deck much more consistant as you only need him if you have an Aluren out:
Play Recruiter -> Fetch Man-o'-War -> Man-o'-War replay Recruiter (Play Man-o'-War -> Bounce Recruiter -> Play Recruiter) -> Fetch Cavern Harpy -> Play Cavern Harpy -> Return Man-o'-War -> Man-o'-War replay Recruiter -> Fetch Sparkmage Apprentice ===> Win

If you have any questions just post and I'll answer. I have yet to test it against any tier 1-2 decks but as soon as I do, I'll post results.

This deck is influenced by Imperial Aluren, but the thread was closed.
Sparkmage Apprentice and Auriok Champion were in there because I had them, but for the purposes of being just a decklist I'll post optimal.

[Benie Bederios]

First of all change the name, you cant name a deck like that.

Second, I prefer playing with Spike Weaver and without wishes. That way you have:

1. No dead cards before comboing off.

2. Second more Disruption, also in the form of blockers.

3. More Tutor thanks to Intuition.

The loop uses Wall of Blossoms/Raven Familiar bouncing with Man-o'-War/Raven Familar, until you find Spike Weaver, by removing counters and bouncing, you will get infinite life. Than with searching for Wall of Roots you get infinite mana and infinite +1/+1 counters. Use Eternal Witness to get enough Force of Wills to survive the next turn than attack with some 1000/1000 creatures for the win.

[bigredmeanie]

A fire Imp needs to be in your board. Also Ghitu Slinger is better than Sparkmage because it deals 2, which is significant in case you need to win at low life without Feeder.

Feeder is better than champion.

I also really like Lim duls Vault as a Tutor because it can find Aluren or Recruiter, or both.

[Tosh]

#1 I fixed It up, I posted the optimal IMO decklist for Imperial Aluren.
#2 I came up with the name AIDS because my first version didn't use Ghitu Slinger or Sparkmage, it just used Man-o'-War and Ravenous/Chittering Rats to control the board (destroying "immune system") and useing the little creatures to slowly but surely kill them. Then my friend was like: "What does AIDS stand for in your deck, Aluren Is Da Shit?" And he forced me to post that...
#3 I'm sure you mean Spike Feeder, not Spike Weaver...
#4 Why use fire Imp when I can just use Ghitu Slinger?

[Benie Bederios]

Thanks for changing the name.

Didn't you forget the Wall of Roots? You need him to get infinite mana. And about Wall of Blossoms, he is quite nice in there too.

How is the ***** matchup( wich is probably the toughest.) Can you win it, can you resolve a Aluren, or do you go beatdown, how do you board against them.

You only need 1 Feeder.

Did you think of Chord of Calling. Its is a great tutor as 1 off and is most of the time for free.

Where is Eternal Witness, that card is broken in the deck, as it can return Force of Will on the turn you went off, to stop all spells, and it can return Aluren if it is killed/countered/discarded.

Intuition is an nice tutor in the deck, especially with Witness.

How good is Chrome Mox, I used to use City of Traitors, but rarely needed it.

EDIT: removed the decklist, it was the wrong.

[Peter_Rotten]

Although some of the information here is dated, we do, in fact, have an Aluren thread!

You still don't know how to use the search function. - Zilla
Not to mention the thread was already in the LMF. ~Nightmare

[IndyTerminator]

Okay, I've been playtesting this deck for the past month or so against people at the local shop. I've played about 10 - 15 games preboard against Solidarity and about 5 games against a Train Wreck based deck. I was surprised by the results against Solidarity. They were very good. I won about 60 - 65% of the games. The soldarity list was based off of Deep6er's red splash list. I figured at the before we played that he would have a clear advantage and he very might have. He said he misplayed a few games which I will count as losses. That would bring the match-up to around 50% preboard. It seemed like I was in the games because I was able to take key cards with therapy and was able to use Force to counter key spells (Meditate mainly).

I have been having trouble with Train Wreck coupled with Extirpate preboard. I've found it very hard to win against this type of deck when you have key combo pieces removed such as Harpy and/or Aluren. Without those cards we are just a bad beatdown deck which is something these decks specialize in. I've been thinking about sideboarding Ground Seal if I start to see Extirpates flooding the field. I'm not particularly worried about it by itself as it is weak, but coupled with massive amounts of discard it can be devastating. I still feel that this deck is a strong choice. I'm planning to test Threshold and TES match-ups next. I'll let you know what I find out.

Note: I am using Alix Hatfield's list with -1 Wooded Foothills, +1 Eternal Witness.

[Nightmare]

Okay, I've been playtesting this deck for the past month or so against people at the local shop. I've played about 10 - 15 games preboard against Solidarity and about 5 games against a Train Wreck based deck. I was surprised by the results against Solidarity. They were very good. I won about 60 - 65% of the games. The soldarity list was based off of Deep6er's red splash list. I figured at the before we played that he would have a clear advantage and he very might have. He said he misplayed a few games which I will count as losses. That would bring the match-up to around 50% preboard. It seemed like I was in the games because I was able to take key cards with therapy and was able to use Force to counter key spells (Meditate mainly).

I have been having trouble with Train Wreck coupled with Extirpate preboard. I've found it very hard to win against this type of deck when you have key combo pieces removed such as Harpy and/or Aluren. Without those cards we are just a bad beatdown deck which is something these decks specialize in. I've been thinking about sideboarding Ground Seal if I start to see Extirpates flooding the field. I'm not particularly worried about it by itself as it is weak, but coupled with massive amounts of discard it can be devastating. I still feel that this deck is a strong choice. I'm planning to test Threshold and TES match-ups next. I'll let you know what I find out.

Note: I am using Alix Hatfield's list with -1 Wooded Foothills, +1 Eternal Witness.

Wouldn't Chalice of the Void be better than Ground Seal? It stops them from utilizing Duress , Dark Ritual,and Cabal Therapy, as well as Extirpate. I dunno, Ground Seal seems incredibly narrow.

[IndyTerminator]

That's very true. I completely forgot about Chalice. That would be much better as it is more versatile than Ground Seal. When I thought of Seal I was concentrating merely on Extirpate but its important in this deck that cards be versatile. I'll test out Chalice but I'm figuring that it will be pretty good.

[Vetinari]

But Chalice also stops your CoV and Brainstorm and can therefore severely limit your potential to go off.

[georgjorge]

I'm playing a version a bit similar to that of fear_these on page three (one Man-o-War, two Harpies, three Recruiters, Vaults instead of Intuitions), although I play more cantrips (Opts and Impulses). Btw, I think his version forgot the Man-o-War, and Wish IS too slow.

However, I'm curious on Birds vs. Tinder Wall. Wall is obviously better than Goblins, and sometimes allows for second-turn-kills. On the other hand, Birds allows for a second-turn Raven or Intuition (if you play them) while still being able to play Aluren third turn. Anyone been testing them both ?

As for the endless win condition debate: one Spike Feeder, nothing more.

I also wanted to debate City of Traitors (I'm running three right now). Coupled with Tinder Walls or Birds, they allow very consistent third turn kills, which helps a lot against Goblins, Burn and various Combo decks. They do make you a bit more vulnerable to Wasteland, though.

Also, Dark Confidant in the sideboard. This deck actually plays cards a bit too expensive for Confidant, but it really needs some permanent card advantage against Aggro-Control and Control, I think. The other alternative for me is Sylvan Library, but you can't use that very often...

Another sideboard card which should be included in every deck running Recruiters is Harmonic Sliver. It can't be cast pre-Aluren, but when you got Aluren down, it only needs one Recruiter to solve the problems posed by Chalice for two, Engineered Plague (Beasts), Arcane Lab, Trinisphere, and so on. The main problem for this deck, however, seems to be Mage. Boneshredder is decent to fetch with Recruiter, but probably too slow. I tried Masticore as both a threat and a way to remove Mage, but in the end, Deed is probably the best answer, with the problem being that you can't remove many cards from a Combo deck for sideboard cards if you still want to have a good chance of going off...

[Peter_Rotten]

A quick note that a Toadish list, played by FriendlyPhil, just won some dual lands in Newark, NY this past weekend. I'm warming up to this deck - and it only took about two years.

Once Aluren hits, you have insane options. I watched one player this past Saturday lose a Goblins match that he had about 2 or 3 different ways to win. One different choice and he would have simply had X life and been able to swing for the win next turn.

[BreathWeapon]

One of the cards that should be reconsidered here is Living Wish, back when Aluren was constructed, it wasn't concerned with Storm combo, but now Living Wish for The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale seems to be Green's MD line of defense against Empty the Warrens, and the deck is also a great platform for Chalice of the Void at one out of the SB.

[IndyTerminator]

I've been playtesting Aluren for the past few months and I've got to say that I've been impressed by it. Its a deck that requires patience, insight, and skill. I'm going to be taking it to Columbus and hopefully I'll be able to do the deck justice.

I did not see anything in Futuresight that helps Aluren. Pact of Negation seems pretty weak in Aluren because the deck plays so much control the first 3 - 4 turns. I did not see any strong hate cards in Futuresight for the deck either.

I honestly don't see the reason of gutting the maindeck and sideboard to add Living Wish because of the fear of Warrens. I feel it is unwarranted and rash to try and make this change. For one thing, Living Wish is really bad in the Toad build of this deck as it is a dead card going off. I want to see as few dead cards as possible. Plus, I feel that Intuition is enough tutor power in the deck. 1 Intuition will typically get all the pieces you need to go off. If you need more than one tutor then you probably shouldn't have kept that hand. I've been fiddling with the sideboard and I think adding Chalice of the Void is a fair better option than Living Wish. It helps against a lot of match-ups and isn't as narrow as Living Wish.

I now have as my sideboard:
3 Chalice of the Void
1 Cabal Therapy
1 Wall of Blossoms
1 Loaming Shaman
2 Pernicious Deed
3 Disrupt
2 Hydroblast
2 Blue Elemental Blast

Also, I've been playing around with the last spot in the maindeck. I've been changing it around from Eternal Witness #2, Wooded Foothills, and Chord of Calling. I really like the Witness, but I may test out adding in the fourth Cabal Therapy from the side to the main.

[BreathWeapon]

Aluren isn't a deck that has a lot of SBing options, considering the number of combo pieces it needs to assemble, so a Living Wish board isn't that significant. I prefer it over the Chord of Calling and a Man o' War; just being able to put a Tabernacle or a Maze on the board is enough to irritate Goblins, and it can be used to tutor for combo pieces or an Imperial Recruiter after an Aluren is on the board.

How is Living Wish dead in mid combo?

[Vetinari]

How is Living Wish dead in mid combo?

1) You often don't have any mana left when going off.

2) It breaks instant-speed (after Aluren resolves) virtue off the combo.

[BreathWeapon]

Right, but the loop can end in infinite mana, and Living Wish is more of means of using multiple Imperial Recruiters with out adding the to the MD, as well as answer to Empty the Warrens, removal and allowing the deck to turn into aggro-control if it needs to.

Most people just said it had poor tempo, but I don't think those people were using an Imperial Recruiter in the board.

Aluren + Living Wish is a two card combo, that's a lot to think about.

[IndyTerminator]

But typically you are going to be laying Aluren with very little mana left over. If Living Wish was an instant it would see play but a lot of the time I go off on my opponents turn which limits the number of options they are going to have against the combo.