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Thread: Shadow of the Fluctuator

  1. #141
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    Re: Shadow of the Fluctuator

    could be okay, but it doesn't really help the main issue with this deck, which is finding a fluctuator.
    -rob

  2. #142

    Re: Shadow of the Fluctuator

    Seraphim:
    The deck is definitely fun. I've deconstructed my deck due to lack of opportunities to play it and wanted to sleeve up something else instead... too many graveyard reanimator style decks haha. But i do have some comments:
    -Hollow one is nice to have. I find the bonus in casting him is if i need a blocker or a threat to disrupt the opponent. Most of the time i just cycled it. but i also plan to kill via living death/igneous pouncer.
    -Why the drake/aven over other/better cycle creatures? I see you said it kept you alive once but i'm not quite getting how that would vs others, unless you simply hard cast it and only had 4 mana.
    -My build attempted to living death out 4 igneous pouncers, with no real backup plan so it was SUPER glass cannon but it worked well to that end, often turn 3-4.
    -I snuck in one lake of the dead which seems to be perfect because most of the lands come into play tapped and most are swamp subtypes so i could still get 5 mana with it on turn 3. unearth +faerie might be your version of this and that may be enough.
    -I tried the E. tutor and didn't find it to be very good in terms of consistency with white mana. So i went the transmute route of shred memory with the added bonus of going right into your hand. whatever you search for can be cast off lake mana or if you have enough in the yard, songs of the damned mana. It finds fluctuator, but it also finds shadow of the grave for you, as well as any of the 2 mana cycle creatures (and as a bonus, if you cast shadow, the transmute effect is a discard so that comes back too). Lastly, you can cast it to beat other reanimator type decks, but that never really came up as it was too slow, but you never know.
    -i really like the landcycle cards (swampcycling, etc) becuase it essentially guarantees ill replace it with at least one more cycle. good for when i think i can go off that turn.



    mistercakes doesn't use the living death route and that (his) may be a more robust strategy. having a backup X spell is probably not a terrible idea if you run 4x songs.

    i never got around to working the cabal therapy or probes in (too late now) but best of luck and keep us all posted!
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  3. #143

    Re: Shadow of the Fluctuator

    Quote Originally Posted by mistercakes View Post
    could be okay, but it doesn't really help the main issue with this deck, which is finding a fluctuator.
    Ya, I read the card wrong I think, didn't see that it needed to be a black card. Though maybe that's still useful, it''s a 2 mana tutor.

    I think you should be playing more STreet Wraiths and Gitaxian Probe, so you can thin your deck. It's good for these combo decks. Also Git Probe in grave helps turn on Dark Petition.,... Oh w8 Git Probe was banned... Shoot. That's too bad.

    They really should not have banned Git Probe, it hit Storm too.

  4. #144
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    Re: Shadow of the Fluctuator

    storm is still very good without probe. speaking of which:

    // 60 Maindeck
    // 8 Artifact
    4 Fluctuator
    4 Lotus Petal

    // 18 Creature
    4 Twisted Abomination
    4 Vile Manifestation
    4 Hollow One
    4 Street Wraith
    2 Viscera Dragger

    // 12 Instant
    4 Songs of the Damned
    4 Shadow of the Grave
    4 Dark Ritual

    // 18 Land
    4 Blasted Landscape
    4 Fetid Pools
    4 Canyon Slough
    4 Polluted Mire
    1 Snow-Covered Swamp
    1 Ancient Tomb

    // 4 Sorcery
    3 Dark Petition
    1 Tendrils of Agony


    // 15 Sideboard
    // 4 Artifact
    SB: 4 Lion's Eye Diamond

    // 5 Instant
    SB: 4 Cabal Ritual
    SB: 1 Rain of Filth

    // 6 Sorcery
    SB: 4 Infernal Tutor
    SB: 2 Past in Flames

    lacks protection but who cares, with the sb plan you should be aiming for a turn 3 or greater. haven't goldfished a ton of games but it seems fun.
    -rob

  5. #145
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    Re: Shadow of the Fluctuator

    if you like goldfishing on cockatrice:

    // 60 Maindeck
    // 12 Artifact
    4 Fluctuator
    4 Lotus Petal
    4 Lion's Eye Diamond

    // 8 Creature
    4 Street Wraith
    4 Twisted Abomination

    // 10 Instant
    1 Shadow of the Grave
    4 Dark Ritual
    1 Rain of Filth
    4 Cabal Ritual

    // 18 Land
    4 Blasted Landscape
    4 Fetid Pools
    4 Canyon Slough
    4 Polluted Mire
    1 Bayou
    1 Badlands

    // 12 Sorcery
    3 Dark Petition
    1 Tendrils of Agony
    2 Past in Flames
    2 Life from the Loam
    4 Night's Whisper

    has a lot of fun plays. no reason to play this over ANT or TES but it's cool to see that it can actually combo pretty effectively.
    -rob

  6. #146
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    Re: Shadow of the Fluctuator

    Quote Originally Posted by mistercakes View Post
    could be okay, but it doesn't really help the main issue with this deck, which is finding a fluctuator.
    I'm not really positive why we moved away from enlightened tutor given that this is the deck's main concern. The deck doesn't have other tutors or card search to make sure it gets fluctuator otherwise.

  7. #147
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    Re: Shadow of the Fluctuator

    that's kind of why i was tinkering around with dark ritual/cabal ritual and dark petition. it allows you to put a fluctuator in play with a B remaining.
    -rob

  8. #148
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    Re: Shadow of the Fluctuator


    // 60 Maindeck
    // 9 Artifact
    3 Fluctuator
    4 Lotus Petal
    2 Serum Powder

    // 16 Creature
    4 Vile Manifestation
    4 Twisted Abomination
    4 Archfiend of Ifnir
    4 Street Wraith

    // 11 Instant
    4 Shadow of the Grave
    3 Songs of the Damned
    4 Dark Ritual

    // 17 Land
    4 Blasted Landscape
    4 Fetid Pools
    4 Canyon Slough
    1 Swamp
    4 Polluted Mire

    // 4 Planeswalker
    4 Karn, the Great Creator

    // 3 Sorcery
    3 Wander in Death


    // 9 Sideboard
    // 6 Artifact
    SB: 1 Trinisphere
    SB: 1 Fluctuator
    SB: 1 Mycosynth Lattice
    SB: 1 Desecrated Tomb
    SB: 1 Abandoned Sarcophagus
    SB: 1 Chrome Mox

    // 2 Creature
    SB: 1 Molten-Tail Masticore
    SB: 1 Hollow One


    still tinkering around with it, but this version is pretty fun. hopefully the other brewers can make this a bit better.
    -rob

  9. #149
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    Re: Shadow of the Fluctuator

    Haha, New Karn is so good he can even slot into a deck like this. Great Idea!

  10. #150
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    Re: Shadow of the Fluctuator

    what's cool here is karn can function as its own win condition, and another fluctuator. (albeit slow).

    the deck can generate a ton of mana if it gets going.
    -rob

  11. #151
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    Re: Shadow of the Fluctuator


    // 60 Maindeck
    // 7 Artifact
    3 Fluctuator
    4 Lotus Petal

    // 17 Creature
    3 Vile Manifestation
    4 Twisted Abomination
    3 Archfiend of Ifnir
    4 Street Wraith
    3 Hollow One

    // 13 Instant
    4 Shadow of the Grave
    4 Songs of the Damned
    4 Dark Ritual
    1 Spoils of the Vault

    // 19 Land
    4 Blasted Landscape
    4 Fetid Pools
    4 Canyon Slough
    1 Swamp
    4 Polluted Mire
    2 Ancient Tomb

    // 4 Planeswalker
    4 Karn, the Great Creator


    // 15 Sideboard
    // 11 Artifact
    SB: 1 Trinisphere
    SB: 1 Fluctuator
    SB: 1 Mycosynth Lattice
    SB: 1 Desecrated Tomb
    SB: 3 Defense Grid
    SB: 1 Tormod's Crypt
    SB: 1 Mindslaver
    SB: 2 Alhammarret's Archive

    // 2 Creature
    SB: 1 Hollow One
    SB: 1 Walking Ballista

    // 2 Sorcery
    SB: 2 Living Death


    not sure if it's optimal, but it's a lot of fun. the 2nd archive is in there for grindy matchups, this way at least all of your cycling draws 2. this deck can cast 2-4 karns in one turn with a lot of mana. is there any 2 card artifact combos that just win the game?
    -rob

  12. #152

    Re: Shadow of the Fluctuator

    Quote Originally Posted by mistercakes View Post
    [cards]

    not sure if it's optimal, but it's a lot of fun. the 2nd archive is in there for grindy matchups, this way at least all of your cycling draws 2. this deck can cast 2-4 karns in one turn with a lot of mana. is there any 2 card artifact combos that just win the game?
    Painter's servant/Grindstone comes to mind first.

    EDIT: I guess that isn't fool proof for the odd Progenitus or more common Eldrazi deck that always has the ability to put at least one card back in, but should work for most cases. I don't know if a Leyline/Helm combo would be a better idea or not. You'll have plenty of drawing/black mana to make it work I would think.
    Quote Originally Posted by Mr. Safety View Post
    Look at the bright side, if Legacy becomes like Vintage all of us old dudes can get together, drink whiskey, and smoke cigars while we play the gentleman's format. Like an MtG speak-easy.
    Quote Originally Posted by Cire View Post
    And the Reserved List causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their portfolios: and that no man might buy or sell cards or Chinese rip offs, save he made a post about the Reserved List or the number of its Threads: 666.

  13. #153
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    Re: Shadow of the Fluctuator

    almost a year, but i think this is worth the necro.

    credit goes to Caleb Gannon on youtube for doing some videos on a pauper deck. maybe he can contribute on here.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkOSIaWgfMM is where i took the idea.

    if you don't feel like watching, then the deck more or less passes the turn once or twice, just cycling for B or 1 each time. Once it can start to generate enough mana with some ritual effects it uses the storm card to refill the hand, and using more rituals go off continuously. The coolest part of this deck is that the win condition is the drannath stinger. this means you can return it to your hand, cast a few of them and cycle until you win.


    maindeck:

    4 Drannith Healer
    4 Drannith Stinger
    4 Imposing Vantasaur
    4 Flourishing Fox
    4 Street Wraith
    4 Songs of the Damned
    4 Manamorphose
    4 Cabal Ritual
    4 Tinder Wall
    4 Fluctuator
    4 Lotus Petal
    4 Shadow of the Grave
    4 Reaping the Graves
    4 Land Grant
    3 Forest
    2 Bayou


    sb:

    1 Zirda, the Dawnwaker
    1 Hollow One


    old fluctuator build:

    • needed fluctuator in first or 2nd turn.
    • needed fluctuator to resolve.
    • needed to draw enough cycling cards and potentially mana sources AND shadow of the grave to go off. otherwise some versions could go all in and have a very very constrained deck building approach by having as few non-cycling cards as possible.
    • big advantage is potentially a turn 1 deck, albeit quite fragile.



    this version:

    • has quite a lot of redundancy, as it doesn't require fluctuator to win at all.
    • ritual effects aren't so useful until around turn 2 or 3.
    • fluctuator only benefits 19 cards in the deck.
    • gets 7-8 effects to fill hand back up.
    • can also actually cast hollow one at times by cycling 3 times for only 3 mana. (or less w/ street wraith).
    • zirda only playable if you side out the fluctuators, but still an option.
    • might be potentially a more serious deck (still tier 2, but who knows?)
    Last edited by mistercakes; 05-12-2020 at 04:14 PM.
    -rob

  14. #154
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    Re: Shadow of the Fluctuator

    Super stoked that you're revisiting this deck!

    IRC, Tinder Wall and Manamorphose were pretty explosive in the pauper version of the deck and they're even easier to cast in Legacy thanks to Bayou.

    Horror of the Broken Lands or Flourishing Fox are probably better than Architects of Will since you can always cast them as a back-up plan.

  15. #155
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    Re: Shadow of the Fluctuator

    thanks for that. didn't realize fox was another 1cc colorless cycle effect. deck can pretty efficiently cycle now without fluctuator. still not sure how many of the B cycle guys the deck should run (just to increase the number of cycling cards in the deck). hard to say.
    -rob

  16. #156
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    Re: Shadow of the Fluctuator

    what about revisiting thran turbine.

    now with all of these 1 mana cycling cards, being able to cycle twice each upkeep for free is pretty significant. thoughts? the secondary engine is much better with this.

    thoughts?
    -rob

  17. #157
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    Re: Shadow of the Fluctuator

    Is Drannith Stinger the only win condition for the deck?

    I like Thran Turbine, it's essentially Sol Ring for cycling. I messed around with a mono-black cycling deck for a little while that played Living Death and Mogis's Marauder as win conditions. Stinger is definitely a much cleaner way to win the game, especially as cycling doesn't really allow interaction. You can win in response to a removal spell, even 2 if you have enough cyclers in hand to continue the chain.

    So what does Thran Turbine do over multiple turns for you? Or are you just hoping for a 1-turn +2 mana?

    EDIT: I don't think you can play Turbine with Zirda as your companion, it doesn't have any activated abilities.
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  18. #158
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    Re: Shadow of the Fluctuator

    correct, zirda won't work with fluctuator or turbine as a companion. i think that's fine to cut zirda.

    there's a few different options. i think you can likely just run lightning rift as well if you want to go to a slower rate.

    if you want a more explosive kind of single turn, then i think reaping the graves is the important card. in legacy you might be able to also use life from the loam or some other card that can return multiple (that doesn't require you to discard the cards THAT turn, which shadow of the grave does require) after 3-4 turns of cycling (and maybe stalling the game with discard/removal/or something else) you can chain a few ritual effects and cast it. once you have filled your hand back up you can cycle until you see fit. it could also run the blue enchantment that makes guys for every 6 or 8 cards cycled (i can't recall). however i think keeping it to 2 colors is a lot safer. (stinger + lightning rift is very cool). for example with rift, turn 1 turbine, turn 2 rift, turn 3 you are getting at least 2 damage for no mana, but potentially 4 damage for 2 mana (and at a cost of 0 cards, which is the important part).


    it will take a little time to figure it out, but i think the key for making this deck into something people can actually play is determining how the deck can function in a slower manner. this is never going to be as fast as ANT TES Reanimator, so the ability to have consistency without cantrips is what should make this deck appealing.
    -rob

  19. #159
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    Re: Shadow of the Fluctuator



    4 Drannith Healer
    4 Drannith Stinger
    4 Imposing Vantasaur
    3 Reaping the Graves
    4 Flourishing Fox
    2 Thoughtseize
    2 Shadow of the Grave
    3 Dark Ritual
    2 Songs of the Damned
    2 Lightning Rift
    4 Street Wraith
    4 Fluctuator
    4 Thran Turbine
    1 Karakas
    2 Plains
    1 Mountain
    2 Swamp
    4 Badlands
    4 Plateau
    4 Scrubland



    i'd give something like this a shot. there might be some ways to get the full playset of thoughtseize in there pretty easily. i also thought about cutting some lands for aether vial, but i'm not sure there's enough low cc guys to support it (12). t1 fox is also pretty strong. you can potentially go t1 fox, t2 fluctuator and win off of that if you're lucky. (the deck might be able to run less than 18 lands b/c of all the cycling. i haven't tested at all.)
    -rob

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    Re: Shadow of the Fluctuator

    Is Mausoleum Secrets worth revisiting for the deck? It can only get black cards, but that means all of the rituals, Thoughtseize for protection, and possibly an alternative win condition like Living Death.
    Brainstorm Realist

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