I was inspired by M19’s Goreclaw to build a deck that can take advantage of it’s cost reduction and built in, recurring, mini overrrun effect (pump and trample).
Mechanistically, the deck is similar to Nic Fit in that it plays rather large creatures (usually on turn two). It utilizes Chalice, Trini, Lodestone and Choke as the disruption suite in lieu of Cabal Therapy. It also utilizes the time tested stompy manabase for accleration.
The deck has proven to be a very powerful combination of synergies, but I hope you can give me some feedback on further refining the list.
Very happy that DnT/Karakas got knocked down a peg by Wrenn and Six.
Current List:
1 Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers
8 Forest
4 City of Traitors
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Chrome Mox
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
4 Lodestone Golem
3 Traxos, Scourge of Kroog
3 Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma
3 Questing Beast
2 Surrak, the Hunt Caller
2 Verdurous Gearhulk
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Once Upon A Time
4 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Rhonas the Indomitable
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Prowling Serpopard
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
Sideboard:
4 Choke
3 Force of Vigor
3 Trinisphere
2 Sorcerous Spyglass
2 Veil of Summer
1 Collector Ouphe
The sideboard could use more utility creatures like Ouphe.
Also considering maindecking a Sylvan Library and a Trinisphere or two (in place of some of the GSZ targets) to smooth out the curve and amp up the disruption element while adding to the Historic count for Traxos.
Once Upon A Time does a great job in getting you a Tomb for a turn one Chalice far more frequently. Twenty Six Historic Spells should be enough to ensure that Traxos is effectively a 2-4cc 7/7 Vigilant Trampler. Twenty 4 power creatures is enough to make Goreclaw a incredibly potent cost reducing overrun effect. And being able to side in 4 Choke post board is enough to give this deck a prison plan comparable to Dragon Stompy.
The key will be properly sequencing Lodestone so that it either disrupts your opponent far more than it disrupts you, or where you are able to play around it.
Older List:
1 Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers
9 Forest
4 City of Traitors
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Chrome Mox
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
3 Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma
2 Surrak, the Hunt Caller
4 Lodestone Golem
2 Traxos, Scourge of Kroog
2 Verdurous Gearhulk
1 Wurmcoil Engine
4 Chalice of the Void
2 Trinisphere
1 Sylvan Library
1 Karn, Scion of Urza
4 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Eternal Witness
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Prowling Serpopard
1 Rhonas the Indomitable
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Thragtusk
Sideboard:
4 Choke
3 Sorcerous Spyglass
8 Other
Sideboard Options:
Karakas
Ratchet Bomb
Thorn of Amethyst
Mindbreak Trap
Tsunami
Nature's Way
Ground Seal
Compost
Krosan Grip
Vivien Reid
Tutorable Targets:
Scavenging Ooze
Runic Armasaur
Ramunap Excavator
Deathgorge Scavenger
Wickerbough Elder
Obstinate Baloth
Carnage Tyrant
Woodland Bellower
Last edited by Captain Hammer; 10-03-2019 at 05:50 AM.
Rhonas Polukranos Temur Sabretooth and Blastoderm seems natural fit here
Consider also Vengevine package. If it goes well GG gives you 2 of them
I feel like a few 3 drop creatures are necessary. A search brings up a few which look serviceable:
Rhonas, the Indomitable
Thundering Wurm / Fallow Wurm
Yasova Dragonclaw
Of which Rhonas seems like it should definitely be included.
I think your 4 drops can be way better too. Thought-Knot Seer seems like an auto-include (swap some forests for green/x painlands). Maybe this is a deck that can bring back Masticore?
And then there's the Wirecat for max spice.
Thank you. All solid suggestions.
In which slots do you think they would fit the best?
I need to figure out three cards along with a Forest to cut from my list above (will try cutting 3 Baloth) so that I can add
1 Noble Hierarch
1 Rhonas
1 Temur Sabertooth
1 Polukranos
Here is a revised build incorporating the suggestions so far. Not sure yet if this is an improvement or a step back.
10 Forest
4 City of Traitors
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Chrome Mox
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
3 Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma
3 Surrak, the Hunt Caller
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Trinisphere
3 Choke
4 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Noble Hierarch
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Eternal Witness
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Runic Armasaur
1 Deathgorge Scavenger
1 Prowling Serpopard
1 Rhonas the Indomitable
1 Temur Sabertooth
1 Polukranos, World Eater
1 Wickerbough Elder
1 Obstinate Baloth
1 Thragtusk
Last edited by Captain Hammer; 07-14-2018 at 03:16 PM.
Don't forget about Chameleon Colossus. Can't be pushed and blocks anglers all day.
I don't understand the point of Goreclaw
You aren't playing anything that costs more than 4 (only Thragtusk) so it doesn't help you ramp into anything, and it doesn't interact with GSZ at all
The mana reducing ability is also a huge nonbo with Trinisphere
Wouldn't you rather have good standalone threats in this deck rather than a pseudo-vanilla 4-drop that you can't play in multiples and gets bounced by Karakas?
It's even an X/3 so it still gets bolted, it just seems worse than Tireless Tracker, or Thrun, or Vengevine, or...
Titania + Crucible for endless sweetness
The reason I’m not big on Rhonas as anything other than a one of is that the card is only good if you have another fatty on the board. The current creatures all work just fine even if there isn’t another fatty in play. Deathtouch is a useless ability on a 5/5 and Goreclaw already gives your guys trample and pump (for free).
I also think it might make sense to cut a Forest for a Noble Hierarch.
Kombatwiki,
Goreclaw gives all your fat creatures Trample (and Surrak gives them all haste).
It makes the deck resistant to Wasteland and Blood Moon effects.
It still ramps since Goreclaw can be played with a low land count using ESG on turn 1-2 and will allow you to play your deck even if you miss a couple of land drops.
It allows for broken plays where you can play a huge fattie and a disruption spell on the same turn, which matters a lot in a deck with a high curve like this one.
It’s not a nonbo with Trinisphere, the cost will still be cheaper, and if you have both Trinisphere and Goreclaw down in this meta, you’re already winning or atleast slowed down your opponent enough that your creatures costing 3 mana instead of 2 mana isn’t a big deal.
The curve is perfect right now. If you play too many high cc cards, the deck becomes dependent on Goreclaw which is the only situation where your opponent using their removal on Goreclaw can cripple you. The curve as it is now, the deck functions perfectly fine without Goreclaw but gets more explosive turns if you get Goreclaw down early.
Okay, got some testing in and Rhonas the Indomitable ended up being more potent than I expected it to be.
The deck itself is very solid.
Help me rejigger the list to support a full set of Baloth and 2-3 Rhonas.
What cards should I cut to make this happen? Hierarch? Deathgorge? Runic? Temur? What else?
> Deathtouch is a useless ability
(*) Deathtouch with trample isn't totally useless if Goreclaw gives Rhonas trample, but that is pretty specific. Rhonas also has some synergy with your utility critters, for example, giving +2/+0 to a Reclamation Sage turns Rhonas into an attacker. If I were testing this I would try out 1--2 copies, but I can see why you'd be leery of a card that's not a threat by itself.
(*) I agree that Thought-Knot Seer seems very good here... is the problem added vulnerability to Wasteland in your green sources? Seems like you'd need to run green painlands or Hashep Oasis.
(*) Is Obstinate Baloth that good? I can see it counteracting life loss from Ancient Tombs, but you're usually the aggressor, right? I can only think of two cards against which the discard clause is useful: Liliana of the Veil and Hymn to Tourach. Are you worried about those two specifically? (Hymn decks are usually also blue decks, so isn't the plan of maindecking Choke and overloading their Force of Wills giving you a good fighting chance already?) Regarding the point above, I can see why maybe you're worried about Wasteland vulnerability, but if that was a non-issue then Thought-Knot Seer would totally be better than Obstinate Baloth, right?
(*) Your GSZ toolbox seems too deep. How has it worked out? Off the top of my head, Runic Armasaur seems questionable as a creature that doesn't have 4 power and Wickerbough Elder seems redundant with Reclamation Sage (which I assume is better since it's faster). I also wonder about Dryad Arbor. I guess it must be good because it's a staple with GSZ, but stompy decks usually want lock pieces on turn 1 instead of a mana dude. So overall I wonder how the GSZ package has worked and which cards there have had an impact.
(*) Isn't singleton Jitte good here? Pumping a creature that's already pumped by Goreclaw is good because you're pumping a creature with trample. Pumping a smaller/utility creature (like the creatures in the GSZ toolbox) is good with either Surrak or Goreclaw (or Rhonas) since you then get above a power threshold. I can tell you like lifegain since you have Baloth in here already, and getting rid of little creatures is something the deck doesn't already do. I also wonder about Sword of Fire and Ice, since it gets you past TNN, although I know you don't want too much equipment.
Edit:
Runic Armasaur, Prowling Serpopard, and especially Deathgorge Scavenger all seem like easy cuts for your second Rhonas. Which ones have been working best?
I am surprised you want the full set of Obstinate Baloth, but it sounds like you've tested with and without them. It's not obvious which 4-drops to cut to make room. Have you encountered any problems with drawing too many Goreclaws and Surraks? Since they're legendary, I could imagine shaving one of either/both. Doing that and also removing Wickerbough Elder (leaning on Reclamation Sage instead) would give you the full playset of Baloths.
Edit2:
Further ideas:
(*) Manglehorn doesn't catch enchantments like Reclamation Sage, but most of your targets are artifacts anyway and Manglehorn hurts more against decks that want to use mana acceleration (Chrome Mox, Mox Diamond, Lion's Eye Diamond, Lotus Petal). Seems good in the sideboard.
(*) Have you thought about Phantom Centaur? It has protection from Gurmag Angler, Baleful Strix, Fatal Push, and (mostly) Lightning Bolt.
(*) The big challenge is finding 3-drops. Yasova Dragonclaw seems like the best one, but you're already weak to Karakas. I don't know how to shore up the deck against Karakas.
Awesome suggestions.
I like the idea of playing 4 Hashep Oasis along with 4 Thought-Knot. My one concern is that even with 12 colorless sources, that’s not enough to guarantee we will always have one to play Thought Knot with. The deck would need 14-15 colorless sources to consistently support 4 Thought-Knot and doing so means maindecking Boreal Druid instead of Noble Hierarch and cutting all creatures that have GG in the casting cost.
Yes Jitte would be great in the deck. But space in the deck is a premium. All the creatures it plays have been good and I’m having difficulty figuring out which ones to boot.
Here is a sample list with those changes...
6 Forest
4 Hashep Oasis
4 City of Traitors
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Chrome Mox
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
4 Thought-Knot Seer
3 Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma
2 Rhonas the Indomitable
2 Surrak, the Hunt Caller
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Trinisphere
3 Choke
1 Jitte
4 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Boreal Druid
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Eternal Witness
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Prowling Serpopard
1 Obstinate Baloth
1 Thragtusk
The question becomes whether Though-Knot is a worth the additional inconsistency.
In this deck if you go the colorless Eldrazi route consider Reality Smasher
Krosan Tusker
Shaman of Forgotten Ways
Whisperer of the Wilds
All look to be decent options if we choose to pursue a more ramp strategy. However I can’t think of any creatures we want to ramp to.
Last edited by Captain Hammer; 07-15-2018 at 05:03 PM.
You play 8 Sol lands, 4 Chrome Mox and 4 ESG? You totally want to have some 5cc creature to give haste to like Titania or Primeval Titan Blastoderm (haste trample shroud? Yes please)
Carnage Tyrant? Creeperhulk? Garruk’s Horde? Giant Adephage? Greater Sandwurm? Greenwarden of Miranda? Honored Hydra? Hydra Broodmaster? Nylea, the other green god? Oran-ryef Hydra?
Outland Colossus with the trample + haste enablers kills in 2 turns
Rampaging Baloths
Regal Behemoth for card and mana advantage
Thundering Tanadon
Worldbreaker? With Behemoth and Goreclaw it is a 3 mana spell in a deck with 8 Sol lands
I would not play a singleton jitte in a stompy deck unless you have some way to fetch it.
this deck is pretty much sylvan plug. Although that thread has seen little activity over the last year it is pretty much the same deck with an updated creature list.
Play 4 Card Blind!
Currently Playing
Legacy: Dark Depths
EDH: 5-Color Hermit Druid
Currently Brewing: [Deck] Sadistic Sacrament / Chalice NO Eldrazi
why cards are so expensive...hoarders
Poron,
I’ll put some of your suggestions in quotes, just the cards that most players aren’t familiar with:
Primeval Titan
Blastoderm
Carnage Tyrant
Creeperhulk
Garruk’s Horde
Giant Adephage
Greater Sandwurm
Greenwarden of Miranda
Honored Hydra
Hydra Broodmaster
Nylea, God of the Hunt
Oran-rief Hydra
Outland Colossus
Rampaging Baloths
Regal Behemoth
Thundering Tanadon
Worldbreaker
Lots of cool cards to try out, thanks.
My experience with the deck though, Goreclaw is a supplement, but its a mistake to play creatures that are uncastable without Goreclaw.
Thus anything that costs 7 mana is out. And anything costing 6 mana needs to be super resilient and capable of winning the game by itself.
The creatures that curve the best cost 2G, 3G and 4G and my goal is to maximize the number of cards at those casting costs.
I considered Goreclaw for MUD, which was difficult due to the 3G cost, coming down reliably only from turn 3 on.
Lodestone Golem and Wurmcoil Engine are still better than most of your creatures, if you struggle to fit in Thought-Knot Seer.
Colourless cards may make the Chrome Mox/ESG manabase weak, then Lotus Petal/Grim Monolith is also a potent acceleration package.
I think Wurmcoil Engine makes a great addition to the deck.
Traxos is another excellent option and we can leverage the fact that almost all the spells we play are either artifacts or legendary creatures.
If you accept the GG world, Nylea is a 6/6 trampler for 1G with Goreclaw
I know 3G and 4G is your best friend but if you find more value in some 2GG and 3GG you should consider it so you can add Nylea which is a beast in sinking excess mana
Also: why you are not playing Sylvan Library?
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