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Thread: Fervent Champ & Kazuul Toll Collector

  1. #1
    bruizar
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    Fervent Champ & Kazuul Toll Collector



    Very rough draft here.. I want to do something broken with Fervent Champion and Bloodforged Battle Axe.


    4x Ancient Tomb
    4x City of Traitors
    12x Snow-Covered Mountain
    4x Shrapnel Blast
    4x Lightning Bolt
    4x Simian Spirit Guide
    4x Chrome Mox
    4x Blood Moon
    4x Magus of the Moon
    4x Fervent Champion
    4x Kazuul's Toll Collector
    2x Armory Automaton
    3x Goblin Engineer
    4x Bloodforged Battle-Axe
    1x Umezawa's Jitte
    1x Sword of Fire and Ice
    1x Sword of War and Peace
    1x Sword of Feast and Famine

    Sideboard:
    1x Sword of Death and Shadow
    1x Sword of Sinew and Steel
    4x Pyroblast
    2x Red Elemental Blast
    2x Abrade


    XMAS God hand:
    Turn 1: Spirit Guide, Ancient Tomb, Fervent Champ, double Battle Axe, equip, attack for 5, create 2 tokens.
    Turn 2: Attack for 9, create 4 tokens (or attack for lethal if you have a sword or near lethal with shrapnel blast (19) )

  2. #2
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    Re: Fervent Champ & Kazuul Toll Collector

    Bloodforged Battle-Axe involves surviving multiple combats unobstructed. It doesn't have trample, so any 1/1 blocker ruins your fun. With only one Axe it also takes several combats before it gets out of hand. Any non-Goldfish interaction (blockers, removal, counters, discard, faster combo) can disrupt you.

    Why not use Sunforger as your payoff instead? It abuses the free equip much more. You can win on the spot without needing multiple combats or worrying about blockers. White also lets you play Stoneforge Mystic.

  3. #3

    Re: Fervent Champ & Kazuul Toll Collector

    I kinda like the axe too but the creature you contemplate using to break it seems too fragile.
    Something uncounterable, unblockable, hexproof and possibly with doublestrike would be nice i guess.

  4. #4
    bruizar
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    Re: Fervent Champ & Kazuul Toll Collector

    I think the biggest issue with Fervent Champ is 1 toughness vs Wren & Six, but then again. The thing is only 1 mana, and it's hasty so you can equip immediately and attack before Wren & Six can ping it. Any sword or Jitte renders W&6 irrelevant. The first strike makes chump blocks OK imo, except when it's a young pyromancer feeding it continuously. For this, you can Goblin Engineer a Sword with protection from red or white in the case of Monastery Mentor.

    There are 6-8 alternatives to Fervent Champ in the form of Kazuul's Toll Collector and Armory Automaton. The latter is really nice because it ignores Karn, Null Rod, Sorceress Spyglass and Pithing Needle against your equipment. I know about the Sunforger interaction but I feel that that's a different deck. IF I would play Sunforger, I would only splash it in order to grab Shrapnel Blasts to close out the game. Weird Mana Morphose / Ritual / Grape Shot kills are too convoluted for the aggro plan this deck attempts to achieve, and you only need 2 Shrapnel Blasts anyway. Sunforger's activation cost is not compatible with Ancient Tomb, City of Traitors and 8x Blood Moon.

  5. #5
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    Re: Fervent Champ & Kazuul Toll Collector

    Quote Originally Posted by bruizar View Post
    The first strike makes chump blocks OK imo, except when it's a young pyromancer feeding it continuously.
    The chump block won't kill it, but the lack of trample/evasion stops you both from making more Axes and dealing lethal damage once its big. You could have 4 axes equipped and deal 0 damage to opponent. You might need 5+ attacks to win, which is not quick for an "aggro" strategy.

    Champion & Equip. Attack as 3/1. 1 Copy. (17)
    Equip 2 Axes. Attack as 5/1. 2 more copies. (12)
    Equip 4 Axes. Attack as 9/1. Opponent chumps. No damage and no more copies.
    Attack as 9/1... Chump/removal.
    Equip palm to face.

    YP and Mentor tokens block it for a long time. MoM or TNN block and kill it. Thalia trades. Random dorks still stall you from dealing damage and making Axe copies.

    Same goes for Toll Collector or Automaton. Your 12/2 attacker can be chumped easily. They don't have first strike, so they trade with regular 2/x dorks.

    The problem is none of your guys have built-in trample, protection or evasion. They die to everything, can be blocked by everything, and need multiple consecutive attacks to get threatening. Yeah W6 kills Champion. But so does Bolt, StP, Fatal Push, PFire, Dismember, etc. The right Sword can protect them, but that's a slow interaction with a 3-of Goblin Engineer to set up. It costs many turns of tempo, slowing down your "aggro" plan to play around 1 cmc instant removal (which they can still cast in response to equip). Spellskite might be a cleaner way to dodge removal.

    Yeah Sunforger combo is a very different deck. The advantage is it just wins the turn you equip. You don't have to keep attacking for 4+ turns (giving opponent more time to disrupt you with blockers or removal or racing). Are there other equipment you could use that let you win faster? Axe is just slow and vulnerable outside magical Xmasland.

    Would Quietus Spike kill in fewer hits? Your first attack already does the most damage, so even if you get disrupted before you untap they're in easier range to pick them off with random attacks and burn.

    Edit: If you do want to break Bloodforged Battle-Axe, what about playing RW for Puresteel Paladin? The Axe tokens turn on Metalcraft and the copies entering draw you cards! White also gives Stoneforge Mystic (to find Swords) and Mother of Runes (to not die to everything as easily).

  6. #6
    bruizar
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    Re: Fervent Champ & Kazuul Toll Collector

    I hear you on the chumping, Jitte could easily be played in multiples as it picks off chumpers easily. The Battle Axe is vulnerable, and you may be right in that it is too vulnerable, I'm not sure. I want to see it in action because the upside potential is high. Puresteel Paladin is a solid card, it would require a different manabase and list, but serving as an aggressive draw engine is good upside. Do you have a list in mind? I like Spellskite, you can easily equip it if you have nothing else on board to protect.

    O-Naginata is also an efficient option, it used to be played in Workshop decks in Vintage many many years ago. 1 mana for 3 damage is the same ratio as lightning bolt, and it gives trample.

  7. #7
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    Re: Fervent Champ & Kazuul Toll Collector

    O-Naginata is interesting. It doesn't work with Fervent Champion or Puresteel Paladin (not 3 power) but does work with Kazuul. Or you can add it aftre attaching something else.

    Here's a draft for an RW list


    //Creatures: 25
    4 Mother of Ruins
    4 Fervent Champion
    4 Stoneforge Mystic
    4 Puresteel Paladin
    3 Spellskite
    2 Goblin Engineer
    2 Armory Automaton
    2 Mirran Crusader

    //Artifacts: 11
    4 Aether Vial
    3 Bloodforged Battle-Axe
    1 O-Naginata
    1 Umezawa's Jitte
    1 Sword of Fire and Ice
    1 Sword of Feast and Famine
    1 Batterskull

    //Spells: 4
    4 Swords to Plowshares

    //Lands: 20
    4 Arid Mesa
    4 Prismatic Vista
    1 Flooded Strand
    2 Plateau
    2 Snow-Covered Mountain
    4 Snow-Covered Plains
    2 Ancient Tomb
    1 Karakas

    //Rough Sideboard: 15
    3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
    2 Containment Priest
    2 Ethersworn Canonist
    2 Phyrexian Revoker
    1 Grafdigger's Cage
    1 Tormod's Crypt
    1 Relic of Progenitus
    1 Sword of Light and Shadow
    2 Wear // Tear


    Mother & Spellskite protect you from removal

    Stoneforge & Engineer tutor for equipment

    Champion, Puresteel and Automaton are your free equip targets (although Puresteel is a bit hard to enable)

    Mirran Crusader is a backup beatdown plan that doubles up your equipment triggers.

    Vial helps cheat mana costs, freeing up mana for equipment. It also builds Metalcraft and acts as Engineer fodder to recur dead equipment.

    The problem with this shell is it has no interaction with unfair decks game 1. Maybe Thalias should be MD?
    Last edited by FTW; 10-01-2019 at 07:59 PM.

  8. #8
    bruizar
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    Re: Fervent Champ & Kazuul Toll Collector

    Quote Originally Posted by FTW View Post
    O-Naginata is interesting. It doesn't work with Fervent Champion or Puresteel Paladin (not 3 power) but does work with Kazuul. Or you can add it aftre attaching something else.

    Here's a draft for an RW list


    //Creatures: 25
    4 Mother of Ruins
    4 Fervent Champion
    4 Stoneforge Mystic
    4 Puresteel Paladin
    3 Spellskite
    2 Goblin Engineer
    2 Armory Automaton
    2 Mirran Crusader

    //Artifacts: 11
    4 Aether Vial
    3 Bloodforged Battle-Axe
    1 O-Naginata
    1 Umezawa's Jitte
    1 Sword of Fire and Ice
    1 Sword of Feast and Famine
    1 Batterskull

    //Spells: 4
    4 Swords to Plowshares

    //Lands: 20
    4 Arid Mesa
    4 Prismatic Vista
    1 Flooded Strand
    2 Plateau
    2 Snow-Covered Mountain
    4 Snow-Covered Plains
    2 Ancient Tomb
    1 Karakas

    //Rough Sideboard: 15
    3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
    2 Containment Priest
    2 Ethersworn Canonist
    2 Phyrexian Revoker
    1 Grafdigger's Cage
    1 Tormod's Crypt
    1 Relic of Progenitus
    1 Sword of Light and Shadow
    2 Wear // Tear


    Mother & Spellskite protect you from removal

    Stoneforge & Engineer tutor for equipment

    Champion, Puresteel and Automaton are your free equip targets (although Puresteel is a bit hard to enable)

    Mirran Crusader is a backup beatdown plan that doubles up your equipment triggers.

    Vial helps cheat mana costs, freeing up mana for equipment. It also builds Metalcraft and acts as Engineer fodder to recur dead equipment.

    The problem with this shell is it has no interaction with unfair decks game 1. Maybe Thalias should be MD?

    I dont see why you would run this over death and taxes. The idea I had was a resilient red deck wins deck with moons for disruption. I would perhaps run goblin guides over things like mother of runes.

  9. #9
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    Re: Fervent Champ & Kazuul Toll Collector

    Yeah Death & Taxes is better. Just a shell for how RW could work. Once you're in white, Stoneforge and Mom are auto-includes for an equipment combo. Without Mom protection you lose too hard to removal/blockers. If you don't protect the "combo guys" and just beat face with anything, the Axes get too cumbersome to equip - not worth paying 2 mana each - better off with just Swords and Jitte.

    I don't see why to run your deck over Moon Stompy. It doesn't have enough aggro or burn to be RDW. Compared to Moon Stompy it has less interaction (Chandra, Fiery Confluence), can't play Chalice (Chalice/Sphere is a huge part of the win%), and has conditional multi-card threats (vanilla dork + equipment) instead of 1-card win conditions (Warboss, Rabblemaster, Karn). Less disruption, more card disadvantage, and higher variance.

    Compared to non-Chalice Moon decks (i.e. Imperial Painter), you're also an A+B combo vulnerable to creature removal and artifact hate, except you need several unblocked attacks instead of winning immediately. They also get a big power boost from 8 blasts.

    It's a cool equipment concept, but it lacks resilience. You need to assemble dork + equipment without easy ways to do that (Engineer is slow). It's stopped by blockers, removal, discard, counters, etc... and has very conditional draws.

    Do you have any playtest results where this concept actually got there?

  10. #10
    bruizar
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    Re: Fervent Champ & Kazuul Toll Collector

    I ordered my playset of fervent champs and got my Kazuuls and Bloodforge Axes way back because I thought they showed latent potential. I agree that Moonstompy disrupts harder, this is not it because Chalice for 1 is so fundamental to the stompy strategy. I want this deck to be the most aggressive version I can come up with, with very light resistance to delay a turn or two at most. So, lots of hasty aggressive beaters that can carry equipment or convert artifacts to damage, or direct burn.

    If that version doesn't pan out, then I'm gonna to trash it for now.

  11. #11
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    Re: Fervent Champ & Kazuul Toll Collector

    If you want this to be RDW style beatdown with Moons, why not just play more hasty beaters in a Moon deck? What does the Axe combo add? Does dork + 1 axe actually outrace other decent hasty threats?

    There are some great beatdown creatures to play with Moons.


    Ahn-Crop Crasher
    Avalanche Riders
    Changeling Berserker
    Earthshaker Khenra
    Eidolon of the Great Revel
    Geier Reach Bandit
    Goblin Guide
    Goblin Rabblemaster
    Goblin Ruinblaster
    Hazoret, the Fervent
    Hellspark Elemental
    Hero of Oxid Ridge
    Legion Warboss
    Rakka Mar
    Robber of the Rich
    Scab-Clan Berserker
    Shaman of the Great Hunt

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