Yeah I agree, it was a lot easier to metagame for lurrus than oko. I'm wondering if building it UX with mystical dispute...possibly our own oko too could be good?
However, DJ Izma just went 5-1 in the kmc event to make top 8 with Keruga featuring cycle turtle! https://twitter.com/djizma_mtg/statu...892704257?s=19. Dodge Oko, win matches!
The RG shell is kinda interesting, but I wonder if the Keruga restriction is worth it in the current Oko meta. Red blasts would make quick work of any of that nonsense.
How viable would Jegantha be as companion in comparision? It would require some remodelling of the top end (no Chandras, Ceratops or Confluence, but having access to a GSZ threat + toolbox). It would open up new options for SB hate (while losing some) and you could run my favorite RG pet combos - Sylvan Library + Words of War. No Oko (or players/creatures, for the matter) can withstand 6+ damage a turn for long and since both are enchantments, he can't touch either. Multiple Libraries even scale as long as you have mana to spend it on more burn.
In RG I think song of the dryad might be the best option to put in. Two other ideas I'm considering...one is w for hanna's custody then mostly artifact critters. It stops oko from elk'ing food plus protects our stuff then you get to draw with keruga. Not sure if Uw or Gw. Second option, is running posts then going bigger.
Where did Karn go? Karn -> Needle naming Oko is one line of defense.
I mean, I was busy searching scryfall for creatures that could stand up to Oko (Biogenic Ooze?), but it’s hard to think of cards that deserve slots in this deck above Karn, and if even that’s not included...
Edit: Phantom Centaur dies to StP like everything, but it dodges black removal, chews through enemy creatures and elks and red removal, and laughs when Oko targets it. For whatever that’s worth...
Edit2: Phantom Nantuko kind of amusing for similar reasons. Both Phantoms are immune to death touch if they have any counters on them.
Edit3: The First Iroan Games! I dare you to Elk my soldier... and later I get to draw cards and fix my mana!
This deck is worth revisiting for the lulz.
Choke/Back to Basics/Blood Moon stompy is a thing again with Astrolabe banned.
//Companion: 1
1 Keruga, the Macrosage
//Mana: 30
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Ancient Tomb
4 City of Traitors
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Grove of the Burnwillows
3 Forest
2 Mountain
2 Taiga
//Prison: 10
4 Trinisphere
4 Blood Moon
2 Choke
//Enchantments: 2
2 Klothys, God of Destiny
//Planeswalkers: 6
4 Karn, the Great Creator
2 Chandra, Awakened Inferno
//Creatures: 12
2 Goblin Rabblemaster
2 Anje's Ravager
4 Bonecrusher Giant
4 Thought-Knot Seer
//Sideboard: 14
4 Leyline of the Void
4 Chalice of the Void
1 Mycosynth Lattice
1 Helm of Obedience
1 Liquimetal Coating
1 Ensnaring Bridge
2 Kozilek's Return
The stompy manabase and durdly stompy games are probably where the Companion cost has the least drawback, and the only thing this strategy really loses maindeck is Chalice - which can be boarded in vs fast decks where it matters more than Keruga.
I agree, I think people realise now that the 8 spirit guide shell is strong. I think this list could use 1-2 gemstone too. I've been considering a UR list with 8 forces, 8 spirit guides, and 4 blood moon plus hippo but not sure how to fill it out.
That's actually what I started with and how I ended up here.
The problem with 8 guide + 8 Force is it's major card disadvantage, so you need to make up for it by powering out something that threatens to win the game if resolved on turn 1. Tibalt did that. A lot of other cards don't.
Cascade Hypergenesis combo is one option I thought about, and it would allow enough blue cards to support Forces. Unfortunately Keruga doesn't work if Hypergenesis is in the deck.
Then I ended up back on this Keruga Stompy shell that flew under the radar in the companion era because it wasn't Lurrus. Turn 1 Trinisphere or Blood Moon can win the game, especially now that Astrolabe is banned. RU for Forces is possible, but Forces are also bad with 3sphere and then you need enough blue cards worth running to support them.
I think Gemstone isn't needed because we already have 8 Sol Lands. 8 Sol Lands + 8 Spirit Guides is pretty consistent for 3 mana on turn 1. Cascade decks don't have Sol Lands and need 2 different colors of colored mana, so Gemstone is needed more despite the card disadvantage.
It’s less consistent than spirit guides, but chancellor of the tangle plus gemstone mine solve some of the card disadvantage problems (you can stack your pregame effects to reveal chancellor before imprinting it)
Another option is to make this a Leyline of Lifeforce deck.
It powers up geruda and with ssg you have no mana source for them to counter (which is usually the problem with leyline of life force)
moon -> magus, Chandra -> Eldrazi obligator, karn -> smasher, Choke -> Klothys aren’t huge downgrades and let you run more sol lands. 3ball you could keep or play matter reshaper.
Chancellor would also have big synergy with Court of Bounty if you decide to run it.
Chancellor of the Tangle+Gemstone Caverns is a cute interaction, but does this deck even need that much acceleration? 8 spirit guides and 8 sol lands are a lot. Both Tangle and Caverns are more conditional and do nothing more often. Turbo Tibalt didn't have sol lands, so even though this looks like it's "missing" Gemstones (relative to Tibalt) it has even more explosive turn 1 mana. Gemstone Caverns could be in the SB to board in on the draw, but it's terrible OTP.
The Leyline idea is also interesting and would push this in a different direction.
You could push through creatures like Questing Beast, Ramunap Excavator, Tireless Tracker, Hermit of the Natterknolls. Maybe Acidic Slime or Titania, Protector of Argoth.
Green Stompy
//Companion: 1
1 Keruga, the Macrosage
/Mana: 30
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
4 Chancellor of the Tangle
4 Ancient Tomb
4 City of Traitors
8 Forest
3 Wooded Foothills
3 Wasteland
//Enchantments: 7
4 Leyline of Lifeforce
3 Choke
//Artifacts: 4
4 Trinisphere
//Creatures: 19
3 Tireless Tracker
3 Ramunap Excavator
2 Reclamation Sage
4 Lodestone Golem
3 Questing Beast
2 Titania, Protector of Argoth
//Sideboard:
4 Leyline of the Void
2 City of Solitude
2 Krosan Grip
1 Wasteland
2 Thought-Knot Seer
2 Court of Bounty
2 Tangle Wire
You gain Wastelock but lose Blood Moon
Maybe with the green court it becomes feasible to consider playing 4 Chancellors, or becoming more like Chunderbucket with Elvish Piper.
For future reference, a list of rg creatures that cheat on mana costs somehow (not including delve or affinity for obvious reasons)
The Ringheart crest
Battle Mammoth
Quake Bringer
Sarulf’s packmate
Scorn Effigy
Keldon Halberdier
Bonecrusher Giant
Lovestruck Beast
Gisalta, Primal Hunger
Chancellor of the Tangle
Chancellor of the Forge
Battle Mammoth is interesting. You could either Foretell it or cheat it out with Court of Bounty, and it's a beefy threat that stays ahead in cards.
Yah other than bonecrusher that seemed to be the most interesting. It has a lot of parallels to eldrazi smasher if you don’t want to run eldrazi temple.
Quakebringer has some nice synergy with bonecrusher giant too though.
Of course Chalice comes to mind. I like Natural Order but it sucks when it gets countered. Once Upon a Time seems not shitty. Also, Kogla, the Titan Ape. Cool deck btw!
"WaaaauuugghhhaaaauuugghhhaauuugghhhaaauuugghhhW" -Chewbacca
Kogla's a great idea. A lot of value on one card, even if the mana cost is hard.
Chalice and OUAT are normally staples of Green Stompy but do not work with Keruga. It may be that regular stompy without Keruga is better, but I am interested in exploring if we can make Keruga work.
If you can power out an early lockpiece or two, the companion ensures the deck always has a threat. A 5/4 that draws 1-3 cards seems very strong as a free card, and Leyline makes it uncounterable.
The point of the foretell creatures is that they are essentially 4 drops. The foretell is free in a deck with 8 sol lands and no colourless 2 drops. As 4 drops they are reasonable.
Gargaroth's a good one at 5 for a non-Foretell, but yeah we probably don't need many 5 drops as Keruga already fills that role and there's so much power at 4.
I started with Titania because she does something immediately on ETB and has more synergy with City/Fetch/Wasteland+Ramunap engine that complements the mana denial package and Tireless Tracker. If the deck doesn't go that way, she's less good.
Wouldn't Dryad of the Ilyian Grove be good here? Stompy mana cost, decent blocker, super-charges Ramunap, fixes mana in the RG variant and makes your Tombs painless. Only drawback would be not being able to Choke in tandem with it.
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