This deck is designed to use overlapping synergies to bring together Hollow One, Vengevine, and Death's Shadow. You may be thinking 'one of these is not like the others', and you're absolutely right. However, each of these creatures overlaps in at least one significant way, allowing the support system of the deck to gel together. Street Wraith helps to cast free or cheap Hollow Ones while also reducing life total to support Death's Shadow. Vengevine needs a discard outlet alongside cheap creatures to trigger it, so Putrid Imp and Shadow both fit that category. Careful Study feeds both Hollow One and Vengevine synergies. A fetchland mana-base allows for perfect mana but the simple act of using budget-minded shocklands such as Watery Grave feeds the Death's Shadow plan. Other attempts at bringing Hollow One and Vengevine together have focused around having as many creature-based discard outlets as possible (Putrid Imp, Tireless Tribe, Lotleth Troll.) I still use Putrid Imp and Lotleth Troll, but I eschew Tireless Tribe in order to fit in Death's Shadow. If there is to be a viable non-Delver aggro deck for the format it needs to have heavier hitters than Tireless Tribe and Basking Rootwalla. Those creatures can allow for explosive turn 1 plays but don't actually get the opponent dead fast enough to matter. The other problem with a Vengevine/Hollow One all-in aggro plan is that it isn't better than the other primary Vengevine deck in the format: Hogaak. In order for this deck to be viable it needs bigger than 1/x creatures. Well, what about a 7/7 for one mana?
The other issue of a purely aggressive Hollow-Vine deck is that it needs a way to be resilient to grave hate. Hard-casting Vengevines isn't exactly the best plan, although it could be an option. Living long enough to pull that off is unreliable. Having an aggressive creature-swarm plan and a big Shadow plan B in the mid-game seems like a great way to offset the predictable graveyard hate that I will face. Surgical Extraction is by far the most common graveyard hate, followed by Grafdigger's Cage, Rest in Peace, and Leyline of the Void. A single surgical on Vengevine won't completely ruin the game plan...especially if I board it out games 2-3 for additional targeted disruption for the matchup. Now I don't need to worry about how to cast Vengevine, the hardest creature to cast at that point would be Prized Amalgam at 3 mana. The other additions that make the strategy come together are Thoughtseize and Daze. Thoughtseize is still an incredible turn 1 play against most decks and having a 'free' way to protect a turn 'combo' with Daze is very good.
What about losing the 4 slots of Tireless Tribe? Doesn't that leave the deck short on enablers? It can, but the recent addition of Once Upon a Time to the card pool does a lot to mitigate the lower saturation of enablers, especially alongside the London mulligan. Add to that other ways of drawing into those enablers (Careful Study, Street Wraith) and the velocity of the deck is really decent. Is it Brainstorm/Ponder good? In this deck, yes, I think so. The approach is to enable the correct mix of creatures to be aggressive enough, rather than having a critical mass of creatures that relies on random opening hands to work correctly. Over the course of the 30 test games so far, Careful Study and Street Wraith have increased the consistency of this deck in a big way.
As this deck evolves I will continue adding updates. For now the list is locked in for testing purposes, and is running very consistently. The current outline is to be an explosive graveyard-based deck in the maindeck and switch to a more Shadow-oriented list post-board. I will still have ways of interaction with graveyard hate, but the sideboard won't be dominated by answering hate such as with other graveyard-based decks.
Current development as of 10/9/2020 - There is a potential divergent path with this deck by cutting Bloodghast and Prized Amalgam for Hogaak, Hooting Mandrils, and Deep Analysis. It is likely that some mix of all of those cards will become apparent, but that precise mix hasn't been established yet. Main reasons for Hogaak/Mandrils: bigger, trample threats to put more pressure than 2/1's and 3/3's. While Boodghast/Amalgam are usually 'free' the support (Wraith/OUAT/Study) doesn't always line up, but with Hogaak/Mandrils the support is always working towards making those cards possible. Deep Analysis seems very good as card advantage that supports Shadow. It's a different effect than Bloodghast/Amalgam, but it may prove to be more valuable than a few more anemic threats.
SHV version 1.0 9/24/2020
SHV vesion 1.1 9/24/2020 (sideboard change, -1 Sickening Dreams, -1 Silent Gravestone, +2 Brazen Borrower)
SHiV Version 1.2 9/25/2020 (sideboard Change, -4 Force of Will, +2 Bitterblossom, +2 Cabal Therapy)
SHiV Version 2.0 9/28/2020 (maindeck change -1 Watery Grave, -1 Lotus Petal, +1 Breeding Pool, +1 Once Upon a Time; sideboard Change, - 1 Oko, -1 Dismember, +2 Abrupt Decay)
SHiV Version 2.1 9/30/2020 (maindeck change, -1 Island, +1 Cephalad Coliseum)
SHiV Version 2.1a 10/8/2020 (added blacksummer's list below, testing shows a divergent possibility of Hogaak/Mandrils/Deep Analysis over Bloodghast/Amalgam)
4x Putrid Imp
4x Death's Shadow
4x Bloodghast
4x Vengevine
4x Hollow One
4x Prized Amalgam
4x Street Wraith
1x Lotleth Troll
3x Thoughtseize
3x Daze
4x Once Upon a Time
4x Careful Study
3x Lotus Petal
1x Reanimate
4x Polluted Delta
3x Verdant Catacombs
2x Watery Grave
1x Breeding Pool
1x Bayou
1x Swamp
1x Cephalad Coliseum
Sideboard
2x Surgical Extraction
2x Bitterblossom
2x Cabal Therapy
2x Brazen Borrower
2x Abrupt Decay
1x Sylvan Library
1x Dismember
1x Sickening Dreams
1x Karakas
1x Engineered Explosives
blacksummer has also been working on developing this deck, here is their current list for reference:
4x Putrid Imp
4x Death's Shadow
4x Vengevine
4x Hollow One
4x Street Wraith
3x Golgari Grave-Troll
2x Hogaak
2x Hooting Mandrils
3x Thoughtseize
3x Daze
4x Once Upon a Time
4x Careful Study
3x Lotus Petal
1x Reanimate
2x Deep Analysis (thinking of maindecking 2xsnuff out instead)
4x Polluted Delta
3x Verdant Catacombs
3x Watery Grave
1x Breeding Pool
1x Overgrown Tomb
1x Swamp
Sideboard
4x Force of Vigor
2x Surgical Extraction
2x Stubborn Denial
2x Brazen Borrower
2x Abrupt Decay
1x Thoughtseize
1x Dismember (can switch out for Nature's claim or pithing needle if maindeck snuff out)
1x Karakas
This version goes even deeper into overlapping synergies, taking out some of the smaller anemic threats (Bloodghast/Prized Amalgam) and instead works at getting bigger threats on board (Mandrils/Hogaak). It also incorporates an actual dredge card with GGT, which is unlikely to be hardcast or Reanimated, but it supercharges the delve Mandrils/Hogaak package.
Last edited by Mr. Safety; 10-09-2020 at 09:57 AM.
Brainstorm Realist
I close my eyes and sink within myself, relive the gift of precious memories, in need of a fix called innocence. - Chuck Shuldiner
(Reserved)
Brainstorm Realist
I close my eyes and sink within myself, relive the gift of precious memories, in need of a fix called innocence. - Chuck Shuldiner
How easy has it been to enable vengevine? You only have 8 1 drop creatures + hollow one sometimes.
I would be cutting Amalgam's postboard instead of Vengevine unless you need the blue spell count for Force of Will. They require Vengevine or Bloodghast recursion to trigger them, so cutting Vengevine means you're more likely to have to hardcast them, and 3 mana for a 3/3 isn't very good.
You mentioned Brainstorm in the opening blurb, but I don't see it in the list. I would absolutely find a way to run 4 Brainstorm in this list. You already have Careful Study and Once Upon a Time, so you don't need Ponder, but Brainstorm should definitely find a spot in here.
I'd probably cut the Amalgam's for it, actually. Brainstorm can help dig for more gas, so you can probably afford to cut some. I guess that's personal preference though... maybe in playtesting, Amalgam is just better. I don't really see anything else that would be worth cutting, either.
This is what I said about Brainstorm:
What I mean is that in this deck, Careful Study + Street Wraith + Once Upon a Time are as good as Brainstorm/Ponder in Delver. The difference is these cantrips can generate actual card advantage rather than just card quality (by making Hollow One cost lest, getting multiple creatures from the graveyard so Careful Study is really +2 cards.)Add to that other ways of drawing into those enablers (Careful Study, Street Wraith) and the velocity of the deck is really decent. Is it Brainstorm/Ponder good? In this deck, yes, I think so.
Post-board if I'm bringing in Force of Will I'm not cutting Amalgam, no way. I need the blue count. Vengevine is essentially uncastable, Amalgam in slower matchups is reasonable. In matchups where I want Force of Will and I want to play around grave hate, Amalgam as a 3/3 for 3 is going to have to be good enough. I am preparing for the inevitable situation where I will have to hard cast Bloodghast and Prized Amalagam, both of which are in the realm of possible. Vengevine with double green isn't reasonable, not without making the mana-base absolute shit.
Brainstorm Realist
I close my eyes and sink within myself, relive the gift of precious memories, in need of a fix called innocence. - Chuck Shuldiner
Fair enough on cutting Vengevine instead of Amalgam, although I think you underestimate how good Vengevine can still be postboard. Not every deck has the luxury of aggressively mulliganing into graveyard hate, especially when you have diverse threats like Shadow and Hollow One that don't use the graveyard, as well as your ability to fight through hate with postboard answers.
I realize how good Careful Study and Once Upon a Time are for you, but Brainstorm is still the best card in the format for a reason. It feels really wrong to not run it when you're in blue and have fetchlands, but I suppose Sultai Hogaak is in the same boat, so maybe you just don't need it.
Any consideration to running additional copies of Lotleth Troll between main or side?
I also think you need more than just 1 Engineered Explosives as artifact/enchantment removal. Assassin's Trophy deserves some consideration for your sideboard, I think. You do have Oko, but that seems like a stretch on 13 lands + 4 Lotus Petal, and you'll perform much better with an answer to Leyline. Hardcasting Bloodghast and Amalgam is all well and good if you have to, but it's definitely better to blow up Leyline and then cheat them out (and be able to recur them later on if they die).
Pretty easy, actually. It doesn't always happen turn 1, but it happens by turn 3 regularly. Vengevine having haste means it isn't crucial to do it immediately. This list isn't all-in, it sculpts a hand turns 1-2 and then plays out turns 3-4. Having 7 'free' extra draws in the deck for turn 1 helps to craft a pair of creatures to enable Vengevine. If not, I just play out what I have. Getting Hollow One for 1 mana isn't uncommon, even if I can't get it for free. The plan is to sculpt into the right combination of creatures rather than just any combination of creatures that enables Vengevine.
It plays better than it looks, so if you have a legitimate interest in the deck I suggest proxying it up and trying a few hands. As I mentioned in the GB Vengevine thread, this deck is just fine with a turn 1 Thoughtseize/Careful Study. It doesn't need Putrid Imp + Vengevine + Hollow One on turn 1 every game.
Think of this as a more aggressive Shadow deck rather than a less aggressive Vengevine deck. Shadow fails when it's few threats are answered, this deck goes further into threats and trims on traditional tempo elements (Force/Wasteland/removal.) I don't think UB Shadow is very competitive right now because it's threats aren't resilient enough. This has recurring creatures that can punish non-Swords to Plowshares removal.
Brainstorm Realist
I close my eyes and sink within myself, relive the gift of precious memories, in need of a fix called innocence. - Chuck Shuldiner
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