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Thread: [Deck] 43 Lands

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    Taobotmox

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    [Deck] 43 Lands

    This primer update was sent to me by cuthbertthecat. It was written by Malacoda and him. Major props to them, the primer is very good and if you are new to the deck I would recommend reading it before playing a game because the deck is quite complicated to play (though also very rewarding). But even if you are already experienced with Lands you might find new tricks.


    Lands!

    Contents:

    I. History
    II. Strategy
    III. About the Deck
    IV. Card Choices
    V. Sample Decklists
    VI. Sideboarding
    VII. Matchup Analysis
    VIII. Tips and Tricks
    IX. Pimped Decks


    I.History

    Lands was developed in 2006 and first earned mainstream recognition when it went 7-0-1 at German Nationals. The earliest versions of the deck ran 43 lands (hence the name of the deck for many years) and ran a unique card advantage engine powered by Life From the Loam and Mulch and driven by the accelerants Exploration and Manabond. The deck ran a mana denial plan with Wasteland and Rishadan Port, which could easily take over a game combined with the Loam engine. The kill? Nantuko Monastery, or even Roar of the Wurm, at least in the first lists.

    /Note by me (Tao):
    The deck was initially developed in my small student flat back then. A friend of mine (S. Thomsen, the guy who went 7-0-1 and is an exceptional player with this deck with consistent X-1 or X-0 finishes) came to me and showed me a list on a German site (mercadia.de). It was quite close to what he later played but very unrefined. It had no SB and used Standstill as card draw but it already had the main engine of Exploration, Manabond, Maze, Tabernacle, Wastelands, Ports, Cycle Lands, Factories and Loam. We tinkered around with it a bit and were surprised because it performed extremely well, playing good against most things and autowinning against the deck to beat Landstill. We refined the list (adding Barbarian Ring, Mulch, Nantuko Monestary, a SB, getting rid of Standstill and a few bad lands) and the deck was heavily favored against everything with the exception of the bad matchups Solidarity and Burn with PoP. /end Note


    From there, Lands shifted from primarily mono-green into a red-green deck that capitalized on the power of Gamble and Burning Wish as versatile tutors. Players soon realized the potential in Tolaria West and began testing builds of the deck that used blue instead of red. Tolaria West's flexibility proved to be a great fit for the deck, and the equally flexible tutor Intuition joined the deck. Decks dropped the number of Lands down below 40, as the deck began to use a greater number of artifacts such as Mox Diamond with Academy Ruins. These decks also began to run a "big finisher" artifact, usually Oblivion Stone or Mindslaver.
    Soon after Intuition was developed, certain players began to see Enlightened Tutor as a card that could potentially give the deck even more flexibility. Michael Caffrey Top 32ed with the deck at a Star City Games Open and wrote a primer for Enlightened Tutor Lands, found here- http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/l...te_Primer.html. Mental Misstep was then printed, and, like many other decks, Lands was hated out and drifted out of the meta. Now that Misstep is long out of the meta, it's a great place for Lands, overrun by tempo decks and unstable manabases. Most players now use either Intuition or Enlightened Tutor as the main engine for the deck alongside Life From the Loam.


    II. Strategy

    Ideally, each game should go something a bit like this-
    1. Resolve an accelerant (Manabond, Exploration, Mox Diamond to a lesser extent).
    2. Disrupt your opponent’s mana with the use of Rishadan Port, Wasteland, and Ghost Quarter (the Quarter usually needs to be recurred several times to have any real effect, however, against decks with the mono-nonbasic manabase it’s a fifth wasteland).
    3. Tutor for or naturally have a Life from the Loam or Crucible of Worlds to recur Wasteland and Ghost Quarter to further decimate your opponent’s manabase.
    4. Play a Maze of Ith or Glacial Chasm to stall any threats your opponents have resolved.
    5. Get Tolaria West with Life from the Loam, transmuting for answers to threats that are still presenting a problem. Search for Zuran Orb if you fear burn.
    6. Transmute Tolaria West for Creeping Tar Pit, Mishra’s Factory, Inkmoth Nexus, etc. and win the game.
    If every game was as cut and dry as this, Lands would easily be the best deck in the format and people would be crying for the banning of Life from the Loam. In actuality, quite a few games can go awry depending on the level of interaction your opponent can force. Let’s go through the steps again, but see what happens when our opponent can interact, and when the lands player plays sub optimally. For this example, the Lands player is playing against a build of RUG Delver that has eschewed Stifle for Spell Pierce-
    1. Get Exploration off of Tropical Island Daze’d.
    2. Wasteland the opponent once, they draw four fetches afterwards. Complain about how lucky the opponent is.
    3. Get your Intuition, Enlightened Tutor, Entomb, Gamble, etc. Spell Pierced.
    4. Play a Glacial Chasm to your opponent’s board of four threats, they Wasteland it and put you to six life.
    5. Transmute Tolaria West for Zuran Orb in a desperate attempt to stay alive.
    6. They turn you into a Phyrexian Negator for a turn and Spell Snare the Life from the Loam you draw on turn 8. You die to a board of creatures.
    7. Dismiss Lands as a clunky, terrible deck reserved for petdecking Legacy scrubs. After all, you couldn’t possibly have misplayed or missed some subtle interactions, right?
    In this sequence of events, the Lands player made a series of mediocre plays that spiraled out of control as the game progressed. Let’s go through these plays-
    1. The Lands player ran the Exploration into an island without a mana open. It’s usually unwise to do this, although if the island in question is Tundra, the chance of your opponent running Daze is significantly less.
    2. Wasteland was fired off with no intent of recurring it. Wasteland can be used strategically to cut your opponent off of mana on a turn where you want to resolve a spell, such as the one that was Spell Pierced in step three. If instead of Wastelanding the first land that was seen, the Lands player had waited until the opponent tapped low for a threat and had only one available mana source, the Lands player could have Wastelanded their mana source at the end of a phase so the mana the opponent would float would empty and then cast their tutor effect when they receive priority in the next phase, leaving Force of Will to be the opponent’s only answer.
    3. The opponent shouldn’t have had mana to Spell Pierce the tutor effect in the first place if Wasteland was utilized correctly.
    4. If the tutor effect had resolved, you would likely have a more elegant answer to the board of attacking creatures, such as Ensnaring Bridge, Academy Ruins with Engineered Explosives, or a Life from the Loam to recur the Glacial Chasm if it was indeed your only out.
    5. If the game had stabilized in step 4, the Tolaria West could search for the Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale, ensuring that the opponent couldn’t commit any more threats to the board.
    6. The Zuran Orb would be unnecessary as well, outside of adding insurance against runner-runner burn effects from the opponent.

    Your playstyle should change based on the matchup. Against slow control decks, resolving an accelerant isn’t as high a priority, as simply making a land drop each turn is often enough to keep up with them. Against fast aggro decks, stabilizing the board with Maze of Ith and Engineered Explosives until you can resolve Zuran Orb is often the best strategy. Against combo, this decks Achilles’ heel, the best plan is to disrupt their mana and gain enough life to make winning for them impossible, or to tutor for a silver bullet that helps the matchup. Against aggro control, keeping the impact of their Knight of the Reliquary to a minimum by tutoring for redundant lands and keeping them off four mana for Jace, the Mind Sculptor are crucial.


    When playing this deck, keep in mind that stabilizing and locking up the board is priority number one, and that winning the game afterwards is elementary. Don’t bother tutoring for a way to win until you are very comfortable with the board state. If anything, if your opponent isn’t scooping, make the first game go longer than it has to. After all, a 1-0 win is still a win. Recur Mox Diamond every turn with Academy Ruins to deck your opponent if they won’t concede (each turn, stack and play the Mox Diamond, don’t discard a land so it dies, rinse and repeat). Starting game two with five minutes on the clock with the match in your favor is something you’ll get used to as a Lands player, and it feels great.

    Doing things for the most time value is a very crucial aspect of playing this deck. If you’re Rishadan Porting your opponent at upkeep with multiple Ports, announce and resolve them individually. If you’re recurring Ghost Quarter, resolve the activations individually and cut your opponent’s deck after each search. If you transmute Tolaria West knowing what you want to search, look through your entire deck to make sure you aren’t overlooking anything, and count it up to see how many more times you can dredge. If you have a Manabond in play and don’t wish to use it, announce the trigger and declare that you aren’t resolving it. Things like this don’t add too much time separately, but doing many of them per game often leads to forty minute game ones, which is exactly where this deck wants to be. This may sound like borderline cheating, but it’s actually playing in a fashion that allows for no confusion on the events of the game, while also being beneficial to this deck’s strategy.


    III. About the Deck

    Due to this deck’s usage of obscure cards, high learning curve, and high monetary value, Lands isn’t really a format staple. It does, however, possess the tools to dispatch every non-combo deck in the format, making top 8’s at multiple Star City Games opens, and top 16-64’s at various Grand Prixs and Star City Games opens.


    IV. Card Choices

    A. Tutors

    -Intuition offers more flexibility than any of our other tutors, but it comes at a great price - it is very slow. It costs 2 mana more than any of the other tutors and it often takes a couple turns to fully set up after an Intuition. However, you can generate ridiculous advantage here by making piles such as Crucible of Worlds + Academy Ruins + Life From the Loam or Loam + Tolaria West +Tranquil Thicket or even triple Exploration (Intuition as Demonic Tutor). Note that you lose 2 accelerants if you use this method. These can often be sideboarded out.

    -Entomb This tutor isn’t all too versatile; it can’t find accelerants on its own and can’t find artifact silver bullets without the help of Academy Ruins. It is very good at finding Loam though, and for finding silver bullet lands if you already have Loam. Another tutor that can be sideboarded out.


    -Crop Rotation
    This is a risky tutor in that if it’s countered, you get two for one’d. It also can’t search Loam, a huge reason tutors are included in Lands in the first place. Don’t run it as your only tutor, and have a good reason to run it at all. The best aspects of this tutor are instant speed Bojuka Bog and Glacial Chasm, both of which have their merits.

    -Enlightened Tutor
    This tutor is very good for this style of deck, where you can search for every part of your strategy. Need to recur Wasteland? Search Crucible of Worlds. Have Loam, but you can only play one land a turn? Search Exploration/Manabond. Scavenging Ooze threatening to destroy your graveyard? Search Cursed Totem. RUG Delver putting a bunch of dudes on the board? Search Ensnaring Bridge. The possibilities with this card are endless, and it even gets better postboard, unlike many of this deck’s tutors. Definitely a solid choice.

    -Gamble
    Despite the card name, this card isn’t often a gamble. Either a), you’re searching for Loam and you don’t really care what you discard, or b), you’re searching for an accelerant and your hand is likely already padded with lands. It is slightly risky though, and don’t be surprised if that Manabond you tutored for gets discarded. A fine card for this deck, although red doesn’t add too much else to this deck.


    B. Lands

    -Academy Ruins serves both as a powerful recursion engine for the many artifacts most builds run and as the engine behind our wincons. It also saves us from fringe effects like Painter-Stone and can keep us alive after a Jace ultimate.

    -Tolaria West = Demonic Tutor for our lands. It gets any land, recurs, and can also find things with CMC 0 such as Engineered Explosives and Chalice of the Void. You can also use it to find Mox Diamonds if there's not really anything else to do in order to build up mana advantage. The optimal number is 3.

    -Wasteland is everywhere in the format due to the omnipresence of dual lands. We get to run more of them than any other deck out there. Run 4.

    -Rishadan Port was first used in Goblins as a mana denial tactic and it's the same here. Tapping an opponent down on upkeep or during combat can make or break many games. Port especially shines in matchups like Stoneblade, where you've got to keep them off 4 mana at all costs.

    -The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale is a huge sweeping removal spell that serves double duty as mana denial. Be aware that it doesn't produce mana on its own. You only need one, but you need it. Lists have run an extra copy in the board when tribal decks were dominant.

    -Maze of Ith also does not produce mana, but is a hugely effective piece of creature removal. It can win singlehandedly against some decks, and is great against the thresh decks running around, which run just a few creatures.

    -Glacial Chasm is our best "Oh, shit," button. It has many drawbacks, but most of them mean nothing to the deck when your opponents cannot deal damage and when you're recurring lands every turn. It auto-wins against decks without Wasteland that seek to kill through ground damage since it results in an infinite loop with Life From the Loam, and can thus even beat decks that cheat out Progenitus T1 or T2. You only need one. Be very aware that you can get blown out by Wasteland when using it. Often times when you have to play this card, it implies that you’ve misplayed at some point to back yourself into a corner where Chasm is your only out. In games where you’re forced to go for Chasm, evaluate what you could’ve done differently that game and where things went wrong. It is invaluable and unique in certain matchups though, such as Burn, Zoo, and Belcher, and is often the best option there.

    -Tranquil Thicket and Horizon Canopy serve as CA for the deck, and can be used to Loam multiple times in one turn lategame. Both can "save" Loam from Surgical Extraction by drawing in response, dredging Loam back to your hand and fizzling Surgical. Horizon Canopy also fixes, but the life loss is not irrelevant. Canopy has great synergy with Crucible, making it a fine choice for Enlightened Tutor builds. Most lists run 2-3 Thicket, however.

    -Karakas is pretty much an auto-win against Reanimator and can be the same for Show and Tell decks. It also provides white in E-Tutor builds. If you don't run it main, you should have one side boarded. Can also bounce Gaddock Teeg to let you sneak an Engineered Explosives through.

    -Bojuka Bog can be either maindecked or sideboarded if you wish, as it's generally a meta call. It can be mained in a meta where Threshold, Snapcaster, Reanimator, and Knight of the Reliquary are king,.

    -Ghost Quarter serves as an alternate Wasteland for problem lands if Waste is extracted and can also be used to Quarter lock someone - recurring Ghost Quarter enough times to entirely lock your opponents out of mana. It can also be used on your own lands such as Bojuka Bog or Tolaria Wests that have made it into play in order to reuse them via Loam. Can also act as a faux fetchland for your one-of basic forest.

    -Mishra's Factory is a standard mainland in most lists. It is an effective blocker, can answer Planeswalker on a clear board, and can be a win condition. While not necessary, many lists run 2-3. A fine inclusion.

    -Creeping Tar Pit is the best answer to Jace, who is a real problem for the deck. It's also an effective win condition and usable as a blocker if necessary.

    -Inkmoth Nexus is a good way to block creatures, the -1/-1 counters can accumulate and kill Goyfs and Mongeese. It has a low power, so sneaking it under your own Ensnaring Bridge is very easy, and flying is relevant to block Vendilion Clique. Not a good choice as your only wincon, as it can never deal with Jace, but a fine inclusion if you want additional ways to win.

    -Cabal Pit is an effective land as removal, but has the problem of being unreliable in terms of Threshold, especially post-board. I've found it to be generally win-more, and it's extremely aggravating having it on the field when there's also a Scavenging Ooze out.

    -Barbarian Ring is basically the same as Cabal Pit, except that it can shoot players as well. I don't think it's a good choice because it requires us to splash red with an already 3-4 color manabase.

    -Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth is huge in a deck that runs up to 6 lands that don't produce mana (Maze of Ith,Tabernacle, Glacial Chasm). It is mostly preferred in the big-mana build with Intuition and a full set of Manabonds. Be aware that it allows your opponents' fetches to tap for mana.

    -Riftstone Portal is similar to Urborg, but is less reliable despite the fact that it is more one-sided. Most people prefer Urborg. It is a good sideboard option to beat Blood Moon.

    -Forest. Yes, a basic Forest. It helps you do things under Blood Moon and allows you to capitalize on mutual search effects and play around Wasteland. You only need one.

    -Fetchlands are ubiquitous to the Legacy format for a reason, and Lands is no exception. Even a single fetch will smooth your game along by ridiculous amounts. Run 4-5, all green. Most people diversify to dodge Extraction/Extirpate.

    -Duals are pretty helpful in a deck that regularly wants 4 colors. Run 5-6, all green.


    C. Artifacts

    -Zuran Orb is a good card in a deck that runs more than half lands. It should see a place somewhere in your 75, though it is often a meta call whether it should be main or sideboarded. It is quite good in the current meta, and can just singlehandedly win against some decks.

    -Engineered Explosives is our most versatile answer to permanents. We have access to 4 and often even 5 colors, allowing us to blow up almost every permanent in the format. Run one maindeck for sure, and many lists run one sideboarded as well.

    -Oblivion Stone is less versatile but has the upside of being able to save our stuff and to blow up their entire board at once. Keep in mind it's a fair bit more mana-intensive than EE, but works great all the same.

    -Ensnaring Bridge should also have a place somewhere in the 75, and probably main. The deck often drops its hand quite quickly, and Bridge shuts down tons of decks for good if it resolves.

    -Crucible of Worlds is fairly self-explanatory here. It's a good alternative engine to Loam, especially in this meta where Snapcaster/Surgical runs rampant. It's exceptional in the Enlightened Tutor lists.

    -Sensei's Divining Top is most often seen in E-Tutor builds. It allows us to Loam more accurately, saves us from our Bobs postboard, and saves Loam from Surgical.

    -Mox Diamond serves both as an accelerant and as a nonland mana source that synergies incredibly with the list. Most lists run 4.


    D. Enchantments

    Lands is powered by accelerants; without them we're far less efficient at the mana-denial plan and in general since we can't continue to build up CA.

    -Exploration is the deck's most powerful engine. Consistent and always usable, it allows us to develop as efficiently as possible. The deck needs the full set in every version.

    -Manabond is the deck's alternate engine. It can potentially provide extremely explosive starts, but it is far harder to work with than Exploration, and can lead to serious blowouts in Games 2 and 3. Run 2-4, and know that 2-4 will be boarded out in every single game.


    E. Win Conditions

    One of the many advantages of playing Lands is that your options for win conditions are very plentiful and flexible, as they come in both land and nonland form. Decks do not need very many win conditions.

    Land Wincons:

    -Creeping Tar Pit has become the go-to manland for this deck, as most versions run blue, and he both kills planes walkers and breaks through clogged board states.

    -Nantuko Monastery has generally fallen out of favor, but it isn't really considered a bad choice. Keep in mind that while Threshold is common, it is not guaranteed, and will become harder to achieve while you're fighting through hate in Games 2 and 3.

    -Mishra's Factory is a fairly common manland in most builds as it gets better in multiples and blocks on the ground when necessary, then recurs. It's also a finisher, albeit a slow one.

    -Barbarian Ring is still quite good in lists that run or splash red, as it can kill a player when looped with Loam and is excellent as spot removal, if you can supply the red and if you have Threshold. It can even kill 4/4s when Loamed correctly. Remember that you can stack the triggers in your favor if you have both Smokestack and Tabernacle on the battlefield.

    -Treetop Village is another option. While it does come in tapped and require 2 to activate, it can tear through fields of Snapcasters and Stoneforges to kill a Jace. It also produces green, which is always a plus.

    -Inkmoth Nexus has the same speed as a Mishra’s Factory with the downside of not benefiting from your opponents damaging themselves and the upside of being able to block and kill bigger creatures over a series of turns. Not an orthodox choice, but something worth considering.


    Nonland Wincons:

    -Mindslaver, when recurred with Academy Ruins, creates a lock that does not allow your opponent to do anything for the rest of the game. It is powerful, but costing 14 mana hurts, and it is vulnerable to grave hate when the loop is setting up. Most builds running this typically run Intuition and Riftstone Portal or Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth to make the mana easier.

    -Smokestack is the fastest of the artifact wins, and it's a good way to get rid of Jace or other hard-to-deal with permanents. It can be quite a fast clock as well, locking out an opponent's board in turns. It is also huge and flashy, and can often eat a counterspell for one of your more important spell. It's a solid "Oh, shit," button for the deck.

    -Oblivion Stone is similar to Smokestack, but is less flexible in that it blows up everything most of the time and is very mana intensive. It is another "Oh, shit," button. It can work in E-Tutor, but works better in the big-mana build with Intuition. It's still a great answer to "everything," since we have serious trouble with things that have CMC 6+.

    -Engineered Explosives can lock out an opponent if necessary. In this way, you blow up all of the ir permanents for the rest of the game and eventually mill them out, recurring Explosives with Academy Ruins. This should not be considered the main kill plan.

    -Worm Harvest can easily produce 15+ tokens in just two activations. However, unlike the rest of our wincons, it's 100% dependent on the presence of your graveyard, and while it does kill planeswalkers and give us a faster clock, I don't feel that it's as effective as Smokestack since it can't answer permanents. Also, it’s pretty bad with Tabernacle, requiring you to Waste your own land before your upkeep.

    -Mox Diamond Sometimes your wincon gets Swords to Plowsharesed and decking them is your best option. This way requires you to input no mana beyond the Academy Ruins +1U, and it’s embarrassing for the opponent.


    V. Sample Decklists

    A. Intuition Lands
    Chris Woltereck (Slightly dated, although a good starting point if you want to run four Manabond and only use Intuition as your tutor)
    1 Engineered Explosives
    4 Mox Diamond
    1 Tormod's Crypt
    4 Exploration
    4 Manabond
    4 Intuition
    1 Mindslaver
    4 Life from the Loam
    1 Forest
    1 Barbarian Ring
    1 Bayou
    1 Cephalid Coliseum
    1 Glacial Chasm
    4 Maze of Ith
    4 Mishra's Factory
    1 Misty Rainforest
    4 Rishadan Port
    1 Taiga
    3 Tolaria West
    3 Tranquil Thicket
    3 Tropical Island
    1 Verdant Catacombs
    4 Wasteland
    1 Windswept Heath
    1 Wooded Foothills
    1 Academy Ruins
    1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale

    Sideboard:
    4 Chalice of the Void
    1 Ensnaring Bridge
    1 Smokestack
    2 Tormod's Crypt
    1 Zuran Orb
    1 Ancient Grudge
    3 Extirpate
    1 Ray of Revelation
    1 Karakas

    B. Enlightened Tutor Lands
    Malacoda’s List
    Spells (24)
    4x Exploration
    4x Life from the Loam
    4x Mox Diamond
    3x Enlightened Tutor
    2x Manabond
    1x Sensei's Divining Top
    1x Pithing Needle
    1x Engineered Explosives
    1x Ensnaring Bridge
    1x Smokestack
    1x Crucible of Worlds
    1x Zuran Orb

    Lands (37)
    4x Rishadan Port
    4x Wasteland
    3x Tropical Island
    3x Maze of Ith
    3x Tolaria West
    2x Tranquil Thicket
    2x Mishra's Factory
    2x Verdant Catacombs
    1x Misty Rainforest
    1x Windswept Heath
    1x Wooded Foothills
    1x Horizon Canopy
    1x Academy Ruins
    1x Bayou
    1x Bojuka Bog
    1x Creeping Tar Pit
    1x Savannah
    1x Forest
    1x Ghost Quarter
    1x Glacial Chasm
    1x Karakas
    1x The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale

    Sideboard(15)
    4x Dark Confidant
    2x Extirpate
    1x Pithing Needle
    1x Sylvok Replica
    1x Tormod's Crypt
    1x Chalice of the Void
    1x Tower of the Magistrate
    1x Engineered Explosives
    1x Ethersworn Canonist
    1x Circle of Protection: Red
    1x Phyrexian Revoker

    C. Intuition With Enlightened Tutor Lands

    Cuthbertthecat’s List

    4 Exploration
    4 Life from the Loam
    4 Intuition
    4 Mox Diamond
    3 Enlightened Tutor
    2 Manabond
    1 Crucible of Worlds
    1 Ensnaring Bridge
    1 Cursed Totem
    1 Engineered Explosives
    1 Zuran Orb
    4 Maze of Ith
    4 Rishadan Port
    4 Wasteland
    2 Verdant Catacombs
    1 Wooded Foothills
    1 Misty Rainforest
    1 Windswept Heath
    3 Tolaria West
    2 Tranquil Thicket
    3 Tropical Island
    1 Savannah
    1 Bayou
    1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
    1 Creeping Tar Pit
    1 Forest
    1 Academy Ruins
    1 Karakas
    1 Ghost Quarter
    1 Glacial Chasm

    Sideboard:

    1 Tormod's Crypt
    3 Chalice of the Void
    1 Engineered Explosives
    1 Circle of Protection:Red
    1 Phyrexian Revoker
    1 Ethersworn Canonist
    4 Dark Confidant
    3 Oblivion Stone


    VI. Sideboarding

    To decrease redundancy, I have not included cards I previously mentioned in section IV: Card Choices.

    The Man Plan: Because in Games 2 and 3 your opponents will be bringing in graveyard hate and because they will most likely be boarding out much of their removal, bringing in creatures that act as alternative engines for you can be huge.

    Dark Confidant is a phenomenal creature in a deck whose total CMC often equals 30. Spinning him T1 off a Mox is a very good way to put a start in your favor. He also puts in a sizeable clock against combo decks and can serve as a blocker if necessary. He is the primary choice for the man plan.

    Knight of the Reliquary also has been used as a postboard creature, but he is not usually recommended. While he is a Tolaria West every turn on a huge beater, he is poor early game, and does not provide us card advantage. He is also vulnerable to grave hate, and his colors are more difficult. `

    Graveyard Hate:

    Extirpate is generally better than Surgical Extraction is for us sine we have access to black and don't like getting our spells countered, but being able to cast the latter for free isn't irrelevant. It's the best hate for other Loam decks and is just generally good. I side Extirpates in for most MUs since they can hit fetches at worst and real problem cards at best.

    Tormod's Crypt is the quintessential one-shot GY hate. It is super strong in our deck since we can a) transmute for it with Tolaria West and b) recur it infinitely with Academy Ruins. Run at least one SB, and maybe even 1 MD in E-Tutor builds with GY-heavy metas.

    Relic of Progenitus is obviously not a good option for a graveyard deck to run.

    Leyline of the Void is obviously the best graveyard hate card, but it's the hardest to keep in play and having to mull into it really sucks since it loses a ton of its effectiveness after the first turns, even if we do manage to draw and play it. That, and the fact that you need a set, means that Leyline usually isn't good enough.

    Grafdigger's Cage is cool GY hate that doesn't affect us and has splash damage against Maverick and Nic Fit decks. I don't think it's as strong as Crypt or Extirpate, but I wouldn't call it bad, and in some metas it may even deserve a maindeck slot alongside E-Tutor.


    Combo Hate:

    Ethersworn Canonist Stops Storm from doing their thing while also presenting a clock. A good inclusion.

    Chalice of the Void Good against Storm and against most blue decks. A very good inclusion.

    Mindbreak Trap Good against Storm, although it is best when paired with another piece of hate, preferably one that provides a clock. Not a very good inclusion because of its lack of versatility.


    General Utility:

    Krosan Grip Catch all artifact/enchantment hate and uncounterable, but it’s pretty slow and often doesn’t do enough. A fine card if you have room, however.

    Pithing Needle Stops problem activated abilities like Scavenging Ooze, Jace, Relic, and Crypt. A fine inclusion.

    Phyrexian Revoker Does the same thing as Needle, but with a clock and actually good against Storm. Very playable.

    Tower of the Magistrate Serves as a fifth Maze against Stoneblade by giving Batterskull’s Germ pro artifacts in case they Extraction your Mazes. A narrow card, but a fine inclusion nonetheless. It also has fringe applications against MUD and Affinity.

    Phyrexian Metamorph Good at copying legendary creatures like Iona. Can also do neat things by copying Knight of the Reliquary. A decent inclusion, but it often just sits in the sideboard for a whole tournament.

    Circle of Protection: Red Extra insurance against Burn. It’s becoming more and more necessary with the increased popularity of red mages as of late.

    Null Rod Good against Storm and Affinity, but it does shut down some of your own cards. A weak slot.

    Cursed Totem Great against Maverick and Combo Elves, mediocre elsewhere. If you expect large numbers of Maverick, it can be maindecked without too much drawback.



    VII. Matchup Analysis

    Very Positive

    Reanimator - All lists run Maze of Ith and Glacial Chasm main, and a lot of lists of Reanimator don’t play any outs. A shroudy guy can sometimes get there, but usually an opportunity to get chasm presents itself.

    Dredge – Many lists don’t have outs to Glacial Chasm or Ensnaring Bridge, and Waste + your own manland exiles their Bridges. Postboard, you get to recur Tormod’s Crypt with Academy Ruins. Beware of Iona on green.


    Positive

    Zoo – They’re a creature deck with a curve centered at one with a heavy non-basic manabase that usually doesn’t run wasteland. The only reason this matchup isn’t extremely positive is because of Price of Progress randomly stealing them games.

    Merfolk – Tabernacle is very good against their jam a bunch of lords plan, and they can’t beat Ensnaring Bridge. On occasion, they can bury you in permission and sideboard back to basics, but it’s rare that they have permission with a formidable clock.

    B/x Pox- You are both Loam decks, but Lands can actually play extra lands, making smallpox terrible against us. Their Cursed Scrolls get Explosivesed, and their Nether Spirit gets lost in the Maze of Ith.

    U/G/x Tempo (RUG / Team America)- They are an aggro deck with a bad manabase and mostly taxing and conditional counters. They can sometimes ride a Nimble Mongoose for 21 with heavy permission backup, but often you’ll just resolve an Engineered Explosives or Ensnaring Bridge and win.

    U/x Landstill- If they ever play a Standstill, they just lose. You have Maze, Waste, Port, Ghost Quarter, and Manlands to interact under Standstill, while they usually just have Factory and Waste. Also, you should be able to make every land drop under Standstill, while they should stumble eventually. Their only real way to win is by riding a turn four Jace to victory unhindered.


    Slightly Positive

    U/W/x Stoneblade – Their primary win con of five Batterskull attacks is very bad against us, but their Jace plan is very good, and Vendilion Clique is irritating. Keep them off four mana at all costs, and if they do resolve Jace, tutor for Creeping Tar Pit and keep them off white mana at all costs. You can port them on your turn to take them off white as well if they have more sources than you do ports. Oblivion Stone out of the board is very good against them as often their converted mana costs vary too much to make Explosives reliable.

    Goblins- This matchup is tricky because of their heavy basic manabase and incredible lategame. Tabernacle is the all-star for this matchup and the only reason it’s slightly positive, it’ll win you most of your games here.

    Rock - this MU is extremely dependent on the Rock lists. Some resemble G/W/B Maverick more closely, and can be problematic, while others opt for no utility creatures and are very bad against Maze. Watch out for postboard Extirpate.


    Coin Flip

    Other Loam decks - Guess what? We actually get to race in this matchup! Aggro Loam is pretty tricky, it really comes down to who draws Waste-lock first.



    Slightly Negative

    G/W/x Maverick- They have Scavenging Ooze, Knight of the Reliquary, and Noble Hierarch, all of which are very good against us. If you’re concerned about this matchup and run Enlightened Tutor, a maindeck Cursed Totem turns this matchup into positive.

    U/R Tempo- If you can resolve Zuran Orb before you die you’re often in good shape, however, that is no easy feat. The fewer Prices they run, the better the matchup is.

    Show and Tell decks (Hive Mind / Sneak Show / etc)- Hive Mind is the worst of these for us while Sneak Show isn’t all that bad. Hive Mind can just chain a bunch of Pacts together which we can’t really interact with; however Sneak Show can’t beat a combination of Glacial Chasm, Karakas, and Ensnaring Bridge, and our mana denial on their double lands is very relevant. It’s winnable, but lands is the definite underdog.

    Negative

    Ancient Tomb decks (Meandeck MUD / Imperial Painter / etc)- These decks often have access to fast combo kills and blood moon, two things this deck is pretty bad against. Sometimes a wasteland with a port will get them though, you just need a good amount of luck.

    TES / ANT / Other Storm Combo- ANT is the worst for us because of their heavy basic manabase, TES is a bit better because Waste and Port can steal games, and Doomsday is actually not too bad if you can get Zuran Orb with Wastelands as they are usually several colors and can’t generate massive storm counts because they lack Ad Nauseam. Postboard it gets better for us, although catch-all bounce like Rebuild is problematic.

    Nic Fit- They have a heavy basic manabase, Scavenging Ooze, Thrun, and answers to Ensnaring Bridge. Don’t expect to win this one.

    Very Negative

    Burn- Your best hope is Glacial Chasm coupled with Zuran Orb. Take advantage of the fact that most Burn opponents are inexperienced and ask them if they can actually beat the Chasm. Often times they don’t realize that they can and you’re off to game 2. Against an experienced pilot, don’t expect to win too many.

    High Tide- Unwinnable. You might be able to mess up their mana count by Porting their untapped islands in response to their high tide, but don’t expect it to make a difference. They even have sideboard Surgical Extraction to add insult to injury.


    VIII. Tips and Tricks

    -Often times, lategame Rishadan Ports shouldn’t be used to tap lands at upkeep when it doesn’t realistically matter, but left open in case some trick presents itself.
    -If you have Life from the Loam in graveyard and Tranquil Thicket in hand and you suspect your opponent has Vendilion Clique in hand, don’t dredge if you want the Loam. Instead, wait until your main phase, cycle the thicket, and dredge for the draw. This way, you can cast the Loam before your opponent gets priority to clique it away.
    - If you have Loam + Tolaria West and you’re not really doing anything, transmuting for Mox Diamond to speed you up is a fine option.
    -Let your Tabernacle triggers resolve in your opponent’s upkeep before Porting them.
    -Manabond triggers whether or not you want to put your hand into play; if you want to bait an opponent’s stifle, announce the Manabond trigger at cleanup. If they stifle it, it gets countered, and if it resolves you can choose not to put lands into play if you wish.
    -You can Ghost Quarter your own land to search up a Forest if you need green; similarly, if you have a land in play that you wish to recur with Loam (Tolaria West, Tranquil Thicket, tapped Rishadan Ports) you can waste it to get it back before you cast Loam.
    - You can put more mana into Engineered Explosives to increase its converted mana cost while on the stack. For example, if you want to play Explosives on two around a Spell Snare, you can pay UG1 to make its converted mana cost three while on the stack but still resolve with two sunburst counters. This is also useful for beating Counterbalance and playing around Chalice of the Void.
    -The converted mana costs of Engineered Explosives and Chalices of the Void that are in play are always zero, despite the number of counters on them or their converted mana cost while they were on the stack.
    -If you can avoid it, don’t activate your manlands into open white mana. If you can’t avoid it, at least try to have Ghost Quarter, Wasteland, or Zuran Orb in play in case they do try to Swords it.
    -If your opponent is running taxing counters, they are very easy to play around by just waiting a turn or two.
    -You can Maze your own attacking creatures. This is relevant with Mishra’s Factories and against opposing creatures with flash. If you have two attacking factories and a Maze of Ith against their one blocker, you can animate and attack with both, maze whichever one they block, and then use its pump ability to pump the unblocked one. If your opponent flashes in something and blocks a relevant creature such as a postboard Dark Confidant, you can simply Maze your creature before damage.
    Last edited by Tao; 03-18-2012 at 05:33 PM. Reason: Major update to OP

  2. #2
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    Re: Lands!

    I remember playing against this on MWS. The deck is damn good from what I remember, and ran me the hell over in both games we played. I'll have to test it, but I definately like what I see. Congrats on the top8 and keep us posted!

    EDIT- Actual Input
    Why no sacred ground in the board?
    And Solidaridy seems like it kills you pretty damn easily.
    Last edited by Whit3 Ghost; 08-13-2006 at 07:06 PM.
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  3. #3
    The King of Lockjobs
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    Re: [Deck] Lands!

    Quick questions:

    In a deck that runs so many lands and is looking to recur them, why not run a few Crucible?

    Next, why not a Glacial Chasm? Recurring Chasms can stop aggro dead in its tracks

    Last, what about Crop Rotation to function as search?
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  4. #4
    Taobotmox

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    Re: [Deck] Lands!

    Quote Originally Posted by Peter_Rotten
    Quick questions:

    In a deck that runs so many lands and is looking to recur them, why not run a few Crucible?

    Next, why not a Glacial Chasm? Recurring Chasms can stop aggro dead in its tracks

    Last, what about Crop Rotation to function as search?

    - Crop Rotation: You want to keep the land count high and discard end of Turn 1 (or Turn 2 with Mulch) into Manabond. At this point you should have only Lands, Life from the Loam and Roar in your hand. An extremely high land count makes LftL dredges, Manabonds and Mulches better.

    - Crucible: Same as Crop Rotation. Because Crucible has no synergy with Mulch, Life from the Loam Dredges and Manabond.

    - Chasm: If you have your LftL against aggro you have really good Chances to win anyway. The worst thing against Aggro is their Instant Burn and Chasms doesn't help against that.

    Edit:

    Quote Originally Posted by Whit3 Ghost
    Why no sacred ground in the board?
    And Solidaridy seems like it kills you pretty damn easily.
    LD is really no problem with 43 lands : )

    Solidarity and Combo in general are really bad matchups. But Combo is much less popular here than in the USA because Gro and Deadguy are much more played here in Germany. Your only small chance in this matchup are fast beats combined with multiple Ports.
    Last edited by Tao; 08-13-2006 at 07:35 PM.

  5. #5
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    Re: [Deck] Lands!

    It wasn't in response to something like the LD of Pikula, it was more against Ruination/Geddon when playing against agro.

    BTW, got any plans against Price of Progress?

    EDIT- So, how's your friend doing?
    Last edited by Whit3 Ghost; 08-13-2006 at 08:36 PM.
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  6. #6
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    Re: [Deck] Lands!

    OMG OMG OMG

    This deck is a copycat of a deck I ran in like 2003. No joke. This deck was the first deck I placed well in a tournament with, getting second place in a tournament only behind my friend Adam(tux) playing Counter-Squirrelcraft. TeenieBopper might actually remember this deck, because I played him in the top4 that tournament.

    I don't remember the entire list anymore, and this was also made before Crucible and Fetchlands were printed, but I remember it revolving around Manabond/Exploration, Standstill was in there(great synergy with the lack of spells in the deck), and a lot of removal. This guy's got a few more lands than I did back then, as I actually remember running around 37-38 lands.

    Unfortunately I really don't have much to offer except that short stint of nostalgia, but this deck in a few ways compares to Eternal Garden, so I'd possibly look at that for some ideas.

    EDIT: I actually found a list I had for this deck off an age old website I made.

    4 Treetop Village
    4 Faerie Conclave
    4 Mishra's Factory
    4 Wasteland
    4 Rishadan Port
    1 Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
    3 Maze of Ith
    4 Tropical Island
    4 Savannah
    3 Tundra
    3 Reflecting Pool

    2 Zuran Orb
    4 Swords to Plowshares
    2 Powder Keg
    2 Wrath of God
    2 Skyshroud Blessing
    4 Exploration
    3 Manabond
    4 Standstill

    Fuckin 2003 tech right there.

  7. #7
    Bryant Cook
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    Re: [Deck] Lands!

    Quote Originally Posted by Diablos
    This deck is a copycat of a deck I ran in like 2003. No joke.
    Note how you're still playing it in 2006...

  8. #8

    Re: [Deck] Lands!

    Congrats. That deck looks incredible.

    I'm also curious. What did the tournament have? Were there a lot of Deadguy decks (what Manuel Murr top 8ed with). Were there a lot of Zilla Stompys (Pascal Baatz's top 8 deck)?

  9. #9
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    Re: [Deck] Lands!

    I have a question, sinse it's obvious you wont get mana screwed, are there any hands you have to mull?

    And how do you SB.


    EDIT: I thought this was amusing enough to be incuded:

    VgWizard14 plays Savannah from Hand
    <VgWizard14> End my turn
    Moby Dick draws a card
    Moby Dick plays Windswept Heath from Hand
    Moby Dick taps Windswept Heath
    Moby Dick puts Windswept Heath to Graveyard from Play
    Moby Dick's life total is now 19 (-1)
    Moby Dick is looking its Library...
    Moby Dick puts Savannah into play from Library
    Moby Dick shuffles library
    Moby Dick stops looking its Library...
    Moby Dick shuffles library
    Moby Dick shuffles library
    Moby Dick taps Savannah
    VgWizard14 rearranges cards in VgWizard14's Hand
    Moby Dick plays Manabond from Hand
    <Moby Dick> End my turn
    <VgWizard14> ..
    Moby Dick plays Treetop Village from Hand
    Moby Dick plays Slippery Karst from Hand
    Moby Dick plays Nantuko Monastery from Hand
    Moby Dick plays Mishra's Factory from Hand
    Moby Dick puts Exploration to Graveyard from Hand
    Moby Dick puts Exploration to Graveyard from Hand
    <Moby Dick> End my turn
    It is now turn 2 (VgWizard14)
    It is now the Beginning Phase, Untap Step
    VgWizard14 untaps his/her permanents
    VgWizard14 draws a card
    VgWizard14 plays City of Brass from Hand
    <VgWizard14> End my turn
    Moby Dick untaps his/her permanents
    Moby Dick draws a card
    Moby Dick taps Slippery Karst
    Moby Dick taps Nantuko Monastery
    It is now the Precombat Main Phase
    Moby Dick plays Mulch from Hand
    <Moby Dick> Ok?
    <VgWizard14> Ok
    Moby Dick puts Mulch to Graveyard from Play
    Moby Dick puts Windswept Heath into play from Library
    Moby Dick puts Wasteland into play from Library
    Moby Dick puts Life from the Loam into play from Library
    Moby Dick puts Maze of Ith into play from Library
    Moby Dick puts Life from the Loam to Graveyard from Play
    <VgWizard14> -concede-
    Moby Dick puts Maze of Ith to Hand from Play
    Moby Dick puts Windswept Heath to Hand from Play
    Moby Dick puts Wasteland to Hand from Play
    Moby Dick plays Wasteland from Hand
    <VgWizard14> I dont play gayness.
    Moby Dick taps Wasteland
    <System> Player Lost
    Last edited by Moby Dick; 08-14-2006 at 02:39 AM.
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  10. #10
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    Re: [Deck] Lands!

    This deck is really strange I played the one and only Zilla Stompy yesterday, at least I haven't seen anyone else with it.

    I lost to Saschas 43land 0-2 and to the other T8 Gobbo deck only. So I entered T8 via tiebreakers and faced Sascha again. This time I knew what awaited me and drew Burning-Tree Shamans against him (never saw one the first time I faced his deck).
    So I locked him in the T8 playoffs with BTS and Pyrostatic Pillars (against LftL) and won 2-1. BTS and Pillars are really great against this deck. Price of Progress is absolute overkill and as good burn builds run 2-4 of them that can be casted before Ports-tapping the burn matchups should be nearly unwinnable with this list.

    The meta yesterday was quite good for the 43land I guess. Not that many Threshold and Goblins as I expected but nothing the less alot of Beatdown/Aggro decks. Only some Solidarity and Landstill, many Affinity decks.
    I played against two BW Confidant builds myself and against a rather strange B/gu Deck that was half T2 half Legacy that performed good in the Tourney (don't know why). So regarding the meta 43land was really a good choice I think.

    I talked to Sascha a bit and he told me that he faced 3 Solidary! in rounds 1-3 (I played against him in the 4th round). Despite the bad luck regarding the pairings, he played against two (got a bye or something against one, don't remember). The other two fizzled or were surprised by Gaea's Blessing. I haven't seen the games but I think good Solidarity players definately can play around the Blessing and maybe expect it.


    Besides: I lost against the Goblins of Andreas Müller again in the second round of the playoffs and went fourth place.

  11. #11
    Taobotmox

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    Re: [Deck] Lands!

    Gl&#252;ckwunsch zum 4ten Platz! Gegen Andreas M&#252;ller kann man schonmal verlieren, besonders wenn er die Swords maindecked.

    To the Burn matchup: You will probably lose game 1 and in games 2 and 3 you have to mulligan aggressively into your Zuran Orb. If you get down an Orb you should win the game.

    Zilla Stompy's Burning Tree-Shaman is a real problem but it doesn't see that much play. On the one hand this deck has some real problems with Solidarity, other Combo and a few cards like BTS and PoP but on the other hand you will have so many byes with this deck: Decks like Landstill, all of IBA's decks and many games where you have the nuts draw you will just win without your opponent doing much.

  12. #12
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    Re: [Deck] Lands!

    I wonder if the inclusion of Glacial Chasm could somehow improve the matchups against BTS, Burn and decks alike. The problem is that it can only buy some time and you cannot attack. The inclusion of Nomad Stadium is another thing to consider.


    Quote Originally Posted by Tao
    Glückwunsch zum 4ten Platz! Gegen Andreas Müller kann man schonmal verlieren, besonders wenn er die Swords maindecked.
    Danke!

  13. #13
    Combo King Pommes
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    Re: [Deck] Lands!

    Okay, I watched some of his games, because it was pretty amazing. I think I was among the loudest people clapping for him when it was announced that he made T8.

    But, he had some crazy luck and some retarded opponents during the Swiss rounds... Had he played real players, I doubt that he would have made T8. He won two (!) games against Solidarity during the Swiss rounds, which should be almost impossible for this deck. His opponents were just to fucking stupid to play around Gaea's Blessing... ("I don't have Stroke of Genius in the Sideboard, because it is too expensive", etc.).


    Anyways, apart from that, this deck actually is pretty cool, it smashes randomness (which was the only defining factor at Germany's Legacy Nationals) and is awesome as hell (I mean... it's friggin 43 lands, come on!) . :)

    One thing though... the Blessings should almost certainly be taken out of the SB, since they don't help against real Solidarity players and interfere with your LftL dredging.
    Sometimes you have to read between the minds.

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  14. #14
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    Re: [Deck] Lands!

    Quote Originally Posted by Lukas Preuss
    One thing though... the Blessings should almost certainly be taken out of the SB, since they don't help against real Solidarity players and interfere with your LftL dredging.
    If you can win games because of Blessing + incompetent Solidarity players, why not keep them in the SB? Practicality wins over principles of what "should" work.
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  15. #15
    Small Eyed Unicorn
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    Re: [Deck] Lands!

    Quote Originally Posted by SpatulaOfTheAges
    If you can win games because of Blessing + incompetent Solidarity players, why not keep them in the SB? Practicality wins over principles of what "should" work.

    Agreed... Yes it is true that a competent Solidarity player can work their way quite efficiently around Blessing, but so many people cannot. There are sooo many people out there who just pick up Solidarity and play it, with little knowledge or experience with the deck. If you lose game one and they see no Blessing, often times they will not expect Blessing in the second game. Lol, it even happened to me once. I was playing against MONO Red Burn and I smashed face game one and game two I was comboing off with the thought of just freezing him. (Mistake on my part) and after I froze him for his deck, he of course revealed Blessing, which was a complete slap across teh facez0rs. To sum things up, keep the Blessings in, because they will trip up soo many players it's not even funny.
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  16. #16
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    Re: [Deck] Lands!

    After some testing(and 2-0ing Noobslayer with Solidarity) I have some more suggestions.
    - Other spells that help you achieve Threshold, a la LFTL and Mulch.
    - A black splash for Edicts and the Undead Gladiator Engine
    - Maindeck Pyroclasm, I'm not sold on your goblins matchup.
    - A big, jucy win condition(not Roar), something like "I'll cycle Decree for 1000 little soldiers"
    - Crucible. It allows for savage Ring recursions
    - Nomad Stadium, 4 life a turn is tech
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  17. #17
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    Re: [Deck] Lands!

    Had any considered Horn of Greed? It seems to serve the same function as it did in turboland, well, not really. You aren't going infinite. But it may be something to consider.
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  18. #18
    Johny Rogue
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    Re: [Deck] Lands!

    Horn of Greed is much too slow and we don't need the advantage it provides.
    Once it goes off, having 12 cards in hand isn't neccessary anymore.

    Also, it takes a slot of a land, what makes Mulch & Manabond less useful. if i had to put something in there, it would be Needle / Humility / Disk / Any other card suitable for certain decks.

    AFaIK, this deck has nothing to do against GrimLong, Draw4 and other insta combos. IMo Trinisphere / Chalice / Sphere or resistance could solve that problem, as we can place it very fast.
    Common Sense was reprinted as rare.

  19. #19
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    Re: [Deck] Lands!

    AFaIK, this deck has nothing to do against GrimLong, Draw4 and other insta combos. IMo Trinisphere / Chalice / Sphere or resistance could solve that problem, as we can place it very fast.
    Sphere of Resistance was one of the cards my list used towards the end of its run. It's absolutely insane in this deck. Same goes for Trinisphere and Chalice of the Void(albeit, a Chalice for 1 before a Manabond/Exploration is bad). I'd definately try to work them somewhere between the maindeck and sideboard.

    Also, with so many land, Mox Diamond? It really couldn't hurt. Oh yea, and fucking Riftstone Portal. You run like 30 lands that don't add mana. Please add Riftstone Portal.

  20. #20
    Taobotmox

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    Re: [Deck] Lands!

    Quote Originally Posted by Whit3 Ghost
    After some testing(and 2-0ing Noobslayer with Solidarity) I have some more suggestions.
    - Other spells that help you achieve Threshold, a la LFTL and Mulch.
    - A black splash for Edicts and the Undead Gladiator Engine
    - Maindeck Pyroclasm, I'm not sold on your goblins matchup.
    - A big, jucy win condition(not Roar), something like "I'll cycle Decree for 1000 little soldiers"
    - Crucible. It allows for savage Ring recursions
    - Nomad Stadium, 4 life a turn is tech
    I cannot answer all questions perfect because as I said it is not "my" deck. I just tested a bit with it and had to keep it secret until Nationals (I really doubtet that it will place that well because of the Combo matcup). Therefore I don't have much more data than you, just a bit more experience.

    - About what other spells did you think? The last version of the deck I knew played 4 Mulch, I was surprised that they've been reduced (I think another cycle land was added).
    - Black splash is not easy because of the Manabase (yes it sounds weird), but it is interesting to Dredge a Gladiator
    - MD Pyroclasm is a Meta decision
    - things like Crucible and Decree don't interact with Manabond and Manabond is a fixed 4-off
    - I suggested Nomad Stadium, too. I was told that Stadium is unnessecary. The reason was you still don't gain enough life to combat PoP and you don't need lifegain in other matchups. Furthermore the deck is really full and I wouldn't know what to replace

    [QUOTE=WarmongerIMo Trinisphere / Chalice / Sphere or resistance could solve that problem, as we can place it very fast.[/QUOTE]

    Trinisphere sounds like a good Sideboard option. The plan behind Blessing was to have a good draw, put the Solidarity player under pressure with Ports fast beatz and force him to go off into a Blessing he cannot handle.
    Last edited by Tao; 08-14-2006 at 12:05 PM.

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