[Deck] Spanish Inquisition (B/x Storm Combo)

[TheSleeper]

Wow... that artwork is awesome!!

Sick card too.. only have to cast it once for a single green? I am so playing this deck in a tourney as soon as M11 is legal.

Uncommon because Wizards loves us.

[Vacrix]

I think my board is going to look something along these lines:
4 Autumn's Veil
4 Xantid Swarm
4 Carpet of Flowers
3 Tomb of Urami

@ Tomb
I've decided its not just good because it can provide you with an uncounterable dude. It also provides you with the initial black you need to go off multiple times against control. The other option is to board in more Belchers. I'm not sure which plan is stronger yet. Still working out which 15 to board out.

And yes the art is badass. It goes with the flavor of the deck very well.

[B.C.]

I like Autumn's Veil. That's pretty much what this deck needed. It's like a green Orim's Chant.

Also from M11, if you are thinking about the man plan, it doesn't get much better than this:

Phylactery Lich
BBB
Creature - Zombie
Rare
5/5
As Phylactery Lich enters the battlefield, put a Phylactery counter on an artifact you control.
Phylactery Lich is indestructible.
When you control no permanents with phylactery counters on them, sacrifice Phylactery Lich.

[Vacrix]

I like both. I think that Carpet and protection plan is in general much stronger than the current man plan. The man plan is definitely a surprise you could take to your local meta. If I went to a large tournament, I'd most certainly play the protection plan.

Also, its better than Chant in that we don't necessarily have to play it before starting the spell chain. We can respond to FoW on something with ESG--> Veil, and the FoW will fizz for lack of legal target. In that sense, we might actually need the G from ESG, or even Veil to imprint on Chrome Mox later in the spell chain. Not having to necessarily play it before the spell chain is a huge advantage. That means we can save it for a later spell chain as well. Imagine we 'fizz' via the D4s. If we didn't encounter FoW, we still have Veil in hand for the next time we try to go off...
Seriously I have no idea why WoTC printed something that is so fucking good. Good thing PSI is hard to play or WoTC would not be happy. :P

[whidye]

I think my board is going to look something along these lines:
4 Autumn's Veil
4 Xantid Swarm
4 Carpet of Flowers
3 Tomb of Urami

@ Tomb
I've decided its not just good because it can provide you with an uncounterable dude. It also provides you with the initial black you need to go off multiple times against control. The other option is to board in more Belchers. I'm not sure which plan is stronger yet. Still working out which 15 to board out.

And yes the art is badass. It goes with the flavor of the deck very well.

Is this the SB you plan on using for your PactSI list?

[Vacrix]

Yeah. At least I'll be testing it in about a week. I'm at a philosophy conference ATM up in Las Vegas. I'll proxy it up and test thoroughly once I get back.

I'm also considering running a build without Land Grant. Access to great protection like this might warrant foregoing Charbelcher in favor of hitting more land drops against control.

[TheSleeper]

How many SB cards can afford to 'go in' to SI before it becomes unworkable? I know this is a concern for Dredge, as the more cards you SB in, the more it diffuses the internal synergies.

Which 12 cards do we board out against FoW.dec to fit in Xantid/Autumn/Carpet? Perhaps there's room for some mind games bringing in Autumn over Xantid, as a lot of people know now to leave in their removal, weakening Xantids effectiveness.

Also Counterbalance can still counter after Autumn resolves, true?

[Vacrix]

Well SI just needs its shell to function well. Usually you are going to board out Summoner's Pact for Carpet. Both function as mana sources, just in different ways. Ideally, you can board in all 15 cards. Xantid Swarms are useful in providing both protection and facilitate Culling the Weak. Ideally you could even board out Land Grants for Tomb of Urami as they both provide you with the initial black. As you can probably see, Culling the Weak is bound to get weaker post-board. Ideally we will board out 1 or 2 and try to slow play. I recommend post-board Belchers because we can bait with D4s until we can eventually resolve one. Its been working out for me but IDK maybe 15 in 15 out isn't the best approach. Other ideas?

The other idea I was exploring is returning to Dark Confidant post-board. Confidant provides additional cards you will need to sculpt a good hand and get lots of perpetual resources down before the combo turn. Its also provides you with additional creatures for Culling the Weak.

[nodahero]

Counterbalance can still trigger after an Autmn resolves but the counter effect will not actually counter the spell.

Scractch the above... I didn't catch the blue or black SPELL clause... CB will still counter.

[Vacrix]

Well either way, then CB trigger would counter Veil before it had a chance to 'save' our spell from certain death.

Also, I'm reevaluating the maindeck. With much better protection spells, I'm much more comfortable adding in more lands, namely green sources (hence 2 Bayous post-board and forego Belcher). This is the MD I'm exploring ATM:

Pact SI:
Business: (17)
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Slithermuse
3 Diabolic Intent
4 Infernal Tutor
4 Infernal Contract
4 Cruel Bargain

Mana: (43)
1 Eternal Witness
4 Xantid Swarm
4 Summoner's Pact
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
4 Lion's Eye Diamond
4 Lotus Petal
4 Chrome Mox
4 Dark Ritual
4 Cabal Ritual
4 Culling the Weak
4 Verdant Catacombs
1 Bayou
1 Dryad Arbor

SB:
4 Carpet of Flower
4 Autumn's Veil
3 Dark Confidant
2 Bayou
1 Oxidize
1 Deathmark

The list foregoes Belcher.. but it plays significantly more lands. Xantid Swarm MD is huge. Its obviously already great at protecting our combo pre-board. Not having to waste SB space to play it seems pretty dam good. Also, running 4 Fetch-->Arbor, 4 Pact-->Arbor, Arbor, and 4 Xantid Swarm is effectively 15 tallmen, more than enough to support both Culling the Weak and Diabolic Intent. Actually that might be too much. The other option is to cut the Fetch count to 3, run 1 more Bayou and free up one more slot in the board. Diabolic Intent--> Slithermuse looks sick as hell.
Now I'm sure you are wondering, how in gods name do you board? The list looks Pacted (funny I know) as hell. I'm not really sure to tell the truth. All 8 pieces of protection protect the IGG loop. Diabolic Intent--> Slithermuse is pretty strong, even post-board against control because they usually have a pretty big hand. I haven't drawn less than 5 cards with it when I cast it. Then again, without MM its much harder to cast. Maybe its worth cutting for IGG instead. Then again.. Diabolic Intent is pretty strong with Slithermuse but not so much with IGG because you need to DI-->IT-->IGG and then we might as well just play something like Grim Tutor instead, which is still not so great with the IGG loop.

Against U.dec board out the following:
-4 Summoner's Pact --> +4 Carpet of Flowers
Thats really the only obvious choice. Mana source for manasource.

Thoughts on boarding? I'm not sure what to board out against control to fit in the other cards, or really how necessary they might be.

@Deathmark/Oxidize
Might as well board these in post-board. Diabolic Intent allows us to fetch them out if we really need them.

[whidye]

Well either way, then CB trigger would counter Veil before it had a chance to 'save' our spell from certain death.

Also, I'm reevaluating the maindeck. With much better protection spells, I'm much more comfortable adding in more lands, namely green sources (hence 2 Bayous post-board and forego Belcher). This is the MD I'm exploring ATM:

Pact SI:
Business: (17)

1 Slithermuse

Mana: (43)
1 Eternal Witness
4 Xantid Swarm
4 Summoner's Pact
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
4 Lion's Eye Diamond
4 Lotus Petal
4 Chrome Mox
4 Dark Ritual
4 Cabal Ritual
4 Culling the Weak
4 Verdant Catacombs
1 Bayou
1 Dryad Arbor

SB:
4 Carpet of Flower
4 Autumn's Veil
3 Dark Confidant
2 Bayou
1 Oxidize
1 Deathmark

A few questions/comments;

Nature's Claim seems better than Oxidize - I think the deck probably can get another 2 storm easy. I think this is especially relevant regarding the shroud leyline in M11.

Deathmark? For hate bear? Maybe ghastly demise or slaughter pact?

Slithermuse is D4 x 9?

I think Land Grant is important... strorm +1. But I agree - sucks if its countered. Same as stifling your fetchland though. Meta call? And as you know - belcher alt. win.

[theintangiblefatman]

I fiddled around with a few more lists, added Burning Wish to my first list and such, but the deck is still way too inconsistent for my taste without Cruel Bargain, as y'all predicted. Thanks for the advice.

[Vacrix]

@whidye
Good call on Nature's Claim. I agree its a much better choice. You can also target your own Chrome Mox it you need to gain some life for a longer spell chain (though this will happen probably 1/500 times).

Slithermuse is a replacement for IGG. Its not necessarily better. I personally prefer it, especially with Diabolic Intents. Grabbing IGG with Diabolic Intent is underwhelming. Its a D7 on turn 1 on the play, and often a D5 on the draw (or on turn 2 on the play), often just an overcosted D4 on Turn 2 on the draw.

Yes Land Grant is important. Thats just a list I'm testing ATM. I think that sometimes the lands will clog your hand, but not having to rely on Land Grant is very strong against control. Think about it. Land Grant not only shows the opponent which resources you need the most ie. what to counter, and isn't counterable unless you run into Stifle against New Horizons or something. Its just food for the thought for anyone who feels like playing something on MWS. I'll be sleeving up against New Horizons in a week (I'm not in town).


Aside, I just finished a new primer. It will probably be up by the end of today.

[Hanni]

Will it include the reason the deck is called SI? I'm totally down to hear "because no one expects the Spanish Inquisition!" :)

[emidln]

That was basically it. Evenpence named it that because nobody expected it at the time (pre-Dissension).

[Bardo]

New thread here: http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/f...ablished-Decks

This one closed.