[Deck] The Truffle Shuffle

[Loxodon Baileyarch]

@IBA: Could i get that Red Splash Truffle Shuffle list? Seems interesting and fun as hell.

[Hopo]

Tournament tested and modified red splash w/Progenitus and at the moment unfinished sideboard:

4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Kitchen Finks
1 Progenitus

4 Thoughtseize
4 Burning Wish
3 Maelstrom Pulse
3 Hymn to Tourach

3 Terminate
3 Jund Charm

4 Sensei's Divining Top
3 Pernicious Deed

3 Mire
3 Foothills
2 Badlands
2 Bayou
3 Swamp
3 Forest
2 Mountain
2 Wasteland
1 Volrath's Stronghold

Sideboard:
4 Leyline of the Void
1 Life from the Loam
1 Haunting Echoes
1 Natural Order
1 Duress
1 Crime/Punishment
1 Damnation
1 Reverent Silence
4 variable testing slots (harmonize, pyroclasm, deathmark, shattering spree, meltdown, anarchy, ruination, hymn to tourach, chainer's edict, whatever)

I would play four Pulses, but own only three at the moment.
Goyfs and finks' are basically fodder for a wished Natural Order. Natural Order is the most wished spell. Haunting Echoes is second.

The deck absolutely needs 4 tops, especially with Progenitus.
I see Jund Charm as an underrated card. Maindeckable sweeper, graveyard hate and pump in one instant card is awesome. This deck can actually handle the awkward manacost.

Usually rockish-trufflish-shufflish decks suffer from non-basic hate. I had this in mind and after losing miserably to Back to Basics, I switched to more basics. I'd actually want to fit in there 4 Magus of the Moons now, but it takes some tweaking to find room.

Since I don't have any draw, I play cards granting card advantage in sweepers, finks and hymn. Top guarantees adequate control over card quality. It works, since the bomb density is quite high. Lot's of gamebreaking cards there.

I welcome ideas of how to fit Magus of the Moon in.

[Shanghi Knights]

lately i've been getting angry at my aggro loam and was thinking of switching over to a deck of this nature.

I do have this urge to use veteran explorer at the same. would that be more rock based to use him or would truffle shuffle be an ok spot for him? such as in the sakura tribe elder slot.

[Droxis]

I'm interested in this deck. I've been trying to make "The Rock" work in some fashion and I'm seeing this one with a different name. Is this a rock variant? What's different about it, really? All in control Rock? Or something? I'm confused. :C

[Roman Candle]

I'm interested in this deck. I've been trying to make "The Rock" work in some fashion and I'm seeing this one with a different name. Is this a rock variant? What's different about it, really? All in control Rock? Or something? I'm confused. :C

The Rock is a midgame deck, while this is a dedicated board control deck. They play completely differently. Plus The Rock sucks in Legacy.

[Hiis]

I've been playing a mono black board control deck for a while and recently decided to add green and white to it, this is the result of my brainstorming, trials and errors:

Lands (24):
3x Verdant Catacombs
3x Marsh Flats
3x Bayou
3x Scrubland
3x Swamp
2x Windswept Heath
2x Plains
2x Forest
2x Savannah
1x Volrath's Stronghold

Removal (15):
4x Pernicious Deed
4x Vindicate
4x Swords to Plowshares
2x Damnation
1x Maelstrom Pulse

Creatures (11):
3x Krosan Tusker
3x Gatekeeper of Malakir
3x Eternal Witness
2x Kitchen Finks

Walkers etc (10):
3x Sensei's Divining Top
2x Elspeth, Knight-Errant
2x Liliana Vess
2x Garruk Wildspeaker
1x Ajani Goldmane

Sideboard:
3x Choke
3x Engineered Plague
2x Relic of Progenitus
2x Circle of Protection: Red
2x Krosan Grip
2x Tormod's Crypt
1x Maelstom Pulse


I wanted to maximize on the usage of planeswalkers as win conditions because of their resistance to removal and so far the results have been nothing but great. I've been testing the deck against B/x disruption aggro, tribal and U/x walker/landstill and haven't lost a single two-out-of-three match. I'd like to add one Gigapede to the deck but can't really come up with anything reasonable to take out. Gatekeeper of Malakir is really good and the 5+ vindicate effects are great as well.

[Tao]

Explore 1G
Sorcery
You may play an additional land this turn. Draw a card.

IBA already said that this is good and I thought the same, too. Between the slow Tusker and the bad topdeck Tribe Elder this might be the 2-drop the deck waited for. You really don't mind if they Snare or Daze it, playing 4 won't hurt your late game since it cycles, it can chain into a turn 2 StoP or Top activation or a turn 3 Wrath. It looks just tailor-made.

[Joon]

While it certainly seems better than Tusker or Elder, you got to remember that this card does not shuffle necessarily, only if you got a fetchland. Just wanted to mention that. But I guess I'd play it over Tusker.

A question for those who played this more often than me: What do you think, additional sweepers to Deed in form of Damnation/Deed or are Maelstrom Pulses better?

I'd play something like this with the new card:

04 Swords to Plowshares
04 Chainer's Edict
04 Vindicate
04 Pernicious Deed
02 Engineered Explosives
02 Crime/Punishment

03 Eternal Witness
02 Eternal Dragon
01 Gigapede
01 Grave-Shell Scarab

01 Haunting Echoes

04 Explore
04 Sensei's Divining Top

04 Verdant Catacombs
03 Marsh Flats
03 Windswept Heath
04 Bayou
03 Scrubland
02 Savannah
02 Swamp
02 Forest
01 Plains

Maybe one fetchland or Scrubland less to play more basics.

[Agent J]

I played the following rather traditional list at a GPT this weekend and went Top 8 with it. I lost to manascrew in the quarterfinals. Besides that it worked quite well even though I have to admit that the matchups were quite favorable (Merfolk, Fish etc.).

4x Bayou
3x Forest
2x Plains
2x Swamp
3x Savannah
2x Verdant Catacombs
1x Volrath's Stronghold
4x Windswept Heath
2x Scrubland

2x Krosan Tusker
4x Eternal Witness

1x Sorin Markov
2x Liliana Vess
3x Moment's Peace
3x Crime / Punishment
4x Pernicious Deed
4x Swords to Plowshares
1x Path to Exile
4x Thoughtseize
1x Haunting Echoes
3x Sensei's Divining Top
2x Damnation
3x Vindicate

SB:
4x Duress
4x Extirpate
4x Gaddock Teeg
3x Innocent Blood

I'm still a huge fan of Moment's Peace because it usually gives you all the time you need to find/be able to cast a sweeper.
Maybe I'd switch 1 Crime/Punishment for another Damnation since it's often more effective.
Last but not least Sorin wasn't that great. His second ability is more or less useless in this deck an he's really slow. Perhaps a different Planeswalker would be a better choice (Elspeth or Garruk probably).

Explore 1G
Sorcery
You may play an additional land this turn. Draw a card.

IBA already said that this is good and I thought the same, too. Between the slow Tusker and the bad topdeck Tribe Elder this might be the 2-drop the deck waited for. You really don't mind if they Snare or Daze it, playing 4 won't hurt your late game since it cycles, it can chain into a turn 2 StoP or Top activation or a turn 3 Wrath. It looks just tailor-made.

I think it looks interesting but I'm not sure if it is as solid as Tusker. I fear that Explore may to often be like "1G Draw a card, do nothing". Tusker also works Instant speed which can be quite relevant later when your options increase (e.g. activating Deed or not). But I have to agree that Explore is faster. I guess testing will be needed.

[Kesta]

Nice to see this deck in a Top8. Could you post a report? which MU you played?...

I like this deck a lot, but i think he's too slow in the actual metagame.

[Agent J]

As I already mentioned the matchups were quite good.

Round 1 vs. Aggro Elves:
I knew what my opponet was playing so I kept a hand with 2 Momen'ts Peace + Deed. I stalled with Moment's peace until I could wipe his board clean. With no board an no cards in hand he scooped. Game 2 was quite similar and went something like this. Moment's Peace, Witness, Moment's Peace, Flashback Moment's Peace, Deed, Liliana, win.
Round 2 vs. Merfolk:
Game 1 he mulligans down to 4 and still hasn't got any land. I win this easily. Game 2 was really weird. I start with Top, he counters with Needle on Top. Of course I draw another Top but he doesn't apply much pressure. I Sword one of his Lords. Then for a while not much happens. I take a few hits from Mutavault until I find a Vindicate for the Needle. I manage to get rid of one of the Tops with a fetchland before the next Needle hits play. Other than that he only has a Vial. Since I draw Top again I use Punishment to get rid of our 3 artifacts and play the Top. In response to the third needle Top reveals me a Witness so I let it happen and go for Witness on Vindicate. Finally I can use the top for more than 1 Turn and from then on the game went rather smoothly since he doesn't find anything significant. He scoops to hardcast Krosan Tusker.
Round 3 vs. Merfolk (U/W):
Game 1 he has a good start with Vial and Standstill. On Turn 4 I try Deed an get lucky because he does not find Force of Will (or double Daze) in his Standstill. The rest of the game I'm always in control and manage to win with Liliana Vess. Game 2 he goes for Standstill + Mutavault. The next few turns I play land and take damage from Mutavault until I'm down to 10. Then I sword his mutavault end of turn. He doesn't want to use Force of Will on it but my Deed finds catches the Force. At least he does not have another Standstill but he goes for Kitchen Finks. Since I have no good answer I drop to 7 the next turn and he adds 2 Lords. He looks really annoyed after I play Moment's Peace and it even buys me enough time to find answers to his board. The game continues for quite a while but I'm never really in danger.
Round 4 vs. (URw Fish):
We decide to draw since 32 or 31 should be enough for Top 8. We play a few quick games for fun but I didn't take any notes on them. I win 2, he wins 1 and then we both went looking for food.
Round 5 I get paired against the only 4:0 player so another ID

Quarterfinaly vs. NO Elves
Game 1 he has a really sick draw with Turn 4 about 6 or 7 Elves all 3/3. No Momen'ts Peace, no Damnation so on to Game 2. I keep a good hand with 2 Lands, Top, 2 Vindicate, Deed and Swords but can't find any land in the next 5 Turns so I stand no chance.


The decks biggest problem is the incredibly bad combo matchup. Dredge is at least possible but TES, ANT, Solidarity etc. are not your friends.

[TheInfamousBearAssassin]

There's always Mindbreak Trap.

Thanks for the report. I'm still not sure where to take this deck, honestly. I've been trying a few different things. I think cutting Tusker, though, weakens Top significantly, so I don't know if Explore is going to edge it out. And I don't know that there's a draw engine to replace Top outside of splashing blue.

[markbris]

any chance anyone would want to give an update on the decks matchups against todays metagame?

[Goaswerfraiejen]

There's always Mindbreak Trap.

Also Chalice of the Void, which I've come to appreciate as far more effective, since it's proactive rather than reactive (it's also more useful against Burn, if that's a consideration). As long as you're comfortable with the aggro matchup and the control mirror (which you should be), then you can load the SB against combo. Playing white gives you access to Ethersworn Canonist, which might be a better option than Gaddock Teeg. At any rate, I'd definitely opt for Chalice, and perhaps Mindbreak Trap. Along with Duress and Thoughtseize, you should have at least a fighting chance at winning 1/3.

On the other hand, it may just be better to take the loss against storm combo.

[jrsthethird]

This deck seems to be exactly what I'm looking for. Also, glad to see a list using Jund Charm, because I agree that it is underappreciated. Also, surprised to see Krosan Tusker getting play these days! I loved him back in Onslaught Block but he's been forgotten since.

So where did the name come from? And is Agent J's list a good one to pick up to try it out?

[Agent J]

Today I played the same list I posted before at our local tournament. I neither have enough notes nor enough time for a detailed report but I went 4:2 with wins against Suicide Black, Pox (thx Krosan Tusker), ANT and MBC and losses against TempoThresh and Zoo.

The result looks like the deck is only good against randomness but the matches against Thresh and Zoo were both pretty close.

Right now I'm thinking about replacing 1 Crime/Punishment or the Haunting Echoes with another Land/Top/Tusker so that the deck runs more smoothly. But besides that the list still works quite well for me.

[burigo]

This new card from Rise of the Eldrazi might work on sideboard:

3BB
Instant
Destroy all creatures with converted mana cost 3 or less. They cannot be regenerated.

And what about Weatherseed Treefolk? Too many G maybe?

[Agent J]

This new card from Rise of the Eldrazi might work on sideboard:

3BB
Instant
Destroy all creatures with converted mana cost 3 or less. They cannot be regenerated.

And what about Weatherseed Treefolk? Too many G maybe?

I don't think you want to play this over Damnation. Yes it's an Instant but it costs 1 More and can't kill things like Iona, Progenitus oder even Siege-Gang Commander.

Weatherseed Treefolk is a fun card but nothing more. It still dies to sword, Tarmogoyf will usually bigger in this matchup and as you pointed out 3 G can sometimes be a problem. If you want a win option that is a creature try Gigapede or something like that.

But this card maybe interesting. In this kind of deck it could be even stronger than Thoughtseize because it does not cost you 2 life and will still hit almost everything you care about since you usually have better answers for cards with converted mana cost greater than 3. More or less the only problematic card I see right away is Natural Order. But I will at least test it, when it comes out...

[burigo]

yeah when I saw inquisition of koziliek, natural order was the first thing that came on my mind

[Agent J]

Hi guys, I made a few changes to my current list and tried it at our local tournament this weekend:

-2 Windswept Heath
+2 Verdant Catacombs

-2 Pernicious Deed
+1 Sensei's Devining Top
+1 Damnation

SB
-1 Duress
+1 Innocent Blood (so now I can swap all Thoughtseizes for Bloods in the Aggro Matchup)

Deed isn't that great anymore. It can't really answer Progenitus and the presence of all those Stifles and Pridemages weakens it considerably. Damnation seems to be a better sweeper at the moment.

1st Round vs. B/r Vampires
wasn't that interesting he played mostly T2 cards so it wasn't that much of a challenge. 2:0
2nd Round vs. Dream Halls
Game 1 I manage to discard his Show and Tell but he topdecks one the next turn for turn 2 Progenitus...no Damnation from my side so on to game 2. Here I can discard and extirpate Show and Tell and land a Gaddock Teeg. Game 3 I only have Gaddock Teeg but he can't counter it and he does not find Show and Tell this time. So it's 2:1 10 attacks later.
3rd Round vs. Reanimator (funniest match of the day)
I start with Forest + Top and pass the turn. He's got Underground Sea and passes. I put Verdant Catacomb and pass again. EOT he plays Mystical Tutor for Entomb and passes. In his second turn he reanimates Iona set to black since he hasn't seen any white sources yet. He looks quite sad when I send Iona on the Path to Exile. ;) Then it get's really weird. A few turns later he discards Sphinx of the Steel Wind to Careful Study but can't reanimate it. I on the other hand use Crime to get it and he looks even more sad. I manage to attack once but then he goes for Show and Tell and puts another Iona this time set to white. I put a Deed from Show and Tell and we stall with our fatties. I find a Liliana and charge it up. Finally I reach 9 Mana to deed away Iona and Sphinx and reanimate everything with Liliana. 1:0. Game to is rather boring he has second turn Iona again (set to white) and I can't find any Innocent Blood or Damnation. 1:1. Game 3 I answer two of his fatties but time's out and we have to draw.
4th Round vs. Landstill (UW with Thopter Foundry Combo)
Those games take forever and are rather boring for both of us. Game 1 he has Standstill + 3 Factories which I can't answer fast enough. Game 2 I strip him of all his counters and manage to land a Sorin who's facing Jace the Mind Scupltor but wins in the end. ;) We have about 4 minutes for game 3. He goes for Thopter-Sword combo but I have Extirpate ready so another draw.
5th Round vs. Doran Rock
Game 1 my opponent is a little manascrewed. He's only got two lands and some discard and Tidehollow Sculler which he also misplays (taking StP over Crime/Punishment) and then following it with another 2-drop the next turn. Game 2 starts better for him and I get a very strange draw with Liliana and Sorin in play by turn 7. Here he makes another questionable play. Instead of kiling one of my Planeswalkers with his Treetop Village and Knight of the Reliquary he chooses to set them both on 1 counter. I kill his knight but can do nothing about his Treetop which snatches my Sorin. I also have to sacrifice Liliana to find an answer for Treetop but then the board is still better for me with Top and 7 lands against his 4 lands and 1 card in hand. It takes a little longer but finally I find a Witness for Liliana and from then on it's an easy win.
6th Round vs. NO Bant
Game 1 he keeps a bad hand with only one fetchland and Brainstorm. For some reason he fetches for Basic Island uses Brainstorm und looks rather disappointed. My first turn play is Thoughseize which reveals me a hand with 2 Noble Hierarch, several other guys and no land at all. He doesn't have a land for his next 2 or 3 Turns and doesn't stand a chance. Game 2 is one of the "better be lucky than good" kind. He starts with Dryad Arbor and I have Thoughtseize again. But instead of taking Natural Order or at least Force of Will I decide to take a stupid Tarmogoyf. Don't know what I was thinking. He makes a Noble Hierarch turn 2 and passes. I play my second Thoughtseize which he of course simply forces. I also play Top and want to smack myself. He goes for Progenitus and passes. In my upkeep I look into the Top and can already see the Damnation. I take a hit from Progenitus and use the Damnation to get rid of him...lucky me...from then on I'm never really in danger. I kill a few more of his guys and several Witnesses later I win.

So all in all 4/0/2 which meant 3rd place out of 35 and a Bayou for me. Finally I don't have to borrow the 4th one from a friend. I really like the changes, especially the 4th Top. You always want one as early as possible and it's rarely a problem if you draw two.