Vermin - BW control

[Telefonmann]

// Lands
7 [DDC] Plains (1)
4 [DDC] Swamp (1)
2 [ON] Bloodstained Mire
1 [ON] Polluted Delta
1 [ON] Flooded Strand
2 [ON] Windswept Heath
4 [R] Scrubland
2 [4E] Mishra's Factory

// Lock
2 [LG] Moat
3 [TE] Humility

// Winoption 1
4 [MOR] Bitterblossom
2 [LRW] Ajani Goldmane
3 [ALA] Elspeth, Knight-Errant

// Winoption 2
2 [AL] Helm of Obedience
4 [GP] Leyline of the Void

// Removal
4 [CST] Swords to Plowshares
4 [AP] Vindicate
2 [ALA] Oblivion Ring

// Manipulation
3 [CHK] Sensei's Divining Top
2 [6E] Enlightened Tutor

// Tricks
2 [ARB] Zealous Persecution

// Sideboard
SB: 1 [ALA] Oblivion Ring
SB: 3 [10E] Pithing Needle
SB: 3 [SHM] Runed Halo
SB: 4 [10E] Story Circle
SB: 4 Replenish


[U](Main) Synergies:
Humility + Elspeth / Bitterblossom / Factory

Humility + Moat + Elspeth -> Layersystem ftw, you can still swing for 4.

Token / Factory + Ajani (+Humility) -> Layersystem², +1/+1 counter still work.

Leyline + Helm = Combo that removes all cards in the enemy's graveyard. Since you should stay alive via Humility, Tokens or Moat you have time to wait for both cards.

Elspeth + Ajani = flying avatar? xD


Arguable Slots:
Zealous Persecution -> situational, but 5 Faerie tokens swinging for 10 or Humility + Persecution are great. I guess this is the Slot I would play "real" removal like Smother or 4 Duress / Cabal Therapy to make sure I can play my 4cc spells.



Cards you don't want to see:
Krosan Grip
Gaddock Teeg & Qasali Pridemage -> both cards are a real pain. Bant Survival is becoming rather popular in Germany, so many players play Pridemage MD and Teeq + Grip SB. That is the reason why I play 4 Replenish SB.
Deed -> He must pop it for 4, I have Vindicate and O.Ring, Planeswalker are not affected = not that bad, but it sweeps nearly the entire board which can turn out bad if he has threats.



Matchups:
Goyf Sligh: If he isn't really, really fast I can win -> Ajani, 8+2 Removal, Moat + Humility, PoP isn't that dangerous.

Gro StifleWaste: 11 Basics, Removal and Token till I play Humility, Moat, whatever.

Gro Balanced: Who cares about Balance? Most of my spells can't be countered that way, Humility, Blossom.

Team America: 4 lands = win, otherwise I have a problem.

Landstill: Plainswalker, Vindicate, Blockers + Ajani, should be one of the better MUs.

Combo: Ouch :( I'll need Runed Halo, sometimes Needle

Aggro Loam: Humility and Moat > his creatures, Assault and Dreams can be a problem as long as I don't have sth. to produce tokens. Needle + Halo SB ftw.

Bant Survival: Bad... Just bad. See Meta cards

Goblins: Not that popular anymore :) 4 Mana = win, maybe Warmth if you know that many Goblins are around.

Threshhold in general: LotV MD, Humility, Moat, just a nice MU.


Meta cards:
Engineered Plague
Greater Auramancy
Relic of Progenitus
Discard
E. Explosives
Contamination (+ Bitterblossom)

Since green is played in nearly every strong deck in Germany I considered:
Deathgrip
Perish
Both worked well (imho Perish is better), but I just don't know what I should drop. I always felt that I dropped the wrong cards, I guess Persecution, 1 Replenish and 1 Story Circle are dispensable.

[MTG-Fan]

I like 1-2 Contamination in a deck with E-Tutor and Bitterblossom.

If you can resolve that "combo", against a lot of decks it's gg.

[Telefonmann]

I tried BB + Contamination in Pox - always too late. Maybe I suggest 1-2 in the SB, but there is no free slot in the MD unless you remove Persecution and don't want to add Perish.

[Ceridan]

Why not run 4 Ancient Tomb in the list? Seems as a good idea since most of the cards cost 2WW, 2W or 4 (helm).

[Maëlig]

I like 1-2 Contamination in a deck with E-Tutor and Bitterblossom.

If you can resolve that "combo", against a lot of decks it's gg.

This has been tried quite a few times in different shells, and the result was always disapointing. Not worth it imo.

I really like the idea, but I'm not convinced by the combo-finish. I would replace it with more control elements, starting with crucible (in which case you'll also want a few wastelands).

[Telefonmann]

The combo is worth the slots, it has won quite some games, furthermore in my meta LotV MD is nice :)

I tried 4 Tomb, they work fine, but with BB lifeloss is going to be a problem.

As I would play the Deck in my meta:

// Lands (23)
6 [DDC] Plains (1)
1 [ON] Flooded Strand
1 [ON] Bloodstained Mire
1 [ON] Polluted Delta
4 [DDC] Swamp (1)
2 [ON] Windswept Heath
4 [R] Scrubland
4 [TE] Ancient Tomb

//Lock
3 [TE] Humility
2 [LG] Moat

// Win 1
4 [MOR] Bitterblossom
2 [LRW] Ajani Goldmane
3 [ALA] Elspeth, Knight-Errant

// Win 2
4 [GP] Leyline of the Void
2 [AL] Helm of Obedience

// Removal
3 [ALA] Oblivion Ring
4 [AP] Vindicate
4 [CST] Swords to Plowshares

//Manipulation
3 [6E] Enlightened Tutor
3 [CHK] Sensei's Divining Top

// Sideboard
SB: 1 [7E] Engineered Plague
SB: 2 [10E] Pithing Needle
SB: 3 [10E] Story Circle
SB: 3 [UD] Replenish
SB: 3 [6E] Perish
SB: 3 [SHM] Runed Halo

[shaneswa]

Maybe with the tomb and lack of one drops chalice could be good in the sb or even the main deck.

[DrJones]

I was thinking recently about building a deck like this one, except I wasn't using the "kill" combo of helm plus leyline because it makes my teeth screech.

Here are some cards I were considering instead, that still haven't been mentioned in this thread.

Brood of Cockroaches: cheap, good staller, good sinergies with contamination and the next cards.
Cabal Therapy
Braids, Cabal Minion/Smokestack.

My idea was more abusing cards that require you to keep sacrificing things, like Contamination or Braids, alongside with recurring creatures and token generators.

[Telefonmann]

Chalice shuts off too many important spells of my own.
1: StoP / Tutor / Top
2: BB
3: Vindicate / O.Ring
I guess it's possible if you go for the combo-win.

Braids would be the first target for Removal, better play Smokestack, especially with Humility.

I considered Theraphy @ Meta cards - Discard. Imo Theraphy and TS would be both good choices but extend the cc1-slot which would make Chalice bad.
Instead of Cockroaches I would play Nether Spirit. Maybe 4 Nether, 4 BB, 3 Elspeth and 3-4 Smokestack would work, but I think the Combo works better.

Maybe a version with Chalice, CoW and Smokestack instead of the combo could work. 2-3 CoW, 2-3 Smokestack, 4 Chalice. I wonder if I should play about 2-4 Flagstones of Trokair.

Nonetheless I'll play an onlinetournament with my 2nd version, afterwards I'll test the heavy control version.


Everytime I read my posts my head hurts because of my bad english xD




HC Vermin

// Lands (23)
4 [DDC] Plains (1)
1 [ON] Flooded Strand
1 [ON] Bloodstained Mire
1 [ON] Polluted Delta
4 [DDC] Swamp (1)
2 [ON] Windswept Heath
4 [R] Scrubland
4 [TE] Ancient Tomb
2 Flagstones of Trokair

//Lock (8)
4 [TE] Humility
2 [LG] Moat
3 Smokestack

// Win 1 (9)
4 [MOR] Bitterblossom
2 [LRW] Ajani Goldmane
3 [ALA] Elspeth, Knight-Errant

// Removal (11)
3 [ALA] Oblivion Ring
4 [AP] Vindicate
4 [CST] Swords to Plowshares

//Manipulation (9)
2 [6E] Enlightened Tutor
3 [CHK] Sensei's Divining Top
3 Crucible of Worlds

// Sideboard
SB: 4 Chalice of the Void
SB: 1 [7E] Engineered Plague
SB: 1 [10E] Story Circle
SB: 3 [UD] Replenish
SB: 3 [6E] Perish
SB: 3 [SHM] Runed Halo