Hanni
10-06-2009, 10:49 PM
This is a variation of R/g Goyf Sligh and R/G/w Naya Sligh. The deck splashes black instead of white, dropping the awesomeness that is Wild Nacatl, for an experimental project with Bloodchief Ascension.
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What is Bloodchief Acension?
Name: Bloodchief Ascension
Cost: B
Type: Enechantment
Card Text: At the beginning of each end step, if an opponent lost 2 or more life this turn, you may put a quest counter on Bloodchief Ascension. (Damage causes loss of life.)
Whenever a card is put into an opponent's graveyard from anywhere, if Bloodchief Ascension has three or more quest counters on it, you may have that player lose 2 life. If you do, you gain 2 life.
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My Original Sligh Shell
For a quick reference, here is my highly optimized R/G/w Naya Sligh list that provided the shell for this deck:
R/G/w Naya Sligh
// Lands
4 [ON] Wooded Foothills
4 [ZEN] Arid Mesa
3 Taiga
2 [A] Plateau
1 [U] Savannah
4 [RAV] Mountain (2)
1 [8E] Forest (3)
// Creatures
2 [TO] Grim Lavamancer
4 [ZEN] Goblin Guide
4 [ALA] Wild Nacatl
4 [FUT] Tarmogoyf
// Spells
4 [A] Lightning Bolt
4 [LG] Chain Lightning
4 [TSP] Rift Bolt
4 [FD] Magma Jet
4 [DLM] Incinerate
3 [EX] Price of Progress
4 [VI] Fireblast
// Sideboard
SB: 1 [EX] Price of Progress
SB: 2 [TSP] Krosan Grip
SB: 4 [CFX] Path to Exile
SB: 4 [SHM] Vexing Shusher
SB: 4 [MR] Chalice of the Void
---
[B]The Experimental Black Splash
R/B/g Bloodchief Sligh
// Lands
4 [ON] Bloodstained Mire
4 [ON] Wooded Foothills
3 Badlands
2 [R] Taiga
1 [B] Bayou
4 [LRW] Mountain (1)
1 [4E] Swamp (3)
// Creatures
2 [TO] Grim Lavamancer
4 [ZEN] Goblin Guide
4 [FUT] Tarmogoyf
// Spells
4 [ZEN] Bloodchief Ascension
4 [B] Lightning Bolt
4 [LRW] Tarfire
4 [TSP] Rift Bolt
4 [FD] Magma Jet
4 [DD2] Incinerate
3 [VI] Fireblast
4 [LRW] Thoughtseize
// Sideboard
SB: 4 [EX] Price of Progress
SB: 4 [MM] Snuff Out
SB: 4 [SHM] Vexing Shusher
SB: 3 [TSP] Krosan Grip
---
[B]General Overview
Without going into great detail and discussion about the Sligh archetype itself (there's already a thread for that), I'll just explain the differences between the white splash and the black splash.
Basically, the deck drops white and Wild Nacatl for black and Bloodchief Ascension. From the sideboard, Snuff Out's come in for Path to Exile.
Thoughtseize is included in the black splash in place of Price of Progress, and the manabase shifts to a R/B base as opposed to a R/G base.
That pretty much sums up the basics.
---
Why Bloodchief over Wild Nacatl?
They are both 1cc, and attempt to do alot of damage for their mana investment. Nacatl deals damage faster. Bloodchief has more lasting power. You want to play them both early; that's the concept of Sligh. Aggro early, finish with burn. Both tend to be bad topdecks later on the game.
The comparison between Wild Nacatl and Bloodchief Ascension is similar to the comparison between Werebear and Quirion Dryad. Nacatl typically does 6 damage by turn 3; Bloodchief requires you to grow it before it activates, which will typically start on turn 3.
However, each has their pros and cons.
Nactal does way more damage earlier. This makes R/G/w Naya Sligh the faster deck, and a faster clock is a great thing against many matchups. However, being a creature, Nacatl is subject to creature removal and being ground stalled against larger creatures.
Bloodchief is rather slow, but is a powerful engine once its established. The ability to burn away the opponent's creatures and still deal damage to the opponent is a very powerful effect. Bloodchief also enables the deck to run Thoughtseize, by turning topdeck'd Thoughtseize's into Shocks.
Whether or not being faster or being more resilient as a better approach is something that warrants testing, and that's what this experiment aims to do.
---
Bloodchief, and the Mechanics it Enables
Bloodchief is a completely different animal from Wild Nacatl.
Wild Nacatl pushes Sligh to a faster fundamental clock, reaching speeds of turn 3-4. Turn 4 is a consistent goldfish, and turn 3 occurs frequently.
Bloodchief, on the other hand, has the potential to do far more damage, is very synergetic with the entire deck, and enables some resiliency that Sligh has yet to have, without butchering the deck (like maindeck Vexing Shushers).
Bloodchief doesn't need to be cast turn 1 like Nacatl to be effective. A turn 1 Goblin Guide, followed by a turn 2 Bloodchief is better than a turn 1 Bloodchief followed by a turn 2 Goblin Guide, for example. Bloodchief requires that the deck spend more of its early burn damaging the opponent rather than it's creatures, which can be a little counterproductive, but makes up at 3 counters by making all burn spent on creatures double over as damage against the opponent.
Bloodchief isn't a creature, so it's much harder to deal with. Of course, alot of decks are playing EE, O Ring, Qasali Pridemage, so on and so forth. However, alot of decks are playing StP, Lightning Bolt, so on and so forth. I feel that enchantments are less vulnerable in the metagame than creatures are, and so being an enchantment makes Bloodchief harder to deal with than Nacatl.
Bloodchief gives life gain, which can be relevant in some matchups. The life loss may be negated by early Thoughtseize's or Snuff Out's sometimes, but other times, it's actually a lifesaving ability.
An active Bloodchief can damage the opponent without even doing anything. The opponent's own strategy will cause him/her to put cards in their graveyard, whether it's something as basic as playing a cantrip, or something more dedicated like dredging Loam. This alone makes Bloodchief warping when active, causing the opponent to either answer it immediately, play their deck suboptimally, or just die outright with little effort on our part.
Before Bloodchief, running Thoughtseize was never an option. The deck sometimes runs out of gas, and Thoughtseize does very little to improve this. However, with Bloodchief, topdecked Thoughtseize's essentially become burn spells. This makes it a solid topdeck, whereas before it would have been completely worthless.
When cast on turn 1, Thoughtseize does slow the clock down, but is a very powerful play regardless. The ability to slow combo down a few turns can oftentimes win the matchup. The ability to grab a Tarmogoyf or Counterbalance out of the opponent's hand can swing a game around completely in your favor. Maybe even most importantly, the ability to see the opponent's hand right away in game 1 allows you to know exactly what your playing against, and how to properly play your following turns. However, Thoughtseize loses most of its effectiveness after the early turns of the game. Becoming a burn spell under an active Bloodchief turns a dead card in hand into a useful one, and this is rather good.
*Price of Progress in the sideboard is a great sub for Thoughtseize in matchups where Thoughtseize is bad and/or Price of Progress is great*
The problem with Bloodchief is that it's slow, it changes some of the fundamental gameplans of the deck (like spending early burn hitting the opponent rather than casting it on blockers), and it is dependant on other cards to be truly effective. Nacatl is much more of a standalone threat, making it faster and more consistent.
Is resiliency and lasting power better than consistency and a faster clock?
---
The Sideboard Difference Between Black and White
The big creature removal in the sideboards are important against certain matchups.
Path to Exile rfg's creatures, which is a powerful effect. Putting a land into play under the opponent's control can sometimes affect tempo, though, and it does cost 1cc.
Snuff Out cannot kill black creatures, which makes it worthless against Tombstalker and other big black men. It costs 4 life, which can be risky against other aggressive decks, but Snuff Out generates far tempo by being a free spell.
Both have their pros and cons.
---
Dark Confidant vs Tarmogoyf?
Dark Confidant is a creature I want to briefly mention, because it is a possibility being in black. Dark Confidant is actually a decent card in the deck. The opponent is going to play removal on our creatures regardless of which ones we play. Dark Confidant is weak to low damage based removal, where Tarmogoyf is mostly unaffected. Tarmogoyf is weak to destroy non-black based removal, where Dark Confidant is mostly unaffected.
The deck plays a savage amount of burn spells to destroy early blockers regardless, so regardless of how big (4/5) or small (2/3) Tarmogoyf is in comparison, both should be able to swing in at least once or twice for damage.
Tarmogoyf is better at pushing damage through against opposing aggro decks, and does more damage faster.
Dark Confidant is an engine creature that draws the deck into more burn, effectively dealing a larger amount of damage overtime against, especially during ground stalls.
Whether or not Dark Confidant has a place in the deck would need significant testing, but Dark Confidant would replace Tarmogoyf in the same way that Bloodchief replaces Wild Nacatl. Whether or not that is a good decision, warrants testing.
One pro for Confidant in this debate is the stability of the manabase by dropping out green completely and going straight R/b. The loss of Krosan Grip's is not that bad, since the deck answers Chalice/Counterbalance with Vexing Susher anyways.
Debatables
I keep bouncing around between Chain Lightning and Tarfire. Chain Lightning gives more bang for the buck. Tarfire is an instant. Tarfire can pump Goyf even bigger. Right now I'm siding with instant speed damage, since it's much stronger with Bloodchief. The added bonus of making Goyf even larger is great, too. However, I'm torn between the two, and it's going to take some testing for me to actually figure out which one is the better one.
/FIN (for now)
EDIT: I've decided to drop the Thoughtseize's for now. They are good sometimes, but other times they clog me up when I really needed burn. I dropped all 4 for some Chain Lightnings.
In all honesty though, the deck hasn't been performing even close to as good as R/G/w Naya Sligh. I'm thinking Bloodchief Ascension would be more applicable in a R/b Burn deck.
---
What is Bloodchief Acension?
Name: Bloodchief Ascension
Cost: B
Type: Enechantment
Card Text: At the beginning of each end step, if an opponent lost 2 or more life this turn, you may put a quest counter on Bloodchief Ascension. (Damage causes loss of life.)
Whenever a card is put into an opponent's graveyard from anywhere, if Bloodchief Ascension has three or more quest counters on it, you may have that player lose 2 life. If you do, you gain 2 life.
---
My Original Sligh Shell
For a quick reference, here is my highly optimized R/G/w Naya Sligh list that provided the shell for this deck:
R/G/w Naya Sligh
// Lands
4 [ON] Wooded Foothills
4 [ZEN] Arid Mesa
3 Taiga
2 [A] Plateau
1 [U] Savannah
4 [RAV] Mountain (2)
1 [8E] Forest (3)
// Creatures
2 [TO] Grim Lavamancer
4 [ZEN] Goblin Guide
4 [ALA] Wild Nacatl
4 [FUT] Tarmogoyf
// Spells
4 [A] Lightning Bolt
4 [LG] Chain Lightning
4 [TSP] Rift Bolt
4 [FD] Magma Jet
4 [DLM] Incinerate
3 [EX] Price of Progress
4 [VI] Fireblast
// Sideboard
SB: 1 [EX] Price of Progress
SB: 2 [TSP] Krosan Grip
SB: 4 [CFX] Path to Exile
SB: 4 [SHM] Vexing Shusher
SB: 4 [MR] Chalice of the Void
---
[B]The Experimental Black Splash
R/B/g Bloodchief Sligh
// Lands
4 [ON] Bloodstained Mire
4 [ON] Wooded Foothills
3 Badlands
2 [R] Taiga
1 [B] Bayou
4 [LRW] Mountain (1)
1 [4E] Swamp (3)
// Creatures
2 [TO] Grim Lavamancer
4 [ZEN] Goblin Guide
4 [FUT] Tarmogoyf
// Spells
4 [ZEN] Bloodchief Ascension
4 [B] Lightning Bolt
4 [LRW] Tarfire
4 [TSP] Rift Bolt
4 [FD] Magma Jet
4 [DD2] Incinerate
3 [VI] Fireblast
4 [LRW] Thoughtseize
// Sideboard
SB: 4 [EX] Price of Progress
SB: 4 [MM] Snuff Out
SB: 4 [SHM] Vexing Shusher
SB: 3 [TSP] Krosan Grip
---
[B]General Overview
Without going into great detail and discussion about the Sligh archetype itself (there's already a thread for that), I'll just explain the differences between the white splash and the black splash.
Basically, the deck drops white and Wild Nacatl for black and Bloodchief Ascension. From the sideboard, Snuff Out's come in for Path to Exile.
Thoughtseize is included in the black splash in place of Price of Progress, and the manabase shifts to a R/B base as opposed to a R/G base.
That pretty much sums up the basics.
---
Why Bloodchief over Wild Nacatl?
They are both 1cc, and attempt to do alot of damage for their mana investment. Nacatl deals damage faster. Bloodchief has more lasting power. You want to play them both early; that's the concept of Sligh. Aggro early, finish with burn. Both tend to be bad topdecks later on the game.
The comparison between Wild Nacatl and Bloodchief Ascension is similar to the comparison between Werebear and Quirion Dryad. Nacatl typically does 6 damage by turn 3; Bloodchief requires you to grow it before it activates, which will typically start on turn 3.
However, each has their pros and cons.
Nactal does way more damage earlier. This makes R/G/w Naya Sligh the faster deck, and a faster clock is a great thing against many matchups. However, being a creature, Nacatl is subject to creature removal and being ground stalled against larger creatures.
Bloodchief is rather slow, but is a powerful engine once its established. The ability to burn away the opponent's creatures and still deal damage to the opponent is a very powerful effect. Bloodchief also enables the deck to run Thoughtseize, by turning topdeck'd Thoughtseize's into Shocks.
Whether or not being faster or being more resilient as a better approach is something that warrants testing, and that's what this experiment aims to do.
---
Bloodchief, and the Mechanics it Enables
Bloodchief is a completely different animal from Wild Nacatl.
Wild Nacatl pushes Sligh to a faster fundamental clock, reaching speeds of turn 3-4. Turn 4 is a consistent goldfish, and turn 3 occurs frequently.
Bloodchief, on the other hand, has the potential to do far more damage, is very synergetic with the entire deck, and enables some resiliency that Sligh has yet to have, without butchering the deck (like maindeck Vexing Shushers).
Bloodchief doesn't need to be cast turn 1 like Nacatl to be effective. A turn 1 Goblin Guide, followed by a turn 2 Bloodchief is better than a turn 1 Bloodchief followed by a turn 2 Goblin Guide, for example. Bloodchief requires that the deck spend more of its early burn damaging the opponent rather than it's creatures, which can be a little counterproductive, but makes up at 3 counters by making all burn spent on creatures double over as damage against the opponent.
Bloodchief isn't a creature, so it's much harder to deal with. Of course, alot of decks are playing EE, O Ring, Qasali Pridemage, so on and so forth. However, alot of decks are playing StP, Lightning Bolt, so on and so forth. I feel that enchantments are less vulnerable in the metagame than creatures are, and so being an enchantment makes Bloodchief harder to deal with than Nacatl.
Bloodchief gives life gain, which can be relevant in some matchups. The life loss may be negated by early Thoughtseize's or Snuff Out's sometimes, but other times, it's actually a lifesaving ability.
An active Bloodchief can damage the opponent without even doing anything. The opponent's own strategy will cause him/her to put cards in their graveyard, whether it's something as basic as playing a cantrip, or something more dedicated like dredging Loam. This alone makes Bloodchief warping when active, causing the opponent to either answer it immediately, play their deck suboptimally, or just die outright with little effort on our part.
Before Bloodchief, running Thoughtseize was never an option. The deck sometimes runs out of gas, and Thoughtseize does very little to improve this. However, with Bloodchief, topdecked Thoughtseize's essentially become burn spells. This makes it a solid topdeck, whereas before it would have been completely worthless.
When cast on turn 1, Thoughtseize does slow the clock down, but is a very powerful play regardless. The ability to slow combo down a few turns can oftentimes win the matchup. The ability to grab a Tarmogoyf or Counterbalance out of the opponent's hand can swing a game around completely in your favor. Maybe even most importantly, the ability to see the opponent's hand right away in game 1 allows you to know exactly what your playing against, and how to properly play your following turns. However, Thoughtseize loses most of its effectiveness after the early turns of the game. Becoming a burn spell under an active Bloodchief turns a dead card in hand into a useful one, and this is rather good.
*Price of Progress in the sideboard is a great sub for Thoughtseize in matchups where Thoughtseize is bad and/or Price of Progress is great*
The problem with Bloodchief is that it's slow, it changes some of the fundamental gameplans of the deck (like spending early burn hitting the opponent rather than casting it on blockers), and it is dependant on other cards to be truly effective. Nacatl is much more of a standalone threat, making it faster and more consistent.
Is resiliency and lasting power better than consistency and a faster clock?
---
The Sideboard Difference Between Black and White
The big creature removal in the sideboards are important against certain matchups.
Path to Exile rfg's creatures, which is a powerful effect. Putting a land into play under the opponent's control can sometimes affect tempo, though, and it does cost 1cc.
Snuff Out cannot kill black creatures, which makes it worthless against Tombstalker and other big black men. It costs 4 life, which can be risky against other aggressive decks, but Snuff Out generates far tempo by being a free spell.
Both have their pros and cons.
---
Dark Confidant vs Tarmogoyf?
Dark Confidant is a creature I want to briefly mention, because it is a possibility being in black. Dark Confidant is actually a decent card in the deck. The opponent is going to play removal on our creatures regardless of which ones we play. Dark Confidant is weak to low damage based removal, where Tarmogoyf is mostly unaffected. Tarmogoyf is weak to destroy non-black based removal, where Dark Confidant is mostly unaffected.
The deck plays a savage amount of burn spells to destroy early blockers regardless, so regardless of how big (4/5) or small (2/3) Tarmogoyf is in comparison, both should be able to swing in at least once or twice for damage.
Tarmogoyf is better at pushing damage through against opposing aggro decks, and does more damage faster.
Dark Confidant is an engine creature that draws the deck into more burn, effectively dealing a larger amount of damage overtime against, especially during ground stalls.
Whether or not Dark Confidant has a place in the deck would need significant testing, but Dark Confidant would replace Tarmogoyf in the same way that Bloodchief replaces Wild Nacatl. Whether or not that is a good decision, warrants testing.
One pro for Confidant in this debate is the stability of the manabase by dropping out green completely and going straight R/b. The loss of Krosan Grip's is not that bad, since the deck answers Chalice/Counterbalance with Vexing Susher anyways.
Debatables
I keep bouncing around between Chain Lightning and Tarfire. Chain Lightning gives more bang for the buck. Tarfire is an instant. Tarfire can pump Goyf even bigger. Right now I'm siding with instant speed damage, since it's much stronger with Bloodchief. The added bonus of making Goyf even larger is great, too. However, I'm torn between the two, and it's going to take some testing for me to actually figure out which one is the better one.
/FIN (for now)
EDIT: I've decided to drop the Thoughtseize's for now. They are good sometimes, but other times they clog me up when I really needed burn. I dropped all 4 for some Chain Lightnings.
In all honesty though, the deck hasn't been performing even close to as good as R/G/w Naya Sligh. I'm thinking Bloodchief Ascension would be more applicable in a R/b Burn deck.