Pastorofmuppets
01-16-2010, 11:31 AM
in keeping with my terrible deck ideas, here's Tabernacle Red.
The concept:
I have always loved The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale ever since I first laid eyes upon it. I love Wrath, and I love mana denial. So what's not to love here? Loam is another one of my fetish cards, and it seems like I'm always trying to find room for either it or Crucible.
I looked at this from an odd perspective. I knew that I could pull it off in a burn-style deck, but I also knew that slowing down Burn with Taigas and Loam would mess me up quite a bit, and just running 1 Tabernacle in Burn would never get me anywhere. Instead, I ended up with the bastard child of Aggro Loam and Burn. You only have 4 creatures in the entire deck that stay on the board, and since you never need more than 2 mana at a time, the 1 mana a turn upkeep cost of (holy balls I never would've guessed that a deck that runs green would have) Tarmogoyf isn't that painful. You might also count Keldon Marauders, but 5 damage for 3 mana with Tabernacle or 2 mana without is nothing to shake a stick at.
Here's the current list:
TABERNACLE RED: January 3, 2010 version
Land (22)
4 Taiga
4 Wooded Foothills
1 Forest
3 Wasteland
1 Tabernacle
1 Ghitu Encampment
2 Barbarian Ring
5 Mountain
1 Forgotten Cave
Creatures (8)
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Keldon Marauders
Spells (25)
4 Chain Lightning
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Magma Jet
4 Incinerate
2 Rift Bolt
2 Life from the Loam
2 Volcanic Fallout
3 Fireblast
Enchantments (5)
2/3 Seismic Assault
3/2 Sylvan Library
Sideboard:
4 Krosan Grip
4 Tormod's Crypt
3 Price of Progress
4 Pyrostatic Pillar
Card choices:
Chain Lightning, Lightning Bolt, Incinerate: More bang for your buck. This is a burn deck at heart, and 3 damage is good in this format (or so I've heard)
Magma Jet: Seems bad at first glance, but on the play it's a tight defense against things like Lackey and Nacatl, and gives you some choice on what your next turn will be. Based on what I'm playing and whether I'm on the play or draw it sometimes gets boarded out for Pillar (Storm, Zoo, Merfolk), Tormod's Crypt (Ichorid, Thresh, Reanimator), or Price (Aggro Loam, Zoo, Lands, random obscure decks).
Volcanic Fallout: a lot tougher as a sweeper than people tend to think, but there are times I wish that it was Firespout.
Rift Bolt: I hate it, and there are times that I'd honestly rather have 2 MD Grips, but you can't argue with results. It adds to the deck's overall speed (and makes Goblin Players think twice before dropping that turn 1 Lackey on the play)
Tarmogoyf: You won't read this anyway.
Keldon Marauders: 5 damage is good. Even if it gets removed, your opponent loses a card AND 2 life.
Life from the Loam: 2 seems like the right number, as 3 makes me feel flooded at times
Sylvan Library/Seismic Assault: Both bad in multiples, but they're both oh-so-gooood to have. Assault+Loam is utterly savage, and Library is the deck's biggest advantage over burn, Assault often gets boarded out against Aggro, since I often get as much damage in from Pillar for 1 less mana.
Fireblast: wins games quick, facilitates that turn 3 or 4 "I-laugh-at-your-misery-versus-my-dumb-luck" win.
Ghitu Encampment versus the far-superior Treetop Village: Yes, Village is better in every other deck, but you never really need more than 1 green source on the board, and Encampment makes red mana, critical for landing that Seismic Assault.
Barbarian Ring: Along with Encampment, gives you a late-game contingency plan with Loam. You really shouldn't complain about 2 damage for 4 mana in topdeck mode.
Matchups:
Goblins: fair to average; about 55:45 or 45:55 based on what kind of a day I'm having.
If Lackey connects, it isn't an auto win. If Lackey connects and in comes Ringleader revealing 3-4 Goblins, you might want to consider conceding. Sweepers are the stars of this MU, hence the maindeck Fallouts, with Honorable Mention going to Ghitu Encampment for keeping most of their creatures at bay
Sideboarding:
on the play: -3 Seismic Assault, +3 Pyrostatic pillar. Keep their Lackeys and Instigators off of the board, and let them go into Wasteland Wars. Pillar will whittle them down until you rip a Goyf or the like.
On the draw: same as above. If they don't mull, then good night, and good luck. Grip might help in some amount, but I can't find the right number. If they do mulligan, you have a fighting chance. It's hard to explain this MU because it seems to come down to sheer luck in the win vs. lose category.
Zoo: I've played exactly 1 game vs Zoo. It went like this: I trounce him, he slaughters me, then game 3 we go about 10-15 turns in Topdeck mode after losing all of our creatures and burn, with me not having Loam. He rips Fireblast off the top (Zoo runs Fireblast???) and wins for the win. It seems like you just need to keep an eye on their burn, since they don't have much to target with it and will therefore be whipping it at your head every chance they get. Also, Waste+Tabernacle+Loam keeps them off balance and essentially forces them to play said burn game. Use Tarmogoyf and Marauders as walls and chuck every little piece of fire you get at their head, and you should come out on top
Painter: Interestingly enough, this has been piling itself on MWS lately. Pillar is really good here, as are any 3-damage burn and Grip. This deck isn't very popular, so I'll stop wasting your time with it.
more MU information to come! I seem to be taking on a lot of jank on MWS (surprise, surprise), and I don't want to provide my faulty Storm info, since MWS Storm players are terrible, and nobody plays Thresh or Merfolk. I can guess Merfolk and Thresh to be good (not much for their stifles to hate on, and Wasteland is moot vs. Loam). Storm, Aggro Loam, Ichorid, and Countertop are probably really bad, with Pillar, Crypt, Crypt, and Grip being your respective heroes
The concept:
I have always loved The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale ever since I first laid eyes upon it. I love Wrath, and I love mana denial. So what's not to love here? Loam is another one of my fetish cards, and it seems like I'm always trying to find room for either it or Crucible.
I looked at this from an odd perspective. I knew that I could pull it off in a burn-style deck, but I also knew that slowing down Burn with Taigas and Loam would mess me up quite a bit, and just running 1 Tabernacle in Burn would never get me anywhere. Instead, I ended up with the bastard child of Aggro Loam and Burn. You only have 4 creatures in the entire deck that stay on the board, and since you never need more than 2 mana at a time, the 1 mana a turn upkeep cost of (holy balls I never would've guessed that a deck that runs green would have) Tarmogoyf isn't that painful. You might also count Keldon Marauders, but 5 damage for 3 mana with Tabernacle or 2 mana without is nothing to shake a stick at.
Here's the current list:
TABERNACLE RED: January 3, 2010 version
Land (22)
4 Taiga
4 Wooded Foothills
1 Forest
3 Wasteland
1 Tabernacle
1 Ghitu Encampment
2 Barbarian Ring
5 Mountain
1 Forgotten Cave
Creatures (8)
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Keldon Marauders
Spells (25)
4 Chain Lightning
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Magma Jet
4 Incinerate
2 Rift Bolt
2 Life from the Loam
2 Volcanic Fallout
3 Fireblast
Enchantments (5)
2/3 Seismic Assault
3/2 Sylvan Library
Sideboard:
4 Krosan Grip
4 Tormod's Crypt
3 Price of Progress
4 Pyrostatic Pillar
Card choices:
Chain Lightning, Lightning Bolt, Incinerate: More bang for your buck. This is a burn deck at heart, and 3 damage is good in this format (or so I've heard)
Magma Jet: Seems bad at first glance, but on the play it's a tight defense against things like Lackey and Nacatl, and gives you some choice on what your next turn will be. Based on what I'm playing and whether I'm on the play or draw it sometimes gets boarded out for Pillar (Storm, Zoo, Merfolk), Tormod's Crypt (Ichorid, Thresh, Reanimator), or Price (Aggro Loam, Zoo, Lands, random obscure decks).
Volcanic Fallout: a lot tougher as a sweeper than people tend to think, but there are times I wish that it was Firespout.
Rift Bolt: I hate it, and there are times that I'd honestly rather have 2 MD Grips, but you can't argue with results. It adds to the deck's overall speed (and makes Goblin Players think twice before dropping that turn 1 Lackey on the play)
Tarmogoyf: You won't read this anyway.
Keldon Marauders: 5 damage is good. Even if it gets removed, your opponent loses a card AND 2 life.
Life from the Loam: 2 seems like the right number, as 3 makes me feel flooded at times
Sylvan Library/Seismic Assault: Both bad in multiples, but they're both oh-so-gooood to have. Assault+Loam is utterly savage, and Library is the deck's biggest advantage over burn, Assault often gets boarded out against Aggro, since I often get as much damage in from Pillar for 1 less mana.
Fireblast: wins games quick, facilitates that turn 3 or 4 "I-laugh-at-your-misery-versus-my-dumb-luck" win.
Ghitu Encampment versus the far-superior Treetop Village: Yes, Village is better in every other deck, but you never really need more than 1 green source on the board, and Encampment makes red mana, critical for landing that Seismic Assault.
Barbarian Ring: Along with Encampment, gives you a late-game contingency plan with Loam. You really shouldn't complain about 2 damage for 4 mana in topdeck mode.
Matchups:
Goblins: fair to average; about 55:45 or 45:55 based on what kind of a day I'm having.
If Lackey connects, it isn't an auto win. If Lackey connects and in comes Ringleader revealing 3-4 Goblins, you might want to consider conceding. Sweepers are the stars of this MU, hence the maindeck Fallouts, with Honorable Mention going to Ghitu Encampment for keeping most of their creatures at bay
Sideboarding:
on the play: -3 Seismic Assault, +3 Pyrostatic pillar. Keep their Lackeys and Instigators off of the board, and let them go into Wasteland Wars. Pillar will whittle them down until you rip a Goyf or the like.
On the draw: same as above. If they don't mull, then good night, and good luck. Grip might help in some amount, but I can't find the right number. If they do mulligan, you have a fighting chance. It's hard to explain this MU because it seems to come down to sheer luck in the win vs. lose category.
Zoo: I've played exactly 1 game vs Zoo. It went like this: I trounce him, he slaughters me, then game 3 we go about 10-15 turns in Topdeck mode after losing all of our creatures and burn, with me not having Loam. He rips Fireblast off the top (Zoo runs Fireblast???) and wins for the win. It seems like you just need to keep an eye on their burn, since they don't have much to target with it and will therefore be whipping it at your head every chance they get. Also, Waste+Tabernacle+Loam keeps them off balance and essentially forces them to play said burn game. Use Tarmogoyf and Marauders as walls and chuck every little piece of fire you get at their head, and you should come out on top
Painter: Interestingly enough, this has been piling itself on MWS lately. Pillar is really good here, as are any 3-damage burn and Grip. This deck isn't very popular, so I'll stop wasting your time with it.
more MU information to come! I seem to be taking on a lot of jank on MWS (surprise, surprise), and I don't want to provide my faulty Storm info, since MWS Storm players are terrible, and nobody plays Thresh or Merfolk. I can guess Merfolk and Thresh to be good (not much for their stifles to hate on, and Wasteland is moot vs. Loam). Storm, Aggro Loam, Ichorid, and Countertop are probably really bad, with Pillar, Crypt, Crypt, and Grip being your respective heroes