[Deck] DepthsFarer

[DrewliusMaximus]

After playing against UW Tempo several times recently, I was really impressed by Weathered Wayfarer especially, but also the Vial - Weenie strategy with Mother of Runes, Jotun Grunt etc. So, I wanted to see if Wafarer could be used to end games in addition to controlling them. I came up with the following list as a result:

20 Land
1 Plains
1 Swamp
4 Scrubland
4 Marsh Flats
2 Windswept Heath
3 Gemstone Mine
3 Wasteland
1 Maze of Ith
1 Dark Depths

16 Spells
4 Aether Vial
2 Jitte
2 Vindicate
4 Thoughtsieze
4 Sword to Plowshares

24 Creatures
4 Mother of Runes
4 Weathered Wayfarer
4 Tidehollow Sculler
4 Dark Confidant
4 Vampire Hexmage
2 Jotun Grunt
2 Vampire Nighthawk

SB
4 Mindbreak Trap
3 Duress
3 Path to Exile
3 Faerie Macabre
1 Vindicate
1 Bojuka Bog

I've tested and played lists similar to this in 2 tournaments over the last month. At an 8-man tournament a couple of weeks ago and a 12-man today, I had good results (top 4 in the first, and split top 2 today). Two weeks ago, I think I played with 3 MD Nighthawks and 3 MD Vindicates. This week my Jotun Grunts had not arrived yet, so I played with 3 MD Nighthawks, the Bojuka Bog MD and a Relic of Progenitus in the SB in Bog's place. But, while I haven't played the exact list above yet in a tournament, I'm pretty sure from proxy-testing that Grunts need to be in the maindeck.

The basic strategy is pretty straight forward: you disrupt your opponent's hand while dropping utility bears and removing the bigger threats they resolve. If you can win with your creatures and Jitte, you do, but with Hexmages and the single Depths, you have an endgame even if you only manage to stall the game.

Like the deck that inspired it, DepthsFarer attempts to create card-advantage with Mother of Runes protection and basic Wayfarer tricks. But this deck cannot turn lands into good cards like UW Temp can with Brainstorm and Fathom Seer. It can however use Wayfarer to get a game-staller (Maze of Ith) and/or game-ender. It can also generate advantage with Dark Confidant which can be protected by Mother of Runes.

Card Selection:

The colored lands are pretty self-explanatory. I like at least 15 colored mana, and at least 18 land, so I'm going with the 3 Wastelands to complete the manabase. The Gemstone Mines are perfect for what this deck wants to do. They give you either color or mana in the early game and you can pretty easily manage their drawback to keep your Wayfarer active.

Dark Depths is the necessary 19th land. I put Maze of Ith in to give Wayfarer an effective target when you don't have Hexmage and want to stall.

Mother of Runes - DepthsFarer abuses Mom more than UW Temp because black gets Bob and Knighthawk, and of course, Marit Lage. The combination of Mom and Sculler is also annoying for your opponent.

Weathered Wayfarer - One of the deck's main engines.

Tidehollow Sculler - A Vial-friendly way to reinforce your discard strategy, and it can be more than a temporary disruption for your opponent if it's protected by Mom.

Dark Confidant - A 1-card engine, and Mom can protect it.

Vampire Hexmage - In addition to powering the combo, these guys are actually pretty usefull. In addition to Planeswalkers, Hexmage's ability addresses Chalice, kills Dredge's Gemstone Mine while removing Bridges from the yard, and the First Strike ability gets better with Jitte.

Jotun Grunt - The obvious benefit of these guys is that they hate on Goys and all graveyard strategies. But they also recyvle the usefullness of your Wastelands, Maze of Ith and Dark Depths for Wayfarer.

Vampire Nighthawk - This guy with Mom makes for pretty good board position by themselves. While I would like to play 3, I don't mind giving up 1 to play Grunts.

Aether Vials - Vials allow full operation with small amounts of mana, and enable timing and tricks with you creatures. Your combo is uncounterable with Vial...pretty nice.

Jitte - Jitte turns any one of your creatures into the game-winner, especially with Mom.

Vindicate - These might be the most debatable slots in the deck, but I like having some super-flexible answers in the MD.

Thoughtsieze - One of your preferred turn 1 plays.

Swords to Plowshares - Your standard removal.

The sideboard is basic, but Mindbreak Trap is a must for me (I see combo enough to need it) and I have liked the additional discard from SB Duress.


I have had a lot of fun with this deck so far, and I'd like to see how competitive it can be. Constructive feedback and new ideas about card selection are appreciated.

[Kangaxx]

Looks pretty solid. I'd actually take out the Gemstone Mine, replace them with Undiscovered Paradise and try to fit a Scroll Rack in there. The additional card advantage should be nice and should work well with Confidant, as well. Scroll Rack can also basically tutor for combo peices.

[DrewliusMaximus]

Scroll Rack is pretty cool. It's still weird though that it is $20.00 now.

Thanks for the idea. My concern though would be that I'm adding a card that does nothing on it's own in Scroll Rack and also using lands that are more conditional. You can drop multiple Gemstone Mines, but you can't do that with Undiscovered Paradise. The Mines allow you to get out the mana you might need early and then drop back below your opponent's land count.

[Kangaxx]

Scroll Rack is pretty cool. It's still weird though that it is $20.00 now.

Thanks for the idea. My concern though would be that I'm adding a card that does nothing on it's own in Scroll Rack and also using lands that are more conditional. You can drop multiple Gemstone Mines, but you can't do that with Undiscovered Paradise. The Mines allow you to get out the mana you might need early and then drop back below your opponent's land count.

Since when does Scroll Rack not do anything on it's own? The card is amazing, it's like SDT on crack. I'd run it in any deck that gets actual draws (not filtering like B-storm) but actual card draws. Dark Confidant will generate your draws and allow you to basically 'tutor' for anything you need off of Rack. You also run enough shuffle effects to actually run Scroll Rack and that's another major point in running it, as well.

I suggested Undiscovered Paradise becuase it works so well with Wayfarer, as well as Scroll Rack. An unneeded Paradise can be returned to your library for something useful, for example, with Rack, and a Paradise can keep your land count low for complete efficiency with Wayfarer. These cards work in conjunction with eachother in almost an identical manner.

[DrewliusMaximus]

Since when does Scroll Rack not do anything on it's own? The card is amazing, it's like SDT on crack. I'd run it in any deck that gets actual draws (not filtering like B-storm) but actual card draws. Dark Confidant will generate your draws and allow you to basically 'tutor' for anything you need off of Rack. You also run enough shuffle effects to actually run Scroll Rack and that's another major point in running it, as well.

I suggested Undiscovered Paradise becuase it works so well with Wayfarer, as well as Scroll Rack. An unneeded Paradise can be returned to your library for something useful, for example, with Rack, and a Paradise can keep your land count low for complete efficiency with Wayfarer. These cards work in conjunction with eachother in almost an identical manner.

Right. That was poorly put. I meant that Scroll Rack is neither threat nor answer by itself.

I must admit, I haven't played with Scroll Rack at all, so I'll have to try it. You're right about the interaction with Bob, he creates quite a bit of excess land, Vials and discard.

[stuckpixel]

So, what does this deck do that u/w tempo doesn't?

While nighthawk is a beating, it really sucks to have to go to 3 mana on a vial (and/or support BB in a mana cost). Would stoneforge mystic be better in that slot? He works under a standstill lock to get a jitte on the board.

[Phoenix Ignition]

So, what does this deck do that u/w tempo doesn't?

I swear to God if I see this on another thread I'm going to start puking and not stop until the deck actually wins a large-scale event (so, a very long time?).

[DrewliusMaximus]

So, what does this deck do that u/w tempo doesn't?

Answer -

Like the deck that inspired it, DepthsFarer attempts to create card-advantage with Mother of Runes protection and basic Wayfarer tricks. But this deck cannot turn lands into good cards like UW Temp can with Brainstorm and Fathom Seer. It can however use Wayfarer to get a game-staller (Maze of Ith) and/or game-ender. It can also generate advantage with Dark Confidant which can be protected by Mother of Runes.


While nighthawk is a beating, it really sucks to have to go to 3 mana on a vial (and/or support BB in a mana cost). Would stoneforge mystic be better in that slot? He works under a standstill lock to get a jitte on the board.

There is some inconvenience with Nighthawk, but it isn't that much a problem, especially with only 2. I tested one Mystic and it was good but not great. I like Nighthawk because it's one of the best available creatures to combine with Mom.