[Deck] Hatching Replenish (Blue White Graveyard-based Enchantment)

[neoryujin]

I mentioned this deck on the W/G Kor Spiritdancer "Enchantress Stompy" - thread (http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?17535-W-G-Kor-Spiritdancer-Enchantress-Stompy), but I was too lazy to write a thread at that time.

This is a graveyard-based enchantment deck, with the goal to abuse Replenish (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Replenish), Hatching Plans (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Hatching%20Plans), Enchanted Evening (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Enchanted%20Evening), etc. through Read the Runes (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Read%20the%20Runes), enchantment-eating Togs & other things. This deck tries to stall through many enchantments that act like removal, until the combo is online.

Not a tier deck, but it's fun to play and the combo's quite fast to pull as well.

I usually play the Budget version, like this:

Finishers:

4 Replenish
4 Phantatog
3 Auratog


Draw & Dump in the graveyard:

4 Read the Runes
3 Perilous Research


Enchantments:

3 Hatching Plans
3 Temporal Isolation
3 Oblivion Ring
1 Journey to Nowhere
3 Spirit Link
1 Hoofprints of the Stag
2 Ghostly Prison
or
2 Propaganda

2 Steel of the Godhead
2 Unquestioned Authority
1 Battle Mastery
2 Enchanted Evening


Mana:

Plains
Island
Ancient Tomb
City of Traitors
Serra's Sanctum

Some duals
(I'll try to find some time to update this later. I usually play with budget cards without Ancient Tomb and the like, therefore a slower version)


Sideboard:

Aura Thief
Hoofprints of the Stag
Copy Enchantment
Eldrazi Conscription
Alexi's Cloak
Crackdown
Archmage Ascension
Attunement
Auramancer's Guise
Back to Basics
Pandemonium
Saproling Burst
Boseiju, Who Shelters All
Wonder
Runed Halo




Upgrade to the non-budget, metagame-alert version:

Force of Will (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Force%20of%20Will)
Abjure (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Abjure) (swap Journey to Nowhere with Curse of Chains (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Curse%20of%20Chains), for example, to have more blue permanents to sacrifice)
Swords to Plowshares (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Swords%20to%20Plowshares) or Path to Exile (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Path%20to%20Exile) (swap: Journey to Nowhere / Spirit Link / Temporal Isolation with this, but leave some Temporal Isolation)
Mox Diamond (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Mox%20Diamond)


Discarder:
- Perilous Research (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Perilous%20Research): sacrifice Hatching Plans (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Hatching%20Plans) for an Ancestral Recall + 2. Or sac any other irrelevant enchantments / permanents, as your goal is to find Replenish or Read the Runes as soon as possible.
- Read the Runes (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Read%20the%20Runes): instant speed. Wait till opponent's end of turn, you might want to Temporal Isolation (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Temporal%20Isolation) an opponent's creature instead. Draw X cards (sacrifice Hatching Plans for more delicacy :), dump enchantment cards to the graveyard, and definitely keep Replenish (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Replenish).
- Phantatog (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Phantatog): eats both enchantments and cards from your hand, to be recycled with Replenish, oh, and attacks as well
- Auratog (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Auratog): eats enchantments. Make this unblockable (Temporal Isolation, Unquestioned Authority (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Unquestioned%20Authority)) and attack.


Enchantment selection:

- Hatching Plans (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Hatching%20Plans) (delicious for Phantatog and Auratog, and Ancestral Recall for you)
- Temporal Isolation (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Temporal%20Isolation) (instant speed removal AND acts as evasion for Aura/Phantatog. Enchant them with this, attack with shadow, and sac this after no creatures could block Aura/Phantatog)
- Spirit Link (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Spirit%20Link) (cheap removal or letting you stay alive a little longer)
- Oblivion Ring (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Oblivion%20Ring) (removal for any kinds of threat)
- Unquestioned Authority (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Unquestioned%20Authority) (card draw / evasion / turns the Atogs to persistent blocker)
- Steel of the Godhead (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Steel%20of%20the%20Godhead) (Unblockability & Lifelink for Phantatog. Auratog only gets Lifelink)
- Battle Mastery (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Battle%20Mastery) (Doubles Togs' power)


Goal:

- Replenish (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Replenish): First, sacrifice all your enchantments on the board to Auratog, Phantatog, Perilous Research or Abjure, or discard your enchantment cards from your hand with Phantatog, Read the Runes, then Replenish them back to play, sac them all over again to Aura/Phantatog (leave an evasion one, like Unquestioned Authority. Unquestioned Authorithy draws you a card when it comes to play, even from the graveyard), and attack FTW.
Bringing an already sacrificed Hatching Plans from your graveyard to be sacrificed again and drawing three more cards (imagine another Replenish :) to discard to Phantatog is just amazing :) (and happens quite frequently as well)


Optional win condition (sideboard cards):
- Pandemonium (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Pandemonium) & Saproling Burst (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Saproling%20Burst) (needs to make quite some changes for this combo, though. For example, replace some Auratogs with this)
- Aura Thief (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Aura%20Thief): Extra combo with Enchanted Evening (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Enchanted%20Evening). If you have Aura Thief on play while having Replenish ready (Enchanted Evening in your graveyard. You could also hard cast this, but more unlikely), then Replenish your enchantments from graveyard to play, sac Aura Thief to Aura/Phantatog / Read the Runes / Perilous Research, and all opponent's permanents are yours!


Other notable sideboard cards:

- Hoofprints of the Stag (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Hoofprints%20of%20the%20Stag): with all the cards you draw from Read the Runes, Hatching Plans, it'll be easy to collect hoofprint counters for making the 4/4 flying tokens
- Boseiju, Who Shelters All (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Boseiju,%20Who%20Shelters%20All): make sure that Replenish hits
- Wonder (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Wonder): dump to the graveyard to make the Togs fly


Suggestions, anyone?

[(nameless one)]

- Temporal Isolation (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Temporal%20Isolation) (instant speed removal AND acts as evasion for Aura/Phantatog. Enchant them with this, attack with shadow, and sac this after no creatures could block Aura/Phantatog)




Unfortunately, this doesn't work as damage dealt by your Togs (given that they are enchanted with Temporal Iso) will be prevented.

Cool deck idea though. Runed Halo could also provide good protection/pseudo removal.

Not really sure how the deck works but Eternal Wind.dec is an enchantment-based deck that is the same colors.

[Mark Sun]

Unfortunately, this doesn't work as damage dealt by your Togs (given that they are enchanted with Temporal Iso) will be prevented.

You, uh, would be sacrificing the Temporal Isolation before damage...

[neoryujin]

You, uh, would be sacrificing the Temporal Isolation before damage...

Yeah, that's the idea.

1. Enchant a Tog with Temporal Isolation
2. Declare Attacker phase, attack with the Tog
3. Declare Blocker phase, your opponent can't block, gives priority to you, then you sac Temporal Isolation. Voila.

[(nameless one)]

Oh now I understand, thanks for the clarification.

[neoryujin]

Cool deck idea though. Runed Halo could also provide good protection/pseudo removal.

Not really sure how the deck works but Eternal Wind.dec is an enchantment-based deck that is the same colors.

Updated first post. You're right, Runed Halo is a good sideboard card against Goyf & co.

Eternal Wind.dec (http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?17470-Eternal-Wind) is Green-Blue-White, and uses many mana acceleration to finish with Words of Wind (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Words%20of%20Wind) (a fun & cool card, I have another artifact deck that also finishes with this), and it isn't utilizing the graveyard to the extend of this deck.

That deck also tries to stall with Solitary Confinement (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Solitary%20Confinement), Elephant Grass (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Elephant%20Grass) & Energy Field (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Energy%20Field), but this deck over here doesn't quite fulfill the requirements needed to run that engine.

[kusumoto]

Enchanted Evening seems bad. What's the point of running this?

Why only three Hatching Plans ?

Also, with all this blue, force seems to make sense to me.

[neoryujin]

Enchanted Evening seems bad. What's the point of running this?


Assuming we don't play Serra's Sanctum , Ancient Tomb , City of Traitors or other accelerators & without the aforementioned Aura Thief combo:
....
Turn 2: play Read the Runes , draw one, discard any enchantment.
Turn 3: play Phantatog .
Turn 4: play Replenish , and as a response, discard Enchanted Evening , an evasive utility ( Wonder / Unquestioned Authority / Temporal Isolation ) and any other enchantment you might have to Phantatog .
Replenish brings Enchanted Evening & other enchantments to play ( Battle Mastery or Hatching Plans would be good). Attack with evasion. With Battle Mastery, you might be able to dump your entire hand & sacrifice (almost) all your enchantments & lands (because of Enchanted Evening) for the win.




Why only three Hatching Plans ?


Naturally, one would think 4 Hatching Plans & 4 Auratog is a given. However, my test-runs proved too often that my hand got stucked with multiple Hatching Plans / Auratogs with no other crucial removal that I desperately need. (Phantatog is another story, because of the discard utility)
That's also the reason for the oddly chosen number of cards. I found it to run smoother that way.



Also, with all this blue, force seems to make sense to me.

That's why this thread is in a budget forum. But I listed the non-budget cards as well, see the list after the sideboard list.

[kusumoto]

I didn't even know there was a budget forum. I just linked here from the main page, sorry.

Why is Abjure considered non budget? That's a 15-25 cent card and it seems pretty good in this deck. It just seems like you need counters in a blue deck. Things like Cleanfall would be a lot less of an issue with some counter backup. It would also protect your 7 defenseless creatures. It also makes a fourth Hatching Plans better.

I would think that maindecking the Alexi's Cloak s or some Shielding Plax s would be good too. Right now going against some kind of Rock variant or something looks like it could be pretty painful. In a more budget environment, I would expect to see a lot more spot removal from that kind of deck and your creatures need to be protected.

[neoryujin]

Why is Abjure considered non budget? That's a 15-25 cent card and it seems pretty good in this deck. It just seems like you need counters in a blue deck. Things like Cleanfall would be a lot less of an issue with some counter backup. It would also protect your 7 defenseless creatures. It also makes a fourth Hatching Plans better.


Agreed, Abjure is not a non-budget card. The above list is a mixed list of non-budget and/or metagame-alert cards (because of my bad habit to maximize the combo / fun factor of a deck, ignoring the metagame threats).

I did try the version with 2-3 Abjure and 4 Hatching Plans, and:
1. it was too situational (often having no blue permanents to sacrifice),
2. the deck turned into a more reactive type,
3. the combo went a lot slower, naturally because I had to cut the enchantment count and losing some critical utility enchantments.

4 Force of Will & something like Standstill would perhaps do better for a similar effect. Having these in the mainboard would somehow make the deck more competitive, but it'd kinda ruin the fun a little bit.

If I had some free time later, I might post the non-budget version of this deck. As of now, anyone may feel free to post a more competitive version of the deck.



I would think that maindecking the Alexi's Cloak s or some Shielding Plax s would be good too. Right now going against some kind of Rock variant or something looks like it could be pretty painful. In a more budget environment, I would expect to see a lot more spot removal from that kind of deck and your creatures need to be protected.

Shielding Plaxes were too slow (I mean both the sorcery speed and the 3 CMC) and did too little in my test-runs, despite the extra card you net from it. It's a pity, since the troll-shroud is strictly better than the normal shroud from Alexi's Cloak. (You'd want to enchant your Togs with more enchantments afterwards. Of course, the Togs could just "eat" Alexi's Cloak to make them targetable again, but that'd also make them vulnerable at the same time) If Canopy Cover had flash, I'd splash green for it.

The reason why I haven't maindecked Alexi's Cloak was the same reason for omitting Shielding Plax, because it didn't help your board position at all - you just spent mana (and possibly one turn) to make your Tog untargetable, while the opposing horde of creatures or their Tarmogoyf grew bigger.

Whereas if they spent two-three removals against my Togs, that would be more acceptable if I'd later on draw more Togs, more removal against whatever they're playing (in the form of enchantments that could be hard cast or brought back in multiples from the graveyard using Replenish), counter spells or hosers (Propaganda, or Moat, for example, all of which are also Replenishable), thanks to the card advantage from the draw, discard & Replenish engine of this deck.

I'll think about it again and I'll update the post later on. Thanks for the input.

[Freggle]

Hey neoryujin-

I have looked at blue for enchantments for enchantress, and I like some of the things it can do. I think the most promising cards for a standard enchantress were Energy Field, Mystic Remora,Eryo, Soratimi Acendant,Ancestral Knowledge.

Also, when I was working on trying to make a Vintage version a little while back I started this thread. This is where most to the ideas that are in this deck came from. ...and I should give credit to THEMANADRAIN input, and their dedication to the archetype.

http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=40390.0

Even if it is / was sub-par.

I think you would be most interested in this comment:

"I think earlier comments are correct on Decree of Silence. The best enchant deck I have ever seen did this:

bazaar taps dropping: Arcane Lab, Decree of Silence, Opalescence....cast Replenish, win game. Intuition.deck"

Decree of Silence is a $.50 card.

[neoryujin]

Thanks for the info, Freggle!

Hmmm, Arcane Lab (or Rule of Law), Decree of Silence, Opalescence simultaneously brought back with Replenish do mean Game Over most of the time. Add Enchanted Evening to the pot, and no one can cast any spell (beside Force of Will & co.) anymore (due to the lands going straight to the graveyard because of combined effect of Enchanted Evening & Opalescence )

Enchanted Evening also works well with Arenson's Aura / Teferi's Care (with Hatching Plans :) or Aura Fracture, or Aura of Silence (or even Seal of Cleansing).

If I were to make these changes, then I'll need to go all-in with graveyard-enchantment-road to increase the chance to pull the combo, therefore omitting win condition through normal creature attacking (no Phantatog & Auratog), and in return accomodate nasty enchantment combos like Pandemonium & Saproling Burst.

Then I'd need more card drawers & discarders. Since Bazaar of Baghdad is banned in Legacy and way out of my budget (especially for a fun combo deck), perhaps more Attunements or something wacky like Magus of the Bazaar would prove useful.

I'll tinker with the idea a little bit, before making definite changes.

[neoryujin]

Ok, with the new suggestions, I'd change the deck into something like this:

On Paper:


//// Instants & Sorcery

// Goal
4 Replenish

// Counterspell
4 Force of Will

// Draw & Discard
4 Read the Runes
1 Perilous Research

// Enchantment Tutor (or Tutor for Chalice or Pithing Needle after sideboard)
2 Enlightened Tutor



//// Enchantments:

// Card draw & discard
4 Attunement
1 Hatching Plans

// Hosers / Slowers
2 Propaganda
2 Suppression Field
2 Arcane Laboratory


// Removals
3 Temporal Isolation
3 Oblivion Ring
2 Teferi's Care
(or
2 Arenson's Aura
)

// Finishers (in combination with Arcane Laboratory or Teferi's Care)
2 Decree of Silence
3 Opalescence
3 Enchanted Evening

// Alternative win condition
1 Hoofprints of the Stag


//// Lands / Mana:

2 Plains
2 Island
4 Tundra
4 Hallowed Fountain
3 Ancient Tomb
2 Serra's Sanctum
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All

(Fetchlands? Contradicts with Suppresion Field)


Sideboard:

Runed Halo
Pithing Needle
Chalice of the Void
Tormod's Crypt
//Unfortunately does not work well with Read the Runes / Attunement:
Energy Field
Crackdown
Ancestral Knowledge
Pandemonium
Saproling Burst
Hoofprints of the Stag
Aura Thief
Archmage Ascension
Back to Basics
Plains
Island


// Considerable:

Swords to Plowshares
Path to Exile
(Instead of Temporal Isolation or Oblivion Ring)


- The game plan is almost the same as the original deck, namely finishing through Replenish (protecting it with Boseiju & Force of Will), just without Phantatog or Auratog. This new plan renders opponent's creature removal useless until Opalescence is in play. (But until then, Replenish would already be played, and it'd be over already, hopefully)

- This deck tries to draw & discard more & faster (Read the Runes, Attunement, with the help of Ancient Tomb, Serra's Sanctum), while distrupting our opponent's plan with Force of Will, hosers (Propaganda, Suppression Field) and removals (instant speed Temporal Isolation, Oblivion Ring)

- When our graveyard is filled with Opalescence, Enchanted Evening, Decree of Silence, Arcane Laboratory, Teferi's Care, etc. a single Replenish would finish the game, hopefully. (If not , simply dig for more Replenish :)

- I am still considering, whether to play Fetchlands or not, due to Supression Field.

- The combo with Pandemonium & Saproling Burst is in the sideboard, for another alternative win con. By the way, sideboard is still under construction.

- I wish I could do a first turn Attunement or Propaganda or something like that, but that would need something like Mox Diamond or Lotus Petal (or Lion Eye's Diamond :) ? Helps to discard, but can't use the 3 extra mana for anything else, since all spells would be already put in the graveyard), which would reduce the number of enchantments even more.

- And yeah, a total of 62 cards, since I couldn't cut anything else, and with all the draws / tutoring, it'll have very little side effect to the overall game.


Suggestions, anyone?

[Freggle]

I'm diggin' it!


On Paper:
- I am still considering, whether to play Fetchlands or not, due to Supression Field.


Absolutely not. Suppression field is disrupt format, and well worth forgoing fetch.

It's great early game, and good mid to late.

Glad to see I can help out a bit!

[neoryujin]

Thanks again for the help, Freggle!

What do you think about the new build? Do you think it'll have more chance than creature-based enchantment decks in Legacy? (since I'll be having a hard time to test it, due to lack of Force of Will, etc.)