Deck Challenge: Diligent Farmhand in Legacy

[Jabari]

At my local store we have had an ongoing joke that one day one of us would win a tournament using Diligent Farmhand as a win condition. Well, on the 23 of this month this joke will become a reality for one of us. We have decided to play our weekly tournament with decks using 4-of's of both Diligent Farmhand and Muscle Burst.

So I'm posing the same deck building challenge to the Source. Try to build a tournament viable deck with the only rule being you have to include those 8 cards MD. Other than that you can play whatever you want in the list but those cards have to be there.

We've been bouncing around a lot of ideas from Reanimator, to Poison, to Control type builds. Of course there is the option of just playing another tournament viable deck and sacrificing 8 spots, but where is the fun in that. Hopefully we can come up with some innovative lists.

Personally I've been considering two strategies; G ramp with landfall, or a G Fecundity type build. I figure due to so many people playing farmhands creature builds will be the predominant meta choice, here is what I've come up with so far:

Baloth Beatdown

Creatures

4 Diligent Farmhand
3 Quirion Ranger
4 Rampaging Baloths
4 Wirewood Savage
4 Leatherback Baloth
2 Sylvan Safekeeper

Spells

4 Exploration
4 Explore
4 Muscle Burst
2 Sylvan Library

Lands

4 Tranquil Thicket
21 Forest


Some other MD options to consider may be Kavu Lair, Terra Stomper, Nacatl War-Pride, Cold-Eyed Selkie?
This is just a jumping off point, it could easily be some other fatty or take the Landfall mechanic further. A good spin on this list could easily be a more aggressive New Horizons with Steppe Lynx and Knight of the Reliquary.

The other list I'm considering focuses more on card advantage.

Enchanting Wurms

Creatures

4 Diligent Farmhand
4 Yavimaya Elder
3 Krosan Wayfarer
3 Werebear
2 Nantuko Mentor
4 Endless Wurm

Spells

4 Rancor
3 Aspect of Mongoose
3 Fecundity
4 Bequeathal
4 Muscle Burst

Lands

4 Tranquil thicket
14 Forest
4 Verdant Catacombs

I feel like Silhana Ledgewalker should fit somewhere in here probably in lieu of the Nantuko Mentor but I think Mentor could draw some removal out of my opponents that might be headed elsewhere.

Anyway post any deck lists you think of, so far I've enjoyed it don't be afraid to let out your inner Johnny/Timmy.

[dahcmai]

Kind of screams for Intuition and some AK's even. I think I'd have to lean in that direction if I was building a deck like that. Go with some other cards that dump in the grave while they dig. Strategic Planning would be amazing. Vengevine might even be worth it if you have enough stuff to dig.

[(nameless one)]

Needs more Tarmogoyf.

[Jabari]

Green in Legacy should be renamed Tarmogoyf

[perm]

perhaps an infect deck? pump isn't really that good

[4eak]

Fuck, yes.

We did this in our playgroup years ago. It was hilarious.

Lemme go build something.



peace,
4eak

[lordofthepit]

If everyone in the store will be playing those 8 cards, I'd just go with Ari Lax's ANT deck, except take out 7 Cantrips and 1 Duress. Maybe with some Chrome Moxes to imprint the green cards for hellbent. Sort of defeats the spirit of the challenge, but I bet you'd roll over everyone.

[klaus]

In this meta, I'd consider this guy as a 2-of: Loaming Shaman

btw: what do i need to do to make image pop-ups?

[Mystical_Jackass]

Just make a modified Vengevival.... use with Mongrel and muscle bursts as a discard outlet to boost him for crit.

[death]

TOo lazy to even make a decklist, how about going for a dredge deck, minus therapy, less ichorid/thug and DR targets except for Eternal Witness for Muscle burst. go DDD. flying 20/20 PImp ftw!

[klaus]

Sorry bout the double post...

Alright, so I have built the uber-hate deck for your meta. Those are the goals that I was trying:
- include MD cards that specifically hate green creature decks (which will be the absolute majority)
- don't play creatures yourself (because your opponents will have included a lot of creature hate, due to the meta)
- don't employ grave-based strategies (because the gy. will be hated a lot)
- unfortunately those pillars imply that we make those 8 green cards worthless for our deck, but it's the most logical route.
- so we have to find ways to transform that bulk into business


Specific Hate:
4 Submerge
4 Hibernation
2 Insight
2 Withering Gaze

Counter suite:
4 Force of Will
4 Counterspell

Filter:
4 Brainstorm
4 Jace the Mindsculptor - wincon, plus helps you brainstorm your green cards away.

8 Stockcards

2 Flooded Strand
2 Misty rainforest
2 Polluted Delta
2 Scalding Tarn
16 Island

SB:
4 Relic of Progenitus
4 Spell Pierce
4 Annul
3 Echoing Truth - should actually be an alternate wincon (but nothing comes to imnd right now)

[4eak]

If everyone in the tournament is really trying to make use of Diligent Farmhand/Muscle Burst, then this is a creature-based metagame. Obviously dedicated control or combo would wipe the floor, but neither role honestly makes use of Diligent Farmhand and Muscle Burst. I tried to build decks that truly made use of these cards and assumed my opponents would as well.

Klaus's deck, for example, is not what I set out to build. His deck doesn't even really try to abuse the 8 cards at all -- although, clearly, it would be good in green-creature.format. I understand that he wishes to avoid using creatures altogether, and I'm not sure this is the best strategy. The first 3 decks I'm showing should perform acceptably against his deck. He lacks true removal and has few win cons.

These decks have varying levels of viability. That is on purpose. Some custom-rules aren't 100% about winning (as traditionally defined in magic), but sometimes about doing silly shit. For example, I'm including Pro-Green elements just because I think that would be hilarious in a field of green creature decks (which is what I assume you'll be facing). I didn't make Perish.dec, but you could.

I realize you don't want to take 'tournament quality decks' and replace 8 cards. I couldn't build entirely around these 8 cards and come up with a decent deck. There are decks which can actually use them effectively, even if these decks don't revolve around these 8 cards. So, that is where I went with it.


// Lands
1 Forest
1 Plains
1 Mountain
2 Savannah
2 Horizon Canopy
3 Arid Mesa
3 Windswept Heath
3 Wooded Foothills
3 Taiga
3 Plateau

// Creatures
4 Diligent Farmhand
4 Qasali Pridemage
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Wild Nacatl
4 Knight of the Reliquary

// Spells
4 Muscle Burst
4 Path to Exile
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Chain Lightning
2 Sylvan Library


// Lands
4 Wasteland
4 Horizon Canopy
4 Savannah
3 Forest
2 Plains
3 Flooded Strand
3 Misty Rainforest

// Creatures
4 Diligent Farmhand
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Mother of Runes
4 Qasali Pridemage
3 Stoneforge Mystic
3 Knight of the Reliquary

// Spells
4 Muscle Burst
1 Umezawa's Jitte
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 AEther Vial
1 Sword of Body and Mind
1 Sword of Fire and Ice


// Lands
4 Bayou
4 Verdant Catacombs
1 Forest
2 Misty Rainforest
7 Swamp
4 Wasteland

// Creatures
4 Diligent Farmhand
4 Dunerider Outlaw
4 Dark Confidant
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Tarmogoyf

// Spells
4 Muscle Burst
4 Deathmark
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Bitterblossom
2 Umezawa's Jitte


// Mana sources
20 Forest

// Creature-based Land Acceleration
4 Diligent Farmhand
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
4 Yavimaya Elder
4 Veteran Explorer

// Control
4 Muscle Burst
4 Ratchet Bomb
4 Nevinyrral's Disk
4 Maze of Ith

// Bombs
4 Beacon of Creation
4 Rude Awakening



peace,
4eak

[Jabari]

Nice job 4eak! I totally agree with you, while i'm sure some people would like to follow Klaus's line the payout isn't a dual land or anything so I think I'd rather just play some shenanigans.

I know three of the decks I'll be seeing already the rest are a mystery. I know my friend Chad is going GB Smallpox with Goyfs, confidants, and smallpox of course. I know 1 guy is bringing an infect build probably utilizing invigorate and berserk. Also I know 1 guy is bringing an intuition build with vengevines and probably berserk.

I like the Zoo build and GW Tempo build in particular. In relation to Zoo I think it might be safe to drop red and switch Wild Nacatl for Steppe Lynx. I think with the combination of Knight of the Reliquary and Diligent Farmhand he'll easily outclass the other cat. In lieu of the burn I think it would be safe to go 4x Quirion Ranger and 4x Sunlance sure it can't go to the face but it helps goyf math and clears early blockers. Other options include Brave the elements or Mana Tithe.

Mana Tithe may look bad but I think it has potential now that Quirion Ranger makes the list. Mainly because with a GW mana base we can now support wasteland. Ranger means we get double Knight searchs, guaranteed fuel for Lynx, and a toolbox of lands i.e. Karakas, and more importantly Maze of Ith. I've been building this deck in my head all week I just haven't posted it thanks for making the list.

As for the GW Tempo build I really wouldn't change anything I just can't decide which deck I'd rather run.

The other two decks are also great meta choices Dunerider Outlaw... c'mon - could he be any more AWESOME!

[Karhumies]

Here's something sneaky:

// Mana 21
1 Forest
1 Plains/Swamp (Farmhand TecH)
1 Savannah
4 Bayou
2 Windswept Heath
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
4 Lotus Petal

// Creature 19
4 Diligent Farmhand
3 Wild Mongrel
// "synergy" with Farmhand: double pump effect
4 Kavu Predator
4 Sheltering Ancient
// meta TecH. Could also be Dunerider Outlaw
4 Skyshroud Cutter

// Win 6
4 False Cure
2 Swords to Plowshares
// meta TecH

// Pump 14
4 Muscle Burst
4 Berserk
4 Invigorate
2 Reverent Silence

// Sideboard 15
2 Reverent Silence
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Dark Confidant
2 Perish
2 Circle of Protection: Green

Basically, you can either win "normally" by attacking your opponent…or you can sneakily cast False Cure in opponent's combat step, then pump his guy (giving him life), then StoP it->he dies instead of you. I don't know how well this works in practice. If someone shows up with Tendrils combo, feel free to punish him by responding with False Cure-> he dies to his life gain.

[dakkon]

Grim Reminder for the win!

[samurai_socks]

Here's something sneaky:

// Mana 21
1 Forest
1 Plains/Swamp (Farmhand TecH)
1 Savannah
4 Bayou
2 Windswept Heath
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
4 Lotus Petal

// Creature 19
4 Diligent Farmhand
3 Wild Mongrel
// "synergy" with Farmhand: double pump effect
4 Kavu Predator
4 Sheltering Ancient
// meta TecH. Could also be Dunerider Outlaw
4 Skyshroud Cutter

// Win 6
4 False Cure
2 Swords to Plowshares
// meta TecH

// Pump 14
4 Muscle Burst
4 Berserk
4 Invigorate
2 Reverent Silence

// Sideboard 15
2 Reverent Silence
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Dark Confidant
2 Perish
2 Circle of Protection: Green

Basically, you can either win "normally" by attacking your opponent…or you can sneakily cast False Cure in opponent's combat step, then pump his guy (giving him life), then StoP it->he dies instead of you. I don't know how well this works in practice. If someone shows up with Tendrils combo, feel free to punish him by responding with False Cure-> he dies to his life gain.

Kavu + Grove of the Burnwillows.

-Cheers-

[Jabari]

Here's something sneaky:

// Mana 21
1 Forest
1 Plains/Swamp (Farmhand TecH)
1 Savannah
4 Bayou
2 Windswept Heath
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
4 Lotus Petal

// Creature 19
4 Diligent Farmhand
3 Wild Mongrel
// "synergy" with Farmhand: double pump effect
4 Kavu Predator
4 Sheltering Ancient
// meta TecH. Could also be Dunerider Outlaw
4 Skyshroud Cutter

// Win 6
4 False Cure
2 Swords to Plowshares
// meta TecH

// Pump 14
4 Muscle Burst
4 Berserk
4 Invigorate
2 Reverent Silence

// Sideboard 15
2 Reverent Silence
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Dark Confidant
2 Perish
2 Circle of Protection: Green

Basically, you can either win "normally" by attacking your opponent…or you can sneakily cast False Cure in opponent's combat step, then pump his guy (giving him life), then StoP it->he dies instead of you. I don't know how well this works in practice. If someone shows up with Tendrils combo, feel free to punish him by responding with False Cure-> he dies to his life gain.

Sneaky sneaky

I really like everything posted so far. I'm gonna keep tinkering with a few lists, and I'll post the results of the tournament in 2 weeks following it's conclusion. I'll try to do my best to remember rounds for the write-up.

[Mon,Goblin Chief]

I'd probably try to make a deck that resembles the Kamigawa-Block Gifts-decks, focusing on abusing Farmhand instead of Muscle Burst by making it Tribe Elders 5 to 8. Play Moment's Peace, add all kinds of fun shenennigans Gifts allows for and you have a sweet deck that should even be ok in a meta restricted to Muscle Burst decks... Maybe something with the Greater Good + Yosei plan Frank Karsten used (yeah I know that was Standard, so what?) - Greater Good seems pretty solid with 16 Muscle Burst floating around in any match and means you get to draw ten for saccing your Bursted Tribe Elder lategame!

[Jabari]

Alright so the Tournament is this sunday, I'll post the results and a short summary of my matches here next week. In the meantime this is the list I'll be bringing. I feel pretty strong about it my only problem is deciding between MOM and Sylvan Safekeeper MD.

Creatures - 24

4 Steppe Lynx
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Diligent Farmhand
4 Qasali Pridemage
2 Quirion Ranger
2 Mangara of Corondor
4 Mother of Runes

Spells - 10

4 Path to Exile
4 Muscle Burst
2 Sylvan Library

Lands - 23

3 Horizon Canopy
4 Ghost Quarter
4 Windswept Heath
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Maze of Ith
1 Karakas
4 Plains
2 Forest
1 Bojuka Bog

This leaves 3 flex spots which I feel can be utilized 1 of two ways. I can either go 3 Aether Vial or 1 Quirion Ranger and 2 Jotun Grunt. I don't think the meta will have too much control which is where Vial thrives but I don't wanna be totally hosed if I see some. The Grunt will provide recursion if the Mazes or Karakas gets wasted, plus allows for my own land destruction recursion.

Any thoughts on these issues would be a great help.

P.S. Quirion Ranger > or< Scryb Ranger

[Nihil Credo]

Play a B/G deck and pack four Grim Reminders.

[Jabari]

Alright so here is my report as promised we only had 14 players so we just had 3 rounds of Swiss. A lot of people backed out at the last second so it ended being only 5 people with Farmhand decks. So we all agreed whoever had the best record out of the five of us would get all five of our winnings (5 packs or $20 store credit total).

I played the GW list i posted above not using vial instead opting for the Jotun Grunts.

I went 3-3 due to infuriating circumstances which i will soon explain, as for everyone else.

Mike - Beserk FarmBurst - 4-2
Michael - GB FarmBurst - 2-5
James - Goblin FarmBurst - 1-6
Chad - Ramp FarmBurst - 0-6

Here is my report:

Round 1 - Aaron - BR Burn? It was a janky homebrew

Game 1 - I don't remember this game to well. I remember him playing two Granite Shards and picking off my Moms but failing to stop my Kotr. I do remember he somehow got me to 3 on my last turn with 2 cards in hand, if 1 was a bolt I was dead but he didn't have it so I swung for the kill.

SB - +3 Krosan Grip -3 Quirion Ranger

Game 2 - I dropped an early Steppe Lynx he never found an answer to.

Record - 2-0 games 1-0 matches

No offense to this guy but he really did not come prepared I mentioned Savannah and he asked what it was. He was definitely more accustomed to standard, I hope his other matchups went better. It would suck if he lost interest in legacy due to yesterday.

Round 2 - Paul - Fish

Game 1 - This game was really close. The duo of Mom and Lynx beatdown pretty hard with special mention to Diligent Farmhand for getting extra landfall triggers. I got him to 7 he has Silvergill Adept Lord of Atlantis 2 Vials (one at 2 and one at 3) and a jitte equipped to adept. I have 1 Lynx and 1 Mom, Muscle Burst and Mom in hand. If Lynx gets through muscle burst is deadly but he has 2 cards in hand so I have to decide to play around Force or Daze. I chose to play around Daze and go for the kill. He had the force for my Muscle Burst and he proceeded to take over the game with an active jitte. I should have played Mom and swung the next turn with double Mom on defense but oh well on to game 2.

SB - +2 KGrips +2 Wing Shards +1 Ghostly Prison, -5 I don't remember

Game 2 - I kept a 1 land hand with Mom Qasali Pridemage, Knight of the Reliquary, 2 Path to Exile, and Wing Shards. I figure Mom and Path would be enough early defense for me to find land and curve out. It didn't happen. It wasn't a great matchup post board anyway, he had Submerge in SB and probably would have hosed me either way.

Paul is seriously the luckiest kid I know. He topdecks like crazy and always has the best MU's i.e. he played 3 Farmburst decks in 3 rounds yesterday. Yea, he was 6-0 at the end of the day.

Round 3 I forgot this kids name, he was new GW Enchantress

Game 1 - He couldn't fully comb out but Elephant Grass was slowing me down. The game was close and came down to this 1 play. He has 1 Grass down, 3 angels from Sigil of the Empty Throne and a Runed Halo naming Lynx. I have 1 Pridemage, 1 Lynx, 1 Ranger, 1 Mom, and Muscle Burst in hand. He is at 11 I'm at 13. I want to untap a creature to float a mana so I can afford to sac Pridemage, attack, and play the Burst. I didn't see anything tapped though so passed the turn immediately afterwards I notice he has an Angel tapped. I say I'm sorry but I forgot his angel was tapped and asked for some leniency he didn't give any despite the fact that I had let him slide on forgetting to pay for Grass during upkeep several times (he tapped the land when I reminded him but I could have easily said he had to sac it). It is a casual tournament so basically only pride is on the line. Suffice it to say as a result he won and it pissed me off.

SB - +1 Ethersworn Canonist, +3 Krosan Grip, -4 Path to Exile

Game 2 - I beat his face with a big Kotr protected by 3 Mom's.

SB - Leave as is

Game 3 - Game 1 and 2 took a total of 65 minutes so the store wanted to call time and give us 5 turns. I lobby'ed for it thinking there would be a round 4 and I really didn't want to play against Enchantress anymore. I also thought I would be turn 1 but he called time with me at turn 0 as a result I was 1 turn away from double Muscle Bursting Lynx for exactly enough to kill.

I am still pissed. Not only did I draw a round I should have definitely won, but that kid got 4th and I lost out on tying for 1st in the Muscle burst Challenge and having a play-off with Mike. All because that kid really wanted some free skittles and his mother never raised him to be forgiving. It would be one thing if I had punished him for not minding his triggers but I didn't so he should have been gracious enough to lose the damn game.

Anyway, that is everything. Mike's only loss was to Paul's Fish deck, he agreed to a playoff next week but without anything at stake. He already took the store credit.

Fuck I'm mad.