diabloknk
04-19-2011, 11:36 PM
I apologize in advance if there is an established MUD-Stax thread, but while a forum search an page scan revealed all sorts of Stax builds, I found no MUD-Stax build. This deck bears a close resemblance to MUD-Stompy. However, unlike MUD-Stompy, this deck focuses more on disruption and becomes almost as effective a prison deck as the Vintage version.
MUD-Stax
Lands:
4x Ancient Tomb
4x City of Traitors
4x Crystal Vein
4x Wasteland
2x Darksteel Citadel
Creatures:
4x Lodestone Golem
4x Steel Hellkite
4x Metalworker
2x Precursor Golem
Artifacts:
4x Grim Monolith
4x Lotus Petal
4x Trinisphere
4x Tangle Wire
4x Sphere of Resistance
4x Chalice of the Void
2x Mox Diamond
2x Crucible of Worlds
Sideboard:
4x Relic of Progenitus
3x Smokestack
3x Ratchet Bomb
2x Wurmcoil Engine
2x Winter Orb
1x Crucible of Worlds
Card explanations:
Most of the deck is a standard Stax shell (albeit with Smokestack in side instead of main). The only cards that I can see being somewhat unusual are:
Crystal Vein - I want to maximize my chances of getting a sphere effect on turn 1. To that effect, I need to maximize the amount of 2-mana producing lands that I can play. While crystal vein isn't my favorite land in the deck, it's the best option available as far as running more than 8 2-mana producing lands.
Precursor Golem - Originally, this deck ran only 8 finishers - 4 Lodestone Golems and 4 Steel Hellkites, as well as 20 lands. However, I found myself getting manaflooded quite frequently, and often losing a game because I couldn't get a win-condition out. The thing is, the deck can't control the game forever. So it needs win-cons, and it needs those win-cons to lead it to victory by turn 8-10 at the latest. So the deck needed 2 more win-cons, which themselves needed to be either 1) Beefy or 2) a Control piece in their own right. The initial candidate was Sundering Titan, however I found him to be too expensive, especially when I started playing out Sphere of Resistance. Precursor golem looked like the next best option, especially since it is often a 2-turn clock all by itself. Of course, it has negative synergy with Lodestone Golem in this deck, but since I usually don't draw both, it's a risk that I'm willing to take, and it has otherwise paid off very nicely. Note: When New Phyrexia comes out, this card is likely to be replaced, either by Metamorph or that new artifact dragon.
Test Results
Dredge/Ichorid - Extremely positive 80-20. MUD-Stax virtually has game 1 in the bag, as sphere effects are especially killer on a deck that runs only 11 lands or so. Game 2 brings Relic of Progenitus to further hamper their strategy.
Merfolk - Very positive 70-30.Force of Will, Daze, and Aether Vial can be a bit of a problem. But not enough of one. That deck's curve is so tight that resolving a single sphere effect either invalidates half their deck or completely screws their development. Game 2 Ratchet Bomb comes in and hurts them even more since their curve is so tight and so many of their permanents not only have the same cmc, but are easily reached by ratchet bomb. The only thing to watch out for is Rebuild or Hurkyl's Recall - but again, those cards can be made uncastable.
Goblins - Very positive 70-30 (actually, slightly higher. This matchup is easier than Merfolk). Again, their curve (at least as far as what they will usually hardcast) is very tight, and resolved sphere effects screw with their development something fierce. Ratchet bomb comes in once again, this time primarily to deal with tokens.
ANT/T.E.S. - Very positive 75-25. Sphere effects for the win once again. Deck remains the same post-side because the matchup is so good.
High Tide/ Time Spiral - Very positive 75-25, for the same reasons as ANT and T.E.S. Post side bring in Winter Orb, and have a good laugh.
Cephalid Breakfast - Positive 65-35. This deck is why Relic is being run (the matchup against Dredge/Ichorids is positive enough to not bother). Game 1 can be tough, as it can be quite difficult to set up a powerful enough lock to prevent the combo. Games 2 and 3 bring in Stack, extra Crucible, and Relic, while taking out the Precursor Golems, Metalworkers, and 2 Hellkites. Game one manages to be 50/50. Games 2 and 3, however, is where it is won.
Zoo - Positive 60-40. While the sphere effects help a lot, they manage to frequently get to 3 mana or more. And their spells are all so high-quality that it can be tough to play against them. Post side bring in Winter Orb and Wurmcoil, and that makes the matchup more favorable.
Elf Combo - Very positive 70-30. It plays very similarly as the storm combo decks, except they can sometimes produce enough mana to actually start casting stuff. While they won't combo out as effectively as they would against other decks, they sometimes don't need to. Post sideboarding bring in ratchet bomb to kill all their 1-drops.
Affiinity - Positive 65-35. Game 1 is not bad, although a little tough if you're on the draw, but still a good matchup either way. Sphere effects wreck them, and a resolved hellkite can completely shut them down. Games 2-3 bring ratchet bomb, which just reinforces the problems they faced game 1.
Team America - Slightly positive 55-45. The amount of control pieces they run can be problematic, and prevent us from playing enough control pieces early on to keep them from playing their extremely efficient beaters. Game 2-3 bring smokestack, crucible, and winter orb in, taking out precursor golem and metalworker (because they WILL remove them). It may also be tempting to bring in relic/tormod's crypt to screw with Tombstalker, but don't. You won't reliably screw the tombstalker, and you will screw yourself as you take out something else.
Eva Green - Neutral 50-50. The most problematic matchup I've had so far. Game 1 often depends on who goes first, as they will almost always have a Thoughtseize or Duress to get rid of sphere effects. Then they have artifact/permanent removal. And land removal. That deck packs so much discard and permanent removal that the game can get very one-sided quickly. However, it does run a very tight curve, and so you can still try to screw that up for them. The main issue is that there really isn't a good sideboard for this, other than winter orb, they just play too many permanents for smokestack to be able to control them before they kill you. That being said, the main plan works well against them, so it's not a bad matchup, just not particularly good either.
I'll post more matchups later, when I have time.
Please let me know what you think I'm doing wrong or could be doing better!
MUD-Stax
Lands:
4x Ancient Tomb
4x City of Traitors
4x Crystal Vein
4x Wasteland
2x Darksteel Citadel
Creatures:
4x Lodestone Golem
4x Steel Hellkite
4x Metalworker
2x Precursor Golem
Artifacts:
4x Grim Monolith
4x Lotus Petal
4x Trinisphere
4x Tangle Wire
4x Sphere of Resistance
4x Chalice of the Void
2x Mox Diamond
2x Crucible of Worlds
Sideboard:
4x Relic of Progenitus
3x Smokestack
3x Ratchet Bomb
2x Wurmcoil Engine
2x Winter Orb
1x Crucible of Worlds
Card explanations:
Most of the deck is a standard Stax shell (albeit with Smokestack in side instead of main). The only cards that I can see being somewhat unusual are:
Crystal Vein - I want to maximize my chances of getting a sphere effect on turn 1. To that effect, I need to maximize the amount of 2-mana producing lands that I can play. While crystal vein isn't my favorite land in the deck, it's the best option available as far as running more than 8 2-mana producing lands.
Precursor Golem - Originally, this deck ran only 8 finishers - 4 Lodestone Golems and 4 Steel Hellkites, as well as 20 lands. However, I found myself getting manaflooded quite frequently, and often losing a game because I couldn't get a win-condition out. The thing is, the deck can't control the game forever. So it needs win-cons, and it needs those win-cons to lead it to victory by turn 8-10 at the latest. So the deck needed 2 more win-cons, which themselves needed to be either 1) Beefy or 2) a Control piece in their own right. The initial candidate was Sundering Titan, however I found him to be too expensive, especially when I started playing out Sphere of Resistance. Precursor golem looked like the next best option, especially since it is often a 2-turn clock all by itself. Of course, it has negative synergy with Lodestone Golem in this deck, but since I usually don't draw both, it's a risk that I'm willing to take, and it has otherwise paid off very nicely. Note: When New Phyrexia comes out, this card is likely to be replaced, either by Metamorph or that new artifact dragon.
Test Results
Dredge/Ichorid - Extremely positive 80-20. MUD-Stax virtually has game 1 in the bag, as sphere effects are especially killer on a deck that runs only 11 lands or so. Game 2 brings Relic of Progenitus to further hamper their strategy.
Merfolk - Very positive 70-30.Force of Will, Daze, and Aether Vial can be a bit of a problem. But not enough of one. That deck's curve is so tight that resolving a single sphere effect either invalidates half their deck or completely screws their development. Game 2 Ratchet Bomb comes in and hurts them even more since their curve is so tight and so many of their permanents not only have the same cmc, but are easily reached by ratchet bomb. The only thing to watch out for is Rebuild or Hurkyl's Recall - but again, those cards can be made uncastable.
Goblins - Very positive 70-30 (actually, slightly higher. This matchup is easier than Merfolk). Again, their curve (at least as far as what they will usually hardcast) is very tight, and resolved sphere effects screw with their development something fierce. Ratchet bomb comes in once again, this time primarily to deal with tokens.
ANT/T.E.S. - Very positive 75-25. Sphere effects for the win once again. Deck remains the same post-side because the matchup is so good.
High Tide/ Time Spiral - Very positive 75-25, for the same reasons as ANT and T.E.S. Post side bring in Winter Orb, and have a good laugh.
Cephalid Breakfast - Positive 65-35. This deck is why Relic is being run (the matchup against Dredge/Ichorids is positive enough to not bother). Game 1 can be tough, as it can be quite difficult to set up a powerful enough lock to prevent the combo. Games 2 and 3 bring in Stack, extra Crucible, and Relic, while taking out the Precursor Golems, Metalworkers, and 2 Hellkites. Game one manages to be 50/50. Games 2 and 3, however, is where it is won.
Zoo - Positive 60-40. While the sphere effects help a lot, they manage to frequently get to 3 mana or more. And their spells are all so high-quality that it can be tough to play against them. Post side bring in Winter Orb and Wurmcoil, and that makes the matchup more favorable.
Elf Combo - Very positive 70-30. It plays very similarly as the storm combo decks, except they can sometimes produce enough mana to actually start casting stuff. While they won't combo out as effectively as they would against other decks, they sometimes don't need to. Post sideboarding bring in ratchet bomb to kill all their 1-drops.
Affiinity - Positive 65-35. Game 1 is not bad, although a little tough if you're on the draw, but still a good matchup either way. Sphere effects wreck them, and a resolved hellkite can completely shut them down. Games 2-3 bring ratchet bomb, which just reinforces the problems they faced game 1.
Team America - Slightly positive 55-45. The amount of control pieces they run can be problematic, and prevent us from playing enough control pieces early on to keep them from playing their extremely efficient beaters. Game 2-3 bring smokestack, crucible, and winter orb in, taking out precursor golem and metalworker (because they WILL remove them). It may also be tempting to bring in relic/tormod's crypt to screw with Tombstalker, but don't. You won't reliably screw the tombstalker, and you will screw yourself as you take out something else.
Eva Green - Neutral 50-50. The most problematic matchup I've had so far. Game 1 often depends on who goes first, as they will almost always have a Thoughtseize or Duress to get rid of sphere effects. Then they have artifact/permanent removal. And land removal. That deck packs so much discard and permanent removal that the game can get very one-sided quickly. However, it does run a very tight curve, and so you can still try to screw that up for them. The main issue is that there really isn't a good sideboard for this, other than winter orb, they just play too many permanents for smokestack to be able to control them before they kill you. That being said, the main plan works well against them, so it's not a bad matchup, just not particularly good either.
I'll post more matchups later, when I have time.
Please let me know what you think I'm doing wrong or could be doing better!