Another go at Grow?

[studentofthegame]

I always loved Quirion Dryad-based decks. Perhaps it is because I recall him as a sort of proto-goyf, the cheap green beater who fit perfectly in an uptempo disruptive deck. With the printing of the Free Phyrexian spells, he may be worth revisiting. I got to thinking about this pondering the usefulness of Gitaxian Probe, which I think is worth testing out in Legacy. But all the same, I wanted to take a whack at freespellsplusdryad.dec and see what the community has to say. Obviously we should start with some sort of UG(/x?) threshold shell. Maybe something like...

4x Quirion Dryad
4x Tarmogoyf

4x Force of Will
4x Daze
4x Mental Misstep
4x Brainstorm
4x Gitaxian Probe


This leaves 12 slots open for other spells to put us at 20 lands, which seems the right number to start with in a rough draft of the deck. In these spots, we should probably have at least one other cantrip blue spell (FOW count, draw filtering,Dryad pumping) and one other creature. Splashing for a third color is also a possibility. Major options:

In Blue/Green:
Ponder
Stifle
Spell Pierce
Spell Snare
Jace the Mind Sculptor
Vendilion Clique
Counterbalance
Nimble Mongoose
Trygon Predator


If I were building a straight UG version, I think I would go with 4 Ponder, 3 Stifle, 3 Clique and 2 Jace. These would give the deck greater speed and consistency while also increasing threat count. Another route may be to go heavy on the counters. For better matchups against the control and combo portions of the meta this may be the best way to go.

Splashing Black:

Snuff Out
Dark Confidant
Tombstalker
Discard

Snuff Out maximizes the Free Spells approach; Confidant is the best card advantage engine around; Tombstalker is undercosted Flying Fat. Given the heavy lifeloss coming from free spells and fetches, I think the first two are too painful and the last one needing BB make Black a risky choice to splash.

Splashing Red:

Fire//Ice
Grim Lavamancer
Lightning Bolt

Good old Fire and Ice could fit right in, and the deck will be speeding through more than enough spells to keep Lavamancer fed (in spite of the inherent dissynergy of running Goyf and Lavamancer). Burn is always good, providing spot removal or extending the deck's reach near games' end. Cleary this takes us in a Canadian Thresh direction but there is definitely appeal here.

Splashing White:
Swords to Plowshares
Knight of the Reliquary
Rhox War Monk
Stoneforge Mystic
Enlightened Tutor SB package

Many good options to improve the matchup against the aggro portions of the meta. A creature-heavy build with equipment (and running just enough counters/draw to trip up opponents) could be interesting.

Each of the colors also offers different SB options, but those are too numerous to list and highly variable depending on the maindeck and different local metagames.

My two rough draft builds:

UGW

4x Quirion Dryad
4x Tarmogoyf
3x Knight of the Reliquary
3x Rhox War Monk
3x Vendilion Clique
3x Stoneforge Mystic

4x Force of Will
4x Daze
4x Mental Misstep
4x Brainstorm
1x Umezawa's Jitte
1x Sword of Fire and Ice
1x Sword of War and Peace

21x Fetches, Duals and Wastelands (perhaps 1-2 utility lands for KOTR)


UG pure

4x Quirion Dryad
4x Tarmogoyf
3x Vendilion Clique

4x Force of Will
4x Daze
4x Mental Misstep
4x Brainstorm
4x Ponder
4x Gitaxian Probe
3x Stifle
2x Jace, the Mind Sculptor

20x Fetches, Duals and Wastelands


Thoughts?

[Freggle]

I think there is a place for it. He probably has a better shot in Vintage where Gush is unrestricted again for gush-bond grow.

But to have success in Legacy with it you would likely need draw spells that will net you plus card advantage (2 or more) and not just cantrips.

Otherwise you will just empty your hand and have a aggro deck with mainly topdeck disruption.

I'd also have bounce spells Chain of Vapor, Echoing Truth to clear the way.

I'd also try and find a way to work Black in for discard. With so many things that are uncounterable, Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, creatures with Aether Vial on and on... It's hard to disrupt with just counter spells.

That's my 2 cents.

[optml]

I like the idea. Some thoughts from me though. I would avoid the Dark Confidant / Tombstalker combination; choose one or the other. Risking 8 damage from an unlucky flip is potentially a game losing scenario.

You already include efficient, early attackers (goyf / dryad) and lavamancer already empties a graveyard you want to keep full (for the goyf). As freggle pointed out, card advantage will be key, so my recommendation would be to take confidant and ditch Tombstalker.

A quick idea, which may get shot down immediately, is including aether vial. You could drop it first turn, get it to 2 counters, and keep your mana for disruption (bounce, kill spells, discard and counterspells). The useful creatures that you could bring in at instant speed, from your list above, when keeping at two mana would be:

Confidant
Dryad
Goyf
Mystic

Only 15-16 cards, depending on what you play, but could be worth a look?

It would be interesting to see how this thread develops though...

[rupus]

My biggest worry is that this is just a worse team America. Your turn 2 dryad looks a lot worse than their t3 tombstalker. I don't think dryad is threatening enough. On another note, old gro decks played winter orb with some good success.

[sclabman]

Winter Orb was so powerful because Gush was in the deck. The lack of Gush limits the usefulness of Winter Orb, though the new phyrexian mana might help in that regard.

[Freggle]

I will preface this by openly stating that I am a weirdo for enchantress decks, but you may want to consider Argothian Enchantress.

After the printing of Green Sun's Zenith I think you may be able to pull this off.

Green Sun's Zenith will grab you both Argothian Enchantress & Quirion Dryad, and shuffle back into your library to grab more.

It also helps with Spell Pierce, Chalice of the Void...

With one Argothian Enchantressin play your enchantments will cantrip, with two or more in play any enchantment will net you positive card advantage even if countered.

So not only can your enchantments become the draw engine, but it will also net you the effects of the enchantment itself.

Additionally if you are lucky enough to have a Quirion Dryad in play and your enchantment is not green you get a +1/+1 counter.

If I were you and I was willing to entertain this idea I'd try that route with a blue / green.

The blue enchantments I would focus on are:

In The Eye of Chaos
Energy Field ...ombos with Wheel of Sun and Moon
Mystic Remora
Counterbalance
Words of Wind - Bounce all in your way Edit: For those that do not know there are ways to infinite bounce your opponent with Arothian Enchantress & Exploration ...their lands, everything.

Standstill
Seal of Removal
Veil of Birds
ancestral knowledge - 10 card deep tutor with one Argothian Enchantress in play

Some non-enchantment cards to consider:
Force of Will
Erayo, Soratami Ascendant soo easy to flip him in enchantress builds. Talk about disruption.

Sensi's Top... you get the picture.

That could be fun

Edit: You will also want Exploration

[perm]

Enchantress definitely doesn't belong in a gro deck

[Freggle]

Enchantress definitely doesn't belong in a gro deck

Perm, I'm not saying your wrong, but I'd like to understand why.

What I'm thinking of is a hybrid of landstill / countertop / enchantress / grow.

Something along the lines of:


3 Argothian Enchantress
3 Quirion Dryad
3 Green Sun's Zenith
4 Standstill
4 Mystic Remora
3 Words of Wind
4 Exploration
4 Force of Will
3 Mental Misstep
3 Daze / 3 Stifle
3 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Erayo, Soratami Ascendant

8 Fetch
4 Tropical Island
1 Island
1 Forest
6 Man Lands

Board:
Energy Field
...

It would have to be tuned, but this way you will have explosiveness mid-game, and a solid start.

Standstill synergizes with Words of Wind, Man Lands, Quirion Dryad,kinda Energy Field (until Standstill is cracked) and to an extent Top.

Getting Draws off of Argothian Enchantress, Standstill, Mystic Remora only strengthens Force of Will & Quirion Dryad ...other counter magic can be added throughout the tuning process as needed.

You are likely right as you will most certainly have more recent Magic under your belt, but I'd like to understand why.

Edit: Some of the Man lands should definitely be Dryad Arbor for more Green Sun's Zenith tricks.

It might also try to find a way to squeeze in a Ardent Plea to trick goodies into play, and give an Argothian some power if need be.