waSP
01-02-2012, 12:03 AM
Here is a Midrange Berserk deck. It's plays a bit like Zoo but has more explosiveness and worse removal. I'll post the list and then some explanations.
// Land
3 Grove of the Burnwillows
3 Taiga
3 Wooded Foothills
2 Wasteland
2 Windswept Heath
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Savannah
// Mana Acceleration
4 Noble Hierarch
1 Birds of Paradise
// Creatures
4 Kavu Predator
4 Kiln Fiend
3 Tarmogoyf
2 Knight of the Reliquary
// Removal
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Punishing Fire
// Pump
4 Berserk
4 Colossal Might
4 Invigorate
2 Fling
// Utility
4 Green Sun's Zenith
The deck has two options, depending on hand quality and opponent's play:
1. Against a tapped out or non-interactive opponent, you make 20ish points of damage through various instant speed shenanigans.
2. Grind the game out and treat your pump spells like removal. Your opponent gets a lot more shy about attacking into your creatures when they know you can make your creatures very large.
I originally envisioned taking advantage of pump spells and double strike. I didn't find there were enough creatures printed to do that suitably, so I iterated into the present version.
Matchup-wise
I've found it fares very well against "fair" decks that try to play superior cards (instead of attacking a strategy). So you'll be strong against Delver and Merfolk and their ilk. Against fast combo decks, your best hope is a turn 2 or 3 kill with one of your creatures (turn 2 is fairly implausible). The deck is mostly tuned to win turn 4.
The difference between this build and the infect or other berserk decks out there is that this deck has game even if the opponent makes it past turn 4. The quality of creatures will give you a shot at the game.
Card choices:
Creatures:
Kiln Fiend - Kiln Fiend has really excellent synergy with Invigorate and Berserk. Those cards will get you to 20 damage on turn 3 with no problem. It plays nicely with Punishing Fire as well, but opponents rightly view it as the most threatening target so it rarely lives too long.
Kavu Predator - Also plays very nicely with Invigorate. It also really likes Grove of the Burnwillows to give him a chance to keep pace with Knights and Crushers and the other giant creatures we sometimes see in this format.
Knight of the Reliquary - A little strange in an aggressive Berserk deck, but he tends to have the least condition large body since he can grow himself without the aid of any other cards. He also finds your Groves when you have a Predator or Punishing Fire and your Wastelands when the opponent has a Maze of Ith or two.
Birds of Paradise - As a one-of you're really looking at a 5th Noble Hierach that does double duty against decks packing Moat. You can Zenith for the singleton Birds and hopefully pump him up to lethal if you need. Also gets under Ensnaring Bridge.
Pump:
Berserk - Doubles as removal in games where your opponent has a lot of spot removal and you don't have any targets that will survive long enough to get Berserked.
Colossal Might - This slot has gone through many iterations but the trample and extra one point of power has really proven this card's value to me.
Removal:
Punishing Fire - This is a little out of place in an archetype that to an extent values speed over card quality. This essentially provides you with a backup plan against decks that can completely nullify your creatures (heavy removal/lock) and has a strong primary function of spot removal against most of the format.
Sideboarding options
I haven't developed this part of the deck too much yet. The maindeck isn't extremely flexible. I like the idea of running mostly creatures here (especially ones that can be fetched by GSZ), but have found this will do the least to shore up the weaknesses of the deck. Opponents will be well-equipped to handle most creatures.
// Land
3 Grove of the Burnwillows
3 Taiga
3 Wooded Foothills
2 Wasteland
2 Windswept Heath
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Savannah
// Mana Acceleration
4 Noble Hierarch
1 Birds of Paradise
// Creatures
4 Kavu Predator
4 Kiln Fiend
3 Tarmogoyf
2 Knight of the Reliquary
// Removal
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Punishing Fire
// Pump
4 Berserk
4 Colossal Might
4 Invigorate
2 Fling
// Utility
4 Green Sun's Zenith
The deck has two options, depending on hand quality and opponent's play:
1. Against a tapped out or non-interactive opponent, you make 20ish points of damage through various instant speed shenanigans.
2. Grind the game out and treat your pump spells like removal. Your opponent gets a lot more shy about attacking into your creatures when they know you can make your creatures very large.
I originally envisioned taking advantage of pump spells and double strike. I didn't find there were enough creatures printed to do that suitably, so I iterated into the present version.
Matchup-wise
I've found it fares very well against "fair" decks that try to play superior cards (instead of attacking a strategy). So you'll be strong against Delver and Merfolk and their ilk. Against fast combo decks, your best hope is a turn 2 or 3 kill with one of your creatures (turn 2 is fairly implausible). The deck is mostly tuned to win turn 4.
The difference between this build and the infect or other berserk decks out there is that this deck has game even if the opponent makes it past turn 4. The quality of creatures will give you a shot at the game.
Card choices:
Creatures:
Kiln Fiend - Kiln Fiend has really excellent synergy with Invigorate and Berserk. Those cards will get you to 20 damage on turn 3 with no problem. It plays nicely with Punishing Fire as well, but opponents rightly view it as the most threatening target so it rarely lives too long.
Kavu Predator - Also plays very nicely with Invigorate. It also really likes Grove of the Burnwillows to give him a chance to keep pace with Knights and Crushers and the other giant creatures we sometimes see in this format.
Knight of the Reliquary - A little strange in an aggressive Berserk deck, but he tends to have the least condition large body since he can grow himself without the aid of any other cards. He also finds your Groves when you have a Predator or Punishing Fire and your Wastelands when the opponent has a Maze of Ith or two.
Birds of Paradise - As a one-of you're really looking at a 5th Noble Hierach that does double duty against decks packing Moat. You can Zenith for the singleton Birds and hopefully pump him up to lethal if you need. Also gets under Ensnaring Bridge.
Pump:
Berserk - Doubles as removal in games where your opponent has a lot of spot removal and you don't have any targets that will survive long enough to get Berserked.
Colossal Might - This slot has gone through many iterations but the trample and extra one point of power has really proven this card's value to me.
Removal:
Punishing Fire - This is a little out of place in an archetype that to an extent values speed over card quality. This essentially provides you with a backup plan against decks that can completely nullify your creatures (heavy removal/lock) and has a strong primary function of spot removal against most of the format.
Sideboarding options
I haven't developed this part of the deck too much yet. The maindeck isn't extremely flexible. I like the idea of running mostly creatures here (especially ones that can be fetched by GSZ), but have found this will do the least to shore up the weaknesses of the deck. Opponents will be well-equipped to handle most creatures.