LeePerry
06-24-2012, 02:33 PM
This is a deck I've been working on and might bring to GP Ghent in a few weeks. At this stage it is purely theoretical and I haven't played out any games (other then goldfishing) with it yet due to a lack of testing partners.
I'll present you with the decklist first and will then give a short objectives/strategy overview and finish up with some more card by card analysis. A lot can still change about this deck and of course I welcome your opinions. The combo itself is well-known and has been around since Ravnica block, but I don't believe a serious attempt at putting it in a deck has been tried before. Understand please, that although I play magic for fun, I'm not trying to make this a 'fun' deck, I genuinely want to (and believe it's possible) make this a potent deck for a GP type event.
If anyone can tell me how to link the card-images I would very much appreciate it.
Main Deck:
Spells [42]
4 Brainstorm
3 Chrome Mox
4 Dark Ritual
1 Defense Grid
4 Force of Will
3 Grim Monolith
4 Helm of Obedience
1 Intuition
4 Leyline of the Void
4 Lim-Dûl's Vault
2 Lotus Petal
3 Misdirection
1 Pact of Negation
4 Ponder
Lands [18]
3 Ancient Tomb
1 Bloodstained Mire
3 City of Traitors
2 Island
1 Misty Rainforest
4 Polluted Delta
1 Swamp
3 Underground Sea
Sideboard:
1 Blue Elemental Blast
3 Chain of Vapor
3 Defense Grid
3 Hydroblast
3 Perish
2 Thoughtseize
The deck tries to win by activating the Helm of Obedience on your opponent while you have a Leyline of the Void in play. Since you can start the game with the Leyline in play if you have it in your opening hand, this is a potential first turn kill if you an amass 5 mana and have the Helm of Obedience on your first turn.
Although the combo itself is a glass canon much like Belcher, it can be much more compact and has more room for defense in the way of Force of Will, Misdirection, Pact of Negation and Defense Grid. One type of disruption it is still vulnerable to is the disenchant/bounce effects that certain second tier, and even some tier one decks occasionally have. I haven't found a great way combat this yet and as such am hoping to win on speed.
Here is a sample way of getting a turn 1 kill from a possible opening hand:
Helm of Obedience
Leyline of the Void
City of Traitors / Ancient Tomb
Lotus Petal / Chrome Mox (with an extra card)
Dark Ritual / Grim Monolith (with an extra turn)
- Start the game with the Leyline in play.
- Play the City of Traitors and the Lotus Petal.
- Cast the Dark Ritual from the Lotus Petal. (BBB in mana pool)
- Tap the City of Traitors for mana and cast the Helm of Obedience. (B in mana pool)
- Activate the Helm of Obedience for 1 and deck the opponent. (which still works even if they have something like Emrakul, Progenitus or Gaea's Blessing in their deck)
Of course it is more likely that you'll need an extra turn or two to get up to 5 mana or to find one of the missing links of the combo. It is also possible that you have the combo and are able to get up to the necessary mana but want to have some protection first.
Although this is a two card combo, there is one card more important then another. It is more important to have the Leyline of the Void in your opening hand then having the Helm. If you can start the game with Leyline of the Void in play, you effectively save 4 mana from your combo while otherwise you still have to spend the mana to cast it. This doesn't mean that you HAVE to mulligan until you have a Leyline of the Void in your opening hand, but it is handy to know while mulliganing that some hands can be a keep just because you have a Leyline where the exact same hand with a Helm instead should be a mulligan.
Combo:
- Leyline of the Void (start every dredge match-up 1-0 :))
- Helm of Obedience
Cantrips and ways to find your combo pieces:
- Brainstorm
- Ponder
- Lim-Dûl's Vault (I play 4 since they are faster then Intuition, can set up more then one card, help you plan ahead for several turns and they help my Chrome Mox to produce black mana to Dark Ritual)
- Intuition (I only play one since there are only two situations in which you realistically want it (missing combo piece or missing mana acceleration), you can't cast it before turn two and in this deck it is unrealistic to expect to win in the same turn as casting the intuition, which effectively makes it more expensive then Lim-Dûl's Vault.
Fast mana: (some of these cards I've listed together since they have the same function and useability in this deck)
- Ancient Tomb / City of Traitors
- Chrome Mox / Lotus Petal
- Dark Ritual (main way to accelerate Leyline of the Void into play if you didn't have it in your opening hand)
- Grim Monolith (slower then Dark Ritual, but a better way accelerate your mana over several turns if you're going for a third/fourth turn kill)
Protection:
- Force of Will / Misdirection
- Pact of Negation (I only play one since it's most useful while you combo off, but it's very hard to use to protect from discard)
- Defense Grid
Let me know what you think
I'll present you with the decklist first and will then give a short objectives/strategy overview and finish up with some more card by card analysis. A lot can still change about this deck and of course I welcome your opinions. The combo itself is well-known and has been around since Ravnica block, but I don't believe a serious attempt at putting it in a deck has been tried before. Understand please, that although I play magic for fun, I'm not trying to make this a 'fun' deck, I genuinely want to (and believe it's possible) make this a potent deck for a GP type event.
If anyone can tell me how to link the card-images I would very much appreciate it.
Main Deck:
Spells [42]
4 Brainstorm
3 Chrome Mox
4 Dark Ritual
1 Defense Grid
4 Force of Will
3 Grim Monolith
4 Helm of Obedience
1 Intuition
4 Leyline of the Void
4 Lim-Dûl's Vault
2 Lotus Petal
3 Misdirection
1 Pact of Negation
4 Ponder
Lands [18]
3 Ancient Tomb
1 Bloodstained Mire
3 City of Traitors
2 Island
1 Misty Rainforest
4 Polluted Delta
1 Swamp
3 Underground Sea
Sideboard:
1 Blue Elemental Blast
3 Chain of Vapor
3 Defense Grid
3 Hydroblast
3 Perish
2 Thoughtseize
The deck tries to win by activating the Helm of Obedience on your opponent while you have a Leyline of the Void in play. Since you can start the game with the Leyline in play if you have it in your opening hand, this is a potential first turn kill if you an amass 5 mana and have the Helm of Obedience on your first turn.
Although the combo itself is a glass canon much like Belcher, it can be much more compact and has more room for defense in the way of Force of Will, Misdirection, Pact of Negation and Defense Grid. One type of disruption it is still vulnerable to is the disenchant/bounce effects that certain second tier, and even some tier one decks occasionally have. I haven't found a great way combat this yet and as such am hoping to win on speed.
Here is a sample way of getting a turn 1 kill from a possible opening hand:
Helm of Obedience
Leyline of the Void
City of Traitors / Ancient Tomb
Lotus Petal / Chrome Mox (with an extra card)
Dark Ritual / Grim Monolith (with an extra turn)
- Start the game with the Leyline in play.
- Play the City of Traitors and the Lotus Petal.
- Cast the Dark Ritual from the Lotus Petal. (BBB in mana pool)
- Tap the City of Traitors for mana and cast the Helm of Obedience. (B in mana pool)
- Activate the Helm of Obedience for 1 and deck the opponent. (which still works even if they have something like Emrakul, Progenitus or Gaea's Blessing in their deck)
Of course it is more likely that you'll need an extra turn or two to get up to 5 mana or to find one of the missing links of the combo. It is also possible that you have the combo and are able to get up to the necessary mana but want to have some protection first.
Although this is a two card combo, there is one card more important then another. It is more important to have the Leyline of the Void in your opening hand then having the Helm. If you can start the game with Leyline of the Void in play, you effectively save 4 mana from your combo while otherwise you still have to spend the mana to cast it. This doesn't mean that you HAVE to mulligan until you have a Leyline of the Void in your opening hand, but it is handy to know while mulliganing that some hands can be a keep just because you have a Leyline where the exact same hand with a Helm instead should be a mulligan.
Combo:
- Leyline of the Void (start every dredge match-up 1-0 :))
- Helm of Obedience
Cantrips and ways to find your combo pieces:
- Brainstorm
- Ponder
- Lim-Dûl's Vault (I play 4 since they are faster then Intuition, can set up more then one card, help you plan ahead for several turns and they help my Chrome Mox to produce black mana to Dark Ritual)
- Intuition (I only play one since there are only two situations in which you realistically want it (missing combo piece or missing mana acceleration), you can't cast it before turn two and in this deck it is unrealistic to expect to win in the same turn as casting the intuition, which effectively makes it more expensive then Lim-Dûl's Vault.
Fast mana: (some of these cards I've listed together since they have the same function and useability in this deck)
- Ancient Tomb / City of Traitors
- Chrome Mox / Lotus Petal
- Dark Ritual (main way to accelerate Leyline of the Void into play if you didn't have it in your opening hand)
- Grim Monolith (slower then Dark Ritual, but a better way accelerate your mana over several turns if you're going for a third/fourth turn kill)
Protection:
- Force of Will / Misdirection
- Pact of Negation (I only play one since it's most useful while you combo off, but it's very hard to use to protect from discard)
- Defense Grid
Let me know what you think