Thor Hammer
05-09-2014, 09:59 AM
Deck Summary
This deck consistently wins against Death and Taxes, Goblins, BUG, and Stoneblade, and is close to a wash with Miracle decks. In fact, I haven't come up against a single deck archetype that gives me any serious trouble. All of the creatures have evasion in the form of flying, or in the case of Phyrexian Crusader, protection from red and white which is huge when it comes to dodging Lightning Bolt and Swords to Plowshares. Phyrexian Crusader can be bounced by blue or destroyed by black, but bouncing is only temporary and most black removal cards only target non-black creatures. Forcing a sacrifice is the only sure way to get rid of Phyrexian Crusader, and your opponent will probably have to sideboard to find something to deal with him. In other words, he usually sticks when you play him and he will win you the game single-handedly. Again, all the other creatures have flying, Inkmoth Nexus is usually protected on your opponent's turn unless they play a Wasteland, and Skithiryx can be given haste and can be regenerated. These creatures are hard to deal with, and the fact that they have infect makes them twice as dangerous.
Putting Dark Confidant, Liliana of the Veil and Hymn to Tourach in this deck is a no-brainer. Dark Ritual is almost as powerful as a Black Lotus, as it allows you to turn one Liliana, Hymn+Inquisition, Dark Confidant+Inquisition, Phyrexian Crusader, or if you have two Dark Rituals in your opening hand you can drop Skithiryx and make things very uncomfortable for your opponent. Dark Ritual and Dark Confidant in combination with a heavy discard line of attack allows this deck to generate massive card advantage. Funeral Charm is so versatile in this deck because it can be used to make your opponent discard, give Phyrexian Crusader or Skithiryx two more power, or give your creatures Swampwalk (in case your opponent has some flyers) which has great synergy if you have Urborg out. Dismember serves as a solid all around creature removal spell for potentially just :1:, and once again, Funeral Charm shines here too because it can take out Dark Confidant, Stoneforge Mystic, Noble Hierarch, or Delever of Secrets. Surgical Extraction serves to make the discarding even more painful for your opponent as they lose all copies of whatever spell of theirs seems to be giving us the most trouble. Toss in four Wastelands to attack your opponents mana base, along with a versatile sideboard of mass removal, land destruction, and forced sacrificing and this deck will allow you to attack your opponent from almost every angle imaginable.
This deck is very fun to play, and with the combination of acceleration, discard, land destruction, and removal to support the deadly infect creatures, there aren't many archetypes out there that can shut it down. Only a deck with a lot of counterspells can give it any real difficulty, but if you can get just one creature to stick you should be okay. I think the tempo this deck generates far outweighs any aggro advantage that UG infect decks have over it. With a core of Liliana of the Veil, Dark Confidant, and Hymn to Tourach, this deck has the punch to overcome anything one's opponent throws at them.
Here's the list...
Instants
4 Dark Ritual
4 Funeral Charm
4 Dismember
2 Surgical Extraction
Sorceries
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Hymn to Tourach
Creatures
4 Dark Confidant
4 Plague Stinger
4 Phyrexian Crusader
2 Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
Planeswalkers
4 Lilana of the Veil
Lands
2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Inkmoth Nexus
4 Wasteland
4 Polluted Delta
6 Swamps
Sideboard
4 Diabolic Edict
4 Sinkhole
4 Ratchet Bomb
2 Surgical Extraction
This deck consistently wins against Death and Taxes, Goblins, BUG, and Stoneblade, and is close to a wash with Miracle decks. In fact, I haven't come up against a single deck archetype that gives me any serious trouble. All of the creatures have evasion in the form of flying, or in the case of Phyrexian Crusader, protection from red and white which is huge when it comes to dodging Lightning Bolt and Swords to Plowshares. Phyrexian Crusader can be bounced by blue or destroyed by black, but bouncing is only temporary and most black removal cards only target non-black creatures. Forcing a sacrifice is the only sure way to get rid of Phyrexian Crusader, and your opponent will probably have to sideboard to find something to deal with him. In other words, he usually sticks when you play him and he will win you the game single-handedly. Again, all the other creatures have flying, Inkmoth Nexus is usually protected on your opponent's turn unless they play a Wasteland, and Skithiryx can be given haste and can be regenerated. These creatures are hard to deal with, and the fact that they have infect makes them twice as dangerous.
Putting Dark Confidant, Liliana of the Veil and Hymn to Tourach in this deck is a no-brainer. Dark Ritual is almost as powerful as a Black Lotus, as it allows you to turn one Liliana, Hymn+Inquisition, Dark Confidant+Inquisition, Phyrexian Crusader, or if you have two Dark Rituals in your opening hand you can drop Skithiryx and make things very uncomfortable for your opponent. Dark Ritual and Dark Confidant in combination with a heavy discard line of attack allows this deck to generate massive card advantage. Funeral Charm is so versatile in this deck because it can be used to make your opponent discard, give Phyrexian Crusader or Skithiryx two more power, or give your creatures Swampwalk (in case your opponent has some flyers) which has great synergy if you have Urborg out. Dismember serves as a solid all around creature removal spell for potentially just :1:, and once again, Funeral Charm shines here too because it can take out Dark Confidant, Stoneforge Mystic, Noble Hierarch, or Delever of Secrets. Surgical Extraction serves to make the discarding even more painful for your opponent as they lose all copies of whatever spell of theirs seems to be giving us the most trouble. Toss in four Wastelands to attack your opponents mana base, along with a versatile sideboard of mass removal, land destruction, and forced sacrificing and this deck will allow you to attack your opponent from almost every angle imaginable.
This deck is very fun to play, and with the combination of acceleration, discard, land destruction, and removal to support the deadly infect creatures, there aren't many archetypes out there that can shut it down. Only a deck with a lot of counterspells can give it any real difficulty, but if you can get just one creature to stick you should be okay. I think the tempo this deck generates far outweighs any aggro advantage that UG infect decks have over it. With a core of Liliana of the Veil, Dark Confidant, and Hymn to Tourach, this deck has the punch to overcome anything one's opponent throws at them.
Here's the list...
Instants
4 Dark Ritual
4 Funeral Charm
4 Dismember
2 Surgical Extraction
Sorceries
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Hymn to Tourach
Creatures
4 Dark Confidant
4 Plague Stinger
4 Phyrexian Crusader
2 Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
Planeswalkers
4 Lilana of the Veil
Lands
2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Inkmoth Nexus
4 Wasteland
4 Polluted Delta
6 Swamps
Sideboard
4 Diabolic Edict
4 Sinkhole
4 Ratchet Bomb
2 Surgical Extraction