[Deck] Unearthly Amallrocks

[Sengaija]

ok, so let me start by saying that this deck is pretty much from the top of my head although ive been wanting to build something like this for quite some time now.

I do not know if it has a strong matchup against hulk but with all the disruption this deck packs, it shouldnt be unwinnable (atleast after sideboard with laylines).

with no further ado:

creatures

4x eternal witness
4x dark confidant
4x hypnotic specter
4x wild mongrel

other spells

4x dark ritual
4x sinkhole
4x hymn to tourach
4x duress
4x unearth
4x sword of fire and ice/umezawas jitte

lands

4x wasteland
4x polluted delta
4x bayou
4x cabal pit
4x swamp

the deck hasnt been tested yet and probobly needs alot of work, but it carries alot of synergies, like for example:

- the ritual, duress and hymn to tourach or sinkhole suit from deadguy. this disruption can ruin alot of decks

- unearth and eternal witness. if witness is in your graveyard you can unearth to get her to your hand and then use her triggerd effect to get your unearth back to your hand

- first turn hippy, a classic that has worked since alpha

- discount your creatures through wild mongrel. discard a creature and use unearth to get him into play, this will leave open mana to disrupt your opponent.


i hope you liked the deck and give me your opinion on this deck and the card choices so it can step up to its full potencial.

thanks for reading, i hope you have enjoyed it :smile:

[xsockmonkeyx]

- unearth and eternal witness. if witness is in your graveyard you can unearth to get her to your hand and then use her triggerd effect to get your unearth back to your hand


Wow, that seems like a pretty cool combination for the mid/late game. I would consider Mesmeric Fiend and Cabal Therapy (not with each other) because they would be nice to play with when you have that mini-engine going. Therapy would be a nice way to get witness in the yard besides Mongrel. Maybe smallpox would do something good too.

With your BB and GG requirements i would up the fetch count and maybe consider adding some Overgrown Tombs.

[Sengaija]

thanks for the reply

i agree with you on the cabal therapy being great in the deck, and im going to try and build this deck pretty soon (im just missing a couple of cards for it) then maybe cut the sofi for the therapies. It depends on how much you need the swords as finnishers though.

im also considering the smallpoxes which seems to be a really strong sideboard choice against aggro deck that play a tight manabase as you rid their threat and disrupt their manabase, and you should recover easierly then they do.

im also considering a couple of other cards:

chittering rats - this guy is quite underrated as often when you are on the beats he´s an timewalk on legs, though im not sure he´s good enough for legacy

life from the loam - i dont know if there should be 4x but they would alow for maindeck smallpoxes and recuring wastelands and cabal pits. lftl might be a part of a sideboard package with smallpox? i dont know

basking rotwalla - since you have an madness outlet through wild mongrel it might be worth playing this guy?



as for the bb gg manabase at least in theory i dont se a problem since only witness requires double green, and you have alternative ways of casting her.


i would like to end this post with the question: which is more suited for this deck, umezawas jitte or sword of fire and ice? and ofcourse, why?

thank you again for the reply and keep posting :smile:

[eternaldarkness]

The deck looks cool. Fast disruption has always been my cup of tea :wink:

That being said, some of your card choices are a bit meh:frown:

Unearth seems way to janky and kinda weak IMO. Also this deck screams for a fast, cheap clock. Something to end the game with immediately after all that disruption. Something along the veins of Phyrexian Negator or Nantuko Shade to complement your jittes/swords. Take out the Unearths and bring a combination of those two in.

I would also cut the Polluted deltas. The deck is really all about tempo and you don't want to be stuck with CIPT lands early game. Drop those for fetches and a few Forests. Hell even one copy of Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth would be good here.

Lastly, is the green really that necessary? The only green cards here are Eternal Witness and Mongrel. Mongrel can be replaced with Nantuko Shade and I think a red component for burn might be better. Just my two cents.

[Sengaija]

I too have always been a big fan of fast disruption and although i see where you want to take this deck with negators and shades, im trying to take another rute.

as you said, there are only 2 different cards of green in the deck (8 copies total) i really think that atleast eternal witness is a solid as ones you get a look at your opponenst hand (through duress, or as suggested cabal therapy) you know exactly how to disrupt your opponent (is he land light or should i focus on disrupting his hand?). witness allows you to totally destroy his hand with just one hymn to tourach or hes manabase with one sinkhole (recuring).

as for wild mongrel, he can be a real killer with the draw you get from bob while he also helps you get your creatures out with unearth. in theory turn two with two lands out you can play dark ritual and this guy discarding two creatures, lets say a witness and a hippy and play unearth two times to get them both into play. I know that it wont happen often but it seems pretty strong to me. he also alows for an aggressiv sideboard with basking rotwalla for more early raw power.

like i said in the opening, i havnt played this deck at all so i cant really tell you how it works but i to feel that some more creature removal probobly is needed, if it is burn (like you said) or just straight removal. I just cant tell before i get a chance to build it and see how fast i get the cabal pits online and how much help the equipment really gives in that area of removal

as for polluted delta, they are fetches :smile:

and as for a fast clock maybe terravore might play nice in this deck? he is a 3cc after all.

thanks for the post i hope they keep coming :wink:

[xsockmonkeyx]

Seems tarmogoyf would be strong here. Its within your curve and you are dumping lots of things into both graveyards fairly quickly. I think he will often be a 3/4 for 2 mana as early as turn 2 or maybe better. Fetch, ritual, Hymn->3/4 on turn 2.

You might consider Ohran VIper here too as it would give you another Ophidian type creature to maintain pressure through playing more of your black spells. Plus it tackles any ground creature on defense.

I think Jitte is going to be superior to SoFI here. This looks like it could benefit from the board control and lifegain from Jitte(confi) as your clock is slow and you have to push through smallish creatures to deal your damage.

Maybe:
4x dark confidant
4x hypnotic specter
4x Tarmogoyf
4x Mongrel (<3's Tarmogoyf)


4x hymn to tourach
4x Duress/cabal therpy
3x Ghastly Demise/Funeral Charm/Vendetta/Something to kill a lackey

3x umezawas jitte
1x SoFI


4x witness
3x Unearth

4x dark ritual

4x polluted delta
4x bloodstained mire
4x bayou
2x Cabal Pit
4x swamp

[Aggro_zombies]

Maybe:
4x dark confidant
4x hypnotic specter
4x Tarmogoyf
4x Mongrel (<3's Tarmogoyf)


4x hymn to tourach
4x Duress
3x Ghastly Demise/Funeral Charm/Vendetta/Something to kill a lackey

3x umezawas jitte

4x wasteland
4x sinkhole


4x dark ritual

4x polluted delta
4x bloodstained mire
4x bayou
2x Cabal Pit
4x swamp
Funeral Charm is probably the best there if you're just using it to nuke Lackey, just because it's never entirely dead (although the discard mode is never really impressive, either).

If this deck had more madness outlets, I'd be kinda tempted to run Brain Gorgers. Forcing your opponent to choose between a madness activation and a Diabolic Edict or a madness activation and an instant-speed 4/2 is pretty strong, especially given the projected dominance of Fish-type decks in the post-Hulk world.

[Kronicler]

I would also cut the Polluted deltas. The deck is really all about tempo and you don't want to be stuck with CIPT lands early game.

Nothing about Polluted Deltas cause any lands to come into play tapped.

Besides that, the deck is quite interesting. Just like monkey, I agree that Unearth/witness seems to give the deck a strong mid-late game, but I am concerned with the early game. Rootwalla isn't a terrible idea, but I like shade most of all as finishers.

Kronicler

[Phantom]

I have a lot of experience with BG aggro in this meta (assuming post Flash) so I'll post my thoughts. Forgive my bluntness:

1) This deck is a fools errand. You will never be able to make it beat Goblins, combo and Thresh/Fish. I'd be surprised if you can get two of the big three positive. Trust me, I've tried.

2) If you do go on with the deck, I would highly recommend dropping the Sinkholes and Wastelands. Land Destruction is surprisingly crappy in Legacy these days. Goblins thank you for it, Most Combo ignores it (this wasn't true back in the days of Solidarity ruling), and Thresh handles is surprisingly well (just ask Red Death players). The only archetype that it really helps against is control.

3) Go with Jitte. Or at least a 3/1 split in its favor.

4) Removal. This was my biggest problem with GB. There is no perfect removal. If you find something that is quick and doesn't let you down let me know.

5) Unearth looks great here, but I'm not so sure about it. If you draw something like one creature, a Jitte, and an Unearth, and they plow the critter, you're fucked. Maybe if your accel was ESG's?

6) I like the idea of Tarmogoyf, Mongrel, maybe Troll Ascetic?


Edit: If I wasn't a moron, I would know that ESG gets RFG'd so it has no synergy with Unearth unless you hardcast it, and who wants to do that?

[Nihil Credo]

5) Unearth looks great here, but I'm not so sure about it. If you draw something like one creature, a Jitte, and an Unearth, and they plow the critter, you're fucked. Maybe if your accel was ESG's?
Nitpick: ESGs get RFGed.

[Sengaija]

I have a lot of experience with BG aggro in this meta (assuming post Flash) so I'll post my thoughts. Forgive my bluntness:

1) This deck is a fools errand. You will never be able to make it beat Goblins, combo and Thresh/Fish. I'd be surprised if you can get two of the big three positive. Trust me, I've tried.

2) If you do go on with the deck, I would highly recommend dropping the Sinkholes and Wastelands. Land Destruction is surprisingly crappy in Legacy these days. Goblins thank you for it, Most Combo ignores it (this wasn't true back in the days of Solidarity ruling), and Thresh handles is surprisingly well (just ask Red Death players). The only archetype that it really helps against is control.

3) Go with Jitte. Or at least a 3/1 split in its favor.

4) Removal. This was my biggest problem with GB. There is no perfect removal. If you find something that is quick and doesn't let you down let me know.

5) Unearth looks great here, but I'm not so sure about it. If you draw something like one creature, a Jitte, and an Unearth, and they plow the critter, you're fucked. Maybe if your accel was ESG's?

6) I like the idea of Tarmogoyf, Mongrel, maybe Troll Ascetic?


Edit: If I wasn't a moron, I would know that ESG gets RFG'd so it has no synergy with Unearth unless you hardcast it, and who wants to do that?

its ok to be blunt :smile: , i trust you in your homework, still im quite dedicated to make this deck work, and so to awnser your questions:

1) I´ll start with the goblin matchup - in my testing with my homebrew Ub fish sword of fire and ice works wonders in this matchup, i know fish plays another game but i cant see how powering out sofi with darkritual and equiping on turn 3 would be bad. I know it alone dosent win the match but as stated this isnt by any means a finnished deck.

Combo - i trust this is more then anything Hulk flash, and i have to say that one of the sideboards from the columbus top8 intrigued me, its one of the MBA decks, he played 4x laylines of the void and 4x serum powder in the sideboard. From what i know, this and your main deck discard would be quite enough. That said i think your maindeck discard is enough to deal with iggy pop and the LD also helps against Hightide Reset. Again these are still just asumptions nothing has yet been tested altho i will build the deck soon and start playtesting.

Threshold - this matchup is tricky for sure, i dont know if it will be workable... testing will show i guess

2) this i guess is quite true, its a shame though, i feel pain most of the games when i play my pox deck. maybe the right way to go is to drop the LD and go with some 3cc or less creatures with CIP abilities that you can abuse with unearth (if unearth is still considered as a playable that is.

3) I see alot of jittes in this thread :smile: but i´ve got four swords so i think ill run them in the inithial build atleast (although i agree on jitte probobly being better)

4) i agree with you in that the removal suit being a hard nut to crack, in my mind only testing, brainstorming and time will tell.

5) the lesson here might be not to hold on a mana heavy hand :wink: ... but i see what you mean, and i think its been up to question wether or not to include unearth. maybe just have three in the deck? add some more creatures to target? i dont know.

6) props to sockmonkey, i love them to :smile:

[Cait_Sith]

You probably considered this, but Darkheart sliver. A 2/2 for 2 that can turn itself into life gain is never terrible. Also goes great with Unearth.

This looks like fun and I love GB, so I will try your build first before I see if changes are needed.

[Finn]

I'm with Phantom. Land destruction ain't what it used to be. About Goblins, Mongrel is really good at keeping them out of your face until you reach midgame. Sure he costs two, but he's damn is it good. I think I would wait until after June 1st to even discuss metacards like Vendetta, etc.

I keep saying this, but I will again.

You have equipment.
You have Tarmogoyf.
You have fetchlands.
You want Dryad Arbor, the forest that is a creature.

[Cait_Sith]

The green is a small splash. He runs no forests. He has one card that benefits from Dryad Arbor and is vulnerable to a large variety of spells.

If he ran forests, it would be a possibility. If he ran SoFI over Jitte, it would be a possibility. Right now, it is not.

Oh yea, Finn and Phantom are right on the Ld. I keep it SB because it is still great against Tricolor Decks (Like Truffle, HanniFish, and Thresh) and I have Darkheart Sliver in that slot.

[xsockmonkeyx]

You want Dryad Arbor, the forest that is a creature......to not take up any slots in this deck.

[Finn]

Yep. Same response I got last time.

Tarmogoyf is not the only card that benefits from it. Dryad Arbor turns fetchlands into creatures - creatures that hold a Jitte. I fail to see what SoFI has to do with it.

Even if there was no other benefit, it still lets your fetchlands become an instant speed blocker. I say it is good enough reason to alter the manabase. I really should go about making my own deck on this, but I am a bit burnt on thinking this close to summer.

[xsockmonkeyx]

Why would he be running green fetches to begin with? Who in their right mind would run them just to play Arbor?

[Cait_Sith]

I fail to see what SoFI has to do with it.

SoFI can protect the Dryad the moment it is equipped. Jitte cannot. With a creature that fragile you need a maximum defence.

Also, of course you would get a cold response. Telling us that it should be evident that a deck that doesn't run Forests should run a Forest creature seems odd. If his commitment to green were larger I would say it is a possibility.

[Finn]

I see. You mean if the Jitte has no counters. That makes sense. But what sorcery speed removal aimed at a 1/1 that you would not be willing to trade for your topdecked land are you concerned about? Frankly, I would only play one only, for just in case. Early on, I think I would prefer to have the mana immediately.

I mean, he can always fetch the Bayous. There are only four Swamps after all. Still, it is not an optimal land situation. Ahh whatever. I am looking for a home to fit what I see as a really good option. It was a better fit in the other Tarmogoyf deck.

[xsockmonkeyx]

How about Survival to get creatures into the graveyard and maybe provide a bit of a draw engine?

4x dark confidant
4x hypnotic specter
4x Tarmogoyf
4x Mongrel (<3's Tarmogoyf)

4x hymn to tourach
4x Cabal Therapy

2x umezawas jitte
1x SoFI

4x Survival
3x witness
3x Unearth
1x Squee/ Krovikan Horror


4x dark ritual

3x polluted delta
4x bloodstained mire
4x bayou
1x overgrown tomb
2x Cabal Pit
4x swamp
______________

[Cait_Sith]

R/G Aggro, with its heavier Green commitment, would do nicely.

On this deck: I made some changes and am using this list:

// Lands
4 [R] Bayou
3 [5E] Swamp (2)
1 [RAV] Overgrown Tomb
2 [OD] Cabal Pit
4 [ON] Bloodstained Mire
4 [ON] Polluted Delta
4 [TE] Wasteland

// Creatures
4 [PLC] Darkheart Sliver
4 [OD] Wild Mongrel
4 [RAV] Dark Confidant
4 [FUT] Tarmogoyf
4 [9E] Hypnotic Specter

// Spells
4 [MI] Dark Ritual
3 [BOK] Umezawa's Jitte
3 [VI] Funeral Charm
4 [7E] Duress
4 [FE] Hymn to Tourach

// Sideboard
SB: 4 [U] Sinkhole
SB: 4 [UL] Engineered Plague
SB: 3 [JU] Cabal Therapy
SB: 4 [PLC] Extirpate

Since I added a Darkheart Sliver I figured that another dual land would be needed.The slivers are needed, they up threat density and are a quality low cost threat.

I finished off the sideboard with Sinkholes for decks with Shaky manabases (which include most aggro control decks) Plague for Goblins (early on the quality of threats can hold off Goblins on the play, but they will eventually overwhelm you), Therapy is good for additional power against fast combo, and Extirpate is good vs whatever I need it to be (Control, Aggro-Control, and Combo.) I would like to find some better sb cards against pure aggro, but I can't have everything.

[Sengaija]

How about Survival to get creatures into the graveyard and maybe provide a bit of a draw engine?

4x dark confidant
4x hypnotic specter
4x Tarmogoyf
4x Mongrel (<3's Tarmogoyf)

4x hymn to tourach
4x Cabal Therapy

2x umezawas jitte
1x SoFI

4x Survival
3x witness
3x Unearth
1x Squee/ Krovikan Horror


4x dark ritual

3x polluted delta
4x bloodstained mire
4x bayou
1x overgrown tomb
2x Cabal Pit
4x swamp
______________

WOW! it never crossed my mind, but now that you say it its so obvious! this is a survival deck!

i cant really continue much on the subject right now as its quite late here in sweden and i really should sleep, but just some cards that pop up in my mind are viridian shaman, chittering rats, bone shredder.

goodnight guys :smile:

[xsockmonkeyx]

Big Game Hunter, Gravegouger , Mesmeric fiend, Pit Keeper, Loaming Shaman, and Wood Elves are other creatures with decent CiP abilities and in the colors.

Mercenary Knight/Hidden Horror could act as another creature discard outlet. Its a 4/4 body that can be ritualed out, it might be interesting.

Aside: Skyshroud Sentinal can become a +3 card in your hand to fuel your Survival engine. Survival him into the grave, unearth, grab 3 more creatures to pitch to survival.

4x Dark Confidant
4x RootWalla
4x Tarmogoyf
4x Mongrel
2x witness
1x mesmeric fiend
1x boneshredder

4x hymn to tourach
3x Cabal Therapy

2x umezawas jitte
1x SoFI

4x Survival
3x Unearth
1x Squee/ Krovikan Horror

4x Birds of Paradise?

4x wooded foothill
4x bloodstained mire
4x bayou
1x overgrown tomb
2x swamp
3x forest
0x Dryad Arbor

[Sengaija]

just wanted to drop of a build of the deck that seems to atleast have a pretty solid game plan. i dont know about the MU´s though:

4 Wild Mongrel
4 Dark Confidant
4 Eternal Witness
4 Hypnotic Specter
4 Terravore
4 Duress
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Smallpox
4 Unearth
4 Chrome Mox
4 Bayou
4 Swamp
4 Windswept Heath
4 Polluted Delta
4 Wasteland

this build focuses mostly on hand disruption, but also has access to board control and LD through smallpox and wasteland. by the time terravore comes out you basicly win, untill then you control.

[outsideangel]

An answer to Lackey would be nice. Also, you might consider elves over birds, for the sake of carrying the equipment.

[Cavius The Great]

Has anyone suggested Augur of Skulls? It works well with Unearth and Tarmogoyf.