[Deck] Demigod Thresh

[Cavius The Great]

Here's a list that inspired some ideas that I had when I saw Demigod of Revenge. I haven't been able to test the list yet so this is just a rough idea. It's sort of like Goyf Sligh but B/G with a combo finish. Here's the list that I've concocted.

Demigod Thresh.DEC By Cavius The Great

Mana:28
4 Bayou
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Polluted Delta
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Lotus Petal
4 Dark Ritual
4 Songs of the Damned

Spells:32
4 Nimble Mongoose
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Worldly Tutor
4 Demigod of Revenge
4 Thoughtseize
2 Duress
4 Buried Alive
2 Ghastly Demise
4 Street Wraith

The highlighted cards are my secret tech along with the obvious win condition. Songs of the Damned, Street Wraith, Buried Alive and Demigod of Revenge pretty much ensures that I get a quick kill, strait to the jugular vein. The cool thing about this list is, it doesn't rely on that. If I'm somehow not able to win with Demigod, I can just beat face with Mongooses and Goyfs depending on the situation. Extirpate, and the like, does hardly anything since I'm not forced to rely on the combo. I can also hardcast Wraiths in a pinch and can even play some off of Ritual and Songs for that extra needed acceleration. The rest of the deck is pretty much self-explanatory though. Thoughtseize, Duress, Ghastly Demise, discard, disruption, creature kill, etc. Stuff to feed my Goyf, blah, blah, blah. I call it Demigod Thresh becuase of the obvious creature inclusions, so I figured the name fit. I will test this decklist and keep you guys updated.

Let me know what you guys think of this overall idea.

[Jaynel]

Thresh might be a bit of a misnomer. They both have Tarmogoyf and Mongoose and then the similarities abruptly cease.

[Cavius The Great]

Thresh might be a bit of a misnomer. They both have Tarmogoyf and Mongoose and then the similarities abruptly cease.

Well, it's closer to thresh then, let's say, Dragon Stompy? I mean, Bruce Willis said it best in Pulp Fiction, "I'm American, lady, names don't mean shit". Plus posting a one liner about the name isn't too contructive either, my friend. :wink: Plus calling it "Thresh" is in relevence with my "artistic vision".

[raharu]

Hmmmm... Seems akward. How does it play? It seems like straight agro, but with a little more disruption and a lot more distuptable.

[Cavius The Great]

Hmmmm... Seems akward. How does it play? It seems like straight agro, but with a little more disruption and a lot more distuptable.

How is it more disruptable, it runs 6 discard spells. My disruption *eats* their disruption, so to speak.

[sunshine]

The deck looks pretty interesting, for some reason though the nimble mongoose really sticks out to me. I like that Mongoose + goyf provide a secondary plan but maybe something like this would be stronger in this deck:

-4 Nimble Mongoose
-0/1/2 Ghastly Demise

+3/4 Tombstalker
+1/2/3 Shriekmaw

In otherwords I would replace the Mongeese with some number of Tombstalkers and also try to find room for Shriekmaw in the list. Shriekmaw in particular has nice synergy with Songs of the Damned and Tombstalker here.

[Cavius The Great]

The deck looks pretty interesting, for some reason though the nimble mongoose really sticks out to me. I like that Mongoose + goyf provide a secondary plan but maybe something like this would be stronger in this deck:

-4 Nimble Mongoose
-0/1/2 Ghastly Demise

+3/4 Tombstalker
+1/2/3 Shriekmaw

In otherwords I would replace the Mongeese with some number of Tombstalkers and also try to find room for Shriekmaw in the list. Shriekmaw in particular has nice synergy with Songs of the Damned and Tombstalker here.

That seems like a decent idea. Mongoose seems rather small in comparison to the creatures you've mentioned, so I see the advantage. How do you feel about running Tombstalker and Shreikmaw as a 1-of along with maybe two to three other creatures to implement a toolbox with Worldly Tutor?

[WiLdFiRe]

Is it worth having a singleton Gigapede in hear for an independent win condition so you're more resistant to extirpate? I mean, you can buried alive it too.

[raharu]

How is it more disruptable, it runs 6 discard spells. My disruption *eats* their disruption, so to speak.
This is true, but it lacks the redundancy of a straightforward agro deck, i.e. as you're setting up, playing disruption/ creatures, ect, they only have to handle a limited number of tings while contending with 6 one for one distuption effects, i.e. you have a good chance of not seeing a disruption spell forthe first 3-ish turns while you set up. This leaves the deck more voulnerable to disruption than a straightforward agro deck or a more redundant and/or disruptive than this one.

[Cavius The Great]

Is it worth having a singleton Gigapede in hear for an independent win condition so you're more resistant to extirpate? I mean, you can buried alive it too.

I was also thinking Viridian Zealot and Molder Slug, as well, to deal with random stuff. Let me know if you guys think Molder Slug is too expensive. I wouldn't assume so with all of the acceleration, but you never know. And Gigapede does sound cool. Maybe Undead Gladiator deserves a spot as well.

[sunshine]

Having tutorable removal is always cool, and like I said Shriekmaw already fits so well into what the deck is already trying to do.

This might be going a little too far but Volrath's Stronghold also has interesting synergy Buried Alive and Demigod

[Isamaru]

How about taking a page out of the Rat Pack and including Balthor?

OLSO INCLUDE Augur of Skulls (and Shriekmaw).
-4 Thoughtseize, -2 Duress
+4 Augur of Skulls, +2 Hymn to Tourach

Trust me, I've been playing 4 Augur 2 Hymn for a while, and it does so much a better job in so many more instances than what 6x discard can do.

I'd highly consider taking green out in favor of white (or possibly red.) Unless you are going to play Pernicious Deed... but then this turns too much into Eternal Witness + Living Wish/Worldly Tutor + Dora the (Veteran) Explorer + Cabal Therapy, etc. etc. deck.

If you stay green, include Survival (over Worldly Tutor probably) just because it's broken.... ... oh yes, and because it works well in the deck too, I guess.

And play 1x Stronghold and 1x Urborg.

Okay how about we make a Survival Balthor deck? Probably would be less effective than IWillSurvive though.

[Cavius The Great]

How about taking a page out of the Rat Pack and including Balthor?

OLSO INCLUDE Augur of Skulls (and Shriekmaw).
-4 Thoughtseize, -2 Duress
+4 Augur of Skulls, +2 Hymn to Tourach

Trust me, I've been playing 4 Augur 2 Hymn for a while, and it does so much a better job in so many more instances than what 6x discard can do.

I'd highly consider taking green out in favor of white (or possibly red.) Unless you are going to play Pernicious Deed... but then this turns too much into Eternal Witness + Living Wish/Worldly Tutor + Dora the (Veteran) Explorer + Cabal Therapy, etc. etc. deck.

If you stay green, include Survival (over Worldly Tutor probably) just because it's broken.... ... oh yes, and because it works well in the deck too, I guess.

And play 1x Stronghold and 1x Urborg.

Okay how about we make a Survival Balthor deck? Probably would be less effective than IWillSurvive though.

Survival seems broken with Demigod. Isamaru, I'm curious to see what you would propose as a list. I assume that SotF would obviously replace Worldly Tutor, but I want to dig deeper into your creative mind. :wink:

[Isamaru]

Okay, for a non-Balthor version, non-Deed version...

A slower version with no rituals would be something like this:

22 Land
4 Bayou
4 Swamp
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Forest
3 Overgrown Tomb (ONLY because of Demigod, right?)
4 Polluted Delta
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Volrath's Stronghold

4 Demigod of Revenge
3 Eternal Witness
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Shriekmaw
1+ Keeper of the Dead
4 Augur of Skulls
3 Hymn to Tourach

3 Reanimate (This brings back Augur of Skulls, Shriekmaw, or a fat Ghoul thanks to Survival or Buried Alive; and discard or Shriekmaw/Keeper means you can steal things.)
1 Doomed Necromancer

4 Survival of the Fittest
1 Squee, Goblin Nabob
1 Sutured Ghoul
4 Buried Alive (can get Squee if you have no Demigods left, could get Ghoul)



Maybe we could include Birds of Paradise and then fit in Cabal Therapy, and then possibly Nether Traitor...
1 Necrosavant?

Am I supposed to be Mashing this with RecSur? Because I have no experience building a RecSur deck.

[zulander]

How does this deck remind you of thresh.. it doesn't play blue. also, this deck seems really not good. I like the other version with blue and intuition better.

[Cavius The Great]

How does this deck remind you of thresh.. it doesn't play blue. also, this deck seems really not good. I like the other version with blue and intuition better.

The other version with blue looks horrible. I can't understand how you think it's better. It runs no acceleration, it runs 3 Islands (if I play decks with a single forest sometimes I can't even cast something that cost RRR), and it's clunky. The blue version is just an example of bad deckbuilding.

@Isamaru - I like your list. I'm going to test both lists asap on MWS once the Shadowmoor database comes out.

[Metaknight]

i like Isamaru's idea with SotF, but have you thought about Genesis? seem like it would fit in the deck rather nicely.

[ninjabear]

Well, it's closer to thresh then, let's say, Dragon Stompy? I mean, Bruce Willis said it best in Pulp Fiction, "I'm American, lady, names don't mean shit". Plus posting a one liner about the name isn't too contructive either, my friend. :wink: Plus calling it "Thresh" is in relevence with my "artistic vision".

Then you could say it's a Suicide Black, because it runs a disruption package via discard, and fatties, or you could say it's a Rock, because it runs black and green and does some kind of reanimation effect.

My point: you only share 8 cards with typical threshold builds, and you don't use the counter package or cantrip engine that define threshold...

Now, on topic: I don't see why Song of the Damned is more juicy than Dark Ritual. Song of Damned relies on having resolved a Buried Alive to behave just like a Dark Ritual, and only mid-game will it resolve for far more than 3 - when it will probably will not be necessary. Furthermore, a Buried Alive cannot resolve earlier thanks to a Song, but it can thanks to a Dark Ritual. The only use for your song, then, is to cast Demigod of Revenge AFTER you have resolved a Buried Alive... isn't Dark Ritual normally enough for that, while allowing you to cast Buried Alive faster?

Also, Survival of the Fittest is also a nice way to exploit the Demigod...

[Cavius The Great]

I run Dark Ritual. But you need both though. Dark Ritual for Buried Alive and Songs of the Damned to cast Demigod.

[Isamaru]

Oops... yes, include a Genesis in there, good idea.

If Reanimation is going to cost too much life, put in 1x Kitchen Finks.

(Seems I'm leaning towards Therapy more and more...)

[Cavius The Great]

Okay, for a non-Balthor version, non-Deed version...

A slower version with no rituals would be something like this:

22 Land
4 Bayou
4 Swamp
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Forest
3 Overgrown Tomb (ONLY because of Demigod, right?)
4 Polluted Delta
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Volrath's Stronghold

4 Demigod of Revenge
3 Eternal Witness
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Shriekmaw
1+ Keeper of the Dead
4 Augur of Skulls
3 Hymn to Tourach

3 Reanimate (This brings back Augur of Skulls, Shriekmaw, or a fat Ghoul thanks to Survival or Buried Alive; and discard or Shriekmaw/Keeper means you can steal things.)
1 Doomed Necromancer

4 Survival of the Fittest
1 Squee, Goblin Nabob
1 Sutured Ghoul
4 Buried Alive (can get Squee if you have no Demigods left, could get Ghoul)



Maybe we could include Birds of Paradise and then fit in Cabal Therapy, and then possibly Nether Traitor...
1 Necrosavant?

Am I supposed to be Mashing this with RecSur? Because I have no experience building a RecSur deck.

Isamaru - Do you think that Sac Tribe Elder can find a place in this deck? I love the build, I just think that there should be more ways to accelerate into Demigod. What do you think of this proposal? You seem to be running enough basics.

I also think that you should run atleast 4 first turn plays. Has Thoughtseize ever crossed you mind? A deck with zero 1cc cards seems iffy to me. Please prove me wrong. I'm sure you have a logical reason for not running one drops, but I'm not sure what that is.

[Happy Gilmore]

Isn't intuition into 3 Demigod better than all that?

[Cavius The Great]

Isn't intuition into 3 Demigod better than all that?

Not really. You're only netting 3 Demigod. With SotF you net all four for lethal damage, as well as having a more consistent build. Buried Alive also does the same as Intuition but isn't off color. Worldly Tutor also helps you fetch the fourth one. Intuition might be better in some cases, but you don't have an aggro plan with Goyfs and Geese in play which will allow you to attack for lethal that turn. Blue might be a better option, but definitely not in the list that "whatshisface" on the other thread put together.

[Media314r8]

Isn't intuition into 3 Demigod better than all that?

Short answer: Yes.

Long answer: Fuck yes! Seriously though, intuition is one splashable instant that at least gives card parity. With 5 mana on your next turn, win the game within two turns.

Buried alive AND worldly tutor both create negative card advantage, and if your opponent lets buried resolve, then counters your worldly tutor, you're SOL now topdecking for one card in your remaining 50ish, so GL with that.

Swinging for 20 instead of 15 hardly rationalizes the two card disadvantage spells that you have to see together.

Intuition for 2 in bin, 1 in hand is a 1 card combo that takes up 8 slots and loses to GY hate, but can be started at instant speed for 2U and finished for R/B (x5) the following turn.

Buried alive and living wish is a two-card combo requiring a sorcerry that 'flags' your combo, an instant in hand when you do so, and a draw phase to get the last piece. It requires 12 slots, and still loses to GY hate (giving your opponent an oppurtunity to use effects on their turn to prepare or RFG your guys in the bin.

my $.02

EDIT: why is splashing U in a combo deck worse than splashing G?!?! It seems like both intuition and worldly tutor are off color, but IMO a blue splash makes for a better control shell, as you won't be going off consistently on turns 1-3 like storm based combo.

[Happy Gilmore]

Not really. You're only netting 3 Demigod. With SotF you net all four for lethal damage, as well as having a more consistent build. Buried Alive also does the same as Intuition but isn't off color. Worldly Tutor also helps you fetch the fourth one. Intuition might be better in some cases, but you don't have an aggro plan with Goyfs and Geese in play which will allow you to attack for lethal that turn. Blue might be a better option, but definitely not in the list that "whatshisface" on the other thread put together.


Relying on a 5cc creature when you have already invested a bunch of mana to get them in the gy does not spell "consistency" to me. I would rather play Kiki/hassar/Karmic Guide and just win the game on the spot.

[Isamaru]

Yes, UR/UB Demigod Intuition could be better, but definitely not the way the other person did it.

Sakura Tribe Elder should go into the deck too (Helps Keeper of the Dead so much), but now you get even less slots for 1cc cards. It's not missing 1 drops for a reason other than that I couldn't fit any in. I have not even loaded the list into MWS, so I don't know quite how janky it is yet. If you play Sakura Tribe Elder, Kitchen Finks, Shriekmaw, Cabal Therapy, then you could also consider No Rest for the Wicked... though it might turn into a different deck.

[Cavius The Great]

Relying on a 5cc creature when you have already invested a bunch of mana to get them in the gy does not spell "consistency" to me. I would rather play Kiki/hassar/Karmic Guide and just win the game on the spot.

My version of the list runs creatures besides Demigod, so it's not really a combo deck, per say. My build is strait aggro and comparable to Goyf Sligh which has no relations to a combo deck whatsoever. See, this is the reason not to play my version as a combo deck, but an aggro deck. Playing Demigod as a combo deck is pretty much suboptimal to TES, Belcher, SI, etc. That's why I put emphasis on this being an aggro deck, not a combo deck, like you're insinuating that it is.

EDIT: Cards that I will be testing in the original build. Living Wish (might replace Worldly Tutor), Grave-shell Scarab (Good with Buried Alive), Undead Gladiator, Gigapede and Hypnotic Spector, just to name a few.

[Media314r8]

No offense, but not too many aggro decks play CMC 3 sorceries that don't have any effect on the board or your opponent's life total. It seems like Demigod is really turning out to be a danger of cool things card, if people are willling to mar agrro decks with buried alive just to attempt to work a combo into the deck.

Compare buried alive to trinket mage in stiflenaught. Costs the same, beats for 2, and can fetch a toolbox of other artifacts. Stifle is also useful on its own, as I suppose worldly tutor is, but at the cost of CA?

[Cavius The Great]

No offense, but not too many aggro decks play CMC 3 sorceries that don't have any effect on the board or your opponent's life total. It seems like Demigod is really turning out to be a danger of cool things card, if people are willling to mar agrro decks with buried alive just to attempt to work a combo into the deck.

Compare buried alive to trinket mage in stiflenaught. Costs the same, beats for 2, and can fetch a toolbox of other artifacts. Stifle is also useful on its own, as I suppose worldly tutor is, but at the cost of CA?

Buried Alive can also ditch Gigapede, Undead Gladiator and Grave-shell scarab into the yard, Demigod won't be the only target. And if I ever decide to run Volrath's Stronghold it seems to improve the card choice significantly. And I don't really have to Bury alive copies of Demigod. With my all black mana base and accelerents, the deck can pretty much hardcast them. And Buried Alive does effect the game state. It makes my Nimble Mongooses bigger. ;)

[Top Deck]

cavius why not just go a simpler reanimation discard route?

Infinite
1 Kiki-Jiki
1 SKy Hussar
1 Karmic Guide

4 Demigod of Revenge
4 Agur of Skulls
4 Putrid Imp
3 Avatar of Discord

Digging
4 Buried Alive
4 Street Wraith

Spells
3 Hymn to Tourach
4 Exhume
3 Reanimate

Mana
3 Songs of the Damned
4 Dark Ritual
17 Swamp


with this version you can apply quick beats with avatar of discord unless they are playing red and then reanimate your walk into victory. buried alive for the avatars or more importantly a kiki-jiki combo seems solid.

[Isamaru]

...So nobody is going to put together a sample Balthor list?

[BreathWeapon]

The Survival of the Fittest lists should be running Tinder Walls, that has to be a lot better than Songs of the Damned, IMO.

[Cavius The Great]

...So nobody is going to put together a sample Balthor list?

*looks around* *sees only Isamaru* *shrugs*.

@Breathweapon - Tinder Walls does sound sweet. Nice suggestion.

[Fons]

Mana:26
12 Swamp
3 Polluted Delta
3 Bloodstained Mire
4 Dark Ritual
4 Chrome Mox

Spells:34
4 Shriekmaw
4 Balthor, The Defiled
3 Bone Shredder
4 Demigod of Revenge
4 Thoughtseize
2 Duress
4 Buried Alive
3 Tombstalker
4 Street Wraith
2 Umezawa's Jitte/Sword of Fire and Ice/Sword of Light and Shadow

Here's a mono B Balthor List.

[Media314r8]

I've been playing this most recent list on MWS, and tested against:

Moon stacks (won 2-1)
GR Aggro Loam (lost 1-2)
Mono black 8 pox (won 2-1)

My list is as follows:

// Lands
4 Underground Sea
4 [ON] Polluted Delta
4 [ON] Bloodstained Mire
2 [PLC] Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
5 [B] Swamp (3)
1 [B] Island (3)

// Creatures
4 [SHM] Demigod of Revenge
2 [FUT] Tombstalker

// Spells
4 [NE] Accumulated Knowledge
4 [LRW] Ponder
4 [MM] Brainstorm
4 [AL] Force of Will
4 [TE] Intuition
3 [NE] Daze
4 [TE] Propaganda
4 [B] Dark Ritual
3 [ON] Smother

// Sideboard
SB: 3 [FD] Engineered Explosives
SB: 4 [LRW] Shriekmaw
SB: 4 [MR] Chalice of the Void
SB: 4 [GP] Leyline of the Void

Let me first say: [B]Stop playing buried alive! The card is strictly win-more! Being able to intuition at EoT for: force to counter an important spell, AK to win via card advantage, or Demigod is soooooo much better than a do-nothing spell that opens you up to extirpate, wretch, jailer, ect. Also, I've yet to lose after getting three demigods, and I suggest that 3 is just as good as 4 unless you're about to lose to storm combo, and that's why the deck plays force of will and daze.

The control build is the way to go. I feel like I'm playing MUC that has an 'oops, I win' finish. Propaganda has been really underwhelming, but gold against aggro and loam decks, and good against ,many other, so it may be a necessary evil. I would like to test damnation as a 3-of in place of propaganda, but it doesn't pitch to force so well.

Everyone on MWS plays wasteland apparently, and the 1 island has been enough, but I soon moved up from 4 to 5 basic swamps. The number of urborgs should probably increase too. Turn 2-3 Tombstalkers often win games (2 fetches and a daze/force or something + dark rit = 8)

The deck usually kills around turn 4-8, but is very resilient, and I hardly ever mull with the 8 cantrips and AK. My $.02, now can a mod please merge these threads and the creators actually test the deck. I like how the control feels, but I still think that it would probably be better of as either as a more controlling MUC or a faster breakfast. If Demigod cost even just one or two colorless instead of 2 or 3 R/B, i think it would be more viable.

MODS: I realize that this is the same post as in the other demigod list, but both builds are very similar, and until one actually goes into the SoTF route and the other UB control, I consider them very similar, just as UWx landstill decks are.

[Cavius The Great]

I don't feel merging threads is necessary. Both decks are totally different.