(Archive) [DTW] Aggro Loam

Aggro-Loam Re-dux

First, a definition.

syn•er•gy (sĭn'ər-jē)
n. pl. syn•er•gies
1. The interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects.

This is the most important part of playing Loam. It can be as simple as Loam + Wasteland or as complex as you wish, just remember that it must be there.

And for all you decklist whores voila!

DECKLIST:

// Lands
1 [B] Bayou
3 [B] Taiga
2 [B] Badlands
4 [ON] Forgotten Cave
3 [ON] Tranquil Thicket
4 [ON] Bloodstained Mire
4 [ON] Wooded Foothills
4 [TE] Wasteland
1 [UL] Treetop Village

// Creatures
4 [FUT] Tarmogoyf
4 [RAV] Dark Confidant
3 [OD] Terravore

// Spells
3 [EX] Seismic Assault
4 [JU] Burning Wish
3 [RAV] Life from the Loam
3 [TO] Devastating Dreams
3 [JU] Cabal Therapy
3 [FD] Engineered Explosives
4 [SH] Mox Diamond

// Sideboard
SB: 1 [RAV] Life from the Loam
SB: 1 [TO] Devastating Dreams
SB: 1 [GP] Shattering Spree
SB: 1 [OD] Haunting Echoes
SB: 3 [SOK] Pithing Needle
SB: 1 [TO] Nostalgic Dreams
SB: 1 [MM] Pulverize
SB: 2 [CS] Deathmark
SB: 2 [NE] Massacre
SB: 1 [PS] Hull Breach
SB: 1 [US] Duress

BLURB:

So ladies and gentlemen, this is Aggro-loam! This list is what I played at the last Batcave Sunday cash tourney and split for top-4. This deck is my second Legacy deck, the first being a failed attempt at piloting U/W/b fish in a comboless environment… Makes for a very sad penguin!

I then looked around for another deck to play. My quest led me to a German magic site and I realized how much fun Life from the Loam is to play. I tried to hybridize two different decks and minimize their weaknesses. The links to the decks are hereand here.

Essentially I am playing the three colour version with Mox Diamond replacing Birds of Paradise for extra synergy. The whole deck is meant for synergy. In fact, I believe that the only card that does not directly strengthen another card is Burning Wish. I will be listing my cards choices fairly soon. I could go into a detailed explanation on the history of the deck but as it is three in the morning and my writing sucks ATM anyway, better not risk it :)

CARD CHOICES:

Lands:

Dual lands: They produce mana, seems strong???

Cycling Lands: One of the integral parts of the deck, combined with LftL, these 7 cards are a fantastic draw engine. Also, they help protect your Loam from nasty graveyard hate.

Fetchlands: They get duals and go to your yard ASAP to help with the Vore beats. Play 8.

Wasteland: Keep your opponent off that silly “coloured mana” they like to play with and make Vore a big boy!

Treetop Village: I found that occasionally I wanted some way to proceed with the beats if it was extreme late-game vs. permission decks. Man-lands are uncounterable and come back with Loam. Plus you can animate it and then sac it to flashback a Therapy! Remember that synergy word? Yeah…

Creatures:

Tarmogoyf: Cheap? Check; Green? Check; Survives Devastating Dreams? Check; Best two drop in Magic History? Check! I’ll take 4!

Dark Confidant: A lot of people don’t like Bob but I think he is an indisputable choice for a deck without any simple draw engine. Granted Loam is usually enough but who says no to an extra card a turn? At worst he soaks up some StP and chills with the Burning Wishes.

Terravore: MVP!!! This is your main beat-stick and he does so with unnerving consistency. Usually bigger than a Darksteel Colossus, Vore brings the ugly stick home! He is helped out by the majority of the deck, especially Devastating Dreams. Resolve one after another and it spells GG for your opponent.

Spells:

Seismic Assault: While this is sometimes considered a secondary win condition, resolving one of these with an active Loam turns your opponent crispy in a hurry!

Burning Wish: Gets all of your broken spells and any kind of silver bullet you would need. With the main deck being as tight as it is, having a twelve card wishboard lessens your trouble between matches. Some people say just run four of each of the good spells but I swear by the wishboard.

Life from the Loam: The biggest, baddest draw engine ever printed. Situational, yes. But when that situation is artificially created every match, and the only cards you are getting back read either: Deal 2 damage to target creature or player, Destroy target non-basic land, or Draw a card… Well, Ancestral Recall comes in a close second because it doesn’t even have dredge! (For the record, this is a slight exaggeration…)

Devastating Dreams: Being able to fuel this puppy with lands from LftL and playing it for between five and nine is a wrecking ball. Makes EtW tokens and most other creatures just disappear. Fuels your Goyfs (Yes, in the plural, Vore is a goyf too!!!) and clears the way to victory. Does everything I would want a card to do except make me a sandwich.

Cabal Therapy: Before last week these were Duress but Therapy was more synergistic and the fact that I can play them over and over again with man-lands seems really strong!

Engineered Explosives: Just play them, they are a fantastic choice in this format. I like them better than Deed cause I can reset the board in other ways. This allows me to be selective in my mass destruction. :)

Mox Diamond: Allows for the most nutty non-combo turn 1 and 2 in the format. My two favorite plays done in tournaments so far are: Double Diamond, fetch, LftL into Duress; and Double Diamond, fetch into Vore. Very strong, play four and no less…

Sideboard: The SB in this deck consists of mostly a wishboard with some Pithing Needles shoved in there for general utility. Unfortunately, the SB is completely meta-dependant save for a few cards that cannot be cut. LftL, Devastating Dreams, Hull Breach, Nostalgic Dreams and Deathmark. While this may seem like a good thing, it requires the Loam player to have a complete breakdown of their meta at all times!

That is it for the moment as I am supposed to get up early tomorrow but the matchups and tournament report will be following within 2 days!

Thanks a bunch for reading and if you guys have any questions feel free to shoot me an e-mail or PM. Please post your criticisms as the deck can only get better through testing and careful scrutiny!

David Conachan
HarborMastr on the web
harbormastr@gmail.com

Dummy Post (Soon to be Matchup analysis)

Yay for you finally registering. I'm quite glad you posted this list, as I've been very impressed watching it in action and in my games against it and it'd be great if more people picked it up. More than anything it just seems like a ton of fun to play with and I think my games vs. you were the most enjoyable and least stressful of that tournament (barring my beyond awful fucking misplays game two :wink:). If I somehow miss you later today (and next week...) be sure to look me up in Eugene. If nothing else it'll be nice to have someone else down there who actually enjoys Legacy.

-Lochlan

One of the better AggroLoam builds I've seen, nice work.

The only thing that straight-out jumps to the eye is Cabal Therapy. It seems a relic from a previous version with more man-lands... now that you only have a singleton Village and eleven creatures you NEVER EVER want to sac, it seems pretty crappy.

Regarding the sideboard: what is the Massacre for? Fish shouldn't exactly be a huge concern for this deck. I also notice a distinct lack of combo-hate (Needle is just for Belcher). I'd guess that if you can go up to seven 1cc discard spells postboard you should be unfavoured, but not slaughtered.
Finally, you need need need need an answer to Leyline of the Void. Everyone and their little retarded brother is packing it these days. Hull Breach as a Wish target is only the farthest of outs.

hey man, i myself have been working on the ideal aggro loam build too.
I came across this topic by accident but it is offcourse nice to discuss the deck type overhere too.

My deck approach is somewhat different.
Mana base:(26)
Forestx1
Taigax4
Volrath's Strongholdx1
Badlandsx1
Bayoux1
Barbarian Ringx1
Tranquil Thicketx3
Forgotten Cavex3
Wastelandx4
Wooded Foothillsx4
Bloodstained Mirex3

Critters:(19)
Tarmogoyfx4
Wild Mongrelx3
Terravorex4
Kird Apex4
Dark Confidantx4

Spells:(8 )
Smotherx4
Life from the Loamx4

Artifacts:(4)
Mox Diamondx4

Enchantments:(3)
Seismic Assaultx3

Though you say your deck is AGGRO loam you only play 11+1 creature, my list plays 19 critters i think you need some more creatures.
Your deck is more like loam aggrocontrol.
I do have no idea which list is better, currently this list plays good but it is far from optimal.

Smothers are a metagame choice due to the uprising of like a tarmogoyf in every green based deck and smother provides a versatile answer to the big green meanie and a lot of other creatures.

things i'd like to try, your wish engine, Duress mainboard over cabal therapy from your list which i think isn't good in your deck.

I look forward to your reports and match ups.

Care to discuss our decks?

For your viewing pleasure.

It's about time somebody revived this with Tarmogoyf.

A quick blurb on the choice of therapy.
Usually I am recurring the single man-land or saccing Bob when I am about to DD. Therapy nukes any countermagic that they would have and I am using a resource that will no longer be available to me. I am playing in a Legacy tournament today and I will go back to MD Duress just to see how it works.

HarborMastr

This definetly looks like a good build of Aggro-Loam. I think the Wishboard could be a little stronger though, the Massacres and Pulverize don't seem all that useful. Pyroclasm does everything that Massacre does and more. I know Massacre can be free, but not all that many decks run Plains+small critters anymore. Pyroclasm is far better against combo decks running Empty the Warrens. I think Tsunami is another good wish target, since it can destroy all/most of Thresh or Landstill's lands without affecting you.

Ok, ok. I can see how something like Tsunami would be good. I'll try Boiling Seas as it is the same thing but :3: :r: . So far the test changes for today are.
-3 Cabal Therapy
+3 Duress
-1 Massacre
+1 Boiling Seas
+1 Answer to enchantments....
Brainstorm some cards to nuke both Counterbalance and LLotV! Cause a good 1/3rd of my deck is at 2cc and Counterbalance is do able, it just sucks the big one...

Interesting wishboard options:

- Reverent Silence. This might be the enchantment kill you're looking for -- it nukes any number of Leylines and Counterbalances, and not many decks with the latter also run 4cc cards. It does kill your own Assault, though, if you have it out.

- Reanimate. All of your creatures are heavy hitters and lightning rods, so getting them back inexpensively should be quite potent. It can also steal your opponent's creatures, which can be randomly game breaking.

- Grizzly Fate, Rude Awakening, Chainer's Edict, Eradicate, Sowing Salt, Haunting Echoes, Damnation, Meltdown, Decree of Annihilation, Obliterate

You could try Reverant Silence or Tranquility. Counterbalance probably wouldn't stop either.

Ok, well I am off to the tournament. Here is the sideboard I'll be testing:
// Sideboard
SB: 1 [RAV] Life from the Loam
SB: 1 [TO] Devastating Dreams
SB: 1 [GP] Shattering Spree
SB: 1 [OD] Haunting Echoes
SB: 3 [SOK] Pithing Needle
SB: 1 [TO] Nostalgic Dreams
SB: 1 [MM] Pulverize
SB: 2 [CS] Deathmark
SB: 1 [NE] Massacre
SB: 1 [PS] Hull Breach
SB: 1 [US] Duress
SB: 1 [NE] Reverent Silence
And I'll find a way to fit in the Boiling Seas on the way there.

What happened to GWRb Aggro-Confinement Loam? Shouldnt this also be part of the discussion?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Anti~American4621

What happened to GWRb Aggro-Confinement Loam? Shouldnt this also be part of the discussion?

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Err i believe that deck is called "Terrageddon" and it is a different deck type, never the less is it also a very good deck.

It also uses LFTL to cycle the lands and discard them to create the confiment lock which isn't even played anymore all that much i've read.
I actually taught about making that one and then switched to aggro loam from this thread.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HarborMastr

Ok, well I am off to the tournament. Here is the sideboard I'll be testing:
// Sideboard
SB: 1 [RAV] Life from the Loam
SB: 1 [TO] Devastating Dreams
SB: 1 [GP] Shattering Spree
SB: 1 [OD] Haunting Echoes
SB: 3 [SOK] Pithing Needle
SB: 1 [TO] Nostalgic Dreams
SB: 1 [MM] Pulverize
SB: 2 [CS] Deathmark
SB: 1 [NE] Massacre
SB: 1 [PS] Hull Breach
SB: 1 [US] Duress
SB: 1 [NE] Reverent Silence
And I'll find a way to fit in the Boiling Seas on the way there.

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Good luck bro, let us know how it went and were looking forward to detailed round information(if your gonna write a lil report afterwards)

good luck!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Anti~American4621

What happened to GWRb Aggro-Confinement Loam? Shouldnt this also be part of the discussion?

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There is a ATW thread in the DTB forum, so this thread should probably be used to discuss his build and similar builds. Can a mod confirm this?

As to the build, I agree that the wishboard needs to be cut down in size. To start, I think one artifact removal spell is fine (prob Shattering Spree). Ditto for Enchantment (Reverent Silence). How useful is Haunting Echoes? Seems like a win more to me, but I guess you need a win condition in the board (Reanimate sounds nice, but Nostalgic Dreams might fill that role). I just think it would be most useful against Thresh, and I'm not sure you will ever hit 3BB, and they won't have a counter, but maybe I'm wrong. Deathmark seems a little narrow for the board, as does Massacre. Chainer's Edict and Clasm could fill the role better I think (or maybe Perish?), and one of each could probably be fine since Devastating Dreams fills both roles to a point. Also, how often do you go for Nostalgic Dreams? Seems like a solid card, but I'm not sure what role it fills specifically. I would assume creature recursion (since Loam would do lands). What about Call of the Herd instead? Seems to have great synergy with Devastating Dreams. Lastly Tsunami >>>>> Boiling seas. One gets hit by Pyro and Red Elemental Blast, the other doesn't.

The biggest thing you are missing is QUICK yard hate. Since so many combo decks are using it as a resource, you might want to find something 3cc or less to wish for. Nothing comes to mind, but maybe someone can help.

Basically, I think I would try this:
SB: 1 [RAV] Life from the Loam
SB: 1 [TO] Devastating Dreams
SB: 1 [GP] Shattering Spree (I love flashback, dredge, and replicate in the board so they are forced to counter the Wish or suffer)
SB: 3 [SOK] Pithing Needle
SB: 1 [TO] Nostalgic Dreams
SB: 1 [MM] Tsunami
SB: 1 [CS] Chainer's Edict
SB: 1 [NE] Pyroclasm (actually, Volcanic Spray could be interesting here since it can be wished for multiple times, and it still hits ETWs for 2 mana)
SB: 1 [PS] Therapy
SB: 1 [US] Duress
SB: 1 [NE] Reverent Silence

The last two slots are open. Not sure what is best there till I see some matchcup data. Persecute? Crypts? Gamble? Nightmare Void? Anarchy? Call of the Herd?

I think the wishboard should be pared down as much as possible. Fitting some actual sideboard cards in there -- Leylines, Plagues, Clasms, Chokes, whatever -- should be something to strive for.

Life from the Loam, Devastating Dreams, Shattering Spree, and Reverent Silence seem like the only truly essential cards. Do you really need Pyroclasm and Tsunami in addition to Dreams? The next tier of cards I'd consider would be Reanimate/Regrowth/Nostalgic Dreams, Deathmark/Chainer's Edict, Haunting Echoes/Grizzly Fate, as well as Duress/Cabal Therapy, though I'm a fan of fitting as many of those as possible in the maindeck, to maximize the chances of getting your important cards to actually resolve.

I can't think of any good and fast sorcery graveyard hate beyond Morningtide, which is not in your colors and highly counterproductive to your own strategy.

I'm surprised there isn't some sort of critter recursion in this list. 1x Genesis or/and 1x Volrath's Stronghold are pretty standard in most Loam lists that focus on attacking.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Xero

I'm surprised there isn't some sort of critter recursion in this list. 1x Genesis or/and 1x Volrath's Stronghold are pretty standard in most Loam lists that focus on attacking.

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Nostalgic Dreams is in the board.

Quote:

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Nostalgic Dreams is in the board

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That's not really the same thing. Stronghold/Genesis are both uncounterable and faster than Dreams. Dreams is better for the very late game, when you and your opponent have run out of gas. It wouldn't be hard to fit 1 of either in, and it would help against discard and counters.