[Deck] Elephant Stompy (formerly Elf Stompy)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by evilfred

First of all, good job on your top 2! As I was reading your post I noticed that you sideboarded the Briarhorn a couple time. Was it that useful? I mentionned Xantid Swarm today. I know it got some anti synergy with the chalice but I think it could be a great way to use the Progenitus combo inside this deck. Either Xantid or City of Solitude MD to protect ourselves against countermagic, discard, etc.

Tell me what you think!

---

Thanks!

Briarhorn's main purpose is to ambush creatures during combat. Its secondary purposes are to help Spawnwrithe get over blockers and win goyf wars. It has some other miscellaneous uses like evoking to remove Bridge From Below.

Briarhorn wasn't particularly useful in that tournament, only winning me one game where it helped Spawnwrithe get over blockers. Still, he definitely belongs in the deck. He's invaluable versus aggro and aggro-control, although Briarhorn number four is a weak slot.

I took him out versus Painter because its biggest creature was 2/2. I took out one versus White Weenie because its biggest creature was 3/3 and multiples tend to be redundant.

I don't like Xantid Swarm. It's not a threat on its own, and it makes the deck too reliant on Natural Order. Trinisphere and Choke fill much of Xantid Swarm's purpose by hurting countermagic and the decks that run it. The same goes for City of Solitude. Keep in mind that City of Solitude makes Briarhorn terrible.

Remember, I won five games with Progenitus and five games without it. It's not the end all be all of the deck.

You're probably better off boarding out Natural Order against counter heavy, creature light decks like Painter and MUC.

That make a lot of sense. Then I think 3x Briarhorn should be good. I playtested with it a lot and I rarely used it. Maybe I got too exited by the Natural Order/Progenitus combo hehehe.

City of Solitude have to be in the sideboard at least I think. What was your sideboard?

I edited my tournament report to include my list and sideboard.

There is no reason to run City of Solitude. Trinisphere and Choke do the same thing and much more. They also don't hurt Briarhorn.

Alright, I've been working on Elephant Stompy (people in the local meta found it hilarious for me to unload early Garruks) and I've had a fair amount of success (Split top 2 of a 14 man tournament, watched my friend nearly win a dual at a side event for a Time Walk tournament). And after reading the success of Natural Order + Progenitus, I'm going to test that version out. Here's what I was working with:

4 City of Traitors
4 Ancient Tomb
10 Forest
4 Chrome Mox
4 Elvish Spirit Guide

4 Spawnwrithe
3 Briarhorn
4 Call of the Herd
4 Garruk Wildspeaker
4 Wickerbough Elder

4 Chalice of the Void
3 Trinisphere
3 Sword of Fire and Ice
2 Sword of Light and Shadow
3 Harmonize

Board:
4 Krosan Grip
4 Giant Solifuge (Testing slot)
3 Tsunami
4 Loaming Shaman

A couple comments about card choices:
Wickerbough Elders have been fantastic in the main, they take care of so many problems. The Swords are perfect for the curve most of the time, and they randomly win you entire matchups. Harmonize lets you throw away an extra card or two to put down a Turn 1 Trinisphere, and lets you reload.

Tsunami vs. Choke - I tried out Choke, but since the deck usually has to take out win conditions to board in more disruption, Choke gives them too much of a chance to destroy Choke, whereas the combination of Tsunami and Trinisphere will take them almost out of the game entirely.

Right now, I'm testing out Giant Solifuge in the board, versus decks heavier on the creature control (Landstill is prominent in my meta).

When I get my hands on some incredibly overpriced Natural Orders I'm going to try out Progenitus and Empyrial Archangel.

I tried with order and progenitus but there is a reason because i´m not sold on it. If you draw progenitus you can´t discard it in order to order for it. It will remain in your hand till you won or die.

Kuma did you notice it. In your tourney this situation occurs? How can you discard progenitus to combo with the order??

Tangle wire in this deck is a house. And with spawnwrithe is nuts.

what do you think about playing manaplasm with tower above in order to kill opponent´s creatures and to make lot of damage. I think plasm belongs to this deck because you always are playing spells that pumps the ooze and its cc3 is really good in this deck. (tower above is easily playable in this deck).

i´ll be waiting for your answers.

Well you can always throw Progenitus to a Chrome Mox. I don't think that the natural order combo is the only reason to play this deck. We run a high number of threats in the deck so Progenitus is not the only solution.

Manaplasm:
Card type: Creature
Creature type: Ooze
Power/Toughness:1/1
Casting cost: 2G

Card text: Whenever you play a spell, Manaplasm gets +X/+X until end of turn, where X is that spell's converted mana cost.

Tower Above:
Card type: Sorcery
Casting cost: 2g2g2g

Card text: ((2g) can be paid with any two mana or with G. This card's converted mana cost is 6.)
Until end of turn, target creature gets +4/+4 and gains trample, wither, and "When this creature attacks, target creature blocks it this turn if able." (It deals damage to creatures in the form of -1/-1 counters.)

I don't think we need a creature that become a threat sometimes. So I don't like that one. For Tower Above, I think Briarhorn is still better since we can use it as a beater too. And the GGG mana cost is not what we want.

I've given the Tower Above argument some thought, and I think it's worth testing in some builds. If you're running Tarmogoyf, you probably won't need anything besides Briarhorn to get through damage. I cut Tarmogoyf from my build, as it rarely got larger than a 2/3 on my own, and it ended up being incredibly underwhelming in the early game.

In non-Tarmogoyf builds, you've got to have another way to circumvent a large Tarmogoyf - I'm running Briarhorns and Swords, which is more than enough for my 3/3's to get there, since I'm usually not fueling the graveyard.

Granted, I'm unfamiliar with the Tangle Wire builds, and I think that'll give enough of an edge versus some decks to let Spawnwrithe take over.

The thing is that green hasn´t any solution to creatures. With tower avobe plasm becomes 11 trample wither and "destroy a creature an opponent controls". I think it´s a good thing. And you can tower a Spawn Writhe to make him pass through enemy´s army.

Beside of that plasm is going to grow almost every turn. Call of the herd (x2) and any other spell you play makes this guy bigger and bigger. also it fits perfectly with its 3cc (2G).

Order is awesome with progenitus, but without it, what creature are you going to look for?? a goyf?? a writhe?. I´m not sure about it, but i think is necessary a way to discard progenitus when needed. I thought on using 1 gigapode so you can order it (when neccesary) and trade the 6/1 shroud to discard progenitus for ordering it later. What do you think about it?

thanks.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by zabuza

The thing is that green hasn´t any solution to creatures.

---

(Uyaro) Bee Sting and Hail Storm would like a word with you :smile:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by zabuza

I tried with order and progenitus but there is a reason because i´m not sold on it. If you draw progenitus you can´t discard it in order to order for it. It will remain in your hand till you won or die.

Kuma did you notice it. In your tourney this situation occurs? How can you discard progenitus to combo with the order??

---

I drew Progenitus once in eleven games. The amount of power you gain by running Natural Order is well worth drawing Progenitus once in a while. I'm going to add an Empyrial Archangel to my list for when I need to swing damage races. It will also help ensure I always have a Natural Order target.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by zabuza

what do you think about playing manaplasm with tower above in order to kill opponent´s creatures and to make lot of damage. I think plasm belongs to this deck because you always are playing spells that pumps the ooze and its cc3 is really good in this deck. (tower above is easily playable in this deck).

---

Why on earth would you run Manaplasm + Tower Above when you could run Natural Order + Progenitus/Empyrial Archangel?

I've never tested Manaplasm, but I can see it being awesome once in a while and poor most of the time, especially with Tangle Wire.

Tower Above is garbage. It's dead if you don't have a creature and its mana cost means you won't be able to use it to boost Spawnwrithes early. Briarhorn >> Tower Above.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by zabuza

The thing is that green hasn´t any solution to creatures.

---

Briarhorn

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by zabuza

With tower above plasm becomes 11 trample wither and "destroy an untapped creature an opponent controls".

---

Fixed that for you.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by zabuza

Order is awesome with progenitus, but without it, what creature are you going to look for?? a goyf?? a writhe?. I´m not sure about it, but i think is necessary a way to discard progenitus when needed. I thought on using 1 gigapode so you can order it (when neccesary) and trade the 6/1 shroud to discard progenitus for ordering it later. What do you think about it?

---

It's not worth a slot in the deck to discard Progenitus the rare time you draw it. Just add an Empyrial Archangel.

The problem with Archangel is that it is also a dead draw. I have been testing a single copy of Krosan Tusker as an alternate Order target that is also not dead in the hand.

I don't know if it will end up being better than just running a second prog/angel, but I figured I'd give it a try.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Zork

The problem with Archangel is that it is also a dead draw. I have been testing a single copy of Krosan Tusker as an alternate Order target that is also not dead in the hand.

I don't know if it will end up being better than just running a second prog/angel, but I figured I'd give it a try.

---

Archangel may be a dead draw, but it can swing damage races when you're low on life. It's a far, far more attractive target than Krosan Tusker.

Besides, Krosan Tusker is a dead draw 99% of the time if you're looking for a creature.

Hi people!
The first thing I want to say I'm glad to see people desinging interesting funny-to-play decks because I'm realy sick of Force of Will + Tarmo dominating the format. So the second thing is how to replace the fucking ugly big peace of I dunno what (Tarmo) in this interesting and funny-to-play deck? Our main problem is the lack of low-costed cool creatures/spells. We have Spawnwrithe, we have Trinisphere/Tangle Wire, but we really need the third one (Call of the Herd is bad 3cc + awful 4cc, but it's 1 card, so we still play it). And here we realy have no choice but to use that STRONG/FAT shit-color (yes, I hate Tarmo :tongue: ) monster for 2 mana.
Not long ago I've played with the original green stompy. That deck had 9 or 10 lands, lot 1cc dudes, pumping, berserk AND... Invigorate+Kavu Predator. It was fun almost casual (IMHO) deck with the very cute silly 32/32 suicide stampeding kavu on turn 2 (sometimes:smile:).
So my idea is to try that old-school Invigorate+Kavu in chalice/order shell. Let's look a little closer on Kavu. It's a 2/2 trampler for 2 (not so bad) that knocks out opponent's life gain (if any). Now Invigorate. +4/+4 for 3 smells bad, BUT! Here is the Chalice Aggro! 3cc is the best cc for us! And if we run Tangle Wire (not Trini) main, this card can help us to make realy funky tricks:cool: . And it's +4/+4 now and +3/+3 later for free with Predator. So here comes my version of Nature Stompy (IMHO this name suits the deck best)

/ Lands
4 Ancient Tomb
10 Forest
4 City of Traitors

// Creatures
2/3 Briarhorn
4 Spawnwrithe
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
4 Garruk Wildspeaker
1 Progenitus
1/0 Empyrial Archangel
4 Kavu Predator

// Spells
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Chrome Mox
2 Call of the Herd
4 Tangle Wire
4 Natural Order
4 Invigorate

// Sideboard
SB: 4 Choke
SB: 3 Krosan Grip
SB: 4 Pithing Needle
SB: 4 Trinisphere

4 Tarmo -->4 Kavu Predator, here's no question (I don't want to say it's better this way, but it's boring to watch over that tarmowars).
But what to cut for Invigorate? Other Chalice Aggro decks run 6-8 equipment. I think that Invigorate must be somewhere in the equipment slot (no freaking metal, let's smoke some funny grass :wink: ). So I decided to play 4 invigorate + 2/3 Briarhorn in that slot. I want to run 3, but again, what to cut? Need to test (the list is about 20 min old:smile: ), but I think I'll try to cut Empyrial Archangel cause i never used 2 Orders in 1 match with original list. That's all for now. Sorry for somanywords and good luck to all with our green monster:smile:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kuma

I think we can take the deck to Established as soon as I write a primer.

---

Congratulations! I am looking forward to your primer!

Natural Order better fulfills the roles formerly done by Umezawa's Jitte. However, the deck is still not very consistently putting a Goyf/Spawn/Elephant on table and casting an Order next turn. What about running 9 Forests+2 Fetchs or 8 Forests+4 Fetchs?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by eq.firemind

4 Tarmo -->4 Kavu Predator

---

I like your name suggestion Nature Stompy very much:smile: You hate Tarmogoyfs. Well, but he just rocks and replacing him just makes your deck more casual.

NATURE STOMPY (cool name)
I was thinking about this archetype some weeks ago, but I came up with something more like a Winter Orb/Tangle Wire/Quirion Ranger kinda thing. The list hasnt been tested yet, but it goes like

CREATURES
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Quirion Ranger
4 Wall of Roots
4 Goyf
2-3 Wickerbough Elder
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
2-3 Briarhorn
4 Garruk

OTHER SPELLS
3 Cursed Scroll
4 Tangle Wire
3 Winter Orb
3 Jitte

LANDS
4 Rishadan Port
4 Wasteland
10 Forest

SB
4Chalice of the Void
4 Trinisphere
4 Pithing Needle
3 Krosan Grip

The deck is meant to work directly on the mana base of the opponent, since you can easily get rid of the tangling and the orb effect with llanowar/ranger/wor. I personally see the elves as a much better option than mox in this list. Curse and Jitte are in to increase the aggro match up. Since the mechanics of the deck, I dont think Choke will be needed in the sideboard. Any comments?

I think the thing with tower above that people are missing is that it costs any of: GGG, 2GG, 4G, or 6. 2GG is a cost that could help an early spawnwrithe, so is 4G. It would be a sideboard card for sure, but I can see it having some use in a meta with a lot of aggro.

Seems like Empyrial Archangel is a sideboard card. Glad to see some solid work here. I'll have to test the Tangle Wire and see if it's worth it.

I'd board the Archangel, but the remaining 3cc options are so underwhelming.

My current list is the same as the last one I posted except -2 Imperious Perfect, +1 Call of the Herd, +1 Empyrial Archangel.

I'd love to see what you've been working on, Phantom. Haven't seen a list from you in a while.

Sadly I haven't been able to do much since Progenitus came out mull the deck over in my head. I was thinking of running 4 (?) fetches and a Dryad Arbor to help out natural order. That could fill the last spot. Or you could mainboard a Grip, which is almost always useful. Plus there's useful :2::g: cyclers like Wildsize or just straight up Ice Storm.

(I supppose there's always Gilt-Leaf Ambush which is a token generator and possible removal)

I´m testing manaplasm (yes, i love it so much) with wildsize and it´s going very good for me. Plasm gains +5/+5 and trample wiz the wildsize (and you draw a card ;). The cost of this pumper is very good (2G) and it´s useful to make sapwnwrithe pass trough.

The tanglewires are wonderful, the buy for me lot of time to beat with writhe or to find order. The only thing is that if only we can play anything to recover them ;)

I´m playing with 2 genitus too because if you draw one, you have another to look for, and i don´t like archangel (it´s easy to an aggro deck like goblins burn or stompy to kill her).

what do you think about this everybody?