Ever since they unbanned
Entomb, I've been fascinated with using it in The Rock. I tried several previous builds that didn't work too well, and being preoccupied with other decks (and other things in general), I kinda put the idea on hold.
The reason why I like Entomb so much, is that it sets up an engine. The Rock is a midrange deck, and engines are what give this deck its midrange strength. Now, when most people think of engine, they probably immediately think of
Life from the Loam. What most people probably don't think of, is Genesis.
That's right,
Genesis.
Why Genesis? Well, Genesis is very unique. Unlike
Volrath's Stronghold, Genesis actually creates card advantage. That's right, card advantage. Every upkeep, you get the option to pay 2G to return a creature to hand, and you still get your normal draw for the turn. This makes Genesis not just useful a means of recursion, it makes Genesis an engine.
What's so good about Genesis as an engine, though? Well, if you're playing with
Pernicious Deed, you can sweep the board at will. It makes Pernicious Deed very asymmetrical. It also makes cards like Cabal Therapy alot stronger, too.
However, there's more to it than just wiping the board clean with Pernicious Deed, and then recurring your
Tarmogoyf. Once you get Genesis in the yard, all future Entombs can tutor for any creature in the deck. That means recurring creature removal with
Shriekmaw, and recurring artifact/enchantment removal with
Qasali Pridemage.
Since the deck's already in G/B/w, we might as well toss in a Loam too. Since the deck is focused on abusing Genesis instead of Loam, Loam is there to simply ensure consistent land drops, and grow
Knight of the Reliquary. With the ability to tutor for lands with Knight of the Reliquary (and possibly Entomb), a 2/1/1 split of
Horizon Canopy,
Wasteland, and Volrath's Stronghold doesn't sound like bad idea, either.
Here's the list I've started with:
G/B/w Entomb Rock
// Lands
4 [ZEN]
Verdant Catacombs2 [ON]
Windswept Heath2 [ZEN]
Marsh Flats3 [R]
Bayou2 [R]
Savannah1 [R]
Scrubland1 [UNH]
Forest1 [UNH]
Swamp1 [UNH]
Plains2 [FUT]
Horizon Canopy1 [TE]
Wasteland1 [SH]
Volrath's Stronghold
// Creatures
4 [CFX]
Noble Hierarch3 [ARB]
Qasali Pridemage4 [FUT]
Tarmogoyf4 [CFX]
Knight of the Reliquary3 [LRW]
Shriekmaw1 [JU]
Genesis
// Spells
1 [RAV]
Life from the Loam4 [OD]
Entomb4 [LRW]
Thoughtseize3 [JU]
Cabal Therapy4 [R]
Swords to Plowshares4 [AP]
Pernicious Deed
I just want to point out, that this deck is very resilient to graveyard hate. Even if the opponent does shut down Genesis, Loam, or both, the deck still functions very well without those cards. Their are only a few cards dedicated towards the engine, and the rest of the deck is a very efficient Rock shell.
I'd also like to say that Cabal Therapy has some savage synergy in this deck.
Thoughts?
EDIT: I'm highly debating if Birds of Paradise should be Noble Hierarch, even though Hierarch doesn't produce black mana. The exalted triggers would be very useful...
EDIT 2: I'm actually debating the accelerant slot altogether. Opinions on this?