[Deck] Belcher

I have been playing 1-Land Belcher for the past year and a half and have loved it every tournament.

Here is my current list:
// Lands
1 [B] Taiga

// Creatures
4 [IA] Tinder Wall
4 [FUT] Street Wraith
4 [AL] Elvish Spirit Guide
4 [PLC] Simian Spirit Guide

// Spells
4 [JU] Burning Wish
4 [TE] Lotus Petal
4 [MR] Chrome Mox
4 [MM] Land Grant
4 [MR] Goblin Charbelcher
3 [TSP] Empty the Warrens
4 [SHM] Manamorphose
4 [CS] Rite of Flame
4 [MR] Seething Song
4 [CHK] Desperate Ritual
4 [MI] Lion's Eye Diamond

// Sideboard
SB: 1 [TSP] Empty the Warrens
SB: 4 [GP] Shattering Spree
SB: 1 [AL] Diminishing Returns
SB: 1 [SC] Goblin War Strike
SB: 1 [NE] Reverent Silence
SB: 1 [SC] Tendrils of Agony
SB: 2 [IA] Pyroblast
SB: 2 [B] Red Elemental Blast
SB: 1 [10E] Pyroclasm
SB: 1 [LG] Chain Lightning

I swear by 1 land. The deck is so consistent as it is, I see no reason to lower the probability of the belcher kill SIGNIFICANTLY in order to make it more consistent. I will say outright that I haven't tested 2-land very much, but I have been more than pleased with this build. Everyone I know who started with 2-land is now playing 1-land.

In tournaments with over 40 people I have top eighted 4 out of 6 of them with this deck. Either I am lucky, have dumb metagames, or this deck is good.

My board is for an unknown metagame. Most matchups are an autowin, but blue is the only difficult match-up. Thats why the board is built with only blue hate. If I found my meta shifting towards stax and stompy decks, I would add Ingot Chewers and Shattering Sprees likely replacing RED and Pyroblast.

This deck preys on an unsuspecting meta. When people don't know how to play against it, it's nearly impossible for you to lose. I play this deck because it's fun and because it's still low on the radar. Once this deck is seen as a big threat, its value will plummet. It will still be good, but it wont be nearly as potent as I have experienced it. I don't think it has much value at high level tournaments with 9+ rounds, but I'll be playing it at a GP this summer hoping to prove myself wrong.

Took the deck yesterday to my local store to play four rounds of swiss. I ended up 2-2 losing against Canadian ******** and Reanimator. I propably should include Blasts over Duress in the board, to have something to answer Force of Will. If i do that, i also can go for the fourth Blood Moon main and cut the Bayou. I didn't lose a game due to the fact, that my belcher didn't do enough damage. Blood Moon won me a game against Canadian and i think it's a good inclusion. The loss against Reanimator was quite unlucky. I had three turns to draw a single Manasource with Xantid Swarm already on the board and i topdeck 2 Belcher's and a Burning Wish. Well bad luck. Since it was my first tourney with the deck i still think i did some misplays, but im learning to handle the deck.

4 Dark Ritual
4 Rite of Flame
4 Seething Song
4 Desperate Ritual
4 Lion's Eye Diamond
4 Lotus Petal
4 Chrome Mox
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Land Grant
4 Tinder Wall
4 Burning Wish
4 Goblin Charbelcher
3 Empty the Warrens
3 Blood Moon
1 Bayou
1 Taiga

Sideboard:

4 Duress
4 Shattering Spree
4 Xantid Swarm
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Empty the Warrens
1 Hull Breach

Quote:

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The loss against Reanimator was quite unlucky. I had three turns to draw a single Manasource with Xantid Swarm already on the board and i topdeck 2 Belcher's and a Burning Wish. Well bad luck. Since it was my first tourney with the deck i still think i did some misplays, but im learning to handle the deck.

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I've been throwing around the idea in the SI forum of running Planar Void in the board to fight decks like Thresh and Reanimator (though its also a relevant board card against quite a few other matchups too). SI has a little bit more space in our board because we don't run Burning Wish. Anyway, it seems like way more people play this deck than SI so I figured I'd mention that its secret tech that way if anyone does some testing with it, we can compare results. I haven't actually tested it myself, but I will once I can find a playset and a Thresh player.

Has anyone given any thought to running the belcher shell but with the Leyline of the Void/Helm of Dominance kill? You give up 4 win conditions but have the advantage of maindeck Leylines, which I hear tell are pretty good. There's nothing stopping you from just siding into a Belcher kill game 2 as well, dodging enchantment hate in some matchups. Obviously you'd probably want to either use Serum Powder or black accelerants, too, but swapping out some red/green stuff for black stuff shouldn't be that hard.

I really wish Planar Void worked like Leyline, or I wouldn't have to suggest this sort of tomfoolery and could just go break the metagame myself.

EDIT: Pokezel, have you thought about reducing the number of SB Shattering Sprees and having a bit more options as far as casting cost go? Chalice for 1 really crimps your game, and having a game 1 answer to it seems advisable. Options could be...

Deconstruct
Hull Breach
Echoing Ruin

Just a thought. Against artifact-heavy decks, having more than one Wish-able answer to Chalice is nice.

Quote:

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Has anyone given any thought to running the belcher shell but with the Leyline of the Void/Helm of Dominance kill? You give up 4 win conditions but have the advantage of maindeck Leylines, which I hear tell are pretty good. There's nothing stopping you from just siding into a Belcher kill game 2 as well, dodging enchantment hate in some matchups. Obviously you'd probably want to either use Serum Powder or black accelerants, too, but swapping out some red/green stuff for black stuff shouldn't be that hard.

I really wish Planar Void worked like Leyline, or I wouldn't have to suggest this sort of tomfoolery and could just go break the metagame myself.

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Its certainly been suggested before, but its bad. Think about it. It requires 2 cards, while Belcher just requires, well, Belcher and 6 cards that produce mana. It likely won't improve the decks speed. MD Bloodmoons are a much stronger option IMO.

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Originally Posted by Vacrix

MD Bloodmoons are a much stronger option IMO.

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err...I was going to argue that Bloodmoon fights different decks than Leyline, but it mostly doesn't. Perhaps it's a teensy bit better against Reanimator, but you're correct in that watering down the deck for a very slight benefit against some decks is kind of dumb.

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Originally Posted by Vacrix

I've been throwing around the idea in the SI forum of running Planar Void in the board to fight decks like Thresh and Reanimator (though its also a relevant board card against quite a few other matchups too). SI has a little bit more space in our board because we don't run Burning Wish. Anyway, it seems like way more people play this deck than SI so I figured I'd mention that its secret tech that way if anyone does some testing with it, we can compare results. I haven't actually tested it myself, but I will once I can find a playset and a Thresh player.

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Nah. You are faster with killing them, than them reanimating something big. It simply was bad luck. That can happen.

IDK, I like the Helm of Obedience idea, the deck has about 8 open slots if you're running R/g, extra "belchers" will come up in about 1/5 games which isn't the worse use of those slots over say Serum Powder etc.

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Originally Posted by BreathWeapon

IDK, I like the Helm of Obedience idea, the deck has about 8 open slots if you're running R/g, extra "belchers" will come up in about 1/5 games which isn't the worse use of those slots over say Serum Powder etc.

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Which 8 slots, though? The only things I see in Pokezel's list that could be considered an "open" slot are the Street Wraiths.

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Originally Posted by evanmartyr

Which 8 slots, though? The only things I see in Pokezel's list that could be considered an "open" slot are the Street Wraiths.

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The Manamorphoses are also a contested slot to some people, but for me, that is the slot that I use for SBing!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by evanmartyr

Pokezel, have you thought about reducing the number of SB Shattering Sprees and having a bit more options as far as casting cost go? Chalice for 1 really crimps your game, and having a game 1 answer to it seems advisable. Options could be...

Deconstruct
Hull Breach
Echoing Ruin

Just a thought. Against artifact-heavy decks, having more than one Wish-able answer to Chalice is nice.

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Haha, I just realized that board is super wrong. My board is actually -3 of those sprees and +3 xantid swarm.
The nice thing about shattering spree is that when you replicate it, the copies don't get chalice'd.

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Originally Posted by BreathWeapon

IDK, I like the Helm of Obedience idea, the deck has about 8 open slots if you're running R/g, extra "belchers" will come up in about 1/5 games which isn't the worse use of those slots over say Serum Powder etc.

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These slots are not open! They play a very important role. They thin your deck, creating a specific ratio of kill conditions to mana producing. If you tinker with that, the deck becomes slower, less consistent, and bad. The deck is what it is. If you want something a little looser or more adaptable, don't play belcher. Belcher is great against aggro heavy/non-blue meta's not ready for it. The deck wants to just try and win as fast as possible. It will win, it will find win conditions, thats not really an issue for the deck. Those 8 slots should only be filled with better/more mana ramping spells. As of now, there aren't really any other ones worth playing.

This is what Im gonna be rocking with:

\\Creatures
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Tinder Wall

\\Spells
4 Burning Wish
4 Dark Ritual
4 Desperate Ritual
4 Land Grant
4 Rite of Flame
4 Seething Song
3 Empty the Warrens
3 Manamorphose

\\Artifacts
4 Chome Mox
4 Goblin Charbelcher
4 Lion's Eye Diamond
4 Lotus Petal

\\Lands
1 Bayou
1 Taiga

\\Sideboard
4 Ingot Chewer
4 Xantid Swarm
3 Duress
1 Empty the Warrens
1 Hull Breach
1 Pyroclasm
1 Tendrils of Agony

Quote:

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Originally Posted by videogamer99

This is what Im gonna be rocking with:

\\Creatures
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Tinder Wall

\\Spells
4 Burning Wish
4 Dark Ritual
4 Desperate Ritual
4 Land Grant
4 Rite of Flame
4 Seething Song
3 Empty the Warrens
3 Manamorphose

\\Artifacts
4 Chome Mox
4 Goblin Charbelcher
4 Lion's Eye Diamond
4 Lotus Petal

\\Lands
1 Bayou
1 Taiga

\\Sideboard
4 Ingot Chewer
4 Xantid Swarm
3 Duress
1 Empty the Warrens
1 Hull Breach
1 Pyroclasm
1 Tendrils of Agony

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Do you have any comments of your own to post regarding your build? Why you are running the cards you are or the reasoning behind your SB choices? I have played the 2 Land Dark Ritual version, but find the RG 1 Land is more consistant. Some comments on your choices would be appreciated, rather than just a list :)

Dave

Hey Ya’ll

It was the UK Legacy Nationals this weekend and it was a great weekend, packed with lots of fun and cards!

A quick report from me!

I was walking around the venue, having a scout about and found that the Zoo deck that was sitting in my bag just wasn’t going to cut it. I spied 6 Lands decks and decided to Audible to 1 Land Belcher, my usual build and sideboard.

Round 1 – Steve with Lands! (At the top table! I know, first round doesn’t count)

I had seen my opponent playing earlier, and knew he was on Lands, so kept a opening hand that allowed me a 2nd turn win. Game 2, Steve leads out with a Chalice at 0, which turned off the Mox and Lotus Petal in my hand, but that was all the pressure he had, and I hit a Land Grant around the 3rd or 4th turn to Belch him for the win!

Round 2 – Ben with Goblins

Game 1 I make 12 Goblins and Ben can’t deal with them that early and I overrun him. Game 2 and Ben hits the first turn Lackey and I make 12 Goblins. Ben keeps his Lackey at home and I attack with 10 Goblins. He Pyromancers 1 goblin and takes 9. He then rips a Pyrokinesis and bombs my two blockers and two other goblins and attacks with Lackey, dropping Siege Gang into play. I manage to storm up a few more Goblins, but he has another Pryokinesis and he swings for the win later in the game. Game 3 and I make 10 Goblins turn one on the play and he doesn’t have the Pyrokinenis this time and scoops. Afterwards, he comments that he only has 2 Pyrokinesis and was lucky in game 2 to see both! He also said he didn’t realise that Belcher could go off as often as it does!

Round 3 – Shit, cant remember his name, but he was playing Reanimator.

Game 1 and he tells me he knows what I am playing. I tell him that I know what he is playing so he better Mulligan hard for a Force. He sends back his opening 7 and I tell him that he problem with mulliganing hard for force is he still has to be able to play afterwards. He keeps his 6 looking unhappy and I Belcher him for 102 (a new record!) on the first turn. Turns out he had a turn 2 Iona but no Force! Game 2 was a long affair. He couldn’t counter my Xantid Swarm, so I rode that until I could go off. Finally I assemble a winning hand, as he has been Careful Studying and Brainstorming, trying to find an Entomb or a creature, and attack with Xantid Swarm and storm up to 5, with 8 mana in my pool, drop a Blood Moon, which he asks if he can float the mana and I say sure, but you can’t use it due to the Swarm and he looks sad. I then make 14 tokens and he scoops. I feel bad for this guy, because he must have burned 6 or 7 draw spells to try and find a win.

Rounds 4 and 5 were ID’s and I manage to get some lunch!

I finish 4th at the end of the Swiss!

Quarterfinals and I have 3 decks I don’t want to face, in Bant Survival, Canadian Thresh and Merfolk, and 4 which are almost byes, in Zoo, Lands, Lands and Burn. Of course, because DCI Reporter hates me, I get Merfolk. I have first turn plays both games and he has first turn Forces. There ends my day.

I was totally happy with my build and a little more luck in the Top 8 would have made it perfect! :)

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Originally Posted by yankeedave

The Manamorphoses are also a contested slot to some people, but for me, that is the slot that I use for SBing!

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Manamorphose is a guaranteed 4 of in Belcher and is one of the best cards in the deck if you are running Black as well. Sideboarding it out is a mistake. Manamorphose is one of the only cards in the deck that actually increases your odds of drawing your sideboard. Beyond that it fixes mana color, adds to storm count for free, and adds slight density to the decks draws.

I would easely side out Street Wraith before Manamorphose.

I don't like siding out mana accelerants, as they are the most important thing you need. This deck doesn't like not having mana, so taking out mana seems counter-productive. I tend to take out the Street Wraiths against things like Merfolk and other counter/control decks, as the lifeloss matters and the Manamorphoses out against 2 and 3 colour control decks for the Blood Moons, as they are the closest CMC that don't produce mana, as well as taking out the Street Wraiths. If they printed another Red or Green mana producer/accelerant, I would drop the draw cards entirely.

We added Manamorphose and Street Wraith as filler, and nothing but filler, they have no relevance to the ratios of the other cards in the deck because they were added as an after thought. I've seriously ran 8 Kobolds in those slots just to increase my Storm count for Empty the Warrens and to imprint on Chrome Mox, it's that insignificant of a difference.

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Originally Posted by BreathWeapon

We added Manamorphose and Street Wraith as filler, and nothing but filler, they have no relevance to the ratios of the other cards in the deck because they were added as an after thought. I've seriously ran 8 Kobolds in those slots just to increase my Storm count for Empty the Warrens and to imprint on Chrome Mox, it's that insignificant of a difference.

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Except Manamorphose adds to the Storm count, can be imprinted on Chrome Mox, fixes your colored mana (very good with Dark Ritual) and Cantrips for "free" much like Street Wraith (you have to cast it, but no life loss). Manamorphose is one of the last cards that should be cut or sideboarded out.