Storm the Mausoleum

[Mr. Safety]

I was reading through ReAnimator's new thread on Mausoleum Secrets working with Oath of Ghouls, which is a really cool card advantage engine to build around. Then my brain was in a whirl for how to actually win on the spot after casting Secrets. Living End was my first inclination, but it's a non-bo with cascade (because it could just cascade into another Secrets) and I couldn't incorporate discard to protect the combo. The discussion ended up stalling because he was intending to use Secrets as a toolbox enabler alongside a card advantage engine, while I was trying to break it with a combo win.

The first thing I noticed is this is dirt cheap. The second is that it can operate on basic swamps, which means it will have an incredibly resilient mana-base. The third is that it can operate on several fronts: fast combo (t1 possible), grindy 'pick your window' combo (wipe the board of opponent's creatures and present lethal). This is by no means a tuned list, but I am starting off by using a tried-and-true combo-related template to start the list off: 14 lands to help ensure a t1 land most games, 12 mana boosters, 4 tutors, 20 engine cards, and 7 disruption slots, and 2 win conditions to tutor up. This is close to what storm variants are doing. With up to 8 free 'cyclers' (I'm counting Faerie Macabre) and 16 cyclers for only B, drawing a ton of cards is the goal. Without traditional cantrips it will need to have a ton of raw card draw to hit it's pieces reliably. Shadow of the Grave is a way to go balls-deep and draw a bunch of cards, tutorable with Mausoleum Secrets.

It is quite possible that Faerie Macabre may end up as a sideboard card and Hollow One should be in that slot. For now I will try singletons; if I can draw 3-4 cards, cast Dreams to discard lands and get those 3-4 cyclers back, that should draw me into more cyclers, more mana, tutors, or a win condition. Cabal Ritual should be easily turned on to net me +3 mana on the combo turn, and for that reason I'm avoiding Songs of the Damned for now. Dark Ritual and discard seems to very important for this deck, but I want ways to operate under Chalice of the Void. Cabal Ritual fits that bill nicely. Hard-casting demons wouldn't be the worst plan, but really fails against anything playing Swords to Plowshares. It would end up really with only 1, maybe 2 big threats. Possibly another argument for Hollow One.

So you can understand what I mean, here is rough draft: Change Log, version 3.0 (9/20/2018)

Tutors + Win Conditions - 6
4x Mausoleum Secrets
1x Living Death
1x Mogis's Marauder

Engine Cards - 22
4x Street Wraith
4x Monstrous Carabid
4x Horror of the Broken Lands
3x architects of will
4x Lurching Rotbeast
3x Shadow of the Grave

Fast Mana - 15
4x Lotus Petal
4x Dark Ritual
4x Cabal Ritual
3x Songs of the Damned

Protection/Disruption - 4
4x Thoughtseize

Lands - 13
4x Verdant Catacombs
9x Swamp

Potential Sideboard
4x Faerie Macabre
2x Collective Brutality
3x Fleshbag Marauder
3x Tendrils of Agony
3x Ratchet Bomb


The options for grave-yard protection are slim, but Silent Gravestone comes to mind seeing as how Surgical Extraction is the most common. Rest in Peace and Leyline of the Void will be incredibly difficult to play around, possibly even requiring a splash color. Ratchet Bomb comes to mind (deals with Grafdigger's Cage) but against Leyline that is just too slow. Rest in Peace might be able to be answered by Bomb, but it might not be ideal. Against other combo decks there are a myriad of options in black: Fleshbag Marauder, Shriekmaw, Diabolic Edict, Surgical Extraction, Hymn to Tourach. Another big problem will be Terminus. This deck can race a Terminus, but even 1-2 turns with the option to set it up will be dangerous (not to mention Miracles plays a ton of counterspells.)

Depending on how powerful the draw engine ends up being, I could see a Tendrils of Agony sideboard plan. The fast mana is already there, there are plenty of ways to draw a ton of cards, and chaining Rituals/Petals/Secrets into a storm win could be an option out of the sideboard. The fact it isn't graveyard dependent makes it appealing.

I think this deck could be a super cheap option for newer legacy players, fast, and potentially robust. I'm sure the question will be: why not Br reanimator, isn't that deck already affordable and just better? Yes, it's a great deck. One selling point is that this deck doesn't lose to Diabolic Edict or Pithing Needle (neither does Br reanimator post-board.) I'll have to evaluate how much of a meme deck this is after it gets somewhat tested.