[Deck] Spanish Inquisition (B/x Storm Combo)

[1maarten1]

I'm gonna put this out there, Eternal Witness is the nuts. GG is not difficult to achieve in a deck that runs 4 Elvish Spirit Guide, 4 Lotus Petal, 4 Summoner's Pact and 4 Manamorphose. Here are some of the shenanigans I've pulled with witness:

1. Return Cruel Bargain back to my hand after I had drawn 14 cards and hit no business, then draw IT with a LED in play. (Classic play)
2. Return Culling the weak with B floating, culling Witness and tendrils for an extra storm.
3. Return Belcher from my graveyard after a duress, play belcher and activate.
4. Return Thoughtseize to get rid of the second Mindbreak trap in my opponent's hand.
5. Beat down for 2 turns vs Landstill, reducing the required storm count.
6. Buy turns vs aggro via chumping/trading.

Although admittedly the last 4 don't happen very often, there have been many many times that Pact for Witness return draw4 has won me the game. I've also used the culling trick a lot, sometimes you just need that 1 more storm because your draw4 was light. At my last tournament Witness won me 4 games. It's hard to get used to, but when you play the deck enough you see the lines of play that Witness opens up. Witness is the reason I switched to the pact list.

I second that Witness is awesome. Would you mind posting your list? Im playing 2 manamorphose, and they have been really good so far so I would like to see what you cut in favor of them.

[kicks_422]

So marit, have you officially switched to the Pact list now?

Any tourney reports you want to share?

[squee]

Hey i'm new to the Spanish inquisition and i'm planning on playing it at an event in a few weeks, i'm playing the tallmen version with 2 opals and am looking for sideboard help including what to take out.

Deck
8x tallmen
8x cruel bargain, infernal contract
3x tendrils
1x belcher
4x infernal tutor
4x cabal therapy
1x IGG

Mana
4x land grant
4x LED
4x petal
4x chrome
4x dark rit
4x cabal rit
4x culling the weak
2x mox opal
1x bayou

also what should be run in sideboard i'm thinking something like

4x dark confidant
4x xantid swarm/natures veil
4x natures claim
3x deathmark/thoughtseize/ETW

any help would be much appreciated.

[Nonkel]

Hey i'm new to the Spanish inquisition and i'm planning on playing it at an event in a few weeks, i'm playing the tallmen version with 2 opals and am looking for sideboard help including what to take out.

Deck
8x tallmen
8x cruel bargain, infernal contract
3x tendrils
1x belcher
4x infernal tutor
4x cabal therapy
1x IGG

Mana
4x land grant
4x LED
4x petal
4x chrome
4x dark rit
4x cabal rit
4x culling the weak
2x mox opal
1x bayou

also what should be run in sideboard i'm thinking something like

4x dark confidant
4x xantid swarm/natures veil
4x natures claim
3x deathmark/thoughtseize/ETW

any help would be much appreciated.

First of all, Id run Dryad Arbor, and cut 2 tallmen. You can fetch it with land grant if you need culling fodder. Second, Im not a big fan of 4 cabal rituals. And maybe its better to run 2 lands, just in case (wasteland, excess land grant etc). I think the version with red (EtW and burning wish) is stronger, but thats maybe a matter of taste. Below is my current list.

4#Infernal Tutor
4#Burning Wish
4#Lotus Petal
2#Mox Opal
4#Land Grant
1#Tendrils of Agony
4#Cruel Bargain
1#Dryad Arbor
1#Tomb of Urami
1#Bayou
1#Taiga
1#Verdant Catacombs
1#Ill-Gotten Gains
4#Shield Sphere
2#Phyrexian Walker
2#Empty the Warrens
4#Dark Ritual
2#Cabal Ritual
4#Chrome Mox
4#Lion’s Eye Diamond
4#Culling the Weak
4#Infernal Contract
1#Goblin Charbelcher

// sideboard
4#Thoughtseize
2#Xantid Swarm
1#Deathmark
1#Shattering Spree
1#Reverent Silence
1#Tendrils of Agony
1#Empty the Warrens
1#Diminishing Returns
1#Pyroclasm
1#Hull Breach
1#Ill-Gotten Gains

[marit]

So marit, have you officially switched to the Pact list now?

Any tourney reports you want to share?

Ya, I have. It's a lot faster, but force hurts it more. I'm putting this deck down for a bit because survival is gone, which means Force of Will will show up more, and only a crazy person would play this deck in a blue heavy meta. My list:


// Deck file for Magic Workstation (http://www.magicworkstation.com)

// Lands
1 [FUT] Dryad Arbor
1 [B] Bayou

// Creatures
1 [FD] Eternal Witness
1 [EVE] Odious Trow
4 [AL] Elvish Spirit Guide
1 [NE] Skyshroud Cutter

// Spells
1 [MR] Goblin Charbelcher
2 [SC] Tendrils of Agony
4 [DIS] Infernal Tutor
4 [PT] Cruel Bargain
4 [SHM] Manamorphose
4 [FUT] Summoner's Pact
4 [MI] Lion's Eye Diamond
4 [TE] Lotus Petal
4 [MR] Chrome Mox
4 [TO] Cabal Ritual
4 [EX] Culling the Weak
4 [MI] Infernal Contract
4 [B] Dark Ritual
4 [MM] Land Grant

// Sideboard
SB: 3 [MR] Goblin Charbelcher
SB: 4 [US] Carpet of Flowers
SB: 4 [SC] Xantid Swarm
SB: 4 [LRW] Thoughtseize

This is Kicks' list, I didn't change it, because after lots of testing the list showed itself to be beautiful.


2 Tendrils is all I need, with 8 Draw4, 4 IT, 4 Mm, and Witness, I have never had a problem finding a win condition. Slithermuse would be nice to have at some points, but I think overall it's too wishy-washy because it loses substantial value after turn 1. Cutting a manamorphose for a slithermuse would be totally okay, I just think manamorphose is better, because it turns ESG into an initial B source, which is invaluable.

As for tourney report, I went 3-3 at the last Vestal, but that was mostly me. The diner I had breakfast at messed up my order so I was gonna be late, so I speed there and got pulled over and got a speeding ticket. Luckily I barely got there on time but I had almost no time to pickup the missing commons for my deck. To put it shortly, I was kinda distressed and not focused, aka not in a good mindset to play magic, especially a deck like this. Nontheless:

R1: Merfolk
G1: I mull to 5 and he goes turn 1 island cursecatcher, then dazes after I pay for cursecatcher. I get beaten down fast aftrewords.
G2: Carpet of flowers is MVP, I belch for a lot.
G3: He keeps a double Mutavault waste vial hand, making my 2 carpets of flower obselete, and my draw4 whiffs. I seriously hate merfolk.

R2: TES (Bryant Cook)
G1: He wins the roll and duresses me, taking my only ritual. I topdeck nothing and lose fast.
G2: He keeps a triple chant hand, GG ]=.

R3: Draw7 Tendrils
G1: He goes turn 1 Ancient Tomb, Grim Monolith. I get scared, but no chalice, so I win turn 1.
G2: He goes turn 1 Island pass, I go draw4, then proceed to win.
I felt a lot better after this round, because 2 turn1 kills in a row really helped my confidence in the deck.

R4: Pink Hammer:
G1: I know what he's playing, so I kept a business light hand. After 4 turns of top decking I hit the business and blow him out.
G2: He goes Turn 0 Leyline of Sanctity. I have no outs, but keep playing anyways and try to bluff Empty the Warrens. I lose to Koth after a while.
G3: He doesn;t mull to Leyline, so I guess my bluff worked. I try to go off early than I need to, and although I have enough resources to pay for the Pact trigger, he wastes my Bayou ]=. This game was all my fault, it should have been an easy win.

I can't remember rounds 5 and 6 off the top of my head, I'll think about them. I won them both though, the deck did what it was supposed to do. I like the pact list a lot, there is definitely a noticeable difference in speed. If blue ever goes away again I'm definitely picking it back up, and now I know a lot more about how to play it.

[1maarten1]

Ya, I have. It's a lot faster, but force hurts it more. I'm putting this deck down for a bit because survival is gone, which means Force of Will will show up more, and only a crazy person would play this deck in a blue heavy meta. My list:


// Deck file for Magic Workstation (http://www.magicworkstation.com)

// Lands
1 [FUT] Dryad Arbor
1 [B] Bayou

// Creatures
1 [FD] Eternal Witness
1 [EVE] Odious Trow
4 [AL] Elvish Spirit Guide
1 [NE] Skyshroud Cutter

// Spells
1 [MR] Goblin Charbelcher
2 [SC] Tendrils of Agony
4 [DIS] Infernal Tutor
4 [PT] Cruel Bargain
4 [SHM] Manamorphose
4 [FUT] Summoner's Pact
4 [MI] Lion's Eye Diamond
4 [TE] Lotus Petal
4 [MR] Chrome Mox
4 [TO] Cabal Ritual
4 [EX] Culling the Weak
4 [MI] Infernal Contract
4 [B] Dark Ritual
4 [MM] Land Grant

// Sideboard
SB: 3 [MR] Goblin Charbelcher
SB: 4 [US] Carpet of Flowers
SB: 4 [SC] Xantid Swarm
SB: 4 [LRW] Thoughtseize

This is Kicks' list, I didn't change it, because after lots of testing the list showed itself to be beautiful.


2 Tendrils is all I need, with 8 Draw4, 4 IT, 4 Mm, and Witness, I have never had a problem finding a win condition. Slithermuse would be nice to have at some points, but I think overall it's too wishy-washy because it loses substantial value after turn 1. Cutting a manamorphose for a slithermuse would be totally okay, I just think manamorphose is better, because it turns ESG into an initial B source, which is invaluable.

As for tourney report, I went 3-3 at the last Vestal, but that was mostly me. The diner I had breakfast at messed up my order so I was gonna be late, so I speed there and got pulled over and got a speeding ticket. Luckily I barely got there on time but I had almost no time to pickup the missing commons for my deck. To put it shortly, I was kinda distressed and not focused, aka not in a good mindset to play magic, especially a deck like this. Nontheless:

R1: Merfolk
G1: I mull to 5 and he goes turn 1 island cursecatcher, then dazes after I pay for cursecatcher. I get beaten down fast aftrewords.
G2: Carpet of flowers is MVP, I belch for a lot.
G3: He keeps a double Mutavault waste vial hand, making my 2 carpets of flower obselete, and my draw4 whiffs. I seriously hate merfolk.

R2: TES (Bryant Cook)
G1: He wins the roll and duresses me, taking my only ritual. I topdeck nothing and lose fast.
G2: He keeps a triple chant hand, GG ]=.

R3: Draw7 Tendrils
G1: He goes turn 1 Ancient Tomb, Grim Monolith. I get scared, but no chalice, so I win turn 1.
G2: He goes turn 1 Island pass, I go draw4, then proceed to win.
I felt a lot better after this round, because 2 turn1 kills in a row really helped my confidence in the deck.

R4: Pink Hammer:
G1: I know what he's playing, so I kept a business light hand. After 4 turns of top decking I hit the business and blow him out.
G2: He goes Turn 0 Leyline of Sanctity. I have no outs, but keep playing anyways and try to bluff Empty the Warrens. I lose to Koth after a while.
G3: He doesn;t mull to Leyline, so I guess my bluff worked. I try to go off early than I need to, and although I have enough resources to pay for the Pact trigger, he wastes my Bayou ]=. This game was all my fault, it should have been an easy win.

I can't remember rounds 5 and 6 off the top of my head, I'll think about them. I won them both though, the deck did what it was supposed to do. I like the pact list a lot, there is definitely a noticeable difference in speed. If blue ever goes away again I'm definitely picking it back up, and now I know a lot more about how to play it.

How do you like the Skyshroud cutter?? Wouldnt Vine dryad be better? Also I run 1 creature less, you found the need to run more as a culling target??

Also I replaced trow with Wild cantor, which has been working fine for me. I was wondering something tho, is it possible to culling the weak your Odious and then with the mana you get from it regenerate it??

I also play 1 IGG, which has been really working wonders for me. I was thinking of cutting slithermuse too yes, since most of the time when I IT I rather grab a IGG or something else and ofcourse that muse loses alot of its power after turn 1. Im not sure what I want in its place tho.

Also I didnt like Thoughtseize alot, so I still play the duress/deathmark split which works fine for me.

~Maarten

[entity]

You can't regenerate the creature you sacrifice, and Odious is already in graveyard when you get culling mana anyway.

[emidln]

When Pact SI debuted, it was in a heavy Force of Will metagame and maindecked Xantid Swarm. The idea was to use Xantid Swarm + Pacts to replace tall men. I don't see any reason why this shouldn't work now, although there are other reasons why you might not prefer this deck.

[Namida]

Okay, so I was just messing around with the deck right now and I was wondering--when any of you guys activate Charbelcher, do you normally reorder the cards that go to the bottom of your library?

[Doomsday]

I know some people love Witness but the deck worked much better for me when I replaced her with another Belcher. Give it a try if you're not big on EW. This also lets me not run crappy Manamorphose.

I want to cut Slithermuse too but can't find anything better for when you can IT with only 4 floating.

[death]

Okay, so I was just messing around with the deck right now and I was wondering--when any of you guys activate Charbelcher, do you normally reorder the cards that go to the bottom of your library?

You don't need to randomize them if that's what you mean.

[1maarten1]

I know some people love Witness but the deck worked much better for me when I replaced her with another Belcher. Give it a try if you're not big on EW. This also lets me not run crappy Manamorphose.

I want to cut Slithermuse too but can't find anything better for when you can IT with only 4 floating.

I actually moved a belcher from MD to SB since I had no problem at all finding a win-con game 1. Also Witness is incredible, when I first started testing the deck I didnt use her much but when you get better and play more games with the deck it really became better (ofcourse I dont know if you played the deck for a long time already) Also Manamorphose has been great for me so far, why is it crappy according to you??

~Maarten

[Doomsday]

Manamorphose to me is crappy because it does nothing. It requires two mana, including one green, to replace itself and fix mana. Except without Witness you never need the fixing, nothing else costs two green, and you never need two black anyway, you need either 1 or 3 (IGG Piles need a black floating, if you don't have the right mana for a tendrils after 9 other spells I'm pretty sure you did it wrong). And all of the stuff that you need 1 black for gives you at least 3 black back anyway. The only time it ever fixes anytghing is if for some reason you used Land Grant for Dryad, did nothing that turn, and have a tappable dryad, no Culling the Weak, and only a Spirit Guide next next turn. You have no topdeck tutors or anything, it's a slightly better Urza's Bauble here.

And I'm not sure why you would play a deck with 2 lands but no Belcher? It's such an easy win condition, I'm genuinely curious why you would cut it.

[Namida]

It's not that I mean you need to randomize them. The ability lets you put them on the bottom of your library in any order. Though none come to mind, I'm sure there are instances where you want to reorder your cards. Is there a certain order that anyone puts their revealed cards in when they activate Charbelcher?

[Doomsday]

It's not that I mean you need to randomize them. The ability lets you put them on the bottom of your library in any order. Though none come to mind, I'm sure there are instances where you want to reorder your cards. Is there a certain order that anyone puts their revealed cards in when they activate Charbelcher?

If you hit your only land left in the deck without killing them, just reorder it so that you can activate Belcher again next turn. (usually just put an LED on top, Ritual if you have an initial black source, etc)

[1maarten1]

Manamorphose to me is crappy because it does nothing. It requires two mana, including one green, to replace itself and fix mana. Except without Witness you never need the fixing, nothing else costs two green, and you never need two black anyway, you need either 1 or 3 (IGG Piles need a black floating, if you don't have the right mana for a tendrils after 9 other spells I'm pretty sure you did it wrong). And all of the stuff that you need 1 black for gives you at least 3 black back anyway. The only time it ever fixes anytghing is if for some reason you used Land Grant for Dryad, did nothing that turn, and have a tappable dryad, no Culling the Weak, and only a Spirit Guide next next turn. You have no topdeck tutors or anything, it's a slightly better Urza's Bauble here.

And I'm not sure why you would play a deck with 2 lands but no Belcher? It's such an easy win condition, I'm genuinely curious why you would cut it.

I am playing belcher but only 1 in the MD and 3 in the sb for blue MU's ;).

I dont know.. I actually really like MM and witness :o. Might cut 1 MM for an aditional culling target tho. How much creatures are you all running? I got trow and witness atm. (and 4 esg and 1 arbor ofc)

[Doomsday]

I am playing belcher but only 1 in the MD and 3 in the sb for blue MU's ;).

I dont know.. I actually really like MM and witness :o. Might cut 1 MM for an aditional culling target tho. How much creatures are you all running? I got trow and witness atm. (and 4 esg and 1 arbor ofc)

My creatures are 4x Spirit Guide, 1x Arbor, 1x Trow, 1x Wild Cantor, 1x Slithermuse. Slithermuse has been generally unimpressive for me, but I can't think of anything else that gives me a legit shot at a win after an Infernal Tutor with only 4 floating mana. This is my maindeck EtW and SB Diminishing Returns slot in TES. Suggestions much appreciated.

[Nonkel]

If you hit your only land left in the deck without killing them, just reorder it so that you can activate Belcher again next turn. (usually just put an LED on top, Ritual if you have an initial black source, etc)

You got it wrong dude. You have to put the revealed cards on the bottom of your library (so other cards on top of them). So you can't choose what card is on top.

[menace13]

LOL, this deck is retarded fast. Me and my friends have been messing around in 2hgs online. We play team ANT against them playing team SI, and like, the first turn go off% for SI is so stupid... Great goldfish.

[marit]

LOL, this deck is retarded fast. Me and my friends have been messing around in 2hgs online. We play team ANT against them playing team SI, and like, the first turn go off% for SI is so stupid... Great goldfish.

Speak English?

My creatures are 4x Spirit Guide, 1x Arbor, 1x Trow, 1x Wild Cantor, 1x Slithermuse. Slithermuse has been generally unimpressive for me, but I can't think of anything else that gives me a legit shot at a win after an Infernal Tutor with only 4 floating mana. This is my maindeck EtW and SB Diminishing Returns slot in TES. Suggestions much appreciated.

And playing this deck without either Vine Dryad or Skyshroud Cutter is not a good choice. You need a free green creature and here is why. If at any point during your turn you need to land grant for bayou and don't have mana floating, your Culling the Weaks are going to be useless. This is where Summoner's Pact for a free creature comes into play. You are closing yourself off to so many additional lines of play if you're not playing a free creature. Even if you have mana floating and can pact for Odious Troll or Wild Cantor, or Grant for Arbor, Culling the Weak will net you an additional B, which many times is the difference between winning and fizzling. I don't think Slithermuse is necessary either, I would probably cut it for a Manamorphose, or a Skyshroud Cutter.