New quest decks

[Nordos]

The problem I do see with your deck: It simple doesn't have any finisher. It needs time to establish, because the whole deck (more or less) seems to be build around the Notion Thief - yet again, even when you have it onto the battlefield, even if you have a card advantage - how do you actually want to kill the enemy now?

I will soon propose an UB milling deck featuring symmetrical draws and Notion Thief. I've already checked some cards in my mind, which would be a great addition (for example the legendary enchantment from blue which gives all creatures -x/-0 while x is the number of cards in your hand)

BTW, while thinking about the notion thief, I somewaht stumbled across Recycle and Null Profusion. These could be used in combination with cards which give you no maximum handsize

[Nordos]

UB milling with symmetrical draw and Notion Thief | Open

4 Drowned Catacomb
2 Font of Mythos
3 Glimpse the Unthinkable
3 Howling Mine
12 Island
2 Jace Beleren
4 Jace's Erasure
2 Jace's Phantasm
2 Kami of the Crescent Moon
1 Keening Stone
1 Laboratory Maniac
1 Meishin, the Mind Cage
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
4 Notion Thief
2 Psychic Strike
3 Reliquary Tower
1 Seizan, Perverter of Truth
4 Teferi's Puzzle Box
2 Thought Scour
4 Underground Sea
2 Venser's Journal

Hm. Dunno. Could be something, yet it may not be working. That's because I am not able to test it since I have not the knowlegde to add Notion Thief to my version

Thinking about it - it needs something which prevents being attacked in the first 5 rounds. do you have any idea what could be included besides Royal Assassin? Maybe Fog Bank ...

[friarsol]

I'm thinking about a Black/Red aggressive deck that focuses on having no cards in hand. Do we have something like that? I guess a bit like a Hellbent deck.

Key cards would be: Grafted Skullcap, Dread Slag, Dark Suspicions.

I'm still waiting for this deck sol. DGM braught some great possible addition like Sire of Insanity and Blood Scrivener.

Yea I haven't had time to put it together properly and test it If someone wants to commandeer it feel free.

[Chris H.]

Here is an easy mono black control deck:

Hugo Drax 1 | Open

24 Swamp
2 Will-o'-the-Wisp
2 Zulaport Enforcer
1 Giant Slug
2 Fog of Gnats
2 Withered Wretch
2 Carrion Wall
2 Wall of Bone
1 Corrosive Mentor
2 Soot Imp
2 Urborg Stalker
2 Highway Robber
1 Uncle Istvan
4 Dash Hopes
1 Death Stroke
1 Scepter of Fugue
1 Vicious Hunger
1 Warp Artifact
1 Underworld Dreams
1 Death's Duet
1 Enfeeblement
4 Grave Peril

 

[Nordos]

I'm thinking about a Black/Red aggressive deck that focuses on having no cards in hand. Do we have something like that? I guess a bit like a Hellbent deck.

Key cards would be: Grafted Skullcap, Dread Slag, Dark Suspicions.

I'm still waiting for this deck sol. DGM braught some great possible addition like Sire of Insanity and Blood Scrivener.

Yea I haven't had time to put it together properly and test it If someone wants to commandeer it feel free.

I may give it a thouhght or two.
Good cards, in my opinion, could be: Nihilith (discard -> many chances to remove time counters), Nyxathid (should be self explaining), Hollowborn Barghest, Nezumi Shortfang, Guul Draz Specter, Shrieking Affliction, Quest for the Nihil Stone, Ensnaring Brigde and a couple of other cards.
Once again, we have to 'routes'. First one is to focus on having 0 cards in hand (Ensnaring Brigde, Hellbent), second one, which may overlap with existing cards would be letting the opponent discard all cards - or a combination of both.
Which way should be taken?

[Sloth]

The problem I do see with your deck: It simple doesn't have any finisher. It needs time to establish, because the whole deck (more or less) seems to be build around the Notion Thief - yet again, even when you have it onto the battlefield, even if you have a card advantage - how do you actually want to kill the enemy now?

I think you are right. In my testings the AI always took control of the game quickly, but sometimes decked itself before killing me. I have to think about it.

BTW, while thinking about the notion thief, I somewaht stumbled across Recycle and Null Profusion. These could be used in combination with cards which give you no maximum handsize

That depends on which card was played last.

UB milling with symmetrical draw and Notion Thief | Open

4 Drowned Catacomb
2 Font of Mythos
3 Glimpse the Unthinkable
3 Howling Mine
12 Island
2 Jace Beleren
4 Jace's Erasure
2 Jace's Phantasm
2 Kami of the Crescent Moon
1 Keening Stone
1 Laboratory Maniac
1 Meishin, the Mind Cage
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
4 Notion Thief
2 Psychic Strike
3 Reliquary Tower
1 Seizan, Perverter of Truth
4 Teferi's Puzzle Box
2 Thought Scour
4 Underground Sea
2 Venser's Journal

Hm. Dunno. Could be something, yet it may not be working. That's because I am not able to test it since I have not the knowlegde to add Notion Thief to my version

This deck looks promising, but definitely needs lots of testing and tweaking. The average mana cost is way too high, when the AI is drawing lots of cards it won't be able to play even a fraction of them.

[friarsol]

I may give it a thouhght or two.
Good cards, in my opinion, could be: Nihilith (discard -> many chances to remove time counters), Nyxathid (should be self explaining), Hollowborn Barghest, Nezumi Shortfang, Guul Draz Specter, Shrieking Affliction, Quest for the Nihil Stone, Ensnaring Brigde and a couple of other cards.
Once again, we have to 'routes'. First one is to focus on having 0 cards in hand (Ensnaring Brigde, Hellbent), second one, which may overlap with existing cards would be letting the opponent discard all cards - or a combination of both.
Which way should be taken?

We already have (at least) two different Ensnaring Bridge style decks that prevent everyone from having cards. This Hellbent Aggro deck was more about playing all of your cards and cards around that, and since Grafted Skullcap draws you extra cards for free, I figured it would be a good lynchpin.

[Nordos]

@friarsol: got it. An RB aggro deck - maybe with unleash, the rakdos Champ and one copy of Null Profusion? (this one gives you the option to play a lot of cards, too )
I will look through the cards which can be used...

@Sloth:
for the Recycle deck - there are tons of cards which gives you no maximum handsize (Library of Leng, Spellbook [in combination with Recycle/Null Profusion it wouldn't even loose a card), Reliquary Tower, Anvil of Bogardon. Additional cards can be: Thought Nibbler/... even though I would like to exclude blue)
Does this idea sound interesting enough?
For the deck: It is true, that the AI wouldn't play all cards - yet this is exactly what this deck is based upon. Cards which interact having a lot of cards: Venser's Journal, Teferi's Puzzle Box (in combination with Jace's Erasure), Meishin, the Mind Cage. Then again, I do agree, that the boxes should be cut by two...
Since the whole deck is based uppon milling the enemy due to Jace's Erasure and some minor other things (Glimpse the Unthinkable and Keening Stone as a finishing touch should he have a really big deck), it doesn't need to play all spells to suceed. That was my idea behind it anyway

[friarsol]

@friarsol: got it. An RB aggro deck - maybe with unleash, the rakdos Champ and one copy of Null Profusion? (this one gives you the option to play a lot of cards, too )
I will look through the cards which can be used...

Well Null Profusion doesn't work with Hellbent at all. Since you are skipping your draw step, once you get to 0 cards you won't be able to play anything. Plus I doubt the AI knows how to handle it.

[Nordos]

True that. Dunno why I haven't seen that. Maybe because I was parallel thinking about adding it to other decks

Hm. It may be me, but I don't find many cards which interact with having 0 cards.
I personally aimed to have many low CMC cards.

| Open

2 Anthem of Rakdos
4 Badlands
4 Blood Scrievener
2 Diregraf Ghoul
4 Dragonskull Summit
2 Dread Slag
2 Gobhobbler Rats
2 Goblin Deathraiders
2 Goblin Guide
2 Gore-House Chainwalker
2 Grafted Skullcap
2 Jagged Poppet
2 Keldon Marauders
2 Legion Loyalist
8 Mountain
4 Rakdos Cackler
2 Rakdos Pit Dragon
8 Swamp
2 Taste for Mayhem
2 Thrill-Kill Assassin

I guess BR isn't my theme at all :-/

[Sloth]

The problem I do see with your deck: It simple doesn't have any finisher. It needs time to establish, because the whole deck (more or less) seems to be build around the Notion Thief - yet again, even when you have it onto the battlefield, even if you have a card advantage - how do you actually want to kill the enemy now?

I think you are right. In my testings the AI always took control of the game quickly, but sometimes decked itself before killing me. I have to think about it.

Ok, i found a good solution: Laboratory Maniac. Turns a weakness into a strength.

Lupin the Third 3 | Open

2 Swamp|M12
4 Island|M12
4 Underground Sea
2 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Sol Ring
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
2 Laboratory Maniac
4 Notion Thief
1 Demonic Tutor
2 Jace Beleren
1 Anvil of Bogardan
1 Kami of the Crescent Moon
4 Howling Mine
3 Words of Wisdom
4 Sinkhole
4 Spell Snare
4 Mental Misstep
1 Mana Drain
2 Doom Blade
1 Terror
1 Go for the Throat

[Nordos]

An UBR deck with Notion Thief can be pretty strong, too. Just some cards which would work with it:
Winds of Change
Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fate (even better?)
Burning Inquiry (you draw 6, and discard 3. The enemy only discards three )
Reforge the Soul (albeit too expensive)
Noggle Ransacker

Additional cards can be Whispering Madness, Jace's Archivist (as I said, if the AI does know how to use it). I would either include Jace's Erasure (hm) or trying to win via Laboratory Maniac (while here there is a chance to discard it by accident...). With some symmetrical draws added and maybe Noetic Scales (after some time, the enemy shouldn't have many handcards left )

[Nordos]

UBR Notion Thief with Wheel of Fate and Laboratory Maniac | Open

4 Badlands
2 Drowned Catacomb
4 Fog Bank
4 Howling Mine
2 Jace's Archivist
4 Laboratory Maniac
2 Mountain
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
4 Notion Thief
1 Sol Ring
4 Sulfur Falls
4 Underground Sea
4 Venser's Journal
4 Volcanic Island
2 Wheel and Deal
4 Wheel of Fate
4 Wheel of Fortune
4 Winds of Change

Didin't test it yet. Just a quick list

Maybe reduce the number of Winds of Change? Once a Wheel triggers, it is quite obsolete... Hm. Either Steel Wall, Phantasmal Bear, Fume Spitter, Willow-o'-the-Wisp, another Fog Bank, Blood Pet (mana accelerator and stuff), Guul Draz Assassin (quite useful to eliminate early threats, then again, the AI may waste mana on it), Royal Assassin (would increase the mana curve, then again it is THE defense^^), Oona's Gatewarden (dunno - can be useful but I doubt that the AI would trade them ...), Wild Cantor (same as Blood Pet, yet any mana!), Mogg Conscripts (only needed for blocking anyway), Bloodcrazed Goblin (same as Mogg, but even more probably that it won't attack^^), Goblin Chirurgeon (can be used to regen the thif or the maniac. Will it be used, though?), Mogg Sentry (quite good for that job!), Torpid Meloch (as long as he wont sacc his lands, that is) or Cinder Wall
...
Or Walking Atlas/Myr [Iron Myr for example] as mana accelerator? Too bad that the normal 1CMC mana rampers are all green ^^

[Nordos]

Herald deck | Open

4 Angel's Herald
2 Badlands
2 Bayou
4 Behemoth's Herald
1 Boros Recruit
4 Demon's Herald
4 Dragon's Herald
1 Dryad Militant
2 Empyrial Archangel
2 Godsire
2 Hellkite Overlord
1 Nivmagus Elemental
1 Oona's Gatewarden
2 Plateau
2 Prince of Thralls
2 Savannah
2 Scrubland
1 Slitherhead
2 Sphinx Sovereign
4 Sphinx's Herald
2 Taiga
4 Thran Quarry
2 Tropical Island
2 Tundra
2 Underground Sea
2 Volcanic Island
1 Wild Cantor

A simple Herald deck.

[timmermac]

An UBR deck with Notion Thief can be pretty strong, too. Just some cards which would work with it:
Winds of Change
Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fate (even better?)
Burning Inquiry (you draw 6, and discard 3. The enemy only discards three )
Reforge the Soul (albeit too expensive)
Noggle Ransacker

Additional cards can be Whispering Madness, Jace's Archivist (as I said, if the AI does know how to use it). I would either include Jace's Erasure (hm) or trying to win via Laboratory Maniac (while here there is a chance to discard it by accident...). With some symmetrical draws added and maybe Noetic Scales (after some time, the enemy shouldn't have many handcards left )

Maybe I'm just evil, but wouldn't Nicol Bolas work with this?