Oh, I certainly agree.  A U/G version is definitely viable.  I dunno if it's a better deck or not because I haven't tested it, but it could work.  Everything that you mentioned would be great in a U/G Enchantress deck, but that's just not the focus of this thread.  I'd like to keep working on an Enchantress/SquirrelCraft deck, and for that purpose, I still think G/w is the best way to go.



What you suggest would work, but it's completely irrelevent.  The whole point is to win the turn you complete the combo if say, you're staring down an Akroma and SotN.  Leaving them with one card in their library (Blessing), defeats the whole point of having the Altar in the first place.  If you have an extra turn to play with, mise well just attack with a billion squirrels, amirite?

- Falc

Running Blue and the Words of Wind lock is really a completely different deck.  In this deck, Craft/Nest is the win condition and I don't think that it's possible, or wise, to also try and fit in the Words of Wind lock and make it work.  The only card in blue that really calls to me is Seal of Removal to replace Swords.  A U/G Enchantress/Words/Brainfreeze deck really falls outside the scope of this thread because all it has in common with this deck is the Enchantress draw engine.  Otherwise, it's a completely different animal.  As far as the white goes, Seal of Cleansing has been the MVP for my metagame.  It's amazing against Oath, Fish, and Ravager, as well as the random stuff that pops up every week including the mirror.  While Naturalize "works", it isn't nearly as good.  It's not an enchantment and it's harder to get past counterspells.

I agree that StP dilutes the combo, but it's hard to combo out when you're dead.  The deck isn't fast enough without power to allow your opponent's beatsticks to run free.  Without Swords and Seal, I can't see this deck ever beating Oath and it would have a difficult time racing Ravager and Suicide (yes, Suicide still exists).  You could try a different route and go for a pure speed build.  In that case, you'd probably want a mono-green version with Eladamri's Vineyard, Fertile Ground, and lots of artifact mana.  A build like that could work and could even be better, but I can't say for sure without testing it.



I'm confused as to how this would work.  I understand that you can make a billion squirrels and keep milling them for their whole deck over and over.  It sounds like you're saying that you want to keep doing this until Blessing is the top card of their library, then stop and allow them to draw it on their turn, then mill the rest of it while Blessing is in their hand.  I can't see how that would work though because you'd never know when Blessing was the top card since it's in a hidden zone.  Besides, if you're waiting a turn for them to draw a card, then you're totally defeating the purpose of the Altar, which is to win the turn you complete the combo.  So far, the Soul Warden has been perfect for this task.

I'm willing to give a mono-green pure speed build a try and see how it goes.  Has anyone had success using such a build?

- Falc

Solitary Confinement: Interesting as a possible sideboard card, but I think the drawback is a little harsh for the maindeck.  It won't be able to "save you" if your draw engine isn't running, but if the draw engine is running, then you don't really need saving.  I could see it as a possible one-of to play when you draw your whole deck to protect yourself for the one turn until you can attack.  It could be as good or better than Altar of Dementia or Soul Warden in that role.

Birds of Paradise(?): Birds aren't a good fit for this deck.  They're vulnerable, they aren't enchantments, and you have better plays on turn one.  With Earthcraft in play, all your creatures become "birds" because you can tap them to untap a land.  Usually that land will have one or more Wild Growths on it and net you a lot of mana.

Gaea's Touch: This would be interesting in addition to Wild Growth, not instead of it.  Wild Growth is totally amazing in this deck.  It's synergy with Earthcraft can make a lot of mana and allow you to "go off" quicker and more effectively.  Basically, if I could play eight Wild Growths, I would.

Concordant Crossroads:  While this is a great 1-mana enchantment, it isn't going to do anything in this deck.  None of my creatures have a tap ability and you can tap them to activate Earthcraft even if they have summoning sickness.  The reason that you have to wait an extra turn is that when you create a billion squirrels you have to tap each one to make another one.  So you end up with a billion tapped squirrels and one untapped squirrel.  You have to wait a turn to untap them and attack.  Crossroads wouldn't help that problem.


I'm leaning toward trying to squeeze in one Soul Warden for the "win now" condition.  One copy is all that you'd need since you can usually draw your whole deck and you'd never want multiples.  I think he's a better choice than Altar of Dementia because Altar is completely useless before you go off whereas the Warden will gain you a few life, untap Wild Growthed Forests, and block in a pinch until the army of Squirrels arrives.  Also, Altar doesn't work against Oath because they have Blessing.  I have no idea what to take out though.  I just can't see any room to cut.  Any ideas?

- Falc

Of course I considered Sterling Grove and Enlightened Tutor.  The thing is though, with the Enchantress Engine, you can draw your whole deck sooner than you cast, fetch, and draw with Grove.  Now that I consider it again though and have played a lot of games with the deck, I think it might be good to cut one Craft and one Nest for two Groves.  Drawing muliple Crafts or Nests is really bad.  I once had a game where I drew all four Crafts in the top 15 cards.  I still ended up winning because they fueled the draw engine, but it was still really annoying.  I'll try two Groves and see how they go.

Adding a third color would be really hard.  The deck needs a crapload of green mana for it's spells and it needs basic lands for Earthcraft to function.  More non-basics would also make the deck more vulernable to Wasteland.  Goblin Bombardment really is the perfect "Kill Now" mechanism for this deck.  Good find there.  I'm just not sure if it's worth adding another color just to shave one turn off the kill.

I'm also adding a Serra's Sanctum back to the deck just because it's ridiculously good and I forgot to add it when I posted.

- Falc

Disclaimer: This is a BUDGET deck for a 100% BUDGET metagame.  That means that everything is a turn or two slower than in a powered metagame.  That also means no Workshop decks and no Trendrills combo decks, so don't ask about those matchups.

I'm not a newbie to Type 1 or TMD, but I've found that my unpowered decks are better received in this forum.  People just flame or lock unpowered decks in the other forum no matter how in-depth the post is or what disclaimer I post.  I've always been a big fan of Enchantress (hey, isn't everybody?).  Drawing lots of cards and playing out your whole deck is just fun.  Now that Earthcraft is unrestricted, it seems like the perfect win condition for an Enchantress draw engine.  I'll kick it off with a decklist:

Falc's Enchantress Craft
// Combo
    3 [TP] - Earthcraft
    3  - Squirrel Nest
// Creatures
    4  - Xantid Swarm
    4  - Argothian Enchantress
    2  - Verduran Enchantress
// Draw & Search
    4  - Enchantress's Presence
    2  - Sterling Grove
// Disruption
    3  - Swords to Plowshares
    3  - Seal of Cleansing
// Mana
    4  - Wild Growth
    4  - Exploration
    1 [RV] - Fastbond
    1  - Chrome Mox
    4  - Windswept Heath
    4 [RV] - Savannah
    10  - Forest
    3  - Plains
    1  - Serra's Sanctum

SB: 4  - Compost
SB: 3 [CK] - Ghostly Prison
SB: 3  - City of Solitude
SB: 3  - Seeds of Innocence
SB: 1  - Seal of Cleansing
SB: 1  - Swords to Plowshares

Obviously, the goal of the deck is to create a bajillion squirrels and attack for the win.  In order to do that, it needs to draw the combo and stay alive long enough to pull it off.

Enchantress is one of the most potent draw engines in Magic.  Once you start going off, it's really easy to draw all sixty cards, in fact, you end up having to stop playing stuff to keep from decking yourself most times.  I've included ten "Enchantress-effects" in this build and I think that's the absolute minimum.  You need at least one Enchantress-effect in your opening hand if you hope to get anything going.  Once you get two effects on the table, you can start "going off" and rapidly burn through your library.

I chose to add white to the deck to overcome the problem of getting killed.  Mono-green versions are very vulnerable to any number of things and generally won't be fast enough to win unless they get both combo pieces in their opening hand.  Swords is a no-brainer here.  It's great against any deck that hopes to beat you with a creature including Oath, Tog, Ravager, and Goblins.  Seal of Cleansing mops up troublesome non-creatures like Oath, Moat, Skullclamp, Standstill, etc.  It's also an enchantment which means you'll be drawing cards when you play it making it double-plus good.

Overall, the deck has 24 enchantments.  That number has proven to be adequate in testing, but just barely.  I'd love to add two or three more enchantments to the deck but there just isn't anything to take out without severely crippling your win percentage.  Cutting Swords would result in getting run over by large beatsticks while you're trying to find the combo and cutting Xantid Swarm isn't an option.  The Swarm is the only reason this deck is even playable.  You don't have that many "must-counter" spells, so without a way to force them through, you'll have a tough time beating a heavy permission deck like Oath or Tog.

With an ideal hand, you can complete the combo on turn two and attack for the win on turn three.  More realistically, though, you'll complete the combo on turn three or four and attack the turn after.  Somtimes that's not fast enough, but the deck has enough disruption that it usually lasts that long with ease.  There are ways to win the turn that you complete the combo, but they all invovle playing crappy cards that are otherwise useless (Alter of Dementia, Soul Warden, etc.).  If one of these were at least an enchantment, you could probably fit it in, but there's no room for more non-enchantment cards that don't do anything.  You might be able to speed up the deck with more artifact mana like Mox Diamond, Lotus Petal, or Sol Ring, but again, you run into the problem of taking something out.  The deck is already lean on lands at 22 so cutting more lands for artifact mana seems dangerous to me.  

I've tested mostly against Oath, Affinity, and Fish because they represent a wide spread (control, aggro, and aggro/control), and are typical of my metagame.  I've had enough success against them to continue working on the deck and post about it here.  The sideboard is heavily geared for my personal metagame and should not be taken as a general strategy.  One gem that is worth noting, however, is Seeds of Innocence.  If anyone in your area plays an artifact-based deck (Affinity, Welder, etc.) break out this forgotten "Crumblestorm" from Mirage to ruin their party.

I'd love to hear thoughs and criticisms on my build and Enchantress Craft in general.  Thanks for reading.

- Falc

EDIT: +2 Sterling Grove, +1 Serra's Sanctum, -1 Craft, -1 Nest, -1 Plains.

If I really wanted to hate on Oath and to some extent Welder, I'd run this creature suite:

4 Lavamancer
4 Rootwater Thief
4 Spiketail
3 Waterfront Bouncer

Meandeck Oath scoops to Waterfront Bouncer in game one.  If it resolves you win.  That's all there is to it.  Alternatively, a first turn Thief is also very bad news for Oath since it only takes two hits to remove all their win conditions.  Against non-Oath decks, you'll rarely use his ability.  Just suit him up with Curiosity and go to work.

Bouncer is also good against any deck that likes to cheat fat creatures into play on the cheap, like Welder decks for instance, and is also a very annoying tempo-naught against random aggro decks.

Cloud of Faeries just doesn't excite me anymore and I think that slot is better filled with Thief or even Meddling Mage.

- Falc

I share your desire to build a "budget stax" deck.  It seems like the best bet would be to try and lock your opponent under the 3sphere by keeping them under 3 land.   You could acomplish that goal with help from Smokestack and Crucible, or by running some Land Destruction like Stone Rain or Sinkhole.  I'd say that sticking with brown would be the way to go here.  Perhaps something like this:

// Creatures
    4  - Goblin Welder
    4  - Metalworker
    4 [RV] - Juggernaut
    2  - Sundering Titan
// Disruption
    4  - Fire/Ice
    4  - Trinisphere
    4  - Smokestack
    3  - Crucible of Worlds
// Draw & Search
    4  - Thirst for Knowledge
    1  - Fact or Fiction
    1  - Tinker
// Mana
    1  - Mana Crypt
    1 [RV] - Sol Ring
    1  - Mana Vault
    1  - Grim Monolith
    1  - Chrome Mox
    1  - Mox Diamond
    1 [TP] - Lotus Petal
    1  - Strip Mine
    4 [TP] - Wasteland
    4 [TP] - Ancient Tomb
    3  - Polluted Delta
    4 [RV] - Volcanic Island
    2  - Island

Now this is completely untested and basically right off the top of my head, but it seems like a good place to start.  You want to slow them down or lock them with the 3sphere then put them in scoop mode when you plop down the Titan.

Any ideas?

- Falc

Like I said, if you have that many problems with Welder (which you won't if you'd just try it out), then just side out the DSC in that matchup for a couple Morphling.  But for the maindeck DSC is definitely the best choice.  It has a huge upside with very little risk.

- Falc

Let me break it down for you.  If you play Cognivore, then you cannot play Gaea's Blessing.  That should be obvious.  That means that if your Cognivores get killed in any way, you lose the game.  So what kills them?  Besides Swords there's any sort of Wrath effect, any sort of Edict effect, Nev's Disk, REB, oh and don't forget about Tormod's Crypt.  It's not just that these spells kill the Cognivore, it's that they win the game because all they have to do is kill the Cognivore and you lose.  Compare that to DSC.  Only double Swords can put you in an unwinnable situation.  If the Colossus gets dealt with by other means (Edict, discard, etc.), he just gets shuffled back in and comes out again next turn.

I think you're way way overestimating the effectiveness of Welder against this strategy.  You do realize that you have to have an artifact in your grave for your opponent to Welder your DSC, right?  And then you do realize that it'll get shuffled back in and you'll just Oath it up again next turn, right?  So at worst Welder acts like a Fog for two or three turns, unless you don't have an artifact in your yard in which case it does nothing.  On the other hand, if you end up with two Cognivores in the grave and don't have or can't resolve Reclamation... well, you lose the game.

By playing Cognivore you're taking a huge huge risk of ending up with no win conditions against any number of matchups just to avoid Welder and maybe get a few extra points of power.  Cognivore is vulerable to a wide variety of things that DSC isn't, and when that vulnerability is exploited, you lose the game.  DSC is vulnerable to only one thing that Cognivore isn't (Welder) and when that vulnerability is exploited, you don't lose, it just delays your win by a few turns.  That's why DSC is strictly superior in every way.  At most, I could understand running a couple Morphlings in the sideboard to bring in against Welder decks and StP decks, but Cognivore is way too risky and completely pointless.

- Falc

Cognivore is awful in Oath.  The only reason it was ever used in Extended was because Gaea's Blessing and Swords both rotated out of the format.  If you want to go straight for the throat, use Colossus.  If you want to play it safe, use Morphling/Feeder/Weaver.  There are no other viable options.

- Falc

Clown has good ideas.  Sticking with just U/G, perhaps a budget build would look something like this:

Falc's UG Budget Oath
// Win
    4  - Oath of Druids
    2  - Darksteel Colossus
// Counter
    4  - Force of Will
    4  - Mana Drain
    2  - Misdirection
// Draw & Search
    4  - Accumulated Knowledge
    4  - Brainstorm
    3 [TP] - Intuition
    2 [TM] - Deep Analysis
    2  - Cunning Wish
    1 [RV] - Regrowth
    1  - Fact or Fiction
// Mana
    1  - Crucible of Worlds
    1  - Mox Diamond
    1  - Chrome Mox
    1 [TP] - Lotus Petal
    1  - Library of Alexandria
    1  - Strip Mine
    4 [TP] - Wasteland
    3 [CK] - Forbidden Orchard
    4 [RV] - Tropical Island
    4  - Island
    4  - Polluted Delta
    2  - Flooded Strand

I can't say that I'm real high on the Deep Anals.  If you're Oathing, then you're winning.  If you're not Oathing, then DA seems really weak since you have no way to discard it.  I think they might be better served as more permission.  Perhaps Leak, Counterspell, or Stifle?

The interaction between AK and Gaea's Blessing seems really bad to me.  You'd have to have an AK in hand and put Blessing's effect on the stack to take advantage of the extra cards.

I really like Cunning Wish because there are a lot of ways to shut this deck down.  Everything from Moat to Ensnaring Bridge and even Molder Slug prevent you from winning.  Cunning Wish gives you access to removal and bounce as well as other fine tricks.

- Falc

Okay, I will conceed that Yawg's Will is not the greatest thing in this deck.  The suggestion of TfK for Sylvan and Will is a good one and is the only thing worth reading.  The rest of the suggestions that have been posted are ludacris.  Cut the only mana accel in a deck that wants to cast two mana spells on turn one?  Cut Library in a control deck?  Have eight colorless lands in a 3-color deck?  What's next, Dragon Tyrant?

I hate that this thread has degenerated into a pissing match.  Let's try to get it back on track starting right now.

I didn't post asking for help with my decklist.  You won't find the word "help" anywhere on the page.  The only reason I even put the decklist in there was just show an example of a new Oath deck.  I posted to generate discussion about an older archtype that has a chance to make a comeback due to a new addition.  Instead of making ridiculous suggestions about the decklist, I was hoping people could discuss the following points which I bolded and underlined in the post:

1.) Is BUG superior to WUG, or even just UG?  Why?

2.) Is Colossus x2 superior to Morphling/Weaver/Feeder, and why do you feel that way?

3.) If you choose Colossus, does the deck still need Gaea's Blessing?  Support your answer.

4.) Does the addition of Forbidden Orchard push the Oath archtype to new heights or is it not much better than it was before?

That's it.

- Falc

C'mon people... Why can't you understand that this is a BUDGET deck for a BUDGET environment?  You're right that it'll never beat Stax.  Why?  Because it'll never play against Stax because Stax doesn't exist in a budget environment!  And no, I'm not hurting because I don't have access to power because no one else does either, so I don't need to compensate in any way for not having power.  That's the beauty of a budget environment that for some reason people just can't grasp.  Budget players have been screaming this for years but it just doesn't seem to sink in.  You don't need power if no one else has it either.  I put the word Budget in the title twice and in the post about five times.  I figured that would get the point accross, but apparently not.  Maybe now you'll get it.

That said, I couldn't disagree more with the latest suggestions.  The deck is not "all about" the orchard/oath combo.  That's the worst thing you could do to this deck is think it's a combo deck.  Oath beats aggro.  Plain and simple.  Your opponent drops a man, you drop Oath, you beat face.  That's all there is to it.  Aggro is an auto-win.  That's what makes Oath such a great choice in a budget metagame because 80% of the field is aggro.  The only time you run into trouble is when you're matched against a combo or control deck that runs few or no creatures.  That's where Orchard comes in.  Instead of having to Wish for something like Funeral Pyre or board in Verdant Touch, the deck now has a convenient maindeckable way to turn it's worst matchup around.  If you're still having trouble understanding the effectiveness of "Play Oath and Win" then you really need to shuffle up an Oath deck before proceeding.

I do like the suggestion of Thirst for Knowledge.  That was a card I hadn't considered but I will definitely test.  Thanks for pointing that one out.

Nameless:  You mentioned taking out a Sylvan and Will for Blessing.  Why take out two extremely powerful effects for Blessing?  Don't you think that Colossus's built-in reshuffle will be enough to keep you supplied with men?

Certainly Duress followed by Orchard/Oath is one of the best starts possible, but it's not going to happen all that often.  In most games you simply play Draw-Go and counter anything you can't handle until your opponent either plays a creature or you draw an Orchard.  Then you drop Oath and win.  It's not about "winning on turn X".  It's about inevitability.  It's about putting your opponent in a no-win situation.  Either they drop a creature and lose or they don't drop a creature and still lose.

Where's Queequeg when you need him?

- Falc

Danzig: Thirst for Knowledge is a good idea.  I'll give it a try.  It's very nice that it can get DC out of your hand.  Although Sylvan prevents you from drawing DC in the first place.  I can't say for sure which one is better, but I'll try TfK out and see how it goes.

WildWillieWonderboy & oyzar: This isn't a combo deck.  It's a one card combo.  Play Oath and win.  Including stuff like Dragon Breath and Berzerk to speed it up is completely overkill and tries to make the deck too "comboish".  The way this deck works is that you play control until you get to activate Oath, then you play more control until you win.  It doesn't matter if the clock is one turn, two turns, or five turns.  Mucking up the decklist with situational garbage is a terrible idea.  You're going to win 9 out of 10 games that you get to activate Oath regardless.  Giving the DC haste or doubling his power isn't going to change that.  Either your opponent has the answer or he doesn't, or you counter it and win anyway.

- Falc

Nameless: Losing all the artifacts to protect against Welder is a viable strategy, but do you think it's worth losing not only first turn Oath but also first turn Mana Drain in other matchups?  For Welder to be effective, you have to have Colossus in play and another artifact in your yard.  If he welds, then the artifact in the yard comes into play and you Oath up the Colossus again next turn.  Since I only have four other artifacts in the deck a Welder will only be able to buy my opponent a turn or two at most.  If Welder is very popular in your area, then I could understand replacing the artifact mana if it proves to be a problem.  But if you don't face many Welder decks, I think the artifact mana is too valuable in other matchups to give up.

Pex: Mishra's have great synergy with Oath, but you run into a very shaky mana situation with them.  The deck is three colors and it's already running four Wasteland.  In my opinion, adding in another four colorless lands will stretch the mana base past the breaking point.  Besides, with Orchard in the deck you no longer need man-lands to "force" your opponent to play a creature.

- Falc

Once the CoK spoiler came out it didn't take long for Forbidden Orchard to create a new buzz about Oath.  I definitely think it's worth exploring and just might be enough to push Oath near the top of the budget metagame.  But first, since most of us haven't worked with Oath in a while we now have to re-examine some of the basic choices of how Oath should be built in today's budget environment.

The Colors

The first decision you have to make is what colors to run.  The two classic and best choices are BUG and WUG.  White gives you access to Swords for problem creatures like Welder, Balace, and Enlightened Tutor.  On the other hand, Black sets you up with Duress, Mind Twist, Yawgmoth's Win, and Demonic and Vampiric Tutors.  Personally, I'm a big fan of Duress in Oath.  When your entire strategy is based on a two-mana enchantment, I think it's important to make sure the coast is clear before you try to play it.  Along with the superior tutors and brokenness of Yawgmoth's Will, I lean towards Black, but White is a valid choice if Welder decks are common in your area.

The Creatures

Traditional Oath uses a creature suite of Morphling, Spike Feeder, and Spike Weaver.  This set of creatures proved superior because they are all hard-castable and cannot be removed by StP and leave you with no win conditions.  Today, however, we now have to consider Darksteel Colossus as an option.  Being an 11/11 trampler, it's a much much faster clock than Morphling and it's indestructible.  It's reshuffle effect is also a benefit in Oath since it won't end up in the grave due to discard or sacrifice effects.  Unfortunately, it's also vulnerable to StP.  I think it comes down to a risk/reward decision.  If there isn't a lot of white in your metagame, or you're willing to chance losing game one to a white deck, I think two Colossus is the most powerful and direct approach.  Most of the time I would certainly rather Oath up a Colossus and take my chances than Oath up a Spike and spend mana to remove it's counters just so I can try to Oath up something good.

The Old Standby

If you choose to rely on Colossus as your kill condition, it brings into question one of the most fundamental cards of the Oath archtype, Gaea's Blessing.  Blessing was a staple because it allowed you to infinitely recur your small set of creatures and also prevented you from decking yourself with Oath.  But with the Colossus's reshuffle effect, it's has a sort of built-in Gaea's Blessing.  It automatically recurs itself and prevents you from being decked by Oath.  In the old days of playing Oath, the one card you did not want to draw was Gaea's Blessing.  It costs you main phase mana and does almost nothing.  I think cutting it is the right choice if you go with Colossus.  As a side effect, you will be dumping a lot more cards in your yard with Oath making Regrowth and Yawgmoth's Will that much more broken.

The New Toy

The new toy is, of course, Forbidden Orchard.  It helps sure up Oath's toughest matchup, a control deck with very few or no creatures.  It provides you with a free uncounterable way to force a creature upon your opponent.  It also sets up the new "God Hand" of Orchard, Mox, Oath with FoW backup.  The only question is, how many copies of this gem need to be in the deck?  In an unpowered decklist, you're going to have to rely on Chrome Mox, Mox Diamond, and Lotus Petal for that "God Hand" so it's not going to be as common as with a fully powered deck.  My initial feeling is that three copies is the proper number for an unpowered list while four is probably best for a powered list to maximize your "God Hand" potential.

The Decklist

So what exactly am I advocating here?  Here's my newest build:

Falc's Unpowered BUG Oath
// Win
    4  - Oath of Druids
    2  - Darksteel Colossus
// Counter
    4  - Force of Will
    4  - Mana Drain
    2  - Misdirection
// Disruption
    4  - Duress
// Draw & Search
    4  - Brainstorm
    2  - Cunning Wish
    2  - Sylvan Library
    1  - Yawgmoth's Will
    1 [RV] - Regrowth
    1  - Fact or Fiction
    1 [RV] - Demonic Tutor
    1  - Mystical Tutor
// Mana
    1  - Crucible of Worlds
    1  - Mox Diamond
    1  - Chrome Mox
    1 [TP] - Lotus Petal
    1  - Library of Alexandria
    1  - Strip Mine
    4 [TP] - Wasteland
    3 [CK] - Forbidden Orchard
    4 [RV] - Tropical Island
    4 [RV] - Underground Sea
    4  - Polluted Delta
    2  - Flooded Strand
//
SB: 3 [TP] - Propaganda
SB: 3  - Blue Elemental Blast
SB: 2  - Morphling
SB: 1  - Woodripper
SB: 1  - Crucible of Worlds
SB: 1 [RV] - Mind Twist
SB: 1  - Naturalize
SB: 1  - Moment's Peace
SB: 1  - Coffin Purge
SB: 1  - Vampiric Tutor

Now perhaps this listing could use a tweak or two, but I think this is a good starting place.  I'd really love to hear some intelligent opinions on the bold items above.  Thanks for reading.

- Falc

I actually tried Night's Whisper for a while because I feared that Scrying and Yawg's Will would conflict too much with each other.  It didn't take long for me to switch back to Scrying.  Night's Whisper is okay, but nothing beats "EOT Scrying for 5" when neither player has any cards in hand.

Planar Void shuts off my own Yawg's Will, so that's right out.  Wretch is okay, but it costs a buttload of mana to do what Crypt does for 0.


Well, Nether Void decks have a difficult time coming from behind since you can't really play Void in an unfavorable board position.  That pretty much means you scoop to Fish and Landstill.  This deck, on the other hand, has Deed and more resilient beatsticks to bring you back.  Also, it's about 10x better than Sui in an aggro environment.  Name a "good deck" that's unpowered that this deck would have trouble with.  I haven't found one yet.  Any deck that relies on a weenie rush has a very tough time because of Deed so that rules out Stompy, Elves, Fish, Sligh, and to some extent FCG (although FCG is always tough).  Any deck that relies on  small artifacts to do something is again hosed by Deed, so that puts a wrench in Belcher, Fluctuator, and Ankh.  A buget combo deck would be tough if they come out fast, don't need a lot of mana, and can avoid the Duress and Hymn.

CoW wouldn't be bad, but the list is so tight that there isn't much room to make cuts.  About the only maindeck card that could come out for something is Masticore.  His upkeep is steep, but he's great removal and a tough to kill beatstick.

Matt, thanks for the link.  There's a lot of good suggestions there.  I didn't claim that the basis for the deck was groundbreaking.  Besides, if the deck type hasn't been seriously discussed since 2002, perhaps it's time to revist it and improve it.

- Falc

Warning: This a budget deck built for a completely unpowered metagame.  If you are looking for something to beat Workshop-based decks or Trendrils combo, stop reading.  This is not the thread for you.

Okay, now that we've got that out of the way, I'd like to present a deck I've been working with and tweaking for about a year.  It's built to contend in an unpowered metagame where about 60% of the field is aggro, however the good players play control with Mana Drain.  It originally started as a variation on "The Rock", and did quite well.  As I worked with it, I kept whittling down the stupid and increasing the potency.  Right now, it looks like this:

Falcon Black
// Win
    4 [RV] - Hypnotic Specter
    2  - Masticore
    3  - Spiritmonger
// Disruption
    4  - Duress
    4  - Hymn to Tourach
    4 [UN] - Sinkhole
    4  - Pernicious Deed
// Draw & Tutor
    2  - Skeletal Scrying
    1  - Necropotence
    1  - Yawgmoth's Will
    1 [RV] - Demonic Tutor
    1  - Demonic Consultation
// Mana
    4 [RV] - Dark Ritual
    1  - Strip Mine
    4 [TP] - Wasteland
    4 [RV] - Bayou
    4  - Polluted Delta
    3  - Llanowar Wastes
    9  - Swamp
//
SB: 4  - Phyrexian Negator
SB: 3 [TP] - Diabolic Edict
SB: 3  - Infest
SB: 3  - Naturalize
SB: 2  - Tormod's Crypt

At first glance this looks a lot like "Suicide Black" except that it's not suicidal at all.  Instead, it's actually aggro-control.  The deck comes out swinging hard and fast with Ritual-fueled disruption and knocks your opponent on his backside.  Then it drops Monger or Masticore to step on their neck while they're down.

Pernicious Deed is the star of this show.  It selectively wipes the board of all non-land permanents.  Weenie rushes, artifact mana, Crucible, troublesome enchantments, man-lands... they all get ground to dust under the heavy boot of Deed.  It's the perfect compliment to the full suite of Sinkholes and Strips.  Most often it's a one-sided Wrath of God, but other times it's a Shatterstorm or Tranquility or all three.  It's whatever you need whenever you need it.  Why Deed isn't used more in the format is baffling.  Other than it's odd G/B color combination, it does everything but tie your shoes for you.  Perhaps it's just overlooked.  Perhaps people mistakenly think it's "too slow".

Hypnotic Specter is an old friend of mine.  He always puts an uncomforatble grimace on the face of my opponent.  Although he's easy to deal with via any number of spells including Fire/Ice, he presents a threat that must be dealt with by control decks as early as turn one.  Unfortunately, his ability can become a drawback against decks like Madness or Survival.  I've been toying with the idea of trying Nantuko Shade in this spot, but I'm very concerned with the anti-synergy of Shade and Deed.  The most popular Deed number, by far, is two.  Perhaps the power of the Shade is worth it, but I remain unconvinced.

Now that Skeletal Scrying has been "discovered" by the rest of the world, I'm sure it's inclusion in this list is expected.  It's basically Necros numbers two and three and keeps the gas tank full after you've decimated your opponent's hand and board.  If I could add one card to the deck it would be a third Scrying.

The mana is where I'm most open for suggestions.  Sol Ring was in this deck through every tweak, but it recently got cut.  The fact is that it only really helps a few cards in the deck and it always gets blown away by Deed.  Now the cards that it helps power are all key cards, so I'm definitely missing it a lot, but whenever I drew it I almost always wished it was just another Swamp.  Should I cut a land to bring back the Sol Ring or am I correct in cutting it?  Besides Sol Ring, I've also shyed away from Mox Diamond and Chrome Mox for similar reasons.  Having more ways to get double-black on turn one sounds good to me, but are either of these cards worth inclusion with four Deed on my side?

The sideboard is built specifially for my local meta and all the cards have obvious uses so I'm not going over them here.  You should always tweak the board for your expected field anyway.

I've tested mostly against Fish and unpowered 4C Control, but I've also won a local tourney with the deck (undefeated with only 1 game loss), so I've gotten to throw it against a variety of decks.

Against Fish it should be obvious that if you resolve Masticore or Spiritmonger, you win.  Unfortunately, that's easier said than done.  Deed and Duress are your pocket aces for this matchup.  Duress makes sure that you don't get caught under a chain of Standstills and Deed turns off the Curiosity-fueled beat-down real quick.  It's certainly not an easy matchup, but it's very win-able.  Right now I'm boarding in the Infests for this matchup, but I'm not married to that idea.  I'd love to hear a better option out of the sideboard to tackle Fish.

Unpowered 4C Control is a bit easier than Fish.  All you really have to worry about is Mana Drain, and all you really have to do to stop Mana Drain is kill their hand or keep them off double-blue with your LD.  Face-down Angels and Decree tokens are easy targets for Deed, but face-up Angels can be a problem.  Oh, and watch out for Balance.  I board in the Negators here and I think they're the best option.  I wouldn't mind squeezing a Mind Twist in there, but that's not a spell you want to see get Mana Drained.

Random aggro decks mostly take it in the nuts when facing this deck.  Either the land kill keeps them from casting anything of significance or the Deed swoops in and annihilates whatever they had going.  The one exception to that is a deck packing it's own regenerators like R/G with Boa, Troll, and Rancor.  Rancor on a Troll is a scary sight indeed, but thankfully Infest is waiting in the board to clean that mess up for you.

I realize this deck will probably be dismissed or even locked because it's out of the ordinary and hasn't won any major tourneys, but I tried to present it in an intelligent way and hope to generate some discussion and critique.  Thanks for reading.

- Falc

I have to agree that this is overcosted trash.  A six mana spell should win you the game or cause a drastic change in the game-state (think Upheaval).  This card doesn't do that.  It's a great counterspell and a neat effect, it's just not six-mana good.  This card reminds me a lot of Spelljack, and I predict it'll get played about the same amount.

- Falc

I agree with the others that you need Crucible.  I would probably cut the Cunning Wishes to make room for two Crucible.  Landstill doesn't really need to wish.  It has answers to everything in maindeck (ie. Disk and Stifle).  With the extra space in your board, I would run 3 Rack and Ruin to handle those Stax decks.  Oh, and don't cut the Mana Drains.

- Falc

I'm sorry, but you're missing the boat on Crucible.  It's amazing against all matchups.  Let's run down the list of uses real quick.

1. Fixes your mana by allowing you to recur fetchlands and never miss a land drop.
2. Keeps you from losing to your opponent's heavy Wasteland draw.
3. Wins games by allowing you to recur Wasteland or Stripmine to take out troublesome lands or even locking your opponent down (esp. in the mirror).

It looks great on paper and it also works great in practice.  If you haven't seen it work for you, then you haven't given it enough of a chance.  Not running Crucible in 4C Control is a mistake.

- Falc

I'm currently running a 3/1 config of Angel/DoJ.  My metagame is fairly aggro, so I found that two Angel just wasn't getting me one soon enough.  I refuse to cut the DoJ mainly because of the control matchup where DoJ slips past counterspells for a big win, but also because of a unique feature of my metagame where Diabolic Edict is the most popular spell in the room.

I cut Mind Twist as well for the second Crucible.  It's great after a Mana Drain, but otherwise it's only ho-hum and often is the wrong play.

I'm also down to two Cunning Wish.  It's a great card and it's pitchable, but it's very slow.  I wouldn't mind squeezing the third back in there, but there just isn't room for me right now.

I've been experimenting with Gemstone Mine instead of City of Brass and I must say that it's worth a try.  Once I started running two Cruicble main and one side I realized that it has great synergy with Gemstone Mine for painfree 5-color mana.  If you run out of counters, you simply re-play it and start over (though honestly, I rarely need to tap a Mine more than three times anyway).

For the budget players out there, another great synergy with Crucible is Mox Diamond.  Discard a land to play the Diamond and then re-play that land later once you get Crucible online.  It allows the budget player to get UU on turn one for the quick Mana Drain.