Hi all, I've been tinkering with this deck for awhile now, and while it's probably not finished yet, it has reached a state, where I'd say it's competetive in a casual meta.
I've played this against the following staples:
Mono B dragon (bazaars, no P9)
UGr Madness (mox ruby, bazaars)
FCG (no power)
While I have no matchup statistics, I've won a fair amount of times - believe it or not.
Also the deck does greatly against most rogue decks, as it is a creature control deck more than anything, and rogue decks mostly are creature based.
Vs. combo it can get into trouble, though dragon is usually ok if I manage to get my Swords in time.
Without further nonsense I give you the decklist:
Dominic Bleu Blanche by Steffen Skov (that's me
)
Mana Sources (23):
10 Island
7 Plains
4 City of Brass - Adarkar Wastes or Tundra is superior, but I don't own them, if you seek to add money to the deck, run 4 tundra and 4 adarkar rather than the cities. Also the talismans of W/U could be used
1 Lotus Petal
1 Sol Ring
Control (22):
3 Nomad Decoy - Better than i.e. Stormscape apprentice post threshold, blocks goblin lackeys as well.
3 Pariah - Against FCG this one on a beloved chaplain is game.
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Beloved Chaplain - Combo with Pariah, also great for blocking fat
3 Rootwater Hunter - Kills of welders, BoP, lackeys, other small crap, Suq'ata' Firewalker could be better if one ran duals
3 Rootwater Thief - Anti combo, but generally useful as well
3 Sigil of Sleep - On a hunter removes any creature threat (very cruel vs. roar of the wurm tokens
)
Counters (8):
4 Counterspell - The main reason for the cities of brass being needed
4 Mana Leak - The next best counterspell, could be replaced by FoW if one prefers.
Draw (7):
4 Standstill - Simply great in this deck, as I usually establish a state of control early game, and then drop standstill.
3 Merfolk Looter - Giving any card cycling is just great, especially late game for those dead lands. This one really makes the deck much more consistent.
The deck runs two main combos:
Beloved Chaplain + Pariah = Opponent's creatures are useless
Rootwater Hunter + Sigil of Sleep = Same as above, except to lesser extent
What makes these combos so great is, that none of the elements are useless on their own.
The Rootwater hunter kills annoying utility creatures like welder, lackey, BoP and similar.
The Sigil of Sleep admittedly is somewhat useless on its own, but it can be cast on Beloved Chaplain for roughly same effect, which means I'll very rarely draw it and not have one of the two creatures to enchant.
Pariah can be used as a timewalk against aggro, as well as being an STP.
And Beloved Chaplain just blocks anything huge or attacks as an unblockable sources of damage.
I did earlier run:
Accumulated Knowledge - This one is inferior to Standstill in terms of Card Advantage, and Merfolk Looter cannot be replaced in this deck. Also more draw isn't really needed as the deck relies on permanent control (through means such as sigil of sleep + rootwater hunter, beloved chaplain + pariah)
Fact or Fiction - Really not that great IMHO, you'll rarely get more than 3 cards from this one, and Standstill does that for half the price (1U vs. 3U)
Balance - I will add this again, but it has no real purpose except if you're in a losing position, where it'll give you a second chance.
Enlightened Tutor - Not really that much to tutor for with this one, also the Looters perform a somewhat similar task
More pingers - Usually I'll find one when I need it, also the chaplain does the same although sorcery speed (my turn only)
Spirit Mirror + Unnatural Selection - Simply too slow to be of any use, also both cards are useless on their own (almost anyway)
Should anyone have ideas for improvements I'd like to hear about it
Other than that I just want to inspire other people to try playing something they made themselves. It's a blast to win against staples with something this cheap, which you designed, tested, redesigned etc. yourself.
Not to mention the joy in just creating it.
