R/G AnkhMaze

[Ben Kossman]

I couldn't help but notice the synergy between the two cards and have a ridiculous obsession with playing R/G aggro
so I thougt I'd give it a shot and see what people think.

Artifact:12
4 Ankh of Mishra
4 Null Rod
1 Black Vise
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Ruby

Green:16
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
4 Skyshroud Elite
4 Root Maze
4 Rancor

Red:20
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Kird Ape
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Price of Progress
4 Lightning Bolt

Land:12
4 Taiga
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Forest
2 Mountain

I know Ankh is greati in Sligh and this isn't much different aside from having game versus Combo because of Root Maze. An extra six damage per games was exactly what my old R/G build needed almost every time I lost.

Sideboard
3 Ground Seal (Welder, Dragon, Reanimator)
4 Artifact Mutation (Stax, 7/10, 5/3, Affinity)
4 Pyroblast (Vs. Anything with Mana Drain, Fish)
4 Maze of Ith (Vs. Oath)

Maze seems better than Enchatment removal versus Oath since it's uncounterable and isn't dead post Oath
like Naturalize. I guess the only other question I have is whether or not MD artifact removal is necessary. I really think I can win most games without it but my experience tells me otherwise. Regardless, I've got Artifact Mutation game two versus
Stax so I'm pretty happy. This archetype is underplayed in my opinion and is doable on a budget in even a five proxy
environment. Ankh is a top notch anti-Control card and gives me a second card main to stop Dragon.
Price of Progress is my justification for not running Waste/Strip and is just wrong versus every tier one
deck I can think of offhand. What am I missing ? 

[Joblin Velder]

Fetchlands + Ankh + Rootmaze a combo does not make.

< /endYoda>

[endersdouble]

What he said.  You're putting in Root Maze and Ankh to hate fetches (among other things.)  I'd take 'em out for normal forests/mountains.  (yes, that hurts your mana.  Deal.)  I think you should really play Hidden Gibbons.  What deck doesn't play instants, and who doesn't like a 1 mana 4/4?  Hidden Guerillas aren't bad either.

[balthamel]

While I agree that fetchlands are not too good with the rest of the deck, I think you should add Land Grants in their place instead of basic lands. They do what the fetchlands do, but with a much smaller drawback.

The Price of Progress maindecked can be great depending on your metagame, but if you find they rarely do anything, try Jackal Pups, Chain Lightnings, or even a few Pyrokinesis.

[endersdouble]

@Balthamel--of course.  Why didn't I think of that!  Land Grants would be great.

[Dzy]

The problem with Land Grant and 8 lands in your deck is that you might have Land Grant as your only Mana source in your hand and because you show your hand and they see that you're holding no other mana sources they can Force it, setting you back a few turns. Same problem against Stax, when they go turn 1 Sphere of Resistance or even worse, Trinisphere (won't happen too often, but sometimes they can go random broken) You have a bit of a problem. Add the Strips, and you have an even bigger problem.

I don't say you shouldn't play or at least test the Land Grants, but I think that there are too many matchups where youd rather have a fetchland, despite the lack of synergy between fetch and root maze or Ankh, than a Land Grant.

[Ben Kossman]

Ideally this deck won't care about the bad synergy because the Fetchlands will only be played in the first 2 turns before Maze or Ankh hit the table. The consistency is worth the pain in my opinion. Land Grant seems like more of a liability to me for the reasons stated above. Popular opinion seems to have turned against LG since the Fetches came out and I tend to agree. Karplusan Forest is testable but would cause me just as much pain over the course of a game as the Fetches so I feel like that whole argument is a moot point. One card that seems quite promising is Viridian Zealot, it seems strictly better than Skyshroud Elite except for the CC. Has anyone else tried it in a mana light R/G build at all ?

[zulander]

I don't know if you read WOTC boards but there is a really nice RG tempo deck, it focuses on rootmaze and pyrostatic pillar as apposed to ankh of mishra. Here is a sample build if you think it can help you at all.

Mana: 24
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
3 Mountain
3 Forest
2 Taiga
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Black Lotus

Creatures / Beatdown: 21
4 Gorilla Shaman
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Kird Ape
4 River Boa
2 Wild Mongrel
3 Rancor

Control: 15
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Root Maze
4 Pyrostatic Pillar
3 Naturalize

The deck is a little harder to play than standard RG decks because of the aspect's that the root maze and pyro pillar bring. Give it a try and see if you like, it can surprise you when you get the hang of it. The deck can be easily manipulated to fit your meta as well.

[Ben Kossman]

The Pillar is an excellent card and it's an enchantment so it's unaffected by Artifact Removal. thanks for the lead, I'll check it out. @Deathisforyou:This deck isn't really supposed to be a burn deck, it's based more around efficient disruption, the burn
aside from POP is to deal with stuff like Welder. Also, I've seen budget deck win tournaments in Europe and FCG just won a big tournament here. I think budget isn't necessarily "dead". It's just that the powered decks are better tuned and more entertaining to play. Back to the deck, The Null Rods and Ankh can definitely be replaced. Pillar is definitely superior in terms of
it's impact on the game and I like Artifact Mutation better than Null Rod versus Workshop decks.