[Deck] Shahrazad .. yeah, really

[Duffy]

Hey peeps, how are you all doing?

A small intro: I'm all over T1, enjoying the format immensely and have played URphid (some time ago) and R/G Zoo with decent results at local tourneys.
Lately I'm trying to 'pull fast ones' with decks no one expects and voilá, Shahrazad.

If it turns out allright here, I might actually take it to a tourney and surprise the attendants, you never know.  

I kind of got set in the right direction due to this article by Rahul Chandra posted on Starcitygames almost a year ago:
http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/print.php?Article=7047

Right, onto the list. Rahul had used an W/R build that did ok, but I quickly let my eye fall on Black as secondary color:

Annoyance:
4 Shahrazad
3 Tormod's Crypt (for those not familiair with the current rulings, cards removed in Shah's subgames are removed from the game permanently)

Creatures:
4 Savannah Lions
3 Soltari Priest
1 Samurai of the Pale Curtain
2 Exalted Angel

Removal:
2 Swords to Plowshares
1 Diabolic Edict
1 Balance
4 Vindicate

Disrupt:
4 Duress
2 Gerrard's Verdict

Utility:
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Disenchant

Manabase:
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Black Lotus
1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland
4 Scrubland
3 Caves of Koilos
7 Plains
3 Swamp

No SB yet.

Now, the obvious goal is to force an early subgame, Crypt him in the subgames (or use the Samurai's ability) to cripple his main game and so taking a firm grip on the main game.

I'll explain the maybe-less-then-obvious choices:

Soltari Priest: Unblockability is always good, though his cc of WW pains my eyes. I haven't been able to find a decent replacement yet but then again, I haven't had many problems with it so far. Besides, I need the aggro to maintain control of life totals, especially when I've lost a subgame.

Samurai o/t Pale Curtain: His ability techs extremely well with Shahrazad and his bushido ability enables him to block a lot of weenies.

Exalted Angel: Almost a sure spot here. After a subgame loss she can reïnstate my life total and send the game the other way.

Diabolic Edict: Another StP might be enough as well, but this gets around any untargetable creatures, i.e. Morphling.

Vindicate: I know, I know. I can probably do better then this but that's where you come in. I've pondered over this a long time and I'm kind of stuck. It's a decent removal card vs most non-blue decks, but that's why blue is T1's primary color. This would be one of the first cards to cut.

Gerrard's Verdict: I had Hymns in at first, but a double BB and WW in 1 deck that probably sees the manabase cripple after a 2nd subgame didn't appeal to me, so I switched it for the Verdict. At the time I opted for this it was just a fill-up to juice up the graveyard for a Crypt.


I found out during some playtesting that this deck almost doesn't even come out to play vs aggro decks. I opted to play 1, maybe even 2 Wrath of God main. I haven't tested that yet, but I hoped you people would come in there and give me a hand, as I've busted my brains over the past few weeks on this card.

I'm even not sure whether or not this is the strongest build, that perhaps W/R is better due to it's removal with Bolts and Incinerates or that maybe Blue could fit in with it's power and cards like Extract as SB targets for Wish.

To finish it up, Shahrazad decks are too vulnerable if Shahz doesn't appear early in the game (or is countered), so like Rahul's build, the deck needs to be able to win without it.

I appreciate any help you can give me here.

[rchandra]

I'm glad to see people still read my foolishness...  A friend referred me to this and I decided to finally get a tmd account.

I still have a Shahrazad deck, though I generally lend it out rather than play it.  I've made it mono-White due to losing too many games to Crucible / Wasteland / Trinisphere (and this will be an issue even after Trinisphere is restricted, the Crucible / Wasteland is a problem).  I also added the Illusionary Mask / Phyrexian Dreadnaught combo.  Since there are 1cc creatures in the deck anyway, the opponent must plan without knowing what will attack.  The Masks also give resilience to Chalice / Trinisphere.  Exalted Angel is something I've considered, I think it might be best with all the Moxen.  I haven't yet tried putting all the Moxen in the deck.  Your workable black splash intrigues me, Hymn's BB cost kept me away from a black build.

This list is from memory, it might not be quite right.

4 Illusionary Mask
3 Tormod's Crypt
4 Shahrazad
1 balance
4 Phyrexian Dreadnaught
4 Savannah Lions
3 Isamaru, Hound of Konda
3 Soltari Priest
3 Disenchant
3 Swords to plowshares
1 enlightened tutor
2 cursed Scroll
18 plains
1 mox pearl
1 black lotus
4 wasteland
1 strip mine

[Duffy]

Hey, I never expected the man himself replying to this thread, and even creating an account because of it, I'm honored  

I must say that your R/W appeals more to me then the list you posted here. I can understand your motivation though, but I feel a 2nd colour will keep the opponent more off-balance, although the trick with Mask is a good one  
Another reason why I won't try it out is because I own only 1 Illusionary Mask (which was a pain to get in the first place) but you've given up a lot of aggro taking out red. I like the combo with Dreadnought (first time I've seen it   ) but with all the artifact hate and not to mention, Null Rod out there it seems hard to pull off.

Red's instants can surprise an opponent and finish him off or kill an unsuspecting creature. Savannah Lions and Isamaru will not get past Ophie, Tog, Juggernauts and the likes. Ofcourse there is always StP and the Soltari Priest, but still I believe red's burn will help you control the board more.
I'm still not satisfied about the Priest. The fact that he runs straight through your opp's defense is a gift from heaven in this deck, but his disability to block keeps hanging in the back of my head. Oh well, maybe I shouldn't wine so much  

I'm glad you are intrigued by my black version. You can tell it needs a lot of work with the questionable Vindicates and Verdicts. I was toying with the idea of adding Mind Twist to the mix. Ofcourse this would require the full set of Moxen (as you mentioned for the Exalted Angel) but this could make all the difference.
I'm also still neighing to add Blue to the mix as I'm very fond of the Power and carddrawing, something this deck screams for (not counting Tutors), but it seems risky to mess up the manabase as I stated in my first post. I want to try and optimize W/B first, I'm putting Blue and Mono-White on a hold, for now.
I'll give a rough idea of what I have in mind right now:

4 Shahrazad
4 Savannah Lions
2 Exalted Angel
4 Soltari Priest

1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Balance
3 StP
1 Disenchant

4 Duress
1 Mind Twist
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor

3 Tormod's Crypt
1 Nevinyrral's Disk/Powder Keg - this might do the trick as well

1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Black Lotus
1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland
4 Scrubland
3 Caves of Koilos
7 Plains
3 Swamp

This leaves 1 spot open for anything. Perhaps an Eternal Dragon?
Hopefully more people will come with ideas. I've even considered Carrion Rats at 1 point if only for it's optional tech.  

[rchandra]

Another Disenchant or Divine Offering would be a good last card.  I think Engineered Explosives may be better than Powder Keg here, but it depends on what you're removing.  I don't like Disk since it comes into play tapped.

Card drawing... Pursuit of Knowledge and Necrologia come to mind, but they are really clunky.  Skeletal Scrying doesn't seem like it can work in the deck.

[Duffy]

Another Disenchant or Divine Offering would be a good last card.  I think Engineered Explosives may be better than Powder Keg here, but it depends on what you're removing.  I don't like Disk since it comes into play tapped.

Card drawing... Pursuit of Knowledge and Necrologia come to mind, but they are really clunky.  Skeletal Scrying doesn't seem like it can work in the deck.

I love Desk, especially in bad situations it's just a reset button where Explosives will just remove the small stuff, and will never be bigger then a 2cc blowup (not counting moxen). I agree it could go before Keg though.

Scrying has really bad synergy with this deck, I've thought of it before. I'm neighing more to stuff like Abeyance as a useful cantrip card, but the deck is narrow as it is already and you really need a board clearer or 2.
Pursuit of Knowledge would work best being backed up by cards like Abeyance / Orim's Chant IMO, which are both nasty stuff to play. Maybe Pursuit could be played in a U/W variant so you can Drain into it and protect it with Chant, Abeyance and counters..


The other day I started to weigh off Planar Void. As you will suffer from it as bad as your opponent, there might be ways to take advantage of that but so far I haven't found them yet... This would screw up many opp's games that abuse the graveyard and as a first turn drop only stoppable by FoW.

[asmoranomardicodais]

These suggestions don't help the issues you have very well, but Otherworldy Journey might be an option. It's a good creature saver, it can unmorph the angel, and you can use it last turn in a subgame to remove a card of your choice.

As for mass removal, I think cataclysm would be an excellent choice. Leaving the opponent staring down an exalted angel is always a strong move, and it gets lots of cards into the graveyard in the subgame.

Another idea might be to use Equipoise and run Genju of the fields. Anything Equipoise phased out when you kill them is gone for good, and Genju of the fields serves as a strong blocker and gains you back the life that you need, like exalted angel.

Hope my ideas are any good.

[Duffy]

hey, thanks 4 the help.

Otherworldly Journey is a nice combat trick indeed. Although, due to my lack of creatures I fear it will be more often than not a card just sitting in my hand where I would rather have a StP or something.

Also, Equipoise is a fun card, but I think it won't have that much impact on the game. I run more manasources than most decks and because I don't use fetches I won't run out of land as soon as they will. I think I'd rather have Armageddon instead, which brings me to your next idea..

Cataclysm. This card would definitely fit into my deck and will most certainly will be vigorously tested  

I have given thought about Genju of the Fields, and I'm still not sure if I should play it but I'll test it.
thanks!

[Wolven]

I can honestly say that the fact that the deck is mono-W makes this deck far stronger. (Can honestly say meaning we're from the same place )

The deck is, to be honest, a nightmare for many control decks and even a combo deck if they go off later then T2. Also it even has a decent Stax match-up! *grumble* Aura of Silence *grumble*

I like the black splash, as long as it doesn't make the deck weaker then necessary, meaning devolving it's mana base.

[potm]

Hey, pretty interesting that Shahrazad is definitely still in the race. Currently my friend and I also built a special-special Shahrazad Deck, which we refer to as 'sligh?.dec'.

The trick is this. The mainboard is like any other sligh deck: obligatory bolts, chains, the works. The minor adjustment only the keen player might notice is that creature removal is non-existent as such; we aim to destroy the player in game 1 at all costs, even if it means running risks by letting creatures sit on the board. We have to win game 1 in order to make the special appearance in game 2.

What will happen next is this:-

If we won game 1, we sideboard out about 15 various cards (rather insignificant ones; lesser burnspells, breaking playsets, nothing interesting), and get this: replacing them with: 4 Plateau; 3 Shahrazad; disenchants; Orim's Chants; Panoptic Mirrors. I admit it's pretty damn hard getting this on the table, but we tried to combo Shahrazad with the Mirror (which coughs up a Shahrazad spell on the stack *every upkeep*), which should lead to a devastating but legal loop. The point is to win with 1-0, when your opponent has sideboarded potential gamebreakers for pro-red stuff.

Though if the combo isn't seeing play, it shouldn't be much of a problem since playing Shahrazad is in itself a rather painstaking manoeuvre. You're breaking the opponent's concentration, his familiarity with the board and his hand, and you remind him he's still playing against a pretty damn fast sligh deck with a minor tweak. Losing the subgame means 50% lifeloss, which is fatal in the main game.

I admit that this seems flakey at best, but let's not forget it is still only a casual deck. The reaction of your opponent when you hardcast a shahrazad is priceless, all the same. 

[Duffy]

Hey, pretty interesting that Shahrazad is definitely still in the race. Currently my friend and I also built a special-special Shahrazad Deck, which we refer to as 'sligh?.dec'.

The trick is this. The mainboard is like any other sligh deck: obligatory bolts, chains, the works. The minor adjustment only the keen player might notice is that creature removal is non-existent as such; we aim to destroy the player in game 1 at all costs, even if it means running risks by letting creatures sit on the board. We have to win game 1 in order to make the special appearance in game 2.

What will happen next is this:-

If we won game 1, we sideboard out about 15 various cards (rather insignificant ones; lesser burnspells, breaking playsets, nothing interesting), and get this: replacing them with: 4 Plateau; 3 Shahrazad; disenchants; Orim's Chants; Panoptic Mirrors. I admit it's pretty damn hard getting this on the table, but we tried to combo Shahrazad with the Mirror (which coughs up a Shahrazad spell on the stack *every upkeep*), which should lead to a devastating but legal loop. The point is to win with 1-0, when your opponent has sideboarded potential gamebreakers for pro-red stuff.

Though if the combo isn't seeing play, it shouldn't be much of a problem since playing Shahrazad is in itself a rather painstaking manoeuvre. You're breaking the opponent's concentration, his familiarity with the board and his hand, and you remind him he's still playing against a pretty damn fast sligh deck with a minor tweak. Losing the subgame means 50% lifeloss, which is fatal in the main game.

I admit that this seems flakey at best, but let's not forget it is still only a casual deck. The reaction of your opponent when you hardcast a shahrazad is priceless, all the same. 

LOL, a fun trick indeed potm, so you heard of my post here or did you just stumble upon it? Maybe I should post it on MOTL as well eh?

Actually I thought of this trick, but I guess that's not me. I actually want this deck to revolve around (but able to win without) Shahrazad.

I'm pretty contend with the Mono-White build so far, although the Black version also has some very powerful cards to offer and at the moment it's still my 1st choice.


There's just one last version I want to show you guys before we all get to choose which looks best, and it's the W/U version:

4 Shahrazad
4 Savannah Lions
2 Exalted Angel
1 Balance
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Cataclysm

4 Mana Drain (into Angel, Disk, Cataclysm)
4 Force of Will
4 Mana Leak
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
2 Brainstorm

1 Nevinyrral's Disk
3 Tormod's Crypt

1 Sol Ring
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Black Lotus
1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland
4 Tundra
1 Adarkar Wastes
6 Island
6 Plains

Countering nets you cards in the graveyard, 1-1. Keep your opponent on a leash using Disk, Balance, Cataclysm and StP. Overall, this seems self-explanatory. The subgame tactic's been explained already.
shoot!

[Duffy]

When playing blue, I have the access to Extract as well which would be a marvellous here, but I have no idea what to cut.
Any ideas?