I've been working on the following deck for about 3-4 years, and I finally thought I'd share it to get your feedback. It's definitely not a tier 1 tournament deck, but it is still very, very strong in both casual AND multiplayer since the deck is so incredibly flexible. Enjoy!
4 x Volrath's Shapeshifter
1 x Akroma, Angel of Wrath
1 x Phage the Untouchable
1 x Gigapede
1 x Blinking Spirit
1 x Wormfang Manta
2 x True Believer
1 x Konda, Lord of Eiganjo
1 x Battlefield Scrounger
1 x Multani, Maro Sorcerer
1 x Simic Sky Swallower
1 x Blazing Archon
1 x Seedborn Muse
1 x Phytohydra
1 x Twisted Abomination
1 x Elvish Spirit Guide
2 x Wood Sage
1 x Kuro, Pitlord
4 x Survival of the Fittest
4 x Tortured Existence
4 x Birds of Paradise
4 x Wall of Roots
1 x Volrath's Stronghold
4 x Tropical Island
4 x Underground Sea
4 x Bayou
4 x Polluted Delta
2 x Yavimaya Coast
2 x Reflecting Pool
Sideboard:
4 x Squee, Goblin Nabob
1 x Phage the Untouchable
1 x Reya Dawnbringer
4 x Basking Rootwalla 2 x True Believer
3 x Gigapede
The star of this super fun, but challenging to play, deck is Volrath's Shapeshifter. In combination with Survival of the Fittest, Tortured Existence, and a truckload of static/free/cheap creature ability tools, Volrath's Shapeshifter becomes a deadly Swiss Army Knife that transforms into whatever you need for any moment.
The key kill with this deck is VS attacking as a nigh-unkillable Akroma or Simic Sky Swallower and trampling over its damage. Then, after damage is on the stack, use Survival, Tortured Existence, or even the VS's own ability to shapeshift it into Phage. Damage resolves, Phage kills the opponent, and you go home a winner with your Swiss Army Knife in your back pocket. If you're wondering if this combo really works, go ahead and call Wizards' helpline at 1-800-324-6496 and they'll fill you in on all the gory details as to why this combo rocks.
This deck is awesome in both 1-on-1 AND multiplayer because VS is so incredibly versatile. Here are some more hints on using the Swiss Army Knife, a complicated, but absolutely fun, deck:
Note that most of the creature tools in this deck are virtually free to use their abilities. Take advantage of this and don't be afraid to constantly change your VS multiple times a turn, even in the midst of stack resolution. Also, you'll probably have to remind your opponent that discarding a creature to the top of your graveyard with Survival of the Fittest or Tortured Existence is a COST that CANNOT be responded to, so be prepared for your opponents getting pretty angry upon hearing that. The effect of getting a creature from your deck or graveyard CAN be responded to however (this happens upon resolution of the ability), so be aware.
Now, some details on how to use your juicy, fattie, super-flexible Swiss Army Knife toolbox:
Simic Sky Swallower, Multani, and Gigapede are there to keep the Shapeshifter safe from targetted abilities; Konda keeps the shapeshifter safe from any attempts to sweep away VS through a Wrath of God, Engineered Explosives, etc.; Blinking Spirit is a blocking machine and free reset button that can't even be Stifled because you can just declare that you use it again as many times as you need; Wormfang Manta doesn't create it's negative effect since you'll only put it on top of your graveyard once VS is in play--and WM combo's really well with Blinking Spirit: declare the BS ability, in response use Survival or Tortured Existence to get WM on top of the graveyard before your VS leaves play, then VS leaves play and you never lost a turn, but gained an extra one. The end result: Time Walk! Do this over and over again to really upset the opposition.
Phytohydra (clothed in a VS) is a virtual win against red; Twisted Abomination lets you get the dual land you need (Bayou or Underground Sea) while also putting a fat creature in the graveyard that can regenarate (which is why other cycling creatures were not utilized here: they don't protect your VS once they're on top of the graveyard).
Kuro lets you trade life for your opponent's annoying weenies (or fatties, if you have to); Battlefield Scrounger lets you recur in case your deck gets thin, or if you have Survival but no TE. Scrounger can even manipulate your graveyard as best suits your needs by clearing away ruffage that isn't good VS material for the moment. It can even recur itself since it's actually in the graveyard and acting under the influence of VS, all while making VS +3/+3 bigger!; Seedborn Muse lets you reset your mana for doing whatever you need during your opponent's turn (especially great in multiplayer games!); Gigapede lets you discard for free a creature in your hand to the top of the graveyard, again, setting up your VS while also restocking your shrouding ammo; Blazing Archon plays Super Moat Stall against creature rushes until you set up your creature removal or game ending kill; the two True Believers are incredibly useful against Duress, Mind Twist, Hymn to Tourach, Diabolic Edict, Chainer's Edict, or any other spell that you never want to be targetted by; Elvish Spirit Guide can either hurry up your early game development, surprise your opponent that you have that one more mana needed to Survival to get what you need, or, when you have the two (or more) creature tools in hand and a VS on the board to use them, but you're one green mana short to utilize them with Survival in the combination that you'd like, just discard your first creature to go get the Spirit Guide, then pitch the Spirit Guide out of the game (and therefore NOT in your graveyard--because who wants a vanilla 2/2 VS?) to discard your next VS tool.
The Wood Sages help you burn through your deck to find the VS's in a hurry if you haven't found a Survival yet, AND the Wood Sages help you set up your graveyard because in using its ability, YOU get to decide the order of the cards when they're placed in the graveyard (i.e., put the tool you need on top so your VS in play becomes what you need it to be--sort of a mini-Survival of the Fittest).
The Birds of course speed up your game and give you whatever mana color you need early; the four Wall of Roots are awesome because you can use them once on your turn AND once on your opponent's turn; also, if in a pinch the walls hit the graveyard when you've got a VS in play and no way to transform it into anything but a wall, at least the walls are fat 0/5's that are hard to kill AND give you five more green mana to use to shapeshift your VS into something else (just remember to keep in mind those permanent -0/-1 counters when choosing your next VS tool).
Tortured existence is amazingly huge in this deck--it lets you use your graveyard as a reverse Survival, getting back VS's or buried tools you've lost, and also letting you restructure the top of your graveyard with what you need VS to be.
Volrath's Stronghold (nice flavor for the VS, huh?), is awesome for getting creatures back or to keep from running out of cards (which can happen fast).
Finally, don't forget that you can hardcast all of these creatures too (Birds may be needed to cast a few of the creatures), so if you have to, play regular fattie beatdown when necessary.
Oh, and by the way, the sideboard is mostly if you want to go aggro. Keep in mind that 1 Rootwalla + 1 Survival + 4 green mana = 4 Rootwalla in play. The same is true with Tortured Existence + 1 creature in hand + 4 Rootwalla's in the yard + 4 black mana = 4 Rootwalla's in play for a VERY long time! Reya lets you set up another way of killing--put fatties in the yard with Survival, then use VS as a Reya to bring the real Reya in play and begin the Fatty Blitzkrieg action! The 3 Gigapede are for when you feel the need for more anti-targeting protection. The same goes for the two True Believers, but for protecting your dome instead. The extra Phage is to ensure any combo consistency concerns if the opponent has ways to remove your cards from the game.
So why not Genesis? Too slow, actually.
Why not main deck Basking Rootwalla or Squee? They just sit there on top of your graveyard for too long and make VS too vulnerable.
Any suggestions, especially in the form of static/free/cheap creature abilities I might have overlooked? Please keep in mind that I've intentionally upped the number of creatures and significantly left out spells (other than Survival & TE) in order to improve the odds that the card on top of the graveyard is useful for VS. Any suggestions should reflect the same concern.
I've spent about four years improving this deck, but I'm not totally up with the latest sets, so any other ideas would be quite welcome. Love to hear from you! Enjoy!
TestDrive
