Bloodghast, skullclamp, TnT-ish build - need creative input!

[Juzam_Jim]

Hello everyone!

This is a deck I've been working for the last many days. I've been thinking a lot about how to really make the deck work, as I'm sure it must be possible to really do some wicked stuff with a build like this, but I just need some help

Well first off here's the (uncomplete) core of the decklist I'm building around so far.

Creatures (11):

3 Bloodghast
3 Goblin Welder
1 Inkwell Leviathan
1 Platinum Angel
1 Squee, Goblin Nabob
1 Sundering Titan
1 Triskelion

Spells (11):

1 Crop Rotation
1 Darkblast
1 Demonic Tutor
3 Intuition
2 Life from the Loam
1 Regrowth (probably that new Zen card, allowing you to return a creature and a land insted)
1 Tinker
1 Vampiric Tutor

Enchantments (3):

3 Survival of the Fittest

Artifacts (11):

1 Black Lotus
1 Memory Jar
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
3 Skullclamp
1 Sol Ring

Lands (16):

3 Bazaar of Baghdad
4 Dryad Arbor
4 Gemstone Mine
1 Strip Mine
3 Undiscovered Paradise
1 Wasteland

Total: 52 cards.

Now let me explain a bit about the build. I got the idea from the Skullclamp + Bloodghast engine and then adding Intuition, and then I started playing around with some ideas.

Basically the deck resolves around 3 engines:

1) Skullclamp + Bloodghast for card advantage. This works awesome with Gemstone Mine and Undiscovered Paradise and then Life from the Loam was an automatic include, atleast alongside Wasteland + Strip Mine

2) The Dredge + Bazaar engine. Once Loam or Darkblast is in the graveyard, you can get a lot of cards in the graveyard (Bloodghast or artifact creatures recurable with Goblin Welder).

3) The Survival of the Fittest + Squee + Welder engine. This just seems to fit very nicely into the deck, and have great synergy with the other engines.

Dryad Arbor I've included because it seems awesome in this deck. Pitchable to Survival, recurable with Loam and a target for Skullclamp.

I've been playing around with some other cards in the deck: Fastbond, Ancestral Recall, Time Walk, Ancient Grudge, Cabal Therapy, Dakmor Salvage etc., but I just haven't completely figures out how to make this deck as competative as possible, so if you have any ideas, please let me know.

Let the brainstorming begin

[RecklessEmbermage]

Welder, while obviously strong, is probably the most disruptable piece of your deck, and once you loose it, you suddenly have an awful lot of dead cards. How about straight blue-black with rituals and demigod of revenge?

[smasher]

I don't really know what to suggest for your card drawing engines but I do see a lack of disruption/protection. I see Platinum angel, Triskelion, Darkblast, and wasteland as 1 ofs. I see some tutors that can get these but it looks like you would lose to a counter on your tutor as you sit there unable to get the deck going. Have you played this deck yet or just goldfished it?

Duress, Thoughtseize, Cabal therapy, and ancient grudge seem like your better options since you don't have blue to support force. I normally wouldn't suggest therapy but it might be worth testing with bloodghast and bazaar. The ancient grudge is good with intuitions.

I don't really see the usefulness of survival of the fittest in the deck. The low creature count means you need to have a really sweet hand to abuse this effectively. I doubt you want to pitch goblin welder to survival. This leaves only 8 cards to use with it. Intuition seems to do everything survival can do for you but better.

Entomb could also be worth testing and I like it better than survival as well.

To sum up get some disruption in here so you don't lose before your deck gets going.

[BruiZar]

Dryad Arbor is nice because it can be searched with survival, and then put into play as a land drop triggering blood ghasts.

[Juzam_Jim]

@smasher:

Yeah I've actually been wondering if Survival is the weakest part of the deck as well. The logical reasoning would be to take it out or include more creatures which also fits the theme of the deck.

Another thing you mention is the disruptive part, which I admit this deck is lacking, but hey, I guess that's why I decided to post here to get some input

[madmanmike25]

Sorry but this looks like a Legacy deck to me, albeit an illegal one.

Are you really running FOUR Dryad Arbors???? When you factor in that Bazaar takes a land drop and Arbor CIPT, seems like you have a problem generating mana.

Needs more disruption.  This deck seems extremely vulnerable turns 1, 2, and 3.

If playing for fun, then it looks like you succeeded.  But this seems nowhere near competitive.

Only advice is u mention Recall, Walk, and fastbond but dont include them?  Put them in.

Good luck,
Mike

[jaeppel]

This deck looks like its trying to be too many things at the same time.  Draw a bunch of cards... so that you can weld in a trike?  The bloodghast engine, imo is better suited to feuling a stream of cheap efficient critters.  Of course we have yet to see the optimal build in the meta, or even if ghast will be enough to finally push skullclamp out of the closet.

I think survival is not the engine for this deck.  Bazaar is where its at.

[silvernail]

I really am not sold on a draw engine that only functions once you get your opponent to 10 life or less. Even barring that, this list is trying to mix too many engines at once to actually DO anything besides attempt to get some engine online before failing to your opponent's deck actually doing something other than trying to start maybe doing something.

[BruiZar]

I really am not sold on a draw engine that only functions once you get your opponent to 10 life or less. Even barring that, this list is trying to mix too many engines at once to actually DO anything besides attempt to get some engine online before failing to your opponent's deck actually doing something other than trying to start maybe doing something.

I think you are misreading Bloodghast. The only difference is that Bloodghast gets haste when your opponent has 10 life. It always functions, it just can't beat with haste but then again, Accumulated Knowledge can't beat with haste and Ancestral Recall can't either.

[silvernail]

yes indeed i was misreading ghast. This list is still trying to fit too much in at once.