Magic: The Gathering Thread XIV: Instant Annoying, Just Add Hexproof

Depending on the cards you already have, Callos, playing Black Sun's Zenith might be a good idea. Though I do like Blastphemous Act a lot.

I have one of each (Black Sun and Blasphemous Act), but putting in Mutilates seems counter-productive to me with my current mana-base ideas and Iceman. With only 3 swamps (I'm going to go with Iceman's mana-base), that's a max of...-3/-3, IF I have all three swamps out. As opposed to Black Sun which can give far more then that so long as I have two black mana to play it or Blasphemous Act which flat out annihilates any non-indestructible/non-pro red creature with less then 13 toughness and only needs one red (depending on the opponent's field of course).

I would probably play 1 copy of each for now. They're both effective. I'm sure there will be something to substitute for Black Sun's Zenith soon.

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Originally Posted by Callos_DeTerran

I have one of each (Black Sun and Blasphemous Act), but putting in Mutilates seems counter-productive to me with my current mana-base ideas and Iceman. With only 3 swamps (I'm going to go with Iceman's mana-base), that's a max of...-3/-3, IF I have all three swamps out. As opposed to Black Sun which can give far more then that so long as I have two black mana to play it or Blasphemous Act which flat out annihilates any non-indestructible/non-pro red creature with less then 13 toughness and only needs one red (depending on the opponent's field of course).

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I was saying that you could modify your deck to better make use of Mutilate. Though Black Sun's and Blasphemous act will both work fine I'm sure.

My cousin wants to make a new deck since his is rotating out in 3 months. What are some good budget decks for post rotation? I know R/G Werewolves isn't too expensive, but I'm wondering if there are good options beyond that.

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Originally Posted by Mystic Muse

My cousin wants to make a new deck since his is rotating out in 3 months. What are some good budget decks for post rotation? I know R/G Werewolves isn't too expensive, but I'm wondering if there are good options beyond that.

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Any of the B/x Zombie builds are pretty budget with B/R probably the most maintainable post Rotation(B/U loses Phantasmal Image, B/G loses Birthing Pod, B/W isn't really a thing). The money cards being Gravecrawler, Geralf's Messanger, and Falkenrath Aristocrat(If your B/R). Mono-black is also an option. I'd also look at Disciple of Bolas from M13 for inclusion in that deck.

Their may also be a B/R Vampires build between the Innistrad Vampires and Vampire Noctornus from M13.

The Mono-U Delver of Secrets/Invisible Stalker Runechanters Pike deck is one I've seen on Magic Online a bit and it looks pretty cheap to build being almost entirely Commons and Uncommons and probably gets the most from M13(Talrand and his Invocation). However it also relies somewhat heavily on Phyrexian Mana spells so I don't know how well it will survive rotation. But there are a lot of one mana Blue spells in Innistrad Block(Silent Departure probably being the biggest candidate).

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Originally Posted by Zavoniki

The Mono-U Delver of Secrets/Invisible Stalker Runechanters Pike deck is one I've seen on Magic Online a bit and it looks pretty cheap to build being almost entirely Commons and Uncommons and probably gets the most from M13(Talrand and his Invocation).

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Hrm? Doesn't that deck use Snapcaster Mage? That's certainly not a Common/Uncommon and it's one of the three most expensive cards in Innistrad (the other two being Liliana and Geist).

Granted, you can do without it, but the card is pretty incredible.

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However it also relies somewhat heavily on Phyrexian Mana spells so I don't know how well it will survive rotation. But there are a lot of one mana Blue spells in Innistrad Block(Silent Departure probably being the biggest candidate).

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Silent Departure isn't that great. I'd go with Unsummon over it any day. Actually I'd take Vapor Snag over both, but that's rotating out, and Unsummon is the next best thing. The fact Silent Departure is a Sorcery limits its usefulness considerably.

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Originally Posted by Lord Seth

Hrm? Doesn't that deck use Snapcaster Mage? That's certainly not a Common/Uncommon and it's one of the three most expensive cards in Innistrad (the other two being Liliana and Geist).

Granted, you can do without it, but the card is pretty incredible.

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Snapcaster is very bad in that deck considering all it wants to do is dump instants and sorceries into the yard, and Snapcaster doesn't do that and is actually a very marginal creature to attach a pike too due to not having evasion and/or hexproof. The deck does rely somewhat heavily on Inkmoth Nexus for its Oops I Win draws and I'm not sure what is available to replace it.

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Silent Departure isn't that great. I'd go with Unsummon over it any day. Actually I'd take Vapor Snag over both, but that's rotating out, and Unsummon is the next best thing. The fact Silent Departure is a Sorcery limits its usefulness considerably.

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I've found Silent Departure to be pretty good(though its not Vapor Snag), but its certainly better than Unsummon in any aggro deck where your not looking for a tempo gain but just a way to bounce blockers. Its very overshadowed by Snapcaster however, which does everything it does, and more, and adds a 2/1 flash body as well. That being said, it's not good for the Mono-U Pike deck for the same reason Snapcaster isn't, as you don't want to be removing Instants and Sorceries from your graveyard.

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Originally Posted by Zavoniki

Any of the B/x Zombie builds are pretty budget with B/R probably the most maintainable post Rotation(B/U loses Phantasmal Image, B/G loses Birthing Pod, B/W isn't really a thing). The money cards being Gravecrawler, Geralf's Messanger, and Falkenrath Aristocrat(If your B/R).

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And 4 Cavern of souls. Definately not budget.

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Originally Posted by Lord Seth

Hrm? Doesn't that deck use Snapcaster Mage? That's certainly not a Common/Uncommon and it's one of the three most expensive cards in Innistrad (the other two being Liliana and Geist).

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Isn't Cavern of Souls another card that has reached 20$/€ mark (it really saddens me that in Magic Dollar and Euro prices are most cases interchangeable. It seems to me that magic is much cheaper in the states that in Euro-land, also in terms of prices for packs and boxes. ) that constitutes a "chase-rare" ?

I'm pretty sure that you still want to play Snapcaster Mage in a deck that's trying to put lots of Instants and Sorceries into your graveyard. The first example of this deck I found plays Snapcaster Mage. You really do want it, it's just that good.

You really don't need Pike to be much more than +5/+0. Sure, the extra point may matter here and there, but the value of Flashback providing additional cards is often so great that removing a few instants and sorceries from your graveyard doesn't end up hurting you too much.

Speaking of Mr. Bolas, I had my own variation of the deck I aim to try. Its more of a U/G Fog deck than a Grixis type control scheme, and was wondering what comments and sideboard suggestions could be made:

24 Lands
9x Islands
3x Swamps
1x Mountain
11x Forests

12 Creatures
4x Augur of Bolas
4x Arbor Elf
4x Borderland Ranger

20 Spells
4x Divination
4x Sleep
4x Abundant Growth
4x Fog
4x Rampant Growth

4 Planeswalkers
1x Karn
3x Nicol Bolas

Its played out fine, and I've never failed to play Bolas when he appears. Any ideas on what e trimmable, and what might make for a more solid play?

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Originally Posted by Foeofthelance

Speaking of Mr. Bolas, I had my own variation of the deck I aim to try. Its more of a U/G Fog deck than a Grixis type control scheme, and was wondering what comments and sideboard suggestions could be made:

24 Lands
9x Islands
3x Swamps
1x Mountain
11x Forests

12 Creatures
4x Augur of Bolas
4x Arbor Elf
4x Borderland Ranger

20 Spells
4x Divination
4x Sleep
4x Abundant Growth
4x Fog
4x Rampant Growth

4 Planeswalkers
1x Karn
3x Nicol Bolas

Its played out fine, and I've never failed to play Bolas when he appears. Any ideas on what e trimmable, and what might make for a more solid play?

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Does divination really do enough? And have you considered fog bank? And dual lands, you need dual lands.

I considered Fog Bank, but it doesnt do enough in the long run. And the problem with the dual lands is they cant be searched for.

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Originally Posted by Ninjaman

And 4 Cavern of souls. Definately not budget.

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You really don't need Cavern and for some builds its very detrimental to your mana base. In general Cavern is pretty overrated right now because its so good. What deck is actually trying to counter your creatures? Delver sides out its Mana Leaks against almost every deck, and Control decks side them out against Zombies for more removal and Wraths. Yes it fixes for your Zombies, but unless Your U/B they all cost black anyway and if your name anything else then it really hurts you when you can't cast turn 3 Messanger or play Gravecraweler 5 times from your graveyard. Ideally you want all your lands to tap for B, and while you can rely on Cavern to do that I don't see what it adds to the deck that additional swamps wouldn't. No one in their right mind should have any counter spells in their deck post board against you in which case Cavern is actually strictly worse than playing a swamp. It also doesn't work with the M12 duals.

I could see running it in U/B Zombies if your really needed Drowned Catacombs 9-12 for your lord, but aside from that I don't see why you would ever play cavern in one of these decks, as it simply doesn't do enough.

Dissipate is actually a key weapon against Zombies for several decks.

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Originally Posted by Foeofthelance

I considered Fog Bank, but it doesnt do enough in the long run. And the problem with the dual lands is they cant be searched for.

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Yeah, but you're not searching for forests (cause if you can search, you already have green mana), so you can replace some of the forests with duals that include green.

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Originally Posted by tgva8889

Dissipate is actually a key weapon against Zombies for several decks.

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What? Dissipate does absolutely nothing against Zombies. If you hold up three mana, they don't play what you want to dissipate(Messenger or Gravecrawler, and honestly spending 3 mana to counter a gravecrawler is not a good deal), and instead lay down a Blood Artist or one of their other two drops and attack you. Or they play nothing and then throw a burn spell at you at the end of your turn.

They do play things if you are playing a deck that forces them to do things. Which isn't that hard if you try hard enough. Dissipate generally gets played against Zombies when it is available. It costs you almost no value to play Cavern, so many people do. The effect does matter.

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Originally Posted by Foeofthelance

Speaking of Mr. Bolas, I had my own variation of the deck I aim to try. Its more of a U/G Fog deck than a Grixis type control scheme, and was wondering what comments and sideboard suggestions could be made:

24 Lands
9x Islands
3x Swamps
1x Mountain
11x Forests

12 Creatures
4x Augur of Bolas
4x Arbor Elf
4x Borderland Ranger

20 Spells
4x Divination
4x Sleep
4x Abundant Growth
4x Fog
4x Rampant Growth

4 Planeswalkers
1x Karn
3x Nicol Bolas

Its played out fine, and I've never failed to play Bolas when he appears. Any ideas on what e trimmable, and what might make for a more solid play?

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I've tested your list against a Tempered Steel deck.
All the Vault Skirges, Signal Pests and Glint Hawk Idols just flew over the heads of the Arbor Elfs, Rangers and Augurs and it was quickly over.
But then again, Tempered Steel is about to rotate and I also discovered that my Tempered Steel deck wasn't even Standard legal (it contained Old Mirrodin artifact lands and Spring Leaf Drums).

So, I quickly threw together a cheapskate standard legal U/W Weenie deck:

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20 Lands
10x Plains
6x Island
4x Glacial Fortress

24 Creatures
4x War Falcon
2x Doomed Traveler
3x Loyal Cathar
3x Knight of Glory
4x Attended Knight
3x Arctic Aven
2x Crusader of Odric
2x Odric, Master Tactician
1x Captain of the Watch

16 Spells
2x Unsummon
3x Negate
2x Essence Scatter
3x Feeling of Dread
3x Oblivion Ring
1x Ghostly Flicker
2x Captains Call

Please do note that I have "constructed" this deck in about 5 minutes.

The results were, in the end, not all that different as against Tempered Steel: your deck has no defense against fliers.
Fog and Sleep did manage to stall the game for a while, long enough to drop Nicol. But Nicol isn't really good against Weenies. Sure, you can take control over one guy out of a million. In my test games, Nicol was either countered right away, or killed/O-Ringed in the following turn - if the game actually lasted longer then the next turn.

Form these experiences I would say: you need defense against fliers. You also need actual board sweepers: Nicol alone cannot hold off an army by himself.
I also stand by my advice to replace some of the forests with dual lands.

But it is a fun deck to play with. The stalling with Fog and Sleep (aided by Augur of Bolas) does work reasonable well. Arbor Elf and Abundant Growth work well together.

Yeah, after a very numerous amount of thorough losses, it looks like the deck seriously needs to be re ordered. The blue half just didn't hole up at all, even when I sideboarded out for counters. Someone suggested Thragtusk, and if I can get them I will. I am also considering cutting down a few more for Talrand, to see if I can't get a small army while doing other things.

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Originally Posted by Zavoniki

Snapcaster is very bad in that deck considering all it wants to do is dump instants and sorceries into the yard, and Snapcaster doesn't do that and is actually a very marginal creature to attach a pike too due to not having evasion and/or hexproof. The deck does rely somewhat heavily on Inkmoth Nexus for its Oops I Win draws and I'm not sure what is available to replace it.

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You're thoroughly underestimating the power of Snapcaster Mage...though to be fair I kind of did at first also. Sure, Snapcaster removes an Instant/Sorcery card from your graveyard, which does slightly depower Runechanter's Pike, but the fact you can cast it again kind of makes up for that (not to mention you don't always have a Runechanter's Pike in the first place). And even ignoring its flashback ability, a 2/1 with Flash for 1U is not a bad deal.

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I've found Silent Departure to be pretty good(though its not Vapor Snag), but its certainly better than Unsummon in any aggro deck where your not looking for a tempo gain but just a way to bounce blockers. Its very overshadowed by Snapcaster however, which does everything it does, and more, and adds a 2/1 flash body as well. That being said, it's not good for the Mono-U Pike deck for the same reason Snapcaster isn't, as you don't want to be removing Instants and Sorceries from your graveyard.

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The lack of Instant speed instead of Sorcery is still killer, though, in my opinion. I just don't think it's worth it to depower the card just for a fairly expensive flashback cost.

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Originally Posted by Ninjaman

And 4 Cavern of souls. Definately not budget.

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Enh...not really. The Mono-Blue build that took 4th at the most recent SCG Open (here) didn't play any outside of 1 in its sideboard. Now to be fair it's a different deck than what we're talking about (it's not quite mono-Blue either, due to the Restoration Angels in the sideboard), but it's clearly not as vital as Snapcaster Mage.

The highest-placing deck that looks to be exactly what we're talking about (that is, actually mono-Blue) is this one, which took 25th (which still isn't bad out of 400+) and played zero Cavern of Souls.

Even assuming Cavern of Souls might be worth playing, as a 4 of it makes no sense. While the fact it can make creatures uncounterable is nice, don't forget the other big reason it gets played in U/W Delver: Mana fixing for Geists and Restoration Angels. That means that a mono-Blue Delver deck has less of a reason to play it, so it makes no sense to play with more of them.

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Originally Posted by tgva8889

They do play things if you are playing a deck that forces them to do things. Which isn't that hard if you try hard enough. Dissipate generally gets played against Zombies when it is available. It costs you almost no value to play Cavern, so many people do. The effect does matter.

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What deck is proactive and plays Dissipate in Standard? Esper Control and U/B play it but they are the definition of reactive decks. It might be in the sideboard of Delver, but their boarding in Celestial Purge and whatever other aggro hate they have.

I've played quite a bit with Zombies and I've never had Cavern matter, nor have I seen Cavern matter in any Zombies vs. Deck with Counterspells game I've seen. At that point you're just playing a strictly worse Swamp. Sure its only about .5%(if that) worse, but its still worse. If your playing Cavern you have to be playing it for the manafixing, not the anti-counter part.

got bored, made deck:

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Creatures
4 Roaring Primadox
3 Augur of Bolas
3 Elvish Visionary
3 Neurok Invisimancer
2 Talrand, Sky Summoner
1 Acidic Slime
1 Archaeomancer
land
10 Forest
10 Island
other
4 Rancor
3 Essence Scatter
3 Negate
3 Divination
2 Prey Upon
4 Talrand's Invocation
2 Downpour
2 Untamed Might

sideboard
4 Corrosive Gale
1 Negate
1 Essence Scatter
4 Spider Spawning
4 Primal Huntbeast
1 Daybreak Ranger

my sorcery and instants are a mess...

Back from my local PTQ. After an impressive start (3-0) I ended up not doing so well and finished with a 4-4. The most frustrating thing is that I have a feeling I would've done better if this had taken place a few weeks ago, because most (maybe all, it's kind of a blur) of my losses were to decks using Rancor.

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Originally Posted by Zavoniki

What deck is proactive and plays Dissipate in Standard? Esper Control and U/B play it but they are the definition of reactive decks. It might be in the sideboard of Delver, but their boarding in Celestial Purge and whatever other aggro hate they have.

I've played quite a bit with Zombies and I've never had Cavern matter, nor have I seen Cavern matter in any Zombies vs. Deck with Counterspells game I've seen. At that point you're just playing a strictly worse Swamp. Sure its only about .5%(if that) worse, but its still worse. If your playing Cavern you have to be playing it for the manafixing, not the anti-counter part.

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It's not necessarily about proactivity. They just need to force you to play things and kill Gravecrawler.

It's more an issue, I think, that the invention of Cavern (among other cards) has made most of the decks that would use Dissipate either unplayable or seek other, less useless options. I do remember Dissipate being played in Zombies matchups specifically because it answered Gravecrawler and because you really couldn't afford to let Messenger resolve if you could help it.

So, getting back into magic again. I built an MBC/Midrange deck, and it actually tied for first place at FNM last Friday (Granted, this is mostly because better players, with better decks, were paired against each other while my round 3 opponent's deck completely and totally failed him, and round 4 was a roughly even match I won because I had more threats)

The deck

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Lands:
24 Swamps (How Many Ghost Quarters should I add? One of my most painful matchups in casual play was against nephalia drownyard)

Creatures:
4x Vampire Nighthawk
4x Geralf's Messenger
2x Phyrexian Obliterator

Other Spells
3x Duress
3x Tragic Slip
2x Despise
4x Sign in Blood
2x Go for the throat
2x Black Sun's Zenith
3x Dismember
2x Liliana of the Viel
3x Lashwrithe
2x Mutilate

Sideboard
1x Duress
1x Tragic Slip
1x Lashwrithe
2x Despise
2x Nihl Spellbomb
3x Ratchetbomb
2x Victim of the Night (From here on in, this is just filler that was considered for the deck at one point, and was on hand when I needed to fill out the sideboard)
2x Tribute to Hunger
1x Killing Wave

Thoughts? I have a Liliana of the Dark Realms (from the prize packs*), a third Obliterator I traded for, a Batterskull (Which struck me as a pretty nifty way of winning wars of attrition when I saw it in the mirror match), and a pair of Wurmcoil Engines I'm considering putting in, and I know I should probably add some Tormod's Crypts into the sideboard for more graveyard hate.



*My FNM charges a $5 entry fee, but all that money goes to prize packs, and they give everyone who doesn't win packs some sort of promo card, be it a left over pre-release foil, a game-day full art, or the like.


Also, my Current EDH is still a work in progress. Any recomendations about changes?

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General: Merieke Ri Berit

Lands:
4x Plains
4x Islands
4x Swamp
Terramorphic Expanse
Caves of Koilos
Evolving Wilds
Isolated Chapel
Azorius Chancery
Urborg
Seat of the Synod
Strip Mine
Rupture Spire
Tectonic Edge
Dimir Aqueduct
Celestial Colonnade
Academy Ruins
Drowned Catacomb
Command Tower
Ancient Den
Vault of Whispers
Creeping Tar Pit
Sunken Ruins
Orzhov Basilica
Glacial Fortress
Vesuva
Total: 34 (Should I raise this?)

Counterspells
Counterspell
Cancel
Mindbreak Trap
Spell Crumple
Cryptic Command
Undermine
Last Word
Hinder
Total: 8

Mass Removal
Oblivion Stone
Rout
Living Death
Day of Judgement
Wrath of God
Decree of Pain
Akroma's Vengeance
Austere Command
Total: 8

Single Target Removal
Duplicant
Profane Command
Spin Into Myth
Enslave
Volition Reins
Blatant Thievery
Oblivion Ring
Total: 7

Tutors
Diabolic Tutor
Journeyer's Kite
Tezzeret the Seeker
Expedition Map
Demonic Tutor
Weathered Wayfarer
Liliana Vess
Trinket Mage
Mystical Teachings
Land Tax
Mystical Tutor
Total: 11

Cantrips
Telling Time
Brainstorm
Forbidden Alchemy
Preordain
Ponder
Diabolic Vision
Total: 6

Card Draw
Phyrexian Arena
Promise of Power
Rhystic Study
Mind's Eye
Fact or Fiction
Jace Beleren
Deep Analysis
Total: 7

Threats
Time Stretch
Sun Titan
Akroma, Angel of Wrath
Spinx of the Steel Wind
Acquire
Debtor's Knell
Adarkar Valkyrie
Aeon Chronicler
Blazing Archon
Elspeth, Knight Errant
Total: 11

Miscellanea
Dark Steel Ingot
Lightning Greaves
Sol Ring
Marshal's Anthem
Phyrexian Metamorph
Tormod's Crypt
Total: 6

Oh, hey, I'm 1 card short. Huh.

Also, Card's I'm considering Adding
Animate Dead
Reanimate
Ambition's Cost
Galvanic Alchemist (Untapping Krieke Ri Berit is fun!)
Crab Umbra (See above)
Freed from the Real (Cheapest untapping effect)
Armillary Sphere
Solemn Simulacrum
Swords to Plowshares
Path to Exile
Reya Dawnbringer
Temple of the False God
Coalition Relic
Archon of Justice
Necromancer's Covenant
Condemn
Diabolic Revelations
Gilded Lotus

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Originally Posted by Squark

Also, my Current EDH is still a work in progress. Any recomendations about changes?

Spoiler

Show

General: Merieke Ri Berit

Lands:
4x Plains
4x Islands
4x Swamp
Terramorphic Expanse
Caves of Koilos
Evolving Wilds
Isolated Chapel
Azorius Chancery
Urborg
Seat of the Synod
Strip Mine
Rupture Spire
Tectonic Edge
Dimir Aqueduct
Celestial Colonnade
Academy Ruins
Drowned Catacomb
Command Tower
Ancient Den
Vault of Whispers
Creeping Tar Pit
Sunken Ruins
Orzhov Basilica
Glacial Fortress
Vesuva
Total: 34 (Should I raise this?)

Counterspells
Counterspell
Cancel
Mindbreak Trap
Spell Crumple
Cryptic Command
Undermine
Last Word
Hinder
Total: 8

Mass Removal
Oblivion Stone
Rout
Living Death
Day of Judgement
Wrath of God
Decree of Pain
Akroma's Vengeance
Austere Command
Total: 8

Single Target Removal
Duplicant
Profane Command
Spin Into Myth
Enslave
Volition Reins
Blatant Thievery
Oblivion Ring
Total: 7

Tutors
Diabolic Tutor
Journeyer's Kite
Tezzeret the Seeker
Expedition Map
Demonic Tutor
Weathered Wayfarer
Liliana Vess
Trinket Mage
Mystical Teachings
Land Tax
Mystical Tutor
Total: 11

Cantrips
Telling Time
Brainstorm
Forbidden Alchemy
Preordain
Ponder
Diabolic Vision
Total: 6

Card Draw
Phyrexian Arena
Promise of Power
Rhystic Study
Mind's Eye
Fact or Fiction
Jace Beleren
Deep Analysis
Total: 7

Threats
Time Stretch
Sun Titan
Akroma, Angel of Wrath
Spinx of the Steel Wind
Acquire
Debtor's Knell
Adarkar Valkyrie
Aeon Chronicler
Blazing Archon
Elspeth, Knight Errant
Total: 11

Miscellanea
Dark Steel Ingot
Lightning Greaves
Sol Ring
Marshal's Anthem
Phyrexian Metamorph
Tormod's Crypt
Total: 6

Oh, hey, I'm 1 card short. Huh.

Also, Card's I'm considering Adding
Animate Dead
Reanimate
Ambition's Cost
Galvanic Alchemist (Untapping Krieke Ri Berit is fun!)
Crab Umbra (See above)
Freed from the Real (Cheapest untapping effect)
Armillary Sphere
Solemn Simulacrum
Swords to Plowshares
Path to Exile
Reya Dawnbringer
Temple of the False God
Coalition Relic
Archon of Justice
Necromancer's Covenant
Condemn
Diabolic Revelations
Gilded Lotus

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Cabal Coffers, Penmin's Aura, Armageddon, City of Brass, Necropotence, Iona, Braids, etc.

Check out my Merieke Deck: A Knife at your Throat.

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Originally Posted by Squark

So, getting back into magic again. I built an MBC/Midrange deck, and it actually tied for first place at FNM last Friday (Granted, this is mostly because better players, with better decks, were paired against each other while my round 3 opponent's deck completely and totally failed him, and round 4 was a roughly even match I won because I had more threats)

The deck

Spoiler

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Lands:
24 Swamps (How Many Ghost Quarters should I add? One of my most painful matchups in casual play was against nephalia drownyard)

Creatures:
4x Vampire Nighthawk
4x Geralf's Messenger
2x Phyrexian Obliterator

Other Spells
3x Duress
3x Tragic Slip
2x Despise
4x Sign in Blood
2x Go for the throat
2x Black Sun's Zenith
3x Dismember
2x Liliana of the Viel
3x Lashwrithe
2x Mutilate

Sideboard
1x Duress
1x Tragic Slip
1x Lashwrithe
2x Despise
2x Nihl Spellbomb
3x Ratchetbomb
2x Victim of the Night (From here on in, this is just filler that was considered for the deck at one point, and was on hand when I needed to fill out the sideboard)
2x Tribute to Hunger
1x Killing Wave

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4 Obliterators, it is that good.
More board wipe, at least in board.
More sac effects, at least in board.
Remove killing wave.

Quote:

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Thoughts? I have a Liliana of the Dark Realms (from the prize packs*), a third Obliterator I traded for, a Batterskull (Which struck me as a pretty nifty way of winning wars of attrition when I saw it in the mirror match), and a pair of Wurmcoil Engines I'm considering putting in, and I know I should probably add some Tormod's Crypts into the sideboard for more graveyard hate.

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Don't use crypts, use spell bombs instead, i see you already have some, put more in if you want to but 2 should be enough.
Liliana of the dark realms is not good enough to use.
Batterskull and wurmcoils might work.

Forum Question: What color(s) should the following effect be?

Quote:

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Target creature gets -1/-1 and loses flying until end of turn.

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