Really, I'm a huge fan of DnD, so when the Forgotten Realms set came out I loved it. Not at first so much, but the more I looked at the cards and how unique and flavorful they are, the set really grew on me. And, what better to do with something you love than try to break it :) I wanted to push the ventures into a dungeon mechanic to it's fullest, and I've found it pairing really well with Willbreaker simply because of how many target-a-creature abilities you can get off Dungeon of the Mad Mage and Lost Mine of Phandelver while also gaining value from them. It's a deck that feels kind of evil, but honestly, it's hard to feel too evil in legacy. I don't think it's a powerhouse by any means, and I'm still testing a lot of things, so the number of copies is a little wonky because I want to try cards, but the idea plays fun and is surprisingly sound.
The early game revolves around setting the opponent back and starting to ramp. Tide Shaper and Reef Shaman are part of what can make this deck feel really oppressive. If they want to play 3-5 colors, they are going to really get stuck at the start. Then Song of Freyalise will start to ramp and fix while, hopefully, Yuan-Ti Malison or a creature with Fly will start the venture. Picking the dungeon to start in can be a little tricky. I find it good to think about how aggressive their deck seems to be and to start in Mad Mage when I think the game will go long, but switch if not. The main part will be to be hitting free target triggers off the ventures in the endgame.
There are a few maybe odd choices in here. Fifty Feet of Rope could easily be replaced, but I find it to be oddly good. Take a creature sometimes, venture sometimes, and probably never use the wall ability but that's okay. I just kind of like it, but I'd never say it's the best thing ever. And it's much the same with Ellywick Tumblestrum. Not really necessary, but it plays good and I like it. The creature selection is also very nice from her.
Fly is one of the best things in the deck. One mana to target a creature, steal them with breaker, give them flying, and then get venture triggers that steal more creatures is just so sweet.
Tolaria and Pendelhaven are strictly better islands and forests in this deck. Being able to target for free is great, but I only keep one of each in case of legend rule.
Mu Yanling, Sky Dancer has been way better than I thought. Getting triggers to willbreaker every turn and also taking their threats that would hit Yanling is kind of nuts.
I was also trying to keep this somewhat budget. Fetchlands and things would probably make it better, but I really have an adverse reaction to high priced lands that will always be high priced lands. Nothing against them really, they're good, I'm just not competitive enough to justify getting a slightly better land for that much. Most of my manabase here was stuff I had from another deck.
Jitte would be absolutely amazing in this deck, but I don't plan to buy it just for budget reasons. We have small unblockable creatures that can attack freely and get counters that will steal creatures under willbreaker. It would be nuts.
That's kinda the deck. Hope you all have a good one, and if it looks interesting, make sure to try it out sometime because it's very fun. This deck may never break into the top of Legacy, but I'm really having a good time with the ventures mechanic and trying to nail down how to make it work.
Hope you all have a good one today :)
