A Sliver Deck mainly of M14 cards - intended to see how far I could get in the August 2013 MTG Game Day. I've since removed any Innistrad block cards since they move out of Standard in a couple of months.
The intent of this deck is to get on the offensive quickly and overwhelm the opponent with Slivers, which are being buffed by one or two Door of Destinies. Since the deck utilises dual lands to improve access to different coloured mana, it caters for an alternate win condition using Maze's End.
All Mainboard creatures are Slivers. The core of the rank and file are Predatory and Sentinel Slivers; Striking & Galerider Slivers are there to get either Flying or First Strike early; Blur and Manaweft Slivers to come in turn 2-4 to give handy side effects.
Mid game, primarily looking to get Bonescythe Sliver and/or Thorncaster Slivers for additional damage.
The finisher is Megantic Sliver, with a Groundshaker Sliver as a bonus.
Given the focus on creatures and Door of Destinies, the Spells department is a bit light on and focused on early/mid game removal. There's a few low end red burn spells, with Fog as an alternative to get out of a tight spot.
The sideboard offers a few tweaks, such as a couple each of Sundering Growth and Plummet to remove annoying enchantments/artifacts and large flyers respectively. Syncopate, to nullify R and B/R decks turn 2 Burning-Tree Emissary , a couple of Tutors, a planeswalker to get at more creature cards or selectively target an opponent creature. Crackling Perimeter was added to offer extra damage from Gates and could add a possible third win condition option. Syphon Slivers are included in case lifelink is needed from having to take early damage from Shock Lands.
The maybeboard contains the ubiquitous Pacifism, some Gruul spells to focus less on removal and more on outright attack and some bigger removal spells.
Also considering replacing Door of Destinies with Chromatic Lantern - So far, I haven't really needed to play Door of Destinies, even when it's in hand - I've either already had the critical mass of Slivers, or otherwise short of numbers and the need to put more dudes out overrides spending 4 on the Door.
I'd appreciate any suggestions on Return to Ravinca Block and M14 cards that would make this deck stronger!
Game Day Outcomes: Tempo, Shock Lands, Shock and Syncopation!
So, I took my deck for a spin in the M14 Game Day to see how it would go. Overall, it went OK, won two matches, lost two matches and finished 9th, only missing a top-8 by a game!
As far as the deck composition, this is what I learnt:
Creature distribution is pretty much rightLack of Shock Lands really hurt, costing at least one or two tempos, especially against the B/R and R Aggro decks I facedReally needed to run 4x Shock to ensure I had some early game removalNeeded something to shut down B/R and R decks turn 2 set play: Burning-Tree Emissary into Lightning Mauler - Syncopate would work just nicely if I went first, but Shock helps a bit. Fog can be useful if not enough creatures are outWith the above in mind, I've rejigged the Instants and sideboard, plus acquiring and adding 6 Shock Lands. There may be a need to put the 2x Syphon Sliver in the Mainboard to balance out the life loss if one has to play a few shock lands earlyMatch Results:Match 1: WIN vs Boros W/R Aggro DeckPlayed a youngster who, like me, had no Shock Lands, but a nicely turned out deck.Game 1: He got a perfect opening draw, whilst I pulled 2 lands and didn't get any more for a few turns. He Pillar of Flame ed my first creature and made me chump block, then completely overran me by turn 5.Games 2 & 3: I got better opening draws and was poleaxing his line by turn 3/4 when Bonescythe Sliver appeared, then finishing the games with Megantic Sliver and/or Thorncaster Sliver on the board, swinging for 16-20 damage per combat round!Match 2: LOSS vs Rakdos B/R Aggro Deck.This guy would mulligan 2-3 times until he had: Rakdos Cackler , Burning-Tree Emissary and Lightning Mauler , so it can be assumed that this is the bulk of his creatures.Game 1: He goes first. This was the set-play for the first two turns: Turn1: Rakdos Cackler . Turn 2: Burning-Tree Emissary followed by Lightning Mauler , attack with all. Of course, I drew no Shock . Got Manaweft Sliver out Turn 2, then Predatory Sliver Turn 3. Had Bonescythe Sliver and Sentinel Sliver ready to play, but drew no White lands till Turn 5. He did me in Turn 5. Had I survived to Turn 6, I would have Bonescythe Sliver and Sentinel Sliver out to stabilise the line and a Megantic Sliver to go out Turn 7, which would have nailed him. I showed him my hand after the game and he winced - he knew he was in trouble had a White land showed up earlierGame 2: Much like Game 1, except I didn't draw a Green land until Turn 5, so couldn't play either the Manaweft Sliver and Predatory Sliver I had until Turn 6. I did get a Shock which got rid of Lightning Mauler and this helped, and I did have Bonescythe Sliver out Turn 4. Went swinging with the Bonescythe Turn 5, but probably ought to have sat back - I might have won this game in the end. However: (a) I didn't know if he was sitting on removal spells (b) I didn't know if he had a big creature to come out (c) Given (a) and (b), I wasn't going to lose the match without doing some damage to him!Match 3: LOSS vs R Aggro DeckThis guy was a mate of the previous opponent and was running a very similar deck. He went the same set play Turns 1 and 2 with Rakdos Cackler followed by Turn 2: Burning-Tree Emissary and Lightning MaulerThis match played out similarly to the previous match, with the exception that I drew Shock in the opening hands and was able to remove either Lightning Mauler or Stromkirk Noble . That said, losing tempos due to using Gates, meant I was always chasing the game and couldn't get enough guys on the field, then came a spell or enchantment that gave his guys Trample! - Another case for Syncopate :-oMatch 4: WIN vs G/U Simic Control DeckAnother youngster with a nicely turned out deck. His creatures were mainly a defensive line, with lots of protection from Flyers, so of course I drew Galerider Sliver in the opening hand of my two games!! His key creature was Silklash SpiderGame 1: Straight forward win for the Slivers, good draw, Striking Sliver , Manaweft Sliver , 2x Predatory Sliver , Bonescythe Sliver . All over Turn 5Game 2: Copped a Flooding enchantment on one of my key lands early, which slowed me down (would have to ditch 3 library cards if I tapped it). He got a Deadly Recluse , another blocker with toughness 4 or 5. By then, I had a Thorncaster Sliver , Galerider Sliver , four others on the board. I cleared his defensive line on Turn 6, with the Thorncaster ability. On his turn 6 put out the Silklash Spider . My Turn 7 I put out a second Thorncaster Sliver and hit him with everything I had - Game over
Standard Sliver v1.2 Aug. 8, 2013
This is the cut I'll go to tourney with. Many thanks to Effortless and apoc7k for their helpful suggestions :)
Final changes:
Up to 4x Bonescythe Sliver to maximise chances of getting this cardUp to 4x Manaweft Sliver to try to fix manaAdded 2x Diabolic Tutor to aid getting hold of Dragon's Maze. This is at the expense of Gruul War Chant
Standard Sliver v1.1 Aug. 6, 2013
Added dual landsAdded Maze's End for alternate win conditionBenched Syphon Sliver in favour of more opportunity to play Bonescythe SliverReplaced Wear / Tear with Sundering Growth to add Populate mechanic to artifact/enchantment removalAdded Crackling Perimeter to Sideboard for potential 3rd win conditionAdded Domri Rade to Sideboard - potential access to more creature cards, plus ability to effectively 'park' a Pit Fight card on the battlefield
