Mind and Musings of a Ferret S2/A1

Features

OutspokenFerret

9 April 2014

1038 views

Welcome back, after our previous experience with RB Devotion Aggro, I feel I must explain my hatred towards the current Standard. Therefore, until Spoilers and/or I regain my confidence in Standards appeal, I may or may not take every chance I can to avoid it. Thankfully however, this brew will be for modern. Following that Pattern, the following brew would be Legacy (I will address this later), and then the cycle would restart. Anyways, I am a bit new to Modern, so I am having a little trouble successfully brewing anything, usually it turns into a mush of cards thrown into a pile that's supposed to do stuff but never actually does. But I try, and eventually, I am confident, I will find my footing, and get the brew factory rolling. The card we will be building around this time is only played in one place, despite its crazy potential. Here we go, let me introduce:

The Centerpiece: Scapeshift

Everyone knows the Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle, melt yo' face RUG Scapeshift deck, and everyone knows it's powerful. But Scapeshift can be so much more than just “7 lands, shake hands.” It can mean more land in the yard, lands entering the battlefield, and fixed lands. Although, Scapeshift is very well suited with Valakut so it will probably be there to some extent. Before we get to the concepts, please keep in mind possible competitiveness, as I may have a few cool ideas that might not be that good.

The Possibilities

Faith's Reward - This deck is hardcore combo. The combo has the capability to win as early as turn 3. The combo involves three main pieces. Faith's Reward Scapeshift and Amulet of Vigor/Lotus Cobra. This combo allows you to sac four lands including 3 mountains to grab 3 more mountains and a Valakut, then use that mana to play a Faith's Reward, dealing damage, (Possibly lethal if you have 2 Valakuts) finally using the slew of ramp and draw spells within the deck to finish the job. The deck also includes Valakut triggers that win without Scapeshift with cards like Harrow.

Jund Loam - With Access to Black we gain some much needed cushion of protection. Unfortunately we don't have access to counterspells but we have other ways to both thwart their combo and protect ours. The main difference between this and Aggro Loam is that we are also assembling the Valakut combo as well as the Worm Harvest Engine. This build seems really versatile, and is my vote for most likely to be competitive.

Scapeshift Aggro - I have been toying around with Knight of the Reliquary builds, and I just cannot seem to find it a home. Now, here we are and I look at the two cards together and Synergy is screaming from my conscious. Not only can we use KoTR to find more lands, but we can use it to find Valakut's and mountains so you can combo off. We are able to put pressure on our opponent while we build up the combo. Like most combo decks in modern are leaning towards.

Harrow - This deck isn't your average combo deck. It utilizes Flagstones of Trokair with sac land effects that search for land. The deck is extremely explosive and often times wins without Scapeshift, although Scapeshift being one of the best wincons in the deck. The deck usually hits 7 lands by turn 3 or 4 followed by a Scapeshift or plethora of other ramp spells into lethal damage. Using cards like Harmonize, we can effectively fix out our wincon. One of the more fun decks that I am suggesting.

Caravan Vigil - This idea is all the jank. The concept is to use sac effects that search for lands such as Sakura-Tribe Elder to get untapped land from Caravan Vigil until there is enough mana to combo off either with Scapeshift or the many other ramp spells that could eventually bring us to lethal damage. Alternatively we can use the big creatures in the deck to beat the snot out of our opponent.

There we go! Sorry for all the delays but life has its leaps and bounds, and I'm still getting used to this. But Tuesdays definitely are the best day for me as I have neither work nor anything else.

Remember that there is no requirement to choose any of the above brews, feel free to voice your own ideas, as mine are just the ones I came up with. This is more of an overview than a multiple choice question. Finally, for the next brew, I am debating either Legacy, or Standard including spoilers as fair game. Let me know which you prefer!

Let the brewing commence and as always, Enjoy!