MTG Combo: Fleshbag Marauder + Relentless Dead

Argy on

8 years ago

This is a much better version of BW Control than the one I built.

You really get Fleshbag Marauder + Relentless Dead working for you.

Unluckily I starred with both Mortuary Mires in hand, which slowed down the early game somewhat.

It was quite amusing for a while - Turn 9 and we both had no cards in hand or on the field!

Dayfonron on

8 years ago

The mana base is gross, but due to the extremely high number of double black costs (Liliana, Ob Nixilis, Kalitas, Languish) and the importance of turn 4 Gideon, I had very little room for flexibility. I'm hoping the life gain in the deck can offset the pain from running a full contingent of pain lands.Single card Discussion:

Liliana, Heretical Healer  ^Flip: Liliana fills what I consider to be a couple important roles in this deck. As an early creature with lifegain, she can slow down more aggressive decks and provides me an early play. After flipping, her discard ability is offset by the grindy card-draw from Nahiri, Ob Nixilis, and Sorin, while hopefully disrupting Blue control strategies that look to lean back on countermagic in hand. She can be reliably flipped by playing Hangarback Walker for 0, and then, if I get out a Gideon emblem, she can reanimate it for free with her -X. Also, the zombie token provides nice synergy for Kalitas or Ayli in a pinch. Admittedly, it's a nuisance that I'm playing 9 legendary creatures mainboard that she can't reanimate. C'est la vie.

Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim: A very strong deterrent and two drop. I'm unsure how reliably I'll get her exile clause active, due to the mixture of pain lands and life gain. The deathtouch on is invaluable against decks that rely on more efficient creatures to get ahead early.

Hangarback Walker: In addition to the above synergy with Liliana, it's a proven and powerful card at all stages of the game. In a world where Ayli's second ability goes active, the tokens can be used to machine-gun opposing permanents and clear the way for victory.

Languish + Radiant Flames : Im relying on my 4+ mana Planeswalkers to win me the game through card advantage and overall power, so my number one goal is making it to turn four in good shape. Hence, I'm electing to run 7 potential board wipes in an attempt to stifle any popular aggro decks as much as possible. Also, due to Ayli and Liliana both being 3-toughness creatures, I can tweek my casting of this in order to not always get the full effect and protect my own creatures.

Nahiri, the Harbinger + Ob Nixilis Reignited + Sorin, Grim Nemesis : I'm relying on the fact that these planeswalkers are all templated "+X: ~Draw, -Y: remove, -Z: Do something fancy" in order to win the game. Sorin helps grind away my opponent's life total while his removal help keeps me healthy. The other two are extremely straightforward.

Kolaghan's Command: This card is basically guaranteed card advantage. Unless I'm shooting my opponent in the face, it will always be a (hopefully impactful) 2 for 1. With Nahiri and Liliana helping me pitch cards, I'll often have good targets to recur. The discard helps as part of a proactive anti-control strategy and I'll likely never be sad to see this card.

Gideon, Ally of Zendikar: This card is dumb and will more than likely be how I win most of my games. All three of his abilities are relevant and immediately useful. I'm running 4 because as a high-value target, it's likely to see a lot of hate and I want to see it every game.

Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet: This card is also dumb, and additionally is a check to potentially frustrating graveyard based strategies a la Deathmist Raptor + Den Protector and Fleshbag Marauder + Relentless Dead . Also, it provides me a better target for Nahiri's Ult than the other small creatures in my deck. In this deck, the lifelink will be relevant.

An important note to the evolution of this deck is that I'm not 100% sold on red. I'm not playing red due to budgetary concerns and am extremely interested in considering either an Abzan or an Esper build, as I have access to 4x Jace, Vryn's Prodigy  ^Flip. Things that still concern me include Dragonlord Silumgar, because its ability to take my Planeswalkers and immediately use them against me could be a hugely damaging play against me without my running any relevant mainboard instant speed removal. I'm not sure how threatening ramp decks are at the moment, so I'm unclear how worried I should be about menacing 4+ toughness creatures. In that vein I also have concern for 5+ toughness creatures like Mindwrack Demon, Goldnight Castigator, Sigarda, Heron's Grace. and any other theoretical threats. I'm not sure how well I handle these cards before sideboarding.