Why else would Kruphix have 4 arms? To give out hugs... and to have more strength in crushing his enemies while doing so.
This deck is STILL based on the Deceiver of Form + Conduit of Ruin + Annihilator top-deck combo.
I am VERY budget oriented, usually going for cards that are $2 or less, and I own more than half of these cards already. Just wanting to convert one of my casual decks into this. I understand Doubling Cube would make my deck broken, and I am actually considering buying one after a few paychecks, but I'm planning on spending $10 on a piece of cardboard as a once-in-a-lifetime thing.
Also, call me crazy, but I love it when boards get big! Where else are you gonna get large scale battles and a very neck-jerking table state? It's a maniac kinda fun for me!
Deceiver of Form +
Conduit of Ruin +
Spawnsire of Ulamog are meant to be the stars of the deck, and how to win. But the creatures in the deck are mostly meant to be non-hostile, hence the low amount of them. I used to have
Breaker of Armies
and
Frost Titan, but I realized I can Spawnsire Breaker-o'-Armies in, and Frost Titan is defensive, but could also be seen as aggressive since I would tap an opponent's creatures... and I'm not looking to make any enemies here (unless someone messes with me, or until the end of the game where I
CRUSH everyone in my arms that I am hugging).
Kiora, Master of the Depths is not meant to ult (what planeswalker ever is?), she is in here more for the untap abilty. She could untap a ramp creature and land, making her a great asset when it comes to ramping up the mana pool.
RAMP:
Hedron Crawler and Llanowar Elves are for ramp. Sakura-Tribe Elder is a staple for obvious reasons. Pure and simple. Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix is meant to be late-game ramp, as she would be an extra potential 8 mana per turn (likely to never hit that number though).
Veteran Explorer
is an amazing card for this deck!!
DEFENSE:
Walls, baby.
Wall of Frost
and
Wall of Tears
will make people not want to attack you unless flying is a factor. But even then, Fog Bank and Guard Gomazoa will back you up!
THE HOSTILES:
The stars of the deck. These guys will lead you to victory, provided you win against the counterspells and no board wipes happen.
Hydra Broodmaster puts my mind at ease against token swarms, as with enough ramp I could pump out an astounding 20 20/20 tokens with 40 mana, all from Kruphix, that this deck can produce easily. Make sure to have enough to cast Spawnsire next turn though, as annihilator 60 (w/ Pathrazer of Ulamog, 40 w/ It That Betrays) is a great thing to have on the horizon. Also, a board wipe could come any minute and ruin the plan. But that's just the name of the game (unless you have negates handy).
Colossus of Akros: One fun combo I thought of was Assault Suit and a Monstrous version of him! Maybe opponents'll kill each other while you sit and watch in amusement. Otherwise, he is a great defender if someone has a big guy, and making him monsterous should not be an issue in this deck.
Soul of New Phyrexia is to be put into the deck if the people played with are too hostile, and being 100% friendly won't work. Switch it out with the Orrery.
INSURANCE
To prevent things from happening to you, Monastery Siege and Propaganda are helpful, even with the ramp everyone is going to have. Also,
Archetype of Endurance
will not let opponents mess with your creatures (board wipes still suck though, but counterspells will stop those?).
AEtherspouts will stop those token hoards, and any other game-ending attacks (if someone actually tries to attack you).
The counterspells included are: Negate - to stop board wipes.Dispel - I just read it as counter a counterspell. (Don't let others be a jerk to you.)Overwhelming Denial - it is insurance to cast a creature with the surge cost.Dissolve - Just a staple. And I get to scry!
Sphinx of the Final Word will make all of these an Overwhelming Denial, and is insurance for the other sorceries and instants as well - which is very good! :D
GRAVE RETRIEVAL
praetor's council
is to be used late game, although tempting to play turn 6 for ensuring the maximum hand size. However, Kruphix will always be around, and so will Reliquary Tower.
Elixir of Immortality allows me to reuse the cards I want over and over again (namely the counterspells, Worldly Tutor...). Especially able to do so with the draw power of the deck.
Regrowth was to return a target instant to my hand, or any card really... just a good one to have.
Reclaim will allow for the Deceiver of Form combo, despite Pathrazer of Ulamog or It That Betrays staying in the grave.
Coax from the Blind Eternities
is the only exile retrieval. Which, exile retrieval is pretty good! Nice to have the potential in the deck!
One of the points of this deck is VERY HIGH (mana) ramp!! When playtesting, on turn 10 I was able to get 30-some mana in a turn with a mana doubler. 20-some of which was from lands alone. Also, LOTS of draw power for opponents (up to 6 cards per turn for them) and yourself (up to 7 cards per turn w/o draw cards), which is half of how I'm group hugging.
DRAW POWER:
Dictate of Kruphix, Temple Bell, Howling Mine, Rites of Flourishing, and
Well of Ideas
will make it so every draw step can draw an astounding 6 cards during their draw step! With Ghirapur Orrery, an opponent can draw up to 9 if they somehow empty their hand! It is recommended that opponents have Reliquary Tower to maximize the fun for everyone, because having to discard maybe 4 cards per turn would be a shame. Maybe I would be willing to buy an extra to lend out from game-to-game and ensure so?
Note: Ghirapur Orrery is for when you first start playing the deck with new people. I know it does not help the deck as much as it would opponenets, but the card is unselfish and I hope that the opponents will ralize that. However, if they take too much advantage of the draw power within this deck (being a jerk to you, despite the insurance), then switch the Orrery out for Soul of New Phyrexia, and maybe Buried Ruin as well.
Draw Cards: The classics, Ponder, Preordain, and Brainstorm make their way into this deck.Note: Brainstorm is to be used as a last resort because it can make the Deceiver of Form + Conduit of Ruin combo work without any notice to your enemies if you have an Annihilator card in hand.
Divination is a good value card! Blue Sun's Zenith is TREMENDOUS draw power with Kruphix, although with the way this deck works, I would NOT recommend going over 13-ish cards because to lose by milling would suck, and one could be overwhelmed by the options. Also, it would drain Kruphix a lot. Save the for the hostiles in the deck.
The INSANE Mana Ramp:
Are you ready to have enough mana to cast AND ult Spawnsire of Ulamog in one turn? Ever dreamed of having opponents panic just because you have a mere 35 mana in your mana pool, and lands yet to tap?
The usual (if not all of the) land-search cards are here: Kodama's Reach, Cultivate, Explosive Vegetation, and
Rampant Growth
. Sakura-Tribe Elder, Bant Panorama and Evolving Wilds will also help!
Frontier Siege will pay for itself in 2 main phases. After that, it's just leftover mana that will continue to pool into Kruphix. DO NOT MISS THE TRIGGERS FOR THIS!! It is a LOT of mana you will miss out on them.
Urban Burgeoning
gives Kruphix at least 1 mana per opponent's turn, which if done early will give a lot of mana throughout the game! It can also keep counterspells available for use if used on an island or
Coral Atoll
!
Dictate of Karametra will have everyone not only love you, but also give you LOTS of leftover that will build up on Kruphix!
Zendikar Resurgent is meant for yourself late game, now tripling the value of your cards if combined with Dictate of Karametra!!
And of course, there are the 7 mana rocks that will help with ramp upon ramp!
Spawnsire of Ulamog Ultimate
When Spawnsire of Ulamog uses his 20-mana ability, I will cast literally every single eldrazi from my sideboard and casual deck (likely putting them in a separate pile on the board, for easy separation of which deck is which). Target opponents will have a nightmare of a bad time, and your turn may last a while.
The politics: Maybe I could ask others if they would like to lend me eldrazi, for which I would not attack them for a turn.
Hydra Broodmaster Becomes Monstrous
Thinking about it, Spawnsire should not be the only ultimate goal. With Hydra Broodmaster, your opponents will be dead if they can't do anything for the next few turns. Pull in the Deceiver of Form combo, spawnsire or not, and you have a broken-high Annihilator count to distribute among those in your arms.
Halimar Depths
and Temple of Mystery will help with checking to see what comes next, as well as Anticipate.
Thassa, God of the Sea will help a LOT as well with the free scry per turn.
Rashmi, Eternities Crafter will allow one to play more cards per turn, and could be considered draw power as well!
Alchemist's Refuge can be used to flash in Spawnsire at the end of one's turn, and then destroy every opponent the next. Or any other card, because that's practical too! Hehe...
Still considering Homeward Path...
considering: divination -> Kami of the Cresent Moon
Ponder -> Horn of Greed
Cryptolith Fragment -> Otherworld Atlas
