FEEL FREE TO ADD ME ON ARENA: ApolloPaladin#83413
This is a deck concept that I've been toying with off and on for quite a while now on Arena (mostly in private matches). I'm looking for input in terms of potential vulnerabilities that I've overlooked, or possibly more efficient solutions.
I'm very curious to hear inputs here, this deck is something of a pet project that I'm still very much tinkering with. Thank you for your interest!!
General Premise:
Historic format seemed like an interesting constraint to put on more Legacy-based Contract builds.
Notable Additions:
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I've fallen in love with Dream Devourer, and I use him in a number of builds apart from this one even. His global Foretell ability opens up some serious options in terms of allowing synergy with higher mana-cost stuff while still keeping a deck competitive. Best of all, because of how the mechanic works, once you Foretell a normally non-Foretellable card, even if the Dream Devourer gets destroyed, you are still able to cast the spell from exile. This is not only a great way to break high-mana stuff onto the board with minimal mana, but it's also a great defense against Hand Hate by allowing things like Liliana's Contract to sit safely in exile until needed.
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Dream Devourer can also be used as a kind of "head game" against opponents now, since all of the commonly-used (a.k.a. "good") Foretell cards are fairly well known across all Deck types. Since the Devourer pumps up when using Foretell, it can even be beneficial (depending on the circumstance & other options available) to Foretell something which gains no mana benefit itself (like an Assassin's Trophy) since it's not something an opponent tends to expect at Instant speed & from Exile. Just getting to hold Turn priority due to an Instant in Exile can be very intimidating. Having Foretold options sitting there that an opponent can't necessarily anticipate & play around has won me a lot more games than I first expected -- just by psyching an opponent into making mistakes or inefficient plays.
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Needing 4 different Demons out for the primary win condition makes this deck particularly vulnerable to creature control, especially Boardwipe effects. Tossing in a few Heroic Intervention seemed like a no-brainer here, and I've also got Nightmare Shepherd as a possible means of defense to keep different Demons in play.
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Between not only needing Liliana's Contract in play, but also needing 4 different Demons is restricting enough that some Tutoring was in order. Initially I thought to go with Grim Tutor, but ultimately Dig Up won out due to its versatility in the early-game (which can make all the difference).
Control:
Black/Green is probably my favorite combo for destruction-based Control due to the wide array of permanents it can hit, and there are some really decent options available in Historic format. This utility continues to prove itself since even the new Battle card type qualifies for all of the Black/Green control available in the format. There isn't much full-on Battle targeted hate available, so using it in this manner I've found can be highly disruptive to decks which are Battle-heavy (especially if it's possible to wait until an opponent sends attackers at it to destroy it).
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Assassin's Trophy: Kind of an overrated card in Legacy anymore, these are still by far the best in their class for Historic. I've found these have extra utility nowadays in the format against the wide variety of potentially-threatening Lands (such as Lands which can become Creatures, the occasional The World Tree, or even Maze's End, to name a few & depending on the situation) that are available since it was first printed. Plus, one never knows when Artifact, Enchantment, or Planeswalker Hate will suddenly become relevant during a game, so having universal options here at Instant speed is pretty clutch.
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Maelstrom Pulse: These are probably my favorite bit of Control overall in Historic currently. I'm a big fan of spells which hit not only the target but each copy of the target as well due to the versatility. Legion's End is another popular choice along these lines, but the extra mana is worth being able to hit any permanent type and without any mana-cost restrictions. These can be especially powerful against both Enchantment and Artifact-based builds since those decks generally don't have much in the way of protecting their Permanents -- instead relying on the comparatively limited options for Enchantment/Artifact destruction spells in Historic to keep them safe. These can also be hilarious to use against decks which rely on Token creation. (Not even just creatures; Treasure Tokens can be a prime target depending on the deck they're supplementing & how reliant an opponent is on them to function.)
Lifegain:
Being able to Foretell Liliana's Contracts make them much more viable, but the life loss can be problematic when playing down multiple copies for the extra Card Draw; particularly while trying to keep different Demons alive in the process rather than using them as blockers. In addition, I've got Doom Whisperer who can similarly be Foretold & requires Life to trigger. To help compensate for this a bit, I've included a couple of Lifelink options. I'm not exactly sure how much is enough or even required though...This section is still very much under review. So, these selections (and indeed inclusion at all) may change as I get more input on this build.
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Poet's Quill: I'm not sure on this one, but the ability to Learn in addition to granting Lifelink seemed like this could work in a variety of circumstances. I'm just not sold on it being worth the mana, as Lesson spells are all quite mana inefficient overall (compared to normal spells of their type) but I suppose value is value. Either way, I really like the flavor of having a Quill to "sign" the Contract in this deck, so it may stay even if Lifelink doesn't prove to be a high priority.
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Unexpected Fangs: These seem pretty solid, especially for a Common. These slots might end up going (back) to Tamiyo's Safekeepings depending on how much more difference giving an existing Demon Lifelink is over saving one from dying (Or, being able to protect my actual Contracts). Still, there are some decent targets for this -- Changeling Outcast in particular since it's just guaranteed Life each attack. Reconfigure him with Blade of the Oni and we're looking at a completely new 6/6 Unblockable Lifelink win condition.
Flavor:
Kind of an afterthought upon constructing this deck for effective play, I realized that I can actually "Dig Up a (Poet's) Quill to sign Liliana's Contract". I'd be interested in morphing this into a more flavorful deck if anyone has an idea of how to expand upon that concept a bit more; it's been far too long since I've done a flavor build & this seems a prime candidate.
I already thought about including Davriel, Soul Broker to kind of administer the whole Contract thing -- indeed even his artwork seems a perfect fit. His actual (-2) Contract ability is too hit-or-miss to be reliable, but even without it his other triggers are worthwhile. Still, the purist in me still isn't completely on board with these digital-only Alchemy cards. Even though this is a digital build, I like retaining the idea that I could build it on paper if I wanted to.
We'll see. Again though, if anyone can offer input here for more flavor, I'm all ears. Bonus points if the suggestion still retains a competitive edge.
