Why descend our hands and libraries to the deepest depths of the graveyard? For Wrexial, the Risen Deep wills it.
Investigator and horror combine together to formulate this themed deck centered around discarding hands, drawing cards, and bouncing threats off of the board, while establishing dominance of board presence with vicious leviathans, krakens, and horrors. The theme is drawn from the perspective of H.P. Lovecraft himself assuming the role of a planeswalker, who has personally witnessed these unspeakable horrors in person, cataloguing them for those that dare to enter a battle of wits against him.
Needless to say, Wrexial, the Risen Deep represents the most notorious of all of Lovecraft's creatures: Cthulhu. After plunging some tasty instants and sorceries into an opponent's graveyard, Wrexial, the Risen Deep can use my opponents spells against them. This diabolical irony of using an opponents deck against them works well with Lovecraft's creation of a demigod capable of rendering people mad by simply looking upon the foul creature.
How can we possibly warp the feeble impotent minds of the opposition and place their beloved instants and sorceries to the graveyard? Why that is simple. Milling can be triggered by
Induce Paranoia
and
Nemesis of Reason
. Milling opponents provides Cthulhu with ample resources for exploiting. However, it also initiates pathetic whining from ostentatious non-believers.
The deck also thrives on causing opponents to discard cards from their hands and draw new ones. I find the cruelty of this tactic to be exquisite. I've never liked my hand anyway! Bah! Send those useless memories off to the deepest depths of the grave by utilizing Whispering Madness, Dark Deal or by activating our most devout cultists;
Jace's Archivist
or Magus of the Jar. Each of these spells have the possibility of going off more than once provided opponents do not meddle with our affairs (although they certainly will if they realize what is necessary for their pathetic survival). Even the wittiest of opponents will quiver when they realize how difficult it will be to stop our evasive ciphered creatures. Abyssal Nocturnus, Cthulhu, Invisible Stalker, Delver of Secrets
and Thing in the Ice
all have evasive abilities to ensure that everyone can delight in Madness
Notable Flavor
Stitcher Geralf
acts as Herbert West, Reanimator; stitching together bodies of cards in the graveyard.
Tolaria West acts as Miskatonic University, the fictitious school where many of Lovecraft's characters studied.
Esper Panorama
, gorgeous and peaceful, representative of one of the four quarters of the Dreamlands.
Underworld Dreams, horrifying and loaded with macabre, the art represents the underworld of the Dreamlands.
Dimir Charm
, representative of the Elder Sign, an indication of macabre and horror to come.
Lazav, Dimir Mastermind
, a natural shapeshifter, a perfect inclusion acting as "Nyarlathotep".
Nemesis of Reason
is representative of Lovecraft's unspeakable horror "Azathoth".
Chasm Skulker behaves like Shub-Niggurath and her thousand young.
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth represents the sunken city, which serves as the throne of the Great Old One, "R'Lyeh".
City of Shadows
sucks creatures in granting eldritch benefits to increasing the city's numbers. Representative of Innsmouth from Lovecraft's story "The Shadow Over Innsmouth".
Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger an extraplanar horror, acts as a fitting representation of "Yog-Sotthoth".
Geier Reach Sanitarium acts as an automatic inclusion for card-draw-to-discard mechanics in the deck, as well as pay homage to the infamous Arkham Asylum.
The Stars are Right
Discarding from hands and drawing more cards is the most powerful effect in the deck. Submerging our immediate ideas to the grave not only trips up opponents meager plans, but also generates benefits for the deck. Liliana's Caress, Waste Not, Underworld Dreams, Psychosis Crawler, and Duskmantle Guildmage can deal damage or trigger life loss.
Opponents to Wrexial,the Risen Deep's blessed madness will likely lash out against our delightful machinations. In order to stop their meddling, several enablers are present within the deck to make opposition... painful.... Ah yes! That reminds me! Painful Quandary invokes a choice for opponents to continue casting their meager spells at the cost of a decent chunk of life or a memory off to the grave! Crawlspace and Propaganda limit the number of creatures which can attack on a turn. Torpor Orb negates creature "enter the battlefield triggers", which is of little impact upon this deck. The ultimate enabler to be used only when opponents are being especially resistant is Glacial Chasm, which allows time to stabilize and maintain board presence without worrying about sudden massive attacks. While a land is sacrificed and a tithe in life is paid each turn, the cost is necessary to continue our diabolic ritual.
You're probably thinking, "Hey, your deck needs Whispering Madness to win! You can't get that card every single game!" Oh? You think so? Cthulhu's will is strong, and his cult activities will render any opposition helpless. Vampiric Tutor, Demonic Tutor, Dark Petition and Beseech the Queen can retrieve any ideal spell in a given situation with few restrictions. Forbidden knowledge can also be obtained through transmuting cards such as
Perplex
, Tolaria West, and Clutch of the Undercity. While this amount of tutors may be high, the mission of the deck can turn quickly depending on the board state. Exerting Cthulhu's will can be completed in a number of ways.
In true Lovecraftian fashion, mind warping and distortion will lead to deadly results. Waste Not + Whispering Madness
can flood the board with zombies, provide black mana, and provide a greater draw engine for the next casting of Madness. Dark Deal,
Memory Jar
,
Jace's Archivist
, and Magus of the Jar can trigger these effects. Stolen Identity targeting
Memory Jar
,
Jace's Archivist
or Magus of the Jar will allow for pure hysteria and hilarity to ensue.
The games which end in the decks favor, typically end with the presence of at least one of Lovecraft's horrors on the board. Cthulhu, Shrub Niggurath and her Thousand Young, Azathoth, Yog-Sothoth, or Nyarlathotep.
Doomsday is our final and most hilarious maneuver to ensure that the stars are aligned to exert Cthulhu's will. Following resolving Doomsday, victory can be achieved with
Gush
piles and Laboratory Maniac. Speaking of maniacs, I owe the usage of Doomsday in this deck to the competitive EDH group Laboratory Maniacs for including this really nice Doomsday primer. A link to the primer is here: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/the-edh-doomsday-primer/.
When stacking our Doomsday piles, our key combos are either
Gush
or Mind's Desire.
For
Gush
piles, we generally run the following:
-
Gush
- Laboratory Maniac
- Gitaxian Probe
- Whispering Madness
- Anything
Requirements: 2 islands, 2 blue mana, 1 black mana, more than 2 life, 4 mana of any color
Breakdown: Crack the pile with any draw engine. Tap two islands and add 2 blue to mana pool. Return the two islands to hand by casting
Gush
Spend 1 of any color to cast
Laboratory Maniac. Pay 2 life to cast
Gitaxian Probe. Cast
Whispering Madness to windmill and draw nothing to win! A cheaper and more effective win-con is to take
Brainstorm over
Whispering Madness, but I'm not a big fan of the card so I don't run it.
Another fun way to win with
Doomsday that I have yet to try is
Mind's Desire, but it requires quite a few more resources. The pile ordering is irrelevant, so long as
Mind's Desire is on top.
Requirements: Storm count 3, 2 blue and four mana of any color.
Breakdown: Cast
Mind's Desire exiling all cards in the doomsday pile. Begin by casting
Laboratory Maniac and holding on to
Perplex
and
Induce Paranoia
as counterspell protection. If
lab man is countered, then counter the counter. Always begin with
Perplex
followed by
Induce Paranoia
. Opponents will probably opt to discard their hand if they know they will lose otherwise, so it's best to have a second unconditional counterspell in reserve. If anything tries to remove our beloved
lab man then follow the counterspell procedure. Finish the game by casting
Gitaxian Probe on yourself to win! Always remember to name yourself with
Gitaxian Probe, The Laboratory Maniacs explain well that this strategy prevents opponents from conceding in response and disrupting the draw effect!
Opponents will quiver in the might of these horrors, but the sweetest victories result in your opponents going mad. Watching opponents libraries quickly dwindle down to nothing is equivalent to watching a mind's consciousness shrink. They will tremble in fear at the next resolution of
Doomsday, knowing their feeble chances at victory were all for nothing!!! Watch them squirm as you sacrifice
Magus of the Jar and tap
Jace's Archivist
!! Look at all of those delicious instants and sorceries!!! Achieve even greater brilliance as their mind's dwindle to nothing with a mass discard with
Notion Thief!!!
Cthulhu and
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth will result in inevitable commander damage with a free spell to cast!!! Zombie hordes overtake the board with
Jace's Archivist + Waste Not
providing additional cards to exert
Cthulhu's will and course the power of his madness within my veins!!!
"Ia! Ia!
Cthulhu fhtagn! Ph'nglui mglw'nfah
Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!"
