This deck keeps winning and winning, so I decided to do a cleaner writeup. Some fights were tough, but I don't think there is an impossible matchup for this deck. I've beaten Mardu vehicles, BW/BU zombies, UW/UB control, GB energy tokens, aetherworks marvel, red wins, RW aggro humans and more.
Also, this deck can be very budget, although it does need good dual lands to function well.
I Love Feedback
Halp!! I am continually trying to refine my decks. Your input is greatly appreciated; feel free to comment. If you go so far as to playtest the deck, please let me know how it went (I'm flattered that you would try). Also, a +1 is always appreciated.
Hi all, I like to brew standard decks that are on a budget. By brewing budget, I can't just use good stuff, and need to look for synergies in the cheap cards, and that is what's fun. For no specific reason, I like Orzhov, and always start with that base, but will add other colors.
Also, I do include some pricey land cards in my budget decks, simply because they can be reused in many different decks, making them a value in the long run. There are cheaper or combo lands that are less efficient, such as Forsaken Sanctuary or Foul Orchard. For my other recent decks, see:
Odric and Thalia's Budget Black Love Child EMN v2
Rainbow Cryptalition - UltraBudget Standard Allies
Creature Trident - SOI mid-budget
Summary
The core of the deck is the interaction between Yahenni, Undying Partisan and
Fumigate
. If we have another creature out, then at the least we can leave Yahenni alone on an empty board. If one of our creatures is a Selfless Spirit, then the board wipe can be one sided and completely devastating. Just visualize yourself casting Fumigate after the opponent just dumped their hand on the board; it's awesome.
Yahenni
Yahenni is very resilient in a meta that focuses on damage or destruction based removal. However, he needs fuel for his ability, and much of the deck works to support that. A key piece is
Scrapheap Scrounger
, one scrounger might get sac'd to Yahenni 2-3 times in a single game.
Thraben Inspector
is great as he doesn't cost us card advantage, even if immediately sacrificed. Westvale Abbey
can also help create fodder late in the game., but we do need more creatures in the deck to make this work.
Deathtouch and first strike
We like creatures that help gum up the board, and two good options are Gifted Aetherborn and Bone Picker. Bone Picker works a little better in this deck where we are not infrequently either killing an opponent's creature with removal, or sacrificing one of our own. Amonkhet provided a great boon to both of these cards, in Cartouche of Solidarity. I cannot understate how wonderful a creature with first strike and deathtouch is. In order to kill a bone picker with cartouche as it swings in, at a minimum the opponent would need 5 normal creatures all with 3 or greater power, and would lose 4 of them in the trade. A problem with cartouche is it exposes us to losing two permanents to one removal spell. However, even if they kill our enchanted creature, we still have our 1/1 with vigilance for which is not a terrible deal.
Odric
What is better than one creature with deathtouch, flying, first strike, and vigilance? How about all your creatures with those abilities and more. Odric, Lunarch Marshal is really fun to play around, but struggles when he is the win condition for a deck. His synergy is vulnerable to removal and is slow. However, in this deck he is icing on the cake. We he comes in, he will often bring good value (even if the only other card is Yahenni, swinging with an Odric with haste will often catch the opponent off guard). If you manage to get in a situation where the opponent cannot remove your creatures (perhaps because you have a Selfless Spirit), then it is game over.
Oketra
Oketra the True is not a very good card, but if there ever was a deck where it could work, this is it. At worst she can make fodder for Yahenni. The indestructible helps us keep board presence after a
Fumigate
, and if we manage to combo Odric and Oketra, then all our creatures get double strike as well as the indestructible (even if Oketra can't attack or block herself, the abilities still copy). This card is one of the weakest in the deck, and one of the first to be sideboarded, but it is still fun and useful enough to warrant a few copies.
Control
Often,
Fumigate
is not enough interaction and comes too late in the game. To help us get there, the rest of the deck adds more control. The main board is primarily creature removal, but the sideboard can replace that if needed. Depending on the meta and your budget,
Grasp of Darkness
might have a role instead of Fatal Push. Grasp answers a lot of common high CMC problem creatures such as Glorybringer, Archangel Avacyn
, Samut, Voice of Dissent, and Archfiend of Ifnir, although the pushes are probably better. gives us access to Anguished Unmaking which is very versatile for a lot of problem cards including planeswalkers and Angel of Sanctions. Personally I think it is better than Cast Out and
Declaration in Stone
although they are good options. Forsake the Worldly is a great card that answers Cast Out, gearhulks,
Aetherworks Marvel
, and any vehicle that needs to go away, and we can cycle it when it's not needed. Yes, please.
Playstyle
Starting hand: usually we want at least two lands, ideally 3-4. We don't want to be stuck with a fumigate in hand and be unable to cast it. The exception is against control, when a starting hand with scrapheaps and inspectors might be good enough even with 1 land (but it's risky).
Early, we try to gum up the board, get a few hits in, ideally even while keeping card advantage. If we have a fumigate in hand then we might even try to weather a few extra rounds while our opponent dumps their hand so we have card advantage after a wrath. As this is going on, we either slowly beat them down, or get in an explosive round with either Odric or Ormendahl, Profane Prince
.
Remember that our creature creating abilities can be used at instant speed (scrapheaps, Oketra, Westvale). If an opponent is playing sloppy, they might try to kill Yahenni, only to watch us create a creature at instant speed and immediately sac it to protect him. This also give us choices at their end turn, to either crack a clue, cast instant speed removal, or bring in a creature, depending on what we need.
Sideboard
Control
Control matchups are tough, but we have some answers. Often, their only creature is a Torrential Gearhulk. We can get rid of our creature removal, and board in a few answers, including Scarab Feast which we can cast at instant speed and take away the instant they thought they were going to cast. Dispossess (or a
Pick the Brain
with delirium, which is rare), can permanently remove him, which can cripple them. If we are allowed to resolve a Kambal, Consul of Allocation or a
Sorin, Grim Nemesis
, then they can do some great work. Anguished Unmaking remains important for Cast Out and Angel of Sanctions. Remember to try to leave one mana up when casting an important card, to account for Censor.
U/W control with Torrential:
In: 3x Scarab Feast, 1x Dispossess, 3x
Pick the Brain
, 3x Kambal, Consul of Allocation, 1x
Sorin, Grim Nemesis
, 2x Anguished Unmaking
Out: 4x Fatal Push, 4x
Fumigate
, 2x Oketra the True, 3x Selfless Spirit
Other thoughts
Authority of the Consuls used to be in the sideboard, but I took it out when cat combo was banned. If aggro or Glorybringer decks become a big issue, then they might come back in.
Against creature heavy opponents, we add the Planar Outburst as a 5th wrath.
If the opponent is running burn, Kambal, Consul of Allocation is surprisingly effective in keeping us alive and I board in all 3.
Budget
Grasp of Darkness
can replace Fatal Push. Thalia, Heretic Cathar or
Solemn Recruit
can replace Oketra the True. The
Scrapheap Scrounger
and Selfless Spirit are fundamental to the deck and can't really be replaced.
Sorin, Grim Nemesis
is not all that important and can be replaced. Westvale Abbey
actually does a lot of work for this deck and I wouldn't advise removing him; the same is true of the dual lands.
Summary
This is a really fun deck to play that performs well and doesn't break the bank. I'm always open to hear suggestions, and if you try it out, let me know how you did. Thanks.
