This deck is also fairly budget as it is, if you want to lower the price all you really gotta do is switch up the lands. After that I believe the most expensive card is Serum Visions, which should be lowering a bit once the promo starts circulating. Alternatively Anticipate would be a decent substitute.
Without the lands and Serum Visions I can't see the deck being more than about $100.
June 5, 2015 1:17 p.m.
Bitter Ordeal can work fine, as well as Falkenrath Noble and Golem's Heart for a pseudo win-con with infinite life.
If you want to run a tutor Sidisi and Shred Memory are your best bets.
And I'm not really sure what Noxious Revival could really bring to the deck.
June 5, 2015 1:20 p.m.
Spoils of the Vault is also way too risky to be run, I've tried it even with the crazy dig this version of the deck has and it killed me more times than it helped. That card is incredibly difficult to run.
June 5, 2015 1:22 p.m.
EuropeanVampire says... #5
I see Shred Memory as a weaker version of Beseech the Queen, and I strongly prefer Bitter Ordeal over the Noble, but I might be wrong, of course. Noxious Revival would bring a vital card back directly to your hand (very likely) if you have the Grim Haruspex out and one Myr in hand, wich is common, I suppose. I personally don't like Golem's Heart, seeing it a sub-optimal draw when you always prefer having combo-pieces or Tutors. Again, I might be wrong.
June 5, 2015 1:32 p.m.
EuropeanVampire says... #6
I'm sorry for the double post: yes, Spoils of the Vault must be played with judgment, considering the (high) risk.
June 5, 2015 1:33 p.m.
I've always thought Shred Memory was better than Beseech because you can use it for utility, it's uncounterable as a tutor, and it grabs almost every relevant thing you want to find. Golem's Heart is really only good because you can grab it with Shred Memory.
The reason you would play the Noble is that you can win turn 3 with it, opposed to Bitter Ordeal being turn 4 (turn three with Noble you can use it as well as using a Thoughtseize to scout for disruption). It's much easier to stop the Noble over Ordeal though.
In a way I could see Noxious Revival being kind of like Gitaxian Probe of you have the Haruspex out. But without that it's strictly worse (but strictly better if you have a Retriever and another death creature in the graveyard). I could see it kind of working, but life loss might be a little high with Thoughtseizes (which you should definitely run despite the budget issues).
June 5, 2015 1:45 p.m.
EuropeanVampire says... #8
I don't get why you could not use Bitter Ordeal on T3; and you could still cast Thoughtseize if you have a Myr Moonvessel. Maybe there is something I am missing. Anyway I thank you for your points, they're useful resources.
June 5, 2015 1:56 p.m.
Oh whoops for some reason I was thinking it was 4 mana (I didn't look at it again).
I'm kind of questioning why I don't run it as a one of in my deck now. I think I might take out a Havengul Lich for one.
June 5, 2015 2:15 p.m.
lemmingllama says... #10
Bitter Ordeal is good in the sideboard, but not in the main deck. You can side it in against combo decks to mess with them, or as an uncounterable wincon against control. However, it is a little slow unless you already have Heartless Summoning and two Myr Retrievers. You can't do it with Havengul Lich until turn 4, and that's why I cut it from my list.
June 5, 2015 2:19 p.m.
I'm thinking that it also just be used as good utility, it works well in the mainboard and also beats Emrakul as well as beating out other combo decks even with only a few Gravestorm triggers. It's pretty common to get like 3 creatures to die in a row with a Haruspex chain. Also if you get an infinite draw chain off of a Haruspex, but don't have an Altar, it makes it a little less complicated to win. And lastly I'm wondering if the deck needs to go for the infinite mill to win. Maybe adding more mill support is something the deck could use.
June 5, 2015 3:42 p.m.
EuropeanVampire says... #12
Also, put aside the sideboard, you have not got any card wich could stop your opponent's action if he wants to break your combo pieces. I still think it's too expensive for a casual deck, because it's a casual deck, after all.
June 7, 2015 2:13 p.m.
You could also not comment, that would probably be for the best. My goal is to make this deck competitively viable. If you're just going to comment trash like that you're no help.
June 7, 2015 4:09 p.m.
This is a competitive modern deck. Modern is a format where the best deck is the one nobody has sideboard cards for. Nobody is sided for something like this, so it has a niche spot.
June 7, 2015 4:13 p.m.
lemmingllama says... #15
@juicytoot Actually, any kind of graveyard hate can shut down the deck. Also any kind of enchantment removal, combo removal (Surgical Extraction or Slaughter Games), or anti-storm cards with Arcane Laboratory effects. Counterspells can also be very painful to deal with.
Sadly it isn't competitively viable, mainly since any kind of sideboard answer can deal with the deck and it isn't consistent enough to get the combo out before turn 4. You can win games, but there are other combo decks like Amulet Bloom that are just as fast and also have a better late game.
June 7, 2015 10:37 p.m.
Amulet bloom isn't actually a good deck, that guy playing it was a cheater. This is good in the right meta. A meta prepared to face a million burn/affinity/delver decks isn't going to be happy to see something like this. My bogle deck probably has zero-slim chance of dealing with what this deck does.
June 7, 2015 11:24 p.m.
The issue with this deck and what keeps it on the borderline of viability is that it's a solitaire deck. It doesn't interact with the opponent at all in this specific build, and any form of disruption against it really hurts it.
That's where the developing deck tech comes in to make the deck viable so it can actually deal with its opponents and also retain speed and gain consistency.
I don't claim the deck to be competitively viable yet (because I know it has way too many weaknesses), but in due time either through the use of new cards, new strategies, and constructive criticism I think that this deck could eventually become something pretty good.
And Amulet Bloom is cool, not quite as fast as this deck without a god hand, but it works a little bit, it's kind of way too inconsistent.
June 8, 2015 1:27 a.m.
EuropeanVampire says... #18
What I say is not "trash": I tried to give the best advices possible, but I've told you what I think: this is a casual deck. I'm not the only one thinking it, but you should respect the negative comments too, if you want to be considered a mature person. Have a nice time playing your deck, just like I'm sure I will, too.
June 8, 2015 5:20 p.m.
You actually didn't give advice, that's the thing. There was a reason I lashed out on you, and it was justified. You gave no constructive criticism at all.
June 8, 2015 7:38 p.m.
EuropeanVampire says... #20
Oh, please. Read my comments, I did. And they all became "trash" when I said your deck is casual. Think what you want, but things don't change: some people can't stand negative comments. Have a nice day.
June 9, 2015 4:53 a.m.
Prophetnation says... #25
How would you combo off turn 2 with just the cards you described? Wouldn't you need 2 Myr Retrievers?
EuropeanVampire says... #1
Well, you can dig quite deep in black, too. And you can tutor very easily, of course, but you say it would be too mana-expensive and that is right. I was thinking to Bitter Ordeal as a secondary win-condition, using Spoils of the Vault and Beseech the Queen to get what you want if your actual hand does not allow you to win by T3, but I fear the latter being too slow. I do also really like the suggestion of using at least a couple of Noxious Revivals for backup.
June 5, 2015 1:15 p.m.