Interested to know why you run Expedition Map in this deck? yes it fetches any land, but you should be really well set on lands once you hit the opener.

I found in my deck that we usually hit a fetch or two to get the ball moving and are able to get a lock effectively on the game from the get go, as our decks are near identical (with i think 11 card difference) I'm curious as to some of the cards in your deck. I understand Dismember as I should have it in my deck, but do not play it.

I'd like to recommend cutting Wall of Roots for something like a mox. Either Diamond or Chrome. It was in my OG set up, too but i found as a body it does a few things for me, but the artifacts do more for me.

Any particular reason for which you don't run Smokestack? Maybe it could replace Possessed Portal?

Why Dark Tutelage over Phyrexian Arena? The arena loses you less life and also doesn't reveal the cards you are drawing.

Hi Shadowz6677, it took me a while to get back onto a decent device to properly answer comments. Now that I obtained my Japanese alter, I am happy to move forward to see where this deck could still be improved. It seems you are enjoying your build too, so we might learn from eachother.

Expedition Map gives me an extra out to find Gaea's Cradle. This land is pretty vital when I want to finish the game using Torment of Hailfire.

Mox Diamond is a good addition. But I do not own one yet. I hope to get my hands on one later this day, when I have some trading options available. Good suggestion.

Hello JoeBlondie, thank you for your comment!

Smokestack was once in the deck, but it is slow. There is no direct impac on the battlefield when you cast it. It takes a full turn to become active, which I felt was sub-optimal for this build.

Possessed Portal is a brutal finisher that usually ends in GG from my table :)

Hello Wiggyman, thanks for visiting my deck and leaving a suggestion. Always appreciated!

The reason I run Dark Tutelage is due to the fact that it gives me cards without drawing them. I have cards in the deck that blocks drawing cards like Possessed Portal and Chains of Mephistopheles. Dark Tutelage bypasses this and still gives me the extra needed cards.

Hope this makes sense :)

PartyJ We run all the tutors. That is why I asked. Yea, I've been REALLY enjoying Nath. I've been tinkering with sub ins for metas that are a problem, and creatures that could pose a grave threat to the deck. Arena of the Ancients found a place in my MB recently cause man... it just does its job when it needs to.

As you know, my Nath has done A LOT of additions and revisions lately and is by far my favorite deck. (Although I own Kresh and now JVP as commanders. Still testing out JVP High Tide)

Hey Shadowz6677, I layed my hands on a Mox Diamond and it's in the deck. Along with Arena of the Ancients. I really like to test that card in my meta too! I think it will serve me well!

Out: Wall of Roots & Expedition Map

Thanks for the good tips.

Nice Primer and list. I am working on a Nath list as well. My meta is a little more creature based mid range with blink and GY recursion. Any suggestions for best creature staxs? I am trying Grave pact but it feels really slow, I dunno.

Cheers

Thank you dsgrave for your comment.

I do now know your budget, but a card like The Abyss is a great card to add. I just did it too. A budget version would be Magus of the Abyss.

All other stax staples can be found in my stax list.

How is your deck performing lately?

A small change made today.

I removed Arena of the Ancients as it was a nice card to play, but didn't do very well in a multiplayer enviroment.

The replacement card is Carpet of Flowers, which works really well in my heavy blue meta. And it also adds up for Torment of Hailfire.

If you have any questions regarding my build or card choices, then feel free to ask me.

Cool man nice pick up. I do have the Magus of the abyss in. I've played for a while now so I have a decent amount of high budget cards but I am not likely to pick up a Cradle, Abyss or Chains any time soon. I think i am going to swap out grave pact though, even though it is really strong sometimes other times I can't proc it when I need too, not 100% yet. I've also got Master of the Wild hunt in as well, who can give you tokens to sac to stax or really keep off problem creatures. He's also a little slow though. My play group doesn't have anyone whos picked up the fast ramp artifacts like crypt and vault so we're probably a couple turns off in terms of speed anyways so he hasn't seem too bad.The deck in general feels pretty good. Sometimes it can be hard to end the game even I get an ok board state but I've just picked up a Torment of Hailfire so I think that could be alright in that regard. My list is pretty similar to some of the budget lists floating around but I also have a bit more of the elfballas a sub theme. So I am running Priest of Titania and Elvish archdruid as well as Renegade leader and Craterhoof. I like trying to pressure life totals as much as I can so I am also running Goyf and Spiritmonger who sometimes will just people before they can stabilize through the stax. Seedborn muse sometimes can just cheat you out of the stax lock and get your really far ahead.

Very fun deck to play, probably not very optimized but I am getting there ;p

Great decklist!

Been following closely for a few months, I got some of the staples but Im missing Chains and the Abyss

I think there are few budget replacements for the Abyss but nothing for Chains, I wonder if the deck is still viable without it and what would be in its place

I run few walkers but I dont see any other than Lili in your list

Cheers

PartyJ your deck looks fun to play +1. I am just starting to play around with stax and I was wondering about pointers on my own deck? It won't let me pin it in the comments though sadly.

Thanks for your nice comment dsgrave. I played with Grave Pact in the past too. But it's just not competitiv enough to warrant a spot in my deck. It takes too much hassle and I don;t get that time in my meta.

Master of the Wild Hunt is too slow for my liking and he also is a creature himself, meaning he is very vulnerable on the battlefield. I would suggest against adding it in a competitive environment.

Keep tweaking your deck to your likings and your own meta. That is important! I would consider at least 15+ mana rocks/dorks to enable a consistant start during most of your games.

Good luck and keep me posted!

Thanks L3ad!

I believe that without Chains a competitive decklist is still viable. But his unique effect is hard to replace by any card.

The only walker I run I feel is the only walker that truely is viable in my competitive meta. All other walkers I feel do not bring enough to the board; are too expensive/slow or a are supbar in their action.

Thanks for the upvote Keir47424. Post the link to your deck on my wall, so that I have a reminder to take a look at it later on.

Hey, have you looked atVona's Hunger?

A new deckupdate has been posted at the top @ dsgrave

Vona's Hunger is not delivering what we really need in a competitive environment. Sure it has some nice potential removal, but many times it will miss the vital pieces that need to be dealt with. Fleshbag Marauder has the added benefit that it does nearly the same and can be found easier with several available tutors. But still I made the choice to cut them all together for more consistant options.

Hope it makes sense and helps you decide what is best for your build.

PartyJ Great deck and primer! +1 from me :) Will there be any new updates, since the new set Guilds of Ravnica has been released; like Assassin's Trophy for example?

Hello Hipparchos, thank you for the kind words.

I am currently looking at some possible modifications for this deck. Expect a deck update in the near future.

Hey so I really love this list. I am currently upgrading my Nath deck as I go and this list has been a huge inspiration and help. My big question though is why are you not running Phyrexian Tower. The ability to drop a token for 2 extra mana seems really good, and at worst you can tap an elf, tap tower and sac the elf to make a total of 3 mana. That means with 1 dork and tower Nath comes out 2 turns earlier or just helps late in game for a more explosive play.

Hello Merlikthemad, thank you for the kind words. Nice to see that my list inspired you. It is still one of my active decks and I will be making improvements shorty after this message. A deck is never really done...

I understand your suggestion regarding Phyrexian Tower, but the fact that it creates colorless mana to begin with is something that I prefer not to run. The extra effect does not help me get Nath earlier on the field too. I think it's too narrow for what it does for a Stax list like this.

Thanks for the suggestion anyway. it is always nice to discuss cards and strategies.

Last change for 2018, this was unexpected. But I had the opportunity to obtain an Imperial Seal. This was a dream card, that I ever wanted to add. Now it has happened.

I cut Possessed Portal with pain in my heart. I still am not 100% sure if this is a permanent choice, but his masive cmc and to get a more consistent play decided me to try to play this deck without it.

Looking forward to play my games without it.

BTW don't feel bad about kicking portal to the curb. I did. Here is the version I'm currently running, Ranked Nath Fork. I'm likely to update the primer with this build in the next month or so.

Hi Coinman1863, thanks for sharing your experience. Looking at your Fork list, I see that you are experimenting with several new cards. Did you play with this setup many games? Any surprises that you didn't expect in the first place?

Finally stopped by to check out your Nath list, I had no clue it was the main Nath deck on TappedOut! Congrats man, as I’m sure you’ve heard a thousand times, great work on the deck and primer.

I’m curious about your experiences playing with Pox and Death Cloud. I love these cards but in my playtesting they can really backfire. Usually Nath is killed off in response to one of them being cast or they sit in my hand and do nothing.