BoogieBear says... #2
Guildmage + Sanguine = infinite life gain & infinite opponent life loss. You don't even have to deal damage to them, just gain 1 life and it infinites.
The other cards you may consider are those with extort like Crypt Ghast , Blind Obedience , and Basilica Screecher . That is a great way to not have to get damage through to gain life. Each instance of extort also triggers Archangel of Thune .
You may also consider Profit / Loss for the Profit part to give all your creatures a single +1/+1 so that Archangel triggers on all creatures. Example, cast Profit, then pay the extort on Blind Obedience and all creatures effectively get +2/+2 for 3 CMC.
For the love of all things Voice of Resurgence , at the LEAST, sideboard Lifebane Zombie .
Another good card with some evasion is Obzedat, Ghost Council .
Another great card is Sin Collector . It is a Duress bolted on a 2/1 body.
Frontline Medic would help with attacking. It would make your stuff trigger lifelink even if it can't kill a bloacking creature.
You'll want Doom Blade for removal against non-black decks. Tragic Slip is better until rotation though.
Orzhov Charm would be good to pull a create back into your hand to avoid it being Doom Blade d or something. Good evasion.
Child of Night and Capashen Knight are good commons in the deck until you get all your preferred cards.
You should use Vampire Nighthawk until rotation.
If your deck works, Chalice of Life Flip would work well if you get to 30+
Imposing Sovereign is good against aggro decks, but Blind Obedience is better against spell based decks.
Cathedral Sanctifier is a good 1 drop to get the life gain going.
High Priest of Penance is a great removal card against aggro decks. Block their 1/1 with your 1/1 and you get to remove anything but a land.
Brave the Elements is also pretty good as it is good evasion for any deck you play.
Well, I think that's about all I got.
August 20, 2013 11:10 p.m.
BoogieBear says... #3
My bad. I thought Sanguine Bond was the same effect as Exquisite Blood , which it is not. Sanguine Bond has the same effect as Vizkopa Guildmage , so the infinite life combo rotates in September.
I'm tired....
August 21, 2013 11:07 p.m.
Heroes' Reunion is a good idea, but it's kinda a dead card until later in the game. I needed something to handle opposing creatures, etc. at the two-drop stage of the game.
August 26, 2013 6:44 p.m.
draftgod, Scavenging Ooze is sitting right on top of the deck box. It will do really, well, but what do I take out of the 2-drop slot yo put it in? That is the question. Do I pull Child of Night which gives me two per turn that it attacks for maybe one per turn with some growth? Both have their merits. I will definitely sideboard it.
August 27, 2013 6:38 p.m.
ya drop the childs for the ooze because you have Vizkopa Guildmage to give the ooze lifelink
August 27, 2013 6:51 p.m.
Ooze is added. Going to the LGS tonight. Results tomorrow.
August 28, 2013 6:51 p.m.
BoogieBear says... #12
My initial thoughts:
It seems like there are some good standalone cards here but they only seem to gain life, not take it. What I mean by this is that all the combos in the deck gain you life, but that doesn't reduce the other person's life.
Archangel of Thune is an enabler to reduce the opponent's life, but still has to get through and it has evasion (flying) so that is pretty good.
Deathrite Shaman is a really great card but doesn't seem to achieve good synergy here. It typically has a better place in Golgari control as opposed to aggro unless it is a reanimate deck.
Elvish Mystic is obvious for mana but it doesn't seem like it fits well when most of the cards are B or W. Typically mana ramp is best in mono or 2-color. Not 100%, but again, my 2 cents.
Festering Newt & Bubbling Cauldron seem like a good gimmick but not very practical.
Fiendslayer Paladin is just a rockstar any way you look at it.
Scavenging Ooze , another rockstar with pump ability.
Vampire Nighthawk is flat out a good choice in any deck with B in it. One of the cards I'll miss most come September's end. :(
Vizkopa Guildmage is essentially a good combo with Exquisite Blood but that's about it. Just doesn't seem all that effective, more of a "nice to have".
Alive is another "nice to have" for the 3/3 but isn't really making an impact with anything else.
Debt to the Deathless is a great, GREAT card in multi-player because the more opponents the better it gets. In single player less reliable. Example, what would you rather play with 5 open mana, this for 1 damage and 1 life gain, or Archangel of Thune , 2 Scavenging Ooze , etc. You see where I'm going. I honestly think that without Crypt Ghast this card just isn't viable. It would be better to just have a couple creatures with extort on them.
Elixir of Immortality is a great card for decks that have a lot of card draw so that you can cycle through and pull out land and refill your library. Obviously it's great against mill decks.
Angelic Accord is great when you gain 4 life life but doesn't compound. If you gain 4 life you get an angel token. If you gain 100 life, you still only get one angel token that turn.
Sanguine Bond isn't bad if everything you did gained you life, but here it seems like a pretty serious hindrance. Furthermore, see the 5-mana scenario above.
I know you were pretty set on adding G to the mix but I don't think it's making the deck any more effective at winning. I really think that if you're going to go for a life gaindrain deck you're going to want to stick with BW and use Lifelink and Extort. Having only 2 colors will make it more consistent and predictable.
These are my initial thoughts. Gotta run out for a but. Will come back with suggestions later..
August 29, 2013 3:02 p.m.
These are all initial thoughts, I haven't had a chance to try the deck out yet.
I'd agree with BoogieBear on most of his suggestions. I disagree however on several of the lifegain issues. I do agree that you should go BW, I think it'll be much more consistent with Scavenging Ooze being the only green I think is worth it in there right now.
I think Sanguine Bond , Vizkopa Guildmage , Angelic Accord , and Bubbling Cauldron are all worth keeping. With as much lifegain as you have in this deck, Sanguine Bond and Vizkopa Guildmage can make a huge impact on the game. Fiendslayer Paladin or Tithe Drinker become huge threats when they're swinging for essentially 4. I'd put more Fiendslayer Paladin in by the way, because he's a BA.
Angelic Accord is only once per turn, but with this much lifegain it's not a problem for you to drop it on turn 4. It's incidental after that, and pretty consistent, so only getting a 4/4 flyer for free most turns isn't really a problem.
Bubbling Cauldron I think you should keep, but I think you should switch the Festering Newt s for Tenacious Dead . He's much more flexible in general, as a blocker, sacrifice fodder, etc. I think he's a very underrated card right now.
Those are really the only suggestions I have that wouldn't just be repeating the above, I like the deck though, hope you have fun with it!
August 29, 2013 5:55 p.m.
FearLegion says... #14
Maybe sideboard Arrest if not take it out and maybe add Celestial Flare in its place, better to get rid of a creature entirely and gets around hexproof. Also maybe add Blind Obedience or Imposing Sovereign both leave your opponent defenseless for a short while and could put them more on the defensive and allows your creatures to hit and you to gain life, I would suggest [imposing sovereign though, you need more creatures to defend yourself. The Elixir of Immortality isn't great and might be a better side board card for mill opponents and can be replaced by Bubbling Cauldron and Festering Newt , this combo can allow you to siphon the opponents life while gaining life while adding a token and possible killing or lowering the opponents creature(s). Gift of Orzhova might be a nice main board or side board card, gives evasion and lifelink, but might be a sideboard card against decks with fliers.
September 1, 2013 9:41 p.m.
BoogieBear says... #15
Ok, so first thing which you know is that Festering Newt and Bubbling Cauldron have to go.
Next, you should be running 3x (or maybe 4x) Fiendslayer Paladin and Lifebane Zombie . The other card that could work well in this deck is Ethereal Armor as it is a 1-drop that gives First Strike, but it also gives a +1/+1 for each enchantment you control. That could get out of control in your deck.
The other thing that sticks out right away is that on your mana curve, you have 8 5-drop cards and 2 are creatures and 6 are enchantments. That seems like a pretty high mana cost potential on your first, second or third hand.
Having Angelic Accord makes sense since you gaining life = you getting 4/4 flyers! The part that bothers me is that you have Vizkopa Guildmage and Sanguine Bond which effectively do the same thing. I'd pick one or the other and go with it. The creature is easier to remove but the enchantment is more mana.... I'd go with the enchantment in this case.
If I were going to have 8 5-drop cards of those 3 selections, I'd have 4 Archangel of Thune and 2 of Sanguine Blood and Angelic Accord each.
Further, I agree with FearLegion about removing Arrest for Celestial Flare . The only trouble with that is it would impact the possibility of Ethereal Armor getting ridiculous!
Although, furthering his/her comment, you could make that swap and put in Blind Obedience and make up the enchantment deficit!! That would also allow for 1 life gain every spell you cast, slow down opposing creatures, and drop their life by 1, which would gain you life if you trigger Vizkopa Guildmage or have Sanguine Blood out.
I really feel like Blind Obedience
is a HUGE benefit. Even more so if you elect to go with Ethereal Armor
.
I would also have 4-of Pacifism and side board that with Arrest in case you're up against creatures like Elvish Mystic . That way it couldn't attack or block but it also couldn't tap for mana.
Sphere of Safety is also rock solid but while it keeps them from attacking, it doesn't help you get through. I'd go with 2-of these.
Next, you may consider 1 or 2 of Glaring Spotlight in order to be able to target opposing creatures with hexproof and also give all your creatures that game win condition to be hexproof and unblockable.
I think in the end, I would try the following:
3x Tenacious Dead Long Live Tenacious D!
3x Pacifism
2x Trading Post
4x Doom Blade
7x Plains
7x Swamp
Sideboard -
Maybeboard -
2x Holy Mantle
Ok, it's late. I'm going to bed. I'm sure once I read this in the morning I'll bang my head on the monitor wondering what I was thinking......
September 3, 2013 1:08 a.m.
fatality292 says... #16
Holy crap long comment above. Only one suggestion from me. Crypt Ghast awesome for mana ramp
September 3, 2013 6:06 p.m.
BoogieBear says... #17
Wow, fatality292, you're right. I guess I get a little wordy when I'm tired. Heck, I don't even want to read that whole thing!! lol
I do agree that Crypt Ghast is good for the mana ramp and extort. Good call. Maybe 2-of, possibly 3 but not 4, IMHO.
September 4, 2013 3:15 p.m.
fatality292 says... #18
BoogieBear definitely a 2 or 3x... if you have 4 you end up with a stupid amount of ramp and nothing to spend it on!
September 4, 2013 6:38 p.m.
No Ajani's Chosen or Blightcaster ? They're both pretty strong.
September 7, 2013 5:57 p.m.
Both are a good idea, and I will toy with them both. Creatures in this deck are tough. If they don't lead to life gain, and trigger Angelic Accord,I have stayed away from them. But those are good ideas.
September 7, 2013 9:06 p.m.
PwnusPoints says... #21
Why did you remove bubbling cauldron? 4 life and combos with tenacious dead? Pretty nice in my opinion.
September 7, 2013 11:25 p.m.
PwnusPoints, it was nice, but with Trading Post , I found it really redundant. More often than not, I was discarding it to the post. I pulled it to add the enchantments to amp up Ethereal Armor and Sphere of Safety . That has actually worked out really well for me.
September 8, 2013 12:40 a.m.
well Deviant Glee might be cool? and i know your going with enchantments but if up against agro maybe High Priest of Penance
September 12, 2013 7:46 p.m.
Ok. Played this deck at my local shop for FNM and went 1-3. It's just not fast enough. I know the argument about how things will slow down a bit in post-rotation, and I did go up against a LOT of Innistrad laden decks. But still. How do I make this deck perform more consistently? I feel like it's cohesive and purposeful, but I am still getting my ass handed to me.
Suggestions?
September 14, 2013 7:38 p.m.
I've been putting together BoogieBear's variation of this deck with the exception of 3 Godless Shrine 's, and a few other cards subbed in until I can get the rest of it built.
I tried it out at my FNM this past friday and went 5-1, taking second place (my second time at FNM at that!) It is a little slow on the creature drop, but you have so much control and removal that it buys you enough time to get to mid/end-game where you completely wreck everyone's face! (Unless they run something with blue...)
Most notable win of the night was when I didn't get a single creature, had two Sanguine Bond 's out and drew an Elixir of Immortality , healed for 5, they took 10.. shuffled my graveyard into my library and top decked another Elixir of Immortality , gg!
Lord_Braiker says... #1
Dying Wish and Doomblade are an excellent combo. Put dying wish on your opponent's creature, then cast Doom Blade. Remove the thread, gain life on it's power and do damage to your opponent. Bonus points if Sanguine Bond is out.
August 19, 2013 10:58 p.m.