A
Rosheen Meanderer
X-ramp deck.
In it's current state, the deck is a little too dedicated to it's theme and (at least I feel) sacrifices too much functionality in the name of the gimmick. Lately I've been trying to cut back on the gimmick, trim the fat and make the deck run smoother, though it goes without saying that Rosheen still needs work.
The overall idea is the deck gets Rosheen online, cranks out fatties, whips out board wipes and aims for a combat centered victory, with either a hefty trampler or a burn spell for the finisher.
The Megaramp
Any deck can ramp up to 10+ lands, but Rosheen aims to spit out threats in bursts. Ramping via lands helps the deck stabilize in the late game, but it's the overwhelming threat that is the deck's primary objective. To that end, the deck has several key cards to help Rosheen jump from +4 mana to +8, +12 and so on.
The deck features
Scryb Ranger
,
Quirion Ranger
,
Seeker of Skybreak
and
Thousand-Year Elixir
as means to untap Rosheen for +4 mana. The Rangers double on defense, allowing me to open up hefty blockers or simply replay a tapped Forest for an additional +1 mana boost for the turn. The Elixir also doubles as a means of giving Rosheen pseudo-haste. Toss in a
Doubling Cube
and watch the numbers jump.
Magus of the Candelabra
is included for several key reasons: First, he enables me to translate Rosheen's X-mana into normal mana which can be used on non-X costs, Second he enables utility lands to play double duty (Skargg, Kessig and Rogue's Passage), and Third he allows me to play the diplomat by donating mana to other players if the situation calls for it.
Astral Cornucopia
may seem like a strictly worse Gilded Lotus (costing 9 instead of 5), however Rosheen's +4 mana mitigates that difference entirely, and the flexibility is more important, however having a CMC of 0 is a little hazardous. Regardless, the occasional 15-mana Cornucopia makes for some fun games.
Doubling Cube
, aside from the obvious uses of supercharging my mana, also has the added side-effect of allowing me to, in fringe cases, "unlock" Rosheen's mana, as the duplicated 4-mana will not carry the spending restriction.
The Threats
The vast majority of creatures in this deck are either functional X/Xs or solid creatures that include abilities which have an X in their cost to best leverage Rosheen's mana - they are the deck's bread and butter and getting a 10/10 trample onto the board and starting to draw other player's threats and removals out is important. The deck has to be careful to commit to the board enough to make players react, but never overcommit enough to make take excessive losses. The selection of creatures limits itself to those that either are the most flexible, the most aggressive, have some amount of survivability, or provide some amount of utility.
Some important highlights:
Jiwari, the Earth Aflame
and
Arashi, the Sky Asunder
double as instant-speed board wipes in hand, Arashi and
Silklash Spider
do double duty of keeping the skies clear while Arashi is a removal engine.
Apocalypse Hydra
and vicious hydra can double as spot removal, additionally
Hungering Hydra
can absorb the deck's own mass-burn spells as a means to buff itself. Lastly
Lifeblood Hydra
and
Hooded Hydra
also both provide juicy refund policies for dying in combat.
card:Gelatenous Genesis,
Wurmcalling
also function as additional threats.
Utility/Buff
A 10/10 isn't actually that much of a threat, some some amount of voltron is necessary to keep the numbers meaningful. Utility lands such as
Rogue's Passage
,
Kessig Wolf Run
and card:Skargg, the Rage Pits double as a means of turning a big creature into a gatecrasher.
As far as artifact/enchantment removal go,
Gorilla Shaman
clears out rocks and rings in the early/midgame, kills off boots, shatters swords, and keeps opponents' creatures from threatening mine.
Nylea, God of the Hunt
provides mass trample - most of the time this deck is putting out 8/8s to 15/15s, sometimes bigger when Apocalypse Hydra hits the board, so keeping them a threat while occasionally also being a source of buffs and/or a fatty herself should go a long way to closing out games.
Azor's Gateway
is included as a means to cycle cards on the cheap - 1 mana to cycle through my deck each turn is a good deal - plus it's threatening enough to potentially draw artifact removal away from something potentially more valuable. In the very unlikely scenario that it flips, this deck is uniquely qualified to take advantage of Sanctum of the Sun's insane mana production.
Green Sun's Zenith
fetches a selection anti-fliers as well as
Nylea, God of the Hunt
,
Xenagos, God of Revels
,
Vigor
and
Gargos, Vicious Watcher
Hull Breach
is my only source of enchantment removal, while
Release the Gremlins
and
Gorilla Shaman
are artifact removal.
Solidarity of Heroes
potentially turns an unblocked threat into an instakill, and at it's worst is just 2 mana to give a hydra 4 +1/+1 counters at instant speed, which should be good enough.
As for voltron pieces, my weapons and armors of choice are
Darksteel Plate
(for Rosheen, if necessary),
Lightning Greaves
(ditto, but gives free haste to Hydras for the kill),
Sigil of Distinction
for a reuseable Hydra and
Rancor
to keep the threats threatening.
The Burn
I've tried to focus this deck's burn spells to be either the most flexible, the most destructive, or the most efficient as possible. To that end, I've narrowed the list down as best as possible.
Starstorm
beats
Savage Twister
and has cycling.
Windstorm
adds an extra layer of anti-flying defense, since ground superiority should be easy to maintain.
Bonfire of the Damned
is a natural choice for wiping out a single player's board.
Clan Defiance
knocks out two creatures and then domes a player or planeswalker for some free face damage, which is always useful with Hostility.
Burn from Within
is a difficult call, but my local meta has some pretty annoying indestructible creatures floating around and being able to pick off one target for good can be useful.
Comet Storm
is a powerful, selective removal spell
Subterranean Tremors
clears out small, annoying creatures on the ground and sometimes destroys pesky artifacts and rarely summons an 8/8 Gojira.
Heaven/Earth Is a two-for one Windstorm and Earthquake.
Other Creatures and Planeswalkers
As previously mentioned, Vigor, Nylea and Xenagos are all included, as well as Gargos - they should all hopefully be self explanatory in function and purpose.
Domri, Anarch of Bolas
doubles as a mana rock, counter-prevention and removal.
Vivien, Champion of the Wilds
is both an excellent defensive tool versus fliers, enables flashing in big threats and also can draw threats in a pinch.
Utility Spells and Enchantments
Momentous Fall
lets me trade a doomed creature for draws and life.
Reverberate
either duplicates a nasty spell of my own, or gives me a copy of an opponent's spell.
Wildest Dreams
and
Reap the Past
both offer reload options.
Bonds of Mortality
is my best way to deal with indestructible or hexproofed threats, and conveniently replaces itself with a card draw.
Rhythm of the Wild
functions as both a means to buff creatures, give haste when needed, and protect against counterspells.
Chaosphere
neutralizes flying threats completely.
Unbound Flourishing
is an autoinclude.
