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The Minefield: A Modern Artifact Recycler (T3 Win)
Modern
SCORE: 125 | 238 COMMENTS | 28518 VIEWS | IN 72 FOLDERS
The point of Zombies in Kansas is to be a combo deck which is both rugged and fast, but which NEVER runs out of gas. The "fast" combo aspect of this is achieved via the Grand Architect + Pili-Pala combo (potential turn 3 win). The "rugged" nature comes from the fact that this combo is an inherently difficult combo to stop once it gets going given that mana generation happens faster than split-second abilities in MTG, and that once a player has infinite mana, they usually win. This rugged nature is further developed via its abundance of removal & counter magic (all of which can be used on anything but lands and create a long game plan as a BUG control deck), and the other coming from its land base, abusing such cards as Academy Ruins and Cavern of Souls to ensure that even against control decks, this deck can attempt to go off turn after turn after turn.
It is named "Zombies in Kansas" for its tendency to reanimate Pili-Pala, MTG's own version of Mr. Scarecrow, and because once you have infinite mana, your opponent isn't in Kansas (playing a fair game of magic) anymore.
While there are only four of each of these in the deck, it isn't hard to achieve this combo, requiring that only one Grand Architect is drawn, in addition to drawing Pili-Pala, or fetching Pili-Pala with Muddle the Mixture. There are also plenty of cantrips to abuse with Snapcaster Mage (sometimes), Serum Visions, and Grisly Salvage. Once this infinite mana combo is achieved, truly anything can be combo'd infinitely by abusing the infinite mana and any fetch/transmute card, or the HIGHLY controlled luck of the draw through a nearly endless supply of cantrips to choose which combo you wish to pull.
Note about this combo: Until you have at least one of the combo's which can abuse infinite mana, do not place Grand Architect on the field. He is harder to tutor for than Pili-Pala, and all that is required is that he be played successfully to the field to set the combo off.
For a turn 3 win:
T1: Land
T2: Land + Pili-Pala
T3: Land + Grand Architect
Then: Attack with Pili-Pala to tap it. Once you have Pili-Pala tapped, use Grand Architect's second active ability to tap himself. This generates two colorless mana. Untap Pili-Pala with that mana to produce one blue mana. Use that to turn Pili-Pala blue using Grand Architect's first activated ability. You can now tap and untap Pili-Pala as many times as you like, producing one colored mana of your choice for every iteration. Then win. Because it is possible to abuse the infinite mana combo the turn that Grand Architect is played, there is absolutely NO rush to play Grand Architect. It is therefore wisest not to play him until it's combo time.
Generally speaking, the best time to play Grand Architect is during Main Phase 1, so that if your opponent tries to remove either creature you can spend U to activate Grand Architect to turn Pili-Pala blue and combo off in response. You could then do something silly like deck your opponent with Blue Sun's Zenith in response to his interaction (whatever it may be) with Pili-Pala in Main Phase 1 or even MID COMBAT. If you don't have Blue Sun's Zenith and you know that your opponent has some way to interact with Pili-Pala mid combat, then FOR CRYIN' OUT LOUD DON'T TRY TO GO OFF, just wait until the coast is clear!
If you are trying to go off on turn 3 or only have two blue sources available to play Grand Architect, play him in Main Phase 2 so that if your opponent kills Pili-Pala in combat, at least Grand Architect isn't left alone on the field.
As a general rule of thumb, Pili-Pala should only be played once you have Grand Architect + a wincon in hand, preferably while also holding two cantrips/fetch cards or Postmortem Lunge. The last thing you want is to have all of your components assembled while Pili-Pala just sits there in the yard. Safety first kids!!!
This all being said, it usually is worth it to risk playing the first Grand Architect + Pili-Pala
combo the minute you have all the tools you need to win (unless you are faced off against a control deck), especially since you have three more copies of the combo in your deck, with at least three other cards to hard-fetch each component of that combo.
Profane Command = Infinite damage to the opponent's face.
The Deck's main source of damage, when not combo'ing, will be face beating. And while this deck isn't terrible at beating face, bear in mind that face damage is irrelevant to a combo victory. This means that unless your opponent gets face-beaten to 0 (which this deck isn't designed to do by swinging), face damage is irrelevant.
Once you have your infinite mana combo set-up, jamming Profane Command (or Tasigur, the Golden Fang to draw Profane Command) should be your primary goal, and EVERY other card in this deck is expendable to achieve that goal.
2xMuddle the Mixture --> 2xPithing Needle
1xJarad's Orders --> 1xSimic Charm
1x Cryptic Command --> 1xMaelstrom Pulse
1xAbrupt Decay --> 1xBatterskull
Junk/Abzan is an annoying match-up, because the midrange version runs so much natural graveyard hate in Scavenging Ooze AND the possiblity of side-board Rest in Peace/Stony Silence. Liliana of the Veil is a straight up game-ender against Zombies in Kansas if she sticks, which means we can't even prioritize using our removal on Junk's creature base. Pithing Needle is boarded in as an answer to Liliana of the Veil and Scavenging Ooze. This all said, your primary goal is still to go off and combo that junk player to death. Drift of Phantasms can be played in this match-up to act as removal bait and to chump block creatures. Muddle the Mixture will most often be used to counter removal spells. Try to save one Simic Charm to prevent your opponent from killing off your combo components. I say try because your opponent will rarely let you save a card that could potentially be used as removal.
1xMuddle the Mixture + 1xJarad's Orders --> 2xJace, Vryn's Prodigy
1xSerum Visions --> 1xBatterskull
These Collected Company decks are annoying, but with a high amount of removal in the side board to work with, answers to threats are quite common. Drift of Phantasms is more often played as a creature than as a tutor. Simic Charm is most often used as a combat trick, but any of its three modes CAN be useful. Pithing Needle tends to be used to name Scavenging Ooze or Elspeth, Knight-Errant.
1xMuddle the Mixture --> 1xEmrakul, the Aeons Torn
1xPostmortem Lunge --> 1xSimic Charm
1xJarad's Orders --> 1xBatterskull
You just have to race allies. The deck is light on removal but heavy on threats, and is quite consistent. So instead of trying to interact with the Allies player, and playing into his combat tricks ETC, you just try to kill him ASAP. Yeah... It's that simple.
3xRemand --> 1xSimic Charm + 1xGolgari Charm + 1xMaelstrom Pulse
Be prepared to lose a lot of life to change enchantment targets to Spellskite in this match-up. Because boggles is so fast, is good at keeping itself gassed up, and because this deck has so few creatures, none of which are expendable, the first match is more luck dependent than skill dependent. Games two and three are massively in our favor though, with three Spellskites and a plethora of removal.
Because Boggles is so light on removal, fetch cards/graveyard interaction are not all that important in this match-up, so this is what we board out.
1xAbrupt Decay --> 1xSimic Charm
1xDrift of Phantasms --> 1xGolgari Charm
This is one of those match-ups where an aggro deck actually poses a faster combo kill than a combo deck can. Bloom Titan may be fast, WICKED FAST, but the deck is very weak to disruption at critical points. Remand, alongside Muddle the Mixutre should be enough disruption to keep Bloom Titan off the combo, but if for whatever reason they do manage to start it up, Simic Charm can bounce Primeval Titan. A good Bloom Titan player will realize what you are up to and will switch to using Hive Mind + some pact as a wincon. Be wary of this. Game 3 you will usually switch theSimic Charm that you boarded in over to Maelstrom Pulses. Abrupt Decay stays in here in such a high quantity so as to have a consistent turn 2 answer to Amulet of Vigor. That is the only reason for its persistence. Drift of Phantasms is used simply for transmute. Blocking a Primeval Titan doesn't tend to change Bloom Titan's clock.
And before some argument starts, yes I consider Bloom Titan to be an aggro deck. It does not have a repeatable combo, and wins by attacking with a creature. To me, that is an aggro deck.
1xMuddle the Mixture + 1xSerum Visions --> 2xJace, Vryn's Prodigy
1xMaelstrom Pulse --> 1xSimic Charm
This is a special case, because your opponent is trying to hurt you with a mix of creatures and spells, which can be tricky to navigate around. The good news is Spellskite, because he eats Lightning Bolts and other imitators for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, while being a great blocker. Postmortem Lunge is likely going to be necessary, as all those burn spells that would have gone for your face will instead be going for Pili-Pala, and there is only so much that Spellskite can eat in one turn. Other than that, don't be afraid to pay life for Spellskite's active ability. 2 < 3! Jace, Vryn's Prodigy is here both to help us go faster, and hopefully to distract the opponent from bolting our face. Try to fetch non-shock lands where your mana will allow it, as life matters in this match-up.
1xRemand --> 1xSimic Charm
1x Cryptic Command --> 1xMaelstrom Pulse
1xJarad's Orders + 1xRemand --> 2xPithing Needle
2xGrisly Salvage --> 2xJace, Vryn's Prodigy
1xRemand --> 1xBatterskull
Jund is one of the most annoying match-ups for this deck to handle. The MASSIVE amounts of hand disruption and creature removal mean that a fast combo win against a jund deck is unlikely. Combine this with the fact that the few creatures they run are huge beefcakes, and Zombies in Kansas is forced to play this odd midrange game, where it tries to combo off quickly, inevitably fails, and then races to combo off again before the Jund deck can either destroy your whole hand, or rebuild enough removal to stop a second combo. Jund wins the late game, so we can't go that far. Pithing Needle should be naming Liliana of the Veil or Scavenging Ooze in order to cut off jund's access to graveyard hate and biggest power-house walker. Good luck, this match-up is hair-pullingly frustrating to play, and disfavorable at best.
1xMuddle the Mixture + 1xPostmortem Lunge --> 2xJace, Vryn's Prodigy
1xRemand + 1xSerum Visions --> 2xHurkyl's Recall
1xRemand --> 1xGolgari Charm
Against Affinity/Robots, blockers like Spellskite tend to be rather useless due to trample effects. However, this does not mean that the match-up is hopeless. Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
, Abrupt Decay, Maelstrom Pulse, and
Cryptic Command
give you 10 different removal spells, meaning that this deck can often stall for enough time to combo against Robots.
In the two post board games, only use Muddle the Mixture to fetch Hurkyl's Recall unless fetching Pili-Pala guarantees a next turn win, and you know you can survive to that turn. This deck has so much spell recursion post board that an affinity player will have to plow through anywhere from 2-4 (4 more often than not) instances of Hurkyl's Recall all the while stopping you from combo'ing off.
3xDrift of Phantasms --> 2xSpellskite + 1xSimic Charm
1xJarad's Orders + 1x Cryptic Command --> 2xDispel
Against Infect, it's really another case of Boggles, where the match-up comes down to a race to see who can combo first. The good news is that, as with Boggles, Spellskite can really turn the tides in your favor. We keep copies of Postmortem Lunge in the deck because unfortunately, Pili-Pala sometimes just has to be used as a blocker.
2xMuddle the Mixture + 2xRemand --> 1xSimic Charm + 1xGolgari Charm + 2xJace, Vryn's Prodigy
3xDrift of Phantasms --> 2xSpellskite + 1xBatterskull
1xJarad's Orders --> 1xEmrakul, the Aeons Torn
1xRemand --> 1xMaelstrom Pulse
Well, this match-up sucks. Seriously, it sucks. That's it. Try to combo off as quickly as possible, but we board out tutors for a reason. Hatebears was practically made with this deck in mind. Seriously, this match-up is like 70-30 hatebears favored at best. Good luck man. I guess you have Golgari Charm going for you. That's about it though.
Against ALL control decks, swap out:
1xDrift of Phantasms --> 1xEmrakul, the Aeons Torn
1xMuddle the Mixture + 1xMaelstrom Pulse--> 2xDispel
1xRemand --> 1xGolgari Charm
1xGrisly Salvage + 1xMuddle the Mixture --> 2xHurkyl's Recall
1xAbrupt Decay + 1xPostmortem Lunge --> 2xJace, Vryn's Prodigy
Against U-Tron control, players of this deck will typically want to wait until they have acquired at least one Cavern of Souls naming Vedalken to ensure that Grand Architect cannot be countered. If possible, a second Cavern of Souls naming Pili-Pala is ideal, though by no means necessary. Through such cards as Postmortem Lunge and Muddle the Mixture being transmuted, Pili-Palas are plentiful, and your opponent will run out of counter magics before you run out of ways to get Pili-Pala back. U-Tron runs cards like Phyrexian Revoker. I hate that guy, which is why we board in Hurkyl's Recall and Golgari Charm.
1xGrisly Salvage + 1xMaelstrom Pulse + 1xDrift of Phantasms --> 2xSpellskite + 1xBatterskull
1xSerum Visions --> 1xSimic Charm
In this match-up, the key card to worry about is Blood Moon. However, the reason to worry about it is not because it would deny you colored mana, given the fact that this deck's mana base runs enough basic lands to get by, you should have enough basic lands to produce mana in every color to cast whatever spells you may need. The real problem here is that Blood Moon turns off Cavern of Souls, which makes Zombies in Kansas' inherent sturdiness against control decks go right out the window. It also counters Academy Ruins, which crosses the line into being unacceptable. In addition, Blue Moon runs burn spells on top of counterspells, which makes combo'ing extra hard. Abrupt Decay (or Jace, Vryn's Prodigy pulling Abrupt Decay from the yard) can help to remove Blood Moon to turn Cavern of Souls and Academy Ruins back on. Spellskite makes an appearance because he heard there were bolt spells to nom on.
1xMuddle the Mixture + 1xAbrupt Decay --> 2xJace, Vryn's Prodigy
1xSnapcaster Mage --> 1xBatterskull
Grixis Control is like Jund and Junk in that it runs a high concentration of removal, quite a few creature threats, and it runs Liliana of the Veil. The best way to fight this deck would be graveyard hate. Something like Tormod's Crypt in the sideboard would be helpful, but I don't have that.
1xMaelstrom Pulse + 1xMuddle the Mixture + 1xGrisly Salvage --> 2xSpellskite + 1xBatterskull
1xRemand + 1xSnapcaster Mage --> 2xJace, Vryn's Prodigy
1xPostmortem Lunge + 1xMuddle the Mixture --> 2xDispel
American Control decks can be fought much like Jund decks can, only the match-up is made more easy by the fact that American Control runs counter magics over creature threats, and that some of American Control's counter magics such as Mana Leak are tax based, which makes them useless against our win-cons.
1xAbrupt Decay --> 1xMaelstrom Pulse
1xGrisly Salvage + 1xSimic Charm --> 2xJace, Vryn's Prodigy
2xMuddle the Mixture --> 2xDispel
8-Rack is annoying, because it requires so much sideboarding just to work around the discard strategy of the deck. This said, Pithing Needle can take care of Liliana of the Veil, Jace, Vryn's Prodigy + Dispel can try to take care of some of 8-Rack's discard spells, and Maelstrom Pulse is helpful since it removes every copy of cards like Shrieking Affliction and The Rack from the board. This all said, this deck is still rather weak to discard strategies. It can handle them in moderation, but 8-Rack is going to be a very frustrating and difficult match-up.
Against White Weenies, you typically can just combo them to death before the board state every becomes overly threatening. However, because this deck type relies on so many small creatures and tokens, it's not uncommon to be able to use Maelstrom Pulse to stall for enough time to win. This is -generally speaking- a very easy match-up for this deck.
Maelstrom Pulse is just overly brutal to token decks, and so playing it -even once- tends to win the game for you. Not to mention the fact that token decks have a really bad time against combo decks.
This match-up is a little bit silly, because Living End tends to combo off a bit later than Zombies in Kansas does, and the play-style of Living End is extremely non-interactive. That being said, you still run removal to answer those few creatures it will play pre-combo and to have an answer to Damping Matrix. The general strategy against Living End is to counter anything and everything with cascade.
Note: Be careful when trying to win with Blue Sun's Zenith and Profane Command, because nothing sucks more than getting Ricochet Trapped and decking yourself. Luckily you can't Ricochet Trap an Emrakul, the Aeons Torn. Because of this, he is your preferred win-con against this deck. Start off by hitting yourself with Blue Sun's Zenith to just barely deck yourself (to guarantee an emrakul draw) and then win with Emrakul, the Aeons Torn in this match-up.
1xAbrupt Decay + 1xPostmortem Lunge --> 2xJace, Vryn's Prodigy
Against Ad Nauseam, Zombies in Kansas tends to be the first to combo, and thus the first to win. However, do be careful about when you choose to go off, as Ad Nauseam does run such cards as Slaughter Pact and Pact of Negation. Given that you have more ways to win than just by dealing damage, cards like Phyrexian Unlife and Angel's Grace can't stop you from winning. Maelstrom Pulse is an absolute bomb, destroying cards like Phyrexian Unlife , Near-Death Experience , etc. which are secondary win conditions for the Ad Nauseam deck. All in all, Ad Nauseam is a favorable match-up for Zombies in Kansas.
1xMuddle the Mixture + 1xPostmortem Lunge --> 2xJace, Vryn's Prodigy
1x Cryptic Command --> 1xMaelstrom Pulse
2xRemand --> 1xSimic Charm + 1xGolgari Charm
Merfolk is an interesting kind of combo deck, because for the most part, it is actually an aggro deck. It wins by beating face over and over. Yet I consider merfolk a combo deck because with one singe Merrow Reejerey + Aether Vial you can pump out every single merfolk of a given CMC onto the field for free. Block what you can (Islandwalk is a B) and remove whatever you can't block. Because merfolk is light on counter magic, removal, AND flying though, winning against merfolk is not all that difficult most of the time. You simply go off before they can kill you.
1xMaelstrom Pulse + 1xAbrupt Decay --> 2xJace, Vryn's Prodigy
1xSimic Charm --> 1xEmrakul, the Aeons Torn
Storm isn't that bad of a match-up, as Zombies in Kansas runs a plethora of counter-magics. The fact that Zombies in Kansas can usually threaten a win more quickly than Storm can results in a favorable match-up against this combo deck.
2xAbrupt Decay --> 2xJace, Vryn's Prodigy
Against R/G Tron, Pithing Needle is useful to turn Karn Liberated into a brick. Beyond that, just try to race the tron deck. Given the speed and consistency of this deck, that usually isn't too hard.
1xMaelstrom Pulse --> 1xSimic Charm
This match-up is actually really simple, though simple does not mean easy. You just race to go off, but if you think that Reanimator might be closer to achieving their combo, hold up mana for counter magics or Simic Charm. Zombies in Kansas is left to work through all of the control spells that Reanimator runs, but we fare better against counter-magics than Reanimator does.
Just race the Tooth and Nail deck. You aren't likely to be able to interact with him beyond countering his combo, and he most certainly will not be able to interact with you. Just another non-interactive combo match-up really.
1xMaelstrom Pulse --> 1xSimic Charm
Heartless Summoning Combo is another one of those match-ups that is all about the draws. If you draw your combo components, combo off. If you draw Simic Charm, play it when your opponent plays Myr Retriever. Give the Myr Retriever +3/+3, so that it can't die that turn. Bam, combo stopped. If the Heartless Summoning Combo player goes off on turn two while you have no response, shake his hand... it happens. Having Emrakul, the Aeons Torn in Game 2 means that you can't be milled out, which means that usually, the Heartless Summoning combo deck cannot win the game.
1xSerum Visions + 1xGrisly Salvage --> 2xJace, Vryn's Prodigy
1xMaelstrom Pulse + 1xRemand --> 1xSimic Charm + 1xGolgari Charm
Twin is a bit of a funky match-up. Of these two combo decks, Twin has the superior control aspect. This said, it is less consistent in its draws, and tends to go off later than Zombies in Kansas. Simic Charm really shines here, as it can remove Deceiver Exarch/Pestermite at instant speed OR can be used to protect Pili-Pala and Grand Architect from removal. Golgari Charm can be used to either kill all copies of Pestermite or reduce the attack of Deceiver Exarch to 0. Academy Ruins and Cavern of Souls swing the game in favor of Zombies in Kansas if you are able to draw into them, as Academy Ruins + Pili-Pala results in nearly infinite combo attempts, and Cavern of Souls helps stop Twin from disrupting Zombies in Kansas' combo. Spellskite is capable of stopping Twin from combo'ing, as Spellskite can change the target of Splinter Twin to Spellskite, making it the ideal sideboard tech for this match-up. Spellskite also eats all those bolt spells that Twin is so fond of running.
Note: Try to save counter magics and Simic Charm for Electrolyze. It is one of the few bolt spells that Spellskite cannot re-direct. This means Pili-Pala is especially vulnerable to it. Play around the Electrolyze kids.
3xAbrupt Decay --> 2xDispel + 1xEmrakul, the Aeons Torn
1xSnapcaster Mage --> 1xBatterskull
As a combo deck, Scapeshift is really sturdy all around, as it is very good at controlling the opponent's deck while still combo'ing off. What this means for us is that Postmortem Lunge is going to be crucial. This means that Zombies in Kansas needs not try for speed, but instead just needs to be more stable than the Scapeshift deck. Cavern of Souls with Academy Ruins ensures that this will be the case. We don't board in Dispel because none of Scapeshift's combo components are instants, but rather sorceries, which makes Dispel significantly less useful.
1xMuddle the Mixture + 1xMaelstrom Pulse --> 1xSimic Charm + 1xGolgari Charm
This deck is not the most difficult deck in the world to overcome, as it is a rogue combo deck just like Zombies in Kansas, but it is still a deck to be aware of and to watch for. Name Knight of the Reliquary with Pithing Needle or, failing that, name Retreat to Coralhelm and the deck will fall apart pretty quickly. Other than that, try to combo off before he can, because this deck tends to go off turn 4-8, while Zombies in Kansas goes off turns 3-6.
Pithing Needle is brutal against these decks, as two Pithing Needles can take out every copy of two different Planeswalkers, and can be salvaged when necessary. Spellskite might seem like a good card to board in, but truth is he doesn't make us go any faster, and this deck just isn't threatened by walker decks. there is no need for boarding. Walker decks are an easy win for Zombies in Kansas
This match-up is about another easy one, because a combo deck like Zombies in Kansas doesn't care how high your life gets, and such decks as Soul Sisters sacrifice speed for their life gain. If the Soul Sisters deck actually starts gaining a bit of ground against you, just wipe the board with Abrupt Decay or Maelstrom Pulse. Regardless, killing the soul sisters deck by going infinite before they can kill you with minions should be a breeze.
Honestly Mill decks aren't that big of a problem for Zombies in Kansas. Much like the other decks listed within this miscellaneous category, Mill is just too slow to pose a real threat to a combo deck that can wins on turn 3-5 if left uninterrupted. Which is exactly what mill does. Just board in Emrakul, the Aeons Torn and a mill player will concede.
This first priority qualifies as being quirky because of Snapcaster Mage's ability to set off the combo at instant speed. All that is required is that you have a Pili-Pala in the yard and 7 mana (4 of which have to be able to generate blue mana) available.
Here is how to set it up:
Step 1: Play Grand Architect, preferably with a Cavern of Souls so that it can't be countered and removal is their only answer to the threat of the combo.
Step 2: Wait and see if your opponent tries to kill Grand Architect. If he/she does, proceed to step 3 in response to his removal spell. The rest of the combo can be achieved at instant speed, so that removal spell will stay on the stack until you are done combo'ing. They will be dead once you get done combo'ing though so... Stack4Lyfe. If he/she doesn't try to kill Grand Architect, proceed anyway.
Step 3: Cast Snapcaster Mage, targeting Postmortem Lunge. This should preferably be with a second copy of Cavern of Souls which has named Human to further prevent counter magics, but this occurrence is unlikely.
Step 4: Cast Postmortem Lunge for 2 colorless, paying 2 life for the black source, and bringing back Pili-Pala. This step is the only step of the combo which will always be open to counter magics/removal. If your opponent tries to use removal at this stage, good on him. Using removal in response to Postmortem Lunge is the only time it can be used against this particular set-up.
Step 5: Pay 1 blue mana to turn Pili-Pala blue. At this point, you have used 7 mana, 4 of which being blue. This is the point where your opponent should try to kill Pili-Pala if he has any removal in his hand. IF you have more blue mana available though, all blue mana you have remaining effectively become Dispels which even work on cards like Abrupt Decay. This is because the activated abilities of creatures occur at instant speed.
Step 6: Go infinite on mana. At this point the combo cannot be stopped. Activated abilities of creatures which generate mana happen at the same speed as Split Second abilities. Neither can be played in response to the other though.
Step 7: Win. You have infinite mana at this point, so unless you get Ricochet Trapped and have no way to prevent yourself from losing to it, you win. If you get beaten by Ricochet Trap, you gun doofed.
Note about this instant speed scenario: It requires that you play Grand Architect to the field, and is very vulnerable to counter-magic if you don't have Cavern of Souls out. If you are playing against a control deck, or any kind of deck which runs a lot of counter magics, do not try to abuse this synergy unless you are 100% certain that your opponent cannot counter the Grand Architect/Snapcaster Mage/recurred Postmortem Lunge.
Snapcaster Mage's second priority is to make your opponent concede from value overload. Take the following scenario:
You have Postmortem Lunge and Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
in the yard. Your opponent taps out for some reason or other to play a spell. You play Snapcaster Mage on your opponent's end step pulling Postmortem Lunge out to re-cast. Postmortem Lunge pulls Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
back out of the yard. Then you loot with jace and flip him and... you know the drill. A pipe-dream you say? Well... we run Grisly Salvage, AND our opponents will never just let a jace stick to the board, so while the un-counterable land base supporting this synergy might be a pipe dream, the scenario itself is not as much of a pipe-dream as you might think. What this allows is for Snapcaster Mage to effectively act as an additional copy of Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
when Jace is boarded in for the control match-ups. This is still a bit of a pipe-dream for aggro match-ups given their speed, but the more important factor in those match-ups is that both can serve as blockers, so this "pipe-dream" argument is invalid. NEXT!!!
1) Simic Charm's first mode allows us to trade up where opponents would not expect it. Snapcaster Mage could now trade with Tasigur, the Golden Fang, and Pili-Pala could plow through a Restoration Angel or even surprise kill a Liliana of the Veil. Basically the first mode just lets us trade where opponents would never suspect it.
2) Simic Charm's second mode turns it into something even stronger than a Counterspell. It allows us to effectively hard counter cards like Abrupt Decay (which can't otherwise be countered) and protects all of our creatures from any targeted removal for the rest of the turn. This helps us against Jund, Junk, Burn, any control deck, Tron (Pili-Pala already dodges Ugin, the Spirit Dragon and Simic Charm can protect him from Karn Liberated), twin... you get the idea.
3) Simic Charm's third mode basically turns it into a removal spell, and against cards with delve, this is doubly true. This makes Simic Charm more useful than Abrupt Decay AND Maelstrom Pulse against boggles, bloom titan, Junk Aggro, Jund Aggro, and Allies.
4) Simic Charm's third mode can bounce Pili-Pala back to our hand in the face of mass removal. No other card in this deck can do that.
Naming Priorities:
1: Vedalken: Because it makes Grand Architect uncounterable (is that even a word), and Grand Architect is the hardest card to replace if it gets countered. Additionally, since Grand Architect costs UU1, it is one of the more difficult cards in the deck to play. Naming it with the Cavern allows Cavern to act as a blue mana source, which is often critical, so naming anything other than vedalken can leave you digging for blue mana, combo components, AND answers to your opponents deck. Not a good situation to be in.
2: Human (usually) to make sure you can stick Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
, Snapcaster Mages, or Tasigur, the Golden Fangs when you play them. Postmortem Lunge makes it so that leaving these creatures open to counter magics isn't the end of the world. They can be... re-aquired.
If you need another blue source though, feel free to name vedalken to help you combo off sooner.
In control match-ups, Muddle the Mixture is used to fight in counter wars.
In aggro match-ups, it tends to be used to fetch Snapcaster Mage in Game 1 to block your opponent's creatures. Games 2 and 3 it tends to fetch Spellskite.
In combo match-ups, Muddle the Mixture is used situationally. Some combo decks rely on creatures, in which case creature disruption is key, and Abrupt Decay can be fetched. Others use only spells, in which case spell disruption is key, and Muddle the Mixture is saved as a counter spell.
In any match-up, Muddle the Mixture is extremely useful to fetch Pili-Pala/Profane Command to guarantee the win for Zombies in Kansas.
Transmuting is done to try to set up the win, and takes priority. Using this card as counter magic or to fetch something that is not Pili-Pala/"a wincon" should only be done if you feel that you do not have enough time to set up the combo, but that fetching some other card or using Muddle the Mixture as counter magic could buy you enough time to stabilize to try to combo off later in the game.
Also noteworthy: When this card is transmuted, it counts as an activated ability being placed on the stack. This means that only a card such as Stifle can stop a transmute, and regular counter magic cannot. Salty opponents will tell you otherwise. They are wrong, call a judge. If there is no judge, you are likely playing this deck for fun. If that is the case, you are having fun wrong, as The Minefield is the more for-fun version of this deck.
ToolmasterOfBrainerd for helping me sort through what this deck should use as an alternate win-con. This really was a hard decision to make, and I doubt I would have made the correct one without his help.
Adameus2012 for consistently providing feedback whenever I ask a question of the community.
Also, I am currently looking for alters for Pili-Pala and Postmortem Lunge. If you know of any, please link them and I will gladly list you here.
This doesn't mean I think the card is useless, far from it. It hurts my access to colored mana though (specifically blue mana if I want to play anything other than Grand Architect) and the card is no-where near as strong as it was in The Minefield, which was both far less demanding mana-wise, and which used Chalice of the Void, a card which made Cavern of Souls a necessity.
My question is this: Is it still worth it to play Cavern of Souls? Yes it helps my control match-ups, but it hurts the deck's over-all consistency by denying me access to colored mana, specifically blue mana which this deck cannot seem to get enough of. This is due to the fact that all of its spell recursion, and most of its spells, require at least one blue mana to play.
Thanks for Checking Out the Deck!
I hope you enjoyed the deck and my long winded description, but if you are still reading at this point, please don't forget to +1 the deck, or to leave feedback if you think the deck could be improved.
As always, any and all feedback on the deck is not only carefully considered, but very much appreciated. Thank you in advance guys!
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Revision 30 See all
(7 years ago)
| +4 | Fatal Push | main |
| -4 | Serum Visions | main |
| +4 | Whispers of the Muse | main |
| Top Ranked |
|
| Date added | 9 years |
| Last updated | 7 years |
| Key combos | |
| Legality | This deck is Modern legal. |
| Rarity (main - side) | 11 - 4 Mythic Rares 23 - 8 Rares 10 - 1 Uncommons 12 - 2 Commons |
| Cards | 60 |
| Avg. CMC | 2.02 |
| Tokens | Emblem Jace, Vryn's Prodigy, Phyrexian Germ 0/0 B |
| Folders | Infinite Modern, Most interesting combos, The awesome Inspiration, Decks para probar, Modern decks, Cool, Sounds Fun - Normal, Cool decks, Favorite, Cool Decks |
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