Feel like trying a combo deck... ideas?
Modern forum
Posted on Nov. 8, 2015, 3:01 a.m. by ComradeJim270
I feel like it's time for a little variety. Elves has been fun and I'll keep playing it, but I certainly don't want to burn out on the thing.
I'm interested in ideas on what else I could play. I don't want another aggro deck all that much, since I already have that. I don't like playing control. Combo it is!
There's some tricky things though:
- I get bored if the deck plays in an overly linear fashion. Decks like Storm and Ad Nauseam are fascinating to watch, but I can't see myself playing a deck that just durdles until it can do the thing it always does.
- Twin looks fun. A playset of Snapcasters looks expensive.
- Decks that don't let me make slight tweaks are uninteresting to me. A deck that's 90% solved is cool. A deck that's 99.9% solved is boring.
- The deck doesn't need to be tier 1. It doesn't even need to be tier 2. Rogue ideas are fun. They're also really hard to come up with and evaluate.
Anyway, I feel kind of drawn towards Living End. I feel like it's got enough going on to keep me interested, I've played with it a bit in the past and enjoyed it, and also killing people with shitty creatures is just comedy gold to me.
Podless Melira also looks very intriguing, though I'll admit I don't know it very well.
I've been working on a combo elves build for a little bit, but it's janky as hell. That's on my profile if anyone wants to take a look, but I'm interested in other people's thoughts.
Thanks in advance!
I don't know much about Living End, but I know a lot about Amulet Bloom because a friend of mine plays it a lot. According to him, it's a lot of fun, but on occasion you're just going to lose to your own deck. Also, Amulet Bloom loses to Living End, which is kinda funny. Have you considered 4C Gifts?
November 8, 2015 3:21 a.m.
ComradeJim270 says... #4
I'm wary of Bloom, because it seems like a deck where WotC could very well pull the rug out from under it the next time they ban cards. That said, it does look pretty fun! It's got this "oops, I win" thing going on but definitely doesn't just play itself.
Now, 4C Gifts is something that does look fun and there's a lot of intriguing possibilities. There's a lot of really absurd things you can grab with Gifts.
Pricier to build, but there's enough going on that I'd consider putting it together over time.
November 8, 2015 3:30 a.m.
Fair enough. Gifts got a lot cheaper to build because of MM2, but a 4 color mana base is still a 4 color mana base, and it can be punishing.
November 8, 2015 3:33 a.m.
dantekratos says... #6
you could also try Tooth and Nail.it's a fun combo deck that ramps up to 9 mana, cast tooth and nail and get Emrakul, the Aeons Torn and Xenagos, God of Revels.but you don't need the combo to win the game.you also play some Primeval Titan together with Kessig Wolf Run.
November 8, 2015 3:44 a.m.
ComradeJim270 says... #7
@vault: Yeah. I've seen people do it with three, but those decks are weird and kind of janky. Not that I'm deterred by rogue decks! I played against a strange Esper version a few weeks back and that was pretty cool.
I usually think of deck budgets as a factor of time rather than "this card is too expensive". I can save up to finish them if I like the deck enough.
@dantekratos: That's probably one of the funniest pairings I've seen for Tooth and Nail. I'm usually not a fan of ramp decks, but that's pretty interesting and not something I've seen before. Do you have a link to a list?
November 8, 2015 4:03 a.m.
Matt_The_OGRE says... #8
I love playing my tron eggs deck. Catches people off guard, plus hard casting emrakul turn 3 or 4 is always fun.
November 8, 2015 4:17 a.m.
dantekratos says... #9
I'm still building it together but I have proxied it so I can playtest it and it's very fun to play.the deck has a lot different versions. from monogreen to red splash for Blood Moon and even temur colours for Kiora, Master of the Depths. Mine is the version who splashes red.You can say that this deck is 90% fixed. it's good but it's not yet there.this is my decklist.
I now pronounce you god and eldrazi
Modern*
SCORE: 5 | 12 COMMENTS | 904 VIEWS
November 8, 2015 4:17 a.m.
If Tooth & nail is what interests you, I have an "all-in" version that splashes 
to get more card draw and take advantage of Kiora, Master of the Depths. This one is more one-dimensional than the "canonical" T&N deck, but it's also more consistent.
Release the Beasts
Modern
SCORE: 1 | 0 COMMENTS | 103 VIEWS
November 8, 2015 4:35 a.m.
Gidgetimer says... #11
Once you learn Living End entirely it is extremely linear so I don't think it is what you are looking for. I was going to suggest Amulet Bloom since it is complex but you have already said you felt it was positioned too precariously for bannings. There is always Scapeshift. I haven't played it much but from what I understand there are many lines you have to consider each turn. If you aren't interested in buying a playset of Cryptic Command for Crypticshift, although slightly worse, Titanshift is a thing.
November 8, 2015 7:06 a.m.
It might not have enough ways to be tweaked but hulk flash could be a fun combo
November 8, 2015 8:28 a.m.
You could play Knightfall. Its not linear at all, its an aggressive deck deck with a combo. Check out my Knightfall deck:
Knightfall
Modern*
SCORE: 55 | 9 COMMENTS | 4245 VIEWS
November 8, 2015 9:04 a.m.
Dalektable says... #14
Not going to plug or anything but I've been messing around with a Scapeshift combo deck but not a controlling version. It is gruel and ramps quickly into one of the Titans or something like Avenger of Zendikar, and puts pressure on the opponent and while they spend resources on your threats you have a set of Scapeshift in to just kill them with the combo at a moment's notice.
November 8, 2015 10:33 a.m.
Knightfall or mono green ramp are good. They're both variable decks and neither are solved
November 8, 2015 11:56 a.m.
ComradeJim270 says... #16
I go to bed and wake up to too many comments to respond to them all individually! You guys are awesome.
The thing with TaN is... I don't know. It feels like something I can appreciate, but not necessarily something I'd be excited to play. I'd have to proxy it up and try it. Usually, going heavily into "ramp into fatties" for me falls into the category of "more fun to watch than to play".
Living End is rather linear once it's been learned, but the exact results of it going off are interesting enough to keep me intrigued. It's also probably the cheapest deck listed so far. What I might do is borrow a friend's deck to see if I maintain interest after playing it for a while. So thank you for that advice Gidgetimer.
That said, Scapeshift is something I'd considered in the past. I have a friend who plays it and it's got several interesting variants. I think I'm going to take a closer look at my options and probably try out one of the more unconventional ones.
Knightfall is new, which automatically makes me interested. I wouldn't run the version with Goyfs, but I've seen other variants that don't. I do like how smackjack's version can still function if the combo is disrupted.
So:
The decks named here that most intrigue me are Knightfall, Scapeshift, 4C gifts (which is really a control deck, but sufficiently silly for me), and Living End. The first three in particular feel like they offer a good array of options and lines of play. I can only afford to build one for now, though so it comes down to a choice.
November 8, 2015 1:05 p.m.
wwhitegoldd says... #17
Don't play Living End. My friend plays it and after you learn it it does become fairly linear and the games it's not linear are, funnily enough, often the ones you lose.
And yes, it is the cheapest option, but after you learn the deck you will get bored and want to play another which you could have had done by now if you hadn't bought living end.
I personally would play scapeshift. Knightfall doesn't seem great without goyf and four color gifts is expensive and I think scapeshift is better. I also think scapeshift is the most underrated deck in modern.
November 8, 2015 2:33 p.m.
wwhitegoldd says... #18
(sorry for the double comment.)
Scapeshift is also A LOT harder to hate out than gifts.
November 8, 2015 2:35 p.m.
wwhitegoldd Knightfall works very well without Goyf, as in this list: mtgtop8. Thats legacy, but pretty much the same deck.
November 8, 2015 2:46 p.m.
You mention finding stuff like Storm interesting, so I'll point you to something that is definitely neither solved nor tier, Ritual Gifts. It's a control deck with a storm finish, and the primer is located here. While the activity on the primer is fairly non-existent at this point, the combo is layed out there fairly well. A word of warning, I've been messing with it a lot but mainly just in theory crafting, it's entirely possible the deck isn't competitive enough, but since you expressed interest in Storm but disliked the linear nature of it, I thought I'd point you towards this particular deck.
November 8, 2015 2:47 p.m.
wwhitegoldd says... #21
smackjack, You can't possibly say a modern deck is good because the legacy variant is good, that's insane. Just because knightfall is good in legacy without goyf does NOT AT ALL mean it's good in modern without goyf.
November 8, 2015 3:20 p.m.
wwhitegoldd says... #23
That's fair. But the only other knightfall list does run goyf. So maybe we agree to disagree?
November 8, 2015 4:05 p.m.
ComradeJim270 says... #24
@wwhitegoldd: I could eventually get some Goyfs. It would take me a while to learn to pilot the thing well enough to justify buying them anyway. The fact the deck is new and unproven and also has an aggro aspect makes it super-appealing. It's more "me" than 4c Gifts.
@awphutt: That's a really cool deck! It looks very challenging to play. Almost too much for me at this point, but it's absolutely on my radar.
Anyway, Scapeshift is also appealing. It would take less time for me to put together, is somewhat flexible, not as linear... and also I have a friend who plays it so I have someone to compare notes with.
November 9, 2015 12:05 a.m.
LampeShades says... #25
I once had a notion (but never had a chance) to put together a UG Blasting Station + Melira, Sylvok Outcast + creatures with persist (Safehold Elite, Kitchen Finks, Rendclaw Trow). Allowing turn 4 infinite damage possibility (turn 3 if you mana dork turn 1). Blue would be for control if needed and combo assembly.
Undying creatures (Young Wolf , Strangleroot Geist) would be possible as well with Zameck Guildmage to take their +1/+1 counters off and draw a card.
Power Conduit would also get some consideration for back-up, to take a +1/+1 counter of a creature with undying and put a +1/+1 counter on the creature with persist to cancel out its -1/-1 counter, allowing both creatures to re-trigger.
Then maybe could splash black for removal (Abrupt Decay, Dismember) and Blood Artist.
Not sure what the best way to take the deck would be, but I feel there is a fun way to abuse Blasting Station.
November 9, 2015 1:39 p.m.
awesomeragle says... #26
First, id like you to reconsider your stance on Ad Nauseam, it looks linear, and although the exact win condition is always the same, there is a lot of play with actually getting there. However, I say that as ad nauseam is my favorite deck right now :D
Taking Turns is a fun deck, although it is terribly linear IMO, but since it hasnt been mentioned yet I figured I would bring it up.
There is a really cool Spellweaver Helix combo deck with Flame Jab and Time Warp. Throw in a Life from the Loam and it is a combo finish with a bunch of extra turns :D
But you mentioned your dislike of control in your original post and for the most part, combo decks are really just control decks with a stronger end game. That is true from scapeshift to twin to Ad Nauseam. I read an article a while back that talked about there being three main archetypes, agro, combo, and control. All other decks are just a mix of those. The same article said that very rarely does a deck exist that combines all three of those aspects in a cohesive decklist, but when one exists it is very powerful. So I set out to create such a decklist. What I came up with was not compatible with Treasure Cruiz and was outclassed by the treasure cruiz decks. I haven't tried it since but I think it could be really good. Let me put together the list on here and I will post the link.
November 17, 2015 12:05 p.m.
awesomeragle says... #27
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/delver-ascension-1/
November 17, 2015 1:16 p.m.
ComradeJim270 says... #28
Ahh, thread necromancy!
Always happy to hear new deck ideas, even if I don't quite have the confidence or grasp of the format to try them myself just yet.
I'd have to try Ad Nauseam to really know, but my observation of it doesn't suggest it's something that's quite my style. It's interesting to watch, though. Is the line of play really that variable?
"Control" is hard to define in this format. I'm realizing that more as I play it. I dislike control in isolation, where you're just burning through opponents' resources (e.g. Jund/Abzan). That always feels mind-numbingly grindy to me. I like control when it's enhancing another strategy that's happening at the same time, as in tempo decks or combo-control decks (e.g. Twin or Scapeshift) Then I feel like I'm actually doing stuff, and I have fun.
November 17, 2015 8:28 p.m.
awesomeragle says... #29
as far as ad nauseam goes I just got back from GP Pittsburgh and I went 5-3 drop but I played against 4 burn decks (one of the two worst match ups) and lost 2 of my matches against that. My other loss was to one of the two jund decks I saw (about a 50/50 match). Another guy in my team went 7-2 with it and made day 2 so it is definitely viable, just difficult to really master.
rothgar13 says... #2
Living End or Amulet Bloom seems like they'd be the best bets for you. Both are difficult to learn (especially Bloom, which has a ton of lines every turn), but very rewarding to master.
November 8, 2015 3:16 a.m.