MTG List: Oracle Hulk

skellyton3


Description

I have spent the last few weeks testing various hulk decks in preparation to make an analysis on the relative strengths of different hulk piles, but today has kind of thrown all of that out the window with the reveal of Thassa's Oracle.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/588035979030298625/664129444369268795/image0.png

Obviously people have been quick to identify the insane hulk pile this card opens up in which Oracle is combined with the breakfast combo for an instant speed win that dodges almost all forms of interaction.

The point of this post is to dig deeper into what this card really opens up in the context of bypassing our opponents feeble attempts to stop us. On the other hand, this analysis will help those trying to fight the deck understand how to actually stop it properly (and importantly what doesn't actually stop it at all).

Before getting too deep in, lets give a basic introduction to the all-star basic pile.

Hulk: Dies. Grab Thassa's Oracle, Nomads en-Kor, Cephalid Illusionist, 1cmc anything.

In response to the Oracle trigger, hold priority and mill your entire library. Optionally you can mill until you have 3 or less cards in your library to avoid a targeted draw spell killing you. If they kill your devotion creatures keep milling all the way.

This pile alone is extremely hard to interact with. It dodges basically all forms of on board interaction, all counterspells, and completely ignores one shot grave hate. All of this at instant speed, with only 3 card slots in the deck. So, what can stop us now and how can we prevent that?

Lets start with the basis step here with the Grand Abolisher Pile.

On your turn, Hulk: Dies.

Grab Nomads en-Kor,Cephalid Illusionist, Grand Abolisher, 1cmc creature.

Mill your whole library, Dread Return Oracle and win.

This pile alone basically completely shores up all forms of interaction after the hulk trigger resolves, but only on your turn. Unlike previous Abolisher piles this costs no extra mana so anytime you have the luxury you might as well use it. Notably, this pile also works with lab man and a card draw effect.

Cursed totem has long been a thorn in the side of hulk decks, but it has grown to be less and less of an issue. The hold of the totem grows even more limp with this iteration. There are actually a multitude of piles that can get around cursed totem, but I will outline 2 notable ones.

0 mana sorcery answer to cursed totem:

Hulk: Dies.

Nomads en-Kor, Cephalid Illusionist, any creature that kills an artifact for 3 cmc or less.

Kill cursed totem, mill library, dread return Oracle.

This pile answers cursed totem handily with no mana, but does open us up to interaction both on board and through counterspells. Also remember Spellseeker for natures claim can also be an option if needed.

Instant Speed answer to cursed totem: This is actually huge as previously cursed totem was extremely hard to answer at instant speed. Now it just costs B extra and maintains a very high level of resiliency.

Hulk: Dies.

Oracle, SpellSeeker(Demonic Consultation), 1 cmc anything.

In response to Oracle trigger exile library to consultation. This pile completely ignores cursed totem, but is now open to countering Consultation. If they had a counterspell they probably used it on flash though.

Torpor Orb is a new enemy with this pile as it will stop Oracle from triggering. It will also stop a removal creature like gilded drake or Leonin Relic-Warder from removing it.

If we have the ability to draw a card, we can easily sub in Lab Man to bypass this. Simply grab lab mana and breakfast combo.

At sorcery speed we can include Grand Abolisher in this pile, then mill and use Dread Return to bring Lab Man back in and use our draw effect to win.

Additionally, at end of turn before your turn you can pull in Hermit Druid, Lab Man, (and Safekeeper if you are running it). Then on your upkeep mill yourself and let Lab Man win.

Overall there are numerous ways to work around these threats but they do put a small roadblock to our plans.

:

This one I have seen discussed a few times in the comments. Stifle effects can counter the Oracle trigger. This is actually kind of ok since we already get stopped by stifle inherently, they can stifle the original hulk trigger....

Regardless, the danger now is getting stifled when your whole library is gone. At sorcery speed this is not an issue as the Abolisher pile will prevent any interaction.

At instant speed I think we are honestly a bit out of luck. At some point we have to accept we can't be immune to everything at instant speed guys....

That said, this issue can be greatly mitigated by being smart about milling yourself. In the standard pile the Oracle trigger will win with up to 3 cards in your library left (2 devotion from Oracle, 1 from Cephalid). This means in many cases you don't actually need to mill every card you have. Cephalid mills in increments of 3 so under normal circumstances we never have to mill every card in our library. This means if they stifle us we can get anther turn, which if we used the normal pile will still have dread return in the graveyard to use. You can bring back lab man with dread return, or something else if you want.

Because we don't have an actual Lab Man effect in play, if we draw from an empty library we lose. This is a risk for sure, but is addressed similarly to the stifle.

First, of course sorcery speed Abolisher shuts this all down.

At instant speed we don't have to mill all of our cards. As previously mentioned we will always be able to leave at least 1 card in our deck, so they will need to make us draw multiple cards. There are very few effects like this in cEDH, but ultimately if you have one then yes it will just kill us... Again we are not immune to literally everything at instant speed (We almost are at sorcery speed tho..).

It would be remise not to include a section on combo cards stuck in your hand. This pile the answer is actually has a few options. Obviously at sorcery speed we can simply just cast them from our hand after hulk resolves. We can bring in abolisher as always to allow us to do this at our leisure.

If we have Nomads en-kor or Cephalid in our hand, we can always grab Spellseeker(Demonic Consultation) to replace them for only a B extra and at instant speed.

If we Oracle in our hand we can either cast them at sorcery speed and UU, or use a lab man pile instead. Again with abolisher we can easily protect a lab man on our turn. At instant speed the pile does become vulnerable if Oracle is in our hand. Also remember the Lab Man + Safekeeper + Hermit Druid pile is an option as well at end of turn or something.

Overall another thing to remember is that all of our main combo pieces are also parts of a 2 card combo that wins us the game.

Nomads en-Kor and Cephalid will mill ourselves and win with dread return on Oracle (with one extra creature).

Oracle can be combined with Consultation or Tainted pact to win on the spot.

This means not only do we have ways to smoothly do our normal hulk piles with our pieces in hand, they are half of a win combo just on their own.

Before moving on I thought I would mention, all of these assume you are not running memories journey. If you do it will always be a catch against some of this interaction, but I honestly don't think it is worth the slot for this deck. This does not really go in this section but I didn't want to make a whole section for it.

When people see posts like this outlining how easily hulk can bypass almost any answer they often get confused on how in the world they can stop it at all.

The fundamental thing that those trying to fight hulk need to understand is you have to fight it at the source to really be effective: Prevent Hulk from working at all. The classics like Grafdigger's Cage, Rest in Peace, Leyline of the Void, and Containment Priest still stop hulk completely. Hushbringer is actually extremely effective as it stops us from pivoting to a consultation line with Oracle as well.

Counterspells are also effective as they counter flash in the first place. While there is not much to say on this, these are actually the most common thing to stop a flash attempt.

Non-Basic Land hate: These new Hulk decks will likely be layering in Hermit Druid, which will remove all the basics from their deck. Blood Moon or Back to Basics can cripple these decks harshly. It won't always work but it will do a number to them.

Tutor hate: Cards like the new Ashiok and Aven Mindscensor can really put a hamper into a hulk players day. Shadow of Doubt can also be a spicy way to stop hulk in its tracks and cantrip while you are at it.

Stifle Effects: I would say above all though, stifle effects are actually one of the most effective ways to stop hulk now. The issue with all of the previously mentioned answers is that these decks will be layering in the consultation combo as well, which can bypass all of the hulk specific hate like Rest in peace or cage. Stifle can stop hulk and any consultation attempts with Oracle, with the added upside of likely just killing the Hulk player on a consultation attempt. You will want to stifle the original hulk trigger unless you know what you are doing and know your opponents deck (or they don't know to leave cards in their deck like they should(Even then they could have memories journey in the deck)). If it is on their turn always counter the original trigger because of the abolisher pile threat. Trickbind is actually extremely effective and I think will become a very good card. The best part of using a stifle effect is you remove hulk from their hand, which makes it vastly harder to recover than if you just counter flash.

Just win yourself: It sounds obvious, but you can also just try to win yourself. Hulk decks are really fast, but there are other fast combos in the format. Sometimes a good offense is the best defense so putting in cards that protect yourself like Silence if you don't have it might be a route to consider.

Overall just remember the best way to really cripple a hulk deck is to stop it when the hulk trigger is on the stack. This leaves the entire combo in their graveyard rather than sitting in their hand waiting for an opening. If you only counter flash they are one Regrowth from going off again.

If anyone actually reads this whole thing I greatly appreciate it as I did spend a lot of time on this today.