MTG Strategist

I'm going to use this deck all next week to see how it plays.  It's susceptible to all kinds of death, but there is nothing like dropping a turn 5 Ulamog or Void Winnower. Creatures  20 4 Channeler Initiate 3 Naga Vitalist 4 Champion of Rhonas 3 Torrential Gearhulk 3 Void Winnower 3 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger Spells  16 2 Blossoming Defense 4 Negate 2 Pull from Tomorrow 4 Disallow 4 Void Shatter Lands  24 9 Forest 15 Island Sideboard  15 4 Censor 4 Horribly Awry 2 Nissa, Steward of Elements 2 Pull from Tomorrow 3 Nissa's Renewal

As I am sure all of you have seen, MTG standard is no longer a 2 or 3 deck circus.  I won't bore you with the breakdowns that have been trumpeted far and wide.  Mardu has fallen.  Aetherworks Marvel is next.  Zombies are on the rise.  Energy has been revitalized.  So what does this mean? It means that we, as players and lovers of MTG, are required...nay...are mandated by our sacred order to get out there and build.  There is a moment to breath in this stagnated environment...a moment to create.  I will play zombies...I will play energy...but I will also play multiple decks of my own creation.  WHY?  Because that is the best part of the game.  If you confine yourself to a couple of decks...if you concern yourself with winning and only winning...if you don't take any chances...then you are not an MTG player...you are a hollow and heartless soul.  Get out there and build.  You will amaze yourself how much fun this game can be. 

I played this deck on MTGO.  5 people in a row left the game after the 4th discard spell was cast.  It isn't the nicest deck, but it wins.  https://youtu.be/d-XolnEKqzc Main Deck Lay Bare the Heart-4 Harsh Scrutiny-4 Unburden-4 Whispers of Emrakul-4 Mind Rot-4 Startled Awake-4 Thing in the Ice-4 Noxious Gearhulk-2 Baral, Chief of Compliance-4 Sideboard Relentless Dead-2 Dread Wanderer-1 Gonti, Lord of Luxury-3 Tattered Mummy-1 Distended Mindbender-2 Scarab Feast-2 Lost Legacy-2 Dispossess-2 Maybe Remorseless Punishment

My favorite combination of creature capabilities is deathtouch and double strike.  I feel it's the perfect combo to mow over anything.  This is a deck I use on MTGO (I vary the numbers of each creature and other spells).  I always find it fun.  Play around with the numbers.  Gifted Aetherborn 2-3 Lone Rider 2-3 Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim 2-3 Solemn Recruit 2-3 Drana, Liberator of Malakir 2-3 Malakir Familiar 2-3 Odric, Lunarch Marshal 4 Bone Picker 2-3 Oketra the True 4 Non-Creature Spells (choose a few) Eerie Interlude Collective Effort Start/Finish Grasp of Darkness Dark Salvation Fatal Push https://youtu.be/w76m8o6-5oU It's fairly self explanatory.  It carries some pretty reliable removal.  By turn 4 or 5 you should be getting antsy for Odric.  Each individual creature is great, but with Odric...so much more.

Okay...all you need is a Soul-Scar Mage, Hapatra and some burn spells.  There's a bunch of -1/-1 spells as well, including creatures, that would work great.  The point is... Soul-Scar Mage makes it easy to drop -1/-1 counters.  Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons then creates a bunch of deathtouch 1/1 snakes.  Nest of Scarabs puts out an insect for every -1/-1 counter you drop, while Hapatra puts out only 1 for each group of -1/-1 counters.  I'm going to play test this with some different ideas on MTGO tonight.  I'll let you know what happens.

I had an idea.  I think I'm just going to put together the interactions cards in my presentations.  This will help stimulate discussion on what should be included or help those who just want to build around some good cards.  Most of my interactions are interesting but not too competitive.  Maybe by stumbling through several interaction ideas, we can stumble onto something monstrous.  Stand by for first transmission.

Here's what I'm going to start with: I'll let you know how well (or poorly) it does.

This decklist is based around Throne of the God Pharaoh with a secondary win condition of Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger.  Basically you tap all of your creatures and deal non-combat damage on your opponent.  I haven't figured out the mainboard or sideboard numbers, and I'm pretty sure Chandra can leave the pattern.  But what do you think?  Can this destroy the hopes and dreams of the zombie crowd? 

After scrutinizing the pack of 100 "Random" Amonkhet rares that I purchased for $45, I have discovered something interesting.  I had no real expectation of receiving anything extraordinary with this purchase.  But I had to do it...mostly because the seller 'goods-seller (368122)' used the word "RANDOM".  For me this equates to a personal challenge.  Also, I really didn't want to buy cards individually, and I figured that this would get me the lower half of the rares (cheapest).  Now...after comparing the list of cards I received to the current prices, I can truly say that it is highly unlikely (as a statistician I am unable to use the word "impossible", but this comes close) that this pile is random.  If the cards that I purchased were truly chosen randomly, Each rare would have an equal probability of being chosen.  On the left are the cards I purchased, on the right are the current prices for all rares in Amonkhet.  I was given the c

I'm going to halt the Cat Herd deck for a moment.  I should be receiving a random box of 100 Amonkhet rares today in the mail.  I'll open it and post the video to YT.  Hopefully I get everything I want (for the $45 I spent).