MTG Salvation

This is a deck I have been playing for quite a while now, though I am still in the process of refining it. None of the Reaper King lists I have seen on here are similar so I figured it was worth posting.


Initially I had Magister Sphinx in the build but it proved to be far too obnoxious, not to mention an obvious reanimation target a la Kokusho. I also ran Cabal Conditioning to take advantage of the fat casting cost of my general and the Bringers, however I felt rather douchebaggish for playing it (hey everyone, you get to have no cards and I get to play in a fish bowl!). Though this deck can develop strong control of the board I have tried to make it as interactive/fun as possible.




First off, yes, I know Chaos Orb is technically banned but my playgroup doesn't seem to mind, so I run it. It works well with this particular set of cards, though I think running it alongside Darksteel Forge and Guardian Beast may be borderline douchebaggery. Any input here would be greatly appreciated.


Most Reaper King decks attempt to create a Vindicate on legs. This deck isn't really about that. What I have tried to do with this deck is maximize the use of the 5 color base as much as possible (Bringers and Fist of Suns, which makes everything into a Bringer!), capitalize on the high converted mana costs in the deck (cascading via Maelstrom Nexus, using CMC-related cards such as Reward the Faithful and Rush of Knowledge all with the support of a strong artifact base that can create a very strong board position (via Master Transmuter, Darksteel Forge, Aura Shards etc.). Cheating Progenitus into play via Elvish Piper is also an option (though for this deck, hard casting it is not out of the question). There is one scarecrow, Scarecrone. The card has a great deal of synergy with the rest of the deck and it is merely a bonus that it happens to be a scarecrow in addition to the synergy it brings.


The mana base is incomplete, as I need some shock lands (though I will wait until a little after Extended season is over to pick them up). Once I get the rest of the shock lands the other fetches will be added as well. I also think the artifact mana fixing could be better optimized but I'm not exactly sure what substitutions to make. Coldsteel Heart might be an acceptable substitute for Paradise Plume. Shard Convergence and Skyshroud Claim are the only spell-based fixers and they are both 4 mana, though I am hard pressed to find others that are as effective


I have found the deck to be quite versatile and fun to play. It can tutor for what it needs, it can create and maintain a strong board presence, and there is a solid amount of recursion as well. However, the reason I am posting is for input on how to make the deck better/more fun. Any input is welcome, though I would prefer to avoid adding cards that would undoubtedly lead to acts of douchebaggery ;).


*A not on Reward the Faithful: I seriously cannot bring myself to take it out of the deck. You can play so much politics with one little white mana: I gain 10, you gain 10, you don't, you don't, you do...of course, the Spike in me recognizes that this card is really situational, not optimal and EDH generally isn't about life totals but here Spike is overruled by Timmy and Johnny. Having that perspective might help people see how to assist me in optimizing. I want to do things that are fun for Timmy and Johnny.

edit: Not sure what's going on with the formatting, sorry about that.

Quote from blast

I like unbender tine.

It should work well as both a political tool and with what I reckon are your key cards:

Master Transmuter
Elvish Piper
Scarecrone
Ethersworn Adjudicator (this one might not be key and already have an untap, but still works well)

Plus it allows your for mana fixing by untapping any lands/mana artifacts. Double Maze of Ith is awesome

I would suggest removing spellbreaker behemoth.

--Jay
Ps: After a quick seach on gatherer - I don't really see the following being that good, and definitely not political, but just in case (hey synergise with high CMC):Ancient Ooze can be fun :).
dragon breath
dragon fangs
dragon scales
dragon shadow
dragon wings
manaplasm
reviving vapors

Thanks for the suggestions! The Behemoth was really just a throw-in to give me some defense vs mono-blue control decks but really, those decks don't seem to show up so often so a substitution like the one you suggested is definitely worth trying. I had also completely forgotten about Ancient Ooze, going to dig it out right now!

Quote from Maurice_ChocoSuisse

Too bad, I was to advise you to play a few Domain cards, like Collective Restraint or Legacy Weapon...

You know, the Legacy Weapon might actually be a great replacement for Chaos Orb. I think the cost is actually balanced compared to abusing an indestructible Orb. I don't necessarily consider Collective Restraint Douchebaggery, though I can imagine the second, third, fourth time it showed up people might grumble a bit ;).

Thanks for the suggestions, gentlemen. Always looking for more!

Did you try to auto-card it card by card? That can mess up the formatting. You should be able to click reply, copy the correct formatting from the spoiler below and edit it into the OP.


In terms of unrestricted tutors, you only have Conflus & DT. Fabricate is a decent addition. Also, without going into a heavy Scarecrow theme deck, I think you'd be well served with Scuttlemutt & Heap Doll

Thanks for the formatting help, Zimagic. That's exactly what I did, typed [ card ] [ / card ] around everything. I do appreciate the help!

Scuttlemutt and Heap Doll might bring added utility, especially since I don't have a great deal of graveyard hate. As for tutors, I have considered adding a Diabolic Tutor but between the land fetching and artifact fetching I have a lot of tutoring going on. Originally, this deck ran a Tinker Mage but I realized it was just another copy of Top/Sol Ring so I swapped it out for the crucible (I do plan on running 8 or 10 fetches in the very near future once my shock lands come in).

Thanks again for the formatting help and the suggestions. Hopefully I'll get a chance to pilot the tweaked deck at FNM tomorrow, see how it rolls out!

Mycosynth Golem might be good here -- he'd give all your artifacts affinity for artifacts. He'd act as a sudo-mana accelerator. Also, have you considered Braid of Fire (helps with the colorless part) and/or Mana Reflection for more doubling of mana?

You know, the Legacy Weapon might actually be a great replacement for Chaos Orb. I think the cost is actually balanced compared to abusing an indestructible Orb.

Alter of Shadows may be even better than legacy weapon -- more mana accel