The goal of the deck is pretty obvious - I want to be able to consistently and quickly pull off the Iname + Mass Reanimation sequence in both multiplayer and single player settings. In order to do that, I've loaded the deck with far more acceleration, tutoring, and card draw than I would otherwise include in an EDH deck.
I'm very open to suggestions, I've yet to playtest, as I just threw something together over lunch.
Some other cards I considered follow the decklist.
Other ideas I had for cards - if you like them too drop a hint out what I might take out, etc. Yawgmoth's Will (er..win) Nether Shadow - cheap spirit with built in recursion Bloodghast - cheap annoying spirits are fun Liliana Vess - tutoring, discard, reanimator Conspiracy - makes everything a spirit, useful when combined with many abilities and Patriarch's Bidding. Buried Alive - easy way to get 3 critters in the yard without using Iname. Reiver Demon - another big easy sweep. Ancient Craving - functional reprints are good, right? Rhystic Tutor - hilarious, but someone being able to stop it is not good Grim Tutor - doubtful if it's worth the $$ investment Imperial Seal - see Grim Tutor Insidious Dreams - problem is this is big time card disadvantage unless I can immediately draw the cards I'm seeking to tutor. Lots of people have ways to force shuffling. Necrologia - if I need more random draw, this could be pretty sweet. Promise of power - really like this card and want to find a spot, but having trouble making room.
Acceleration not really considered yet - might still need to add a bit.
- really don't want to add the monolith because the other guy who plays some blue mage sometimes would definitely steal it and power artifact gib everyone.
Made several changes - mostly directed at speed and consistency. Changed and added land, put in 3-4 more pieces of acceleration, another win-con, and also beefed up the card draw.
Any suggestions on how to speed things up and/or make the deck more robust would be appreciated.
I primarily play in multiplayer games, but I don't think that really changes anything about the build when compared to a 1v1 optimized list.
I'm honestly surprised nobody's replied to this yet.
Good deck so far, it looks like. Might I suggest adding something like Mortal Combat? That way you have a wincon that can't be disrupted by a wrath effect.
I'd considered adding mortal combat, but there is actually a fair amount of graveyard hate in my playgroup so I tend to have to be very careful to play around crypts, night soil, relic, nezumi graverobber, etc. So I might dump 5 spirits into my graveyard instead of all spirits. Also, running 20 spirits wasn't so great in testing because then I'm not able to cram enough acceleration, tutoring, or whatnot else.
One thing I may do is try to move spirits around to get more of the cheap casting-cost spirits in there, namely things like bloodghast and nether traitor.
Yes, it's usually a problem if I can't win through swinging. However, various wrath effects typically aren't much of a problem because I can just force everyone to pitch their hands with Myojin of Night's Reach when I reanimate.
Yes, it's usually a problem if I can't win through swinging. However, various wrath effects typically aren't much of a problem because I can just force everyone to pitch their hands with Myojin of Night's Reach when I reanimate.
FYI Myojin of Night's Reach only works gets the counter when played from your hand, so you can't nuke everyone's hand when he is reanimated
FYI Myojin of Night's Reach only works gets the counter when played from your hand, so you can't nuke everyone's hand when he is reanimated
Yup, I am aware - I should say, I'll often find Myojin and try to force him into play then I can proceed with the combo if everyone's lacking a hand.
So depending on what people I am playing, I'll almost have to sneak him in before I go off - basically boils down to combo protection. Also forces use of stifle, trickbind, etc early when I might want to use balthor at the end of someone's turn.
I played against this general the other night. He used Feldon's Cane to protect himself from graveyard removal, which I thought was a pretty good idea. Some spirits he used that I don't see in your list are Krovikan Horror (yeah, it's a spirit now) and Sewerdreg.
@Muis198 -- I'm just kidding around... I had to. Well, while we're here, I might as well do something constructive.
@Ubershaum -- I realize you haven't updated the OP in like 2 years, so IDK if you even still play this deck, and if you do I know it probably isn't exactly the one listed here anyway.
Some of the spirits don't seem worth it. In fact, you probably don't need as many as you think you do. When you bring out they heavy hitters and important utility guys, a few random 2/2 flyers won't really help. I would cut the Ki counter stuff and most of the Soulshift dudes:
- Kami of the Waning Moon
- Skullmane Baku
- Thief of Hope
- Kami of Empty Graves
- Kami of Lunacy
- Gibbering Kami
- Keening Banshee
- Plagued Rusalka
- Scuttling Death
- Infernal Kirin
That's probably not everything, but it's a good start! Your deck will be more powerful and have a greater "velocity" (lots of mana and card draw). If you're facing graveyard hate, it also lets you play Iname for a small package of engine guys before you bring out the big guns.
If you find you need more muscle in multiplayer, I would look to stuff like Patron of the Nezumi first. Maybe even include an Eldrazi so you can discard it to protect yourself from getting blown out by graveyard hate. That might backfire, though...
...and yeah, definitely make room for Yawg Will. It's totally busted and totally fun to play.
@Muis198 -- I'm just kidding around... I had to. Well, while we're here, I might as well do something constructive.
@Ubershaum -- I realize you haven't updated the OP in like 2 years, so IDK if you even still play this deck, and if you do I know it probably isn't exactly the one listed here anyway.
& other stuff
Amen re: Troll. Brainspoil only tutors for your win conditions....
In terms of the actual deck...yeah, this was one of my very very first EDH decks and I've not had it together for a long, long time. I agree re: your comments. I'd included a lot of the soulshift guys to slow down the velocity of the deck because everyone was just starting to play EDH so I didn't want to go all face-smashy and discourage people from trying out the format.
For those interested in Iname, take a look at Evergreen's list (it is a beast) and you can easily change a few cards here or there if you want to make the deck more multiplayer friendly (or not and you can just hate the snot out of anyone that you think might be able to stop you).
Far as I'm concerned, that pretty much covers everything on Iname. My current mono-black project (for when I actually have time to think) is definitely going to be phage now that we have 2-3 reliable ways to "not lose the game" that we can grab with all sorts of tutors (hooray transmute!). Could be interesting.
I'd considered adding mortal combat, but there is actually a fair amount of graveyard hate in my playgroup so I tend to have to be very careful to play around crypts, night soil, relic, nezumi graverobber, etc. So I might dump 5 spirits into my graveyard instead of all spirits. Also, running 20 spirits wasn't so great in testing because then I'm not able to cram enough acceleration, tutoring, or whatnot else.
One thing I may do is try to move spirits around to get more of the cheap casting-cost spirits in there, namely things like bloodghast and nether traitor.
Yes, it's usually a problem if I can't win through swinging. However, various wrath effects typically aren't much of a problem because I can just force everyone to pitch their hands with Myojin of Night's Reach when I reanimate.
The goal of the deck is pretty obvious - I want to be able to consistently and quickly pull off the Iname + Mass Reanimation sequence in both multiplayer and single player settings. In order to do that, I've loaded the deck with far more acceleration, tutoring, and card draw than I would otherwise include in an EDH deck.
I'm very open to suggestions, I've yet to playtest, as I just threw something together over lunch.
Some other cards I considered follow the decklist.
1 Iname, Death Aspect
Acceleration
2 Sol Ring
3 Mana Crypt
4 Jet Medallion
5 Urza's Incubator
6 Skull of Ramos
7 Mind Stone
8 Magus of the Coffers
9 Coldsteel heart
10 Extraplanar Lens
11 Dark Ritual (mirage, fear the Q-tip)
12 Mana Vault
Tutoring
13 Demonic Tutor
14 Beseech the Queen
15 Diabolic Tutor
16 Vampiric Tutor
Combo
17 Twilight's Call
18 Living End
19 Balthor the Defiled
20 Living Death
21 All Hallow's Eve
22 Patriarch's Bidding
Draw Engines
23 Ambition's Cost
24 Necropotence
25 Phyrexian Arena
26 Sign in Blood
27 Seizan, Perverter of Truth
28 Dusk Urchins
29 Graveborn Muse
30 Night's Whisper
31 Overwhelming Forces
32 Decree of Pain
33 Shred Memory
34 Brainspoil
35 Profane Command
36 Nevinyrral's Disk
37 Grave Pact
38 Syphon Mind
39 Duplicant
40 Vedalken Orrery
Removal/Sweeps/Nukes
41 Damnation
42 Innocent Blood
43 Rend Flesh
44 Sudden Death
45 Corrupt
46 Tendrils of Corruption
47 Consume Spirit
Additional Spirits
48 He Who Hungers
49 Midnight Banshee
50 Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker
51 Myojin of Night's Reach
52 Kuro, Pitlord
53 Infernal Kirin
54 Spirit of the Night
55 Scuttling Death
56 Plagued Rusalka
57 Horobi, Death's Wail
58 Keening Banshee
59 Gibbering Kami
60 Kami of Lunacy
61 Kami of Empty Graves
62 Thief of Hope
63 Skullmane Baku
64 Kami of the Waning Moon
65 Kagemaro, First to Suffer
66 Cabal Coffers
67 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
68 Volrath's Stronghold
69 Leechridden Swamp
70 Scrying Sheets
71 Cabal Pit
72 Vesuva
73 Reliquary Tower
74 Deserted Temple
75 Crypt of Agadeem
76 Snow-covered Swamp
Other ideas I had for cards - if you like them too drop a hint out what I might take out, etc.
Yawgmoth's Will (er..win)
Nether Shadow - cheap spirit with built in recursion
Bloodghast - cheap annoying spirits are fun
Liliana Vess - tutoring, discard, reanimator
Conspiracy - makes everything a spirit, useful when combined with many abilities and Patriarch's Bidding.
Buried Alive - easy way to get 3 critters in the yard without using Iname.
Reiver Demon - another big easy sweep.
Ancient Craving - functional reprints are good, right?
Rhystic Tutor - hilarious, but someone being able to stop it is not good
Grim Tutor - doubtful if it's worth the $$ investment
Imperial Seal - see Grim Tutor
Insidious Dreams - problem is this is big time card disadvantage unless I can immediately draw the cards I'm seeking to tutor. Lots of people have ways to force shuffling.
Necrologia - if I need more random draw, this could be pretty sweet.
Promise of power - really like this card and want to find a spot, but having trouble making room.
Acceleration not really considered yet - might still need to add a bit.
- really don't want to add the monolith because the other guy who plays some blue mage sometimes would definitely steal it and power artifact gib everyone.
Trade/Sell me your Demonic Attorney!
Any suggestions on how to speed things up and/or make the deck more robust would be appreciated.
I primarily play in multiplayer games, but I don't think that really changes anything about the build when compared to a 1v1 optimized list.
Thanks!
Trade/Sell me your Demonic Attorney!
Good deck so far, it looks like. Might I suggest adding something like Mortal Combat? That way you have a wincon that can't be disrupted by a wrath effect.
Also, it's a shame Kokusho, the Evening Star is banned. He'd be stellar in this.
I'd considered adding mortal combat, but there is actually a fair amount of graveyard hate in my playgroup so I tend to have to be very careful to play around crypts, night soil, relic, nezumi graverobber, etc. So I might dump 5 spirits into my graveyard instead of all spirits. Also, running 20 spirits wasn't so great in testing because then I'm not able to cram enough acceleration, tutoring, or whatnot else.
One thing I may do is try to move spirits around to get more of the cheap casting-cost spirits in there, namely things like bloodghast and nether traitor.
Yes, it's usually a problem if I can't win through swinging. However, various wrath effects typically aren't much of a problem because I can just force everyone to pitch their hands with Myojin of Night's Reach when I reanimate.
I have won through the crazy huge consume spirit nuke.
Any suggestions you've got in terms of alt win-cons or other spirits to try out would be pretty sweet and thanks again for taking a look.
Trade/Sell me your Demonic Attorney!
FYI
Myojin of Night's Reach only works gets the counter when played from your hand, so you can't nuke everyone's hand when he is reanimated
Yup, I am aware - I should say, I'll often find Myojin and try to force him into play then I can proceed with the combo if everyone's lacking a hand.
So depending on what people I am playing, I'll almost have to sneak him in before I go off - basically boils down to combo protection. Also forces use of stifle, trickbind, etc early when I might want to use balthor at the end of someone's turn.
Trade/Sell me your Demonic Attorney!
Phyrexian Tower?
Yeah, that's it.
I've tried it out and about 90% of the time I wish I just had another snow-covered swamp so I took it out.
Trade/Sell me your Demonic Attorney!
http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/1959
Glissa, the Traitor, Ulasht, the Hate Seed, The Mimeoplasm
@Muis198 -- I'm just kidding around... I had to. Well, while we're here, I might as well do something constructive.
@Ubershaum -- I realize you haven't updated the OP in like 2 years, so IDK if you even still play this deck, and if you do I know it probably isn't exactly the one listed here anyway.
Some of the spirits don't seem worth it. In fact, you probably don't need as many as you think you do. When you bring out they heavy hitters and important utility guys, a few random 2/2 flyers won't really help. I would cut the Ki counter stuff and most of the Soulshift dudes:
- Kami of the Waning Moon
- Skullmane Baku
- Thief of Hope
- Kami of Empty Graves
- Kami of Lunacy
- Gibbering Kami
- Keening Banshee
- Plagued Rusalka
- Scuttling Death
- Infernal Kirin
I would definitely include the self-recurring guys:
+ Bloodghast (you already mentioned him)
+ Nether Traitor (also a champ)
+ Krovikan Horror (is quite good on its own, too)
+ Nether Shadow (maybe)
+ Akuta, Born of Ash (maybe)
And some more mana accel and utility:
+ Worn Powerstone
+ Palladium Myr
+ Basalt Monolith
+ Grim Monolith (if you can afford it)
+ Skullclamp (nuts with the new self-recurring guys)
That's probably not everything, but it's a good start! Your deck will be more powerful and have a greater "velocity" (lots of mana and card draw). If you're facing graveyard hate, it also lets you play Iname for a small package of engine guys before you bring out the big guns.
If you find you need more muscle in multiplayer, I would look to stuff like Patron of the Nezumi first. Maybe even include an Eldrazi so you can discard it to protect yourself from getting blown out by graveyard hate. That might backfire, though...
...and yeah, definitely make room for Yawg Will. It's totally busted and totally fun to play.
Draft my Mono-Blue Cube!
lichess.org | chess.com
“(Z–>)90º – (E–N²W)90ºt = 1”
Amen re: Troll. Brainspoil only tutors for your win conditions....
In terms of the actual deck...yeah, this was one of my very very first EDH decks and I've not had it together for a long, long time. I agree re: your comments. I'd included a lot of the soulshift guys to slow down the velocity of the deck because everyone was just starting to play EDH so I didn't want to go all face-smashy and discourage people from trying out the format.
For those interested in Iname, take a look at Evergreen's list (it is a beast) and you can easily change a few cards here or there if you want to make the deck more multiplayer friendly (or not and you can just hate the snot out of anyone that you think might be able to stop you).
Far as I'm concerned, that pretty much covers everything on Iname. My current mono-black project (for when I actually have time to think) is definitely going to be phage now that we have 2-3 reliable ways to "not lose the game" that we can grab with all sorts of tutors (hooray transmute!). Could be interesting.
Trade/Sell me your Demonic Attorney!
that is what sadistic sacriment and other win cons are for
:symb::symr:Kaervek, The Relentless:symb::symr: