Barktooth is my original general. This deck started life a while ago as BR "good stuff," or really just BR "stuff," and then evolved from there. At one point it was going to be a joke deck featuring exclusively bearded Magic cards, but that got tiresome because it wasn't really playable.
I'm slowly taking this deck out of "budget" status and I am open to any suggestions. One exception - Warbeard must remain the general.
How effective is the psychological impact of a "joke general" in play? I figure that people will be more likely to leave you alone because they don't take Barktooth seriously, but I don't know how strong that effect would be.
I have updated the deck in the first post as well. To reply to previous feedback, I did end up adding the Temple of the False God and various mana sources.
I seem to be heading in a more control/"good stuff" direction, but any suggestions are much appreciated.
I'm trying to go "big mana" and work towards controlling the board and then ending with some sort of mass kill spell or a finisher-type creature.
I might streamline another deck I have and bring some of its pieces over (say, a Karn, Liberated or Stranglehold).
Main advice I'm looking for revolves around any glaring omissions or synergies that I am missing.
NOTE: A few cards I'm not running for various reasons include Demonic Tutor (or most tutors), Damnation, most non-basic lands, etc. Some of this is "budget," some is a need for variety between decks, and some is strategy related (Ruination, for example).
Wouldn't you rather just have Olivia Voldaren as your general? She has the distinct advantage of almost always being worth casting.
Or even Axelrod Gunnarson. Now, there's a card.
I updated the list. I'm still pursuing the Ruination plan, hence all the basic lands. I'm also trying out Nevinyrral's Disk, so I removed a lot of the mana rocks in favor of more land based fixing/ramp. I have yet to try it this way, but it could invite cards like Shatterstorm if it works.
I've found that you really have to ride the table, but the deck has been amazingly solid lately. Sometimes you seal the deal with Repercussion in a big way. That's always satisfying.
Outside of bigger "staples," am I missing anything glaring? I'm still not sure I can bring myself to buy another Demonic Tutor. It always feels boring to me. It would increase consistency, but I'm not sure I want to turn this into "RepercussionCombo.dec." Also, while Damnation is better in most cases than the other sweepers I have, I feel that in a deck with Repercussion, you need to err on the side of damage based sweepers.
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I'm slowly taking this deck out of "budget" status and I am open to any suggestions. One exception - Warbeard must remain the general.
1 Barktooth Warbeard
Damage Based Sweepers
1 Magmaquake
1 Blasphemous Act
1 Molten Disaster
1 Disaster Radius
1 Earthquake
1 Comet Storm
1 Chain Reaction
1 Pyrohemia
Sweeper Creatures
1 Massacre Wurm
1 Balefire Dragon
1 Steel Hellkite
1 Scourge of Kher Ridges
1 Lord of Shatterskull Pass
Value Creatures
1 Grave Titan
1 Inferno Titan
1 Wurmcoil Engine
Removal Creatures
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
1 Hoard-Smelter Dragon
Non-Creature Sweepers
1 Nevinyrral's Disk
1 Decree of Pain
1 Life's Finale
1 Ruination
1 Vandalblast
1 Sever the Bloodline
1 Chaos Warp
1 Wrecking Ball
1 Ashes to Ashes
1 Spine of Ish Sah
1 Pillage
1 Terminate
Draw
1 Reforge the Soul
1 Staff of Nin
1 Faithless Looting
1 Syphon Mind
Recursion
1 Artisan of Kozilek
1 Skarrgan Firebird
1 Anarchist
1 Sepulchral Primordial
1 Profane Command
1 Recoup
Utility
1 Nihil Spellbomb
Win Condition Spells
1 Insurrection
1 Exsanguinate
Win Conditions/Punisher Effects
1 Repercussion
1 Death Pits of Rath
1 Stranglehold
1 Price of Glory
1 War's Toll
1 Skull Rend
1 Journeyer's Kite
1 Everflowing Chalice
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Mind Stone
1 Expedition Map
1 Armillary Sphere
1 Sol Ring
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
Tutor Effects
1 Dimir House Guard
1 Dimir Machinations
1 Diabolic Tutor
1 Hoarding Dragon
Land
1 Buried Ruin
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Lavaclaw Reaches
1 Command Tower
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Forgotten Cave
1 Barren Moor
1 Phyrexia's Core
11 Swamp
18 Mountain
This deck seems to play slowly. Any ideas on options for streamlining or balancing the overall composition of the deck?
PS: if your going to use the Spine of Ish Sah include Phyrexia's Core for extra fun.
1 Vengeful Pharoah
1 Crystal Ball
1 Spine of Ish Sah
1 Loxodon Warhammer
1 Dread Return
1 Diabolic Servitude
1 Animate Dead
1 Terminate
1 Reanimate
1 Praetor's Grasp
1 Command Tower
1 Smoldering Crater
1 Buried Ruin
1 Vivid Crag
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Vivid Marsh
1 Polluted Mire
2 Swamp
1 Mountain
1 Beacon of Unrest
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Liliana Vess
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Temple of the False God
1 Spinerock Knoll
1 Tresserhorn Sinks
1 Tainted Peaks
1 Disaster Radius
1 Rend Flesh
1 Ashes to Ashes
1 Infernal Tribute
1 Whispersilk Cloak
1 Darksteel Ingot
I seem to be heading in a more control/"good stuff" direction, but any suggestions are much appreciated.
I'm trying to go "big mana" and work towards controlling the board and then ending with some sort of mass kill spell or a finisher-type creature.
I might streamline another deck I have and bring some of its pieces over (say, a Karn, Liberated or Stranglehold).
Main advice I'm looking for revolves around any glaring omissions or synergies that I am missing.
NOTE: A few cards I'm not running for various reasons include Demonic Tutor (or most tutors), Damnation, most non-basic lands, etc. Some of this is "budget," some is a need for variety between decks, and some is strategy related (Ruination, for example).
Or even Axelrod Gunnarson. Now, there's a card.
Anyway, I think this is a deck that would benefit from having Oversold Cemetery in it.
I've found that you really have to ride the table, but the deck has been amazingly solid lately. Sometimes you seal the deal with Repercussion in a big way. That's always satisfying.
Outside of bigger "staples," am I missing anything glaring? I'm still not sure I can bring myself to buy another Demonic Tutor. It always feels boring to me. It would increase consistency, but I'm not sure I want to turn this into "RepercussionCombo.dec." Also, while Damnation is better in most cases than the other sweepers I have, I feel that in a deck with Repercussion, you need to err on the side of damage based sweepers.