MTG Salvation

Introduction


The deck


Strategy


Change log

Quote from BlackVise

Have you considered running Null Profusion? I used to run it in a very janky Selenia deck and run it Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed and it's absolutely fantastic. It seems like it could be really powerful in a deck like this that aims to cast lots of cheap spells.

I agree that Null Profusion is powerful, but this deck aims to use extort triggers as much as possible. I'm not sure that it would be casting more than one or two spells per turn.

Props for this idea...Selenia seems like a perfect commander for extorting people to death. The only thing I would advise is to lower your mana curve. Extort makes all your spells more expensive, so you likely need to compensate for that by running cheaper spells. For example, I don't think you really need a big bomb like Debtor's Knell, but something simple like Pilgrim's Eye, Kor Cartographer, Wayfarer's Bauble, or Coldsteel Heart would really help you.

Quote from OCPunisher

Props for this idea...Selenia seems like a perfect commander for extorting people to death. The only thing I would advise is to lower your mana curve. Extort makes all your spells more expensive, so you likely need to compensate for that by running cheaper spells. For example, I don't think you really need a big bomb like Debtor's Knell, but something simple like Pilgrim's Eye, Kor Cartographer, Wayfarer's Bauble, or Coldsteel Heart would really help you.

Agreed! Last night I went through the list and cut a number of high CMC cards. I really want to have some kind of artifact/bauble engine to make extorting easier and more hilarious. Imagine casting a 0 CMC card and draining the table for 4. I will post an update later tonight with some more ideas.

Blinking Spirit, Emancipation Angel, Kor Skyfisher, and Erratic Portal for cheaper, resuable extort fodder?

Quote from Loozar402

Blinking Spirit, Emancipation Angel, Kor Skyfisher, and Erratic Portal for cheaper, resuable extort fodder?

I wouldn't run the first three because they really don't do anything by themselves, but Erratic Portal is always solid.

There's a Modern Pauper extort deck thats been going around my LGS that uses Kor Skyfisher to great effect. Cycling two of them off each other enables you to always have a creature to cast in order to trigger extort - You could have a similar effect when paired with Whitemane Lion.

Quote from OCPunisher

I wouldn't run the first three because they really don't do anything by themselves, but Erratic Portal is always solid.

Skyfisher and Emancipation have evasion at the very least. More importantly, they're relatively inexpensive and reusable extort triggers. They can also be used to reuse the ETB triggers of other creatures.

This strategy would greatly benefit from Jet Medallion and Pearl Medallion: make all your (colored) spells cost less, so you have more mana for extortions. Also Selenia for 1WB sounds great!
Maybe use Oversold Cemetery instead of Debtor's Knell, as it returns to hand for more extort.
Nice, unique take on the Dark Angel.

Ardeyn

After some theorycrafting and fiddling around, I have made some tentative changes to the deck. With this deck, you have to tread a line between having enough bounce spells and having too many. You only really need one or two in order to keep the extort engine running. Another issue is what high CMC spells (if any) should the deck play? Finally, is a Salvaging Station engine even needed in this deck? I realize it isn't 100% synergistic, since the 1cmc artifacts would return straight to the battlefield, but it does give added utility to those cards after they hit the battlefield/graveyard.

Anyway, here is another rough deck list.


I took out some of the expensive cards like Elesh Norn, and added more lands, card draw, and overall consistency. I will update the OP later, but right now I gotta run!

Would something with Cipher work for you?

Say, perhaps Midnight Recovery?

Each time the Ciphered creature deals damage, it would cast midnight Recovery, which could then be extorted, you get a creature card back from the GY, then you cast that creature and extort yet again.

Just brainstorming here. =)

I was thinking that you might need a pillowfort element that you can hide behind while doing all your extort shenanigans.

I crafted a UBW pillowfort-extort deck before, using 1cc artifacts to easily trigger extort. And yes, Salvaging Station was one of them. It just got sidetracked because I fell in love with another project. Now that that's done, I might take a look at this concept again.

Best pillowfort would probably be Meekstone or Ghostly Prison. Crackdown isn't to bad either.

Yeah I've removed most of the high end. I'll update later today or tomorrow.

All right, I've finally gotten down to posting the new list! I updated the change log in the OP as well.

Out (8): Kokusho, the Evening Star (not enough abuse), Rune-Scarred Demon (same + high cmc), Gossamer Chains (clunky, too redundant), Pearl Medallion (too few white spells), Wrath of God (too many wraths), Corpse Dance (not enough sac outlets), Cradle of Vitality (temporary, may come back in, but this deck doesn't aim to win through combat), Esper Panorama

In (8): Enlightened Tutor, Salvaging Station, Dispeller's Capsule, Executioner's Capsule, Nihil Spellbomb, Origin Spellbomb, Disturbed Burial, Reliquary Tower

Time to test the Salvaging Station engine! Loozar402 and a number of other people suggested Eratic Portal, so I will test that next. I'm still getting a feel for the core of the deck. I don't think I need Kor Skyfisher, since it does not have flash, and I already have plenty of bounce creatures. Remember, you only need to draw one bounce spell to abuse extort. Slashdance suggested Cipher, but this version of the deck does not attack very often, and the B/W Cipher cards are not very strong. kicks_422 and SaraceenPsycho suggested adding pillowfort elements, which I actually agree with. However, I need to find space first!

One thing I have noticed early on is that this deck is extremely mana hungry. If I could find more ways to ramp, it would be a huge boost.


The deck (v3.0):