Well, I found the main weakness to my deck from last week.
If you’re trying to use emerge with X/1 creatures, Liliana, the Last Hope is going to beat you up. This has lead me down a few paths, although I’m still not sure how prevalent Liliana will be this weekend. Realistically, playing any creatures with one toughness is probably a bad idea if Liliana is going to be popular.
I think some of the issues of being threat-light, especially in the face of Liliana, can be solved, but there might not be time. Thought-Knot Seer has been excellent, as has Reality Smasher. The non-bo with Sanctum of Ugin is fine, because if that’s coming up, it means you’re able to do your thing already. Even if you cast Reality Smasher on turn 6, that’s still probably great.
Realistically, I want a two-mana creature that is fine with emerge, because it makes it more difficult for your opponent to keep you off emerging forever. No, Palace Familiar doesn’t count. Barring that, I’d like to be able to play a normal game when things aren’t going well. Being all-in on assembling the combo of emerge plus Kozilek’s Return does not seem like the way to do things, at least until assembling the combo is more consistent.
Despite being horrendous against Liliana, the Last Hope, I could see a return to Hedron Crawler. If you’re on the play, you can Thought-Knot Seer their Liliana if you want to.
Maybe Harbinger of the Tides is good? Thopter Engineer? Whirler Rogue? I’m not about to play Exultant Cultist.
Tide Drifter out of the sideboard is an option, but not a pretty one.
Here’s what a “normal” version might look like:
Creatures (27)
- 4 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
- 4 Eldrazi Skyspawner
- 2 Reality Smasher
- 4 Thought-Knot Seer
- 3 Hedron Crawler
- 4 Matter Reshaper
- 2 Wretched Gryff
- 4 Elder Deep-Fiend
Lands (25)
Spells (8)
Sideboard
If this is the route I’m going, I think I’m more interested in playing G/U. Kozilek’s Return (and maybe Radiant Flames out of the sideboard) are basically the only red cards worth playing, so it’s possible we could branch out into other colors to find three-mana creatures that don’t die to Liliana, the Last Hope. Is Deathmist Raptor still a card? Maybe Prized Amalgam with Haunted Dead?
Maybe I’ll figure it out. In the meantime, I’ve been distracted.
My new obsession (which, again, I might not have time to fully explore) is Haunted Dead. First, I received some firm beatings at the hands of Tom Ross’s Mono-Black Vampires. Then Michael Majors took me to school with his Sultai deck. The combination of Haunted Dead and Voldaren Pariah is very strong.
Haunted Dead is excellent with self-mill, madness, and looting. It doesn’t look it, but it is one of the best cards in the set. It mostly gets lumped in with Stitchwing Skaab as a card that is close to playable, but likely won’t be, yet that’s far from the truth. Creating two bodies is much better than one, plus it’s in a better color for abusing madness and is typically more in line with what that color wants to be doing.
I highly recommend you try playing with or against it.
Let’s brew.
Creatures (11)
Planeswalkers (2)
Lands (25)
Spells (22)
With Transgress the Mind and Incendiary Flow, this deck could potentially have Wasteland Strangler also. Distended Mindbender works with a three-drop, two-toughness creature, but I’m not sure that’s a path I want to go down quite yet. Prized Amalgam is great with emerge, as is Haunted Dead to an extent.
This deck aims to control the battlefield with spot removal and sticky threats. Eventually it will start churning through cards with Bedlam Reveler and Collective Defiance. From there, you should have a miniature army of Haunted Deads and Prized Amalgams to finish them off with your incidental burn.
Thanks to Collective Brutality, Collective Defiance, Tormenting Voice, and Bedlam Reveler, you don’t really need to hardcast Prized Amalgam. There are some blue sources that felt free, but I wouldn’t go overboard. If there’s a specific blue card you want to play in your sideboard, or even something like Radiant Flames, you may want to consider additional sources, but I doubt that will be the case.
If your opponent is playing fair, decks like these will demolish them. It’s very difficult to beat the swath of removal, the velocity, and sticky threats.
Creatures (19)
- 1 Dragonlord Silumgar
- 4 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
- 1 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
- 4 Prized Amalgam
- 3 Voldaren Pariah
- 4 Haunted Dead
- 2 Ishkanah, Grafwidow
Planeswalkers (4)
Lands (25)
Spells (12)
This deck abuses the Prized Amalgam / Haunted Dead engine with Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy and Grapple with the Past. Liliana, the Last Hope also does excellent work here. Voldaren Pariah is the big payoff, especially with Haunted Dead and Ishkanah, Grafwidow.
At its core this is a delirium deck, except it very rarely cares about getting delirium. There are no Grim Flayers or Emrakul, the Promised Ends; we tested those cards and didn’t find them particularly exciting. At the end of the day, Grim Flayer is a 2/2 creature that doesn’t provide any immediate value. It’s good, but not great.
Mindwrack Demon’s stats are still great, but it also has the same issues as before. Reflector Mage is a beating.
As for Emrakul, the Promised End, I don’t think I’ve ever had a matchup where the Mindslaver directly resulted in a game win. I’ve cast it less than ten times, but it’s not for a lack of trying.
Ishkanah, Grafwidow is worth playing if you will always have delirium, but even then I have yet to be “wowed” by the card. It’s solid, but not spectacular.
If I were to rebuild delirium from the ground up, it would contain some amount of Haunted Deads. Maybe that was the missing piece, but instead of messing around with cards I have yet to be impressed by consistently, I’d rather go harder on the card that I’ve actually liked.
The Sultai deck does an excellent job of doing something specific and doing it well. Jace, Telepath Unbound and Grapple with the Past tear through your deck to find the Zombies, while Traverse the Ulvenwald can find additional copies. If you need to break through, Jace’s -3 can find a Voldaren Pariah thanks to Grapple and Traverse.
The resiliency is incredible.
While I truly enjoy the Sultai deck, I can’t help but feel like now is not the time. It’s similar to the above R/B deck in that it will beat up on fair decks, but it still has its own issues. For example, Haunted Dead and Prized Amalgam can stymie many different types of onslaughts, but I’m guessing good ole Boss Humans would smash it. Obviously you can turn to the sideboard for help, but it might be a lost cause without significant dedication.
The deck is removal-light because of how necessary it is to fit in enough enablers and payoffs. We can try going the other direction.
Creatures (14)
Planeswalkers (6)
Lands (25)
Spells (15)
This is one that I haven’t played with yet, but I want to. A control deck with a bunch of Nether Spirits is basically all I want out of life.
Jace, Liliana, and a bunch of good blockers are great at protecting planeswalkers such as Ob Nixilis Reignited. The focus is to grind down your opponent while you slowly accrue incremental advantages.
The lack of dedicated lifegain is somewhat frightening, given a deck full of Read the Bones and Ob Nixilis Reignited, but this deck should be able to stay alive against opponents without direct damage. Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet and Collective Brutality can provide some lif gain, but I wouldn’t count on Kalitas being able to stick around. Collective Brutality is probably a better source of lifegain, especially since you have access to Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy.
The miser’s Geier Reach Sanitarium is likely nonsense, but it’s worth giving a shot. Maybe Sidisi, Undead Vizier is also worth trying? Dark Petition would slot in nicely if there was any sort of toolbox I wanted.
As of right now, I’m torn between a million different decks, but will still likely play emerge. Haunted Dead is very appealing, though.
What about an Amalgam?
Creatures (24)
- 2 Pilgrim's Eye
- 4 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
- 4 Matter Reshaper
- 4 Prized Amalgam
- 2 Wretched Gryff
- 4 Elder Deep-Fiend
- 4 Haunted Dead
Lands (25)
Spells (11)
Kozilek’s Return certainly pairs nicely with our creatures that don’t care if they die or not. Haunted Dead kind of ensures you have emerge fodder that sticks around, even if it’s a bit slower.
Collective Brutality is amazing with Prized Amalgam and Haunted Dead. “Kill your two-drop, nab your Collected Company” is a common play. Discarding a Haunted Dead only to return it later is awesome, since you basically never want to pay full price for it. Discarding two cards can be steep, but discarding a Prized Amalgam to it is about as satisfying as you’d imagine.
Discarding a Kozilek’s Return early is also great.
Using Haunted Dead as your emerge enabler has some upsides too. You have repeated sacrifice fodder, which is great, plus you can do it at instant speed. Sick of having your three-drop Reflector Maged, putting you too far behind? Well, if you can discard Haunted Dead at some point, that’s probably not going to happen.
The manabase for any ally-colored colorless deck is going to be tricky, and once you start splashing, it gets even tougher.
With the built-in resiliency for your threats (and the more strenuous mana costs), this deck should rely on Sanctum of Ugin far less than its counterparts.
Then again, Michael Majors says I should just play this deck and win the tournament.
Creatures (3)
Planeswalkers (10)
Lands (26)
Spells (21)
There are very few #MTGEMN cards present in this decklist, but that’s kind of the beauty of it. If G/W Tokens does indeed fail to show up, this could be an excellent choice. Even if G/W Tokens did show up, it might be fine.
Liliana, the Last Hope is the single new addition, but it’s a game-changer despite having very few creatures in the deck. The biggest draw to Liliana, the Last Hope is how well it protects your other planeswalkers. There is no longer as much pressure to remove every single threat your opponent casts, as Liliana, the Last Hope will neutralize one of them while also encouraging them to overextend into your sweepers.
You are also more likely to enter the mid-game with a higher life total, making cards like Read the Bones and Ob Nixilis Reignited even more powerful.
Overall, I was very impressed. I don’t think playing four is correct, given how irrelevant the second copy is, but three copies are an auto-inclusion.
It’s so boring, though!
Right now, I’m torn between the various spice. Kozilek’s Return is amazing, but the deckbuilding puzzle still kind of eludes me. Haunted Dead is phenomenal, but I’m not sure what’s the best home for it. I’m going to bring a bunch of (non-red) cards with me, and what I decide to play will likely depend on my mood.
Even if I fail, there’s always the Modern Classic on Sunday.