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By: RCueva, Rene Cueva
Sep 20 2010 2:36am
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  Hello Everybody and welcome to another addition of a Caveman's Look. This time around we will be looking at
standard once again. So before we get into the meat of the article let me give you a little insight on how I got to this
new moment of "Eureka"!
  My story begins in the casual room on Modo. There was nothing unusual about this particular day. I was tearing up
 competition with a very budget 5 color cascade deck. In fact I was going to write an article on this deck but I figured
people were going to think it was put together in 10 minutes, which it was. But since I think this deck is so much fun to play
 with I am going to give you the deck list so you can try it for yourself.

 

 

  This deck is pretty simple, you play your cascade spells to gain a ridiculous amount of card advantage. I decide to put
Tidehollow Sculler to control your opponents hand. Anyways this deck is really fun and does in fact win. The other upside
 to this deck is that it only cost $18.84. 
  So back to my story, I was playing my Cascading Advantage deck and was doing relatively well. Then I came into contact
with my next inspiration. It was a Black and Red combo deck that involved Immortal Coil and Bazaar Trader. I had no idea
about what my opponent was doing until it was too late. I was really intrigue to try this deck so I set off to build my own
version of the deck.
  From the one game that I played against this deck I noticed that the deck needed more card drawing to more reliably
find the combo pieces. I decide to create the deck using a grixis mana base. I'm not going to keep you waiting so here is the
list:

 

 

 

   Before I get into the game reports lets take a look at the card choices I made. First off lets look at the main combo pieces.

Bazaar Trader- One of the main pieces of the combo that allows us to trade our Immortal Coil to our opponent to
cause instant death.

Immortal Coil- The second part of our combo that can also be used as another card drawing engine.

   In case you have not noticed our opponent cannot have any cards in their graveyard in order for our combo to work. Here
are our two combo enablers:

Bojuka Bog- Here is a un-counterable way to get rid of our opponents graveyard.
Relic of Progenitus- I included this as a two of just in case we didn't draw a bog in time to seal the deal.
 
   Now lets take a look at the cad drawing:

Crystal Ball- After using this card as a one of in my cascade deck I believe this card's ability to let you arrange the
top two cards will be really useful.

Jace's Ingenuity- Netting 3 cards at instant speed should defiantly help in the mid game if we are not able to finish the game quickly.

Liliana Vess- Liliana serves double duty as both a tutor for any piece we may be missing or can also serve as an alternative win condition.

Ponder- This is one card I am going to surely miss once M10 rotates out. As for the deck it does a wonderful job of fishing out our combo.

See Beyond- This will be the first deck that I have used See Beyond in. I think this should really help since we do not really need 2 Immortal Coils in our hand at the same time.

  We are also going to need some kind of protection for our combo. Let's take a look:

Duress- I think Duress is highly under valued at the moment.

Mana Leak- Ever since good old Mana Leak has returned to standard I have been trying to included it in an deck that I can.

  Finally I added some burn spells to get rid of some of those pesky creatures that can hinder our ability to go off:

Lightning Bolt- One of, if not the best, greatest burn spells around.

Staggershock- These newer spell offers a possible two for one.

Sorin Markov- Sorin can either keep the opponent's creatures at bay or just flat out win the game on his own.

 So now that you know the cards lets look at how it performs.

Game #1

Ugofandian Mono Green

  I win the roll and opt to go first:

Mountain, See Beyond, Relic of Progenitus, Lightning Bolt, Swamp, Island, Bazaar Trader

  A pretty decent hand with two of the three combo pieces in hand. We also have a way to find the missing piece with See Beyond.

Turn#1 I led off with a mountain and a Relic.
Ugo plays an Oran-Rief, the Vastwood.

Turn#2 I draw an Immortal Coilm play my Island followed by a See Beyond. I net a Lightning Bolt and a Immortal Coil. I shuffle one of the coils back into the deck and pass.
Ugo plays a forest and is done.

Turn#3 I draw a Drowned Catacomb and decide to play it and my Bazaar Trader.
Ugo once again plays a forest and passes.

Turn#4 I draw another trader and go for the kill. I play my swamp followed by the Immortal Coil. I activate the Bazaar Trader's ability giving Ugo the Coil and he dies immediately.

  Granted my opponent did not play anything but I doubt he had anything in his deck that could have stopped me from a turn four kill.

Bazaar Trader + Immortal Coil = INSTANT DEATH

Game #2
JesusPast Mono-Black Vampires

I loss the roll and do not keep my seven. This is my starting six:

Mana Leak, Dragonskull Summit, Mountain, Drowned Catacomb, terramorphic Expanse, Relic of Progenitus

Turn#1 Past starts off with a swamp and is done.
I draw a Duress and then play my Terramorphic Expanse and pass.

Turn#2 Past plays another swamp and I crack my Expanse at the eot for a swamp.
On my turn I draw a Crystal Ball and then play Duress. Here's my opponents hand:

Vampire Nighthawk, Captivating Vampire, 4x swamp

I miss on Duress but the good thing is that I do not see any removal. I then proceed to play a mountain followed by a relic.

Turn#3 Past plays another swamp and has a Vampire Nighthawk join his side.
I draw my first piece of the puzzle in the form of Immortal Coil. I just play my Drowned Catacomb and past leaving mana open for Mana Leak.

Turn#4 Past plays his fourth Swamp and plays Vampire Nighthawk number 2.  I did not leak it I instead held it for his Captivating Vampire. In hindsight I believe I should have a leaked it. Past swings for two and he gains two. 22-18
I draw a Ponder and play it. I see the following:
Bazaar Trader, Mountain, See Beyond
I decide not to shuffle leaving the Bazaar Trader on top. I finish my turn by playing the Trader and a Dragonskull Summit.

Turn#5 Past this time plays a swamp and also doubles his squad with Vampire Nighthawk number three and a Child of Night. He swings for four and is done. 26-14
I draw my mountain and go for the win. I play my Immortal Coil and make that oh so deadly trade.

 

  A turn 5 kill is something not to take lightly in my opinion. Hopefully all our games turn out like this.

Game#3

Chris1096 U/B Wrexial

I am on the play and this is what my hand looks like:

Terramorphic expanse, mana leak, lightning bolt, Island, mountain, cancel, staggershock

Turn#1 I start off with a my Terramorphic Expanse and pass.
Chris drops an Island and I pop the expanse for a Swamp at the end of his turn.

Turn#2 I draw a Ponder and play my Island. I decide not to play Ponder so that I could Mana Leak. I was really worried about getting my only swamp Spreading Seas.
Chris simple plays a Drowned Catacomb and passes. I guess I should have Pondered last turn.

Turn#3 I draw my Immortal Coil and play my Mountain. Still leaving Mana Leak mana open.
Chris plays an Island....

Turn#4 I draw my second Ponder and decide to finally play it. I see the following:
Drowned Catacomb, Relic of Progenitus, Lightning Bolt
I leave the Catacomb on top followed by the relic and then the bolt. I draw my Catacomb and play it.
Chris just plays a swamp.

Turn#5 I draw my Relic of Progenitus and play it.
Chris finally starts playing by casting Treasure Hunt. He draws the following:
Drowned Catacomb, Island, Negate
He plays his Catacomb and passes.

Turn#6 I draw a Lightning Bolt but play my second Ponder. I see:
Duress, Drowned Catacomb, Bojuka Bog
I decide not to shuffle leaving it in that order. I play Duress but Chris wants nothing of it so he tries to Negate it. I think for a moment and go ahead and Mana Leak it so I can see what he is up to. What do you think?
Island, Vampire Nighthawk, Vampire Hexmage, Wrexial, the Risen Deep, Wrexial, the Risen Deep
My Duress misses but at least I see what I am up against.
Chris plays an Island and taps out for his first Wrexial, the Risen Deep.

Turn#7 I play a Catacomb and have nothing else. Things are not looking too great.
Chris plays his Vampire Nighthawk and swings with mighty Wrexial. I apparently misread the card because I crack my relic to exile all graveyards and then I Lightning Bolt his Nighthawk. His Wrexial connects and Chris bolts my in the face. That will teach me to read cards correctly.

Turn#8 I draw my Bazaar Trader and play him. Thanks to the Duress I casted earlier I knew his hand only contained a Vampire Nighthawk and his second Wrexial, the Risen Deep.
Chris draws and plays and Island. As soon as I saw that Island hit the digital table I knew this game was over. Chris plays another Vampire Nighthawk and attacks with Wrexial.

Turn#9 I draw a Crumbling Necropolis and play Lightning bolt to give me a card in my graveyard. I then play Immortal Coil followed be Bojuka Bog exiling Chris's graveyard. I then just simply make the trade and it's all over.

Well it took us double the turns to find all our pieces but we did.

Duress

Game#4

Sancia Mono White

I am on the draw again but I have to mull down to four. Take a look:

Liliana Vess, swamp, dragonskull summit, drowned catacomb

 Game#4

Sancia Mono White

I am on the draw but I have to mull down to four. Take a look:

Liliana Vess, swamp, dragonskull summit, drowned catacomb

Turn#1 Sancia starts out with a Emeria, the Sky Ruin.
I draw a See Beyond and play a swamp.

Turn#2 Sancia plays a plains' and is done.
I draw a Staggershock then play my Drowned Catacomb. I proceed by playing See Beyond. I draw another See Beyond and a Relic of Progenitus. I shuffle the Relic back into my library and pass.

Turn #3 Sancia just plays another plains and is done.
I draw Jace's Ingenuity and play my Dragonskull Summit. I play my second See Beyond which gives me a Crystal Ball and Cancel. I decide to shuffle Jace's Ingenuity back into my deck.

Turn#4 Sancia plays another plains and plays his first spell of the game in the form of White Knight.
I draw another Cancel and play my Crystal Ball.

Turn#5 Sancia plays a serious threat, Sigil of the Empty Throne. I take two from the knight.
I draw and play a Drowned Catacomb.

Turn#6 Sancia plays a plains followed by an Oblivion Ring for my Crystal Ball. I Cancel it to save my Crystal. He still gains a 4/4 Angel from the throne and swings with the knight for another two. EOT I scry putting my Bazaar Trader on top followed by a Bojuka Bog.
I draw my Bojuka Bog and play it.

Turn#7 Sancia attacks with both the knight and the Angel. My attempt to Staggershock his Knight is foiled by Emerge Unscathed. I really was not expecting that at all. I am down to 10 after combat damage is dealt and decide to scry. I put Bazaar Trader on top and a mountain on bottom.
I draw my Bazaar Trader then play my Liliana Vess. I activate her -2 ability to put my Immortal Coil on top.

Turn#8 Sancia attacks with both taking me down to four. I was hoping he would direct the damage to Vess but he saw through that and still attack me. I then tell him good game and concede knowing I do not have any outs.

Emerge Unscathed
Where did that come from?

 

  So there you have it a two card combo in standard that kills instantly. I really hope you enjoyed the deck and urge you to take it out for a spin before it rotates out and is lost in the abyss know as the new Extended. Also for your  reference this deck only cost a whooping $18.39 with half of that due to the planeswalkers. So you could take them out for some more card drawing. So until next have fun.

RCueva

1 Comments

Looks like fun in the casual by RoninX at Mon, 09/20/2010 - 19:52
RoninX's picture

Looks like fun in the casual room. I have actually been looking for a quirky deck with fast potential to play in the casual room while waiting for someone to join the singleton queues and this might be worth throwing together.