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By: whiffy, Georgios Efelis
Apr 27 2009 10:33am
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Hello all, first up on the docket is Stronghold and its affect on Classic. Stronghold is like a waiting room to me. Sure we get Mox and a few other goodies but were really just sitting on Volrath's Stronghold as the stand out card in the set until Exodus is released. lm excited because if nothing else were another set closer to Urza's block. I am going to go over what I feel are the constructed worthy cards out of our newst set and a couple of deck sketches followed up by Agro Loam and how my ludicrous purchase of 4x Mox Diamond is fairing on the initial returns.

COLORLESS

Volrath's Stronghold- This is by far the most impacting card out of the set. It has a home in multiple decks, and its legendary status means that you can rock a one of for the life of classic. It is basically Academy Ruins's daddy and lets you endlessly draw creatures once the board is set up.



Mox Diamond- This is the crux of Agro Loam which I will get to later. It is also very important to the success of mono white stax in legacy, and could see people trying for an early port once they get there hands on it. This card may very well have a home in Ad Nauseam decks as a one or two of to have more mana post Ad Nauseam. Lastly the power of this is akin to Chrome Mox except that you have to build with this in mind, meaning that your looking at rocking well over 20 lands if you want to fully abuse the card as a four of.



Horn of Greed- This is probably not gonna make it into any kind of viable deck in classic but is worth mentioning as I have personally played with and against Zvi's insane deck. If for some reason combo ceases to exist maybe this can shine.

GREEN

Hermit Druid-This is yet another combo enabler that the format was waiting for. A basic idea is to activate his ability in a basic-land less deck and drop a Sutured Ghoul and 20+ power into your graveyard along with some Narcomoebas, a Dread Return, and a Dragon Breath. It is not the most reliable combo finish but it is quite fast and yet another option.



Wall of Blossoms- This is a key cog in Aluren decks from years gone by. It develops your board for blocking early while cantripping, and later in the came can help you combo out.



Mulch- Is yet another combo cog this time in the control deck 42 land. It allows you to "draw" four cards and will, with the help of Manabond let you play five or more lands a turn.

RED

Fling- Lets try throwing gigantic beater's across the table at our opponents dome like Phyrexian Dreadnought or how about a very large Atog or Arcbound Ravager. A fun card that may actually have a home in todays Classic.



Ruination-Red Armageddon? Sure this is probably a sideboard card at best but the implications of Red Deck Wins just blowing up 3-5 opposing lands against control seems desirable.

BLUE



Dream Halls- I'm not sure about this card yet, it seems though that if it resolves you should win the game. The only problem is reliably casting this 5 drop and if your time isn't better spent just playing Ad Nauseam. I still would pick them up as they might just get there.



Volrath's Shapeshifter- Another combo card usually paired with Survival of the Fittest but can easily "Clone" Dreadnoughts and Goyfs for now.



GOLD



Crystalline Sliver+Hibernation Sliver- We can now play Counter Slivers or Meathooks or whatever you want to call it now. These two guys are great at opposing spot and mass removal. The deck is very similar to Merfolk and can play the same noncreature spell package giving it staying power and disruption just like the little aqueous men.



WHITE



Nomads en-Kor- A staple part of the Cephalid Breakfast combo which looks to go about the same rough game plan as the Hermit Druid combo, giving us yet another combo option.



The rest of the set is filled out with original artwork and chafe. The only other non reprinted cards I would consider picking up are Awakening and Burgeoning both of which look sub par at best.



Now that that is done its time to look at Agro Loam and see if there is really a reason to buy up Moxes. I'm going to show you my current list which is still in the tweaking stages but has been performing more then admirably.

Agro Loam
An interactive nightmare
Creatures
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Dark Confidant
1 Eternal Witness
3 Countryside Crusher
12 cards

Other Spells
4 Mox Diamond
2 Engineered Explosives
2 Seismic Assault
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Burning Wish
3 Life from the Loam
3 Terminate
1 Demonic Tutor
23 cards
 

Lands
1 Overgrown Tomb
4 Taiga
1 Forest
3 Forgotten Cave
1 Badlands
3 Tranquil Thicket
4 Wasteland
1 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Mountain
1 Volrath's Stronghold
25 cards

 

Life from the Loam

 

The tag line "An interactive nightmare" means that if you are playing an actual game of magic(instead of against combo) your deck has so much raw power that losses will be few and far between once you have gotten a greater understanding of how it runs. The lynch pin of the deck is the Mox and I don't care if there was a suitable replacement in Chrome Mox they are just to different to compare and Chrome doesn't even come close to Diamond's power level in this deck. Your goal should be to try and drop down a first turn two drop every game whether it be chalice on 1, Confidant, or Loaming up two cards on the first turn and setting up your engine. This deck is built to fully abuse Chalice and Mox, what with not a single one drop in the deck and 25 lands to fuel your Diamonds. Obviously your not going to draw your mana accelerants every game but you still have plenty to do once you hit turn 2.



Here are a couple of the engines in the deck.



1. Life from the Loam and your 25 lands, which thin your deck, draw cards or place spent creatures on top for you to draw.



2. Eternal Witness and Stronghold will let you replay any spell in your graveyard once you have enough mana, and if you can find a way to kill your Witness every turn, well then for 3 mana you get to draw whatever is the juicy card in your yard every turn.



3. Seismic Assault and Life from the Loam is pretty much a good game scenario no matter how you cut it.



4. Burning Wish and your sideboard help to do silly things like turn two Life from the Loam, wiping all lands and creature from the board, Killing a problematic permanent, or making an endless supply of 1/1's. Wish will also allow you to keep the Loam going through graveyard eradication like Crypt, Relic, and Extirpate.



Besides all this there are the options of an endless supply of Wasteland as well as just beating your opponents face in with giant monsters in Tarmogoyf (who is often a 5/6 or 6/7 when rumbling in) or Crusher who can grow ridiculously big ridiculously fast. Rounding out this assortment of monsters you have Dark Confidant playing back up to Life from the Loam in the card advantage department and then a couple of sweepers and spot removals to make sure your guys can get in there.Oh yea and the gangsta Demonic Tutor as well to go find what ever you need.



The sideboard is 1/3 Wish targets to give you an option to burn through most problems on the board. Thorn is in because combo really is just horrible for you to have to face, and they are versatile against Red Deck Wins slowing them down long enough for you to set up some gigantic monsters. Grip is for Balance decks as we live in a two drop world and really need to resolve our spells some of the time. And finally Jund Charm makes it into the list because of its options. Sure its not as good as Leyline of the Void or Crypt but neither of those cards can instantly wipe away a board of weenies or help you win a Goyf war permanently.



So far in my testing your worst matchups seem to be storm based combos and Red Deck Wins. The combo decks really hurt and is the reason for a full boat of Thorns in the board. Realistically you have to win the die roll and have ludicrous hate or a ridiculous clock on the first turn to even stand a chance, that or hope they Consultation away all there Tendrils. Red Deck Wins on the other hand can be slowed down to a point where if you have a clock its winnable. Other then these decks there are plenty for us to eat. Elves! is your best combo match because of the nature of the decks and the sideboard sweepers. Agro decks like Zoo and Merfolk absolutely need the nuts draws against you to win as your inexorable card advantage will put them under. Any thing hoping to rely on Counterbalance to get the job done had better be able to play without access to Top, Swords to Plowshares, Brainstorm,  and Ponder if they want an easy win other wise you can set up the board to laugh at their mere 4 hard counters. Playing around Daze is very important in winning matchups. What this means is you have to take a chance and use a sacrificial spell when Daze would hurt you or just wait a turn as losing tempo isn't awful, but your built for the long game so theres no rush or reason to walk into it. Graveyard hate is abundant and I expect it to become even more popular  so you will have to be careful in post sideboard games keeping back a cycling land to dredge up a Loam in response to a nuking.



I have been doing some serious testing since Monday when I got me some Moxes and have cataloged the results to show some hard facts when talking about this decks matchups. These matches are over the course of a few days and a few builds tweaking as I went with what felt right and what felt wrong.

2-Mans
Elves!- 1-0
Mirror- 4-1
RDW- 2-1
Necro Spike- 2-1
AdN- 0-2
Pox- 1-1 (Win was against mono black, loss was against BG with LftL)
Merfolk- 1-1
Dredge- 1-0
BUG Thresh- 1-0
Over all record is 13-7
 

I also joined an 8-man which was a Bye*, a win against Tezzerator with Counterbalance lock, and a loss to Bomberman putting me at 15*-8 in prize matches.



Some of the cards that I tried and cut were Leyline of the Void from the board which I do like but feel as though its too early to want it over the more versatile Charms. Terravore was in the first draft but Relic is removal on him and I didn't think it was worth the extra beef that will die to one of the most widely played sideboard cards. Devastating Dreams just felt awful most times I drew it as its really bad against combo and the discard requirement would be hugely detrimental if countered, so I just leave one in the sideboard to Wish up when it would be a beating. Other sideboard options include Seeds of Innocence, Pyroclasm, and Shattering Spree to name a few.



Next up are some decks that I have personally not tried yet because I don't have all the pieces required and am working on obtaining them at a slower pace then the Diamonds.


 

Angry Hemit Bridge
A deck sketch by GeMeister
Creatures
4 Hermit Druid
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Elvish spirit guide
4 Narcomoeba
1 Woodfall Primus
1 Guile
1 Anger
18 cards

Other Spells
1 Dread Return
4 Bridge from Below
4 Force of Will
2 Cabal Therapy
3 Null Rod
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Imperial Seal
4 Brainstorm
21 cards
 
Lands
4 Bloodstained Mire 
1 Polluted Delta 
4 Wooded Foothills 
2 Overgrown Tomb
4 Badlands
1 Breeding Pool
1 Steam Vents
1 Underground Sea 
3 Taiga
21 cards

Anger

 

This first sketch is from a clan mate. He proposed the main deck minus the lands and I just filled in a rough mana distribution and sideboard so you have something familiar to peruse. The goal of the deck is to get a Druid activated as quickly as possible so that you can dump your entire library into your graveyard, from there you will usually set up the following game state. In play will be some lands one of which is a mountain, a Guile heading back into the library, a bunch of Narcos hitting play, and your graveyard will contain 4x Bridge, Anger, Dread Return, and a reanimation target. Sac three dudes to Dread up anything (usually the Primus since he offs anything when he jumps into play) this will give you 12 2/2's and the returned creature giving you about 30 hasty damage thanks to your duals and the Anger. Guile replacing itself even lets you get an extra couple of turns combined with Therapy targeting yourself. The thing I really like about this list is the built in protection of Null Rod, it turns off Sensei's Divining Top, Engineered Explosives, Relic, and Crypt just to name the most heinous offenders not to mention splash damage on every other artifact and the fact that once you have a hermit active you don't actually need to resolve another spell to win.

Meat Hooks
Courtesy of Country_Hillbilly
Creatures
4 Sinew Sliver
4 Muscle Sliver
4 Winged Sliver
4 Crystalline Sliver
4 Hibernation Sliver
20 cards

Other Spells
4 AEther Vial
4 Swords To Plowshares
4 Daze
4 Force Of Will
4 Brainstorm
20 cards
 
Lands
4 Polluted Delta
4 Flooded Strand
3 Tundra
2 Underground Sea
2 Breeding Pool
1 Godless Shrine
1 Island
3 Mutavault
20 cards

Sinew Sliver

 

Here we have a first look at a brand new 10 year old deck. Many thanks to Country for sharing his initial list. Much like I said up in the review section, this is very similar to merfolk but probably 10 times as expensive. You have 8 lords and instead of island walk you have flight. Then on top of this you get to blank spot removal and mass removal at a small price. Aether Vial can allow for much more degenerative effects in here then in merfolk because of Hibernation and Crystalline Sliver. Its a fun deck to play against and there are so many tricks that you will surely get people to fall into them even when they are on board.

Dream Flux
Another way to win with Progenitus
Creatures
1 Progenitus
1 cards

Other Spells
1 Imperial Seal
1 All Suns' Dawn
1 Rush of Knowledge
4 Counterspell
4 Thoughtseize
4 Dark Ritual
4 Lotus Petal
4 Dream Halls
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Rushing River
4 Brainstorm
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Time Stretch
4 Force of Will
4 Conflux
39 cards
 
Lands
4 Underground Sea
2 Island
4 Crystal Vein
1 Swamp
1 Breeding Pool
4 Polluted Delta
4 Flooded Strand
20 cards

Conflux


I've had the urge to abuse Conflux since it came out a few months ago, and now I have a way to actually accomplish casting the ridiculous spell. This is not a new idea but I may very well be the first to come up with this wacky kill. Heres how the combo would work out. First you get a Dream halls into play and a Conflux in your hand. Pitch any colored spell to play Conflux grabbing another Conflux, Progenitus, Time Stretch, All Sun's Dawn, and any black card. Pitch the black card to play Progenitus and pitch Conflux to play Time Stretch for the win. If there above twenty life then you can go ahead and change up your Confluxing orders to return the Stretch with the Dawn. That is the basic combo, but I have a feeling that against decks with counterspells your going to want to find some Force of Will or Counterspell action before you go all in on the Stretch. The thing I really like about this idea is that it is a 2 card 5 mana combo that ends the game. This list is built to hope for a turn 2 or 3 Halls. The fact that Dream Halls doesn't use there life total as a resource unlike the other Blue Black combo decks means that you have more time to set up your kill and can slow down your game to allow for Counterspell to come online. The last interesting thing to point out is that Progenitus is awesome in your hand because you can pitch it to play any spell post Halls and still tutor it up with Conflux.This list can obviously be tuned better and if I can get Halls at a nominal price you just may see something similar to this make a top 8.

That's it for this one. I would like to say thank you to GeMeister, Country_Hillbilly, and osmanosgueny all for their help with the different decks. Any one who follows the PE results will notice osman who put up results with agro loam about a month ago. He was nice enough to chat with me an offer areas of improvement on my initial list. Next time you read me Stronghold should be off sale and were gonna take a look at what kind of affect this has on the price of its singles.

Whiff out.

Georgios Efelis
whiffy penguin on modo
Member of Clan Magic Eternal
 

6 Comments

If someone joining classic by LOurs at Mon, 04/27/2009 - 15:46
LOurs's picture
5

If someone joining classic want to get an overview of Stronghold, well, here is the place to be !
I also like the wall of tears for its bounce effect ;)

Stronghold off sale by gimmie (not verified) at Mon, 04/27/2009 - 16:36
gimmie's picture

Seriously, is this off sale already?

Yes, really. It's dumb. I by Katastrophe at Tue, 04/28/2009 - 03:27
Katastrophe's picture

Yes, really. It's dumb. I don't know what they're thinking.

The only way this could make even a shred of sense, is if they keep the nix-pax limited events running through 2011. But even then, wtf is going on?

stronghold off sale by me myself and i (not verified) at Tue, 04/28/2009 - 04:49
me myself and i's picture

they said they were going to keep nixpax for the sets draftlife. Unfortunately its really boring to draft which means the cards will be very rare. Not a good strategy i would think, but maybe wotc has data that says otherwise.

Great article Whiffy. Always by Anonymous (not verified) at Tue, 04/28/2009 - 08:08
Anonymous's picture
4

Great article Whiffy. Always look forward to reading about the updates on the classic scene. I have been running the cephalid breakfast deck & loving it. I will have to take the druid hermit version for a spin & see how it matches up to the CB.
I luckily opened 3 dream halls that have been sitting around, so i may try that conflux deck out as well.
Thanks again.
Montolio

Classic has become too by ArtistX at Tue, 04/28/2009 - 09:27
ArtistX's picture

Classic has become too expensive for me to get back into... thanks wizards.. I hope the forced scarcity makes you money...