I've had some requests to make a deck around Prime Speaker Zegana and I've kind of been pushing her off for a while.
You see, right after she came out Prime Speaker decks were everywhere. And they were pretty much variations of the same thing, being sort of like big mana versions of Momir decks. When I first saw her I thought she looked pretty cool, but then when she was all over the place I just sort of gave up on her. You know, how people are into a band until they become popular? And then they aren't into them as much any more? Because the band is too mainstream? I was that guy.
I hadn't really seen Prime Speaker recently though, and I always like the idea of using her with a bunch of Maro variants, and a ton of card draw. But now I had a new issue: I just made a Vorel of the Hull Clade deck, and there could potentially be a bunch of overlap. So I decided to try and avoid a bunch of stuff that went into the Vorel deck. I also wanted to make the deck more focused really on making huge dudes. I think that the Vorel deck may be better, in that it has more answers and can do well in the long game, but this one is more explosive and can go nuts. So that's what I'm going for here, more of a "deal with me now!" kind of deck instead of trying to answer everything.
On a side note, I found a pretty fun wallpaper featuring a different take on Prime Speaker HERE.
Not a ton of answers, but that's on purpose! Let's take a look at the deck in greater detail.
Deck Tech:
Basically the deck is running every Maro variant available in these colors, including stuff like Descendant of Masumaro which you wouldn't expect to see in any sort of good deck. There isn't a ton of card draw in the deck, but that's because Prime Speaker is a primary source of draw. Still, the draw in the deck itself isn't bad at all.
I specifically made this deck without much in the way of tutors. The deck runs Survival, but this is used to grab threats, not answers. In addition, the deck isn't really running many answers. There are several board states which are problematic for the deck but that's sort of the point. Really, it's about making huge dudes and crushing people. Make them deal with your threats, not the other way around.
There are a couple of Clone effects in here for copying Prime Speaker if you want. And if you're running out of steam, don't be afraid of casting your Commander even if it only nets you a couple cards. 4 cards are nice, but sometimes you'll only get 2. Just do it and move along. There are also some little guys that don't see a ton of play, like Wake Thrasher and Lorescale Coatl that can get crazy big in no time flat. Berserk is an amazing card and can kill people out of nowhere. Don't forget that you can cast Berserk the targeted creature won't die until the end of the turn, which means that you can cast Prime Speaker and draw a mess of cards.
The deck does have some weaknesses. Even though it has Survival, it's really used more for searching up threats than answers. That means that sometimes there will be problematic enchantments and artifacts out there, or just bad board states, and you have to draw into something. Oblivion Stone and Fabricate are missing from the deck. If you wanted the deck to be able to fight back, you might want to add these.
In addition since there isn't a ton of ramp the deck can take a few turns to get going. This can be problematic specifically because Prime Speaker and other Simic decks generally have a bad reputation. I had one game where I was targeted by all 3 opponents from the first turn, and there was no real way to fight back before I was dead. And I was targeted specifically because I was Simic. So this is something to be aware of.
Finally, there is no way to put your graveyard back into your library. It is completely possible to draw your deck, so be aware of your library size, and when it gets below 40 cards try and have a plan ready. I sort of did this on purpose, but others might not like it as much. If you want you can add a safety valve like Time Spiral or a legendary Eldrazi. If those aren't your style, there's always Elixir of Immortality.
Let's see how the deck plays, shall we?
Game 1:
Here I basically work hard to kill Azusa. The Sliver Queen player is playing some sort of weird variant of a Group Hug deck, running stuff like Teferi's Puzzle Box and Gate to the Aether, but Evacuation and other sweepers as well. After taking out Azusa, the Obzedat player gets Exquisite Blood in play and reveals Debt to the Deathless and Exsanguinate. Luckily I kill him before he can get either of those off. I have Multani in play with Consecrated Sphinx and Brawn in my graveyard, so getting rid of the Sliver Queen player after that isn't much of an issue.
Game 2:
2 Headed Giant! I'm teamed up with Melek, but he doesn't do much, and neither does the Niv-Mizzet player. When Purphoros hits play (who essentially deals double damage in a 2HG game) I tuck him with Deglamer, which was the whole reason I put the card in my deck in the first place. That essentially hamstrings him, and I have a Counterspell when he tries to Chaos Warp my Mana Reflection. I draw a massive amount of cards and deal with 80 damage with a combination of Multani and Prime Speaker.
Game 3:
So this is a live game, because I was having a hard time getting replays that worked, and then found the time for one of these. Anyways, I start off ramping like crazy with Burgeoning and when I try to cast Prime Speaker to get some more cards she gets Hindered. So I go from being a big threat to not really being a threat at all. People start focusing on the Thraximundar player, but I want him abound to help out with the Teneb player who has both Saffi Eriksdotter and Sun Titan out. I'm really just worried he's going to get a sac outlet and start doing silly stuff. Unfortunately the Thrax player realizes he's not gonna last and concedes before the Titan/Saffi combo is dealt with.
Luckily, I draw into Rite of Replication and use it to copy Teneb's Ashen Rider several times, crippling Teneb. Despite a misplay at the end, I manage to use Overwhelming Stampede to wipe out the other 2 players.
Bonus Game!
So this game is one my buddy RoyalAl recorded, so you don't really get my thoughts but you can see the deck in action. And yes, I did have Curse of the Swine in the deck for like 1 minute before I came to my senses and yanked it.
I hope you guys enjoyed the deck. If you like stomping with big scary things, while having a hint of danger of drawing your entire deck, this is for you! Until next time!
Leviathan, aka Tarasco on MTGO
mrmorale32 at yahoo dot com
CONQUEROR & COMMANDER ARCHIVE
