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By: Leviathan, Mike Morales
Dec 21 2010 3:28am
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INTRODUCTION:  BROWN BOMBER

So we are at my final deck in my quest to build one around every possible color combination in Commander:  Brown.  Well, I guess technically it is colorless, but Brown seems much better.


I don't remember him looking this good on Fat Albert.

Brown has some difficulties and restrictions when you are building a Commander deck.  First, you have a very limited number of sorceries and instants to play with, and all the ones you do have were introduced in Rise of the Eldrazi.  Next, there is some significant hate you can run up against.  Finally, if you want to keep true to the paper rules of Commander, you have to use lands that don't have any mana symbols on them.  But even with those issues a Brown deck is something that can control the board and put on a good offensive showing.

THE DECK:  RESTRICTIONS AND CREATIVITY

So there are a small number of legal legends to build around in this color.  You used to have all the Eldrazi legends, but Emrakul recently met the banhammer.  Even so, the decks that would run Emrakul basically used just about every mana artifact you can find, to hopefully get him out on turn 7 or so and start smashing.  I can imagine this strategy being employed for both Ulamog and Kozilek, but this was definitely not what I wanted to do.  In addition, I could use the newly legal Memnarch or Bosh, but those are really colored Commanders.  They weren't really what I was going for when I started my quest, so I'm not going to use them.

I decided that I wanted to build around the original Brown commander.  Let's take a look at the guy that we are using as our general today:

karn, silver golem

Yes, I am using the FTV: Relics version, because it is super cool.  Karn himself is interesting.  First, he isn't very much of an offensive force.  He can occasionally get in for 4 against an open opponent, but he usually doesn't win a combat fight (he usually doesn't lose either though).  However, his ability to animate artifacts is pretty cool and is great in an all artifact deck.  If you have some indestructible artifacts, they are good beatsticks.  And any special abilities are nice to have around as well.  As many artifacts cost in the 4 to 5 range, they should be able to swarm over opponents after getting a few out there.

Karn decks are sort of a known archetype, and the more competitive ones can hurt people with land destruction.  I'm not a huge proponent of LD, and as such, one card you won't be seeing in the deck is Mycosynth Lattice.  With the Lattice in play, you can animate and kill the lands of opposing players using Karn.  This isn't very fun so I just avoided the temptation to do it by not including the Lattice in the deck.  Another card that is typically in Karn decks is Sundering Titan.  Late game, it isn't that bad, but early game it just isn't that fun.  But feel free to add it if you wish.

I will admit that I had a hard time coming up with a theme for the deck.  Originally I started with a bunch of Arcbound creatures and a counter theme, but I didn't really like it.  So I just went through and picked out a bunch of cool stuff that I thought I would enjoy playing.  Scars of Mirrodin also gave us a whole bunch of new toys to play with.  Finally, I wanted to keep the deck as close to paper EDH rules as possible, which means no basic lands.  Here is the deck:

Karn, Silver Golem
A Commander Deck
Creatures
1 Arcbound Crusher
1 Arcbound Reclaimer
1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Darksteel Juggernaut
1 Duplicant
1 Golem Artisan
1 Jhoira's Toolbox
1 Karn, Silver Golem
1 Lodestone Golem
1 Mycosynth Golem
1 Myr Retriever
1 Palladium Myr
1 Pentavus
1 Platinum Angel
1 Scarecrone
1 Steel Hellkite
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
1 Voltaic Construct
1 Wurmcoil Engine
19 cards

Other Spells
[Artifacts]
1 Akroma's Memorial
1 Arena of the Ancients
1 Blinkmoth Urn
1 Clock of Omens
1 Cloud Key
1 Coalition Relic
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Darksteel Forge
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Dreamstone Hedron
1 Eternity Vessel
1 Everflowing Chalice
1 Forcefield
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Icy Manipulator
1 Mana Crypt
1 Memory Jar
1 Mimic Vat
1 Mind Stone
1 Mind's Eye
1 Myr Matrix
1 Nevinyrral's Disk
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Phyrexian Processor
1 Planar Portal
1 Portcullis
1 Rings of Brighthearth
1 Sculpting Steel
1 Semblance Anvil
1 Serum Tank
1 Sisay's Ring
1 Sol Ring
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Tawnos's Coffin
1 Temporal Aperture
1 Tower of Fortunes
1 Ur-Golem's Eye
1 Vedalken Orrery
1 Voltaic Key
1 Worn Powerstone
[Sorceries]
1 All Is Dust
41 cards
 
Lands
1 Blasted Landscape
1 Blinkmoth Nexus
1 Blinkmoth Well
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Cloudpost
1 Crystal Vein
1 Darksteel Citadel
1 Desert
1 Deserted Temple
1 Dread Statuary
1 Eldrazi Temple
1 Eye of Ugin
1 Gargoyle Castle
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Ghost Town
1 Glimmerpost
1 Gods' Eye, Gate to the Reikai
1 Ice Floe
1 Island of Wak-Wak
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
1 Miren, the Moaning Well
1 Mishra's Factory
1 Mystifying Maze
1 Petrified Field
1 Quicksand
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Scorched Ruins
1 Springjack Pasture
1 Stalking Stones
1 Strip Mine
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Temple of the False God
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Urza's Factory
1 Urza's Mine
1 Urza's Power Plant
1 Urza's Tower
1 Vesuva
1 Winding Canyons
1 Zoetic Cavern 
40 cards

 
clock of omens

 

The one card that doesn't fit is Bojuka Bog, as it has a Black mana symbol on it.  But I figured it wouldn't be that horrible, as the deck could use some graveyard hate.  Breaking down the cards by category is a little tough, since a lot of these cards have singular effects.  But I am going to try.

Card Draw  
tower of fortunes

Mind's EyeTower of FortunesMikokoro, Center of the SeaDreamstone HedronMind StoneSword of Fire and IceSerum TankTemporal ApertureMemory Jar
Mind's Eye, Tower of Fortunes, Mikokoro, Center of the Sea, Dreamstone Hedron, Mind Stone, Sword of Fire and Ice, Serum Tank, Temporal Aperture, Memory Jar:  There are actually some pretty decent ways to draw cards here, and they just get better with Rings of Brighthearth out as well.  I never ran out of counters on Serum Tank, and with enough mana you can dump your entire hand after cracking Memory Jar.

Temporal Aperture is a fun card that works well with this deck.  Just keep in mind to use it during your main phase, and not to play a land before you do so.  There are times with the untapping effects and extra mana you make that you can use it twice in a turn.

Mana Help  
palladium myr Worn PowerstoneUr-Golem's EyeSol RingSisay's RingSemblance AnvilMind StoneMana CryptGilded LotusEverflowing ChaliceDreamstone HedronDarksteel IngotCoalition RelicCloud KeyBlinkmoth UrnPalladium Myr
Worn Powerstone, Ur-Golem's Eye, Sol Ring, Sisay's Ring, Semblance Anvil, Mind Stone, Mana Crypt, Gilded Lotus, Everflowing Chalice, Dreamstone Hedron, Darksteel Ingot, Coalition Relic, Cloud Key, Blinkmoth Urn, Palladium Myr:  This deck is the most mana hungry deck I have ever put together.  There are a ton of activated abilities, including the ones on the lands.  Not only do you want to be able to play Darksteel Forge, you want to be able to search up your Duplicant using Eye of Ugin and play it.  All on the same turn sometimes.  Blinkmoth Urn helps you out a ton in these situations, as you are usually the one that can abuse it the most.  Finally, you can turn most of these into creatures and beatdown.
Destruction  
all is dust DuplicantAll is DustNevinyrral's DiskOblivion StoneSteel HellkiteUlamog, the Infinite Gyre
Duplicant, All is Dust, Nevinyrral's Disk, Oblivion Stone, Steel Hellkite, Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre:  There aren't that many ways of destroying things with this deck, but the few cards here are pretty powerful.  Darksteel Forge combos nicely with the Disk.  Steel Hellkite is a nice, effective way of getting rid of problem enchantments and artifacts.  Ulamog also does a nice job of hurting players.  Keep in mind that if someone targets you with Bribery and takes Ulamog, your only out to him is Duplicant.
Tokens  
phyrexian processor

Myr MatrixPentavusPhyrexian ProcessorSpringjack Pasturemimic vat
Myr Matrix, Pentavus, Phyrexian Processor, Springjack Pasture, Mimic Vat:  This deck doesn't have a whole lot of ways to make tokens, but they are significant.  I've won a few games with the Processor and untap abilities.  And having Pentavus out with Rings of Brighthearth means you are making more tokens than you started with.  Mimic Vat is just good, period.

Someone pointed out that there is an infinite mana combo in here, by using Karn to animate something that taps for 3 or more mana, like Gilded Lotus, and using Voltaic Construct to keep untapping it after you tap it for mana.  Myr Matrix is the only way I can think of to actually abuse this interaction in the deck.  I'm fine with keeping a 4 card infinite combo in here.

I will be honest, there are a lot of decisions to make when playing this deck.  Especially when you have something like Clock of Omens out and you are trying to figure out what to tap and untap.  In addition, each of the lands comes with a special ability of some sort, so you have to keep in mind what you want untapped.  There are also plenty of interactions in the deck that you will find as you play it if you look for them.

A lot of your lands sacrifice themselves for a useful ability, so Crucible of Worlds is helpful, especially after dropping something like Scorched Ruins.  Keep in mind that when people see you play Eye of Ugin or Eldrazi Temple they are going to automatically assume that you are playing with Eldrazi.  I'm usually up front with people and tell them that I use Ulamog, and that calms them down, especially as I was playing this deck while Emrakul was still legal.  Keep in mind that Eye of Ugin can search up any colorless creature, which can be helpful when you have a ton of mana.  In addition, there are a couple of lands that don't tap for mana in here.  Fortunately, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth helps out with that problem.  There are also plenty of times when someone else plays Urborg as well, making the lands that don't produce mana not as bad in the long run.

So the plan is to get out a bunch of artifacts, then once you have a good board position, start beating down.  There are some nice defensive artifacts in here, such as Forcefield, Arena of the Ancients, Eternity Vessel and PortcullisPortcullis is especially nice after the board has been cleared of creatures.  If you can drop Karn right after, each of your non-creature artifacts gets around the Portcullis restriction.

Finally, Rings of Brighthearth is a house in this deck.  Almost every card in the deck has some sort of activated ability, and getting an extra use of them for 2 mana is awesome.  The other all-star of the deck is Golem Artisan, which can give any of your animated artifacts extra abilities.  Plus, sometimes this deck can make a ton of mana, and pumping your offense is fun too.

Saying all that, let's take a look at the deck in action.

THE GAME:  FIGHT!

Here are my opponents for this game: 

Sol'kanar the Swamp King Nicol Bolas Balthor the Defiled
 
I have to say that this is a pretty good group to play against.  With no Green or White, I don't have to worry as much about artifact destruction.  Sol'Kanar and Bolas are usually Grixis control, but I have seen people running demon tribal with the Swamp King.  Balthor is sometimes zombies, but since he is essentially a Patriarch's Bidding on a stick, you can expect that he will be filling up his graveyard to get a ton of creatures back into play.  On a side note, Balthor was played by our very own Lythand in this game!  I have gotten a few games in with him, and he is always fun to play with. 
 
Sol'Kanar wins the roll.  Here is my opening hand:
 
Winding CanyonsDarksteel JuggernautBlinkmoth NexusForcefieldSteel HellkiteBojuka BogCoalition Relic
 
Three lands and a piece of accel, that's an easy keep.  Balthor mulls to 6.  As usual, Sol'Kanar = S, Nicol Bolas = N, and Balthor = B>
 
Round 1
S: Mountain.
Me: Draw Urza's Factory, play Blinkmoth Nexus.
N: Swamp.
B:  Swamp, SDT.
 
Round 2
S: Swamp.
Me: Draw Ulamog, play Bojuka Bog.
N: Crosis's Catacombs, bouncing his Swamp. Then Enclave Cryptologist.
 
enclave cryptologist
Very popular, I've seen it used a lot.
 
B: Reliquary Tower.
 
Round 3
S: Swamp, then a morph. Maybe Bane of the Living?
Me: Draw Oblivion Stone. Play Urza's Factory, then Coalition Relic. I occasionally forget to put a counter on it, but for the most part I remember.
N: Swamp, then levels up the Cryptologist once.
B: Swamp, the Gutless Ghoul.   Nice sac outlet.
 
Round 4
S: Mountain. Is color screwed, with no Blue mana. Attacks me with the morph (38).
Me: Draw Eye of Ugin. Play Winding Canyons, then Darksteel Juggernaut.  He's not big now, but I'm hoping he will be soon. N uses the Cryptologist to draw and discards his Urza's Factory.
N: Swamp, then Trinket Mage for Mox Diamond, which he plays, discarding Sulfurous Springs. Uses Cryptologist to draw again, discarding Rupture Spire
B: Stinkweed Imp and a Swamp.  With Gutless Ghoul, he can sac the Imp and start dredging.
 
Round 5
S: Island.  Now he has Blue mana.
Me: Draw Quicksand and play it. Then Steel Hellkite, making Juggernaut 3/3. I attack S with the Juggernaut, and he blocks with the morph, who turns out to be Vesuvan Shapeshifter, flipping to copy my Hellkite.
N: Dragonskull Summit. Then Preordain and activates Cryptologist, discarding Shizo, Death's Storehouse. Then levels up the Cryptologist.
B: Khabal Ghoul!  Fun card.
 
 
At the end of B’s turn, S swampcycles Twisted Abomination.
 
Round 6
S: Plays the Swamp, then attacks N with the Hellkite (35). Then blows up the Mox with the Hellkite by mistake, as he meant to take out something else.  Probably the Cryptologist? 
Me: Draw Reliquary Tower. S doesn’t have any blockers right now, so I should be able to blow up his Hellkite after hitting him. However, I’m pretty sure that he wouldn’t just leave himself open like that without something in hand to help him out. I decide to try anyways, and after playing the Tower, I attack B with the Juggernaut and S with my Hellkite. However, S does have something in hand to help and plays Sudden Spoiling.
 
sudden spoiling
Underplayed.  Split second is awesome.
 
This turns my guys into little turds, basically easily squished.  B blocks and kills my Juggernaut with Stinkweed Imp and N joins in the action and kills my Hellkite with Grasp of Darkness. I then play ForcefieldKhabal Ghoul gains 2 counters.
N:  Dragonskull Summit, then fully levels up his Crytpologist and uses her to draw a card. Then plays Phyrexian Arena.
B: Nothing.
 
Round 7
S: Attacks me with his Hellkite, but I animate my Blinkmoth Nexus and block. As my only two artifacts both cost 3, I need to draw something soon to help out. Khabal Ghoul gets another counter.
Me: Draw Voltaic Construct. Play Eye of Ugin and the Construct. Now I have no defense to S’s Hellkite. I probably should have used the Eye to search up Duplicant and hoped to draw another land next turn to get rid of it. Oh well.
N: Draws from Arena (34). Draws a card from Cryptologist, and plays Mystifying Maze. Then Elixir of Immortality.
B: Swamp. Obviously playing defensively right now.
 
Round 8
S: Keeps the Shapeshifter as the Hellkite, which is the biggest threat on the table. Attacks me with the Hellkite, but N uses Mystifying Maze on it!
 
 
That saves my bacon.   I actually completely forgot about this until after I looked at the replay.  I should have repaid the kindness, but you will see why I don't in a couple turns.  S plays Sol’Kanar, and when Shapeshifter comes back, copies Trinket Mage, searching up Wanderer's Twig. S notes that he wanted to put a dent in me before Emrakul comes out, due to me playing Eye of Ugin.  However I tell them that the only Eldrazi cards I have in my deck are Ulamog and All is Dust. That seems to make everyone calmer about me.
Me: Draw Rings of Brighthearth. I use Eye of Ugin to search up Wurmcoil Engine, since I didn’t really have any other plays.
N: Draws from Phyrexian Arena (33) and using the Cryptologist. Brainstorm, then Dimir Aqueduct, bouncing an Island. Then plays Venser's Journal.
 
Venser's Journal
Better than I first thought.
 
I’ve found this card to be pretty powerful, especially if you have extra drawing. Even with a low amount of cards in hand, that’s still 4 extra life a turn. At the end of the turn, B sacs his Stinkweed Imp to Gutless Ghoul (42). 
B: Dredges Stinkweed Imp. It takes me a while to remember that Balthor is essentially a Patriarch's Bidding, so more stuff in the graveyard is good for B. Plays Stinkweed Imp, gaining S a life from Sol’Kanar (40). Attacks me with Khabal Ghoul (34)
 
Round 9
S: Turns his Vesuvan Shapeshifter face down. Plays Izzet Signet and Wanderer's Twig.
Me: Draw Blasted Landscape and play it. I then play Wurmcoil Engine, knowing that S will copy it.
N: Draws from Arena (32) and Cryptologist, then gains life from the Journal (41). Island, then Sphinx of Lost Truths, with kicker. Now has 11 cards in hand.  Oh boy.
B: Swamp, then Demonic Tutor, making S go up to (41) due to Sol'kanar's ability. Then plays Mimic Vat. Very nice. At the end of the turn, S copies my Wurmcoil Engine with his Shapeshifter and sacs his Wanderer's Twig for an Island.
 
Round 10
S: Plays the Island, then attacks N with Sol’Kanar and the Wurmcoil Engine. N blocks the Engine with Trinket Mage, going to (36) while S goes up to (47). S then transmutes Drift of Phantasms for Oblivion Stone, but doesn’t play it. 
Me: Draw Memory Jar. Play Rings of Brighthearth and attack N with my Wurmcoil Engine (30), going up to (40).
N: Draws from Arena (29) then gains life from the Journal (41). Plays Swamp, then a kicked Rite of Replication on my Wurmcoil Engine. That’s a big uh-oh right there. Attacks S with Sphinx of Lost Truths (44). At the end of turn, B sacs his Imp to his Gutless Ghoul again (44), making Khabal Ghoul 5/5.
B: Dredges his Stinkweed Imp and replays it, having S go up to (45). Attacks S with both Ghouls (37).
 
Round 11
S: Casts Enslave, stealing one of N’s Wurmcoil Engines and going up to (38). Attacks N with Sol’Kanar (36), with 10 Commander damage.  Even if N gains a ton more life, he won't be able to stop the swampwalking commander damage, which is nice.
Me: Draw Crystal Vein and play it. I then play Oblivion Stone. I know that S hasn’t played his, so my hope is to put fate counters on 2 permanents (using Rings of Brighthearth) when he does.
N: Draws from Arena (35) and gains from Journal (48). Then attacks S with his 4 Wurmcoil Engines. 
 
 
 
S blocks with his 2 Engines. They both get 4 tokens, and S goes to (35) while N goes up to (72). B puts Vesuvan Shapeshifter under his Mimic Vat. N then plays Coalition Relic and Rakdos Carnarium, bouncing a Swamp. At the end of turn the Khabal Ghoul goes up to 10/10 and B puts a Vesuvan Shapeshifter into play, copying Sphinx of Lost Truths, discarding Helldozer, Phyrexian Delver and Polluted Mire
B: Accidentally turns the Sphinx face down. Plays Unholy Grotto, then Animate Dead, accidentally getting my Darksteel Juggernaut instead of my Steel Hellkite, having S go up to (36). His Shapeshifter token is exiled at the end of the turn.
 
Round 12
S: Mountain, then Oblivion Stone. I brainfart and forget to put fate counters on my stuff. Aargh. 
Me: Draw Cloud Key. I’m kind of stuck here, because I want to put fate counters on my stuff, but I don’t want to play anything extra to have it get blown up.
N: Draws from Arena (71) then gains from Journal (85). His life total is starting to get up there now. Mox Opal, then Halimar Depths. Draws from Cryptologist, then plays Lightning Greaves and Kagemaro, First to Suffer, making S go up to (37). Equips Kagemaro with the Greaves then casts Sudden Death targeting the Darksteel Juggernaut, killing it and making S go up to (38). 
 
sudden death
Another good split second card.
 
Attacks S with 2 wurm tokens and Sphinx of Lost Truths, B with 2 Wurmcoil Engines and Kagemaro and me with 2 wurm tokens. After blockers are declared, N pops Kagemaro, clearing the field except for 2 wurm tokens for me and 4 tokens for N. B gets Wurmcoil Engine under his Mimic Vat and is up to (44) after sacing his critters to Gutless Ghoul.
B: Dredges Stinkweed Imp and plays it and Mikokoro, Center of the Sea.
 
Round 13
S: Plays Sol’Kanar again. This doesn’t leave him enough mana to use Oblivion Stone, so I put fate counters on Forcefield and Coalition Relic using Rings of Brighthearth.
Me: Draw Voltaic Key, then attack N with both of my wurm tokens, and he blocks with 2 of his. I go up to (43) and N goes up to (88).
N: Draws from Phyrexian Arena (87) and gains from Journal (99). Uses Elixir of Immortality (104). Attacks me and S with a wurm token, then ninjas in Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni against me. I use my Forcefield but he is still able to pull my Darksteel Juggernaut from my graveyard. N goes to equip the Juggernaut with Lightning Greaves, but S bounces the ‘Naut with Into the Roil, which is nice. At the end of the turn, B puts a Wurmcoil Engine token into play with his Vat. After that, I blow up the world with O-Stone. N regenerates Ink-Eyes and B puts SDT on top of his library. S let’s Sol’Kanar go to his graveyard. N has to discard Shivan ReefTainted Strike, a Mountain and Sphinx of Magosi. There isn’t much left now:
 
 
B: Replays SDT, then Balthor and Evolving Wilds, sacing it for a Swamp. Attacks N with both his wurm tokens (98), going up to (47).
 
Round 14
S: Exhumer Thrull, getting Sol’Kanar back to his hand.
Me: Draw Golem Artisan. Play Cloud Key, naming Artifact (obv obv), and Darksteel Juggernaut and Voltaic Key.
N: Plays Swamp and suspends Ancestral Vision. Then plays Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir. Teferi doesn’t really effect me a ton, but he’s still annoying. B uses Mikokoro, and I draw my own Mikokoro.
B: Plays Tombstone Stairwell, which is awesome. At the end of turn S cycles Ichor Slick.
 
Round 15
S: When the Stairwell triggers, B gets 7 zombies, S gets 4, I get 4 and N gets 1. Attacks N with Exhumer Thrull only. N flashes in Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief and blocks the Thrull. The Thrull haunts one of the zombie tokens. S then plays a Mountain and transmutes Netherborn Phalanx for Confiscate, and uses it to steal Drana. When the tokens go away at the end of the turn, S returns Drift of Phantasms to his hand. Discards Reiver Demon at the end of turn to get to 7 cards in hand.
Me: Draw Darksteel Forge. I play Ulamog, destroying Teferi. I attack N with my 3 zombies and Juggernaut. He blocks 2 zombies and goes down to (91). 
N: Plays Bojuka Bog, getting rid of B’s graveyard. That has to hurt. Then plays Exsanguinate for 11. 
 
exsanguinate
Great with the amount of mana Black can produce.
 
N goes to (124), B drops to (36), S drops to (24) and I drop to (31). At the end of turn B uses Mikokoro, and I draw Tower of Fortunes.
B: Lets the Stairwell go. Plays a Swamp then Cemetery Reaper. Attacks N with both his wurm tokens. N blocks the lifelinker with Ink-Eyes, dropping to (121) while B goes up to (39). 
 
Round 16
S: Transmutes Drift of Phantasms for Whispersilk Cloak and plays it, equipping Drana. Then attacks N (117).
Me: Draw Blinkmoth Urn, which should be great for me. I play Karn and Blinkmoth Urn, and attack N with Ulamog and the Juggernaut. He sacs 3 lands and Ink-Eyes, dropping to (100). 
N: Plays Island, then Mutilate, getting rid of everything except Ulamog and my Juggernaut. Then plays Graveborn Muse
B: Gravedigger, returning Cemetery Reaper to his hand and playing it. 
 
Round 17
S: Plays Sol’Kanar and equips Whispersilk Cloak to him, then plays Rakdos Carnarium, bouncing a Swamp.
Me: Draw Scorched Ruins. I get a mess of mana from Blinkmoth Urn, so I play Darksteel Forge. I then play Scorched Ruins, sacing my Bojuka Bog and Blasted Landscape. Next I play Golem Artisan and give my Juggernaut flying. I then attack N with my Juggernaut and Ulamog. He sacs 4 lands and drops to (82). 
N: Draws from Muse (81). Plays Island, then Take Possession, targeting Ulamog. That’s not good.  I should have enough mana to search up Duplicant with Eye of Ugin next turn to get rid of Ulamog.
 
 
B: Cabal Coffers.
 
Round 18
S: Swamp, then Duplicant, taking out Ulamog. There goes that problem.  Attacks N with Sol’Kanar (76), with 15 general damage.
Me: Draw Mind's Eye. Play Karn again, Memory Jar, then Tower of Fortunes. I animate Darksteel Forge and attack N with Artisan, Forge and Juggernaut (53).
N: Ancestral Vision comes out of suspension, but S uses Imp's Mischief (going up to (25)) to redirect it to himself. 
 
imp's mischief
Awesome and unexpected.
 
Draws from the Muse (52). Swamp, then Brainstorm. Plays Sol Ring, then Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker, but S has Hinder. At the end of turn, B uses Cemetery Reaper to remove Drana from N’s graveyard and make a zombie.
B: Nothing.
 
Round 19
S: Plays Magosi, the Waterveil. Attacks N with Sol’Kanar (47), 20 general damage.
Me: Draw Gilded Lotus. Then I pop Memory Jar and draw the following:
 
PentavusPlatinum AngelSemblance AnvilAkroma's MemorialPlanar PortalMystifying MazeCrucible of Worlds
 
I play the Anvil, exiling Pentavus. I then play each other card in my hand. I animate the Forge, Memorial, and Portal and attack N with everything, taking him out.   At the end of the turn, B uses Cemetery Reaper to remove my Wurmcoil Engine from my graveyard and make a zombie, then uses Mikokoro. I draw Darksteel Ingot.
B: Plays Tectonic Edge and attacks S with his team. S casts Hideous Laughter (going up to (27)), wiping them out. Then B tries to cast Living Death, but S has Draining Whelk. Seems like a strange move at the time, as Living Death would get rid of my team.
 
Round 20
S: Mountain, then Rite of Replication kicked, targeting Duplicant, which he uses to take out all of my creatures.  Must be why he was fine countering Living Death.
 
 
Attacks me with Draining Whelk, Sol’Kanar and Duplicant (10). I’m in bad shape now, but I think I have an answer. I use Planar Portal to search up Nevinyrral's Disk.
Me: Draw Myr Matrix. I play the Disk and untap it with Voltaic Key. I then blow up the world, but my stuff is fine due to Darksteel Forge. B concedes, and I attack S with a bunch of animated artifacts for the win.
 
S tells me later that he had Echoing Truth in hand and could have bounced my Disk, but passed priority by mistake. I would have had a hard time if he had, being only at 10 life with nothing on the board. I guess I didn’t really need the Disk and probably could have attacked for the win without it, but I got worried.
 

CONCLUSION

Venser's Journal has been a very good card each time I have seen it played.  Combine it with something like Myojin of Seeing Winds, and you can gain a crap ton of life.  It definitely helped the Nicol Bolas player in this game, even though he didn't end up winning.  The game also showed that there are times when this deck can go on the offensive and push out large amounts of damage.  And that is my favorite part of this deck.

So this was a long game where I made a couple of mistakes, but I guess that's not unusual.  I will be honest, playing this deck made my brain hurt.  There were a lot of decisions to be made, and I'm not the kind of player that likes to sit and think about all the possible options.  Even the lands all having abilities lead to tough decisions.  I'd rather sit back and bash.  But if you are a controlling player that likes having a ton of options, this may be a deck for you.

Most of the deck can be downloaded or purchased HERE.  Unfortunately the upload didn't include anything from Scars of Mirrodin or FTV:  Relics.  The deck comes out to about $150, which isn't horrible.  The expensive cards are Standard playable, like All is Dust, Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre and Wurmcoil EngineSol Ring and Strip Mine are both expensive as well, but those should be cheaper once MED4 comes online.  I guess Sword of Fire and Ice is pricey too, so you should get another form of card draw in there as well if you don't own one of those. 

There are a couple of cards out there that completely hose you.  I was playing against a guy using Captain Sisay as their commander who searched up Kataki, War's Wage, and that shut me down pretty fast.  Energy Flux is a similar card that will be available soon with MED4 coming out.  Aura of Silence is a pain and slows you down a ton.  Molder Slug is another card that is annoying.  I never ran into Shatterstorm, but I'm sure that one really hurts when it is cast.  And of course, even if you have Darksteel Forge out, White has a bunch of ways of removing your artifacts from the game.  So just keep these cards in mind when you play, as being an all artifact deck leaves you vulnerable to these cards.

Although you are pretty much limited to artifacts, there are a few different options you can use when changing the deck up.  I know that Prototype Portal can lead to some shenanigans as well.  Like I said, this is a pretty thought intensive deck, for a player like me, anyways.  I'm not sure I will be busting this deck out much in the future, because it is a little too click intensive for my liking.  But I hope you guys enjoyed it.  Until next time!

Leviathan, aka Tarasco on MTGO
mrmorale32 at yahoo dot com
 

CONQUEROR AND COMMANDER ARCHIVE

4 Comments

I guess that was one of the by Paul Leicht at Tue, 12/21/2010 - 10:13
Paul Leicht's picture
5

I guess that was one of the games I didn't play with you. That deck is a true house though. Not really fun to play against and I imagine not all that fun to play unless you enjoy thinking A LOT about your interactions. Very intense deck. I see you managed to get in a game with Lythand and his Balthor deck. :) Of the games that we played together using this deck I don't think one actually completed.

That was a great game! I had by hollowkatt at Tue, 12/21/2010 - 11:49
hollowkatt's picture

That was a great game! I had thought I was solidly in control for a while, but then things just got out of hand :) Thanks for the write up!

Bad Play Mistakes by Lythand at Tue, 12/21/2010 - 17:34
Lythand's picture
5

I forgot about this game. lol

I made some bad play mistakes in this game, and I think Leviathan let me off the hook. he could of easily of taken me out which is why I ended up conceding at the end of the game.

No need to worry about the land issues. Once the new rules are streamlined to mirror paper Commander, then you wont have a choice but to use colorless lands in a mono brown deck.

Oh, and you have Relic of Progenitus and Tormod's Crypt if you need GY hate.

Yeah Paul, you were on the by Leviathan at Tue, 12/21/2010 - 19:49
Leviathan's picture

Yeah Paul, you were on the receiving end of this deck a lot. I appreciate that you played and stuck those games out though as I was testing it out. And you are right, there is a lot of thinking involved in this deck. That suits some players, but not me.

Hallowkat and Lythand, it was a fun game! Breaking triple digits in life is sometimes daunting to opponents, but this shows you can do it.

I originally had Relic of Progenitus in the deck, but I wanted to cut it, and figured I could get away with Bojuka Bog.

Also, a mistake in the article, at the end of the game, S was going to bounce my Darksteel Forge, and not the Disk. Like I noted, I should have attacked before popping the Disk. He would have bounced the Forge, but died anyway.