2HG - B/W Weirdness

[Istanbul]

LAND
----------
10x Plains
10x Swamp
4x Caves of Koilos

WHITE
----------
4x Disenchant
4x Hobble
3x Pacifism

BLACK
----------
4x Befoul
3x Soul Burn
3x Skeletal Scrying

GOLD
----------
4x Death Grasp
4x Vindicate
4x Gerrard's Verdict
3x Soul Link

Now, yes, I realize that this deck is somewhat crippled against creatureless decks (Hobble and Pacifism become dead cards, and Soul Link only goes on one of my ally's creatures). But most people in MP at least use *some* creatures...and between Befoul and Disenchant, the only permanent safe from my wrath is a black creature (which eats a Soul Burn, Vindicate, or Death Grasp). The deck wins mostly by way of controlling the board and levelling huge X spells at my opponent's noggin, usually relying on some help from an ally. (A useless partner generally precludes a win, though I managed last time.) Anyway, the deck has two problems I'd like to fix:

1. No crowd control. Lack of Wrath/Mutilate means a swarm can hurt me. I have the cards, but what to take out for them?

2. Soul Burn relies too heavily on black mana, which is only half the deck. Is there a better X spell to back up my kill with?

Pennies for thoughts.

(Oh, I nearly forgot. 2HG is Two-Headed Giant, a format in which two players act as a team against another two players, and share 40 life between them. No shared blocking or mana, but spells have a range of whatever.)

 

[Purple_jester]

[Pseudo Off Topic: Soul Link? Is that Spirit Link?]

I've played 2HG many times. The greatest problem of global destruction such as Armageddon, Wrath of God, Mutilate and Nevinyrral's Disk is that while these are excellent cards in standard multiplayer, they can adversely affect your other "head."

I assume that you don't know who your partner is going to be until it's game time?

Wrath of God gets really bad when your opponent is heavy on the creatures. However, I realize the problem of not having crowd control while you don't have shared blocking. Don't use Mutilate if you have Wrath of God available. Take out a single Gerrard's Verdict and Disenchant to put in 2 Wraths.

Regarding your need for something better than Soul Burn, the answer is no, nothing in T2. However, I have a suggestion. Use 3 Hobbles, take out the Pacifisms, and add 4 Chainer's Edicts. This increases your black mana requirements while retaining the ability to deal with creatures (and the Flashback of the Edicts is very possible in multi). Then, take out 4 Plains, and replace them with 2 Swamps and 2 Tainted Fields. This way, you will have 12 white sources (instead of 14) and 18 black sources (instead of 14). Your Soul Burns will be much more effective then.

 

[Istanbul]

Nope. Soul Link is Soul Link. 1WB, you gain life whenever the enchanted creature deals *or receives* damage.

Sick combo: Soul Link a creature, then if you need life, Death Grasp it to deck. Deal X damage, gain X*2 life.

Chainer's Edict isn't as good as Hobble or Pacifism for one simple reason: my opponent is beating me down with a 5/5 and a 1/1. I draw Hobble, I stop the 5/5. I draw an Edict, he sacs the 1/1 and continues with beatdown.

However, I think I'll take out one Caves and two Plains for one Swamp and two Tainted Fields.

 

[Mikeymike]

If you are looking for 1 sided Mass removal, Run Dregs of Sorrow. Its an absolute bomb in 2HG - as long as your opponents don't play too much black.

Also, just cut the Soul Link in favor of Spirit link. The advantage of Soul over the Spirit almost always isn't worth the extra 1B. I've tried both in a few different decks, I always go back to the Spirit Link.

If Skeletal Scrying's 'graveyard' need is creating problems, consider running Necrologia instead. It costs a guaranteed 5, but if you are low on cards its much more mana efficient.

1 Copy of Yawgmoth's Agenda should be in here, so you can get your Death Grasp's again and so on.
---
What format do you play 2HG? This looks like type 2. If you don't play type 2 there are a slew of better cards you can be playing.

 

[Istanbul]

Spirit Link over Soul Link...yeahhhhh...I guess so.
Dregs is SUPER-pricey to play.
Skeletal Scrying is seldom short of cards to fuel it due to my lack of permanents.
Agenda...worth considering. I'll look into it.

And yes, it's Type 2. Magic Online.

 

[Mikeymike]

Dregs is best in slower games and when you are running good amounts of artifact mana...something which isn't much of an option in T2. But if the games are usually slow, go for it. 7 mana gets you a 4 to 1 card advantage.

How do you like the Scrying? I yet to play it, but its so tempting.

Going back to the Agenda for a sec, it unfortunately doesn't work too well with the Scrying, but its worth a shot running 1.

 

[Istanbul]

Scrying is good. REALLY good. To the point where I'm almost always thinking, 'Jeez, I wish I'd draw a Skeletal Scrying.'