How to make a Browse-Digger deck?

[jorael]

I have recently obtained 4x browse and though I don't have any soldevi diggers I do have some reito lanterns. They are 1 mana more expensive to use, but they should do the trick too.

During (after?) Alliances there was something like a browse-digger deck. What did that deck look like? And how would a multiplayer version should look like?

For starters:

Blue + ... (red?)

x islands

4 browse
4 reito lantern
...

 

[Reverend Love]

....I don't think Soldevi digger will do to well with cards removed from the game.

 

[jorael]

I agree, but that won't be neccesary. I think the idea is to search for cards you need, play them and by the time you empty your library you just put 'under' it the card you need.

At magicvortex I saw this list:

4 Abeyance
4 Brainstorm
3 Browse
1 Circle of Protection: Black
4 Counterspell
3 Disenchant
2 Dissipate
2 Force of Will
1 Gerrard's Wisdom
4 Impulse
1 Political Trickery
1 Soldevi Digger
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Wrath of God

4 Adarkar Wastes
8 Island
2 Kjedoran Outpost
4 Plains
4 Thawing Glaciers

Might be a good an fun deck to play in 1997 but I don't like it. Too much counters for multiplayer. Story circle could be nasty in a browse deck and mobilization seems a good replacement for those outposts (I have them, but the mobilization allows you to put out more tokens at a time).

Any suggestions? Has somebody played with Browse?

 

[Limited]

I once read an article in the duelist about this so-called BrowseDigger Deck and decided to copy it..
The main idea is reach a state with no library and start recurring one card which will win the game for you.
Now consider multiplayer. You'll need a wincard that will kill ALL other players fast and you'll need to protect your rather vunerable position. This is considerably more difficult.

The original deck has a lot of counters, because it a activation of your Browse should guarantee a counterspell. It needs only a couple of wincards. The deck I played had one stone rain, a strip mine, one lightning bolt and one Jester's Cap. The rest of the deck consisted of counters, bounce and walls. Walls of Air was what kept the deck alive! (and one Wall of Wonder, as additional wincondition)

Multiplayer you'll probably have to rely more on the Walls or Rattlesnake's... perhaps lifegain? The wincondition doesn't have to be recurring one card, but just drawing what you need.. (in which case the lantern is actually more usefull than the digger)

Just build a BU creature deck, with mystic snakes and maybe two counterspells (dissipates?).. and just go for creature beats!

Seeing as a BrowsingLatern deck is going to be extremely mana-hungry, perhaps you could combine it with the new BoK snakes which give you burnless mana?

PS
My old BrowseDigger deck contained one homarid spawning bed, so you could recur a wall and win by swarming someone with homarid tokens... (I didn't think of this myself, it was suggested in the Duelist article)

Good Luck!

 

[Oversoul]

I never liked BrowseDigger at all. There are more efficient engines...

 

[Limited]

I had a lot of fun playing it, but you have to know I had just started playing Magic at the time. We were all about the Serra's and Sengir and only attacking when it did not cost you a creature..

*painful confession* At that time, I won multiple games because my one Necropotence kept me from decking myself.

Reading the article I had no idea how BrowseDigger deck would actually play, so I decided to try it. It was the first control deck I ever played and kinda enjoyed how frustrated my opponents got.. having no cards in hand and looking at an empty board..

Disenchant was in everybody's deck after that

 

[Mikeymike]

Yeah, I'm not crazy about this for MP, it puts you in way too much decking danger, and their are easier drawing engine. All someone has to do is play any spell that makes target player draw (or all players draw) and you are pooched.

I mean for a couple of extra mana, you can use the Planar Portal / Digger (Lantern) and not have to worry about removing your library.

However, if you are going to go for it, I recommend Solitary Confinement.
The "you take no damage" part is obviously good in MP.
The "you can be the target of spells or abilities" protects you from Stroke/Recall and the like.
Skipping your draw step doesn't hurt you at all.
Discarding a card can be answered with the Digger.

Splash Red for recursive Sizzle's. Confinement also allows you to play Pain Lands and "Deal X damage to each player" spells without fear.

 

[Limited]

Originally posted by Mikeymike
Yeah, I'm not crazy about this for MP, it puts you in way too much decking danger, and there are easier drawing engines. All someone has to do is play any spell that makes target player draw (or all players draw) and you are pooched.

Well not really.. it just means you have to spend additional mana.. and if its something like a prosperity, you should've had a counterspell ready.. In MP, it only really hurts if multiple opponents have drawspells

Originally posted by Mikeymike
I mean for a couple of extra mana, you can use the Planar Portal/ Digger (Lantern) and not have to worry about removing your library.

Only drawback is that you can only use it once a turn.. being able to pull off multiple browses in one turn, netting you exactly the cards you want really gives you control over the endgame.

Solitary confinement is sheer genius though.. Maybe it's time for a rebuild..
You could recur Flame Rift

 

[jorael]

The solitary confinement is a very cool idea. Making the deck U/W/R will be hard without some good non-basic lands, however...

Has anyone tried to use Browse as a combo searcher? I know other card searchers exist, but digging (uhm, browsing ) 5 cards deep for 4 mana seems good.

I'll think about the card some more...

”Once great literature—now great litter.”
—Jaya Ballard, Task Mage

 

[Mikeymike]

Originally posted by Limited
Well not really.. it just means you have to spend additional mana.. and if its something like a prosperity, you should've had a counterspell ready.. In MP, it only really hurts if multiple opponents have drawspells

Maybe this concern stemms from my group, because we all play card draw (including Recalls). Having a library of 1-2 cards puts a target on someone's head like Angelina Jolie walking into a maximum security prison.

Only drawback is that you can only use it once a turn.. being able to pull off multiple browses in one turn, netting you exactly the cards you want really gives you control over the endgame.

You're right, I was missing the "draw, then Browse" aspect of it. I've never seen the combo in action before, so I was a little behind. Just a note, with a confinement you are limited to a single Browse per round with no draw...I think. I might be missing something.

Solitary confinement is sheer genius though.. Maybe it's time for a rebuild..
You could recur Flame Rift

Wow, great call on Flame Rift.

Joreal, keep in mind with the Confinement you can use Talismans, Painlands and Cities of Brass for multi-colored mana, since they can't damage you. Now, you won't always have the Confinement's in play to rely on, but by the time you get one your life total should be negligible. Just be careful, this is another MP: Target card.

For a slightly different approach, how about Traumatize? This way you can set up your real library (i.e. the Graveyard)...though you'd really want to use the Reito Lanten in this case.

Back to that discussion, which one is better? The Lantern is purely better, but costs 1 more to use. Its the difference between tying up 6-7 mana per turn (at least).

Hmm. Looks like some artifact mana could be needed.

 

[Limited]

I think the lantern could actually be better; with the digger I always had the same problem. When your library is gone, and you want to start recurring your kill card, every counterspell you have to play covers your killcard. It usually means using a turn to redraw the counterspell and not destroy a land/bolt something.. With a hand packed with counterspells, it could be beneficial to recur the kill-card immediately.. Get the lock on tighter before returning your counters.

It would also allow you to play your killcards earlier in the game, without the chance of needing to dig deep into your graveyard to find it again. The deck will become a more toolbox approach to BrowseDigger... Could probably make the deck more versatile (and more fun to play)

Jorael, go for it!

 

[Force of Will Smith]

Browse is a card to fetch you your time warp/remove your library card.
It's never meant to stay out permanently.

Thoughtlash is a good card to remove your library.
Now we even have leveler.
Paradign Shift was always a good card. If you have your cards you want to recur, you can simply pay 1U and get your combo going.


you can do 1 of the following:
No Library+Reito, Time warp: 8 mana with reito, 7 with digger

now you can even use beacons to win. Possibly playing a pantoptic mirror to remove a beacon and a time warp..

My friend used to make such a deck, his screaming ghandi by using zuran orbs, krovikan horrors to clear the board.

And nothing is more humiliating than losing to a zap!
Zap 2R deal 1 damage, draw a card.

Those decks can be incredibly effective, but the best are really hard to build.

You usually want to get out an early howling mine
*Get a browse/ancestral knowledge (i prefer the cheaper knowledge)
*Get 2 of your kill cards
(time warp, zap, any cantrip card, deck should have plenty)
*Get a lantern/digger out
*remove your deck and take infinite turns, then apply infinite damage/creatures etc.

I believe my friends was mainly W/U, with Black and Green splashed in. With a lot of "come back from the dead and kill you" cards.

You might be able to remove some of these steps if you use:
Panoptic Mirrors
Spellweaver Helix
Beacons

So maybe all you'd need is:
No Library, 6 lands, a red/green beacon

Turn 1: Land
Turn 2: Land, Rampant Growth/Sakura (3 lands)
Turn 3: Land (4 lands), 2G Kodama's Reach (5 in play, 1 in hand)
Turn 4: Land (6th Land),
cast Paradign shift, then Green Beacon, repeat, repeat, repeat

or
Turn 1: Land
Turn 2: Land, Rampant, Sakura (3 Lands)
Turn 3: Land, (4 lands) explosive veg (6)/ kodama's reach(6)
Turn 4: Thoughtlash,
Turn 5: Untap, Upkeep, dont pay thoughtlash, remove library, before
beginning of draw phase pay 3RR for red beacon, draw your beacon, repeat, repeat, repeat


Beacon of Destruction is your best bet.. only costing
3RR (Instant)
3G Green Beacon
with beacons all you'd need now is to remove your deck

White beacon 5W (also an instant, plus a good way to stay alive)


and maybe since you can easily get all 5 colors, possibly mix this with sunburst/5 color/domain cards.