Machine Head

G

Gizmo

Guest
Machine Head

4 Shivan Zombie
4 Blazing Specter
4 Flametongue Kavu
4 Skizzik
2 Tahngarth/Crypt Angel
(18)

4 Duress
4 Terminate
4 Tainted Pact
3 Urzas Rage
3 Void
(18)

3 Petrified Field
4 Barbarian Ring
3 Shadowblood Ridge
4 Urborg Volcano
4 Sulfurous Springs
6 Swamp
(24)

A major strength of the deck is being able to run Petrified Fields because of using 11 dual-lands succesfully. Those Rings and Fields really do kill a lot of people.

SB:
3 Addle
3 Slay
3 Plague Spitter
3 Price Of Glory
2 Marauding Knight
1 Urzas Rage
 
I

Istanbul

Guest
Can someone tell me why this thing is called 'Machine Head'?
 
G

Gizmo

Guest
You got me there. I always thought it was cos on Void and Rage there is a machine with a bg head.:confused:
 
H

Hellion

Guest
Good deck!
A great balance of discard, critter control and beatdown.

However, isn't your non-basic land count a tad high? I would replace the Urborg Volcanos with more basic lands for a little more speed....

Anyway, your deck is as good as Machinehead gets......
 
R

rkoelsch

Guest
So far it is looking like the deck to beat is R/G. I think discard is not the best answer to R/G's Flashback spells. Maybe there should be some SB slots for graveyard removal like cremate or something.
 
Z

Zadok001

Guest
Well, it leans WW over, but I think everything does that. :)

I'm only going to question one card, and you're going to think I'm insane for doing it, but... I think Ghitu Fire is better than Urza's Rage. I mean, right now, we have a metagame with no "True" counter decks. Nothing that's going to sit back and just try to counter everything you play. They've got to play creatures, and quite a few. Finkels, Mages (which like naming Rage, btw), Spectral Lynx, and Call of the Herd are all seeing their day in control decks.

Rage has three advantages over Fire:

1. It is naturally instant-speed. Fire has that option on it. Not as mana-efficient, but it has the option available.

2. If you want to do 3 damage, Rage is cheaper. But only by one mana, and if you want to do any other possible amount of damage, you'd rather have a Fire.

3. In a really long game, the Rage can kicker up and end it.

In my opinion, in an environment where all the control decks play spells that DON'T counter your spells, Ghitu Fire becomes the preferred option. Flaw in logic?
 
G

Gizmo

Guest
Not to get into generalisations about the environment - in this deck a 3pt Ghitu Fire (at 4cc) screws your mana curve beyond belief.
 
Z

Zadok001

Guest
Now that I actually LOOK at the mana curve, point conceeded. :) For this deck, Rage is likley superior. But I stand by my statement that Fire is better for other decks.
 
M

Mikeymike

Guest
Machinehead originally got its name from the many mech-like card pictures the first deck consisted of:
Void
Rages
Pyre Zombie
Shivan Zombie
Other phyrexiaesque spells

-------
Have you tested out Nightscape Familiar in the deck? Turn 3 Spectre, turn 4 Skizzik is nasty (and common). Plus the regen is an annoying side effect.

Also, I think Kamahl might be better than Tahngarth in here. Its Haste+Bolt ability comes in very handy as a surprise way to clear out opposing blockers. Plus, the potential to swing for 6 isn't bad either. Not much can kill him that can't kill Tahngarth.
 
M

Mikeymike

Guest
I haven't seen Shock in a non-burn decklist since Firebolt was printed. I'm sure that will change down the road, but right now it just simple isn't in decklists.

Firebolt can kill Kamahl, but its sorcery status hurts its timing somewhat against the big fella.

Kamahl will not attack if the opponent has a anything to block him, instead he will simple tap and kill the offending 1/1.

No, Kamahl is far from unstoppable. My point merely was to point out that in this decklist, I feel his haste is more of plus than his 1 toughness is a negative. Plus his potential as a finisher makes him even more dangerous.
 
Z

Zadok001

Guest
Well, part of my argument against him is a universal dislike of Kamahl in general, but you are correct - His Haste is worth something.

So how's this for a compromise?

Reckless Charge. Toss the Haste and extra power on a more survivable creature, or turn your two drop creature into a 3 drop with 3 more power and Haste. In my (admittably limited) experience, I've had a lot of fun toying with Reckless Charge on Flametongue Kavu and Shivan Zombie. It was also exceptional when used with Crypt Angel. The main drawback is Instant-speed creature kill, but that doesn't really add into card disadvantage with the Flashback factored in. Worth a slot or two?
 
C

Captain Caveman

Guest
Speaking of mana curve......

Don't you have to many 4+cc creature spells to be using 4
Specters? Isn't it difficult to cast a Specter turn 4? I'm assuming
everyone is using FtK and other removal to kill your zombie. Ya,
he laughes at Vindicate's, Charms and such so I'm mainly
talking about red removal.

Just wondering...,
Caveman
 
G

Gizmo

Guest
Dunno, Ive never built a Machine Head deck before. I seem to just play my fourth land and cast the Spectre - is it supposed to be difficult?
:confused:
 
G

Gizmo

Guest
The Mana Curve
4/12/5/8/7

Doesnt look too bad for me, at least now the Tahngarths are dropped down to 3cc Spitters.

U`d rather 3 Spectre, 3 Spitter?
 
C

Captain Caveman

Guest
Oops, I need to read the cards a little better.

For some reason I thought B.Specter had the same draw-back as
D.Specter. My bad.

Cavemen are kind of slow, you know!:)
 
C

CAMDEX

Guest
They told me this when i talked about using Plague Spitter... there aren't actually that many 1, or even 2-toughness creatures out there (beside b.specter and the like)... and if u do blow it up, u take out a few of your creatures too. A 3cc creature, huh... hmm... lemme see...

Lava Zombie
1BR, Creature — Zombie 4/3, Planeshift Common
When Lava Zombie comes into play, return a black or red creature you control to its owner’s hand.
2: Lava Zombie gets +1/+0 until end of turn.

The only drawback is the gating, but the only thing that you should have to gate that is only marginally important is the Shivan Sombie... I think this is best for 3 mana
 
D

DOOKIE

Guest
Hiya, I posted this machinehead deck on MTGnews a while ago and it works pretty well. Try it.

creatures- 20

4x Nightscape Familiar
3x FTK
4x Blazing Specter
3x Pyre Zombie
4x Shivan Zombie
2x Braids ( you can replace these with skizziks, but I don't really like skizziks, since they're just brute force...)

spells- 16

4x Rage
4x Terminate
2x Void
2x Ghitu Fire ( if you replace the braids' with skizziks, make these crypt angels)
4x Duress

land- 24

8x Mountain
9x Swamp
3x Sulfurous Springs
4x City of Brass (in here for the SB)

SB- 15

3x Thunderscape Battlemage (Opposition and other pesky enchantments)
3x Pernicous Deed (Tokens and weenies)
4x Addle (Control)
4x Price of Glory (Control)
1x FTK (Creature-heavy decks)
 
C

CAMDEX

Guest
See, the one thing I don't like about that deck is that it's more of a reactionary deck, a sort of "This resolves, I kill it." mentality. Beside Duress, you only have 2 Void, the FTKs, and Braids, which are all counterable. And I'm pretty sure that most control decks will run more than 4 counters, and if they run black, VINDICATE, Dark Banishing, Ghastly Demise, etc., are certainly problems to look out for. My "Cheap Machinehead" deck is light on creatures (only 14), but it has a lot of removal, including 10 discard spells. And while it is certainly valid to say that that isn't too great against flashback decks, what's worse, killing a 6/6 wurm token only to have the opponent say, "Guess what? i make another one", or you saying, "Awww, u only got one, huh? Kill it. :)"

Another thing is that using 4 CoB for the SB is not a bad idea, but a difficult thing to accomplish. Though your bigest weakness would be enchantment decks, you can make a case for consistency. And as always, what if you get the Thunderscape battlemage, but no CoB? You...are...screwed on enchantment removal. That's why having lots of cards that make people discard to begin with (Duress=bye-bye enchantment), IMHO, is a more viable road, then being more reactionary. But I'm more "proactive" anyway... :D :D :D

Pyroclasm can be a good replacment for the Deeds, as well.
 
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