Turbo Land Denial

E

EricBess

Guest
Hello everyone. I wanted to share a deck concept that I have been kicking around and to point a few things out that most people may not have noticed.

Start with a list of cards (mana needed - see below - in parenthasis):
1. Hoodwink (2)
2. Boomerang (2)
3. Recoil (3)
4. Crosis's Charm (3)
5. Stand/Deliver (3)
6. Glowing Anemone (4)
7. Urborg Emissary (5)

All of the above cards can be used to return an opponent's land to their hand for the amount of mana given in parenthesis. Many of these cards have other uses. For example, Crosis's Charm can kill a creature and most of the cards can bounce non-land if needed.

Now, here's where I was hoping to get some brainstorming going. I want to know if anyone has any ideas on what other types of cards would work good with this deck idea. I have a few already:
Howling Mine
Turf Wound
Overburden
Collective Restraint

I've never had mana problems. The deck is predominantly U/b with same red. My current kill method is Dark Suspisions. Any thoughts or ideas are welcome. Thanks.
 
C

Chaos Turtle

Guest
You've probably thought of this, but...

How about the "pirates?" Cutpurse, Footpad, etc. If you are denying them mana, may as well make them sacrifice permanents, too, no?
 
E

EricBess

Guest
I originally had Cutpurses in the deck, but what I found is that often the only permanent an opponent would have in play was a single, untapped land. I should probably test out the Footpads and see how they work. Unfortuntatly, to make them effective enough, I will also need to find some way to recur them without adding too many cards to the deck.

I don't think I really need all 32 land denial cards (counting Turf Wound here), I just need to figure out the best number to play and in what proportions. Four main deck Overburdens should help I think.

Personally, I think the Emmisary is too expensive. I like the 3 toughness of the Anemone better anyway.

Any other ideas?
 
D

Duel

Guest
Equilibrium/pirates is better, since Equilibrium will be in 7th.

Possibly rhystic spells, like the study, tutor, or scrying?
 
E

EricBess

Guest
Cavern Harpy has promise. I need to find a balance of cards, though.

Equilibirum/Pirates? Bounce my own Pirates as I cast them (alternating 2 pirates, that is)? Interesting...

I've tried Rystic Study. Not bad. Problem is, if I have a Howling Mine (or two) in play, I'm already drawing enough cards. If not and I'm having problems getting the right cards, all my opponent has to do is wait an extra turn.

Having to Rystic Tutor for a bounce card would be kind of weak. I have considered Tutors to get the Howling Mines, but I think I prefer Vampiric. Again, it comes down to balance. If the Overburdens help the deck enough, I can run fewer bounce cards and it will also give me another card worth tutoring for. This is definitely something to think about.

I really like the idea of Rystic Scrying. I will definitely try that. Possibly even Worldly Tutor, but I don't want to overdo the card drawing, either.

Thanks for all the help. Keep the ideas coming.

BTW, if anyone is interested in trying this deck, here are a few basics about how I play it:
Kill card - Dark Suspicions. Howling Mines are pretty important. With about 1/2 of the library bounce, you will statistically run out around turn 13-14, assuming no land problems, etc. Realistically, if you get started, you can keep going for a while. Don't be tempted to bounce creatures early. That's a sure way to get overwelmed. Keep after their land and take a bit of damage. Obviously, Birds and Elves are the enemy. Sideboard 4 Cursed Totems is a must.
Mana - Don't laugh. Forsaken City is amazing here. Not only does it give you any color mana, but you can get extra lands from your hand late game. With Dark Suspicions as a kill card, that is a huge plus. Also, Crosis's Catecombs. Don't forget that you can always bounce the Forsaken City.

Also, I am interested in any ideas for alternate kill cards. I have considered Millstone and may sideboard it. Supposedly, Megrim is coming back in 7th edition as well. :) Anyone think of another kill strategy with this type of deck? Thanks.
 
G

Gizmo

Guest
Pirates and Parallax Wave is good. Wave out your Pirates to reactivate 187 abilities. Interestingly Glowing Anenomae is very annoying in this version as it guarantess that they will be returning land back from the Wave.

Maybe find space for a couple of Harpies - they would allow you to hardlock them with Anenomaes midlate game.
 
E

EricBess

Guest
I just came up with an alternate kill method and I wanted to get some oppinions. How about Gruel, Mindraker? Once I get sufficiently more mana than my opponent, it shouldn't be a big deal to get all the cards out of their hand.
 
G

Griffith_se

Guest
Of coarse, You probably already thought of this, but Your original post looks like the beginnings of a Warped Devotion Deck.
I don't know, maybe someone already mentioned it, but I didn't see it.
 
E

EricBess

Guest
Warped Devotion seems to fit, but the idea of the deck is resource denial. That being the case, Warped Devotion is probably just a dead card. I'll explain. If I get a decent start with this deck, I am bouncing a land back to their hand nearly every turn. A decent opening draw with a fairly early Howling Mine and my opponent will never get beyond 3 land in play. A really good draw will keep them to 1. That being the case, they almost always have to discard 2 or more cards during their end step anyway. Adding Warped Devotion would not change the fact that they have to discard, it would only make them do it sooner.

I may consider Warped Devotion in the sideboard against decks that are fast enough that I can't get them under control. The problem is that it usually depends more upon my opening draw than the deck I am playing against. I do have plans to create a similar deck based around Warped Devotion, but it be more hand-destruction based than resource denial.

I wanted to report on Greel, Mindraker. I tried it over the weekend. The idea behind Greel is that I deny the resources until I can get Greel into play and then I make them discard their entire hand at the same time so Greel is free to attack for a couple turns until I want to smash their hand again. Bottom line is that it worked, but the kill was way too slow. There were times I was in danger of decking myself and had to take chances to finish my opponent off before I did.

I think at this point, I will leave Greel in the sideboard. He is a good alternate kill option against control decks. The problem with control decks is that the Howling Mines give them as many counterspells as they give me bounce. If I can get either kill card into play, I have a good chance against them.

The Overburdens were incredible against creature decks. For some reason, there were a couple of non-creature decks over the weekend, so I didn't end up with enough bounce against those decks. I may have to go back to 2 Overburden in the maindeck and 2 more in the sideboard.
 
E

EricBess

Guest
By the way, I have appreciated all the help and ideas I have gotten on this. If anyone actually tries the deck (or a similary one), I would be interested to hear your experiences.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top