So I refocused down to trying to generate an
Archtype, a unique control angle for
to take that's not "Monsters". I still like the RUG deck, but wanted to build a core that actually stands on it's own before I get back to thinking about cooler things. I do love all the discussion around Gifts though, I think it's a card that takes a little bit of love, but pays it back double. Anyway, the focus of the archetype remained the same:
Recursive value engines that aim to give you the superior mid-late game edge via repeatability of usage. The important thing I wanted to aim at while lost in thought was holistic ways to utilize specifically Life from the Loam, and the unique brand of advantage it gives. Dom uttering my favorite word "efficiency" and showcasing some neato cards was all it took to slap some (more) sense into me. So what I wanted from my
control deck, in no particular order (maybe):
Early game value generation and stalling:
The aim is simple. Spend the early turns tossing down efficient, effective, valuable roadblocks. The midgame is where the deck will start to come into it's own, I think
Efficient beaters. I know, that sounds weird... "Aren't you just building GR Monsters?". Well, kinda. But Big bodies play an important second role in a slower deck: completely draining the will/ability of an attacks. Polukranos is particularly nasty as an also-removal-spell. In my testing, one of the most valuable creatures to smack down was Deadbridge Goliath because it was more difficult than normal to remove, and offered a real threat, which bought time. All for buying time. And heck, you can win this way too, but that's far from the olny way to win.
The important thing about these inclusions, in my mind, was that they are already supported/run. The archetype is more of a natural extension/departure from what the colors are doing.
Here the posts from above really started resonating. What archetype do people already try/run, is something that people would know to look for? Obvious answer is obvious:
Honorable mention goes to
Languish, which conveniently fits that "4 damage" threshhold. The plain jane way to
Wildfire is with mana rocks, and that's possible too.
Life from the Loam starts showing it's face here, as a departure from that time-honored method. Turns out symmetrical land destruction + a way to recur
your lands is as attractive as it sounds. That was an important nugget of info for me, because intuitive drafting and/or a way to attract people into the deck was something I completely neglected at first.
An abundance of
efficient ways to use my lands for other things. Dom got that part nailed right down:
In this way, the deck is achieving goals it already wants to be achieving (removal, bodies and blockers, effcient finishers, draw) through the selective use of the resources granted by Loam and other tools in the deck. I think the addition to the fold of things like
yavimaya elder,
Nissa, and
courser of kruphix is very important because it gives secondary routes for your hand to have more lands than normal in it, which in turn get turned into sweet sweet power.
Recursion. Lots of recursion. This part hasn't changed. I think an environment with a lot of recursion is a good one already, but I also think it really enables this line of thinking:
In my head I've started referring to this conglomerate of ideas as "recursion control". There's just so much power in these sorts of effects, and their effectiveness is maximized by the heavy usage of discard effects, dredging, and early game chump blocking and trading. Running out Nissa for the chump, and then recurring her right before your seventh land drop seems like solid game.
Seasons Past seems like a key, key piece of this particular puzzle. It's a really strong hook into a G control deck, an important sign/line. Testing will see if it ends up being too strong, but I'm airing on the side of "it's fine" at the moment. And Grillo begging must mean
something.
I think the whole red draw package should exist for this, as does everyone else. Green spells can help too:
Round it all out with some good ol' fashioned burn:
Special Bonus 1-card Engine i thought of while writing this:
The game plan becomes a grindy one worthy of the best Esper mirror match:
1)survive the early game, while generating as much incremental value as possible. This is the value that will eventually give you the edge.
2) stick and maintain valuable blockers/attackers.
3) start cashing your early-game value in on high-impact spells. Wildfire with 2 lands left in hand. Lightning Axe with no reservations. Devastating Dreams for 3, leaving your Courser alive. You name it.
4) utilize the recursion packed into the deck to really start outpacing your opponent. Keeping up with 1 recurred spell is hard enough, but 2, 3, 4? Life from the Loam shines in this role, returning the extra lands you've cashed in and giving you the opening to walk into late game.
5) keep your advantage with your value engines and recursion to close out the game with a beater, or Vortexes to the face.
What do y'all think? I really think we are on to something here, I'm just trying to nail down how to polish it and slot it into an environment as a whole. I think once that can be done effectively, the "
cool and
techy" plans can happen when the cards want it to. But on the back of solid format planning. Really glad to have so much input, it's been instrumental in grinding down something. I realize that wildfire guides exist from here to the moon, but I really want to open up a real discussion on a non-U control archetype that utilizes the same sort of resource ideas from a fresh angle. Tear it apart and toss words! Y'all the best
.
