This decklist is centered around building up toward an inevitable end and has multiple ways of getting there, which is something I always enjoy as it keeps things fresh from game to game. I chose BO3 as I find there are fewer gimmick decks where you're either building specifically against them or forced to race against, which this deck CAN do, but doesn't excel at. The deck could also benefit from more Planeswalker hate, especially against Ob Nixilis, but I'm not sure what I'd side out. The focus of this deck is to use your early game to attack the opponent's hand and generate some treasure tokens so we can cast some really big stuff earlier than scheduled. I started with a <50% winrate with this deck, but after a little tweaking and some experience, I've pulled it up to 67% so I know this deck can work, but feel free to comment your own experiences or any alterations you might make to improve it further.
GENERAL TIPS
Generally speaking, we want to keep hands with three lands and a one or two drop. Two land hands can work if we have Deadly Dispute and a one or two drop creature. Phyrexian Arena can also be a great card to have in the opening, but we should probably avoid playing multiples, especially in faster matchups where we need to conserve our life total. So I've gone with two in the deck and it also means fewer rares to craft!
Nightmare Shepherd and Gray Merchant of Asphodel combo together very well, as returning Gray Merchant with Shepherd's ability lets us trigger the effect and can often win the game. Using Phyrexian Tower or another sacrifice outlet is something to look out for.
Torment of Hailfire is a good lategame finisher and can end a Top Decking war. Keep in mind how many times the opponent can take the three damage versus how many cards they have in hand plus permanents in play and try to pump one more into X than that. This makes chip damage very useful throughout the game. Grey Merchants for two or four can quickly put your opponent into a position where it's an auto win. Though it can also be used to force opponents to discard a key spell and open up avenues for creatures to finish them or something like a second Torment, Merchant, or Invoke Dispair finishes them.
Don't be overly stingy with your Treasure Tokens. While they can be great for pumping a Torment over the finish line or making Liliana easier to cast, dropping Phyrexian Obliterator on turn two (Tower plus Ghast) or three can spiral the game out of control for your opponents and lets your follow up with a good three or four drop.
AGGRO MATCHUP
For our Game One, we're fairly weak against fast aggro decks with lots of flyers, but our sideboard has many answers to this problem with board wipes and some strong, targeted removal. I typically board out Thoughtseize as the cards we want to take are usually answered just as well if not better with removal while maintaining better tempo. Rankle can also come out as its effects aren't nearly as useful. If they don't use their GY, I often cut one Bojuka Bog because I have a tendency to flood out and we also have multiple ways of generating treasure tokens on top of Phyrexian Tower. Goblins and Elves are realllly tough if you don't manage to draw a board wipe though, so it's worth considering trading the Thought Seizes for some cheap removal in the Main and Sideboards. Obliterator comes in against aggro decks with red or green, as it's an insane blocker; typically eating a creature and forcing them to sacrifice to its effect.
CONTROL MATCHUP
Side in Duress for sure. I usually drop an Obliterator and Merchant as they're not great value against removal or aren't great when you're having trouble maintaining a strong board presence. Torment of Hailfire often finishes the game here. Look for situations where you can Duress or Thoughtseize to check for counter-spells or removal before dropping a big threat or finisher. Playing Tergrid, God of Fright as Tergrid's Lantern can be quite strong as artifacts are usually more difficult to deal with than creatures meaning you get a lot of chip damage off or are forcing them to sac/discard. Playing Nightmare Shepherd before some of your other threats is also a good idea to help keep them on the board versus a wrath effect.
Creature (22) | |||
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$8.59€8.140.14 | |||
$0.39€0.660.03 | |||
$6.37 | |||
$0.59€0.360.02 | |||
$0.75€0.770.03 | |||
$0.79€1.100.02 | |||
$1.73€1.580.03 | |||
$0.25€0.120.03 | |||
Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact (14) | |||
$1.35€1.730.30 | |||
$0.71 | |||
$4.99€3.290.02 | |||
Land (23) | |||
16
Swamp
|
$0.94€0.680.04 | ||
$17.37€17.82 | |||
$3.31€3.582.03 | |||
$9.40€6.460.02 | |||
$1.30€1.070.63 | |||
Planeswalker (2) | |||
$14.39€9.400.07 |
$8.59€8.140.14 | |||
$2.86€1.970.20 | |||
3
Duress
|
$0.39€0.490.04 | ||
$0.47 | |||
$2.02 | |||
$1.70 |
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