Welcome back to Untap Target Player!
If you are here for the Tibbles and Bits list from the
KlotzProductions video,
click here!
I am a big fan of Magic variants; team or one on one, I like
unusual rules and deck construction.
They give life to otherwise obscure or unplayable cards. I love knocking dust off old binder cards and
sleeving them up for an unusual format.
Pauper, Block Constructed, Planechase, Cube…tons of fun formats to test
your deckbuilding skills. One of the
most popular variants, EDH, has been officially endorsed by Wizards of the
Coast as “Commander.” For me, though,
EDH was already one of my favorite formats before it ever became official. “Yeah, that’s right,” said Hipster Matt. “I liked EDH before it was cool.” Then I
sipped on some PBR and smoked a
hand-rolled cigarette while listening to an unreleased vinyl LP of James Taylor
on my vintage RCA.
 |
| "Your Delver deck is sooo mainstream." |
My interest in EDH began about half of my Magic career ago
at PTQ San Diego. It was Zendikar Sealed
and I got there pretty early, so I sailed amongst the sea of Magic competitors. The event was pretty big, a few hundred or
so, and I sat down by a group of folks with their trade binders open and tall
stacks of sleeved cards beside them. I
sat down and asked to trade, and they kindly capitulated. They were talking about EDH; I inquired about
their offbeat discussion, and they explained the format to me. They gave me a crash course, too, allowing me
to borrow one of their deck, a Bant colored squad with Rafiq of the Many at the
helm, if I recall. I played through and,
although I didn’t do terribly well (the Rafiq deck was full of complex and
sweet interactions and synergies), I knew I wanted to get started. The first general that came to mind was
Teneb, the Harvester, as he was multi-colored, a Dragon, and effective at
delivering 21 points of general damage (central to the game, as I thought at
the time.) It was settled; until they
called for seating, I flipped through my binders and boxes and began forming
the deck.
I completed it a couple weeks later and it was, how you say,
super sweet. Other generals came to
mind, and I’ve since built and tested several generals and color combinations,
including Doran, the Siege Tower (using the shell from my Teneb deck), Lyzolda,
the Blood Witch, Tolsimir Wolfblood, Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir and, my current
MTGO EDH deck, Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs.
My most recent decks have revolved around Standard-legal generals,
though not intentionally. Olivia
Voldaren was my “generalissima” for a while, and my Geist of Saint Traft tribal
Spirit deck still finds its way into the occasional match. However, my most recent EDH deck is probably
the most fun one I’ve ever made. My
general is…
 |
| A sir. |
Yeah, I’m about 98% sure that Gisela, Blade of Goldnight is
a better General, but this guy. THIS
GUY.
With this Mirran general in the driver’s seat, I’ve stocked
the deck to the brim with aggressive and powerful artifacts. The deck performs consistently well in
one-on-one and in multiplayer games of EDH, and it’s got plenty of tools,
blow-out plays and unique interactions to create a fun and dynamic deck. Here’s the list.
General
Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer
Creatures (32)
Bosh, Iron Golem
Mycosynth Golem
Porcelain Legionnaire
Scuttlemutt
Solemn Simulacrum
Kuldotha Forgemaster
Iron Myr
Gold Myr
Palladium Myr
Allow Myr
Myr Galvanizer
Platinum Angel
Stuffy Doll
Myr Enforcer
Shimmer Myr
Moltensteel Dragon
Pilgrim’s Eye
Goblin Replica
Slobad, Goblin Tinkerer
Cathodion
Master Splicer
Steel Overseer
Atog
Lodestone Golem
Pentavus
Jhoira’s Toolbox
Lodestone Myr
Slash Panther
Sanctum Gargoyle
Ethersworn Canonist
Manor Gargoyle
Perilous Myr
Spells (33)
Sensei’s Divining Top
Whispersilk Cloak
Umezawa’s Jitte
Phryexian Rebirth
Second Sunrise
Blasphemous Act
Thunder Totem
Forisiyan Totem
Soulscour
Scourglass
Dispeller’s Capsule
Orim’s Thunder
Candles of Leng
Darksteel Forge
Origin Spellbomb
Open the Vaults
Myr Matrix
Ur-Golem’s Eye
Expedition Map
Dispatch
Dawn Charm
Tempered Steel
Sunforger
Glint Hawk Idol
Norn’s Annex
Fury Charm
Disenchant
Ajani Vengeant
Boros Fury-Shield
Dispense Justice
Manalith
Pyrite Spellbomb
Boros Signet
Lands (34)
Vivid Crag
Vivid Meadow
Urza’s Tower
Urza’s Power Plant
Urza’s Mine
Urza’s Factory
Dread Statuary
Buried Ruin
Phryexia’s Core
Darksteel Citadel
Ancient Den
Great Furnace
Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion
Slayer’s Stronghold
Arid Mesa
Clifftop Retreat
Terramorphic Expanse
Evolving Wilds
Strip Mine
Tectonic Edge
Windbrisk Heights
New Benalia
Stalking Stones
Spirerock Knoll
Shimmering Grotto
5 Mountains
4 Plains
Is it the best deck?
No, probably not. I, however, am
loving playing it! It does really well
in a lot of situations and rarely comes up with a sour (or at least
uninteresting) draw. Most of the time, I
just cast Jor Kadeen as an Overrun, but even alone with metalcraft, he’s an 8/4
first striker, which is enough to stop about anything except a huge
Omnath. Nevertheless, this is the most
fun one I’ve made. It’s aggro in a
non-aggro format and it does it very efficiently and reliably.
As I was playing this the other day after a Standard tourney
match, I drew and cast a Tempered Steel and politely smashed my opponent’s
face. I started thinking about the
dominance that Tempered Steel enjoyed about 18 months ago. Memnites, Glint Hawk Idols and Vault Skirges
ruled the format. It was the aggro deck for a long time, and
people recognized it after turn one, usually because they’d played about three
cards by then. When Innistrad came out,
everyone went nuts over Delver, and this deck dwindled back into obscurity.
As the five suns set on Scars of Mirrodin in just seven
weeks, I’d like to give this once format-defining archetype a little makeover,
M13 style! Much of the core remains the
same, but I want to make sure this is relevant in the current metagame while
maintaining the flavor, tempo and aggression that the colors of Boros
offer. As I convert this top-heavy EDH deck
into a Standard deck, here’s where I landed.
Tempered Skill
Creatures (21)
4 Vault Skirge
4 Porcelain Legionnaire
3 Vulshok Replica
3 Glint Hawk Idol
3 Immolating Souleater
2 Pierce Strider
2 Moltensteel Dragon
Spells (18)
4 Galvanic Blast
3 Tempered Steel
3 Whipflare
2 Mox Opal/Sphere of the Suns
2 Ajani, Caller of the Pride
2 Dispatch
2 Trading Post
Lands (21)
6 Mountain
7 Plains
4 Clifftop Retreat
2 Buried Ruin
1 Phryexia’s Core
1 Slayer’s Stronghold
Sideboard (15)
3 Faith’s Shield
3 Bonfire of the Damned
3 Oblivion Ring
2 Witchbane Orb
2 Tormod’s Crypt
2 Elixir of Immortality
Deck Tech – Creatures
Vault Skirge
 |
| A one mana flyer in any color? Imp-possible! |
The Skirge is an awesome creature, and he’s a perfect fit
for this deck. Highly reminiscent of everyone’s
favorite Mourning Thrull from Guildpact and better in most every regard, this
guy is the deck’s premier one-drop. A
staple in Standard artifact aggro, this guy can help you gain an edge in a race
while also providing evasion and a beneficially pumping body to get in the red
zone. His exceptionally low cost is a
major benefit in a deck that benefits from Metalcraft synergies. Once the Steel is in play, he becomes a real
haymaker.
Porcelain Legionnaire
 |
| Kicking grout and fighting lime! |
The Sink Soldier is also a very high value creature. A 3/1 first-striker is more formidable in
combat than just about anything else in the format at that CMC; it can safely block both halves of a Thragtusk! Having one toughness is a fairly serious
liability; a tiny Bonfire can kill him without help, but against non-damage
related kill (Oblivion Ring, black kill spells), it won’t end up mattering. If he sticks, you can be sure he’ll do a lot
of work. He’s a great topdeck, clogging
up the ground with his big metallic face or providing a reasonable clock on an
empty board.
Vulshok Replica
 |
| Shoking. |
A new face to the archetype, the Replica, on one hand, is
Legionnaires 5-7, but on another, it’s a good non-combat way to bust in. While a reasonable attacker, his ability to
toss himself directly at the opponent at instant speed is not irrelevant. He’s a Lava Spike on a stick, and in a deck
that’s looking to go from 20-0 in a hurry, he can provide a little bit of
reach. Three seems like the right number
of copies here, too. My rule of thumb is
that “you only want a playset if you don’t mind two in your opener,” and this
is one of those that you want to draw around turn 5.
Glint Hawk Idol
 |
| If you don't have an artifact in hand, this guy is pretty hawkward. |
This amazing artifact is another workhorse of Tempered
Steel. It has the fortunate creature-on-demand
attribute to dodge sorcery-based creature removal, board wipes and other
disadvantages of always being a creature.
The Idol is cheap, efficient, versatile AND
an artifact, giving it a highlighted spot in this list.
Immolating Souleater
 |
| Intense name for a dog that dies to Sanctuary Cat. |
By the time this card came out, Tempered Steel was already
fading out of Standard’s top tables. What
would otherwise have been an excellent win condition instead showed its canine
head in the occasional rogue deck here and there and as a cheap combo enabler
for offbeat kitchen table decks.
Alongside Tempered Steel and the mana to actually pay his ability, I’m excited to give him a shot here. Let’s eat some souls!
Pierce Strider
 |
| slurp slurp slurp... |
An aggressive and reasonable body that passes the Vapor Snag
test, this Bump in the Night on legs is right on curve for this deck. A reasonable body, he can stop Huntmasters
and piddly burn (Pillars of Flame or anemic Bonfires.) I do need some value creatures in this deck,
as I lack a real draw engine. This guy
is a welcome addition. He does just fine
here, though I’m not as attached to him as much as some of the other cards in
here.
Moltensteel Dragon
 |
| Finally, a ferocious ferrous finisher! |
Immolating Souleater 2.0 with wings. This huge dragon is aggressively costed (a
4/4 flyer for 4) and difficult to burn out.
Also, he’s a great finisher, and how many “finishers” are at four
mana? Basically a Shivan Dragon once
he’s in, he can snatch those last few points overhead with Phyrbreathing. I’m excited to actually play him in
Constructed!
Spells
Galvanic Blast
 |
| Arc you sure it's good? |
Another staple of red artifact decks is the mighty Galvanic
Blast. Better than Lightning Bolt in
most situations, this amazingly efficient spell kills over 80% of the creatures
in Standard when online (I looked) and never gets worse than Shock. Costing just one mana puts this thing firmly
as a four-of in this deck.
Tempered Steel
 |
| Don't make it mad, this enchantment's got quite a.... |
This is the core of the deck. Although the deck can function without it, it
would rather not, and on a clogged board, this is my alpha strike. This provides an immeasurably important boost
to an otherwise shrimpy bunch of critters.
You always feel good to draw it, but you don’t normally need more than
one, so three feels right on the money here.
Whipflare
 |
| Wah...PSHHH!!! |
The sweeper of choice for this deck; all of my creatures
dodge its effect, it’s cheap and low on color weight, and it can clear the way
for my assault while generating card advantage.
An easy board-out in a low creature deck, this just wrecks U/W Delver, mana-dorks
and tokens. Even casting it on one
creature is acceptable, so don’t be afraid to just Shock something with it!
Mox Opal
 |
| Isn't it ironic that the most expensive cards to buy are the cheapest to cast? |
This beautiful gem is an odd inclusion in this deck. As a legendary artifact, a second one in hand
will often be dead, but if he’s up, he can provide fixing, metalcraft and ramp
second to none in a deck like this. It’s
a risky inclusion, but it seems too synergetic to not include it.
Ajani, Caller of the Pride
 |
| The streamlined feline! |
This cool cat provides an exceptional boost to this
aggressive deck. His first ability makes
any of my fairly tinny artifact men a much better fighter. Non-spell +1/+1 counters
forever are pretty nice, I hear.
 |
| That's what I hear. |
His -3 ability synergizes perfectly with Immolating
Souleater and Moltensteel Dragon, providing an instant win condition if you
have comparable life totals. His
ultimate, while cute, will probably often be irrelevant with me living at a low
life total. I know Ajani’s been floating
around, but I hadn’t seen him do a lot since his reprisal, but this seems like
a strong place to start.
Dispatch
 |
| Dispatch is givin' me a rash, mon. |
A cut-and-dry removal spell that, even without Metalcraft,
can provide the essential bit of temporary removal I need for a more powerful
strike. Directly exiling a creature for
W is fantastic, but I’m OK to cast this even when that’s not the case; the
games with this deck should be tight enough that they provide essentially the
same result for that crucial turn.
Trading Post
 |
| If you ever find a cooler artifact, keep me Posted. |
Although people could fill whole shoeboxes with combo decks
regarding this strangely artificial market, it provides a ton of depth for this
deck and allows me to turn anything in my hand into a little life and anything
on the table into a card at instant speed.
Casting this with a mana open makes me feel good, to say the least.
It synergizes really well with the artifact
theme.
Also, I can’t wait to make a
Goat, pump it with Ajani and swing for the win.
MVP Goat!
 |
| The LeBron James of this deck. |
Mana Base
For an artifact deck, this deck is fairly color hungry, so
the colorless lands are limited; each of those provides utility and flexibility.
Buried Ruin is sheer quality in the late
game, recovering any artifact from the yard for the desired effect.
Sideboard
The sideboard is fairly metagame specific, stressing
defensive cards like Faith’s Shield, Oblivion Ring (a nice blanket answer for
nearly any permanent), Witchbane Orb against Burn, Bonfire of the Damned and
Mill, and the Elixirs and Crypts lend well to Metalcraft while giving me
protection against graveyards and races.
Bonfires of the Damned are just kind of in there to be in there. Although that $40 bullet is good in most
decks that can cast it, this may be one of the worst ones for it; low mana and
trickiness with color makes Bonfire an awkward blank on occasion. It’s possible I play some other form of burn
or finisher here, but for now, auto-Bonfire probably fits the bill fine. As with most of my sideboards, if one
particular deck dominates your local shop, sideboard accordingly.
This deck has done very well against aggro and control in playtesting, outracing
each while maintaining firm control on both life totals and board states. The sideboard should give this deck some much
needed flexibility against a wide variety of FNM-style
decks. Is this thing going to get to a
top table at an SCG Open or a
Grand Prix? Probably not, but here’s to
hoping.
I have three decks on the burner right now, and I’m excited
to play them out to see which I like most; Paint it Black (
see last week), Tempered
Skill, and a revision of Tibbles and Bits, Tibalt the Firebrand.
Tibalt, the Firebrand: Deck and Testing
Tibalt, the Firebrand was kind of a knee-jerk build after
disassembling an interesting control deck with Nicol Bolas in the captain’s
seat. What started as a mono-red brew
found itself splashing a pinch of black for improved effectiveness. At Friday Night Magic on the 10th,
I took this list in to give it a shot.
Truly, I was not as confident in this build as Tibbles and Bits, but I
wanted to try it, nonetheless.
Here’s the list I played.
Creatures (8)
3 Vexing Devil
3 Chandra’s Phoenix
2 Falkenrath Aristocrat
Spells (30)
3 Bonfire of the Damned
3 Chandra, the Firebrand
2 Devil’s Play
3 Arc Trail
3 Brimstone Volley
4 Krenko’s Command
2 Bump in the Night
3 Incinerate
2 Tibalt, the Fiend Blooded
3 Tezzeret’s Gambit
2 Sphere of the Suns
Lands (22)
10 Mountain
4 Dragonskull Summit
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
2 Hellion Crucible
2 Swamp
Sideboard (15)
3 Combust
3 Nihil Spellbomb
3 Demolish
2 Runechanter’s Pike
2 Slagstorm
2 Sever the Bloodline
The goal of this deck was to capitalize on Chandra’s ability
to copy powerful instants and sorceries as well as to compliment internal
synergies. A sacrificed Vexing Devil
plus Brimstone Volley = nine damage,
after all, fourteen if you doubled
Brimstone Volley with Chandra. Tibalt
seemed fine here, providing some card selection while being on curve. Hasty dudes could provide effective “burn”
while the sideboard could help provide flexibility and reach, namely in the two
Pikes, the Bloodlines and Demolish. I
liked Demolish here over Smelt because, although not as efficient, it was more
flexible, helping me deal with problem lands like Cavern of Souls, Inkmoth
Nexus or Kessig Wolf Run. Also, a Turn 3
into a turn 4 minusing of Chandra killing TWO lands? Seemed awesome, and it could win me the game
on the spot.
Let’s see how it did!
Round 1 – Patrick (Mono White Blinking Humans)
Patrick was a player I had never seen around the shop, and
I’ve learned that new players often offer a tougher challenge than more
familiar opponents. He shuffled up a
stack of worn-sleeved cards while I drew a fresh seven. While staring at my loose keep, he created
some small white creatures in the form of Cathedral Sanctifier and Grand
Abolisher. I made Tibalt, who ticked up
and pitched well, staying just out of range of a lethal attack from Patrick’s
squadron of dudes. An Arc Trail helped
me stabilize and I was able to get enough punch from Tibalt’s -4 that I cleaned
him out while he was stuck on two lands.
In game 2, I kept a much better hand on 6, and I was able to maintain
board advantage while he flooded out, never making much more than a pair of
Attended Knights.
1-0
Round 2 – Korey (BUG Pod)
Korey, my opponent for the recorded Tibbles and Bits match,
was playing a BUG Pod deck, a color combo of the archetype I hadn’t seen
before. It sported Disciples of Bolas, Geralf’s Messengers, Phantasmal Images
and Thragtusks. In game one, he kept a
strong hand, making roughly a billion Messengers while calmly swatting away my
blockers, clearing a path for his Geralf-dozers. I sided in my Zombie hate, which turned out to
be essential in this match. Severing his
Messenger felt great, and Nihil Spellbombs kept his undying triggers
honest. As game 2 became a draw-go
match, I ripped a Phoenix
and suited it up with two lonely Pikes, giving him a formidable +2/+0. Chipping away at him for four, he sat at 9
and passed the turn back. I drew an
Incinerate and thought for a moment. I burned
him first, making his life total 6, then I bashed with a now 6/2 Phoenix for exactly
lethal. Game three was also a close
one. I drew a lot and even paid blue to
cast one of my Tezzeret’s Gambit; I drew all three that game. For some reason, I cast one paying two life
(when I didn’t have to), and, although I established a good position with
Falkenrath and some Goblins, he found a Thragtusk with his Pod. I killed his Thragtusk and hit him down to 4
with my team, thinking I surely had this one in the bag. I, too, was at 4, but he didn’t have lethal
on the board. He cast two Blood Artists,
sacked one (netting 0 life, but shrinking my total by 2), and found a
Messenger, getting me to 0.
1-1
I wasn’t feeling very well, so I packed it up for the night. The deck, with its attempted interactions
with Chandra’s -2 ability, worked fine, but the original incarnation of Tibbles
and Bits was much more consistent and higher on pressure. The opponent was forced to stay on the
backpedal with Diregraf Ghoul plugging away early and often, and the removal in
Tibbles and Bits served a clearing purpose to help push my guys through, not
just direct damage. This deck was fun, though, and if you’re looking
for a bit of a twist on mono-red burn with easy-to-get planeswalkers, you might
want to give it a shot.
Reader Request
Finally, I was lucky enough to get a request for a unique
deck for Standard revolving around a card that, as I see it, is most often
relegated to the sideboard. Thanks to Renwick
Bromiley!
 |
| “Oooh…shiny…” – Ekrik, goblin scout, last
words |
Creatures entering the battlefield do not cause abilities to
trigger.
That is a unique line of text
from the entire library of Magic.
OK, so
it shuts off “when this creature enters the battlefield” triggered abilities like
Snapcaster Mage and “when another creature enters the battlefield” abilities,
like Soul Warden’s trademark.
Interesting.
I love good deck challenges though, and Renwick already gave
me a great start. The first part of
building the Torpor Orb deck is finding creatures that we don’t WANT their
built-in triggers to occur.
As I pored over the menagerie of creatures we could use in
Standard, I noticed a distinct shift from recent years to nearly all positive
“ETB” abilities. Magic’s history is full
of creatures that give you power and efficiency in exchange for something
negative when entering play.
In Standard, that list of creatures is pretty small. Remwick gave me the idea for nearly all the
creatures in this list, but the deck needed some fleshing out to conjure the
other 45-odd cards we’d need. He gave
me…
Frankly, after doing some digging, I discovered this is
about all of the creatures with negative ETB abilities in
all of Standard. They were
in complementary colors, though, and, as an obvious favorite color combo for
me, Rakdos it is!
Ok, so with Torpor Orb out, Treacherous Pit-Dweller and
Vexing Devils are extremely efficient 4/3s that, when the Demon dies, just
comes back as a 5/4 – the ETB trigger will never occur, but the undying
trigger, which occurs as the creature dies, does
occur, giving you the benefits of the good trigger without dissuading you with
the bad trigger. Demonlord of Ashmouth is
even better, being a 5/4 flying trampler (that eats Restoration Angels and
Delvers as a snack} that “undies” into a 6/5 flying trampler. Big beats for sure!
As I assume this deck is on a bit of a budget, I’ll try to
include cards that are fairly inexpensive to obtain (nothing over $5 a piece). As we’ll be pulling from the whole canon of
Standard, you might just have some of it already!
Creatures (17)
3 Hex Parasite
4 Vexing Devil
4 Treacherous Pit-Dweller
3 Demonlord of Ashmouth
3 Necrogen Scudder
Spells (20)
4 Torpor Orb
3 Pillar of Flame
3 Incinerate
3 Vile Rebirth
2 Trading Post
2 Sundial of the Infinite
3 Whipflare
Lands (23)
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Dragonskull Summit
9 Swamp
4 Mountain
2 Buried Ruin
Sideboard (15)
2 Barter in Blood
3 Manic Vandal
3 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Sever the Bloodline
2 Killing Wave
2 Blood Artist
1 Falkenrath Aristocrat
In short, the goal of this deck is to stick a Torpor Orb on
turn two and spend the rest of the game dropping ridiculously undercosted
creatures while your opponent plays Snapcaster Mages as Ambush Vipers, their
Acidic Slimes as five-mana Grizzly Bears, and their Geralf’s Messengers as a
BBB Battered Golem (roughly). There are
tons of decks that obtain value mostly through powerful ETB abilities that
create two-for-ones. This one shuts done
a ton of them.
Deck Tech – Creatures
Hex Parasite
With eight copies of undying creatures in this deck, the Hex
Parasite can keep each fresh and protected from removal while your Orb is
out. If it’s not, it can consume
planeswalkers and +1/+1 counters of another creature. Unmolested, it can eat a ‘walker and straight
kill something in combat. Also, and I
think this one is funny, you can kill a Phantasmal Image for 2 life at instant
speed.
Vexing Devil, Treacherous Pit-Dweller, Demonlord of Ashmouth
These are the pilots of the deck, but they need the fuselage
of Torpor Orb to fly. Vexing Devil is
fine without the Orb, dealing four for R, while the other two are slightly more
reliant on it. While the Pit-Dweller is
a juicy target for removal while it’s out, the Orb destroys that
incentive. The Demonlord is a little
sturdier, but not by a lot. He is tough
to burn out, but he still dies to Dismember on both sides. Still, the prospect of Orbing with him in
hand is pretty promising, and removal light decks will have a lot of trouble
with a huge flyer on turn four.
Necrogen Scudder
This Horror is probably the least dependent on the Orb, but
as such, it has the lowest power level.
A 3/3 flyer for 2B that costs three life is a bit steep, but he’s fairly
efficient and he becomes even more so with the Orb out. Also, he’s pretty easy on the wallet as the
only uncommon creature in this deck. Turn
three Scudder after turn two Orb is just fine.
He is more here to continue to be “on-theme” than an effective
combatant; goodness knows you guys can probably think of something much
better.
Spells
Torpor Orb
The crown jewel of our strategy, it is an awkward, but
necessary, playset in this deck. They
are dead if you draw more than one (assuming one is on the battlefield and
safe.) I still insist on four for two
main reasons. First, we have to draw it to win games in those
tough, nail-biting matches. At four copies
in a deck of sixty, you have slightly less than 50% of a chance to draw one in
your opener. If your opener doesn’t have
an Orb but is otherwise OK on curve, lands and spells, you should still
consider throwing it back, as Orb is what makes this baby purr. Secondly, especially post-board, Naturalizes,
Ancient Grudges and Smelts will be floating around in your opponent’s
hand. You need to have a spare Orb in
hand as often as possible when you perceive your opponent has artifact
destruction available.
Removal Suite (Pillar of Flame, Incinerate, Whipflare)
Red removal galore!
The first two are fairly cookie-cutter, and I play ‘em in just about
every red deck I build for Standard.
Pillar is a great answer to a Bird, a Strangleroot Geist, a Geralf’s
Messenger or any other “value creature” your opponent might play. Incinerate is a great instant that is
flexible enough to both thwart a Rancor placement and kill your opponent in a
close, grindy match for just two mana.
Whipflare is an odd maindeck choice, but with the lack of artifact
creatures that are frequently played in the format, you can consider this a
Pyroclasm. Also, if you’ll notice, it
doesn’t kill any of our creatures! The
most vulnerable, Hex Parasite, is thankfully protected with its suddenly
relevant supertype.
Vile Rebirth
Still one of my favorite cards from M13, this was the last
inclusion to the deck. It was originally
Altar’s Reap. Both serve a similar purpose, and I knew we’d needed a solution
to a possible situation we could encounter.
Here’s why we need either effect. If something happens to our Treacherous
Pit-Dweller, our most efficient beater, we need to have an answer to the
Demon’s treacherous ETB trigger if there isn’t an Orb out. While the undying trigger is on the stack,
cast Vile Rebirth on your briefly binned Dweller, exile him, and end up with a
2/2, all for one B. Alternatively, if
you do have an Orb out, Rebirth can just function as a bit of graveyard control
or as an instant speed combat trick. I
know, I still love this card way too much.
Altar’s Reap was cool, as it still let you salvage a botched Pit-Dweller
situation, but for twice the mana and without much everyday use besides
reacting to removal. This didn’t sit
well, so I threw it out in favor of this bargain.
Trading Post
This beauty, featured in the Tempered Steel deck today, also
fits nicely here. It gives your deck
reach and strength in a variety of situations.
Perform the same sacrifice trick described above to keep a Pit-Dweller
from changing sides, gain life lost by the Scudder’s trigger or by some scrapes
and bruises from combat, recover a Smelted Orb from the graveyard or sacrifice/discard
one of your extras. Finally, and perhaps
most flavorfully, you can create a Goat
to sacrifice to the Demonlord. How
‘bout THAT?
Still, this seems like a great choice; sideboard it out in a
super-aggro match up if you just need more removal, but I don’t think you’ll be
disappointed.
Sundial of the Infinite
 |
| That's right, you MAIN PHASE that Think Twice! |
This tricky little artifact will be a planning and skill
tester.
I have included it to act like
Torpor Orb’s #5 and #6, but it actually serves a broader purpose.
It can protect your creatures from removal
(if it’s your turn), erase SNAFU-ed combat, or disrupt anything else your opponent
wants to do on your turn.
Make sure you
read this card carefully before using it, as it can end up hurting you as often
as it helps.
Without a Stifle effect in
Standard, this is where we have to go next.
Time Stop this is
not, but it
fits the bill and provides an interesting interaction with your opponent’s
tricks.
Lands
The mana base is pretty heavy black for the creatures and
fairly heavy red for the removal, and the artifacts don’t care. As such, most of the creatures need BB to
cast, especially the Pit-Dweller (though don’t expect to want to cast him on
turn 2 that often). Buried Ruin,
naturally, gets you back one of your precious combo pieces in case of
fire.
Sideboarding
As with all my sideboarding, it’s usually specific to the
metagame of the places I play. Barter in
Blood provides a lot of punch to kill powerful creatures and, if you get yours
right back, no problem! It’s good if you
have an empty board too, say, if you’re fighting a high-density removal deck
where you’re afraid to play your undying dudes without backup.
Manic Vandal might be too cute, but he works nicely on an
Orbed or a non-Orbed board (say that ten times fast.) If there isn’t an Orb, he’s just a Scathe
Zombies. If there is no Orb, he can pick
off a Birthing Pod, a Sword, an Elixir of Immortality, force an awkward
Spellbomb sacrifice, or any other number of problem artifacts. Smelt’s probably better, but the
interactions! THE INTERACTIONS, PEOPLE!
Nihil Spellbomb is fairly self-explanatory, though in a pinch,
it can exile an awkward undying trigger on either side of the table.
Sever the Bloodline is a card that I liked when it first
came out; after I stabled it for a while, I dug it back out and have been very
pleased with it since. It just kills a dude, and it does it well. It kills tokens and it flashes back, giving
this deck a little card advantage in the grindy matchups. Also, specifically in this match, if
Pit-Dwellers betray you in multiples, exile them both! Bad Pit-Dwellers! Go back to the basement!
As this is a fairly low creature count deck, Killing Wave
will often put you on the winning end.
Huge threats on your side that you can just sack to the Wave and let
them undie, if you want, put the pressure on them to keep their life total
high. If they pay, they die from a
vicious Killing Wave life drain. If they
let their creatures die, you smash them with your efficient big guys! It’s a great way to punish them for not
blocking, too. Blood Artist is also a
nice sideboard inclusion to counter, well, another Blood Artist, as well as a
high creature count deck. Making them
take 1 every time they Pod (3 if they pay for the Pod with life) is an
efficient clock. Your creatures undying
or smashing their little chump blockers in attacks will also help the Blood
Artist fit. The Falkenrath Aristocrat is
an efficient beater and a sac outlet on a stick, so you can use all of these
guys in concert for a sacking machine! I
can’t tell you a matchup where these final five cards will be right, but you’ll
know it when you see it.
Let me know what you think of this attempt at a Torpor Orb
deck! Although I’d normally say, “there
are a lot of ways you could do this deck,” I’m not sure there are a lot more ways to make an
offensive, Torpor-Orb based deck in Standard.
In Modern, or even Legacy? Well,
the sky’s the limit, Johnnies! Rest
assured, Renwick, your deck’s future is assured with the myriad combos
surrounding this artifact in Eternal formats.
Standard’s about to get a big shake up, and Return to
Ravnica previews are on the horizon. I
hope you guys are excited to see what a return to the ecumenopolis of Ravnica
will bring!
Until next time, don’t forget to untap!
- Matt H
