Post Shards of Alara: Big Mana Project

Here are a couple drafts...

2 Chameleon Colossus
4 Farhaven Elf
1 Kederekt Leviathan
4 Mulldrifter
4 Shriekmaw
1 Tar Fiend

4 Bitterblossom
4 Firespout
2 Jund Charm
1 Loxodon Warhammer
4 Makeshift Mannequin
3 Obelisk of Grixis
2 Primal Command

2 Flooded Grove
4 Forest
1 Island
4 Reflecting Pool
1 Swamp
3 Treetop Village
2 Twilight Mire
1 Vivid Creek
4 Vivid Grove
2 Vivid Marsh


A skeleton for the traditional Gbu Big Mannequin...

2 Chameleon Colossus
2 Cloudthresher
3 Farhaven Elf
2 Kitchen Finks
4 Mulldrifter
4 Shriekmaw

4 Firespout
2 Loxodon Warhammer
4 Makeshift Mannequin
2 Primal Command
2 Profane Command

6 slots available for Alara cards.

Farhaven Elf (and basics in general) are pretty bad. Needs more Finks or Cryptic Command.

I think you should also consider the 3/3 for BRG that makes 3 1/1s when he dies.

I also hate Bitterblossom in decks that aren't Faeries.

@GerryT-In other words, I should play 5 Color Control! I just wonder how well it will stand up to the inevitable plethora of aggro decks? Also, unless I'm mistaken(probably am!), I don't see much mana accel other than the mediocre Obelisk's? Should I care?

@aceben3-The Bitterblossom acts as a chump block producer, albeit not nearly as great as in a Fae build. Sprouting Trinax is cool, I don't know... maybe in a token deck like you mentioned earlier.

Well, I said I wanted to use a set of Cryptic Commands so I guess I should start working on a good 5 Color Control deck that can beat Fae and Zoo, Gruul, Rackdos or whatever Aggro or Aggro/Control that pops up. After all, all the I have to worry about is Fullminator Mage since Magus of the Moon is going bye bye.

Thanks for the input guys!

Why not play a removal spell instead of something that makes chump blockers?

There isn't much mana accel, but don't forget about good old Rampant Growth and Mind Stone.

Also, Sprouting Trinax compares pretty well to Kitchen Finks I think. It's basically four chump blockers. Keep in mind that a lot of times all you're trying to do with a control deck is stall until your powerful lategame cards can come online (I might write an article about this).

I'm thinking about UBW Faeries with Esper Charm for new Standard, but 5-color control gets some sick stuff too. Maybe I'll brew a little after this weekend.

Well, if you're GBRU, you might well run Cryptic Command. Farhaven Elf is just really, really bad. It doesn't accelerate you into anything unless you've got a ton of five drops, but you shouldn't want to go in that direction. Mind Stone is pretty awesome.

Well... what do we have for a decent 2cc counter? Broken Ambitions. I hope we get something better to replace Runesnag!

I'm scared that all these gold cards will make it correct to play Manamorphose. I hate that card.

I can't believe you even made that statement!

Edit-Soul Fire Will be my replacement for Skred!

aceben3 wrote:I'm scared that all these gold cards will make it correct to play Manamorphose. I hate that card.

Hahaha.

I see a lot of cool big mana cards but I can't seem to get past playing Fae, 5 Color Control or 4-5 Color Fae/Mer/Wiz Aggro/Control. Anyone have any ideas?

Give in

I'll work on a Wizard list.

I give! Fae or Wizards seem like the strongest decks followed by Kithkin and 5 Color Control. I won't play Kithkin so that leaves me with 3 choices that all play Cryptic Command. I ask and I receive!

Without Harmonize, Mana Ramp is basically dead. You could splash black and blue for Mulldrifter/Mannequin but then I'd rather play 5 Color Control. So where's the 4-5 Color Wiz deck Ben?

sigh, I'll throw a rough one up.

The Resounding Thunder SB plan is pretty exciting to me.

4 Mind Stone
4 Bloom Tender (Rampant Growth if you're not adventurous)
4 Sprouting Thrinax
1 Loxodon Warhammer
4 Firespout
4 Chameleon Colossus
3 Masked Admirers
3 Shriekmaw
4 Broodmate Dragon
1 Mind Shatter
2 Primal Command
2 Profane Command

4 Savage Lands
4 Fire-Lit Thicket
4 Twilight Mire
3 Forest
2 Mountain
2 Swamp
2 Karplusan Forest
3 Treetop Village

SB:
1 Loxodon Warhammer
1 Wickerbough Elder
1 Razormane Masticore
1 Mind Shatter
2 Jund Charm
2 Violent Ultimatum
3 Spitebellows
4 Resounding Thunder

I like the list. I wonder if a singleton Tarfiend would make the cut? It could act as a beat down Mindshatter.

aceben3 wrote:The Resounding Thunder SB plan is pretty exciting to me.

Basically, side them in against any opponent not playing Bitterblossom?

You're thinking of Hell's Thunder. This is a crappy Urza's Rage against 5cc.

Big Tokes!

// Lands
4 Savage Lands
4 Fire-Lit Thicket
4 Twilight Mire
2 Forest
2 Mountain
2 Swamp
1 Karplusan Forest
3 Treetop Village
2 Vivid Grove
1 Llanowar Wastes

// Creatures
4 Sprouting Thrinax
2 Shriekmaw
3 Broodmate Dragon
4 Kitchen Finks
1 Skullmulcher
2 Masked Admirers
1 Caldera Hellion
1 Tar Fiend

// Spells
4 Mind Stone
1 Loxodon Warhammer
2 Primal Command
2 Profane Command
4 Firespout
4 Rampant Growth

// Sideboard
SB: 1 Loxodon Warhammer
SB: 1 Shriekmaw
SB: 1 Primal Command
SB: 2 Wickerbough Elder
SB: 1 Razormane Masticore
SB: 2 Violent Ultimatum (experimenting, but it's pretty decent in mirrorish matches)
SB: 4 Resounding Thunder
SB: 2 Vexing Shusher
SB: 1 Mind Shatter

Bloom Tender is way worse than Rampant Growth because you need colorfixing and you play Firespout. The Tar Fiend was better than I expected. This has led me to try some more Devour guys. I haven't been impressed by Skullmulcher yet, but I'll give him a little more time. This is really fun though, if you like the Rock you should like this. I'm pretty sure Chuck should fall in love.

I think the list looks cool. I'm glad the Tarfiend is working so far and I really like the Masked Admirers. I wonder if a deck with some Sarkhan would be viable. If he can be protected for 3 turns, he is amazing. Also, I think a Big Mannequin deck would be amazing.

Needs colossus and cloudthreshers...

Gift of the Gargantuan/Demigods? This deck looks like it could be pretty good, considering it's full of animals.

I didn't think of Gift in constructed until I played with it in Sealed on Sunday. Maybe I'll try it. Demigod seems super super hot, Tony said something about that too. Basically, fuck Colossus and Cloudthresher, you mostly just want to play Commands and Devour guys once you have a good amount of mana.

The best part about the deck is that all your dudes have so much utility, and are pretty efficient. Also you have different paths to victory: you can swarm with your 3-drops or just play a Devour guy and slap a Hammer on him. So even though it has to many duders, it's not mindless, which is fun to me.