#deck talk

Based on my favorite decks, what can you assume about me?

6.27.2018

Deck Interview: Mystic Mondays

This deck seems to be determined to make me happy again. It wants me to connect to my highest self, even when I feel unable to do so. It’s going to be VERY optimistic and also A TOUCH too emotional. It will teach me to celebrate; it will get me through the trans stuff, the deep untangling from womanhood. And when it’s all said and done, I’ll be calmer. When it’s all said and done, I will have my own permission to take a goddamn nap.

- Cups

Mainly they told me. My first deck I just affectionately called “Mom” kind of as a joke and it stuck because we both liked it, and the same thing happened with Babe. Boromir straight up told me without any prompting, as did Ophelia. Heddy, Finnian, and Antigone gave me names while I was attempting to find names for them and then wouldn’t budge (also, turns out “Finnian” means “oracle”, which super fits with his very literal, air personality).

Honestly the only decks I feel like I “named” are Aphrodite and Artemis, and both of them gave me their blessing on the name once I picked it, it was just less of a collaboration.

Hey all, since I wasn’t able to get to any questions over on @magicjudge today, I figured that I would write about the legacy deck I’ve been putting together for tomorrow.

What is this Deck?

Aluren is a Sultai/BUG creature combo deck that takes its name from its key card, Aluren. (Aluren is an old English word meaning “paradise”.)

So yeah, that’s one hell of a card. They sure don’t make cards like this anymore. But this is legacy, so how do we break the parity that this card provides?

The Combo

Cavern Harpy and Parasitic Strix, in combination with Aluren, provide us with our game-winning combo. The loop goes thusly: With Aluren on the battlefield, you cast Parasitic Strix for free. If you control a black permanent, you’ll drain your opponent for 2 life. This isn’t strictly necessary on the first loop, though. Next, you cast Cavern Harpy for free. When its ETB trigger resolves, you return Parasitic Strix to your hand. You then re-cast Parasitic Strix and drain 2 life, since you now control Cavern Harpy. You then pay 1 life to return Cavern Harpy to your hand, then re-cast it for free and bounce Parasitic Strix. Repeat this loop until your opponent is dead. (The great thing about Aluren is that it lets you cast your 3 CMC creatures for free and as though they had flash, so you can wait to combo out until your opponent starts pointing removal at one of your combo pieces.)

What Else Does it Do?

Don’t worry, Cavern Harpy is a ridiculous value engine that can generate real card advantage even without Aluren on the battlefield. Just combo Cavern Harpy with Baleful Strix to draw cards, or with Shardless Agent for more free spells, or with Trophy Mage to search up more Shardless Agents and Parasitic Strixes. 

Other Cards

These synergies buy you time to find your combo pieces and just grind value, with the deck including cards like Ancestral Vision for Shardless Agent to cascade into. The deck also features the usual suspects of any Sultai/BUG legacy deck, namely Leovold, Deathrite Shaman, Brainstorm, Force of Will, and Abrupt Decay. The mana base is composed entirely of dual lands, fetch lands, and basic lands.

Decklist

I’m just listing my main deck here since the sideboard options are broad and mostly the usual suspects available to these colours in Legacy.

4 Baleful Strix 2 Parasitic Strix 4 Shardless Agent 4 Cavern Harpy 4 Deathrite Shaman 2 Leovold, Emissary of Trest 2 Trophy Mage

4 Aluren 4 Abrupt Decay 4 Brainstorm 4 Force of Will 2 Ancestral Vision