Lands:
4 Crumbling Necropolis
6 Island
3 Mountain
7 Swamp
4 Vivid Creek
Creatures:
4 Academy Researchers
4 Cunning Lethemancer
1 Ghastlord of Fugue
1 Kederekt Leviathan
2 Needle Specter
4 Nyxathid
4 Sedraxis Specter
3 Shambling Remains
Other Spells:
1 Aura Graft
4 Elder Mastery
4 Grixis Charm
4 Helm of the Ghastlord |
   New
York Nyx.
Description of deck by its author
(quoted):
With regards to Elder Mastery, it's a
certainly swingy enchantment that doesn't have a ton of Johnny
qualities. However, one of the best targets you could think of for Elder
Mastery was printed alongside it in Conflux: Nyxathid. This rugged
Elemental warmed my heart from the moment I saw it in the spoiler,
probably because of the mix of a black creature (literally, in the art)
and the very red flavor text. It also reminded me of Dread Slag, which
itself was black and red, so I was basically destined to like this card.
Nyxathid is a great Elder Mastery target for three reasons. First,
flying on a quick fat creature is essential. Second, the +3/+3 should
offset Nyxathid's power restriction. Third, and most important, giving
Nyxathid a "Specter" ability both screws up your opponent and makes the
'Thid even bigger.
From here, I began adding creatures that fit into a
discard strategy. Sedraxis Specter was a no-brainer. Cunning Lethemancer
works as well, and since we're in Grixis, the shard of unearth, you
should be happy to discard your Shambling Remains during your upkeep.
Kederekt Leviathan is another graveyard hopper that can bounce your
opponent's creatures, which will soon get discarded.
During testing, Elder Mastery's large mana cost became
an issue. I was usually beating down for the win without my supposed
build-around-me card, so something had to change. I added Academy
Researchers for the prospect of a turn-three 5/5 "Specter" on steroids.
Since Helm of the Ghastlord fit reasonably well with the deck's themes,
I added the Shadowmoor Aura.
To round off the deck, I added a couple of quirky
creatures that force discard of a sort. Needle Specter becomes a
one-creature wrecking ball when suited up with Elder Mastery, as taking
damage from it will probably rip your entire hand away. To top it off,
it has wither! Ghastlord of Fugue, meanwhile, obviously loves its own
Helm, but it doubles as a secondary win condition in case something
should go wrong.
I wanted to run full sets of my Auras to ensure I'd
snag one with the Academy Researchers, but I also didn't want them
clogging up my hand. Running four Cunning Lethemancers allowed me to
ditch excess copies of Helm of the Ghastlord when they weren't needed.
Another version of this deck could include Rotting Rats as both an
unearth-y target and a discard-based creature. And obviously, Cunning
Lethemancer fits right at home in a classic reanimator deck, so slanting
the deck toward that could be another option. Traversing on that path
would probably mean cutting most of the Elder Masterys, and since I can
already hear Bolas's rumbling crescendo at such heresy, I'm going to
abruptly change the deck topic. There's enough here to work with, I'd
say. |
