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The Salt Mine (Ruining Friendships through EDH)

What should the next Salt Mine deck do?  

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  1. 1. Discard Cards or Lock up Lands?

    • Discard Cards
    • Lock up Lands

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  • Poll closed on 01/15/2021 at 07:59 AM

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Hey there, stranger. Now, you may or may not play MtG. It's a pretty darn popular game, as it turns out. If you want to learn how to play, feel free to message me, and I will see about organizing a game to teach you the ropes. Though, I promise I won't be using one of the decks or strategies I go through in this blog for that first game.

Because this blog is all about ruining people's days.

Commander, also known as Elder Dragon Highlander, is the most popular official format that MtG has at this time. It is a casual format, meaning you won't be seeing it as the main event at a Grand Prix, and is largely dictated by what is known to players as "the social contract". In essence, this means that the primary goal for everyone is to have fun together, and that fun gameplay should be put before anything else. Typically, this means that things like mass land destruction, consistent early-game combos, and "stax" decks (a deck archetype centered around breaking down opponents' resources and limiting their gameplay options) are avoided. The thing is, I really like to push these boundaries.

@PhoenixOfCute @yui and a few more can confirm that I enjoy the finer points in life, such as creating infinite mana and spending ten minutes trying to find a way to win with it, or resolving Restore Balance when I have one land, one creature, and nothing in hand. I feel that many people would think I'm completely missing the point of the format, but the way I see it, I'm playing the game in the way that brings me the most enjoyment. If someone asked me to not use one of these decks, I'd gladly comply and pull out something "fun for everyone" like Archelos Snow (Kaldheim can't come fast enough!) but as long as they are cool with it, these are the kinds of decks I most enjoy playing.

So, each calendar week, at an unspecified point in the week, I'll be posting a deck tech for some kind of brew that could get me kicked out of a randoms lobby on cockatrice.

Let's Mine for some Salt.

 

Edited by (‽)

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Why yes, (this fine gentleman) does enjoy the simple things in life. As do I. For example, using Raider's Wake to discard someone's only hand card right before I die, leaving them alone in the same room as an undefeated Atarka.

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3 hours ago, yui said:

Why yes, (this fine gentleman) does enjoy the simple things in life. As do I. For example, using Raider's Wake to discard someone's only hand card right before I die, leaving them alone in the same room as an undefeated Atarka.

The gentleman I am quoting does not share his wishes even though I just wanted to get a land with them ;_;

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Hello there, you miserable fucks! Intros aren't my strong suit, so…

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That's right! Today's deck is using one of the legends from the upcoming set Kaldheim, magic's most metal set yet, or so I'm told by an extremely repetitive marketing campaign!

Sarulf is based upon the Norse figure Fenrir, a vicious wolf that is somehow the son of Loki, who in the days of Ragnarok consumed/will consume Odin, before being slain by his son. Metal! Similarly, this deck will consume our opponents' will to live (along with just about all their permanents) before being slain by our own eventual boredom when I build something else next week. But in the meantime, I'm going to show you all exactly how I plan to destroy the current world order and remake the world in a manner suspiciously reminiscent of those newfangled monotheistic religions!

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And here he is, our goodest boy, in showcase frame proper! As you can see, Sarulf is a very hungry dog, and grows plenty big as long as you can feed him opponents' permanents. It's definitely worth noting that he can grow from opposing fetchlands, so if you land him early enough your opponents will be forced to decide whether to feed him, or leave their Misty Rainforests and Evolving Wilds out to dry. Because of this, we want to land Sarulf as early as we possibly can.

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These are our most optimal forms of ramp for turn 1. Birds of Paradise and Elves of Deep Shadow both fix into black mana, which improves opening hands significantly. If you have either of them, and the forest to play them turn 1, you're basically set to land the great big dog turn 2. Green Sun's Zenith is one of the most powerful ramp spells ever printed. So powerful, in fact, that it is even banned in modern. Its advantage is that if you draw it late game, you can use it to find a singular threat or combo piece, since the usefulness of ramp drops of as the game goes on. Another synergy is that Dryad Arbor, the 0-drop creature it can grab on the first turn, is technically a land, meaning it is immune to Sarulf's boardwipe effect.

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Once Sarulf is on board, the next step is to load it up with some counters. This deck does so by tearing apart the opponents' boards, primarily with wide-reaching symmetrical effects like these. This might seem contradictory, as there isn't as much left for Sarulf to exile if they already sacrificed anything, but that's fine by me! If the 99 can clear the path for our big dog boy to go in and attack, that's awesome, that's a win condition. And if he needs to use his counters to mop up what's left, that just means he's doing his job. Soul Shatter is a recent card that I think has a heavy synergy here. Not only is it an instant, it forces the opponents' to sacrifice their highest-cost option, which otherwise might have dodged Sarulf's exile.

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Me and the boys pissing off creature decks. Edict effects on creatures are powerful, and this deck is no exception. While in a vacuum these cards are often worse than the assortment of spell-based removal this deck runs, they are opened up to extra synergies down the line.

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Now at this point you may be thinking "well this all doesn't sound too bad, this deck looks kinda grindy but where's the salt?" And the answer to that is simple. Sarulf pairs really fucking well with land destruction. After all, a land going to the graveyard does count as a permanent. Through use of efficiently costed land removal, this deck is able to take out the one permanent type that our apocalyptic pupper can't exile.

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But what would land destruction, largely on lands, be without some form of land recursion? Life from the Loam and Crucible of Worlds variants add repeatability to effects like Strip Mine, and Drownyard Temple's activated ability can offset the losses in the previously shown Dust Bowl and Smallpox. These are all powerful advantage engines with very little opportunity cost, and allow the deck to "break parity" and overwhelm the table with effects that, on paper, are fair and symmetrical.

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Diving deeper into the lands theme that this deck uses, I decided to include a small suite of ways to search out nonbasic lands. Crop Rotation works at instant speed, giving huge synergy with Bojuka Bog, but that doesn't make the others slouches, either. Pyr's Whim is a particularly powerful followup the turn after landing Sarulf, ramping by a little while also sending permanents to the 'yard to feed our bestest boy. I've had my eye on the card since it came out in Battlebond a few years back, so I'm overjoyed to have finally found such a natural fit for it.

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With a good selection of tutors for lands (as well as a few generic tutors I feel no need to go over) we are afforded the opportunity to run a few two-card combos. Thespian Stage + Dark Depths yields an enormous token that can close out games pretty easily on its own. The token is easily exiled by Sarulf, so care does have to be taken in regards to sequencing. Urborg and Cabal Coffers have been paired with each other ever since the tomb of Yawgmoth saw print, and for good reason. The amount of mana that this pair can so easily generate is remarkable, and though this deck doesn't utilize it as much as others might, it definitely doesn't hurt to include it.

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Though this deck manages quite well to generate advantage through lands, I elected to include a small suite of card-draw spells just to smooth things out a bit. Sign in Blood and Night's Whisper are premium card-draw, generating advantage for very little mana, in a deck that generally speaking isn't very greedy for mana in the first place. Return of the Wildspeaker is an absolute bomb, taking advantage of the massive size that Sarulf can so easily attain, at instant speed no less. The Great Henge also takes advantage of Sarulf's growth, potentially costing as little as 2 mana. Adding card draw onto the creature-based edicts makes them incredibly powerful, and the ramp and lifegain don't hurt at all. Not to mention that, as a 9 drop, it will almost always be safe from Sarulf.

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Now we move into the deck's wincons. Mazirek takes advantage of edict effects while also growing Sarulf to make his ability more lethal. Worm Harvest is a pet card of mine, but can easily build up an overwhelming advantage in the late game. Combining the two allows you to swing for game against every opponent at once. Torment of Hailfire is a fantastic use of all the mana Cabal Coffers gives, and synergizes with Sarulf if people are scared to lose the life. If Sarulf is up to 9 power, Tainted Strike can turn chip damage into a one turn kill, a great way to deal with the player best equipped to stop your steam engine of a deck.

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Finally, this leaves us with a few cool synergistic cards that I thought were worth mentioning. Winding Constrictor doubles the speed at which Sarulf can go, important against ramp decks or decks that cheat out high cmc threats. Ashaya turns all your creatures into land, making them immune to Sarulf's wipe (this synergy is brawl legal for those who care!). Sensei's Divining Top works well with all the shuffle effects in this deck, and can dodge Sarulf's wipe while giving you another card in hand. Awaken the Erstwhile is probably not even good but holy shit it's funny. Sarulf can easily wipe out all the tokens, leaving your opponents with no board AND no hand. Biggest issue is that you will have A LOT of zombies coming at you for the next turn cycle.


So, there you have it. I probably won't be saying this much about most decks I go over here, but figured I should put in maximum effort for this first post.

https://archidekt.com/decks/1059624#Bad_Dog

Edited by (‽)
Added decklist because I'm a dumb fuck and forgot to include it

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14 hours ago, LordCowCow said:

I'd just like to put it out there that this looks like a deck I'd use

I'm not surprised at all.

For real though pox is a really fulfilling and interactive strategy. I understand why many players hate stuff like this, but it really gets me going.

 

As an aside, if anyone has suggestions for commanders or playstyles they would like to see shown off here, I am always open to suggestions, whether they be brought up in this thread, or sent directly to me via PM or discord. Next week's article will most likely be using another Kaldheim spoiler, but I am always looking forward and planning ahead.

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Poll has been added to determine the theme of next week's salt mine article! It only lasts until the end of Thursday to give me time for deck building, so make sure to vote!

Either way, the commander will be from the upcoming set Kaldheim, so feel free to speculate on which ones they will be! It should be fairly obvious. What cards are you all excited for in this new set?

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I am shocked by your deck breakdown; I expected to see it, or at least something, as a counterpoint session based on cards that would not be appropriate for the deck. Really have no position to change your train of thought, it doesn't push for much discussion outside of how other people would make it.

As a step of progression, something when it comes to deck construction and writing about, it has seems easy for others to get involved at moments of contest instead of acceptance, since much of a deck building is to work against your first list and put forth arguments as to why things don't work instead of why they do work. This is also a great area to practice writing such topics like this, as you have attempted to do with your Phyrexian Arena argument. As long as you make it go to a positive train of thought, that aligns with your goals of the deck, instead of being purely argumentative.

But counter argument and things that promote what hasn't worked has been more successful in pushing for quality discussion and reception points, as they give the reader something to not only follow along and make sense with. It is to also explore your train of thought in a more linear way, that the reader can then sympathize with or understand with, and try to navigate alongside your own.

Especially when it comes with deck building and construction, instead of deck promoting; Which, as just a blog, you are fully in the field of and with.

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I would absolutely include such if I weren't building for a yet-to-be released card.

Cards that would otherwise be considered staples of the deck type that I didn't include were the majority of mana rocks, as well as more traditional stack tools. While I considered smoke stack, I ultimately decided that it was too high on the curve to be effective in this list, and other stax cards (as well as rocks) would get blown out by Sarulf wiping.

An argument could absolutely be made for Collector Ouphe, as it pushes for early damage and gels well with the almost entirely land and creature based ramp package. If I'm being honest, the biggest reason it was excluded was oversight.

Another card that went into consideration was No Mercy. 4 cmc does put it over the threshold for a typical Sarulf wipe, but I determined based on my experience in random lobbies that pillowfort effects in this format are nowhere near as good as they appear on paper, with many decks not needing to attack at all to win, especially with new additions like consultation oracle combo.

Most of the other cuts were cards that simply were weaker versions of what I was running. Putrify gets beat out by Assassin's Trophy. Encroaching Wastes doesn't stack up well against tec edge, et cetera.

I appreciate this suggestion, and will keep it in mind for further entries. I probably won't dedicate much more than a paragraph to it, since the primary goal of this is building from a blank slate, rather than deconstructing the decks of others, but edhrec has enough shitty takes to dedicate some time to it.

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