4 Coral Trickster
4 Fathom Seer
3 Vesuvan Shapeshifter
2 Valor
4 Ixidron
1 Jolrael, Empress of Beasts
4 Natural Affinity
4 Glorious Anthem
3 Momentary Blink
4 Prismatic Lens
3 Careful Consideration
10 Island
8 Plains
4 Terramorphic Expanse
2 Forest |
   'Dron
and Quartered.
Description of deck by it's author
(quoted):
The last deck comes from a reader named Harley
who sent me a frighteningly cool combo, just before All Hallows' Eve.
Because he likes his Armageddons to be as kooky as possible, Harley
decided to use Ixidron with Natural Affinity. Nicknamed “Backslide Joe”
during development (or at least it should have been) due to its
similarity to Onslaught's Backslide, Ixidron is actually much more
versatile than its namesake. Backslide could only be played on a
creature with morph. Ixidron, meanwhile, turns all non-token creatures
face down (probably in the muck). If you happen to have animated all the
lands in play with Natural Affinity before playing Ixidron, those lands
will become face-down 2/2 creatures with no name and no abilities
(including the ability to produce mana). As a result of this sudden
surge in face-down creatures, Ixidron's power and toughness will shoot
through the roof (For this reason, I recommend playing this deck
outdoors).
To win the battle of the morph-lands, Harley added
Glorious Anthem and Valor to his deck. These two cards are great with
creatures in general, but they are particularly good with Vesuvan
Shapeshifter. Without the Anthem, if your opponent played a 10/10
Leviathan, you could copy it with the Shapeshifter and you'd be stuck in a
bit of a stale-mate. With the Anthem, your opponent would still have his
10/10, but your Shapeshifter would go all the way up to 11/11. Giving the
Shapeshifter first strike by dumping Valor into the graveyard is another
way you can trump the creature it's copying.
The great thing about the deck is that you don't have
play the combo all in one turn, due to the inclusion of Momentary Blink.
You can just run your Ixidron out there on turn 5 if you want. He'll be
big enough, since you have plenty of morphs to go along with whatever
creatures your opponent will have to turn face down. Then at some point in
the future, like your opponent's end of turn step, you can play Natural
Affinity and follow it up with a Momentary Blink on your Ixidron. This is
particularly effective if your opponent tapped out on his turn, because
he'll be helpless as you attack with a huge Ixidron and your army of
morph-lands. |
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