4 Plagued Rusalka
4 Nantuko Husk
4 Dimir House Guard
3 Skeletal Vampire
4 Last Gasp
4 Orzhov Signet
4 Leyline of the Void
4 Measure of Wickedness
3 Grave Pact
2 Empty the Catacombs
24 Swamp |
 Measure
of the Void.
Description of deck by its author (quoted):
...Reader Kilian C. has other ideas. A little
while ago, he sent me a deck in which Leyline of the Void does its usual
thing, raining on the parade of Dredgers and Kamigawa Dragons alike. It
turns out that it also puts your opponent into a dilly of a pickle when
you send a Measure of Wickedness their way. Since Leyline of the Void
takes your opponent's cards on a detour around his graveyard and into
the removed-from-game zone, he'll have a hard time shipping Measure of
Wickedness back to you. It's a hot potato with a one-way ticket, except
it causes life-loss and not potato-shaped burn scars.
As Kilian explains, “The idea is to get a Leyline into
play, then foist a Measure onto your opponent using a sacrifice outlet.
Dimir House Guard Transmutes for Measures, Leylines, Grave Pacts, and
Empty the Catacombs, which becomes a one-sided reload engine for
re-sacrificing. The Skeletal Vampire makes tokens to sacrifice, serves as
an outlet, and blocks fliers that aren't destroyed with Last Gasp.”
I've played it and it's wickedly fun. Admittedly, some
of that sadistic glee comes from playing such a powerful hoser in your
maindeck. “Your entire deck is based on graveyard recursion? Geez, I had
no idea. Guess I win, then.” It's like the first time you play your
“wacky” Circle of Protection: Red + Orcish Artillery deck against your
friend's burn deck. “Sorry, I didn't know!” *Impish grin*
That's the deck almost exactly as Kilian designed it. I
shaved an Empty the Catacombs for another Swamp and added the Signets
because his deck was only fifty-six cards. With so many spells in the four
slot, the extra mana seemed appropriate. If you wanted to stray from
mono-black, there are a few things I would recommend trying. One, add
Green for Bloodbond March. Two, add Red for Dissension's Crypt Champion.
The Black Leyline very nicely breaks the symmetry of both of those cards. |
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