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Ghost Husk: Why to Play It and How
Written by Baryonyx on May 27, 2006 Ghost Husk: Why to Play It and Howby BaryonyxThere have been many versions of W/B aggro in the past few months after the release of Guildpact. However, in my opinion, there is none better than Ghost Husk. Ghost Husk is one of the most versatile and adaptable decks out there. First, Ghost Husk drops so many creatures, it plays right through control and with removal to back it up and it takes out aggro in the blink of an eye. Husk is also the definitively fastest decks in Standard right now. The deck gets card advantage, creature advantage and general board control consistently. For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, here is my current deck list:
Now I’m not going to preach about how my deck list is better than everyone else is because it’s probably not. However, I am going to tell you the significance of each card and why I chose it. Let’s start with the mana base. Legendary LandsDo not underestimate the value of these guys. The castle lets you block all those pesky 3/3’s with an Isamaru all day long. Also, Ghost Council doesn’t die to Char, Hierarch, or Soilfuge but instead puts them one creature down. Shizo is a bomb when you and your opponent are hiding behind a wall of creatures. They can have all the Hierarchs, Keigas, Melokus, or Yoseis they want, but they still won’t block a Ghost Council with fear. Bounce Lands These can be the most crucial lands in the deck. You can play them badly or wisely. First off, playing these unless it is absolutely necessary vs. any UR matchup is a big no-no. One LD spell, Boomerang, or Eye of Nowhere puts you a turn behind in mana. Against different matchups with out LD or bounce, these can become very helpful. Just be sure you play them when you can’t do anything else with one extra mana. In other words, don’t hold back a spell to drop in one of these lands instead. Creatures Isamaru, Hound of Konda A first turn 2/2 for one is always a good time. Plus he is legendary and plays well with the legendary lands. He is a solid creature at any time in the game and gets in some crucial early beats. But why four? The deck is centered around sack outlets. With another hound in hand, he becomes fodder to the Husks or the Rusalkas for extra damage or just to pop a Promise of Bunrei. Dark Confidant Two words: CARD AVANTAGE! This guy single handedly keeps the pressure on. He draws more creatures to overwhelm your opponent faster than they can get rid of them. It would seem you would take a lot of damage from him and he could become fatal in the end game but if you look at the mana curve, the majority of spells are in the two and three range and the highest is four. Not to mention you can draw land of him for no damage at all. If he does become dangerous to you in the late game, you have plenty of sac outlets. Use them. Nantuko Husk The most feared car in the deck. Husk can take your opponent down in one fell swoop. The deck was engineered around making the Husk as big as possible. All the creatures you play and the Bunreis all have excellent synergy with this card that can make you opponent cry. One Bunrei and one creature make a husk into a 12/12 in seconds with little consequences. Simply put, the Husk must be blocked. He serves not only as a win condition, but as a decoy. For most it is kill the husk or be killed by the husk, thus allowing your wave of other creatures to move around freely while they worry about one card. Plagued Rusalka This guy is in here for two reasons. One, he is a sac outlet, plain and simple. Two, he is un-counterable removal while on the board (Unless they have a Voidslime). Realize the potential he has. He takes out opposing Confidants, Birds, Llanlowar Elves, and can take down 2/2s and 3/3s when coupled with extra creatures and two or three mana. He is also a one drop, dodging counterspells and getting in early beats. Kami of Ancient Law He is a 2/2 for two that is not very mana intensive and who has a great ability, what more could you want? He sits as a small beater, a sizable chump blocker and as an un-counterable enchantment removal. He chump blocks and kills their Greater Good, Promise of Bunrei, Glorious Anthem, Ghostly Prison, the list goes on. He can destroy enchantments but he is also on the body of a 2/2 which can be quite helpful even if they don’t have any enchantments. Also, notice you can target your own Bunreis with him and get tokens. This is why he makes the main deck and not the sideboard. Orzhov Pontiff ![]() To be completely honest, in the beginning I did not see why he was any good. Sure, he kills Vitu-gazi tokens, but he doesn’t do it at instant speed. He is also a 1/1 for three that’s fairly mana intensive. Then I saw his full potential. Let’s paint a picture for a moment. Say your opponent has four 2/2s, and two 3/3s filling their side of the board, stopping any attack you might have. Now say you have one Plagued Rusalka, one Ghost Counsel, five mana (Not to hard in the late game), four of which are black, and a Pontiff in hand. Here is a way to wipe their board clean leaving you free to attack: drop the Pontiff giving their creatures -1/-1. Now they have four 1/1a and two 2/2s. Sacrifice the pontiff to the Rusalka giving a 2/2 -1/-1 and haunting the Rusalka. Then sacrifice the Rusalka, giving the other 2/2 -1/-1 making all six of his creatures 1/1s. Then the haunt ability triggers and you can give all his creatures another -1/-1, clearing his side of the board and leaving you to attack with the ghost counsel for four. His ability is amazing in this deck. I personally have taken down a 6/6 with a pontiff and a Rusalka before. Don’t underestimate his use. Also notice that he takes out pesky creatures with pro white and/or black like Hand of Honor/Cruelty and Paladin En-vec. He also makes popping a Bunrei deadly by swinging with four 2/2s. Ghost Council of Orzhov This guy is your best friend. You can hide behind him when you are down and send him away so he won’t get hurt. Simply put, he is you opponents worst nightmare. Not only does he have a reusable ability of gaining you life and taking your opponents life from them, but he is also a huge 4/4 beater. If you are always conscious to leave one mana open when you have other creatures, he never goes away. If they wrath, sac a creature, remove him from the game, you get a 4/4 after a wrath. He is also a valuable sac outlet and makes your opponent uneasy when they go below five life. Eight-and-a-Half-Tails This is my controversial card. I like him mainboard because he can make husk un-blockable, you rcreatures untargetable, and he blocks Hierarchs all day. Though he is mana intensive, both in mana cost and abilities, I think he is a valuable card in the main. Spells ![]() Promise of Bunrei If you read anything above, you already know how much synergy this card has in this deck. He creates chump blockers, swarmers, and sac fodder to run the deck. This card plus husk equals good game in many situations. Castigate This card helps maintain card advantage and gets rid of those wraths, spot removal, and beefy creatures you never want to see hit the table before they get a chance to play them. However, do not give his card priority over your creatures turn two unless you know something specific is going to hit the table next turn that you really don’t want to see. Mortify When you back up tons of creatures with removal to take out their blockers, you get a solid deck. The ability to kill a Hierarch and swing is powerful. Also note its enchantment removal abilities. Sideboard Shining Shoal If your opponent stabilizes behind a wall of big creatures you just can’t get past, direct damage to them can finish them off. If they attack you with a Yosei when they are at five and you a have shoal in hand, game over. It can also serve as extra creature removal if it has to. Last Gasp The majority of creatures worth playing right now in standard die to this easily. This card is just extra removal. Mindslicer Heartbeat folds to the Slicer. Drop him with a husk out, shake your opponents hand and you’re done. He can also be helpful against control decks that generally keep large hands if you can get good board position first. Okiba-Gang Shinobi This guy is amazing versus counterspell control. If you drop an early hound or Rusalka, you can ninja him in without the possibility of being countered and then slowly empty their hand. Umezawa's Jitte There is nothing better versus Jitte than Jitte its self. Not only that, but Jitte wins games. Against other agro decks, Jitte gives you total board control. Devouring Light Husk’s biggest card it hates to see hit the table is Yosei because it flies and taps you out of the game for a turn. The only way to stop it is remove it from the game completely. Why devouring light and not condemn? Condemn put it back in their library and has them gain life and needs mana to play. Light removes him from the game forever and can be played while tapped out using the convoke ability if you have the right creatures in play. Here are a few more possible sideboard possibilities that others play that have their place… Pithing Needle Grave Pact Paladin en-Vec Matchup Guide ![]() U/R Vore and U/R Tron This is a hard matchup but can be won. You must kill them before they can wildfire or bounce all your creatures away. Ghost counsel is very important here because he can go away before a wildfire, giving you creature advantage after the spell resolves. Also, take advantage of their lack for creatures. Attack full out every turn before they can stabilize. If you have four land out you can play any spell you want in the deck. Start to save up a few lands in your hand and wait for that wildfire. Sideboard -3 Castigate +3 Mindslicer If you can get him in before they wildfire, the Mindslicer devastates them when he hits the graveyard. Zoo/Gruul Aggro This is a pretty easy matchup for you. You can pump out more creatures than them and you have the removal to back it up. The only thing to watch out for is their burn spells. If possible get them within two to eliminate chars and don’t let them get you within eight life. Here Pontiff shines as mass removal if player right being their highest toughness is three or four. Sideboard -3 Castigate -2 Kami of Ancient Law +3 Umezawa’s Jitte +2 Last Gasp The Jitte gives you board control and the last gasp is extra removal. Just play through them. ![]() U/W Control This is quite possibly the best matchup for you because you play enough spells to push through their counters and once your guy hit the table then they have a hard time getting rid of them. The only thing to watch out for here is Wrath of God. For this reason, you should try to castigate it out of their hands if possible or if not, try and get a Promise of Bunrei on the board before they wrath to make them think twice about it. If you are able to drop Ghost Counsel, only do it if you have an extra mana open and another creature. He is your greatest tool in this matchup. Sideboard -2 Mortify +2 Okiba-Gang Shinobi Just ninja this guy in off of a first turn hound or Rusalka and the game should go your way as you empty their hand of counters. GW Aggro/Control or Ghazi-Glare This is a tough matchup for husk. The Hierarchs are a pain in the side and they can pump out chump blocker tokens all day long. Once they get out Glare of Subdual, you’re in trouble if you don’t have a Kami of the Ancient Law. The best thing to do is push through their big guys and mortify as many as you can. Utilize the fact most of their creatures are white and make 8.5 Tales your friend. If you can take them out quickly you should be okay. Sideboard -3 Castigate +3 Devouring Light The Light will help versus beefy guys, especially if they are playing Yosei. Heartbeat Combo Heartbeat is fast, you are faster. They have little creatures to block you and you can make use of their small defenses. If they don’t win by turn five, you should win. Game one is tough but the sideboard helps a lot. Use castigates as disruption and save mortify to kill their Heartbeats and their Drift of Phantasms if they are forced to drop one as a blocker. Sideboard -3 Mortify +3 Mindslicer Slice their hand right out and they will crumble. If they do not go off turn four then you should be able to drop Mindslicer and sacrifice him to a husk. W/B Control or Ghost Dad You are simply too fast for them to deal with. Personally, I have never lost a match with this deck to W/B control. Is it luck? Maybe, but everything happens for a reason. While they play around with their spot removal and expensive creatures, you should pound them into the ground. Again, notice the potential for Wrath and always leave one mana open to save the Ghost Counsel who will be your biggest ally here. Sideboard -3 Castigate +3 Umezawa’s Jitte The Jitte speeds the game up and keeps them from stabilizing. ![]() Mirror Husk vs. Husk This is a game of luck. Whoever draws the confidant for card advantage wins. It’s that simple. For this reason, always sacrifice the Rusalka to take out the Confidant quickly. Save your Mortifies in case the swing with a huge Husk. Utilize Pontiff to the greatest of his abilities. Whoever is faster wins the match. Sideboard -3 Castigate +3 Umezawa’s Jitte If you get counters on your Jitte its game over. Also, they are bound to side board in Jittes as well and the best way to kill a Jitte is with a Jitte That is the deck. Change it, play with it, burn it, I don’t much care but all I can say is that it is one of the fastest, most fun decks in T2 right now. I can leave you with card strategies but you have to learn to play it and learn how it works. This deck does take practice to get the sacking just right. I leave you with a few tips on playing the deck that I have learned in my time playing Ghost Husk… -Always leave a mana open to save you Ghost Council -Never let them get counters on their Jitte. You have many sac outlets to use after blockers before damage to ensure the Jitte gets no counters. Use them. -Drop Husk before Promise of Bunrei unless you know they are going to wrath next turn. If you play the Bunrei first you have to sit with the Husk/Bunrei combo on the table for a turn while waiting for the Husk to be able to attack. -Don’t play defensively, play very aggressively. Attack into them if they only have one creature even if it will leave you with one less creature. You play so many creatures that the lost creature will soon be replaced. -Be very conscious that your husk can be killed after sacrificing everything to it. The worst feeling in the world is attacking with a 20/20 Husk only to have it Putrefied. Good luck to all with it, -Baryony Comments:
by
BlaznSpecter on 2006-05-27 21:07 MDT Awesome article. Probably the best ive ever read. Granted i dislike the deck in general but i admit its a really good deck. And this question is to everyone and be honest. Did anyone ever in their life think that when nantuko husk was printed it would ever make it this big in T2. Limited absolutely but T2. Ah the wonders of Magic. by Buffalo_Wing on 2006-05-27 21:09 MDT u5triefkw
by Streakz on 2006-05-27 21:12 MDT Whatever, BW is the best deck, I'm 99.9% sure it'll win the Master tomorrow. by FlyingBird on 2006-05-27 21:13 MDT Actually I thought it would end up good in t2. I also was the only one I new that ran a husk deck before ghost dad and the such came around. But oh well. Can't do anything about it. by SpicyHam on 2006-05-27 21:20 MDT excellent article man~ good job~
by MarkTwainIII on 2006-05-27 23:13 MDT f. by Markwerf on 2006-05-28 00:01 MDT nice article. It is easy to follow has simple and clear arguments and discusses a good deck. I have just 2 things:
by iKe on 2006-05-28 00:18 MDT A very well written article. This is the only article that I ever read fully on magic-league. Good Job by Goji on 2006-05-28 01:05 MDT you made a little mistake.. u should add in on heartbeat.. if heartbeat is playing aggro board then u gotta watch how u sideboard. if ur playing them in person and u see them grab 15 cards up from there board and put them all in then there going agro board and dont take out mortify lol by ChristPunchr on 2006-05-28 02:52 MDT Aside from a few trifling type-o's, one of the best articles I have seen on this site yet.
by synch987 on 2006-05-28 03:55 MDT grammar and spelling issues but nice article.
by indie on 2006-05-28 04:17 MDT very well written, but I think that your SBing is poor. first of all, Ur tron and Ur vore cannot be reffered to as 2 versions of the same arctype. if anything, Ur tron is much more similar to UW control than to vore. sbing out castigate agaist Ur tron is a big lol, if there is any use for castigate it is only against pure control/combo decks. tron was a control deck, last time I checked. also, mindslicer against vore? are you kidding? if you can get to 4 mana against vore, you probobly won anyway.
by Baryonyx on 2006-05-28 06:54 MDT Thank you all for your compliments and I will try to answer some of these questions:
by masterorb on 2006-05-28 07:49 MDT Excellent article! I am truing to get back into Magic and this was a great introduction to the cards and decks dominating type 2 now! by Shooter on 2006-05-28 08:49 MDT nice article,but take out castigate vs. control decks and mortify vs. heartbeat, WTF? by the_guy_123 on 2006-05-28 09:39 MDT I'm hungry. by RA on 2006-05-28 09:41 MDT against magnivore and tron, i find more useful keeping the castigates and sb out the pontiffs for the mindslicers, i dont know why u sb out the castigates??? by Kaos on 2006-05-28 09:53 MDT Take out the Shining Shoals, you dont side them in in one match... not even Tron or Vore. by xerocat on 2006-05-28 10:46 MDT Shining Shoals should be coming in vs. Pyroclasm, Wildfire, and Zoo. By now everyone should know that Shoal can save multiple creatures from a Pyroclasm. Vs Wildfire you can usually save one creature and/or a Ghost Council or a Husk to go with the Promise sitting on the table. Vs. Zoo your just trading 2 for 2 (Shining Shoal/RFG Card for their Burn Spell/Creature or Combat DMG/Creater for FREE. Since the Steam Vents decks are harder matchups, I like to run the full set of Shoals. You want to have one in your opening 7 to stop the initial Pyroclasm. by xerocat on 2006-05-28 10:46 MDT Also, another really good article. by Sandler on 2006-05-28 11:16 MDT jh by kfcman1084 on 2006-05-28 11:38 MDT Whatever, BW is the best deck, I'm 99.9% sure it'll win the Master tomorrow.
by ColdBeer on 2006-05-28 12:38 MDT article = above average. i think you overestimate your gruul match-up a bit though by Streakz on 2006-05-28 13:06 MDT I said that so that people would say that kfc, obv I will be winning the master. by ChristPunchr on 2006-05-28 13:25 MDT kfc is a complete fucking retard, you don't need to say shit for him, other than BAMAKY. by Sniperfan on 2006-05-28 15:24 MDT Great article. There's one point i disagree with though: U/W is a very hard matchup. I ran into one Round 3 with Husk and i was crushed. Now people still haven't realized how good Court Hussar is, but eventually they will. After sideboard, Spell Snare comes in and destroys your aggro plan. Faith's Fetters and Wrath of God is rather gg. by RThomas on 2006-05-28 15:36 MDT Some things of note:
by MathAenya on 2006-05-28 15:49 MDT "if ur playing them in person and u see them grab 15 cards up from there board and put them all in then there going agro board and dont take out mortify lol"
by Jayzus on 2006-05-28 17:55 MDT I'd like to reiterate an earlier point made, that you hurt your credibility a bit by saying that Husk is the fastest deck in standard. . .it may well be the best, but it certainly goldfishes slower than WWr, Zoo, Gruul, and some builds of Heartbeat. Show me how husk can pull a turn 4 kill?
by FFTARoxorz05 on 2006-05-28 19:53 MDT Wow awesome article, I was wondering why Pontiff was so good and why Mindslicer was in the board... by tato- on 2006-05-28 21:01 MDT VERY GOOD ARTICLE, gj Baryonyx by ChristPunchr on 2006-05-28 21:27 MDT Man, there should be no further explanation for why Isamaru is good.
by Baryonyx on 2006-05-28 22:25 MDT @Jayzus
by ChristPunchr on 2006-05-29 00:23 MDT yeah, fishing on an opponent is fun. WRb sligh can do that too with burn.
by Dilaudid on 2006-05-30 03:31 MDT i actually build a T2 deck during the oddesy/onslaught block with husk called "critters" not sure about list...
by RThomas on 2006-06-01 01:06 MDT ChristPunchr, in your haste to be unnecessarily arrogant, you neglected to explain why Ancestral Knowlege is good. Please do so. by RThomas on 2006-06-01 01:06 MDT ChristPunchr, in your haste to be unnecessarily arrogant, you neglected to explain why Ancestral Knowlege is good. Please do so. by Yiorgos on 2006-06-01 03:37 MDT LoL...
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