New to Extended. need harsh deck criticism!

Fanboy · Joined: 16 Jun 2005 Posts: 424

JUST EDITTED AGAIN! (3rd attempt)

I'm new to extended so I need heavy critique on my deck and what's gonna tear it open.

So here's the deck modelled mostly around "The Rock" with a splash of "Braids".

Braids's Rock
Creatures - 15
4 x Eternal Witness
4 x Loxodon Hierarch
4 x Solemn Simulacrum
3 x Braids, Cabal Minion

Spells - 22
4 x Vindicate
4 x Pernicious Deed
4 x Duress
3 x Putrefy
3 x Cabal Therapy
2 x Sensei's Divining Top
2 x Damnation

Lands - 23
4 x Flagstones of Trokair
3 x Forest
3 x Windswept Heath
3 x Overgrown Tomb
2 x Swamp
2 x Godless Shrine
2 x Temple Garden
2 x Plains
2 x Vitu-Ghazi, the City-Tree

Sideboard - 15
4 x Extirpate
4 x Imp's Mischief
4 X Krosan Grip
3 x Chainer's Edict

So yeah tell me what you like and what you don't.

[edit] Advice is really helping! Slowly this is shaping more and more. I'm unaware of all the main cards used in extended as staple so offer some...also...

the main concept of the deck is to be control and win by reducing their board to crap and safely pound away with your loxodons.

That's what I'm hoping happens. So tell me what is tech with Braids and what cards are just screaming to be put in...

Also why Baloth over Loxodon? They both seem almost equally as good but i keep hearing baloth is the way to go. I only keep lox because in rare cases it can be sacced to braids to maintain control and ill still have that 4 life...also occasionally regenerating my small army can be nice.

yavin1 · Joined: 15 Jul 2006 Posts: 143

putrefy>vindicate. kills lotus blooms when they come into play etc. Run ravenous baloth also over greater harvest and a persecute. then cut the arena's for confidant and a lftl. You don't really utilize lftl enough to make it REALLY effective. The other lftl should be switched to either cabal therapy or wrath of god. Run only one wrath and one damnation, not two of one. Cut the skeletal scrying for a cabal therapy also. 4 deeds is a lot with 2 wogs also so basically

-4 vindicate +4 dark confidant
-2 life from the loam + 3 ravenous baloth
-1 persecute + 4 putrefy
-1 damnation + 3 cabal therapy
-3 phryexian arena + 1 Wog
-2 greater harvest
-1 skeletal scrying
- 1 pernicious deed

Fanboy · Joined: 16 Jun 2005 Posts: 424

Beyond the "non-regen" part in Putrefy...how does it best vindicate?

Yeah deffinitely felt arenas werent fitting and lftl was just being flashy not productive...however i'm a little reluctant on dropping harvester...will Baloth be a good enough win con? also might loxodon hierarch be a better choice?

Also little worried about using Bob with so many 4cc cards and little life gain. could green draw be a better outlet?

Bozo · Joined: 09 Feb 2006 Posts: 100

Putrefy i instant speed, this is very important against decks that play lotus bloom, because you blow it up on their upkeep to help stifle their combo.

Fanboy · Joined: 16 Jun 2005 Posts: 424

Fanboy · Joined: 16 Jun 2005 Posts: 424

Posted the new updated list

acartizle · Joined: 26 Feb 2006 Posts: 53

if you are going to play braids, at least run vitu-gazi or squirril nest or something that makes it good. Flagstones is tech, leave those in obv, but maybe 1 or 2 vitu gazi.

And run 2 damnation because your deck doesn't want to pay WW, however braids already costs BB, so 2 BB cards makes your mana more consistent than a WW and a BB

Bozo · Joined: 09 Feb 2006 Posts: 100

If you could squeeze Cabal therapies in, they're really good, aqnd I agree with Cartizzle about damnation and vitu ghazi, but squirrel nest sux.

IanRobbins · Joined: 02 Dec 2004 Posts: 233

You asked for a heavy critique so ill give you one. Firstly your deck has no goals, no clear role. You seem to be running a mix of aggro and control cards that don’t really work well together. I’m talking about 2 wog 4 deed in practically an aggro deck. You don’t really want to be deeding and wrathing your dark confidents. You want sac outlets. What are you going to do when you kill urself with confident? Birds is just sitting there being a 0/1. Cabal therapy is your friend, use it. Now you have to decide what decks are dominate in your local environment. 99% of the time Troll Ascetic is a house, and absolute house. When you combine it with jitt, sword, or god forsake armadillo cloak, things get bad for your friends real fast.

I’m pretty sure you know your sideboard is crap so we wont even really talk about that.

Get a focus, if you want to be more control, then add more baloths and control cards, perhaps call of the herd. If you want to be more aggro then add aggro cards.

Goji · Joined: 09 Apr 2006 Posts: 102

or u could just play something similiar to my list that i took 2nd with in the trial

FlyingFreak · Joined: 08 Mar 2006 Posts: 157 Location: Belgium

Vincicate is obv. better then Putrefy, I won to this deck in the semi's yesterday PTQ and it works pretty nice (but it was a bad player Smile

Maybe cut green and go BW ...

Fanboy · Joined: 16 Jun 2005 Posts: 424

Fanboy · Joined: 16 Jun 2005 Posts: 424

Deck seems to be working with current post...but it takes a long as time to get the win with only 4 fattys in the deck. Kinda feelin a secondary creature might be good...Almost feel I want to go back to greater harvester...though he's hard to cast.

Also I can't seem to decide on what I want for card draw.

Arena and bob seem to painful and harmonize never seems to be convienent with the whole tapping out thing.

With all the board wipes, small count of creatures, Braids, and even flash back cost for cabal...I'm feeling a need to add a 4 count of some creature that benefits by dieing...any suggestions for the deck?

{edit] --- Solemn Sirmiculum over Harmonize? Its draw, land fetch, Braids target, and tad bit more block/attack.

Also I run Lox since, braids can sac it and youll still have that 4 life.

Bozo · Joined: 09 Feb 2006 Posts: 100

Don't listen to IanRobbins, the old version was better, I think. You should probably run some more fetchlands, because they are so good with theTop. you also probably want 3 tops, because they are so good with fetchlands, and you want Confidant back in this deck. If I were you, I'd cut the damnations and just run Pernicious Deed backed up by Putrefy and Vindicate. Duresss + Therapy is cool...I'll post more later.

Fanboy · Joined: 16 Jun 2005 Posts: 424