extremely fun elemental deck

Novajoe · Joined: 18 Feb 2008 Posts: 138

I was looking through some of my cards and realized I had a crapload of elemental cards. So I built this deck. Tested it all day today online and I'm suprised how versatile it is. I would have thought that it would be slow and uncompetitive, but it turned out to be exactly the opposite.

6 mountain
4 primal beyond
4 gemstone mine
4 shimmering grotto
4 vivid crag

4 flamekin harbinger
4 smokebraider
4 incandescent soulstoke
2 nova chaser
2 supreme exemplar
3 mulldrifter
3 shriekmaw
3 spitebellows
2 reveillark
1 horde of notions

4 coldsteel heart
3 makeshift mannequin
3 momentary blink

sb:
3 Aethersnipe/nevermaker can't decide
2 festercreep
2 wispmare
2 offalsnout
2 ignot chewer
2 briar horn
2 mournwelk

has some problems against control, but then most decks have problems against heavy control. Burn decks can be problematic if they burn away my base creatures(harbinger, smokebraider, soulstoke) but overall it's pretty versatile. Even without my shamans I still have a solid mana base to use my elemental creatures effectively. There's also solid removal with shreikmaw and spitebellows.

reveillark does a great job at getting back my shamen. Makeshift mannequin can get back an exemplar or chaser(or some other elemental I feel I have use for). Blink is pretty self-explanatory. Can be used defensively or to re-use one of my elemental's abilities. Or both.

horde of notions is great later on if I want to just start throwing out some of my lost creatures.

All suggestions welcome. The deck hasn't been tested much so it's still kind of young.

Vedrfolner · Joined: 04 Apr 2006 Posts: 1209

-2 Supreme Exemplar
-1 Horde of Notions
-2 Nova Chaser
-4 Shimmering Grotto

+1 Mulldrifter
+1 Shriekmaw
+2 Reveillark
+2 Underground River
+2 Battlefield Forge
+1 Mountain

Champion sucks. Stick with the good non-red elementals. Shriekmaw, Mulldrifter, Reveillark. There are better lands than Shimmering Grotto.

Edit: Æthersnipe is also quite good.

Lynolf · Joined: 25 Aug 2007 Posts: 226

I agree with him, except in the part to take out Horde of Notions and Nova Chaser. I have a deck that looks like that and Horde is incredibly good, especially with evoke creatures. The same is true for Nova Chaser. Champion a Shriekmaw or a Mulldrifter and it is just cool. By the way, I chose Nevermaker, because I can return it to play with Reveillark.

Conkisstador · Joined: 08 Sep 2004 Posts: 265

note that if u activate horde for your evoke creatures... you need to pay WUBRG + 1B for shriekmaw evoke.

horde is very good.

that decks optimal fun and optimal boom capacity is in fact:

4 rite of flame
4 simian spirit guide
4 slithermuse (refills after a trips accel hand)
4 smokebraider
4 incandescent soulstoke
4 nova chaser
1 supreme exemplar
4 flamekin harbinger

4 magus of the moon
3 fatal frenzy
4 shock

4 primal beyond
4 shivan reef
1 gemstone caverns (1 more in side)
etc mountain islands

there's several turn 3 kills. myriad turn 4 kills. if you ever get stalled by double-removal the slithermuse evokes (or comes in thru soulstoke) for lots of card-draw.

not that soulstoke can be used at their eot to have an extra body attacking.
the 1 exemplar is to get by maindeck hosing.
play another in side.
the deck is completely able to splash for shriekmaw and reveillark and aethersnipe.

if you paly smart there's nothing that hoses the deck except for really bad luck. it can obviously lose as all decks can, but it consistently puts on the hurt and 20% of games you just win with them having no chance, period.

Novajoe · Joined: 18 Feb 2008 Posts: 138

well I took a little bit out of conkisstador's list. I like the speed and being able to drop a soulstoke first turn. Here's the new list.

6 mountain
4 primal beyond
4 gemstone mine
4 sulferous springs
4 shivan reef

4 nova chaser
4 flamekin harbinger
4 smokebraider
4 incandescent soulstoke
2 supreme exemplar
4 mulldrifter
4 shriekmaw
4 simian spirit guide

4 rite of flame
4 fatal frenzy

Faerie decks can put a hate on this thing, but that's about it. It's too fast for anything else as I've found. Unless I'm playing fae or some other deck with mass counter/removal, the combo will come out by turn 5. I tested against kithkin, goblin/rougues, rev combo, merfolk, mass bounce, etc. and this thing deals lethal damage to all by at least turn 5.

Even if the opponent slips up my initial shamen I can still play nova chaser fairly quickly. If I get a starting hand with soulstoke and a few spirit guides/rites it's over by turn 4 at the latest. Because chances are I'll have either a harbinger or fatal frenzy.

I've gotten a turn 3 kill as well:
t1: land, harbinger for either soulstoke or nova chaser/exemplar, whichever I'm missing
t2: land, rite, soulstoke
t3: land, bring in chaser/exemplar with soulstoke, rite, fatal frenzy on nova chaser. Swing for 22 with trample/flying

even if the opponent does manage to block a few damage with whatever creatures he might have out there, harbinger comes back in and you can tutor up another chaser... or exemplar

Of course that's a prime hand and happens maybe 1/10 games, but I still have to have respect for a deck that can deal 20 damage by turn 3.

Also here's the sb I've got so far:
4 delay- delaying a spell for 3 turns gives me plenty of time to secure a win
4 sudden shock- think you're gonna steal my nova chaser/supreme exemplar with sower of temptations?
3 festercreep- faerie killer
4 spitebellows- swap in over shriekmaw when facing black creatures

only-3 · Joined: 25 Feb 2008 Posts: 58

Novajoe · Joined: 18 Feb 2008 Posts: 138

eh. For the most part I never even use the painlands. But there have been times where I've had to so I keep them as is. I don't like the cairns in here because if that's all I have to start with then I'm screwed.

only-3 · Joined: 25 Feb 2008 Posts: 58

Novajoe · Joined: 18 Feb 2008 Posts: 138

only-3 · Joined: 25 Feb 2008 Posts: 58

I understand the painlands are good but and I do have life to sacrifice but it always makes me worry about the rest of the game.

Vedrfolner · Joined: 04 Apr 2006 Posts: 1209

Soulstoke + big elementals is way too inconsistent and fragile. I have tried it many times. If Soulstoke is killed, nearly all other cards in the deck are dead.

In my UR elemental deck, I found that even a singleton Hostility was a waste of space even though I ran 4 Harbinger to get it. Putting creatures in a deck that are supposed to go with and only with Incandescent Soulstoke is simply a bad strategy.

Doubly so with Champion, which is a terrible drawback. It needs another elemental to be in play so that you can cast it, and that is bad in itself. But the worst thing is that if the opponent have a blue, red or black mana or two untapped, you cannot play it even though you do have a living creature in play. The risk is too high - if the opponent kills or bounces it, he nets a 2 for 1 card advantage. Against good players, that is as good as GG.

Rite of Flame and Simian Spirit Guide are cards which makes you use two cards to get one. Card disadvantage. If that is going to be worth it, the tempo gain has to be significant. It must win you the game straight away. They are combo cards, and indeed, the soulstoke deck plays as a combo deck, not aggro. You build up to a Great Attack with a 10/x hasted flyer/trampler which you want to boost with Fatal Frenzy. If any of the stages prior to the damage is on stack are disrupted, you lose the game.

Novajoe · Joined: 18 Feb 2008 Posts: 138

Vedrfolner · Joined: 04 Apr 2006 Posts: 1209

Conkisstador marketed it as a very good deck - he may have meant it as a very good casual deck, but I responded to it as a tournament deck idea.

If someone posts a deck idea and states that it is a casual fun deck, I will respond to it as such. Also, if someone posts a deck idea that is meant to do something specific, for instance winning with a big Tarox Bladewing, I try to help achieving that.

trainwrecka · Joined: 24 Feb 2008 Posts: 2

have you made any changes to this, or is it still pretty solid?

dt · Joined: 13 Nov 2007 Posts: 45

what about sunflare shaman?

Early it is a cheap beater, has nice synergies with soulstoke, and late in the game can be used to burn your opponent for lethal.

I haven't tested with it but I just thought it might work well with your list.