Caretaker Alarm

Fragility · Joined: 03 Aug 2005 Posts: 4

Alright, so I've been toying around with this deck ideal to work up a combo running off of Intruder Alarm and Hell's Caretaker. It's more of a Reanimator style deck, with some twists. Here's what I have so far for the deck, and I am open to any and all suggestions, granted anyone wants to give some. Here's how the deck looks right now:

Lands (24):
5 Swamp
4 Watery Grave
4 Polluted Delta
3 Blood Crypt
3 Bloodstained Mire
3 Cabal Coffers
2 Island

Creatures (11):
2 Petradon
3 Hell's Caretaker
3 Soul Scourge
2 Ravenous Rats
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker

Spells (24):
3 Buried Alive
4 Intruder Alarm
3 Careful Study
2 Deep Analysis
3 Counterspell
2 Mana Leak
2 Remand
2 Life/Death
4 Burning Wish

Sideboard (15):
3 Pithing Needle
2 Kataki, War's Wage
1 Cranial Extraction
3 Hideous Laughter
1 Haunting Echoes
2 Withered Wretch
1 Buried Alive
1 Life/Death
1 Stitch Together

The way it runs is fairly simple. Drop a Caretaker, using Coffer's mana production. I have the graveyard distribution to be able to put any creatures in my graveyard during any main phase. Common dumps, Petradon, Ravenous Rats, and Soul Scourge. I have enough Counter-magic to be able to withstand a Putrefy or Mortify. The sideboard has Wish targets to be able to either dump 3 critters from the deck, remove a troublesome card, reanimate, or get rid of a lot of their spells. I have the sligh-control for games 2 and three with Hideous Laughter, if I lose game 1. The basis of the deck rests on Intruder Alarm, Hell's Caretaker, and Soul Scourge. As soon as the Scourge hits play, sac him to return another, causing an infinite loop of life loss, and no life gain.

I would greatly appreciate comments.

ck3gds · Joined: 21 Jun 2005 Posts: 238

You want to go off during your upkeep? OK, fair enough, let's give it to you.

Your mana base is way too taxed. The way I see it, you're going to have more problems with mana, especially since you're running three colours.

And pardon me, but when you sacrifice Soul Scourge, he gains back the life, doesn't he? Rolling Eyes

THE_PREDATOR · Joined: 20 Apr 2005 Posts: 93

ck3gds is right, but the combo works (I think) with Faceless Butcher, Mesmeric Fiend or even Petravark, but then you'd have to beat face to win. Do I understand this correctly: If you stack the comes into play ability, then before it resolves, sac it causing the leaves play ability to trigger, the leaves play ability will resolve first, returning nothing because nothing has been removed, and then the comes into play ability resolves, removing somthing for ever.

NesherHaesh · Joined: 01 Jul 2005 Posts: 33

why not just :

hellcaretaker + yosei + intruder alarm ?

opponent doesnt untap until end of game and u beat him with 5\5 flier, you can aslo play kokusho and CIP creatures (hierarch,angel,any good creature in ext)

Fragility · Joined: 03 Aug 2005 Posts: 4

Yea, as I got to looking at the Soul Scourge closer, I remembered that was the reason why I took it out of my Vanguard Extended deck on MTGO. I was being dumb. Yosei/Kokusho is what I run, as I went back and looked at it.

freddy · Joined: 15 May 2006 Posts: 180

24+11+24=59
add a card.

djww19 · Joined: 15 Mar 2005 Posts: 396

I was pretty sure you could stack the leaves play before the comes into play ability by making sure it died with the comes into play on the stack and go infi like that.

NavyJoe · Joined: 04 Jan 2005 Posts: 12

You sure can, this is how it works.

Upkeep:
Tap Caretaker to bring in Scourger/Fiend

[STACK]
Caretacker ability
[/STACK]

It resolves and Scourger/Fiend comes into play. Alarm triggers. Now you have to set the stack like this (Alarm to resolve first)

[STACK]
CitP trigger
Intruder Alarm
[/STACK]

Let Alarm resolve. Caretaker untaps. Sac the Scourger/Fiend to bring in something else.

[STACK]
CitP Trigger
Leave Play Trigger
Caretaker Ability
[/STACK]

Now let the stack resolve.

Leave Play Trigger will do nothing since it did nothing on the CitP. CitP Trigger will go off with them losing a card or losing life. Now repeat.

As for the deck. I would run more a g/b/u than anything else. Using green for Sakura-Tribe Elder and Birds of Paradise. Using Blue for Careful Study and any other draw/discard spells. Add in cards that help you when they come into play like Carven Carylid. This way, once you go off, you can continue to go on your upkeep without ever stopping. You could go off as early as turn 4 with a properly built deck. Come to think of it Tolarian Winds could find a place in the deck since it's an instant. This way you can dump your hand into your g/y and grab somemore cards. Here's a rough list

//Caretaking//
17 Creatures:
4 Hell's Caretaker
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Mesmeric Fiend
3 Carven Carylid
1 Kokusho, the Evening Star
1 Keiga, the Tide Star
1 Eternal Witness

8 Draw:
4 Careful Study
4 Tolarian Winds

10 Utility:
3 Sensei's Divining Top
4 Intruder Alarm
3 Chrome Mox

24 Mana:
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Watery Grave
4 Breeding Pool
3 Forest
2 Island
3 Swamp
4 Polluted Delta

15 Sideboard:
4 Pernicious Deed
3 Putrefy
4 Defense Grid
4 Deathmark

ck3gds · Joined: 21 Jun 2005 Posts: 238