Brainstorming Deck Ideas (Standard)

[skeri]

I think there are lots of good cards for a deck like this. Lightning Axe is a great discard outlet as well as Catalog. I thought Reckless Scholar and possibly Wharf Infiltrator would be great discard tools so you could cast Fiery Temper, Just the Wind, and Alchemist's Greeting and then Geistblast on top of all that.

[G. Moto]

  Also if you read Wharf Infiltrator's 2nd effect it reads; "whenever you discard a creature card..." That means you can add mad prophet, your reckless scholar and if you added just enough black you could add sanitarium skeleton for an eldrazi token engine.

[robort]

Surprised either of you 2 haven't thought of Rise from the Tides for ideas such as your thinking.

[skeri]

Surprised either of you 2 haven't thought of Rise from the Tides for ideas such as your thinking.

That's an excellent idea as well. And G.Moto if we splash for black there are other madness options as well such as Alms of the Vein and Asylum Visitor. If you go the R/U/B route things could get pretty interesting.

On a somewhat different combo... what about Geistblast, Harness the Storm, and Startled Awake for a mill alternative win type strategy?

[G. Moto]

That would be a frightening combo right there. For geistblast's 3 mana cost you could copy startled awake. That means for 7 mana you're milling 26 cards off the opponent's library. That's big and a very good idea.

[skeri]

That would be a frightening combo right there. For geistblast's 3 mana cost you could copy startled awake. That means for 7 mana you're milling 26 cards off the opponent's library. That's big and a very good idea.

If you ran Manic Scribe and several copies of Startled Awake you could feasibly do that twice and your opponent would be done. Infinite Obliteration or other counters would be a problem, but honestly it could be relatively fast and brutal. If all the stars aligned and somehow you had Geistblast and Startled Awake already in your graveyard and used a Startled Awake from your hand with Harness the Storm all at once (and had 11 mana available) you could mill your opponent for 39 cards which would be crazy. The chances of that are so incredibly slim, but it's still a cool thought.

[skeri]

https://deckstats.net/decks/63728/535800-u-r-startled-geistblast?saved=1&lng=en

Here was my attempt at a deck that runs on that combo. I haven't ever made an alternative win deck before, but I'm tempted to try it now.

[G. Moto]

  It's looking good so far. I would highly recommend adding some of the new creatures from EMN such as the weaver of lightning and the Thermo-Alchemist. This way you get an extra bonus just for playing your spells. They won't trigger when you copy but they will trigger when you CAST the spell. So low drops are highly recommended.

[skeri]

Alrighty I updated it a bit and added the two you suggested. You're right, it's better to reap the benefits of spells as much as possible in a build like this one.

I have a question about a Permeating Mass combo you mentioned... does it's trigger still apply if you deal damage with Rabid Bite? The card text says "combat damage" so I was curious if Rabid Bite's ability counts as combat damage.

[robort]

Alrighty I updated it a bit and added the two you suggested. You're right, it's better to reap the benefits of spells as much as possible in a build like this one.

I have a question about a Permeating Mass combo you mentioned... does it's trigger still apply if you deal damage with Rabid Bite? The card text says "combat damage" so I was curious if Rabid Bite's ability counts as combat damage.

No because  Permeating Mass is for "combat" damage and  Rabid Bite is "just" damage. Combat damage of course applies during the attack/combat phase only. Just damage can be used during the attack/combat phase but is applied as just damage.

[skeri]

Alrighty I updated it a bit and added the two you suggested. You're right, it's better to reap the benefits of spells as much as possible in a build like this one.

I have a question about a Permeating Mass combo you mentioned... does it's trigger still apply if you deal damage with Rabid Bite? The card text says "combat damage" so I was curious if Rabid Bite's ability counts as combat damage.

No because  Permeating Mass is for "combat" damage and  Rabid Bite is "just" damage. Combat damage of course applies during the attack/combat phase only. Just damage can be used during the attack/combat phase but is applied as just damage.

Thanks for clarifying, so those two cards wouldn't really work out at all together.

[robort]

Well they'd work better together if rabid bite was instant speed.
To simply clarify, if a card like rabid bite doesn't contain the word combat then it's just damage.

[robort]

Another card for those non budget deckbuilders

Liliana, Heretical Healer and she puts out a 2/2 zombie wich works for starters with this Graf Harvest
Then she flips into Liliana, Defiant Necromancer and her 1st ability is 0 cost madness outlet.
2nd helps bring creatures back and well 3rd is basically game over. Also if she dies there are cards to bring her back because she starts off as a creature.

Basically works best in a madness recursion zombie deck.

[G. Moto]

   Well on the bright side Skeri, if you wanted to use the permeating mass in a deck you could do a R/G or Jund aggro spirit deck. This way you could use spells that give your creatures first strike. This way you'll always survive the combat phase and get creature buffs in the process.

[robort]

A guy at FNM showed me this little combo. Ironclad Slayer and Ghostly Wings. Granted you have to discard to do the combo but it's fun to use. 2 cards that constanrly save each other. Then you could build around this combo itself.