Nice! Did the non-basic destruction plan work though?
this post was submitted on 25 Jun 2025
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Sadly, I didn't draw any of the nonbasic land destruction cards and had to tutor for card draw in the beginning :/
Not effektive in what sense? I usually run non-basic spot removal to deal with especially strong lands. Are you talking about mass land denial? Because then you'd obviously run into decks with lots of basics. So, yeah, not sure what you are trying to prove.
For what it's worth I like Wave of Vitriol to basically shut down artefact and 4+ color decks that don't run enough basics, while triggering Landfall on my side. It's green, though.
Good point. That player plays like 80% nonbasic. Others play less. The deck I linked above has some nonbasic land destruction but it's not the sole focus and it has plenty of other cards to assist with winning. I feel like in a game against a 3-5 colored commander, this deck might shoot one of the lands you need to get him out. Against others it might just slow your ramp.
I have ultimately decided against green to stay within two colors - even though it was the card I initially thought of when thinking about this deck.
So to answer the question: that nonbasic land destruction cards can be used in a deck in such a way that you don't think "that card kinda sucks... I should remove it"
Got it! ~~In that case I'd recommend adding Demolition Field. I run it in almost all of my decks.~~ (On second thought you have enough non-basic hate, so this is too clunky in comparison)
I'd probably cut Tsabo's Web for a basic, because its use is even more restricted than "Non-basic" and your land count is pretty low.
I'm also not convinced Bola's Citadel really fits here. It's a busted card for sure, but your average cmc is a bit too high to really go off once it hits the board. I'd probably run another basic instead ;)
Then I think you could use more draw. Something simple and unconditional like Night's Whisper. I quite like Hostile Negotiation, Moonlight Bargain and Stargaze in decks that also want to fill the graveyard. Skeletal Scrying is also nice, when you have enough cards in your graveyard, it's especially nice, because it's an instant. Also great for your type of deck are Twilight Prophet and Keen Duelist, because of your high cmc creatures.
If you're looking for cuts I'd suggest Dark Ritual (not enough value), Dread Return, Apprentice Necromancer, Doomed Necromancer (you have enough recursion), Invader Parasite (doesn't quite fit the theme).
Other cards I'd recommend: Coiling Rebirth (doubles creature etb), Final Parting (tutor creature to grave and Ruination to hand) and maybe some of the other tutors (like Insatiable Avarice) to allow you to wreck havoc on the non-basics more consistently!
Good points!
- Tsabo was added when the deck was much more focused on lands and it doesn't really fit anymore.
- Bola's Citadel is a bad excuse for being able to play the top card (aka draw replacement). I will replace it. I am always quite low with my landbase, but no reason to keep that bad habit up
- Keen Duelist looks like such a fun card. I am not sure about the higher cmc draw cards you suggested, but the lower ones
- I feel like the Necromancer's are awesome because they do not cost that much and my commander allows me to recast them. Getting any creature temporary for 3 or permanent for 4 is just insane. Invader Parasite is the one card that is a bit more aggressive on land destruction as it hits general lands. I kinda still want to include it, because nuking a forest really makes recovering with land ramp very difficult - I know it is a bit off theme. Instead of removing dread return, I removed beacon of unrest. I feel like the 1 mana less really can be beneficial and casting form the graveyard for sac 3 while costly is sometimes playable - especially when sacrificing copies that only last till end of turn.
- I always feel like Final Parting is a bit slow, but at the same time: yea the value is insane. Coiling Rebirth could replace dread return... alright let's try that.
- I also added buried alive for goblin ruinblaster, but I don't feel very good about that one given that this thins my nonbasic hate - however, it also enables getting the good haters out
Oh, I see the case for the Necromancers! That makes total sense. Also I didn't see Beacon of Unrest, that's a better cut for sure. I always want to play it, but the mana cost is just too damn high.
Anyway, cool stuff! Let me know how it goes!
TL;DR: Went well
I kept a 4 land hand and got punished for it by drawing only lands for a while afterwards. However, Entomb into Triarch Praetorian helped out a little, but still it was a really slow start. This made others not see me as a threat, which largely helped me win this match. An early Blasphemus gave me enough time to get back in the game.
In the late game I dropped Gray Merchant for devotion 3 out of desperation as I had nothing else, but had a lucky Jaxis next turn which allowed me to copy Gray for another 5 damage - heal was very welcome. Then some stuff happened and I was able to capitalize Etali and got a Skullclamp and from there I just exploded. Table turned against me but Big Game Hunter killed the worst threats allowing me to bring out Terror of the Peaks and copy him with a brought back blitzed Jaxis. That basically allowed me to finish all players.
I was quite lucky because earlier two players started a feud which also gave me more time to build up my board.
Anyway, I feel a bit bad that the deck won so quickly after doing nothing in the early game due to missing ramp and value pieces, but the quick finish showed that it definitely works. Have to go another round with it soon, but wanted to give the table something easier to deal with for the second game as one player started to feel bad about not getting into the game (Merfolk with a sol ring, arcane signet opening, overextended into my Blasphemus wipe).