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Felipe Musco
Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2006 5:53 pm
Joined: 18 May 2006 Posts: 2434 Location: Florianópolis, SC, Brasil
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See how Transmute can set up a deadly build!
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Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Transmuting: choosing the path
3. Building the deck
4. Match-ups
5. Conclusion


_______________________________________________________________________

1. Introduction

This month, I’ve decided to write about one of the newer mechanics (not so new, since it’s from Ravnica) of the game, and how I built a surprinsingly good deck around it: Transmute.” But how will transmute make for a solid deck?” Well, let’s take a look at it, shall we?

_______________________________________________________________________

2. Transmuting: choosing the path

The current text for Transmute is as it reads: Transmute MANA COST (usually, either 1UU, 1BB or 1UB): discard this card, then search your library for a card with the same converted mana cost as this card, and put it in your hand. Shuffle your deck afterwards. From the moment I read the first transmute card that came into my hands, I was amazed with the power imbued in the mechanic itself, it’s incredibly powerful! What’s not to love? You speed up, set your hand with the best card you would want for the situation, AND get to shuffle your library! I NEEDED to build a deck using it! However, there’s a “minor” setback: it’s from House Dimir, meaning it’s a black/blue ability, colors with, let’s say, “fewer” aggressive cards that would matter so early. Another thing is that transmuting usually costs 3 mana, meaning that a VERY fast deck will usually be able to do it turn 2, but most likely, it’ll be done turn 3. So, what’s the use of getting a one-drop or two-drop for turn 4, right? So, I started looking, instead, at the 3 mana slot and on, up until the 6 mana slot (which is where all the action is in), and here’s what I’ve found:

-At 3 mana:
Drift of Phantasms
Perplex
Dimir Machinations
-At 4 mana:
Dimir House Guard
Clutch of the Undercity
-At 5 mana:
Brainspoil
-At 6 mana:
Ethereal Usher
Netherborn Phalanx

Now, there’s not so much use in fetching a 6-mana card now that the Kamigawa Dragons are gone, and other than that, those creatures are really just plain bad at that cost (ok, there ARE exceptions like Adarkar Valkyrie and Stronghold Overseer, but those don’t win a game on their own). At 5 mana, there ARE some juicy targets, like Sengir Vampire and Culling Sun. However, they ALSO won’t win you the game and are too specific, and if you DON’T need to transmute, Brainspoil is just a REALLY expensive removal, so those 2 slots were out for me.
Another problem I had was with the 2-color transmutables. Perplex demands a B/U deck, which I don’t like that much nowadays, and Dimir Machinations demands a very specific one, so those two were out. Clutch of the Undercity, well, I’d rather just play Boomerang. As you can see, another thing I had my mind set on, was that at first sight, I DIDN’T wanna play U/B, although Perplex IS a nice card on its own, but kind of unpredictable. So, that left me with Drift of Phantasms and Dimir House Guard to look into.

2.1. Drift of Phantasms
Now, this is a nice card right here. It’s a cheap wall, and a big one for that matter, AND it flies. Also, blue IS lacking some defense against aggro, and this does just that, stops aggro assaults, so it was a nice card. The only problem I had with it is that it’s just that, a wall. I can’t afford to have dead cards in Standard, so although some targets were really juicy, it had to go to a sideboard option, at most, and that’s not good enough for me. So, I turned my eyes to the sole leftover...

2.2. Dimir House Guard
Now, this guy has some nice stats. It’s black, meaning it can dodge some removals and block creatures with feaNOLINKr. It has a 2/3 body, wich is pretty ok as a blocker, and ALSO means it takes AT LEAST a Volcanic Hammer to take it out. It has FeaNOLINKr, which is pretty much just a bonus. AND, it regenerates, at the cost of a sacrifice, meaning it can become a powerful sacrifice engine! After I chose my guy to go after, I had to check for some transmutable targets for his 4-mana cost, and a quick look at the Top 8 lists from recent tournaments gave me my first (and obvious) answer: Wrath of God! The most powerful card in the format, just three mana away from a turn four casting!

_______________________________________________________________________

3. Building the deck

I was set, I had to go Orzhov, and since I’m playing Wrath of God, I had to go for a control subtype. The first thing I did, then, was separate some of the nicer B/W cards I have, and this is what I came up with:
Blackmail
Unholy Strength
Castigate
Knight of the Holy Nimbus
Mourning Thrull
Spirit Loop
Shred Memory
Withered Wretch
Last Gasp
Cruel Edict
Mortify
Orzhov Pontiff
Souls of the Faultless
Sudden Death
Phyrexian Arena
Nantuko Husk
Shrieking Grotesque
Megrim
Diabolic Tutor
Faith’s Fetters
Persecute
Wrath of God
Ghost Council of Orzhova
Sengir Vampire
Adarkar Valkyrie
Angel of Despair
Debtors’ Knell
Blazing Archon

Now, take a look at the 4-mana slot. It has Persecute, a powerhouse; Wrath of God, ditto; Faith’s Fetters, cool card; Ghost Council, nice, but not in a control deck; and Diabolic Tutor, which pretty much fetches me anything. As I was going for a more controlling build, I tried to drop as many creatures as I could (and Auras for my creatures, of course), and ended up with the following as good ones to have:

Adarkar Valkyrie
Angel of Despair

Ok, so now I have a deck that controls, stalls and plays large threats. I can play Wrath of God turn four to disrupt an opponent’s assault, and then Persecute the rest of his hand, if he starts saving cards for the after-wrath. Now, how do I stay alive early on?
Souls of the Faultless seemed like a good idea, but it’s too color intensive, and it only comes down on turn three, meaning:

1- I won’t be fetching a WoG turn three;
2- It’ll be dead by turn 5, tops.

So, I had to go with something more subtle, and versatile. I choose Mortify and Sudden Death. Ok, they both cost 3, too, but their effects are well worth it!
Now that I had how to stay alive, I needed a way to win. More than one, if possible. Then, it struck me: if I’m playing THREE different removal spells, AND transmuting creatures, why not go for Graveyard manipulation? And just like that Debtors’ Knell sprang to my mind! It’s powerful enough on its own, but with my choice of creatures, it’s EXTREMELY powerful! Just follow the example, as long as you have ONE Angel of Despair out:

1- Bring back a Dimir House Guard to play, swing.
2- At the end of the opponent’s turn (or if he tries to take out either House Guard or Angel), sacrifice the Angel to regenerate the House Guard.
3- At the beggining of your upkeep, bring the Angel back to play, and destroy ANOTHER permanent.

If you have a Valkyrie out, it’s CRAZY, you can destroy TWO permanents each turn for free! Just sac the Angel, use the Valkyrie in response, and he’ll be back on the table, destroying a permanent. Then, just repeat the steps above, and another one is gone! Talk about disruption! Oh, yes, and once Knell is out, you can WoG even with your own creatures on the board, and it’ll still be worth it. And all those combos are assuming the opponent DOESN’T have a juicy creature at HIS graveyard for you to bring back, say, Teferi? Simic Sky Swallower? Akroma, Angel of Wrath?
Now, I had a lock and a win condition. All I was lacking now was support. And what better support than card-drawing and disruption, right? I made the following choices for those spots:

Blackmail (disruption)
Castigate (disruption)
Phyrexian Arena (card-drawing)
Faith’s Fetters (disruption, and helps overcome the drawback from the Arena, and having no early blockers)
Persecute (MAJOR disruption)

Also, note that Blackmail AND Persecute send cards to the graveyard, where I can mess with them! However, Blackmail is a little more difficult to use accordingly, so I’m more in favor of Castigate.
Another thing to note is that we need to build up on mana, and FAST. So, I decided to use 4 Orzhov Basilica AND 4 Orzhov Signets, to really speed things up, and to avoid the chances of color-screw early on, so I could be set to cast whatever I wanted turn 3, tops.
Now, here’s the decklist I’ve come to, so far, and its explanations (costs to build are all based in the pricing here at Cobra Cards, basic lands are not accounted):

3.1. Decklist and explanations
Orzhov Transmuting Control, 60 cards (U$ 238.00):

22 Lands:
4 Godless Shrine
2 Gemstone Mine
4 Orzhov Basilica
4 Flagstones of Trokair
6 Swamps
2 Plains

7 Creatures:
3 Dimir House Guard
2 Adarkar Valkyrie
2 Angel of Despair

16 Sorceries:
4 Blackmail
4 Castigate
2 Diabolic Tutor
2 Persecute
4 Wrath of God

4 Instants:
4 Mortify

7 Enchantments:
3 Phyrexian Arena
2 Faith’s Fetters
2 Debtors’ Knell

4 Artifacts:
4 Orzhov Signet

Sideboard, 15 Cards (U$ 34.95):

1 Creature:
1 Angel of Despair

5 Sorceries:
1 Diabolic Tutor
2 Persecute
2 Sunscour

5 Instants:
2 Sudden Death
2 Shred Memory
1 Disenchant

4 Enchantments:
2 Faith’s Fetters
2 Ivory Mask

Now, to some explanations on the Main Deck options:
Godless Shrine – Dual land, AND can be fetched with Flagstones of Trokair. Do I need to say anything else?
Gemstone Mine – Pain lands are very hurtful, due to my already big life-loss due to having no creatures AND to the Arenas, so this makes up for not having those. Also, has great sinergy with the bouncelands, as I can simply bounce it back to my hand and play it again, with three fresh counters.
Orzhov Basilica – Speeds up my mana build, but must be played carefully, due to the loss of tempo it causes in the beggining.
Flagstones of Trokair – Very cool land, slims down my deck and fetches Godless Shrine, how could I not love it?
Dimir House Guard – The center-piece of the deck, making it a jack-of-all-trades. Gets you what you might need right away, and provides cool locks once Debtors’ Knell hits the board.
Adarkar Valkyrie – It’s good on it’s own for it’s cost, being able to swing AND block, not to mention getting me some nice creatures due to my massive removal, even if it menos losing her once in a while. I’ll tell you, targetting Akroma just before a Wrath of God is MEAN.
Angel of Despair – A good creature in size, being a reasonable beater, AND with a VERY cool ability, and a nice lock with the other creatures in the deck.
Blackmail – Mainly here for stopping early beatings (I don’t usually play it early, unless I’ll HAVE to discard a card, due to the bouncelands effect, and don’t want to, or I have another one in hand), but also nice to remove counterspells out of my way later.
Castigate – Same as Blackmail, only better, as I get to choose EXACTLY what will be going to the bin. However, it’s removed from the game, so it kinda goes against my strategy. Great card nonetheless!
Diabolic Tutor – Gets me what I need, be it an Angel of Despair, an Orzhov Signet or an Orzhov Basilica. Only two of those, as they’re fairly expensive and my best tricks are 4-drops, which I can fetch via House Guard.
Persecute – Major help in this build. Strips appart any strategy an opponent might be planning. They commit to the board, I Wrath it and Mortify their enchantments. They hold their power, I Persecute it out of their hands! And I can fetch BOTH via Dimir House Guard, meaning a NICE setup for a turn 4-5 comeback after the early beatings!
Wrath of God – Needless to explain. The best card in the format. Enough said.
Mortify – Versatile enough to maindeck, and even more useful once an Adarkar Valkyrie is out, as I can almost always choose a creature to steal fo free. Makes playing creatures to try and get back in the game a very difficult choice for the opponent. Also, should life-loss start threatening you, you can destroy one of your Phyrexian Arenas yourself with it.
Phyrexian Arena – How could I use Dark Confidant with no top manipulation, and having cards costing 7 mana? Not to mention, I play global creature-removal. This is the next best thing. Also, creature removal is abundant in maindecks, while enchantment removal is not, giving me an edge on game one.
Faith’s Fetters – Yeah, it works as a removal, ok. But more than that, it nets you 4 life, which you’ll find out to be pretty useful in most games! Can be fetched via House Guard in a pinch.
Debtors’ Knell – May look as a win more card, but it’s rather useful, since you’ll usually lose SOME life early on against heavy beating decks, so you may not have enough time to come back to the game! This either locks an opponent, as showed above, or gets you some extra power, in the form of your opponent’s dead/discarded creatures!
Orzhov Signet – Mainly here for speed, but also, alongside Flagstones of Trokair, let you “cheat” LD’ing decks.

Now, on to explain the Sideboard:
Angel of Despair – It’s the deck’s main finisher, so should you face removal yourself, or even counterspelling, it’s better to have some extra copies!
Diabolic Tutor – This sideboard is all about “silver bullets” (meaning cards that are not all powerful, but rather EXTREMELY good against CERTAIN builds, letting you wreck those specific builds apart), and a lot of them are not transmuting targets, so you can just cast a Tutor, or trnsmute for one and THEN cast it. However, this takes some time, so it’s better to have the Tutor itself in hand.
Persecute – Against creature-less decks, you’ll have a hard time boarding out, so this is a good card to board in instead of all that removal!
Sunscour – More copies of Wrath of God, should you face a REALLY fast deck, like a super-pumped Thallid deck or something like that, that produces creatures like crazy, AND one that you can cast for free, given the circunstances! If they can’t regenerate, you can just toss a Wrath of God and, say, a late Castigate to get rid of the entire board, and THEN tap out to play what you want. Also let’s you try to Wrath twice in a turn, should they have counterspells.
Sudden Death – A great removal, kills pretty much anything in Standard right now, short from Rumbling Slum, Bogardan Hellkite, Liege of the Pit and Stronghold Overseer, AND opponents can’t respond to it with almost anything! Good card, I tell you, should you need more spot-removal than global removal.
Shred Memory – Graveyards are being TOO manipulated right now, so this puts a stop to it. I could have gone with Tormod’s Crypt, but hey, I may want something from that graveyard after all, so instead I’ve gone with this. Oh, and did I mention THIS transmutes for some silver bullets in the SB, as well as Castigate?
Disenchant – Can be fetched in numerous ways, AND the deck has Angel of Despair, which can destroy the same targets, so I only use a lone copy, but who knows what crazy combo Mishra might pull out, right?
Faith’s Fetters – If life-loss is REALLY an issue in a particular match, just gain more!
Ivory Mask – As I have exhaustly pointed out, life IS an issue in this build, so a late-game burn to the head may put you in trouble. Counter that early on! Strip their hand of enchanment removal, play this, strip their hand from anything else, and go for the beating!
I’ve already said that, but I can’t stress enough that Sideboarding is all about the meta, so if you feel you need to tweak the SB to better fit the needs in your area, feel free to do it, and see how you fare!

_______________________________________________________________________

4. Match-ups

Now, as Standard is just beggining to re-shape, there are A LOT of different, promising decks out there, and it would take A LOT of time to playtest enough to post a reliable match-up information against them, so I playtested mainly against some representatives of the type, like Solarpox for reanimator, Glare of SubduaNOLINKl for control and Gruul Beats for aggro, and did some minor testing against other builds on the same fashion. I also played against a burn deck of my own. So, here are the general results (note that sideboarding is completly optional, if you’re not having trouble winning, than it’s not that necessary at all):

4.1. Aggro
Aggro can be a real pain. Don’t hesitate to blow everything up, and control your life points carefully. Also, be careful not to discard cards that can be used from the graveyad, so if you play Blackmail, go for Char (assuming you time your casting right so that they’ll reveal it to you). If you play Castigate, THEN go for Call of the Herd. However, they’ll be having a tough match too, as if they overcommit to try and kill you, a Wrath of God wrecks them apart, and if they DON’T play them all, you can Persecute their hands away.
-Out:
1 Phyrexian Arena, 1 Debtors’ Knell, 1 Orzhov Signet, 2 Blackmail
-In:
1 Faith’s Fetters, 1 Sunscour, 1 Ivory Mask, 2 Sudden Death

4.2. Burn
Burn can be VERY annoying, so if you get low on life on game one, simply blow out your own Arenas with Mortify, or don’t play them at all, you can even board them out.. Other than that, just try to rush to beating them before they wreck the board with something like Wildfire, thus wrecking your mana development. You’ll probably be able to avoid Wildfires, short from topdeck ones, so if you can get to an Angel + Houseguard lock QUICK, you can shut their red mana down completely, thus lowering the chances of letting THEM wreck YOU.
-Out:
1 Debtors’ Knell, 4 Wrath of God, 3 Mortify
-In:
1 Diabolic Tutor, 2 Ivory Mask, 2 Faith’s Fetters, 1 Angel of Despair, 2 Persecute
Now, if they pack burn with graveyard manipulation, or with Stuffy Doll/Artifact package, you can ALSO board out 3 Mortify for 1 Disenchant and 2 Shred Memory, and you can ALWAYS consider dropping Phyrexian Arena.

4.3. Control
Control will usually have the same lack of creatures, so boarding out is pretty much the same, although boarding in can be a little tricky. Your abundant discard favors you against control, and if they pack counterspells, all you have to do is make sure Debtors’ Knell hits the board.
-Out:
1 Debtors’ Knell, 4 Wrath of God
-In:
1 Angel of Despair, 2 Persecute, and the rest will usually depend on the build. Even 4 Mortify could be boarded out in favor of 2 Sudden Death and 2 Sunscour, depending on the finisher they use.

4.4. Reanimator
Reanimator will usually be a pain, however, you have more removal than they have reanimation, AND they’re graveyard setup will help YOU late game, so, enjoy!
-Out:
1 Persecute, 4 Blackmail, 1 Orzhov Signet
-In:
2 Sudden Death, 2 Shred Memory, 1 Faith’s Fetters, 1 Sunscour

_______________________________________________________________________

5. Conclusion

Now, this deck came to me as a big surprise. I wanted to try out something fun (I like decks with a lot of resources, rather than good’ol aggro beating or burning-spree) with the ability that I likde the most, and it turned out to be a pretty poweful deck AND an original one, as far as I can tell. So, the lesson you should take from this article is this: “If you see something you think is fun, go for it! Who knows what you may come up with!” You never know where the next “deck-to-beat” may be lurking...
Thanks for reading, and all the feedback and criticism are appreciated!
Last edited by Felipe Musco on Sun Nov 26, 2006 9:37 pm; edited 1 time in totalI don't like YOU.
c3poquino
Posted: Thu Nov 23, 2006 10:59 pm
Joined: 04 Sep 2006 Posts: 47 Location:
I must say, at first sight I thought this deck was too... "japanese". Lots of 2-ofs and 3-ofs, and no good 4-ofs. However, I must admit you probably tried this deck for a good while, since I tried to tweak it with painlands, more Gemstone Mine, etc, and it always end up disrupting the deck. Congratulations, you’ve created a deck that’s original, and very good. You’re a great player. I’ve been beating my bro’ for 4 days straight with it. Razz
Nephilim__Beserker
Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2006 1:17 am
Joined: 10 Jun 2006 Posts: 7 Location:
i like your deck and think its a great idea.
But are you sure your combo works because to regenerate means
(The next time this creature would be destroyed this turn, it isn’t. Instead tap it, remove all damage from it, and remove it from combat).
Felipe Musco
Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2006 1:31 am
Joined: 18 May 2006 Posts: 2434 Location: Florianópolis, SC, Brasil
As far as I can tell, I can regenerate a creature all I want. It’s not benefic, since the creature is tapped after you regenerate it for the first time. At least I played it today, and no judges complained... But the "combo" is more of a plus, I haven’t actually gotten to use it, since you’ll usually kill the opponent first anyway. In Extended, THEN you’d get to use it, as I swap Angel of Despair for Yosei, the Morning Star (and also Blackmail for Duress).
I don't like YOU.
corvus
Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2006 6:48 am
Joined: 13 Oct 2006 Posts: 1696 Location: Roaming, but dangerous!!!
Excellent! Of cource as a newbie i haven’t seen many strategies, but this one is superb. Plus it has angels that i really love in this game... 5 from me!
Click here if you want to trade some foils away Wink
Far, Far beyond the island we dwelt in shapes of twilight
Through draught and weary days
Through grief and endless pain
Felipe Musco
Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2006 7:26 pm
Joined: 18 May 2006 Posts: 2434 Location: Florianópolis, SC, Brasil
Thanks, Corvus! Appreciated! Do try this deck when you have the time, it’s awesome fun!

Felipe Musco wrote:
As far as I can tell, I can regenerate a creature all I want. It’s not benefic, since the creature is tapped after you regenerate it for the first time.


I checked this, and this is how it works:
You CAN regenerate a creature all you want paying the regeneration cost, and it’s NOT tapped. It WILL be tapped the first time it IS regenerated, which means, when it’s about to be destroyed. What you do is create a "Regeneration Shield" around the creaturem by paying the cost in advance. So, I can sac my Angel to the House Guard, and, if by any reason it would be destroyed this turn later on, it’s automatically regenerated. SO yes, it works. Hope it helped.
I don't like YOU.
r2d2quino
Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2006 11:04 pm
Joined: 29 Aug 2006 Posts: 49 Location:
This thing is mean. My bro’ played against me (I was using that Amazon Forest deck, slightly different), and I can’t outrun this thing long enough. Persecute on a Green only deck is terrible! But what can I say? Good deck. Not my kind, but still cool. Looks like trouble for opponents.
Nephilim__Beserker
Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2006 5:48 pm
Joined: 10 Jun 2006 Posts: 7 Location:
Sweet i thought when you regenerated he was tapped until your next untap step thanks a lot for your clarification. Great post

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