The mind of a brewer is a wild, fickle beast. It will spend hours combing through Gatherer, looking for hidden gems or lost interactions. It will tinker with the numbers on a deck for days. Then, when the monstrosity has been constructed, the lightning has been ridden, and the creation shambles onto the tabletop to strike terror into the hearts of unsuspecting opponents.. the mind of the brewer will immediately become bored with it.
Ok, then, onto the next deck?
This is my favorite time of year. A new set, new mechanics, a fresh standard ready to be born. I write down a deck and have another one thought up before I finish tweaking the land count. Now that my Parallel Pod deck has taken its first breath and sent its cry out into the world, I’m ready to knock up a fresh young deck box.
Fans of the Parallel Pod deck, still your rapidly beating hearts. I will give you an update on it later.
I really want to jump back into bed with Tezzeret, but I’m afraid standard holds an [card]Ancient Grudge[/card] against him. Tezz didn’t gain much from the new set, but boy, did the haters get some ammunition. While I had a handful of decks running laps around my brain, including a B/R/G Werewolves build (Werewolves of Jund, Son!), I promised you people [card]Heartless Summoning[/card] decks, and by the Crimson Taint of Koth, I am going to deliver them!
[deck title=The Artificial Heart by Travis Hall]
[Lands]
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Darkslick Shores
2 Ghost Quarter
2 Buried Ruin
7 Island
5 Swamp
[/Lands]
[Creatures]
4 Myr Superion
4 Grand Architect
3 Treasure Mage
2 Phyrexian Rager
4 Solemn Simulacrum
2 Phyrexian Metamorph
3 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Contagion Engine
1 Steel Hellkite
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Ponder
4 Heartless Summoning
3 Doom Blade
2 Forbidden Alchemy
[/Spells]
[Sideboard]
4 Peace Strider
2 Go for the Throat
1 Platinum Emperion
1 Mindslaver
3 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Ghost Quarter
2 Black Sun’s Zenith
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]
Versions of this deck have popped up around the net. Having both [card]Heartless Summoning[/card] and [card]Grand Architect[/card] to play out the [card]Myr Superion[/card] makes it a little more reliable. I’m trying [card]Buried Ruin[/card] as a way to recur in the long game. I want [card]Ponder[/card] in my [card]Heartless Summoning[/card] lists, as it can help us land that (necessary) turn 2 Summoning.
I like this version of the deck, but what I really want to cast on turn 3-4 is [card]Inferno Titan[/card]:
[deck title=Heartless RUBbing by Travis Hall]
[Lands]
2 Drowned Catacomb
4 Darkslick Shores
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
2 Dragonskull Summit
3 Island
5 Mountain
4 Swamp
[/Lands]
[Creatures]
4 Myr Superion
4 Priest of Urabrask
3 Phyrexian Rager
4 Solemn Simulacrum
2 Phyrexian Metamorph
3 Inferno Titan
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Sheoldred, Whispering One
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Ponder
4 Heartless Summoning
2 Doom Blade
2 Dismember
2 Forbidden Alchemy
[/Spells]
[Sideboard]
2 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Inferno Titan
4 Arc Trail
1 Doom Blade
4 Peace Strider
3 Surgical Extraction
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]
Like the previous list, I’m trying to squeeze in a little blue mana to give us access to Ponder, but I’m not sure if a full set of [card]Solemn Simulacrum[/card] offers us enough shuffling options to make it worthwhile. Again, we have a second way to get the [card]Myr Superion[/card] out of our hand ([card]Priest of Urabrask[/card], baby!). This deck does let you LIVE THE DREAM and cast a turn 3 [card]Inferno Titan[/card].
After playing against a [card]Heartless Summoning[/card] deck with Parallel Pod, I can see that, while it has some great draws, it can’t keep up with other decks, unless it has the namesake enchantment.
Parallel Pod Update
I went 3-1 at FNM this week with a Parallel Pod deck. I lost to Tempered Steel (when I forgot to add [card]Sylvok Replica[/card]/[card]Viridian Corrupter[/card] in my rush to submit the deck), but beat up on U/B Snapcaster Control, Heartless Architect, and a Township Tokens deck. I was still missing a few cards for the deck (I can’t find [card]Hinterland Harbor[/card] in my area) and I ran [card]Garruk Relentless[/card] in place of [card]Elspeth Tirel[/card] while I wait for the copies I bought to arrive, but the deck worked surprisingly well. In the games I won I was 6-0, and the combo of [card]Birthing Pod[/card] and [card]Parallel Lives[/card] was devastating whenever it hit the board. Looking at the card choices, here’s what I learned:
[card]Moorland Haunt[/card]: This thing worked beautifully with and without [card]Parallel Lives[/card]. I won a game against U/B control solely off the back of this card. No matter how many creatures he countered or killed, I always had something on the board to whittle at his life total. I survived for 5 turns against Heartless Architect by using the tokens to chump block his [card]Steel Hellkite[/card], while I drew out the answers I needed. If you are running a deck that has Islands, Plains, and creatures, you need to play this card.
[card]Garruk Relentless[/card]: He was good every time he hit the table. He did his job, providing an endless stream of tokens, and even flipped once when I used him to take out a [card]Snapcaster Mage[/card]. I still think Elspeth’s better, but I’m going to keep Garruk in mind for the deck for the time being.
[card]Forbidden Alchemy[/card]: Worthless in this deck. It was a cute idea, but not worth it.
[card]Viridian Emissary[/card]: Well worth his weight. I had cut these down to only a single copy, but I think I’m adding a few more back to the main.
[card]Fiend Hunter[/card]: He did exactly what I needed him to do. He’s not a long term answer, but he either removes a blocker at an opportune time, or takes out a threat while you stabilize. Also, it is sometimes a good idea to use this guy on YOUR creatures. I have used him to remove [card]Blade Splicer[/card] as an anti-[card]Day of Judgment[/card] measure, and as a way to trigger another “enters the battlefield” effect (hello [card]Sun Titan[/card]!).
[card]Geist of Saint Traft[/card]: Not good enough for this deck, another idea that really didn’t pan out.
[card]Parallel Lives[/card]: I was never sad to have one of these on the board. Whenever I managed to get multiple copies out, my opponents began to shift uncomfortably, as if someone had dropped a scorpion in their underwear. I get the criticisms, but this card offers so much explosive potential, and it gives the deck another angle of attack.
With all this in mind, here’s an updated, tighter list:
[deck title=Parallel Pod 2.0 by Travis Hall]
[Lands]
2 Moorland Haunt
2 Gavony Township
2 Glacial Fortress
2 Razorverge Thicket
3 Hinterland Harbor
4 Sunpetal Grove
5 Forest
3 Plains
1 Island
[/Lands]
[Creatures]
4 Birds of Paradise
3 Doomed Traveler
1 Phantasmal Image
3 Viridian Emissary
1 Leonin Relic-Warder
2 Beast Within
4 Blade Splicer
1 Fiend Hunter
1 Viridian Corrupter
2 Hero of Bladehold
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
2 Acidic Slime
1 Kessig Cagebreakers
1 Sun Titan
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Birthing Pod
3 Parallel Lives
1 Elspeth Tirel
[/Spells]
[Sideboard]
1 Tree of Redemption
1 Beast Within
4 Timely Reinforcements
3 Purify the Grave
1 Viridian Corrupter
1 Acidic Slime
3 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Archon of Justice
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]
I wanted Elesh Norn as a top of the chain “I win” card. Whenever I had a [card]Sun Titan[/card] on the board, I often wished I could go ahead and sacrifice it to fetch the Hellraiser herself.
I’m giving [card]Kessig Cagebreakers[/card] a shot, it just seems like it might be situationally powerful enough to warrant inclusion. If it doesn’t work out this week, I’ll move back to [card]Precursor Golem[/card] or (probably) [card]Geist-Honored Monk[/card].
I’ve added Thrun to the sideboard as another card to fight control.
My initial testing with this deck has shown it to be fun, explosive, and better than expected. Right now, this is what I plan on playing for States… unless [card]Snapcaster Mage[/card] lures me in with its siren call.
In the meantime, if anyone else has been playing Blade splicer as a Can-o’-Man, let me know in the comments.
If you like my suggestions, you can follow me on Twitter: travishall456. I throw around random observations and deck ideas every day.
Travis Hall is a resident Mana D rogue deck brewer with an unhealthy addiction to Heartless Summoning and Birthing Pod.