Decklist
Jumpstart front card: Lands
Is this supposed to be a ‘lands matter’ deck?
Its main win condition is Maze’s End and that’s the reason the deck was built, so yeah, pretty much.
What about everything else?
While building the deck, I figured I wanted to have a lot of fun with it, so that’s why the Approach of the Second Sun and Door to Nothingness are in there. That’s at least 3 alternate win-cons.
At least?
I could use Villainous Wealth to steal one from somebody else, and there’s that Debt to the Deathless which can kill with enough mana. And there’s also-
OK, slow down. How much weird jank is going on here?
Alright, let’s go through this bit by bit.
– Glacial Chasm is probably the most important card in the deck – it lets me stall out long enough to play all my other cards.
– So that means Solemnity is really good because I don’t want to lose all my life. But if you have a Solemnity, you get some extra synergy with other cards, so I also added Mystic Remora, Decree of Silence, and because why not, Naked Singularity (it doesn’t affect Gates!).
– Perilous Forays is a fantastic card that not enough people play. With Amulet of Vigor and either Field of the Dead or Rampaging Baloths, I can get out all my basics, and even without the Amulet, it’s still a great ramp tool.
– There is an infinite combo with Walk the Aeons. I can go infinite as long as I have: 3 Islands or 3 lands and Dryad of the Ilysian Grove; Crucible of Worlds or Ramunap Excavator; and a way to play 3 lands per turn – Azusa will do.
– With so much land synergy, it needs protection (though to be honest, not enough people play land destruction). Sacred Ground looks harmless until you’re staring at the Glacial Chasm.
– I really don’t want people countering my important big spells. Boseiju, Who Shelters All helps me play cards like Reshape the Earth and win the game on the spot.
– Amulet of Vigor is important enough that it should be searched with a card like Trinket Mage, and while I’m doing that, Elixir of Immortality should protect my graveyard from exile effects. Also, the Elixir is how the Door to Nothingness becomes a win-con and not a way to just kill one person. Also, the Amulet untaps the Door.
– With enough weird lands, Manascape Refractor can become something like a second Maze’s End or Boseiju.
Does this deck actually work?
It really does. The goal is to ramp out quickly enough so that you can afford to play something like Glacial Chasm to protect yourself, and then while you’re hard to target, you can start setting up one of your win-cons.
So I’m assuming this deck has stories to tell.
You assume correctly, rhetorical device used to segue.
– After I put the Glacial Chasm in, my next game included someone playing a Zada, Hedron Grinder deck. He focused down the two other players, then turned to target me… before realising there was no way he could deal with the Chasm before I won with Maze’s End.
– Playing Finale of Revelation for X=10 is bad. Playing Villainous Wealth for something like X=14 in the same game is worse.
– In one game, another player played a Price of Glory. With my Sacred Ground in play, I had infinite mana… but not on my turn. Which is an unexpected combo.
– I love playing cards, and then having other players go “Wait, that card is really good, why haven’t I heard of that?” Hi, Perilous Forays!
– “Do you have a way to deal with the Door to Nothingness?” is a wonderful sentence.
Final thoughts?
This deck is really fun to play.