Staxx Oath v. 3.0

[delta_strike]

hey Kassow-Rossing
I would very much like to see your version wiht creatures, i think the creatures you i found so far are very good.
what about creatures like academy rector, wurmcoil engine, Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas, Magus of the Tabernacle  ?

1. Baneslayer Angel
2. Grave Titan
3. Hokori, Dust Drinker
4. Kaho, Minamo Historian
5. Karn, Silver Golem
6. Knight of the Reliquary
7. Lodestone Golem
8. Lotus Cobra
9. Primeval Titan
10. Sharrum the Hegemon
11. Sun Titan
12. Trinket Mage
13. World Queller

[Kassow-Rossing]

Hello to another Dane of the official site

My current deck I've played for the last few months contains

Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
Baneslayer Angel
Frost Titan
Grave Titan
Primeval Titan
Sharuum the Hegemon
Sun Titan
Wurmcoild Engine

of the cards you've mentioned. I also play the following creatures:

Braids, Cabal Minion

I'm also testing Hokori, Dust Drinker in and out sometimes. Keep in mind I'm playing Oath of Druids which leads me to the decision that I cannot play "weak" creatures such as Trinket Mage, Karn and so on.

I def. like the new version with creatures better than the previous one. I just haven't found time to write another extensive article about the deck. I will in the future but only if it possible while only changing a bit of the 3.0 text.

Thx a lot for the response. Let me know where you are resident in Denmark so you maybe can join our community. We're 15 people in Lyngby, 25 i Roskilde and 25 in Holbæk.

Patrick

[MarcMagic]

I'm wondering why "Sphinx of the Steel Wind" is not listed so far because it would be one of the first creatures to include because several reasons. Castable through Workshop, tutorable, academy ruins/oath combination, lifelink with first strike etc. It just lacks Pro:White/Black and haste to be "perfect" :>.

[Kassow-Rossing]

Sphinx of the Steel Wind is a GREAT creature! It is near perfect but it costs too much for the deck. It's not pure Oath of Druids any longer. It's simply better to Oath into a M11 Titan and Baneslayer is easier to cast.

[delta_strike]

Thanks
Its very nice of you

I really like thoes Titan in the stax deck they do wonders. And Braids, Cabal Minion is very very nice when you have one of your totems ramp / Crucible of Worlds or Academy Ruins running.

But am not so convince about Sharuum the Hegemon, but thats maybe because i never been lucky enough to have Wurmcoil in my graveyard when i oath Sharuum.

[Kassow-Rossing]

Why are we having a english discussion here on the message board and a danish one over private messages? Well to continue:

Sharuum is really awesome because it keeps stuff like Crucible of Worlds, Smokestack, Winter Orb, Thopter Foundry on the battlefield even after being removed. It's even better to Oath into it. It was the creature I was most sad to say goodbye to when I tried my Polymorph-only-one-creature-"Emrakul" version. I'm so glad to have it back.

Hokori, Dust Drinker is the extra Winter Orb (I now play Rising Waters instead) which is amazing. I'm thinking about playing all 3 of them as well as Static Orb.

Braids, Cabal Minion is the extra Smokestack. It can't go to "2", but it starts out as "1", so that's pretty damn awesome! It's only downside is like Hokori: It can be Oath'ed into which is bad. It's still good enough though. Against control it's actually not that bad to Oath into it even though it's still the worst creature there.

[Essah]

Can you post a updated list for the Titan Oath version?

Essah

[Kassow-Rossing]

2. The Deck list:
Catagorized by card type and alphabetically arranged
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lands ( 36 )
Academy Ruins
Ancient Den
Ancient Tomb
Arid Mesa
Badlands
Bayou
City of Brass
City of Traitors
Darksteel Citadel
Dust Bowl
Exotic Orchard
Flagstones of Trokair
Flooded Strand
Glimmervoid
Marsh Flats
Maze of Ith
Mishra's Factory
Mishra's Workshop
Misty Rainforest
Plateau
Polluted Delta
Rishadan Port
Savannah
Scalding Tarn
Scrubland
Seat of the Synod
Taiga
Tendo Ice Bridge
The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
Tropical Island
Tundra
Underground Sea
Volcanic Island
Volrath's Stronghold
Wasteland
Windswept Heath

Creatures ( 8 )
Baneslayer Angel
Braids, Cabal Minion
Frost Titan
Grave Titan
Primeval Titan
Sharuum the Hegemon
Sun Titan
Wurmcoil Engine

Planeswalkers ( 7 )
Ajani Vengeant
Elspeth, Knight-Errant
Elspeth Tirel
Garruk Wildspeaker
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Tezzeret the Seeker
Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas

Mana producing Artifacts and enchantments ( 13 )
Awakening Zone
Azorius Signet
Coalition Relic
Darksteel Ingot
Gilded Lotus
Grim Monolith
Khalni Gem
Mox Diamond
Orzhov Signet
Selesnya Signet
Simic Signet
Thran Dynamo
Worn Powerstone

Other Artifacts and Enchantments ( 17 )
Bitterblossom
Collective Restraint
Crucible of Worlds
Expedition Map
Moat
Nether Void
Null Brooch
Oath of Druids
Oblivion Ring
Rising Waters
Sensei's Divining Top
Smokestack
Static Orb
Sword of the Meek
Tangle Wire
Thopter Foundry
Winter Orb

Instants/Sorceries ( 19 )
Armageddon
Bribery
Burning of Xinye
Damnation
Demonic Tutor
Devastation
Fact or Fiction
Gifts Ungiven
Maelstrom Pulse
Mana Drain
Ravages of War
Tainted Pact
Thirst for Knowledge
Timetwister
Upheaval
Vindicate
Wargate
Wildfire
Wrath of God

-Total 100 cards
---------------------



Lands: Volrath's Stronghold is an easy choice after playing all these "new" creatures. Especially with Oath of Druids in the deck. Ancient Den and Seat of the Synod are in here for Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas but I think I will cut them again some time soon.

Creatures: The major change was the creatures. All of them are pretty amazing to Oath into except for Braids, Cabal Minion. Braids however serves as the second Smokestack and has been far better than hoped. The titans works really well with Smokestack too, which is half of the theme in the deck. Baneslayer serves no synergy-purpose but is too strong to keep out.

Planeswalkers: Liliana Vess was too slow against aggro and not powerful enough against control. It actually tutored many good answers while also setting up comboes but it was simply too expensive. Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas is a clear choice for this deck. Elspeth Tirel feels a bit chubby so maybe it should see the cut.

Mana Artifacts/Enchantments: I now only play 13 instead of 14 ramp spells because I felt I too often got near only lands and ramp but no threads. Wargate and Expedition Map can always find a land so not much has changed here. The changes in the colours of the Signets are due to the rest of the spells in the deck.

Other Artifacts/Enchantments: I'm testing Null Brooch. Maybe artifact ramp staxx is the only deck it really suits. Rising Waters is just another Winter Orb. I wish I had searched The Gatherer for duplicates way before. Expedition Map allows Tezzeret the Seeker to set up the Wasteland lock-down and more goodies.

Sorceries/Instants: I felt I needed both Wrath of God and Damnation because of my meta environment. Wargate is amazing since it ramps or finds Volrath Stronghold/Academy Ruins for 3 mana, finds Oath of Druids for 5, finds Crucible of Worlds for 6 and planeswalkers for 7.



Maybe going out:
Ancient Den
Elspeth Tirel
Khalni Gem
Null Brooch
Seat of the Synod

Maybe going in:
Banefire (Meta game decision)
Boseiju, Who Shelters All
Crop Rotation
Crumbling Sanctuary
Everflowing Chalice
Faith's Fetters
Hokori, Dust Drinker
Nihil Spellbomb
Phyrexian Processor
Primal Command (Very very interesting card after the creature-changes)
Sphere of Resistance
Swords to Plowshares
Transmute Artifact
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth (Workshop, Maze, Tabernacle, Boseiju and the colourless lands)

[LasH]

You play Moat and 6/8 creatures you control dont fly. Can you comment your experiences with this theoretical issue? (I know u have elspeth.. but still. Seems abit random to me). If u like braids, check out the little worser Version: World Queller, which can also handle planeswalker or enchantments if needed.

Futhermore you dont play blinkmoth well or clock of omens..So you cant abuse Winter orb and static orb.. How does Static Orb work without abuse?

And last question: How do u use gifts ungiven without regrowth? I only see crucible + academy ruins + sword combo working, or expensive gifts with sharuum.

[Kassow-Rossing]

You play Moat and 6/8 creatures you control dont fly. Can you comment your experiences with this theoretical issue? (I know u have elspeth.. but still. Seems abit random to me). If u like braids, check out the little worser Version: World Queller, which can also handle planeswalker or enchantments if needed.

Futhermore you dont play blinkmoth well or clock of omens..So you cant abuse Winter orb and static orb.. How does Static Orb work without abuse?

And last question: How do u use gifts ungiven without regrowth? I only see crucible + academy ruins + sword combo working, or expensive gifts with sharuum.

Moat works great even though only Baneslayer Angel flies over it. Many of the creatures just need to hit the battlefield to do their job. I've once tried where it was a downside. Moat is very needed against aggro to survive. Yes Elspeth will also help against Moat but mostly if no one can attack = You win. Even more so because the titans just need to be on the battlefield to benefit.

I have tried World Queller but it doesn't work. There is never a permanent on the battlefield in which you can reap the opponent. Planeswalkers is not an option. Artifact or Enchantment also. Creature is obv. bad except for rare cases. It's really a downfall to Oath into Queller also. It even costs 5 mana which is a bit too much for a bad Braids. You can try it out if you like but I really didn't like it for many of the same reasons as Engineered Explosives is not in the deck.

No I don't run Blinkmoth Well or Clock of Omens because I rarely get mana to Well and there are so many other better lands out there. If I ever get to an environment where there is another Staxx player, I will play it again. Clock of Omens does nothing. It used to untap Obelisk of Alara like Voltaic Key while tapping a Winter Orb but not it has so few purposes left. It's a near-dead card to me.

Yeah Gifts Ungiven is great! You don't need any combo for it to be great. Luckily I got Academy Ruins, Crucible of Worlds, Sun Titan, Thopter-Sword combo, Sharuum and other great stuff but it can always tutor Damnation, Wrath of God, Moat and Oath of Druids against aggro for instance.

[delta_strike]

Between World Queller and braids, braids is much better because it work instantly and is cheaper to hard cast.
Moat is a great card, but personally I like humility better.

How is Null Brooch working for you ? The discarding seems bad but haven't tested it my self yet.
What about the abyss or mimic vat ? I know mimic is a bit slow but it Will  work great whit titans and braids...

[Kassow-Rossing]

No doubt Braids is much better than Queller. The question is if Queller is good enough still but after many testing games I don't find any use of it. I used the ability less than once per game in average of the games I've had it on the battlefield. It was really bad.

Moat is great, Humility is just less powerful. It even turns the Titans into useless cards, which I do not want. I will test Humility again because of your message though.

The Abyss is also a great card but I don't need it right now. I think Wrath of God and Damnation are doing great jobs. The Abyss will make sure I can't win by damage untill it is removed, which is kind of sad. Have you tested it?

Mimic Vat seems off in this deck. There is not much to force creatures being put into GYs in this deck. I haven't tested this card. Should I?

Null Brooch has been quite good so far. It's really impossible to lose against control unless they're quite lucky if it has hit the battlefield. The first cost is 2 mana and your hand, which is often not much. Sometimes a Titan/Wildfire spell but mostly it's nothing. The second, third, fourth...cost is just 2 mana. At that point it's good against any deck.

[delta_strike]

Im using Humility because i often face Qasali Pridemage, Trygon Predator or others creatures whit sac destroy artifact/enchantments or flying...

No haven`t tested the abyss, I was hoping you had and could give me some info on it

I will test mimic vat, null brooch and moat to night whit some friends...

[Kassow-Rossing]

I can imagine Humility is great against such creatures. Maybe I should actually try it again, hm..

The Abyss worked really well before the deck had creatures. Now it will just completely stop every single one of them because none of them can run around it (cept' Wurmcoil Engine, the sixth titan)

I like Null Brooch for now. Obviously it's bad in an aggro-meta-game but right now it's near instant win against many of my opponents.

[delta_strike]

Im using Humility because i often face Qasali Pridemage, Trygon Predator or others creatures whit sac destroy artifact/enchantments or flying...

No haven`t tested the abyss, I was hoping you had and could give me some info on it

I will test mimic vat, null brooch and moat to night whit some friends...

Mimic vat is bad, null brooch was great vs. Countrol decks very nice...
I tested moat to, but I need to test it a little more...
But I find it alot easier to remove moat then finding something to remove humility. But whit humility you need something to deal whit the 1/1 creatures.
But still I think humility is stronger because they can't use their creatures abilities and therefor humility is better protected...