I'm kind of pissed off right now. I can't sleep because I had one too many Diet Cokes tonight. My roommate didn't pay the cable bill so I can't watch Mike and Mike in the Morning like I usually do whenever I'm up this early. My driveway is frozen over (again). And to top it all off, I have a headache.
I really could go for some Chinese.
But there is one bright spot: I can write about Magic.
Earlier tonight (or this morning, whichever you prefer) I had a brainstorm about the Bubble Hulk deck. You know, the one that I've been playing to decent-but-not-good-enough finishes the last 2 weeks. Anyway, there is a lot of grave hate around for some other grave based combo deck and that is cramping my infinite Mogg Fanatic damage style. Over the past two weeks, I've had to deal with it by trying to fight through the hate. For example, two weeks ago I bounced or destroyed 3 Leyline of the Voids and 2 Tormod's Crypts In one of my matches... and couldn't quite get there. Rocky may punch his way to a victory against insurmountable odds in the movies, but that plan didn't quite work in real life.
The next week Kuan unleashed the super secret Rakdos the motha effen Defiler tech on us, giving us another path to victory. It allowed the deck to get around nuisances like Extirpate, Crypt, and the new extended sideboard all-star Offalsnout (oink oink). Still, this wasn't quite enough (although that guy is amazing), as Leyline of the Void and Cranial Extraction on Hulk still ruined my day.
This morning, whilst trying to catch elusive Zs, I had an idea: Why not diversify? That's what Mad Money's Jim Cramer would do. Don't put all your eggs in one basket (or in this case, Meat and Eggs!*), that's what they say. So I got to thinking: why not add a different combo into the deck? I've already got a good one, but if I add another then they can't deal with 'em both!
It is with great pleasure that I present to you:
Combo Platter
2 Body Double
2 Carrion Feeder
1 Mogg Fanatic
4 Protean Hulk
1 Rakdos the Defiler
2 Reveillark
4 Simian Spirit Guide
1 Draco
4 Birds of Paradise
3 Insidious Dreams
2 Erratic Explosion
2 Footsteps of the Goryo
4 Seething Song
2 Summoner's Pact
3 Sensei’s Divining Top
4 Through the Breach
1 Reclaim
2 Wooded Foothills
2 Bloodstained Mire
2 Polluted Delta
4 City of Brass
4 Gemstone Mine
1 Blood Crypt
1 Stomping Grounds
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Swamp
1 Mountain
1 Forest
3 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
4 Chain of Vapor
4 Orim’s Chant
4 Pernicious Deed (possibly Cranial Extraction)
It's got all the bells and whistles we know and love (including the theoretical first or second turn kills) with a few new ones added in. Imagine: You've won game 1 already on the back of a Protean Hulk that had no business being in play via Footsteps or Breach. Game 2, you're opponent has "that look" on his face when he sees his opening grip and says, "Keep!" like it's his destiny to win. He opens up with Leyline, Leyline, Crypt, Needle set to Carrion Feeder. He sits back in his chair and grins like the Cheshire Cat.
Unfortunately for him, he used a fetchland to get a shock land, putting him at 17. Next turn he uses another fetch, dropping him to 16. Over the next few turns you set up your secondary game ending combo, Erratic Explosion into a revealed Draco, to put him in his place.
I like this game plan for a few reasons. One, it allows you to win games that you couldn't otherwise. Two, it makes your opponent sideboard out otherwise useful cards for whatever killed them game 1 (usually the Hulk). Three, there are a few neat synergies that cross over the boundaries of the combos.
You may have noticed that I only run 2 Footsteps of the Goryo in this version, and perhaps more alarmingly no Careful Studies or discard effects. Why? If I have a Hulk in hand then I can discard it to Insidious Dreams and search up a Footsteps anyway. Neat!
Shuffle Effects and Top can find all the combo pieces I need too.
Birds of Paradise allows me to be less susceptible to counterspells since I don't have to sacrifice my lands to pay for spells any longer.
The absence of a Wish board, while odd looking at first, was mostly to battle the hate and be able to reliably get a Hulk in hand. With a new combo finisher as well as Insidious Dreams to find a Hulk if necessary the Wish package was easy to replace.
Got no Draco any... mo'? I think that a Top setting up a Protean Hulk on the top of your library will suffice if you have a spare Erratic Explosion in your grip. 7 damage to the dome is fine by me.
I have not tested this out at all yet, so I will do some goldfishing and playtesting over the next few days before I take this monstrosity to the PTQ the Sunday after the 5K event run by one of this site's competitors (I think we all know which one).
Man, Chinese sounds delicious. I think I'll have... well, you know.
Reubs
*You have to read the flavor text on Protean Hulk to get that one. Nice vocabulary, Borborgymos.
Tags: Tmp Bubble Protean Hulk Draco Erratic Explosion Extended
Related to:
Magic: the Gathering
