constructive criticism on Graboid/mana denial deck

[thecloud]

This is my first try at a somewhat-original deck, and I'm at a loss on how to tweak it and where to go from here. I assembled it just today out of the cards I have (which is why it's not fully upgraded yet) and played around with it a bit, but I'm not really satisfied.

Should I ditch some cards, add more of the same, or even add in something from left field: more Gravity pillars and some upgraded Otyughs (optionally with Armors), Reverse Times, or something else entirely?

[acelink]

Tips when making a deck:

The first you should do when making a deck is ask/answer questions. Set your goal.

What is my goal?
I don't know what your goal is, other than to make an original deck.  You should have a GOAL in mind when creating a deck. (e.g. My goal is to create a highly defensive deck that uses poison to kill enimies)

What am I trying to build?
You are trying to build Graboid/Denial (Denial meaning both mana and permanent control).

What would you classify the deck as?
Simply name the deck type. (Poison, Mass, Rush, Delay, Creature Control, Permanent Control, Mana Absorption, Regen, Creature Aggro, Buffing, Burn and etc.)  It is a good idea to have ONE major focus and branching into synergies. aka Mass+regen.
Mana control, permanent destruction & creature aggro

Does this deck conflict? What are the synergies?  (e.g. rush control deck)
Your deck seems to conflict.  Denial/Creature Aggro.

A denial deck consists of both mana control and permanent destruction as a main focus.
Creature aggro deck = a majority of your damage source.  Hard hitters that have a problem surviving.

There appears to be very little synergies with a mana control and creature aggro.  They are in two totally different categories and do not have a way to directly complement each other. (be especially careful when looking to include multiple elements too)

Once you ask/answer those questions and feel like there is something there... move on to deck construction.
ALSO: don't be afraid to write down good card combos when you come across them.  You can base your deck off of card combos or incorporate them in....
(Good example would be Fallen Druid + Boneyard)



I see where you are trying to go with the deck... Have some hard hitters while denying them of mana and pillars... Those two deck ideas don't really mesh but if you want to keep trying I recommend: Ridding yourself of the gravity element and go toward DARKNESS!  Devourers and Steals, which is both mana control and permanent control.

[thecloud]

I just tried devourers... They don't seem to work at all in this deck since it's hard to get enough of them out early to make a difference (unlike mono-dark denial with earthquakes on the side, perhaps.) OTOH it's hard to justify including too many dark cards since all the extra quanta are useless - Drain Life does very little damage, even as a finisher, compared to Shriekers.

I'm trying to go for a rush deck that has some denial and/or stall, either to beat out another fast deck, or to delay standard rainbow FG long enough to win.

[plastiqe]

I wouldn't recommend a fourth element at all, I don't even really like doing three elements in a small deck myself.  If you want a rush deck with some denial I'd suggest dropping Gravity and going earth time with Graboids, Shriekers, Antlions and Quicksands (standard Tremors deck).

Looking at the upgraded cards you have another option could be Earth/Gravity control.  I've only tried it in the trainer but there is nice synergy between Plate Armor, Basilisk Blood, Protect Artifact, Pulverizer and Gravity Shield, with Otyugh, Antlions and Chargers for offense.

[Irkalia]

Sadly I'm gonna have to agree with Plastiqe - tri decks do not make good rush decks. You need to be consistent with rush decks or your opponent will either out race you or stabilise with shields and beat you at the long game. The earth/time, grav/earth, monodark, dark/earth & entropy/grav all do the same thing you plan to but with only two elements.

& Acelink, there's plenty of synergy between aggro & creature /quanta denial - tempo decks have been around for a very long time and are incredibly powerful. The problem here is that they've been done before & better in this case.

[thecloud]

Aside: Maybe I should have clarified - when I tried devourers, I also cut the gravity cards.

Thanks for the ideas so far, I'll try them out.

[acelink]

& Acelink, there's plenty of synergy between aggro & creature /quanta denial - tempo decks have been around for a very long time and are incredibly powerful. The problem here is that they've been done before & better in this case.

I meant there is no "direct" synergy with a rush deck.  I know it works, it is rather annoying to face.

[Lanidrak]

You carry Gravity Pillars for 4 Gravity Cards?

Change your Mark to Gravity, and remove the Gravity Pillars. This will speed up your deck, and you can cast your Blackholes as a guaranteed effect on your 3rd or 4th turn. (Not sure how much Blackhole costs.). Instead of relying on getting 1 Gravity Pillar in play and then waiting 3 or 4 turns.

That should help you out a bit.

[Irkalia]

That'd be nice Lani, 'cept then there would be no time quanta to evolve the Graboids Hence the suggestions to change the deck to one of the dual element decks with a similar theme.

[Lanidrak]

Oh haha! My bad...

I was under the impression you were using Shriekers instead of Graboids. Since, using Quantum Denial can slow your opponent down to a halt, or even stop him completely, the speed at which you get your creatures on the table doesnt matter. I'll play around with this deck in the trainer for a while. Might be worth your while to replace the Graboids with Shriekers or alternatively, throw in a few Novas.

[thecloud]

Well, I decided to cut Gravity for now (might try a Grav/Earth deck in the future) and the deck's running a lot smoother now than before, I think.

I'm still in the process of tweaking it a bit though. I tried 2x Stone Skin earlier; a decent card but very situational. I might sub in one of them for the Protect Artifact or something. Also I'm thinking of adding one more pillar to bring the total to 12.