Elfclamp to non-elfclamp

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Greetings, All--

A while back, I posted a type II elfclamp deck:

4x Wirewood Herald
4x Wirewood Hivemaster
4x Wirewood Symbiote
4x Birchlore Ranger
4x Oxidize
4x Viridian Shaman
4x Timberwatch Elf
3x Taunting Elf
3x Wellwisher
3x Tribal Forcemage
3x Skullclamp
1x Caller of the Claw

15x Forest
4x Wirewood Lodge

SB:
3x Steely Resolve
3x Stabilizer
3x Scrabbling Claws
3x Hum of the Radix
2x Elfish Champion
1x Caller of the Claw

This deck has done very well for me lately. It hasn't lost to
affinity yet, and does reasonably well versus most anything else, with
the glaring exception of Goblins/Goblin Bidding and Astral Slide.
(Though it did manage, with a little luck, to take down a Goblin
Bidding deck in a tournament today.)

Anyways, the next time I'll probably play this deck is in two
weeks--after ye ole skullclamp goes bye-bye and Fifth Dawn comes in.
And I'd like some advice as to what would help the deck after the
transition. First thing I'm going to do is replace the oxidizes with
naturalizes--as is, this deck cannot handle enchancements (maybe
putting an oxidize or two into the sideboard.) But what about the
clamps? A friend suggested aether vial, which could possibly work.
Another idea includes adding one more taunting elf, wellwisher, and
forcemage, but I don't really like that idea. Or add more hate to the
deck in the form of Viridian Zealots.

With that said, any suggestions as to what would make the deck run
better would be welcome. Also, I really haven't seen much Fifth Dawn
yet, but the little I did see didn't suggest anything, really, for the
deck. If anyone has any advice in that direction, it would also be
appreciated.

Thanks.

Scott

 

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Archived from groups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy (More info?)

sfvajdos@hotmail.com (Scott Vajdos) wrote in message news:<42d15bb3.0406052136.7ac5c8ee@posting.google.com>...
> Greetings, All--
>
> A while back, I posted a type II elfclamp deck:
>
> 4x Wirewood Herald
> 4x Wirewood Hivemaster
> 4x Wirewood Symbiote
> 4x Birchlore Ranger
> 4x Oxidize
> 4x Viridian Shaman
> 4x Timberwatch Elf
> 3x Taunting Elf
> 3x Wellwisher
> 3x Tribal Forcemage
> 3x Skullclamp
> 1x Caller of the Claw
>
> 15x Forest
> 4x Wirewood Lodge
>
> SB:
> 3x Steely Resolve
> 3x Stabilizer
> 3x Scrabbling Claws
> 3x Hum of the Radix
> 2x Elfish Champion
> 1x Caller of the Claw
>
<snipped>

> Anyways, the next time I'll probably play this deck is in two
> weeks--after ye ole skullclamp goes bye-bye and Fifth Dawn comes in.
> And I'd like some advice as to what would help the deck after the
> transition. First thing I'm going to do is replace the oxidizes with
> naturalizes--as is, this deck cannot handle enchancements (maybe
> putting an oxidize or two into the sideboard.)

Which is very easy for Elves to do - Elf Replica is an Elf (tutorable,
pumped by the Champion and so on)... True, you might end up paying 4G
for enchantment destruction, but it isn't a completely dead draw even
with no enchantments on-board...

Regards,
Arkady.

 

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Archived from groups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy (More info?)

Scott Vajdos wrote:

>
> Anyways, the next time I'll probably play this deck is in two
> weeks--after ye ole skullclamp goes bye-bye and Fifth Dawn comes in.
> And I'd like some advice as to what would help the deck after the
> transition. First thing I'm going to do is replace the oxidizes with
> naturalizes--as is, this deck cannot handle enchancements (maybe
> putting an oxidize or two into the sideboard.) But what about the
> clamps? A friend suggested aether vial, which could possibly work.
> Another idea includes adding one more taunting elf, wellwisher, and
> forcemage, but I don't really like that idea. Or add more hate to the
> deck in the form of Viridian Zealots.
>

I don't *pretend* to be an expert here, but I have seen (on MTGO) people
using formerly-Clamped elf decks with Fecundity, Genesis Chamber, and/or
Spawning Pit. The first two are much riskier than good ol' Clamp,
because they are symmetric. The reasoning, I guess, is that the Elf deck
is running 30+ creature spells (like your original), and so gets many
more chances to abuse those two.

Slate of Ancestry looks like a fix, too.

--
(Posted from an account used as a SPAM dump. If you really want to get
in touch with me, dump the 'jboes' and substitute 'mur'.)
________
Jeffery Boes <>< jboes@qtm.net

 

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Archived from groups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy (More info?)

sfvajdos@hotmail.com (Scott Vajdos) wrote in message news:<42d15bb3.0406052136.7ac5c8ee@posting.google.com>...
> Greetings, All--
>
> A while back, I posted a type II elfclamp deck:
>
> 4x Wirewood Herald
> 4x Wirewood Hivemaster
> 4x Wirewood Symbiote
> 4x Birchlore Ranger
> 4x Oxidize
> 4x Viridian Shaman
> 4x Timberwatch Elf
> 3x Taunting Elf
> 3x Wellwisher
> 3x Tribal Forcemage
> 3x Skullclamp
> 1x Caller of the Claw
>
> 15x Forest
> 4x Wirewood Lodge
>
> SB:
> 3x Steely Resolve
> 3x Stabilizer
> 3x Scrabbling Claws
> 3x Hum of the Radix
> 2x Elfish Champion
> 1x Caller of the Claw
>

<snip earlier questions about once Fifth Dawn comes in and Skullclamp
goes out>

Thanks to everyone who helped me out with this one. I've narrowed
down the revamps down to a couple of things.

1) I'm replacing the oxidizes with naturalizes. One of my worst
match-ups comes against slide, and I'll need the enchantment hate.

2) I think I'm going to replace two of the Viridian Shamans with
Viridian Zealots. I still keep the artifact hate, while adding some
enchantment hate I can tutor for (via Wirewood Herald).

3) Skullclamp--I realize that there is nothing, really, that can
replace this card in terms of speed, efficiency, and all-around
utility. With that in mind, I'm going to go one of two directions.
First, I can replace the Skullclamp with Aether Vial, to add a touch
more speed. Also, the ability to drop a Shaman or a Herald anytime I
want to can really be a beating.

My other option is to add Blasting Station. I wasn't even thinking
along this line, until someone pointed out some neat interactions with
the Hivemaster. So instead of using my insect tokens to draw cards
via skullclamp, I can now use them to ping any nasty critters on the
board--aka Disciple of the Vault, Goblin Sharpshooter, or anything
else. I'm leaning towards this route, also because it gives me an
extra way of killing my own Herald.

But I wanted to get some feedback. What do you think?

Scott

 

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Archived from groups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy (More info?)

> But I wanted to get some feedback. What do you think?

If you want to maintain card drawing, you could try Fecundity or
Collective Unconscious instead of the Clamps. Also Slate of Ancestry is
doable, as was mentioned. Is Grafted Skullcap in 8th? That's another idea.
Blasting Station isn't a bad idea either, but you could try Viridian Longbow
or Fodder Cannon there as well.

 

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Archived from groups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy (More info?)

Hello, Chris!
You wrote on Thu, 10 Jun 2004 04:20:19 GMT:

>> But I wanted to get some feedback. What do you think?

CW> If you want to maintain card drawing, you could try
CW> Fecundity or
CW> Collective Unconscious instead of the Clamps. Also Slate of
CW> Ancestry is
CW> doable, as was mentioned. Is Grafted Skullcap in 8th?

Nope - only in Urza's Saga and 7th Edition, according to the latest
Oracle files...

Regards,
Arkady.

 

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Archived from groups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy (More info?)

Chris Wiegert wrote:
>>But I wanted to get some feedback. What do you think?
>
>
> If you want to maintain card drawing, you could try Fecundity or
> Collective Unconscious instead of the Clamps. Also Slate of Ancestry is
> doable, as was mentioned. Is Grafted Skullcap in 8th? That's another idea.
> Blasting Station isn't a bad idea either, but you could try Viridian Longbow
> or Fodder Cannon there as well.

Grafted Skullcap dropped out when 7th rotated. Too bad, because I think
there were deck ideas for that card that were never explored.

http://www.findmagiccards.com/Cards/7E/Grafted_Skullcap.html

What about Mindstorm Crown?

http://www.findmagiccards.com/Cards/MI/Mindstorm_Crown.html

Personally, I think there's a Mindstorm Crown/Ensnaring Bridge deck out
there, waiting to be built. (Yeah, they seem to have anti-synergy, but
the idea I have is to make nearly every card in your deck playable.
Nothing costs more than 3; nearly everything is an instant.)

--
(Posted from an account used as a SPAM dump. If you really want to get
in touch with me, dump the 'jboes' and substitute 'mur'.)
________
Jeffery Boes <>< jboes@qtm.net