5c Dark Hex [Combo]

[Georg B]

// Lands
    1 [DIS] Hallowed Fountain
    1 [A] Savannah
    1 [A] Scrubland
    1 [A] Plateau
    1 [R] Underground Sea
    1 [R] Bayou
    1 [RAV] Watery Grave
    1 [RAV] Overgrown Tomb
    1 [DIS] Breeding Pool
    1 [R] Tropical Island
    1 [GP] Godless Shrine
    1 [TE] Reflecting Pool
    1 [WL] Gemstone Mine
    1 [7E] City of Brass
    1 [OD] Tarnished Citadel
    1 [BOK] Tendo Ice Bridge
    1 [SH] Volrath's Stronghold
    1 [ON] Grand Coliseum
    1 [ON] Flooded Strand
    1 [FUT] Tolaria West
    1 [CHK] Forbidden Orchard
    1 [PLC] Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
    1 [TE] Wasteland
    1 [ON] Wooded Foothills
    1 [ON] Bloodstained Mire
    1 [ON] Polluted Delta
    1 [R] Tundra
    1 [ON] Windswept Heath
    1 [ZEN] Scalding Tarn
    1 [ZEN] Marsh Flats
    1 [ZEN] Arid Mesa
    1 [ZEN] Misty Rainforest
    1 [ZEN] Verdant Catacombs
    1 [R] Volcanic Island
    1 [R] Badlands

// Combo
    1 [CS] Dark Depths
    1 [ZEN] Vampire Hexmage
    1 [MR] Lightning Greaves
    1 [SH] Fling

// Tutors
    1 [P3] Imperial Recruiter
    1 [RAV] Dimir Infiltrator
    1 [RAV] Chord of Calling
    1 [ST] Grim Tutor
    1 [6E] Worldly Tutor
    1 [MOR] Scapeshift
    1 [CHK] Gifts Ungiven
    1 [TE] Intuition
    1 [TSP] Mystical Teachings
    1 [PT] Sylvan Tutor
    1 [DS] Reap and Sow
    1 [SHM] Beseech the Queen
    1 [UL] Crop Rotation
    1 [PS] Eladamri's Call
    1 [A] Demonic Tutor
    1 [MR] Sylvan Scrying
    1 [RAV] Shred Memory
    1 [RAV] Muddle the Mixture
    1 [OD] Tainted Pact
    1 [PY] Rhystic Tutor

    1 [FD] Trinket Mage

   
// Mana

    1 [8E] Birds of Paradise
    1 [RAV] Elves of Deep Shadow
    1 [AL] Elvish Spirit Guide
    1 [GP] Wild Cantor
    1 [DS] Darksteel Ingot
    1 [MR] Chrome Mox
    1 [SH] Mox Diamond
    1 [FUT] Coalition Relic
    1 [DIS] Simic Signet
    1 [RAV] Golgari Signet
    1 [RAV] Dimir Signet
    1 [MR] Talisman of Dominance

// Disruption
    1 [ON] Chain of Vapor
    1 [WL] Abeyance
    1 [FUT] Pact of Negation
    1 [7E] Mana Short
    1 [PS] Orim's Chant
    1 [FD] Early Frost
    1 [LRW] Thoughtseize
    1 [ARE] Duress
    1 [RAV] Remand
    1 [9E] Mana Leak
    1 [A] Counterspell
    1 [LG] Mana Drain
    1 [10E] Pithing Needle
    1 [WL] Phyrexian Furnace

// Cantrips
    1 [OD] Careful Study
    1 [7E] Sleight of Hand
    1 [ARE] Serum Visions
    1 [IA] Diabolic Vision
    1 [AL] Lim-Dul's Vault
    1 [BD] Impulse
    1 [LRW] Ponder
    1 [MM] Brainstorm

// Recursion
    1 [FD] Eternal Witness
    1 [RAV] Life from the Loam
    1 [A] Regrowth
    1 [ZEN] Grim Discovery
    1 [UL] Unearth

// Rest
    1 [CHK] Sensei's Divining Top


The Combo should be clear, what do you think about it an especially the mana base?

[Mythrandir]

i don't know... i think i would prefer 5c stuffy doll. It's not an immediate win:
- needs a turn to attack.
- with lightning greaves it you still cannot win if an opponent has a Bop.
- with fling if a player has had a finks or whatever you still won't win
- it can still be "STPed", "mazed" chumped blocked, "Vensed", "karakased"

I know these are all "if" but, just my opinion.

But i would like to test vs it, seems like fun to play with.

I'm a bit concerned since if you get dark depths removed you don't have any other winning condition, which for me seems a bit bad, since things like: alluren/heartbeat have multiples ways of winning.

If you see me around, ask me to play test it.

I'd add petrifield field and don't know about aether snap.

[pyyhttu]

The problem with Depths and Hexmage is like Mythrandir already told you: it doesn't win you the game on the spot like Heartbeat, Hightide, Aluren, Swans, Stuffy Doll, Ad Nauseam, Reveillark and even Dream Halls to some extend do.

Sure, this is cheap and easily tutorable, but I wouldn't push it as the primary win condition like you seem to have taken the design philosophy here. You need to usually pass the turn, advance to an attack phase, get past chump blockers and on top of that protect the Marit Lage from bounce and removal.

I see you have tried to come around these short comings by filling the deck with irrelevant junk like Fling and Lightning Greaves. They are highly situational and don't bring any added value in this build.

So instead of forming a dedicated combo shell around these two cards, I'd try this as a second or third combo along side the main combos (e.g. Swans and Aluren). In your Gifts pile you sometimes need a cheap, second combo piece and this might potentially fill that slot. Heck, you can even go for Crop Rotation if you have Hexmage already in hand.

[Aubrey]

Hi,

when you play Scapeshift you should play Valakut. I think the Valakut-Combo is better than the Depths one. You just should play some Landsearch.
I also miss Sylvan Scrying. Good tutor imho.

Greetings

[Georg B]

Sylvan Scrying is in. Maybe you've just not seen it.
But there is one card I forgot: Expedition Map!
It can be fetched by Trinket Mage and it has no color requirements.

And I think with all the land tutors I should add Library of Alexandria.

And what combo do you mean? How does it exactly work?

[so_not]

Play Scapeshift, fetch Valakut + mountains = win

[Helle]

I don't think the combo got enough power to do on it's own. There is too many disruption around there.

I think it will be much better in any kind of UBx Gifts deck as an additional win condition. It probably could be good in Doran-Rock, too.

[MarcMagic]

i suspect nobody wants to play a dark depths only to combo with 1 out of 99 other cards.. and then its still easy disruptable. dark dephts will be a dead card in like 80% of your games and u would need the spot imo!

[Anime1]

Actuly in this format its posible to play deck whit only battle of wits as win con. Geting land and 2 mana creature is probely easier than getting 1 card out of 230-250 cards. So i don't think depths doing nothing is the big problem here.

[coldcrow]

I built a more control heavy 4c deck with dark depths too. Started out as landfall deck but since there aretoo few good "landfallers" yet, the focus shifted to more control.

// Lands
    1 [DDC] Barren Moor
    1 [R] Bayou
    1 [ON] Bloodstained Mire
    1 [DIS] Breeding Pool
    1 [CS] Dark Depths
    1 [ON] Flooded Strand
    1 [ZEN] Forest (1)
    1 [ZEN] Island (1)
    1 [ON] Lonely Sandbar
    1 [DK] Maze of Ith
    1 [ZEN] Misty Rainforest
    1 [SOK] Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
    1 [RAV] Overgrown Tomb
    1 [ON] Polluted Delta
    1 [R] Savannah
    1 [ZEN] Scalding Tarn
    1 [R] Scrubland
    1 [ZEN] Swamp (1)
    1 [LG] The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
    1 [FUT] Tolaria West
    1 [EVG] Tranquil Thicket
    1 [R] Tropical Island
    1 [R] Tundra
    1 [R] Underground Sea
    1 [PLC] Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
    1 [ZEN] Verdant Catacombs
    1 [SH] Volrath's Stronghold
    1 [TE] Wasteland
    1 [RAV] Watery Grave
    1 [ON] Windswept Heath
    1 [ON] Wooded Foothills
    1 [OV] Library of Alexandria
    1 [ZEN] Marsh Flats
    1 [ZEN] Arid Mesa
    1 [LG] Karakas
    1 [CHK] Boseiju, Who Shelters All
    1 [ZEN] Plains (7)

// Creatures
    1 [FD] Eternal Witness
    1 [JU] Genesis
    1 [EVE] Glen Elendra Archmage
    1 [ZEN] Grazing Gladehart
    1 [SHM] Kitchen Finks
    1 [CFX] Knight of the Reliquary
    1 [DIS] Loaming Shaman
    1 [ZEN] Ob Nixilis, the Fallen
    1 [LRW] Shriekmaw
    1 [FUT] Tarmogoyf
    1 [EVE] Tilling Treefolk
    1 [FD] Trinket Mage
    1 [ZEN] Vampire Hexmage
    1 [FUT] Venser, Shaper Savant
    1 [RAV] Vinelasher Kudzu
    1 [SH] Wall of Blossoms
    1 [9E] Weathered Wayfarer
    1 [MOR] Reveillark
    1 [ARB] Qasali Pridemage
    1 [MI] Wall of Roots

// Spells
    1 [CST] Brainstorm
    1 [DD2] Counterspell
    1 [UL] Crop Rotation
    1 [10E] Crucible of Worlds
    1 [PLC] Damnation
    1 [DDC] Demonic Tutor
    1 [BD] Diabolic Edict
    1 [MI] Dissipate
    1 [M10] Duress
    1 [DS] Echoing Truth
    1 [PS] Eladamri's Call
    1 [FD] Engineered Explosives
    1 [OD] Entomb
    1 [ZEN] Expedition Map
    1 [US] Exploration
    1 [DD2] Fact or Fiction
    1 [AL] Force of Will
    1 [M10] Garruk Wildspeaker
    1 [V09] Gifts Ungiven
    1 [ZEN] Grim Discovery
    1 [TE] Intuition
    1 [TSP] Krosan Grip
    1 [RAV] Life from the Loam
    1 [LG] Mana Drain
    1 [VI] Necromancy
    1 [AP] Pernicious Deed
    1 [WL] Phyrexian Furnace
    1 [M10] Ponder
    1 [LRW] Primal Command
    1 [R] Regrowth
    1 [RAV] Remand
    1 [HOP] Search for Tomorrow
    1 [V09] Sensei's Divining Top
    1 [SC] Stifle
    1 [CST] Swords to Plowshares
    1 [10E] Sylvan Scrying
    1 [LRW] Thoughtseize
    1 [6E] Worldly Tutor
    1 [MM] Misdirection
    1 [8E] Merchant Scroll
    1 [SH] Mox Diamond
    1 [RAV] Shred Memory
    1 [TSP] Mystical Teachings

Basically a 4c control shell with a focus on recursion and utility lands. That list isn't finetuned yet .. there are many possibilities to improve it. for example crypt replaces furnace, survival, etched oracle, more acceleration; while cards like vinelasher are questionable.

The advantages are that it runs many of the best creatures in the format (mage,lark,goyf,knight,venser) and the marit lage token, which is quite easy to produce and can come as a surprise.

PS: Just realized I did not include Academy Ruins yet. Going to replace Boseiju, which was a bad card most of the time.