New Ground

I'm rethinking Shallow Ground. Instead of an Armageddon deck with a creature package, I want to try and make a creature deck with an Armageddon package. 

Ramp a planeswalkers out that gives me creatures every turn, or a Titania, then Armageddon and begin the grind. Make the mana generators a little less vulnerable and see how that works.

But, after another game with Noah where my loss was entirely contingent on the destruction of a Quirion Elf, Noah said, but what about the hexproof creature? 

So we come to this:

2 Talisman of Unity

3 Terravore
2 Watchwolf
3 Mother of Runes
4 Burrowguard Mentor
3 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
3 Titania, Protector of Argoth
4 Sylvan Caryatid

4 Swords to Plowshares

7 Forest
1 Havenwood Battleground
4 Windswept Heath
2 Flagstones of Trokair
7 Plains
2 Horizon Canopy

2 Garruk Relentless
2 Archangel Elspeth

4 Armageddon
1 Split Up

I've taken a look at other mana generators: Brugenhagen, Twitching Doll, and Tender Wildguide all look interesting!

But only Sylvan Caryatid has hexproof. Making my mana generation hard to stop will help me survive the early game. 

Because I did get a later game in that got out a Garruk and Elspeth, and started to show the proof of concept; making a bunch of creatures for free works! Armageddon in the face of that can lock an opponent out---if I still have mana. 

So. Here it is. I think it's solid-a B tier deck but a good one.

Shallow Revisions

 The next run of changes were...interesting. 

3 Quirion Elves
3 Terravore
2 Watchwolf
3 Mother of Runes
4 Burrowguard Mentor
3 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
2 Titania, Protector of Argoth
3 Werebear

4 Swords to Plowshares

8 Forest
1 Havenwood Battleground
4 Windswept Heath
2 Flagstones of Trokair
6 Plains
2 Horizon Canopy

2 Garruk Relentless
3 Vivien, Arkbow Ranger

4 Armageddon
1 Split Up

I know, I know. Anyone looking at this should be thinking, wait, Vivien?? And to that I say: Nothing ventured, nothing gained. 

The idea I had was to try and use Garruk Relentless to generate value that I don't have to sink mana into, and Brimaz, King of Oreskos to do the same, contributing to the threat count and making Burrowguard Mentor a problem, possibly on the level of Terravore. 

The issue with the mana ramp in Shallow Ground is that the creatures are VERY vulnerable to removal. I lost a game to Noah because he hit my Quirion Elf with a Lightning Bolt in response to my Armageddon. 

I failed to draw land, and my Swords to Plowshares sat dead, while he used his Fable of the Mirror Breaker goblin to make treasure tokens and stay right in the game. 

So I've started to rethink the deck, just a little. 

First, the Titanias are going back in--and I'm adding one. Here's my thinking: Armageddon isn't enough.

I've cast that card in multiple games now and I haven't won as a result of that. 

Think about that for a second, when considering Magic's history. Armageddon used to just be GAME OVER in big red letters and now decks shrug it off. 

But what is more challenging to shrug off is an army of 5/3s that come in as a result of a Titania. So let's see how that does.

Dig In

OK, let's get at it! The first few games I played didn't go badly--but the cards I suspected that didn't do much, didn't do much. After some poking around, I made these changes to the deck:

2 Talisman of Unity

3 Quirion Elves
3 Terravore
3 Werebear
3 Watchwolf
1 Soltari Champion
3 Mother of Runes
4 Burrowguard Mentor
3 Brimaz, King of Oreskos

4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Ram Through

8 Forest
1 Havenwood Battleground
4 Windswept Heath
2 Flagstones of Trokair
6 Plains
2 Horizon Canopy

2 Garruk Relentless

4 Armageddon

And then I took it up against Noah's goblins deck. In game one I got totally overrun and in game two, I got the Armageddon off, leaving Noah with 2 Aether Vials and a Goblin Lackey. I had a Terravore on the table AND a Plains and Swords to Plowshares in hand.

And then he puked a Muxus onto the table and killed me. 

Now. That feels discouraging. If there's a sign to tell me that the power level here just isn't up to Legacy standard, that matchup was it. 

And it does bring up the real problem with Armageddon as a card; it's not useful in multiples, but if you want to use that effect you have to run four copies. That means that I've had games where it's a dead card in my hand and that is never something you want. 

It also demonstrated the problem Ram Through has as removal. Swords to Plowshares works no matter what my board state is-Ram Through only is good if I have a) a creature on the table and b) one big enough to take out something. A Quirion Ranger is not very much help against a Delver of Secrets that has flipped. 

So there's still some work to do--and I need to do a slightly better job of evaluating cards.

Shallow Ground

I've been holding off on this one, but it's time. I named this after the Corrosion of Conformity song, just to give y'all a sense of how long ago I first started on this deck.

2 Talisman of Unity

3 Quirion Elves
3 Terravore
3 Werebear
3 Watchwolf
3 Soltari Champion
3 Mother of Runes
2 Titania, Protector of Argoth

2 Seal of Cleansing

3 Wild Might
4 Swords to Plowshares

8 Forest
1 Havenwood Battleground
4 Windswept Heath
2 Flagstones of Trokair
6 Plains
2 Horizon Canopy

4 Armageddon
2 Catastrophe

Why have I been resisting playing this deck? 

First, Magic has largely moved on. Armageddon was once a terrible spell to witness. Now, it barely registers. Mana has gotten a lot better since Armageddon's heyday, the game has sped up significantly and losing all your lands doesn't sting like it once did.. 

Second, Armageddon creates unfun game states. That's just a fact and it's why WorC hasn't printed a Standard legal version of this card in literal decades. 

But now; now I'm wondering if this should still exist--and if it does, should it just be combined with Xnoybis.