The Retired: Skalor

I know, another deck I've gone over. 

It seemed so neat! But I also have multiple decks in G/B using this theme. 

4 Gluttonous Slime
4 Festering Goblin
3 Young Wolf
3 Viridian Zealot
3 Reassembling Skeleton
2 Wolfir Silverheart
2 Sidisi, Undead Vizier
2 Reaper of the Wilds
3 Leaf Gilder

4 Gutter Grime

2 Hero's Downfall
3 Tragic Slip

9 Forest
9 Swamp
1 Overgrown Tomb
4 Darkbore Pathway

2 Garruk Relentless

The theme isn't even entirely focused, either. What is Wolfir Silverheart doing here, aside from being a big monster? This deck really wants Gutter Grime to create an overwhelming advantage but then doesn't include an engine to really sacrifice creatures with. I just expected they'd die due to normal gameplay!

That's relying on my opponent to execute my strategy and that is deeply unwise. 

(More) Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

I present to you, the one match that Mindslicer has worked out: against stonethorn's Allies deck. Of course, I was assisted by him having mana issues.

And in the other games I played against stonethorn that night with Skalor, this was a common theme; I can totally take advantage of a slip up in my opponent's deck but I have a great deal of difficulty creating that edge for myself.

So. Here we are, admitting Mindslicer needing to be replaced and so it's time to ask: what's the best card to do that with?

Offalsnout comes to mind, actually, because it has a lot of utility. Flash is a very useful ability for Skalor, Evoke plays well with both Gutter Grime's ability: I could flash the 'Snout in to trigger the Gutter Grime for the Evoke cost, which could make a larger creature or boost the team, or I could Evoke it out and in response cast Gluttonous Slime, eating the 'Snout for a larger Slime, while still using the ability in certain matchups to remove cards from a graveyard.

It doesn't kill a creature outright, though.

Shriekmaw does, however and it has some of the combo elements of Offalsnot, using the Evoke cost. Bone Shredder also offers some of these things, is a flier and has a 'natural' death if I don't pay the Echo cost, again boosting up or making tokens with Gutter Grime. Creatures with similar ETB/LTB effects would be Skinrender or Shambling Swarm.

Phyrexian Plaguelord and it's minion, Phyrexian Defiler make for some interesting and old school goodness. The abilities were far better when combat damage used the stack but they still allow me to be proactive in destroying creatures that might otherwise prove problematic.

Finally, there are the lowly Disease Carriers. Again: I like this card but if nothing else, the past few weeks have insisted that Skalor needs some oomph to really shine. The other options are just better at creating an opportunity for me to do something that has impact on the board state so I'm going to go with them first.

But it's been two weeks and that's plenty of time. New deck on Thursday.

Bad Sign

I took the shiny improved version of Skalor out to play against Noah, with high hopes that Mindslicer would be an effective tool.

He was playing a Reanimator deck, using cards like Gifts Ungiven to bring back nasties like Elesh Norn with flashbacked Unburial Rites. Throwing his hand into the graveyard was a bonus, not a bug.

OK, so...shit happens.

Let's try again, this time vs. a G/B deck Fuz is playing with Loam Dweller and...Dark Depths and Aether Snap?

Seriously!?

Now, every deck has bad matchups and most of the time, those bad matchups are going to be against established decks. Those decks are established because they beat other stuff. However to find that my attempt at a solution runs right into an archetype that basically said; Ooooo, more of that please! then to play a deck running the one card that is pratically designed to hit this deck in the face with a shovel, bury it in concrete and throw it into the river...makes me think that Skalor is just under some bad mojo.

Sigh. I don't want to give up on this. I should also come clean and say that the one game I played against Fuz, I was in a position to win (by no means guaranteed) but I had to quit early for romantic reasons. (Don't judge. You'd've done the same.)

A few more games with Mindslicer should help me understand how the deck interacts and yes, I may just have to come back to the 'Kill things' idea. I just find it difficult to let go of Mindslicer because the interaction seems really powerful!

But with bad luck like this, I can't tell if I'm beating myself or if I'm actually being beaten. Yowza.

An Exercise In Ignoring Evidence

I've actually gotten a heap of games in with Skalor, because I built it a few weeks before I wrote about it. I've been trying to hone it whenever I can but it's been an exercise in frustration because I steadfastly refuse to do what needs to be done, at least so far.

In this game against Fuz, my response to Cabal Therapy was: well, this is going to suck.

And it did.

The problem with Killing Wave is that it's helpful if I can get out to a good start: for the most part, nobody wants to trade life for creatures when they've already taken 8.

Now, I don't know if it's because I'm riding the wrong horse right now but I have found myself facing a lot of decks with lifegain. Paying 3 or even 5 life per creature isn't so bad when you're up to 34 life.

I kept looking at Vengeful Pharaoh; a 5 mana creature that is challenging to cast, deprives me of a draw when it does what I want it to and seems even more difficult to actually position so that the Pharaoh DOES do what I want.

Every time I lost a game, to this zombies deck, a U/B mill, or a white Soul Sisters (lifegain) deck, I kept thinking the same thing: I need creature removal. Something that I can just do and call it good.

So naturally, I'm replacing Vengeful Pharaoh with Mindslicer. This seems dumb but why not? I want a creature I can cast sooner and when it dies does bad things and this does fit the bill.

Sounds awesome. Plus: with Gutter Grime, my creature dying doesn't mean I will no longer have threats on the board. Basically, Mindslicer interacts with things in a way that hopefully my opponent doesn't want me to, so I want to give it a run.

But it doesn't kill creatures. I may have to change my ways, but not today.