Okay, short and sweet, I have forever been trying to break Oath of Scholars, yet never could. Now I think I have found a way. Here is the basic mechanic:
Zombie Infestation
Oath of Scholars
Arcane Laboratory
If you don't get it, each player can only play one spell a turn, so they will more than like;ly have cards in hand, you hold back counters until EOT, then chuck some to make tokens, leaving you with less cards than Oppenent, use Oath as an Ancestral every turn.
The only problem is, I DON"T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO PUT IN! Sure u have the P10, DT, MT, VT, and the likes (keeping it b/u) but how muhc search? How much critter kill? how much recursion (just Y.WIll?) How many of each staple card?
So please help me with these numbers, and if you have the time, even throw out a couple of proposed deck lists. Thnx
I've seen Oath go with Stormbind before, to some success. Zombie Infestation is natural, too.
OK, here's my current decklist:
Blue(15)
1 Ancestral
1 Timetwister
1 Time Walk
3 Oath of Scholars
1 Mystical Tutor
1 FoF
4 Force of Will
3 Arcane Lab
Black(11)
1 DT
4 Infestation
1 MT
1 Y Will
4 Duress
Artifacts(14)
7 SoLoMoxen
2 Null Brooch
2 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Black Vise (with Labs its good against any deck)
2 Cursed Totem (morph, mox monkey, ELVES! TIM!)
Lands
1 Academy
1 LoA
5 Strip
4 UG Sea
4 UG River
4 mishra
1 UP(iffy)
SB
NONE YET
There we go, so far though, it well, sux. I need help ppl. I have no clue if I need more search? Impulses? Maybe more draw? Stroke Geyser? More Counters? Drop Duress for MisD's? The mana seems to work fine so far, but I don't know? Is 5 strip and 4 Mishra too much? The artifacts all seem to work together well, and if I get the combo out it worls well, but sligh/stompy seem to just laugh at me. What would be good SB? Massacre? Chill? Thanx for any advice
I am not sure how good FoW is in this deck, however I can't think of a better card right now.
You have 12 blue sources and 11 black sources of mana, I would up the colored mana count a little. Your goal is to kill via infestation so the Mishra factories are secondary. I say cut two of these for 2 CoB this will give you 14 U and 13 B and make you a little less susceptible to mana screw. The deck is SLOW, basically you are going for a two card combo that will give you one free 2/2 per turn.
Also the Totems seem good and all but I would rather have a threat over this situational card.
Skeletal Scrying works GREAT with the Zombie infestation, it could be worth it to add one or two, playtest this card. Also Memory Jar works wonders with the Infestation run this.
Definitely drop the two totems and add one memory jar and one skeletal scrying. It’s a start in the right direction.
Z
Ok, from one e-mail, so help from #bdchat, and from your tips so far, I have changed the deck a little bit more. Here it is so far:
OK, here's my current decklist:
Blue(17)
1 Ancestral
1 Timetwister
1 Time Walk
3 Oath of Scholars
1 FoF
4 Force of Will
3 Arcane Lab
3 Intuition
Black(7)
1 DT
4 Infestation
1 MT
1 Y. Will
Red(4)
4 Squee, Goblin Nabob
Artifacts(12)
7 SoLoMoxen
2 Null Brooch
2 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Black Vise
Lands(20)
1 Academy
1 LoA
5 Strip
4 UG Sea
4 UG River
4CoB
1 Bazaar Of Baghdad
SB
Still None (not gonna make a SB til a good deck is made )
The Squee's majorly help, and bazaar makes the deck a lil quicker, plus, if I have a Oath out I can use the bazaar to lower # of cards in hand so I can use the Oath. Oath/Bazaar/3 Squee=5 card Ancestral
Any more help you can give me would be much appreicated. Unfortunately since I added the Squee/Bazaar thing I had to drop the Duress's. Bad move? Maybe. Hopefully the 4 Fow/2 Null Brooches will be enuff. Some ppl have suggested since i have the CoB's to add an E. Tutor, and amybe a balance....I don't know what to take out though So if you can please help me some more. Thanx.
A thought would be to replace the labs with psycic vortex. Betwean those, the oaths, the bazarrs and everything you will go through the deck much faster, draw a lot more cards and create a lot more tokens thereby overrunning the opponent faster.
Interesting ideas!
Oath of Scholars:
Info: Color=Blue Type=Enchantment Cost=3U EX(R)
Text(EX+errata): At the beginning of each player's upkeep, if that player
has fewer cards in hand than any of his or her opponents, the player may
discard his or her hand and draw three cards.
Psychic Vortex:
Info: Color=Blue Type=Enchantment Cost=2UU WL(R)
Text(WL+errata): Cumulative Upkeep - Draw a card. ; At the end of your turn,
sacrifice a land and discard your hand.
Zombie Infestation:
Info: Color=Black Type=Enchantment Cost=1B OD(U)
Text(OD): Discard two cards from your hand: Put a 2/2 black Zombie creature
token into play.
Forbid:
Info: Color=Blue Type=Instant Cost=1UU EX(U)
Text(EX+errata): Buyback-Discard two cards from your hand. ; Counter target
spell.
Arcane Laboratory:
Info: Color=Blue Type=Enchantment Cost=2U US(U)/7(U)
Text(7th): Each player can't play more than one spell each turn.