Turbo Budget Competitive Wake Thrasher
Legacy Budget Combo Competitive Control Counterspell Mono-Blue Spellslinger Tempo
Instant (28)
Artifact (4)
Sideboard
Instant (8)
Artifact (7)
Maybeboard
Sorcery (4)
Inspired by my very own deck Tap Dancing, I wanted to remove the shackles of the format and really open it up to see what it could do. Since Basalt Monolith is illegal in Modern, that deck necessitated the clunky workaround of Freed from the Real enchanting Silver Myr. Now that those chains are broken, we get to see what the full potential is.
Below you’ll find a much more streamlined version of the deck, surprisingly competitive, and ludicrously cheap for a Legacy build. Enjoy.
With the cost of Dual lands, Fetchlands and Shocklands needed for many archetypes soaring well in excess of the GNP of some third world countries, a deck needing just 20 or so basic Islands allows your poor wallet to breathe a sigh of relief.
The meat and potatoes of the deck, this is where we’ll spend the majority of our time, mana, and critical thinking.
Both pieces of our main combo lack any sort of defensive shielding or built in evasion, so it’s entirely on our shoulders to keep things stable and the path to victory clear. A three pronged strategy of Bounce spells, Counter magic and the ability to push damage through no questions asked is how we intend to carve out a win.
Bounce spells
•When your opponent says “Yes, yes” to some grave threat entering the battlefield, Vapor Snag says “No, no” and bounces it back to their hand, setting them a pace behind schedule.
•You Come to a River and need to gauge the situation to determine if it’s necessary to return to sender one of the enemy’s creatures.
•Memory Lapse is more Counterspell than bounce spell, but I’ll list it here anyway as it’s a rather sadistic kneecapping where tempo is concerned.
Counter magic
•Spell Pierce owns the early game, fizzling a wide range of cancerous possibilities.
•Counterspell is the king of all counterspells, and will have no trouble being cast in mono .
•Since it’s highly unlikely we will die from damage before we get our combo pieces ready, our main priority is more to protect said pieces once they appear. Turn Aside is a cheap and effective way to do just that.
•Again, Memory Lapse is just so good at shattering morale. Nothing stings as badly as knowing your next draw won’t be anything except what was supposed to already have been played a whole turn prior. It’s a favorite of mine ^_^
•Lazotep Plating is the only card I’m not 100% certain about. It’s here on a trial basis. Never reached a scenario where I’ve had to use it yet, but it has theoretical value—at least until proven otherwise. If it doesn’t perform well enough, I suppose I’ll replace it with more countermagic.
Unblockabilityness…
Bad grammar aside, pushing damage through when we are ready for the win is a concern. Without Trample, we have to rely on spells to accomplish this, which is why we run Infiltrate, Distortion Strike and You Come to a River.
•Infiltrate is as straightforward as you can get. We only run 2 copies because it does nothing else. However, Instant speed still has its merits, so it stays.
•Distortion Strike has the downside of being a Sorcery, but has the advantage of Rebound if things somehow go awry. At least we get a second try next turn for free.
•You Come to a River works wonderfully in the deck, a real multitasker. Pick option 2 when you’re ready to push that damage through.
The key interaction is a combo between Basalt Monolith + Wake Thrasher .
If you’re new to the game, it’s about as simple a combo as they come. the artifact to generate , then…use that same mana to it. As soon as it untaps, Wake Thrasher gets +1/+1 for the remainder of that turn. Just do that however many times it takes to exceed your opponent’s remaining health pool, thrash about during your attack phase and you’ve won.
•Stall the game with bounce and countermagic until you draw Basalt Monolith.
•With the artifact in play, cast Wake Thrasher, keeping a defensive spell or two in reserve to protect the important pieces.
•Repeatedly tap and untap Basalt Monolith with an epileptic furor, buffing Wake Thrasher to incomprehensibly lethal proportions. Cast a spell making him unblockable, and attack for the win.
•Surgical Extraction is the most expensive card in the deck by a large margin, but an absolute necessity for games 2 & 3. After the initial match, your opponent will have either Basalt Monolith or Wake Thrasher in the sniper scope, and while our suite of counter magic is robust, the ability to cherry pick threats and remove them entirely is a huge net gain. Extirpate is much cheaper, but that means adding to the mana pool—very doable, but I didn’t want the hassle of recalculating the mana base to accommodate. It’s a fair trade off for an even more budget friendly version, if you feel inclined.
•Blue Elemental Blast exercises supreme mastery over , especially effective against Burn and Aggro decks.
•Pithing Needle is great lockdown for the overwhelming number of activated abilities that could plague us. After recent reprints, it’s cheap too!
•Tormod's Crypt
is free to play and will derail Dredge and Reanimator builds, among others.
If you already have the cards, feel free to substitute any relevant fecthlands for deck thinning purposes.
As far as control is concerned, there are things like Force of Will and Force of Negation that offer unparalleled control of a given situation, at ridiculous cost. Another upgrade would be Cyclonic Rift—it’s phenomenal here, and would already have made the team if it weren’t for the price point.
Aside from that, unless you fancy some advance knowledge in the form of Brainstorm or Ponder, there really isn’t much else to improve upon. Most of the countermagic is dirt cheap, and the mana base is nowhere near as ‘needy’ as that of other decks. It’s a true penny-pincher’s dream~
”When it rises up, even the mighty are frightened; Its thrashing causes bewilderment.”
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29% Casual
71% Competitive
| Top Ranked |
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| Date added | 10 months |
| Last updated | 3 months |
| Key combos | |
| Legality | This deck is Legacy legal. |
| Rarity (main - side) | 4 - 8 Rares 9 - 3 Uncommons 25 - 4 Commons |
| Cards | 60 |
| Avg. CMC | 1.79 |
| Tokens | Zombie Army 0/0 B |
| Folders | Legacy, Legacy decks I like |
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