[Deck] The Servant's Stone

[kabal]

The idea for this deck comes from a post I saw in the Shadowmoor section.

The basic premise is to mill your opponent's entire library once you get Grindstone and Painter's Servant into play.

// Lands
7 Island
4 Flooded Strand
3 Polluted Delta
3 Tundra
1 Academy Ruins

// Creatures
4 Painter's Servant
3 Phyrexian Dreadnought
3 Trinket Mage

// Enchantments
4 Counterbalance
1 Oblivion Ring

// Spells
4 Brainstorm
4 Enlightened Tutor
4 Force of Will
4 Stifle
2 Trickbind
2 Ponder

// Artifacts
1 Engineered Explosives
3 Grindstone
3 Sensei's Divining Top

// Sideboard
2 Blue Elemental Blast
1 Chill
3 Echoing Truth
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Hydroblast
2 Pithing Needle
1 Seal of Cleansing
1 Serenity
2 Tormod's Crypt


Sideboard suggestions:

- Serenity against Stax. Tutorability FTW.
- More Engineered Explosives for matches in which you really need it. Which are those, BTW?
- Pithing Needle against lotsa stuff.
- BEBs?
- More Dreadnoughts for a stronger plan B?
- Echoing Truth for taking care of permanent hate.
- Are Seal of Cleasing or Oblivion Ring strong enough for taking care of permanent hate?
- Tormod's Crypt?

Maybe something like this:
4 BEB
3 Serenity
3 Echoing Truth
2 Pithing Needle
3 Tormod's Crypt

Affinity version:

After that post I began brainstorming some ideas. This was my first stab at it:

4 Thoughtcast
3 Cranial Plating
2 Enlightened Tutor
2 EE
2 Grindstone
1 Jitte
1 Chalice of the Void
1 Pithing Needle
1 Crypt

4 Painters Servant
4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Arcbound Worker
4 Frogmite
4 Ornithopter
3 Trinket Mage

4 Seat of Synod
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Ancient Den
2 Academy Ruins
4 Tundra
2 City of Brass

Combo Fairies:

// Lands
3 [ON] Polluted Delta
3 [ON] Flooded Strand
3 [OD] Island
4 [TE] Ancient Tomb
4 [EX] City of Traitors

// Creatures
4 [CK] Painter's Servant
4 [RV] Phyrexian Dreadnought
4 [RV] Serendib Efreet
4 [P2] Sea Drake
2 [MR] Trinket Mage

// Spells
4 [6E] Brainstorm
4 [DS] Stifle
4 [AL] Force of Will
4 [MR] Fabricate
4 [MR] Chrome Mox
3 [TE] Grindstone
2 [TS] Vision Charm

[Cire]

Why not splash white for enlightened tutor? and why not put in counter-top?

Also personally i would stay away from the 2 mana lands and either add in black or red for acceleration instead. or if you keep the 2 mana lands put in shackles or some artifacts. Try not to center the deck to much on the combo.

[georgjorge]

There's not much reason to go monocolored...Playing white would give you a very necessary card for this deck with Enlightened tutor while also allowing you to play EE at two (CBalance, anyone ?). Intuition/Fabricate seems a bit slow, as does Muddle the Mixture. I'd probably try to include CBalance + Top somewhere in there, as Top fits the theme, and CBalance works fine with E Tutor...yea, it would slow the deck down and make it (another) combo-control deck, but that would probably be the best shell for it.

Anyway, the combo is nice, but I think it would have the problem of protecting the Servant from removal. If going for a faster kill (i.e. not protected by CBalance), then Pact of Negation could do very well here, and you could also play Abjure as a cheap way to protect the combo (all your lands are blue and can be sacced) - however, those two couldn't protect the combo well prior to going off, i.e. from Chalice, discard, CBalance...

[Jak]

4 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta
7 Island
4 Tundra
1 Acamedy Ruins
4 Chrome Mox

4 Grinestone
4 Painter's Servant

4 Force of Will
4 Counterspell / Daze
4 Counterbalance
1 EE

3 Trinket Mage
4 Ponder
4 Brainstorm
4 Enlightened Tutor
2 Sensei's Diving Top

This is how the white splash would look?

[Michael Keller]

Just because I'm tired: Lands are colored now too, correct? If so, this is hot.

[kabal]

I thought about including CB engine in a white splash and now seeing it listed out, it looks very strong.

[Michael Keller]

This combo is so hilarious:

You can now pitch Island to Force of Will!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[xsockmonkeyx]

Meh, I think using Grindstone would be better. Also Sensei's Diving Top and Acamedy Ruins are crappy, and strictly inferior to their correctly spelled counterparts.

Jak: E Tutor, Chrome Mox, and FoW in the same deck seems like a lot of card disadvantage.

[b4r0n]

Jak's list looks really hot. Chrome Mox seems like a perfect fit, as does Academy Ruins.

Any thoughts on the sideboard, or how the deck would deal with Krosan Grip?

[kabal]

Any thoughts on the sideboard, or how the deck would deal with Krosan Grip?

CB with Trinket Mage on top

[Osse]

STOP PLAYING DAZE IN DECKS WITHOUT PRESSURE. Seriously. If you're not putting constant pressure on the opponent (which this deck doesn't...) then don't play Daze.

[Mental]

Blue/Red Elemental Blast and Hydro/Pyroblast become "Destroy target permanent or counter traget spell" with a servant in play. Douse is "1U: Counter target spell" if it can stick.

Sure, with a servant in play. No deck should be based around a principle like that. Cards need to be strong on their own, not in conjunction with other cards.

[Race War]

Sure, with a servant in play. No deck should be based around a principle like that. Cards need to be strong on their own, not in conjunction with other cards.

It was just an idea. I wasn't suggesting the deck be based on the combo of Servant and Hydroblast. The deck barely exists and is in the initial brainstorming phase. Thanks for the tip though.

[Jak]

Meh, I think using Grindstone would be better. Also Sensei's Diving Top and Acamedy Ruins are crappy, and strictly inferior to their correctly spelled counterparts.

Jak: E Tutor, Chrome Mox, and FoW in the same deck seems like a lot of card disadvantage.

Could be, but Counterbalance provides a ton of CA with E Tutor and Top.

I wouldn't say Acadmey is crappy. Recurring your win cons is important and getting those EEs back is important.

[freakish777]

Is Trinket Mage going to get there if Grindstone/Servant gets Extirpated? Anyway to get a 1 of Nought and Stifles in here (maybe in the board)?

[Jak]

Is Trinket Mage going to get there if Grindstone/Servant gets Extirpated? Anyway to get a 1 of Nought and Stifles in here (maybe in the board)?

I was thinking the same thing, but I would put it in the board. There is little room and to add it, you would have to take out protection. Extirpate is rarely played MD.

Anybody have ideas on a good SB?

[Jaiminho]

I'll be testing something like this:

// Lands
4 Flooded Strand
3 Polluted Delta
3 Tundra
7 Island
1 Academy Ruins

// Creatures
3 Trinket Mage
1 Phyrexian Dreadnought

// Combo
4 Painter's Servant
4 Grindstone

// Tutorable utility
3 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Engineered Explosives

// Card playage
4 Enlightened Tutor
4 Ponder
4 Brainstorm

// Protection
4 Force of Will
3 Spell Snare
3 Counterbalance
4 Stifle


Sideboard suggestions:

- Serenity against Stax. Tutorability FTW.
- More Engineered Explosives for matches in which you really need it. Which are those, BTW?
- Pithing Needle against lotsa stuff.
- BEBs?
- More Dreadnoughts for a stronger plan B?
- Echoing Truth for taking care of permanent hate.
- Are Seal of Cleasing or Oblivion Ring strong enough for taking care of permanent hate?
- Tormod's Crypt?

Maybe something like this:
4 BEB
3 Serenity
3 Echoing Truth
2 Pithing Needle
3 Tormod's Crypt

I have no clue about which match ups would be bad. Those are simply brainstormed ideas. The only thing I know is that I'm gonna pick up my Grindstone set right away.

[AngryTroll]

With Thresh the best deck in the format, and Counterbalance a real problem, Red Elemental Blast actually might be playable main. If you run Red, of course.

There will be decks it is dead against until you stick Painter's Servant, but those are the matchups where you should be able to stick the Servant (because he won't be countered). Then you have REB as a counter for Swords/Burn.

[Mental]

With Thresh the best deck in the format, and Counterbalance a real problem, Red Elemental Blast actually might be playable main. If you run Red, of course.

There will be decks it is dead against until you stick Painter's Servant, but those are the matchups where you should be able to stick the Servant (because he won't be countered). Then you have REB as a counter for Swords/Burn.

It seems alright, but in a format with this many options there have to be more flexible cards - Take Spell Snare or Stifle. Either one is more effective if you're scared of Threshold.

REB, however, could exist in the SB if you were so inclined to splash red.

[Happy Gilmore]

After that post I began brainstorming some ideas. This was my first stab at it:

4 Thoughtcast
3 Cranial Plating
2 Enlightened Tutor
2 EE
2 Grindstone
1 Jitte
1 Chalice of the Void
1 Pithing Needle
1 Crypt

4 Painters Servant
4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Arcbound Worker
4 Frogmite
4 Ornithopter
3 Trinket Mage

4 Seat of Synod
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Ancient Den
2 Academy Ruins
4 Tundra
2 City of Brass


It seems like a logical place to have both cards, where comboing is not necessary but easy to do.

There are some other ideas, but I don't want to spoil them before I can confirm that its good.