[Deck] 0-0-4 Drop (Loam/Confinement)

[Parcher]

This will be long.

I have now been testing this deck for several months, and have come to these conclusions:
1) It is a control deck, in Legacy.
2) It can compete with any deck in the format. There are no auto wins against it.
3) It is boring, draining, and pitfall laden. You would have to be some kind of masochist(or Elgin…he plays Wombat!) to bring it to a tournament.

With all this in mind, I am at heart, and in playskill, a control player. After searching the format for a true control deck, this is the closest that I have found. The set up is very much like Vintage Keeper. You ignore all but the most game ending plays your opponent makes until you get set up. There is then no real “finisher”, or “hard lock”. You win by maintaining a position wherein no play that your opponent makes can effectively win the game for them.

Sounds like fun? Read On!

The win condition at the heart of this deck is of course Solitary Confinement. With the proper setup, it gives you the same inevitability as Morphling, or Meloku. There are many decks sporting the Loam/Confinement engine throughout this format, and they all have the same problem. None of them bother with countermagic. Without it, any disruption, or mana denial you may have previously played can still be destroyed by one savage topdeck. I am not advocating a return to Draw-Go, but much like Keeper, it runs enough counters to maintain it’s position. The rest of the deck is dedicated to both starting, and maintaining the “lock”, While keeping you alive long enough to do so. If properly done, I have found that only dedicated hate, dedicated countermagic, or certain Combo decks can fight there way out of it. For those unfamiliar with it, the engine begins with the Squee/Confinement synergy. It is continued by recursing cycling lands with Life from the Loam, then using those same lands to draw both your deck, and Dredge LftL back to your hand. Wasteland can also be recurred against mulit-colored decks to stop their development, while Exploration maintains yours. Loam, and Scarab are kept safe from RFG effects by always keeping a cycling land, and a mana open to Dredge them Back.

0-0-4 Drop(U/G/w Loam Confinement)

2 Flooded Strand
2 Windswept Heath
3 Lonely Sandbar
2 Tranquil Thicket
1 Secluded Steppe
4 Tropical Island
3 Tundra
1 Savannah
1 Scrubland
1 Island
1 Forest
2 Cephalid Colesium
3 Wasteland

2 Squee, Goblin Nabob
1 Grave-Shell Scarab

3 Intuition
3 Solitary Confinement
4 Counterspell
4 Force of Will
2 Forbid
4 Brainstorm
3 Life from the Loam
4 Exploration
4 Swords to Plowshares

This list varies somewhat to what Nassif played due to both my own extensive testing, and changes in the metagame.

2 Strand/2 Heath: I have reduced these both by one for several reasons. 1)The manabase is stable enough to not need more. 2) Opponents have less valid targets to Needle. 3) With Confinement out, or against heavy Aggro, or burn, the life loss can be the only way you can die.

2 Cephalid Colesium: I raised the count by one. The sole reason was time factors. Often, even while locked down, an Aggro deck could amass such a creature horde that Scarab could never break through. These allow you to deck your opponent that much faster. Also added insurance if one gets removed from game.

Cycling Lands: I know. I know. Six seems too few. But running a control deck gives me the luxury of Intuition, and this makes all the difference. I only need two to recurse at any one time, and having more in the graveyard once again makes you more vulnerable to removal.

2 Squee: The lock only needs one. I include a second for insurance, and to feed Forbid if needed in the late game.

Grave-Shell Scarab: Dodges all RFG effects, the only reason to include it over many better finishers.

Intuition: Doesn’t really need explanation, but I wanted to stress the utter dependence this deck has on it. Even more so than the much discussed Exploration. If you have Confinment in hand, can cast this, and untap, you should win most games.

2 Forbid: An unfortunate necessity. With the dredging this deck does, you can not always rely on getting countermagic no matter how many cards you draw. One of these in hand, in conjunction with the massive amounts of mana this deck can produce, turns almost any cards into counterspells.


The sideboard has gone through major changes since this deck last saw tournament play. Here is mine as it stands:

4 Meddling Mage
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Hail Storm
2 Ray of Distortion
2 Anurid Brushopper

Before I get to the matchups, I want to explain the changes. Massacre was a metagame choice by Nassif, assuming the only Goblins decks he would fear packed Plateaus. My issue with that is there is no way to hardcast Massacre otherwise. It also loses the surprise factor that an instant has. And if yu face a Goblins deck with Naturalize, you’re toast. Ray of Distortion seems like pure jank, I know. But this deck has to have some form of removal. That removal needs flashback if possible, to reduce the slots used if you Dredge it. And although Ray of Revelation is much better overall, Pithing Needle, Tormod’s Crypt(pre-Chalice), Winter Orb, and Sphere of Resistance are just a few artifacts that can hurt this deck very much. The speed at which this deck accumulates mana is enough to offset the difference in casting cost. Lastly, the Brushopper. No one is going to be surprised by the man-plan from this deck anymore. Vinelasher Kudzu, while chaep, and able to grow exponentially, will most often fall victim to removal. The only time you bring in the men, is when time restraints become a factor. Most opponents will be aware of this, and sideboard accordingly. The Brushopper give a large(ish) body at low cost. And with the manipulation this deck has, keeping him out of the graveyard is rarely an issue. Also, all sideboard guides are given regardless of time left. So often, you will need to bring Brushopper in a match instead of some other option, to win before time expires. Last thing, Hail storm was simply chosen for fitting the color, and mana curve, and doing a fine job at mass weenie removal.

Matchups: Though I have tested all of these enough to post win percentages, I will refrain from doing so, knowing the flamestorm it creates.

Threshold Pre-board: The color combinations are irrelevant. This is an almost even match. They do not have the speed to force the lock before you are ready, but they can stop it if you let them. Your best plan is to go for the Waste-lock, and try to spend your counters on Mongoose. They have no way of stopping Confinement once it hits, so do not drop it until you have no choice, or are fairly certain of forcing it though. Much like a combo deck, you need to be as patient as possible, and force them in the Aggro role, only reacting when you must.

Sideboarding:
+ 4 Chalice of the Void
+ 2 Ray of Distortion

- 4 Swords to Plowshares
-1 Forbid
-1 Brainstorm

Your main goal is always to get a Chalice set on one. Zero is also acceptable if you fear a Crypt coming down. The Rays come in, as an out if Needle or Crypt come down first. Swords is tough to remove, but lacks synergy with the main objective post-board, as does the one Brainstorm. With their lack of ability to remove Confinement, the Forbid will be less needed in the mid to late game.

Deadguy/Pikula Pre-board: Should be one of the easier matches. Their removal, and land destruction is mostly irrelevant against this deck. And with only one card you need to protect,(Confinement) your Brainstorms should give you enough to avoid discard. They are slow to develop, and you can also cripple their color base with Wasteland.

Sideboarding: None.

They bring in Needle, and if they run it, Withered Wretch. Needle is not enough to stop you own its own, so doesn’t merit boarding for. Wretch is the reason you don’t side out your StP’s for Chalice. Or you can just counter him. The most important thing is to be certain if they gain any kind of advantage, to kill Bob. Against a deck as slow as this one, he will maintain that advantage for them.

Rifter/Wombat Pre-board: Not much to say here. They have only delaying tactics main deck. Akroma’s Vengance is easily countered, if even run. They have tons of irrelevant removal, and tend to deck themselves.

Sideboarding:
+ 4 Meddling Mage
+2 Anurid Brushopper

-4 Swords to Plowshares
-2 Exploration

This is a huge swing post-board. 4 Disenchants come in, along with Orim’s Chant. The combination of these, along with Abeyance makes it very difficult to keep Confinement on the board. Chalice slows the game down, with no guarantees. Ray can only remove Lightning Rift. But the main problem becomes time. I usually have to go with the man-plan, and hope. They will still have enough removal to kill your Mage, but he can force them to use it on him. You will want to name Disenchant if you can drop a Confinement, and StP if you can’t.This may allow your other beaters to do some damage. Their deck is slow enough that losing the two Explorations is rarely an issue. Basically, win game one. And pray they don’t concede.

Solidarity Pre-board: Your countermagic is not enough. You can’t put any pressure on them. You have no other disruption. That’s the bad part. The good part is you have basically the same fundamental turn, and if Confinement hits, you only have to counter Cunning Wish afterwards. It really becomes a race to who can “go off” first. Both sides have equal disruption. Unfortunately, if you tap out at any time, while maintaining the lock, they can end the game right there. Exploration is to be squandered into unless you have the complete nuts in your opening hand. An unfavorable matchup.

Sideboarding:
+4 Meddling Mage
+4 Chalice of the Void

-4 Swords to Plowshares
-1 Grave-Shell Scarab
-1 Squee
-1 Wasteland
-1 Life from the Loam

The sideboard guide here may seem a little sketchy as far as what is removed. What is added is what turns this match around. Chalice for one hurts them badly, and Mage naming Wish cripples them. You must now play as defensively as possible. They tend to deck themselves, so get a Mage, or Chalice as early as you can, then do nothing. Only even cycle when you have plenty of mana up. You are even then probably only going to earn a draw out of this match, and if your opponent realizes this, you’ll have to concede the first game to keep them from going infinite, and burning the clock. While I feel you gain the advantage post board, the overall match is not so due to the overwhelming advantage they have game one. (Good thing only David Gearhart can play that deck, tee-hee.)

Angel Stompy Pre-board: One of your other highly favorable matches. Most run no main deck enchantment removal. They are relatively slow on their offense. They have a decent amount of dead removal spells. Play your normal game against them, and you should win.

Sideboarding:
+3 Hail Storm
+2 Ray of Distortion

-3 Intuition
-1 Grave-Shell Scarab
-1 Exploration

They will bring in Crypt, and Armageddon. Unfortunately, they will probably be on the play. This makes bringing in Chalice a highly questionable decision, as you mainly want it to stop Crypt. Those I have brought in should be obvious, but not the ones I removed. With few ways to stop Crypt, I have to minimize it’s effects. This means switching plans. Adding the extra removal gives me enough time to assemble all the needed pieces without Intuition. But mainly, it dumps to much that I might need in the yard, before I can remove a Crypt. Throwing Ray in the yard with Intuition is too late, as they can remove the rest in response. The match becomes much more even post-board, but I usually feel this deck is slightly favored.

Goblins Pre-board: Before boarding, all of these decks a played basically the same. They can easily outrace you, but concede once Confinement hits. This is another match where Exploration in your opening hand is extremely important. If you don’t need the mana, counter anything you can in the first three turns. You won’t need them later. A lot of luck is involved as to who gets the coin flip, and better draw. I would have to give a slight disadvantage to the Goblins deck, but that can be erased in a moment by the penultimate “Goblins Nutz Draw”™.

Sideboarding: This is one where it depends what flavor of the deck you opponent is playing.
Mono Red
+3 Hail Storm

-1 Grave-Shell Scarab
-1 Life from the Loam
-1 Wasteland

The only things they can bring are Anarchy and REB, most Goblin players don’t run Tormod’’s Crypt. You will have to watch for the Anarchy, but once Confinement is in play, it’s the only thing you have to counter. Just save extra mana for countering the Blasts.

Red/White, Red/Green
+4 Meddling Mage

-1 Squee
-1 Grave-Shell Scarab
-2 Counterspell

You hope they ditched Gempalm, and want to drop a Mage on turn two,(naming Disenchant, or Naturalize). This limits the need for a turn two counter. He can of course, chump block in a pinch, and be re-cast later. Chalice for two is better, but negates Loam. If they bring a large supply of Blasts as well, prepare for a short game. This configuration, post-board, is possibly your worst matchup. But, as said before, is highly draw dependant, which can go either way.

I need to stress that the previous sideboarding is only a guide. Time constraints are paramount when playing this deck, and you have to adjust accordingly. The many variants on these, and other decks in this vast format should also cause you to alter your board, and plan to fit them.

I firmly believe that this deck is a contender. It takes loads of patience, a meticulous nature, and a willingness to be hated by all opponents you play; But once mastered, the rewards are readily apparent.

Thank you for your time.

[Rambo]

@parcher: thanks for having the guts to post this deck
Anyway, wouldn't mox diamond be really good as well? I mean you can get the land you pitch off loam. Maybe a couple, what do you think?

[Parcher]

@Rambo: Thanks. I am suprised someone other than myself sees it that way.
Maybe because it's so different than anything else in the format. Or more likely because control decks have been driven out almost completely by the dominant Aggro, no one wants to touch it. The thing that concerns me is so few have given it more than a cursory attempt. That's fine. Less prepared players helps, as I plan to run this puppy.

As far as Moxen, while the deck could run them, I see no reason to. Exploration gives better, more consistant acceleration, and is actually neccasary for the Waste-lock. It would be good in addition, but the slots in this deck are unbeliveably tight. I could only publish the above primer after massive testing, tweaking each card and land. And it's still not set. I fear I lack the creativity to improve it further, though my play of it keeps getting better.

[Rambo]

Whats the point of the brushhoppers? They cant break through more than the scarabs, so it would seem like pithing needle would be a better choice to futher help race combo like belcher, and protect you against crypt. What to you think?

[Nightmare]

Solidarity Sideboarding:
+4 Meddling Mage
...
-1 Grave-Shell Scarab

Angel Stompy Sideboarding:
+3 Hail Storm
+2 Ray of Distortion
...
-1 Grave-Shell Scarab

Goblins Sideboarding:

+3 Hail Storm
...
-1 Grave-Shell Scarab

Red/White, Red/Green
+4 Meddling Mage
...
-1 Grave-Shell Scarab

This worries me. You're basically saying, if you don't win game 1, you will lose every round. In each of these matchups, you're siding out ALL of your win conditions (That's right, all 1 of them). Say Goblins leaves Incinerator in. Or they Lackey/Vial in Siege Gang. You LOSE. How can you expect to NOT draw (at best) every round, when your only reliable source of victory is your opponent running out of cards first? This is especially important since in most cases, you also side out a Squee! How does this deck win post-board?

[Rambo]

Cephalid colisium to deck your opponent is a fine win condition, as long as they dont pithing needle it. You can keep returning it with loam and playing it with exploration.

[Nightmare]

Cephalid colisium to deck your opponent is a fine win condition, as long as they dont pithing needle it. You can keep returning it with loam and playing it with exploration.

I disagree. Giving your opponent 3 cards at a time is no way to win a game. This basically gives them a butt-ton of cards to work with to find an answer to whatever it is you're doing. It's an entirely different matter than say, Stroking them out, because with that, they either have an answer or die, there's no window for them to find an out. Even with 4 explorations on the table, you can get them to draw a max of 18 cards in a turn, and that's a lot of cards for them to untap with.

[Rambo]

Well, grave shell scarab isn't much better. They could sit their all day and chump him, and you would most likely be decked. Your right though that we need to find another win condition. Morphling? I dont know.

[john mathias]

Barbarian Ring?

[fearphage]

I disagree. Giving your opponent 3 cards at a time is no way to win a game. This basically gives them a butt-ton of cards to work with to find an answer to whatever it is you're doing. It's an entirely different matter than say, Stroking them out, because with that, they either have an answer or die, there's no window for them to find an out. Even with 4 explorations on the table, you can get them to draw a max of 18 cards in a turn, and that's a lot of cards for them to untap with.

Please read Cephalid Coliseum. They draw three right before they discard three. Their hand size does not change. Sure they see more cards but unless they find needle and/or a disenchant effects in multiples, it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

I like the utility of the lands in the deck. I would like to see more anti aggro lands.

[Nightmare]

Please read Cephalid Coliseum. They draw three right before they discard three. Their hand size does not change. Sure they see more cards but unless they find needle and/or a disenchant effects in multiples, it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

I like the utility of the lands in the deck. I would like to see more anti aggro lands.

Yeah, well, thats a good point. Stupid always forgetting about that part. RTFC. Still, it seems like a better win condition should be available. Barbarian Ring is in the wrong color. As for Anti-Aggro, Glacial Chasm is completely underrated, and Tabernacle is crazy good.

[Atwa]

Still, Colloseum lets you dig trough your library, maybe not gaining card advantage, but it lets your opponent search for an answer (he is not going to discard his answers).

I believe there must be a better win condition other than milling your opponent. Maybe Barbarian Ring or something. I am also not too fond on Scarab. Yeah, sure he enables dredge and he is hard to kill, but I'm convinced there must be a better way.

Don't get me wrong, I like the deck and the way it plays, just try to find another wincondiction.

[Rambo]

Blinkmoth nexus? He's a flier that can be returned with loam. I dont know.

[subway-guy]

i have seen a better version of this deck at a tournament and ran a man land beat down and instead of intuition giftsand a alot of recursion like 10 and it had a way better board as he only had to board in like 1-3 cards.

This post is incoherent. Further incoherencies will receive a warning.

-PR

[tpnp]

I have seen a better version of this deck at a tournament that I played in. It ran man lands for beat down and instead of Intuition it ran Gifts. Along with that it had a alot of recursion, like around 10 cards and it had a way better board since he only had to board in like 1-3 cards each game.

There, fixed it to something that resembles the american english language.

[Parcher]

Wow, I wish I'd gotten online sooner; But I'm happy for the response.

Anyway:

@Nightmare: Yes, an unfortunate result with this deck is against everyone but Thresh, and Solidarity, you have a much larger advantage in the first game. This does not mean you lose afterwards, however. While stall tactics may be distateful, it is quite easy to get an 1-0-1 win if your opponent concedes the first game. You don't need win conditions if you are 1-0 in the match. Except when you do. This is when I suggest keeping the creatures in. Against most aggro decks, your win percentage in the first game is greater than I would even attempt to get people to believe. Hell, the reason Ruel called the deck, "0-0-4 Drop" is if your opponent doesn't conceed the first game, it is really easy to run 40 minutes decking them without Coliseum,(he only ran one)then have them kill you in the next 5 minutes+turns.

@atwa: Coliseum rarely gives you opponent any kind of advantage. Most often, they nearly empty their hand, knowing what is coming. They either try to kill you, or stop the lock before you get it. With two cards in hand, drawing, then discarding three will never match what I hold in card advantage. And by the way, I can't use it on myself once Confinement hits.

@Rambo: I chose Brushopper for it's cost, and survivability. As I said, if you do lose game one, they KNOW you have to try to win in time. Man-lands are too small, and to easily killed by the removal they keep in for just that purpose. I'm sure there is something better in his place, but to be honest, playing without time limits has not forced me to fully explore this avenue yet.

I have tried Gifts, and bluntly, Intuition works better. The extra mana is an issue, but the main point is YOU DON'T WANT to have two different cards in hand. Every Intuition is for two cycling lands and Squee, or LftL. They end up in your hand anyway. And if you have to get three counterspells, or Confinement, you're screwed. Barbarian Ring has not been tried by me, but I am really afraid to mess with the colors. They don't have problems, and I'm not sure it would be worth opening the deck up to more issues.

The one thing I need to investigate is the idea of more defensive lands. I often have cyclers, and LftL, but know I can't keep a Confinement on board. This seems to be perfect for the mentioned Glacial Chasm. Tabernacle would also be great against any Wasteland-able deck. I will see if, and where these could be fit in. Thanks to everyone for their help.

[Rambo]

I think a tabernicle would fit in for a tropical island. If you are running tabernicle, how about crop rotation?

[Parcher]

The change has already been made. It has worked well so far, but with little testing. The major change made was to remove the Scarab, the Island, and a Wasteland for three Nantuko Monastery. Should really help with time constraints. The sideboard is revolving with this change, but no clear results to post yet. There are several new cards I'm trying. Elephant Grass vs. Aggro, and Gaea's Blessing against control decks. Grass is obvious, and Blessing not only keeps me from decking due to LftL, it also allows me to recurse countermagic in the long control matches.

EDIT: I was unclear when responding to Rambo. The Tabernacle actually replaced the Scrubland, not a Tropical since there is no longer a need for black mana.

[Rood]

I would like to point out that this deck has an extremely good matchup vs. alot of top tier decks after test playing with Parcher. It seems to me like it's evolving into the next form of control possible.

[Bane of the Living]

The problem I have with this deck is its inability to finish games. While its lock is powerful, and quite consistant, Ill often set up lock and be waiting far too many turns to win the game. Only some opponents scoop, knowing you still need to kill them somehow, and often in games 2 and 3 my opponent will find a way to deal with confinement and get through counterspells. Usually a disenchant effect backed by their own counters. I like Scarab but he's so slow. What about Zombie Infestation as a win condition? It provides great early game against gobs and others, and late game turns insane with LftL and Squee.