Doctor Claw [EDH]

[Oversoul]

So that first game after making my changes was pretty lousy, but I finally played a second. It was much better. Right when the other players had built up formidable board states, Zirilan was able to fetch Drakuseth on the end step before my turn and Balefire Dragon in my upkeep, getting rid of opposing creatures. Sacrificed both dragons to Phyrexian Altar for mana to cast Siege Dragon. My opponents worked to rebuild their boards, so I set up mean play. I felt a little bit bad, but I did put it in the deck so it's not like I wasn't going to use it. Floating eight red mana, I fetched Worldgorger Dragon from my library with Zirilan's ability. Once my stuff was exiled, I used my remaining mana to cast Apocalypse. Opponents lost all their permanents and I got mine back. They conceded rather than waiting another couple turns for me to finish them off in that situation.

 

[Oversoul]

Played this one last night. It started out as a three-player game, but my strong opening hand took a turn toward being unstoppable after one opponent scooped right away (I believe his ride home had arrived or something). Mana Vault into a turn three Zirilan led to dragon beatdown for the win.

 

[Oversoul]

-1 Hellkite Charger
-1 Thermopod
+1 Skyline Despot
+1 Descendants' Fury

Cutting a couple of cards that I just don't use in actual gameplay for some new additions that might accomplish more.

 

[Oversoul]

Should probably have lost my last game with this one. My last opponent had a Viridian Revel, so she decided to let me take her treasure tokens when I attacked her with Hellkite Tyrant. I think she just wanted to see how it would shake out. I already had Flameshadow Conjuring, and was able to make enough mana between Ashnod's Altar and those treasure tokens that I could set up an infinite loop with Bogardan Hellkite and Worldgorger Dragon.

 

[Oversoul]

I kept a two-land hand and was punished for it. Once I got my third mountain, I was able to use Jeska's Will to ramp out Ancient Brass Dragon, which should have given me a decent chance at solving my mana woes. Before I got a chance to attack, one opponent cast Lyra Dawnbringer and the other cast Niv-Mizzet, Supreme. So my last-ditch effort to dig myself out of that hole failed. Oh well.

 

[Oversoul]

Ran out of time on my final game of last night. I liked my chances. A first turn Mana Vault let me threaten to get started with Zirilan activations early. I held back mana on my third turn, hoping for an end step Zirilan activation that could set me up to build a board position. The opponent ahead of me in turn order had other plans, and used Chain Reaction as an attempted board wipe. At first, I believed that this would effectively take me out of the game (with no Mana Vault or other means of getting Zirilan back before turn 6, I'd be too far behind). So I searched for the best retaliation I could think of, then switched to Worldgorger Dragon. This maneuver bailed me out, untapping my Mana Vault and letting me set up a huge turn with Sneak Attack. But I knew that I couldn't kill both of my remaining opponents in that turn, and with the game store closing we all had to pack up anyway.

 

[Oversoul]

For the first time in I don't even know how long, I used Terror of Mount Velus. It's been a card that I kept thinking of cutting from the deck, but through every revision, it keeps clinging in there. Well, this time it won me the game. Incidentally, I miscounted damage from my triggers with Dragon Tempest and Utvara Hellkite. I attacked with 5 dragons, so it should have generated 6+7+8+9+10=40 damage, not 50 damage. Doesn't affect the outcome, ultimately. But I should have realized that. Felt pretty good that Zirilan was able to pull out so much damage at once on the turn right after all my artifacts had just been blown up. Turned out I still had all deez dragons.

 

[Oversoul]

Tried this deck last night and got hit with a bad manascrew. Hit my first three land drops. Between my own Faithless Looting and an opponent's Spiteful Visions I drew plenty of extra cards. Ruby Medallion even meant that I could cast my five-drops if I just hit a fourth land. I never saw one. Sometimes, games go that way.

 

[Oversoul]

Kept a hand that didn't have any really fast options, but I was able to deploy Impact Tremors and Dragon Tempest, as well as using Faithless Looting to keep drawing lands. Managed to deploy Zirilan on turn 5, which seemed about right. However, one of my opponents was already throwing around 40-power commander attacks with an unmodified precon. Power creep is real. This deck is capable of faster starts on occasion, but I do not think that my draws were that bad.

 

[Oversoul]

Played this deck for my final game last night. Dragons took on zombies and goblins. Narrowly avoided dying to those inferior tribes. Terror of Mount Velus closed the game out.

 

[Oversoul]

Went for a Worldgorger combo against a table that was almost tapped out. The one opponent that still had single land untapped also happened to be holding Swords to Plowshares. Oops. He wasn't sure what to target, so I kind of had to walk him through how to stop me, but I wasn't going to angle-shoot someone in a casual game like this anyway. Besides, half the fun of running Worldgorger Dragon in a deck is knowing that it can go so hilariously wrong. Well, not half. It's probably at least 15% though...

 

[Oversoul]

It's been a long time, but Terror of Mount Velus came through for me again. When revising this deck, I've always kind of had my eye on this dragon as a potential cut. Seems like I rarely use it. But it closed the game out for me in my final game this Wednesday. I had a pretty strong board state going and might have been able to win without it, but I was glad to have it anyway.

 

[Oversoul]

Played this deck last night. Got a strong start with first turn Sol Ring into Ruby Medallion. Had to recover from a board wipe, but pulled it off a couple turns later. I had everything set up to execute an infinite loop on my next turn, using Zirilan of the Claw to fetch Zodiac Dragon while also making enough mana to deploy Sneak Attack and Phyrexian Altar, then sneak in Scourge of Valkas and loop Zodiac Dragon for infinite damage. But I never got there. One of my opponents derped into Marauding Raptor + Polyraptor with no way to end the loop, so the game ended in a draw. Hilarious.