Let's Break Toshiro Umezawa

[Ephraim]

Toshiro Umezawa

When I told a friend of mine about this miniseries of "Let's Break..." articles, he recommended Toshiro Umezawa, which seems like a really good choice for this discussion. There are two important elements required to abuse Toshi: a source of repeatable creature kill and instants worth recurring.

I think that Tainted AEther may be a good source of repeatable creature kill. If I combine it with Forbidden Orchard, it will either form an endless source of dying creatures or it will annihilate my opponent's land. Either way, I come out on top. Even without Tainted AEther in play, I think that I would like to splash red for Prodigal Pyromancer and damage-dealing instants, so I'll be able to use Pyromancer to pick off spirit tokens.

Selecting appropriate instants, on the other hand, is going to be a mighty chore. Instinct tells me that I should be using the instants to control the game and a large creature as my win condition. (Hunted Horror might be good here.) Lightning Bolt seems like an obvious inclusion, but what else? Toshi probably plays well with arcane/splice cards, but I don't know if I'll frequently have the mana available to really abuse them. I really don't know where to go from here. I need to figure out a good way to narrow down the options.

 

[Ransac]

How about combining it with things like Time Warp and Time Stretch? Have cards like Diabolic Edict or Cruel Edict and the like to kill creatures, then continue to take your turns.

Edit: Ooo, yeah! With the Hunted creatures you mentioned before!

Ransac, cpa trash man

 

[Spiderman]

I don't have any ideas for this one...

 

[Ephraim]

Diabolic Edict is a good call, since it is an instant and can get rid of the Centaur tokens that Hunted Horror would create. I'm not so thrilled about Time Stretch and Time Warp, though. They aren't instants, so Toshiro Umezawa could not be used to flash them back.

I've been thinking that perhaps red is not the best second colour for this deck. Neither black nor red can handle enchantments all that well. It might be better to make this a black and white deck. That gives me additional access to tricks that black can't handle.

 

[Spiderman]

Can't forget Swords to Plowshares...

 

[Ephraim]

I hadn't forgotten it, but I'm not sure if Swords to Plowshares is the right card for this deck. It is certainly powerful, but do I really want to be removing my opponent's creatures from the game or should I instead be concentrating on cards that allow them to hit the graveyard?

I was thinking more of cards like Abeyance, Chastise, Raise the Alarm, and Razor Barrier. (Raise the Alarm made me think, though: Is Tainted AEther the best card for this deck or would I be better off with something like Grave Pact?)

 

[Ransac]

Sorry. Missed the "instant" restriction.

Let me turn this concept over for a second. I'll have something.


Ransac, cpa trash man

 

[train]

B/G - Call to the Grave, Hermit Druids...

Other filler for list here...

The druids stick your deck in your GY... Call ensures that your opponent has some going to gy... if need be you can cycle sleeper agents...

 

[Ephraim]

Here's a question: The deck has a lot of cards in it that would also go nicely on Isochron Scepter. Should I include that in the deck or would it draw too much focus away from Toshiro Umezawa?

 

[Ransac]

I think it would take too much focus away.

We need something to kill the monsters that your opponent summons, plus some instants that would be great to "Blink" into play, if you would.


Here's an interesting concept: Cycling & Fluctuator. This would allow you to get those instants into your graveyard while continuously leafing through your deck. Throw in some creature kill (like the cycling "swat" for example).

This starts to look like a simple Fluctuator deck, but don't let that fool you. It's only the instant cycling cards that we're interesting in, whereas the old deck used the creatures and Living Death to bring the pain.

Throw in a Scroll Rack in order to find more cycling cards once your hand is void of them.

Yes? No?

Ransac, cpa trash man

 

[Ephraim]

Well, I've assembled something and played a few test games with it. Tainted AEther and Forbidden Orchard definitely weren't working out. They relied too much on both being in play at the same time, so I've taken out Forbidden Orchard and I am using Grave Pact instead. Early editions of the deck didn't have enough creatures, especially with the addition of Grave Pact, so if the compliment of instants seems smaller than expected for a Toshiro Umezawa deck, that's why. I think that the deck is a trifle inconsistent, so I may further cut a few cards to add three copies of Night's Whisper.

There is probably also call for a couple copies of Disenchant. The deck hasn't won yet and I attribute some of that to powerful artifacts getting in my way. Although I like Grave Pact in theory, I think that my other kill spells (especially Plagued Rusalka) are effective enough at killing my opponent's creatures that those two slots could probably be used more constructively. I could probably use one fewer Abeyance and possibly one fewer Diabolic Edict. Any instant kill spell is really nice, though, because it goes to the graveyard in time for Toshiro Umezawa to flash it back. I especially like Funeral Charm for this, though, because I can kill my opponent's creature and even if there isn't another creature to whack, I can flash the Charm back as instant-speed discard.

Proposed changes to the deck listed below:
-2 Grave Pact
-1 Abeyance
-1 Diabolic Edict

+2 Night's Whisper
+2 Disenchant

***

Creatures 13
3 Toshiro Umezawa
3 Riftmarked Knight
4 Plagued Rusalka
2 Plague Sliver
1 Angel of Despair

Spells (23)
2 Grave Pact
4 Diabolic Edict
4 Funeral Charm
4 Abeyance
4 Raise the Alarm
3 Shelter
2 Chastise

Land (24)
4 Tainted Field
12 Swamp
8 Plains

 

[Shabbaman]

Toshi is one of the few cards out of Kamigawa block that I have a playset of. I always buy some sets from a new set, with the idea "oooh, nice to buid a deck with!". Toshi+varchild's war-riders+plaguespitter+scythe of the wretched+neko-te+bottle gnomes+corpse dance. As it turns out, you can't actually put all these cards in a pile and expect it to be a working deck. Leyline of singularity helped a lot, but then Toshi made place for Hunted horror and friends. Best. Deck. Ever.



I hope you are aware of the Toshi challenge. I think that article covers the basics nicely.

Today I'd say that it'd make sense to combine Toshi with a dredge deck. Buyback spells, beacons, cards like that.

About the deck above, you missed mortify. It's in color, it's an instant and it destroys creatures. If you go with some dredge and/or discard, you could play riftstone portal. Then you can play 3 colors: 4 mortify and 4 putrefy.

 

[train]

I looked back at this... I have to build a /g version of this...

With some of the Storm ability instants out there - mass destruction from a pernicious deed, damnation, etc. could be col to see go down...

 

[Death Incarnate]

just use stuff like searing wind and other big burn spells. maybe some cards like delirium skeins or smallpox to get it to the 'yard.

 

[Ephraim]

just use stuff like searing wind and other big burn spells. maybe some cards like delirium skeins or smallpox to get it to the 'yard.

You don't get to play the spell without paying its mana cost. Basically, it gives one of your spells Flashback.

 

[train]

I think I'm good with this... (Could do tons more with a Death Wish and Living Wish, and then Sideboard...)

3 Toshiro Umezawa
2 Crucible of Worlds
1 Fastbond
3 Hermit Druid
1 Despotic Scepter
3 Wall of Souls
3 Hunted Troll
1 Dark Banishing
1 Fog
2 Ghastly Demise
1 Dash Hopes
1 Tendrils of Corruption
1 Skeletal Scrying
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Rapid Decay
1 Krosan Grip
1 Berserk
1 Resize
1 Blossoming Wreath
1 Sprout Swarm
1 Reclaim
1 Grim Harvest
1 Summoner's Pact
1 Regrowth
1 Repopulate
1 Squall Line
1 Pernicious Deed
1 Simulacrum

2 Cabal Coffers
2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Bayou
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Tainted Wood
2 Llanowar Wastes
2 Forest
2 Swamp

 

[Force of Will Smith]

The only problem with this guy is he removes all the spells after they're played, so you'd either have to have a big BOOM that casting it twice would win you the game, or just as a way to pad the amount of kill spells you have...

I mean... running terrors, rend fleshes and the like early on...
Then play him... and every spell is worth 2 kill effects correct?

H'es not really that bad...


Although Tainted Aether+Varchild's warriders = ouch ouch and more ouch.

3BBR, wait 1 turn and.
CU: at the beginning of your turn your oppoent sacrifices a land or creature

Thanks for reminding me of that wicked spell, im gonna have to make a deck around it.

 

[train]

well the wishes allow you to do things continuously... put them on a tool like isochron scepter... and you would never run out of things to do...

play it (into gy)
replay it (into RFG)
wish it back...
play it...

wash rinse and repeat...