ARENA LD 2020 Land Destruction

So my favorite decktype has always been Prison, specifically LD.

Prison effects then to be things like Chalice of the Void, sphere of resistance, trinity sphere.

The problem is always whether you can lock down before they present a threat and after lockdown, can you maintain the lock.

A hard lock could be Kismet + Winter Orb for instance.


But wotc has veered away from such tactics.

So for modern, there are less prison effects but midrangy LD decks still exist. There is the attrition types and there are the comboish types (madcap Experiment + Emperion), I am normally more of the atttrition based player. I rather like, ember swallower, and Polukranos as my kill cum removal. I am also partial to w/r versions of LD with Ghostly Prison, Boom//Bust, Flagstones of T??? something. +  Darksteel citadels...


But I digress.


In standard, the LD is usally horrifically suboptimal. Fair enough since Standard is usually already slower. But occasionally the stars align and a LD deck is possible. I remember back in Theros I was able to build a semi viable LD deck that ramps into a turn 3 LD and uses Chandra, Torch of Defiance to draw cards (effectively) + Chandra Pyromaster to double the LD effects. Chandra ToD is pretty important as it is like a howling mine, letting my draw more LD than they have incoming land. So my ability to keep the LD coming (in lieu of prison effects) is dependent on Chandra Tod and Pyromaster. Ember Swallower is my LD + Kill,  while Polukranous is kill + removal. What I like about Ember Swallower and Polukranos is that they are essentially 2 cards in 1, much like the Adventure cards, though the adventure are cards are far more potent.


And again I digress :P


So standard. Standard we are usually stuck with 4cc LD. Not great really, but turn 3 LD in standard might be a strong enough play. The next thing is redundency. i.e. there must be 2 cards that are LD even if they are both 4cc :(   And this we have: Demolish + Ruin Readings.

Next we need the ramp, back in original Theros, we had Sylvan Carytid. Yes the card that shot up in Pioneer! :p I was already using it then, it was a 2cc ramp. I liked it as it had hexproof and could block if necessary. In current 2020 standard, we actually have 2! paradise Priest and IIysian Dryad.

The main issue I see is there is no Chandra Tod or Pyromaster esque style of generating advantage :(

So we have to try to bump around with big monster and hope it sticks. Back in original Theros, the big hitters were ember swallowers  and Polukranos. I think Chandra could ping too. with her +1


Anyways this is the current list i have:

The defense is quite a bit better tho, I now have death touch 1/1s, 8 removals. The only chance for me to generate multiple LS is via underworld breach. not great. But we'll see i guess.

i do get two "sphere" effects though, Dovin and God Pharoah's Statue.

My kills are the Phoenix, Dragon and Chandra provides the card draw :p oki so I might have my engine afterall.

So far I have one win, of course this is ARENA best of 1, so it is easier :p

But the win was a mix of lucky draws, I only played one LD but it was my strongest : Casualties of War. Killing their biggest threat and knocking out a land is pretty brutal. (I was on the receiving end a few times, so .... that was partly what kindled my old flame for LD ;P)

Anyways lets see how this goes.