Based on the comments from the previous post, it seems like some readers are missing the point of Architects of Will in this deck. The deck just needs graveyard action… It kind of doesn’t matter what that action is; you just need something to activate the eight-pack of Mannequins and Soul Manipulations and Architects of Will is actually excellent. I like it so much that if my list weren’t so tight I would actually play Glassdust Hulk.

Per Aten’s question I actually cut the Murderous Redcaps a couple of days ago; since I have been batting pretty well against a variety of opponents. I blew one against U/W Reveillark. Game One I kept a three lander and didn’t have four land in play until I had drawn sixteen cards. I shredded him with Puppeteer Cliques in game two, and then just got sloppy in the third. I took too much damage from an early Mutavault due to watching Dexter out of the corner of my eye. On the last turn he topdecked a Meddling Mage right after I exhausted his Glen Elendra Archmage, and he called Cruel Ultimatum. I was kold on my next four draws (but if I had just not taken an extra four from Mutavault due to eyeing a Showtime serial killer I probably would have won). Otherwise, I can say the deck is a bit dodgy against Howling Mine / Fog decks with a lot of Runed Halos, but I haven’t lost to anything else since updating the list.

Per a Twitter reply from Mark Young, second turn Putrid Leech can be a little dangerous, but I have been doing better than even against Conley Woods decks (though I did take a three-match skid against Jund decks at one point).

Anyway, here’s the deck:

Architects of Will Deck

4 Makeshift Mannequin
2 Puppeteer Clique
4 Shriekmaw

4 Cryptic Command
4 Mulldrifter

2 Anathemancer
4 Architects of Will
4 Bituminous Blast
3 Cruel Ultimatum
4 Soul Manipulation

4 Crumbling Necropolis
3 Island
1 Mountain
4 Reflecting Pool
4 Sunken Ruins
2 Swamp
4 Vivid Creek
3 Vivid Marsh

sideboard:
2 Puppeteer Clique
2 Anathemancer
3 Caldera Hellion
4 Lighting Bolt
4 Volcanic Fallout

One of the things I like about this deck is that it is really good against the Nakamura Five-color deck that did so well in so many Nationals the past couple of weeks. The ability to play threats at instant speed really help to set up the Cruel Ultimatums; plus, both Cliques and Anathemancers are super (especially when compared with the former Redcaps).

If I PTQ this weekend, I am definitely playing it and I recommend you try it out.

LOVE
MIKE

Currently Reading: Dead to the World (Sookie Stackhouse, Book 4)

A take at a new Makeshift Mannequin deck, featuring the unlikely “Opt” Architects of Will! Will this deck grow up into a “good enough for PTQ play” build? I think yes

Architects of Will Deck

4 Makeshift Mannequin
4 Shriekmaw

4 Cryptic Command
4 Mulldrifter
4 Soul Manipulation

4 Architects of Will
4 Bituminous Blast
3 Cruel Ultimatum
4 Murderous Redcap

4 Crumbling Necropolis
3 Island
1 Mountain
4 Reflecting Pool
4 Sunken Ruins
2 Swamp
4 Vivid Creek
3 Vivid Marsh

sideboard:
4 Anathemancer
3 Caldera Hellion
4 Lighting Bolt
4 Volcanic Fallout

Inspired by the Conley Woods Deck (B/u/G/R Makeshift Mannequin) I decided to try to make a Makeshift Mannequin deck based around Grixis colors. The Woods deck is reminiscent of my Jund Mana Ramp deck… but with no Ramp. I feel like if you are not going to play Borderland Ranger then you don’t have to play Green. There are just great cards in the other colors to play that can also contribute to the deck’s velocity. When building with these colors you get the core Mannequin creatures — being Shriekmaw and Mulldrifter, which both have evoke, and therefore can be set up for Makeshift Mannequin more readily — and also a better overall suite of powerful cards. Yes, you lose Broodmate Dragon and Cloudthresher, but you gain Cruel Ultimatum. Black, Blue, and Red have no shortage of suitable threats, and if you want, you can play something along the lines of a Demigod of Revenge; but I chose to play with Architects of Will instead

While there are a fair number of cards that you play on your own turn, most of them can be played at a discount, which allows you to leave up mana for Cryptic Command or Soul Manipulation; speaking of Soul Manipulation, it is very good… essentially a Dismiss when combined with the aforementioned Architects of Will. While not as flexible as a Cryptic Command + Broken Ambitions package, Cryptic Command + Soul Manipulation has its own incentives, particularly as the chief threats in the format are all creatures. You are quite happy to trade one-for-one against the opponent’s Boggart Ram-Gangs, for instance; if you can get two-for-one, great… But the deck has so much card advantage you are often discarding during Stage Two anyway.

So.

Architects of Will!

Obviously that is an unusual choice. It is in this deck almost purely for Opt duty. I cheated on land by at least one land, but four Architects of Will let me get away with that choice. Subtly, Architects of Will is just another creature card that you can bin before turn three so as to get greater value out of your Soul Manipulations or even Makeshift Mannequins.

I played this deck for about four hours tonight, mostly in the Tournament Practice room, but capping it off with a couple of queues (which I won over a Sedraxis Specter-style B/U/R/ deck and Blightning Beatdown). I won considerably more than I lost in the Tournament Practice Room, with most of the losses coming off decisions like “I have an Architects of Will… I guess I can keep one Swamp” (it turns out that I couldn’t). The deck is flexible and powerful, though I wonder about Bituminous Blast. I feel like it is very powerful but it also makes you a bit wary and warps both deck design and in-game decisions somewhat… I don’t usually play it unless I have a clear option with Soul Manipulation or Makeshift Mannequin (you don’t want to be stranded with no incremental value, not in a deck that can two-for-one kill a creature with Makeshift Mannequin or answer one with Soul Manipulation at lower cost if not card advantage value). That said, you will sometimes find yourself Blasting a creature with another creature on the stack… You might accidentally just hit Soul Manipulation or Cryptic Command. I feel very “Jon Sonne” every time I do this.

Some cards I didn’t play but want to:

• Puppeteer Clique
• Plumeveil
• Sedraxis Specter

The Clique is awesome — and awesome against this deck — but I currently prefer the inevitability of Anathemancer. One option would be to cut Bituminous Blast (which would simultaneously make the deck stronger against especially main deck Great Sable Stags) for Banefire; the deck would then pack the Banefire + Anathemancer combo in a format where Reflecting Pool Control looks to be one of the most popular opponents; I think I just think that Bituminous Blast is cool or something.

Plumeveil seems like it could help solve some problems… After all lots of the really good decks play it, even when they don’t have the full four Mulldrifters. I have not had a huge problem with attackers due to my extreme number of point elimination creatures (I was acutally surprised at how effortlessly I could kill Gaddock Teeg). But Plumeveil might be a useful addition.

I only thought of Sedraxis Specter because someone played it against me in a queue and it seemed a bit scary.

As you can tell, most of the sideboard is devoted to killing Great Sable Stag. The colors of the Mannequin core make it potentially quite vulnerable to Great Sable Stag… But Lightning Bolts and Hellions should be very helpful against the otherwise unremarkable 3/3 spoiler.

LOVE
MIKE