Noyan Dar + Zada, Hedron Grinder

alextfish
alextfish Posts: 192
edited August 2016 in MtGPQ Deck Strategy & Planeswalker Discussion
This is a delightful synergy I spotted for a manared.pngmanawhite.png deck for Ajani Vengeant.

Zada, Hedron Grinder (and Mage-Ring Bully) love you casting cheap protective pump spells on them. Noyan Dar loves you casting cheap spells. They're both Allies so they trigger rally effects like Kor Entanglers which disables creatures. Swift Reckoning is a cheap spell which kills disabled creatures. Big pile of synergy!!

My current list follows: (no mythics, a couple of key rares, the rest are uncommon or replaceable)

Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper (15) - key to the deck
Zada, Hedron Grinder (10) - key to the deck
Lantern Scout (5) - rally abilities to taste
Kor Entanglers (9) - rally abilities to taste, though it's very nice with Swift Reckoning
Mage-Ring Bully (10) - great synergy with the Zada spells

Sure Strike (1) - cheapest RW pump spell there is; triggers Noyan and Zada; great on Mage-Ring Bully too
Lithomancer's Focus (3) - decent pump spell; triggers Noyan and Zada; great on Mage-Ring Bully too
Swift Reckoning (6) - nice cheap kill spell; triggers Noyan Dar and Bully
Smite the Monstrous (8) - general whatever-you-want slot; Demolish could go here, or Titan's Strength
Battlefield Forge (6) - nice manafixing that triggers Bully; could be replaced

Generally I'll save the pump spells until I get Noyan or Zada out, though I might occasionally use one to trigger a Bully. The turn that Zada loses summoning sickness, unload a hand of cheap pump spells and swing, often for 30 damage, easily more if you have Noyan out as well. It's hilarious. Check out those lovely low costs as well.

Comments

  • zaann85
    zaann85 Posts: 119 Tile Toppler
    Sounds like a fun idea. Gotta try this out sometime!
  • Jazzpha
    Jazzpha Posts: 101 Tile Toppler
    Yeah, I've been rocking a more aggressive version of this concept for a while now, and it's insanely strong. Get both of them on the field at the same time, and you can consistently crank out 40-50 damage per turn if you play it right.

    Definitely one of the most consistently powerful synergies in the entire game, no question.
  • alextfish
    alextfish Posts: 192
    What do you mean by "more aggressive"? I generally find my creature slots are pretty occupied so there's not much room for Volcanic Rambler or suchlike.
  • arsenilk
    arsenilk Posts: 4
    Zada doesn't work at all the way I expected him to. Maybe there's a bug this patch?

    I was just running him in a Chandra red deck trying to beat the 2nd battle of chapter 3 of BFZ.

    I had him out along with an Angelic Captain (who also doesn't work the way I'd expect, and is HUGELY underwhelming as a result*).
    I buffed him up with Infectious Bloodlust and he became a 5/4... shouldn't he be an 11/10 in that case?
    Is he not considered a member of "all [my] creatures"? Should it say "your other creatures"?

    That's not the way Guul Draz Overseer works, she gets +3/0 or +6/0 and the language is virtually identical.

    *Angelic Captain blows. He gains +2/2 per ally *during* his attack, then loses it. I thought this big **** 16 cost white/red creature would grow and get out of control. Nope. He's a 6/5 white/(red) creature with flying (which, who cares, white can give anyone flying), who doesn't grow as well as a Relic Seeker which is a 6/6 out of the gate that grows each attack. And the Angel was being sold for $15 (I got it from packs yesterday). Yikes. I'd be mad if I had paid 15 bucks for that without carefully reading the developer post. Because while the dev post is clear, the card text is NOT.
  • zaann85
    zaann85 Posts: 119 Tile Toppler
    For Zada's buff you have to target Zada. The error is the wording and he won't pump himself. Target Zada, buff you other creatures.
  • glggwp
    glggwp Posts: 202 Tile Toppler
    zada and angelic very underwhelming indeed...
  • DrD
    DrD Posts: 5
    zaann85 wrote:
    For Zada's buff you have to target Zada. The error is the wording and he won't pump himself. Target Zada, buff you other creatures.
    How do you know it's the wording and not that his ability is bugged?
  • span_argoman
    span_argoman Posts: 751 Critical Contributor
    DrD wrote:
    zaann85 wrote:
    For Zada's buff you have to target Zada. The error is the wording and he won't pump himself. Target Zada, buff you other creatures.
    How do you know it's the wording and not that his ability is bugged?
    Because JC has clarified this in the forums despite still not fixing the text until now.
  • zaann85
    zaann85 Posts: 119 Tile Toppler
    Harness the Storm is busted with these creatures! I summoned Noyan Dar and from the card ressurection and gem destruction of HtS, I managed to get Noyan up to 100/100 in one turn that's with haste from Haunted Cloak and Lifelink to all from Lantern Scout. Zada and the scout were enough to kill the opponent before Noyan got to taste the action. Ajani is perfect for this just because of the random nature of cascades and his excellent across the board mana gains. Heres what I'm using now, and this was just a first draft deck, I'm sure there are plenty of upgrades around!

    Zada, Hedron Grinder
    Noyan Dar, Roilshaper
    Lantern Scout
    Harness the Storm
    Haunted Cloak
    Sure Strike
    Lithomancer's Focus
    Titan's Strength
    Murderer's Axe
    Magmatic Insight

    Give this thing a spin if you can. It can be bonkers.

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