Sarkhan the Mad: Official Thread

HomeRn

Skidoo wrote:

HomeRn wrote:

Skidoo, Dark Petition doesn't care if the creature in your graveyard ever made it to the battlefield in the first place... otherwise Liliana wouldn't be nearly as potent of a force as a reanimator if she always had to build up 15 loyalty to resurrect creatures!

Thanks for the follow up, but are you certain of this? Dark Petition expressly states the last creature you controlled that died is returned to the battlefield. I thought "controlled" meant it was in play not just in hand. And I thought the words "died" and "killed" imply death in battle or at the very least being destroyed while in play, not simply those that were discarded or voluntarily exiled from your hand.

Are the words "destroy" and "kill" interchangeable? What about "destroyed" and "died"?

I am very certain on this. A good way to know is that when Dark Petition is charged in your hand and have it disabled, it will be white when it has a valid target in the graveyard and red when it doesn't. Also, Dark Petition is probably one of the best cards for black so far in terms of tempo, even for Sarkhan. 9 mana Tyrants? Best deal for Sarkhan has so far!

Also, kill and destroy can be interchanged.

Skidoo

HomeRn wrote:

I am very certain on this. A good way to know is that when Dark Petition is charged in your hand and have it disabled, it will be white when it has a valid target in the graveyard and red when it doesn't. Also, Dark Petition is probably one of the best cards for black so far in terms of tempo, even for Sarkhan. 9 mana Tyrants? Best deal for Sarkhan has so far!

Also, kill and destroy can be interchanged.

Thanks for the follow-up. I love Dark Petition.

Skidoo

Sac-Bouncing the Tyrant

Can someone briefly explain the concept of sac-bouncing the Tyrant? I'm not dumb, I'm just not clear on how any of this works until you at least pay full price of 20 to get Tyrant on the battlefield. Once he's out, I clearly see the many ways you can sac him and retrieve him. But is there a cheap trick or two for getting him (and other fatties) out cheaper & quicker?

Here's the best I can come up with and maybe I just don't have the right cards.
If you use Macabre Waltz for 6, then it appears you can Discard the Tyrant from your hand (discarded=destroyed), then immediately "return" the Tyrant to the battlefield because you technically "controlled" him when he was in your hand even though he was never on the field in the first place.

Am I understanding this right? I'm just trying to figure out if I'm missing out on a trick for playing Tyrant without spending his full 20 casting cost.

TIA

majincob

Skidoo wrote:

Sac-Bouncing the Tyrant

Can someone briefly explain the concept of sac-bouncing the Tyrant? I'm not dumb, I'm just not clear on how any of this works until you at least pay full price of 20 to get Tyrant on the battlefield. Once he's out, I clearly see the many ways you can sac him and retrieve him. But is there a cheap trick or two for getting him (and other fatties) out cheaper & quicker?

Here's the best I can come up with and maybe I just don't have the right cards.
If you use Macabre Waltz for 6, then it appears you can Discard the Tyrant from your hand (discarded=destroyed), then immediately "return" the Tyrant to the battlefield because you technically "controlled" him when he was in your hand even though he was never on the field in the first place.

Am I understanding this right? I'm just trying to figure out if I'm missing out on a trick for playing Tyrant without spending his full 20 casting cost.

TIA

Yes, you have to get him in play first. I haven't mastered Macabre Waltz yet, so I don't know if you get back the discarded creature, but it says it puts them in your hand not onto the battlefield. There are several good cards in red and black to discard creatures so that you can resurrect them though. Behold the Beyond, Creeping Dread, Magmatic Insight and Lightning Axe are all solid choices.

Skidoo

majincob wrote:

Yes, you have to get him in play first. I haven't mastered Macabre Waltz yet, so I don't know if you get back the discarded creature, but it says it puts them in your hand not onto the battlefield. There are several good cards in red and black to discard creatures so that you can resurrect them though. Behold the Beyond, Creeping Dread, Magmatic Insight and Lightning Axe are all solid choices.

I glanced at Macabre Waltz, but misread the end of her text. I'll check out those other options you mentioned. Thanks, Majincob.

HomeRn

Skidoo wrote:

majincob wrote:

Yes, you have to get him in play first. I haven't mastered Macabre Waltz yet, so I don't know if you get back the discarded creature, but it says it puts them in your hand not onto the battlefield. There are several good cards in red and black to discard creatures so that you can resurrect them though. Behold the Beyond, Creeping Dread, Magmatic Insight and Lightning Axe are all solid choices.

I glanced at Macabre Waltz, but misread the end of her text. I'll check out those other options you mentioned. Thanks, Majincob.

I've done that too - I've misread Cruel Revival at one point. Basically the same thing as the Waltz; but it only works if there are zombies in your graveyard AND you have a legal non-zombie target on the field to destroy. Great tempo swing with certain cards...

FindingHeart8

Is Sarkhan coming back for purchase anytime soon? I've seen planeswalkers rotate out and in again, but haven't seen him up for grabs. If he comes back, how much do you think he would cost in crystals?

Skidoo

FindingHeart8 wrote:

Is Sarkhan coming back for purchase anytime soon? I've seen planeswalkers rotate out and in again, but haven't seen him up for grabs. If he comes back, how much do you think he would cost in crystals?

My recollection was that Sarkhan cost 600-650, but I could be wrong. He definitely wasn't as cheap as most mono-color Walkers, i.e. 250, but neither was he priced at the major premium of dual-colored Kiora, which was 950 if I remember correctly.

And it appears they rotate PWs in the vault every week. I think it's on a FIFO rotation - the PW that's been for sale the longest rotates out and a "new" one becomes available for purchase, joining the other two. So save your crystals and strike while the iron's hot.

octal9

Skidoo wrote:

I think it's on a FIFO rotation

A correct assumption, with one issue: Sarkhan has been skipped. Ob Nix, Kiora, and Koth have all been in the vault twice already. Sarkhan has 0 appearances in the rotation to date.

Also he was 550 crystals when last available.

galro

He is in the store now! 550 crystals. There will be some happy players out there.

Avacyn

There hasn't been much deck discussion for Sarkhan lately, so I thought I share my madness vampire deck (to promote some chatter lol). I enjoyed it in paper magic. they are fast, hard hitting and packed with tons of burn/removal. I thought I try to make a variation of that in PQ.

this deck takes advantage of discard to help reduce cost of vampires and to make them stronger.

Creatures
Stromkirk condemned: every time you discard your vampires gain +1/1. you can sub in Drana, liberator of malakir. but then you well be losing value from discard.
Falkenrath Gorger: gives all vampire cards in hand madness3.
Olivia mobilized for war(discard): can't call it a vamp deck without the over lord.

Spells
Shreds of sanity (discard): for getting back demolish or spot removals. Also serves as a bump/cost reducer for creatures.
To the Slaughter, lightning Axe (discard) and Nahiri's wrath(discard): creature removal.
Behold the beyond(discard): discard your hand. works well when you have Falkenrath Gorger in play giving your vampires in hand 3man per discard.
then receive another 6 mana from btb. Stromkirk Condemned also take advantage of this.
demolish: best support removal to date.

support
Shrine of the forsaken gods: 3mana per turn

Like most, I only use Sharkhans first ability for draws. But its also used in this deck to get more cards to throw away.
this deck do take some awareness. you don't wanna be throwing away a spell you need since half the deck consist of discard.

side note. cards I wish made it to PQ for this deck: Fiery Temper(soi), Alms of the Vein(soi), bloodhall priest(em) and stensia masquerade to be like it paper version.

I'm still working on it, so any suggestions/constructive criticism well be appreciated.


Have a nice day!

HomeRn

It has been awhile since I did some deck building - but after the Halloween event... I thought up something rather diabolical for Sarkhan. Amazingly, he does not require dragons to be scary!

Creatures (3)
Relentless Dead
Prized Amalgam
Diregraf Colossus

Spells (4)
Demolish
Grip of Desolation/Ruinous Path/To the Slaughter
Ever After
Behold the Beyond

Supports (3)
Flameshadow Conjuring
Vampiric Rites
Drownyard Temple


This deck is more technical than most decks I tend to play, however the result is a wombo-combo unlike any I have played to date!

The creatures are a potent group by themselves in a mono-black deck. Amalgam being a constant pest that refuses to stay dead, Colossus gets huge very quickly, and Relentless just does not die and is a constant pest. Now what if we can speed them up with some support tech?

Vampiric Rites would be an odd fit in most decks - sacrifice your last creature to gain 5 life and 3 cards. Most decks would not be looking for such an option, especially at higher levels. With this deck however, Relentless Dead can be the lamb nearly 100% of the time! That's because Amalgam and Colossus both have Defender - pushing Relentless to the last position for sacrificial purposes!

Now to make them faster - Flameshadow Conjuring gives haste and prevent damage to non-token creatures when they enter the battlefield. This also applies to creatures returned to play from the grave! So Relentless not only brings back another zombie, but makes them temporarily invulnerable (with a few rare exceptions) and negates the summoning sickness. And we thought Bill, Francis, Zoey, and Louis had it bad...

The spells for the deck are focused on control as well as countermeasures for potential strategies. Demolish for the annoying supports (HIXUS...), any 5 mana creature removal for potential threats, Ever After for bringing back zombies in case of emergencies and/or mass recovery from forced discards, and Behold the Beyond for mana plus card draw in addition to nullifying a large number of bounce options when needed.

Skidoo

Clever deck idea, HomeRn. The detailed explanation is very useful. It's a bummer that I'm missing a couple of the vital mythic/rares, but I'll refer back to this if I ever pull them.

HomeRn

Skidoo wrote:

Clever deck idea, HomeRn. The detailed explanation is very useful. It's a bummer that I'm missing a couple of the vital mythic/rares, but I'll refer back to this if I ever pull them.

Sarkhan being a black/red walker does give him a LOT of very interesting tactics as well as plenty of control options. Vampires, Madness, just to name two others I've tried before in the past.

Mainloop25

Flameshadow Conjuring with Colossus and PA is a good idea, I might try that. Thanks for the tip

jimilinho_

Sarkhan Zombies.

Been using Sarkhan built around Graf Harvest. Its really cool and a pretty solid build for most events.

Supports (3)
Graf Harvest (You need to play this card a few times to realise how good it is)
Oath of Liliana ( Ideal for the deck and everyone should have it in their inventory)
Fevered Visions (Damage and card draw, Not essential though and you can play another threat if you prefer, Tamiyo's journal, Smouldering Marsh and Shrine of the Gods are also Options)

Creatures (4)
Kalitas (You can play anything here, Olivia, Drana, Noosegraf Mob, From the floorboards etc...)
Prized Amalgam (Amazing card with plenty of synergies in this deck)
Fleshbag Marauder (Great with amalgam and zombie tokens )
Diregraf Colossus (Gets out of control Fast)

Spells (3)
Beyond the behold ( It's not bad way to draw cards and generate mana.)
Demolish (can be a second removal spell if you prefer )
Grip of Desolation ( Could easily be To the slaughter, )

Worth giving this deck a go,

wereotter

Been going the madness vampires route. Feel like it's not *quite* there yet. The deck seems a delicate balance.

Currently:

Creatures
Indulgent Arisocrat
Stromkirk Condemned
Malakir Cullblade
Bloodbond Vampire
Smuggler's Copter

Spells
Grip of Desolation
Lightning Axe
Inner Struggle
Grotesque Mutation

Support
Smoldering Marsh

Generally I'm trying to keep the spells cheap and fast since his max mana game from a normal match is 5, especially considering the higher cost of most my creatures.

An ideal board state involves a Smuggler's Copter, Stromkirk Condemned, and Indulgent Arisocrat. Copter endures a discard every attack phase which with Stromkirk Condemned means +1/+1 on both vampires. Activate the right gem on the board and I can throw away one of the other vampires in the deck to give another +1/+1 to both vampires.

I've been wanting to balance cards with madness and cards that can be discarded, so I also sometimes have Stensia Masquerade, Avacyn's Judgment, or Sensless Rage in the deck.

watman

Can someone tell me what are Sarkhan's stats (HP, mana gains, cards breakdown) at levels 1, 5 and maybe 10? I'm thinking of buying him for the >20 HPs secondaries, and was wondering what's the optimal lvl to safely do these...

bk1234

watman wrote:

Can someone tell me what are Sarkhan's stats (HP, mana gains, cards breakdown) at levels 1, 5 and maybe 10? I'm thinking of buying him for the >20 HPs secondaries, and was wondering what's the optimal lvl to safely do these...

You can visit @octal9's amazing website to get this info on any PW.

www.mtgpq.info

watman

bken1234 wrote:

watman wrote:

Can someone tell me what are Sarkhan's stats (HP, mana gains, cards breakdown) at levels 1, 5 and maybe 10? I'm thinking of buying him for the >20 HPs secondaries, and was wondering what's the optimal lvl to safely do these...

You can visit @octal9's amazing website to get this info on any PW.

www.mtgpq.info

Thanks, that was useful! I've decided to stay lvl1, as I *should* be only meeting other PWs without loyalty skills...

Current decklist:
Devour in Flames - Cheap direct/removal
Devil's Playground - cheapest 4/4 in the game
Uncaged Fury - for double-strike, of course
Reckless Bushwacker - haste/ +1/0 superfriend, at the very worst - 5/4 power haste creature
*Brazen Scourge - haste 3/3
Volcanic Rambler - cornerstone of cheap red beater
Coldnight Castigator - cheap 8power flying beatstick, can help reaching that <20 HP goal
Enthralling Victor - I'll take your beatstick and beat you with that, also good cheap 4 power creature
Akoum Stomewaker - good cheap 4 power creature, with optional effect that can help tremendously on low lvls
*Smoldering Marsh - mana fix/the support I have to have in the deck

Any ideas what could go in for the Brazen Scourge and Smoldering Marsh? These seem to be the weakest links...