Sorin, Grim Nemesis: Official Thread

supernatural

I was really excited about a life gain deck but no matter how I build, the deck comes out subpar.

Avacyn

It hard to visit this thread. the disappointment is too strong in here lol.

I hope things well look up for him after the rework. as it stands now, I feel even the starter walkers are way better then him...and he is the face of the game (when you start up the app).

yes he gains life. but you better off using cards to get you life then to use his skills. any walker with access to white (or black) cards can get you HP. so if you want to play a life gain deck I feel you're better off using Gideon, his abilities are spammable, his state distribution is waay more flexible, and his got a bigger health pool.

Fingers cross that the next update would make Sorin viable and fun.

Sherwood

Cost to Max Level: 160,720 runes

Drax01

I too have had mixed feelings about this planeswalker. After about 5 deck ideas, and 40 or so cards (and I'm not a power player, I don't have unlimited mythics), this is the build that doesn't have me pulling my hair out after every match. (Means it wins more than 50% of the time, which is still horrible...) I'll explain the choices and possible upcoming changes based on the other posts that I just read thru, after talking about the deck and current cards.

Creatures (4)
Thraben Inspector, He's a cheap (5 drop) creature that Investigates when ETB
Unruly Mob, also cheap (6 drop), gets +1/+1 when another creature you control dies, and trust me, there's plenty of that happening
Pious Evangel, and his alter ego Wayward Disciple, a very key player in this build, only 8 mana, and on the front side, you gain 1 life when he or another creature ETB. Synergy with previous creature when he filps.
Hanweir Militia Captain, highest cost at 12, if she flips though, give you a steady stream of 1/1's. Truth be told, I'm not in love with it.

Spells (3), removal being key
Grotesque Mutation, gives lifelink and a fairly good power boost for only 4 mana
To the Slaughter, perhaps my favorite card in the deck, kill anything without hexproof
Smite the Monstrous, gets rid of the big fatties, and only 8 mana

Supports (3)
Murder Investigation, cause things will die
Call the Bloodline, 1/1 vampires with lifelink come in handy
Caves of Koilos, cause the are what gets it done for Sorin

Alright, so first off, sorry I don't know how to make links to the cards. Secondly, I'm certain you are looking at this list, and making 'meh' noises, just like the earlier posts when we realized how 'meh' Sorin's abilities were.
I'm with ya, but hear me out. The key to Sorin is the 3rd ability, to make your creatures gain power when you gain life. So getting there is the key. It's almost like saying, "try not to die while setting up your optimal board state". But remember, this is a budget build, so it kinda is just that! Anyhow, 3rd ability most important.

You want to pump out the smaller creatures and have a Grotesque Mutation waiting to fire off once you can activate that third ability. That is why I tried to maintain every cards cost in this build as low as possible. Control the board with your removal and hope you never see a Runaway Carriage on the other side of the board, because to be honest, that card wrecks us. Especially in a Gideon build. Getting an Evangel early is amazing, and even if he flips he isn't bad. We can use Sorin's 1st ability to gain life at the cost of our smaller creatures when the Wayward Disciple is present. Murder Investigation and the Call the Bloodline help keep them coming.

End game is similar to the guy with all the mythics, you have giant powered creatures with or without lifelink, but that's how they got there anyhow. And you can kill your supports to add the extra +x/0 to whatever creatures you have to deliver the death blow.

Looking thru the thread, that Ondu Rising sounds decidedly better than the Grotesque Mutation, so I'll be making that change. I'd love to figure out a replacement for the Hanweir Militia Captain, so if you've got suggestions, please let me know.

Try this build out, and let me know what you think.

Mainloop25

Having fun with this deck(keep in mind he's only level 32 with me). Finally started winning once I got him to a level with not the worst mana gains ever (remember pre-buff Koth?) Anyways:

Creatures:
Drana, Liberator of Malakir I love her, she's in every black deck of mine
Bloodbond Vampire believe it or not, she's my main damage dealer. She gets very powerful once my ultimate support is out, and will only get better as I level up.
Indulgent Aristocrat Mostly here for the lifelink, would replace with Kalitas or War Oracle if I had them. His ability activates every so often.
Nearheath Chaplain Another one there for the lifelink, but also "RC insurance"
Serene Steward Helps with buffing Nearheath Chaplain, plus 4/4 for 6 is a good deal.

Spells:
Behold The Beyond A staple of every black deck, come on
Unholy Hunger Currently my best creature removal spell, but the occasional life gain is cool too
Grotesque Mutation kind of an underrated card, I'll throw it on Drana or Bloodbond Vampire for that extra lifelink, plus it's nice to see Bloodbond Vampire buff herself sometimes

Supports:
Shrine Of The Forsaken Gods
Drownyard Temple Both are good mana gain supports, when they are both out they are great to start every turn with +6 mana especially when you can't match white or black gems.

Every creature has lifelink or buffs when you gain life (except for Drana, but she buffs herself). He's not at a high enough level yet to put an extra support in (Suppression Bonds most likely, for me) so Serene Steward stays in for now.
Once they expand his deck options to 10/5/5, I'll stick in an extra spell like Transgress The Mind, maybe.

Pretty good Walker so far, is gonna get way better when 1.7 drops, so I can't wait!

Rannah

I bought Sorin yesterday and pumped him up to 60, anticipating the changes incoming with 1.7. (lots of QB = lots of crystals)

Running a vampire deck, the one change I would make that no one has mentioned is Khalitas, Traitor of Ghett (or whatever) for lifetap.

For supports, I wish I had Corrupted Grafstone and Shrine of the Forsaken. Couple that with Drownyard temple for sweet mana gain.

I haven't looked, but there are vampire ally creatures, token generation isn't as easy as Gideon 2, but Veteran Warleader could be usable with Oath of Gideon.

I can't look it up right now, but isn't there a card named Drana's Chosen that gives +3/+0 on landfall and +6/+0 on black landfall? I have that in my deck and it works well.

Once he goes to 10/5/5 after the patch, you can run two or three removals, and then a Grotesque Mutation or Ondu Rising when you get that 3rd loyalty gem on the board.

ausfaust

check your sorin out!

KroNoS

can we get this topic deleted and recreated to reflect the new updated Sorin?

all 4 pages are related to old sorin - like..the last 2 posts

Coconut99

To try to get it a little more on-track...what's a good deck build for the new Sorin?

Debating picking him up as I could really use a replacement for Lilliana as my black PW during events, but don't want to spend the crystals unless I know I have the cards to make him playable/winnable.

Reaganstorme

Beat Avacyn with New-Sorin(TM) quite handily.

Creatures (4):
Serene Steward
Bloodbond Vampire
Defiant Bloodlord
Olivia, Mobilized for War

Spells (4):
Behold the Beyond
Grip of Desolation
To the Slaughter
Transgress the Mind

Supports (2):
Hixus, Prison Warden
Caves of Koilos

Hixus is key to locking the opponent's creatures down, but you've got plenty of direct removal until that happens. All the spells and supports are cheap enough to cast directly off Behold the Beyond, so prioritise that if you can.

Serene Steward and Bloodbond Vampire can work off Sorin's second ability just fine, both triggering twice when they attack and pumping themselves or the other every turn. Defiant Bloodlord just powers the pain to the head every time you gain life. Olivia is expensive, but makes every creature gain life link, and thus helps boost every time.

All in all, goes best when you can get Olivia out early, preceded or followed by Behold the Beyond to catch back up with tempo.

You can replace Olivia with another Lifelink creature such as War Oracle, Kalitas, or Enlightened Ascetic, Transgress the Mind with Infinite Obliteration, and Caves of Koilos with Shrine of the Forgotten Gods or Drownyard Temple, if you have them.

Chavez303

This is my updated Sorin Deck. Its been trampling just about anything. The only time i've lost is when i cant seem to pull any creatures or i'm just outpaced on mana gen (ie. Koth)

Creatures (5/10):
Linvala, The preserver (W18)
Farbog Revenant (B10)
Olivia, Mobilized for War (B20)
Knight of the White Orchid (W16)
Defiant Bloodlord (B14)

Spells (2/5):
Ruinous Path (B5)
Grip of Desolation (B5)

Supports (3/5):
Shrine of the Forsaken Gods (5)
Drownyard Temple (9)
Call the Bloodline (B6)

I was trying to find a way to speed this up. Bloodbond Vampire could be good, but i like the idea of having flyers not relying on Olivia. KotWO is in there because he's got first strike and defender....and if the white gems show up right, i can get some great mana gen off it too. i recently put Call of the Bloodline in there but its been great. The only thing i'm not so sure on is Linvala. She's all around great but expensive. the only upside is her +4 regen.

Any thoughts/improvements?

Shavedbear

His abilities have been changed and are amazing! Im currently running with Serene Steward, Malakir familiar, Nearheath Chaplain and Blood cursed Knight. With vampiric power up sernene steward malakir familiar combo is devastating. I use Retreat to Hagra, Shrine of the Forsaken Gods and Drownyard Temple as my supports and Grip of Desolation, Healing Hands and Enshrouding Mist as my spells. Id like to eventually add a Defiant Bloodlord cause 5 dmg every heal seems a pretty good fit maybe add a Drana as well for good measure. What good supports or spells could i run with that may synergize better with what im running than what im currently using?

Shadow-Mage

Hello,

I had just reformulated my Sorin deck since his update. I must say that I am loving his new abilities. I hadn't played him at all with his old abilities because I wasn't at all sure how to use him properly.

Mind you my Sorin is only level 30 (which by my standards is just barely usable). Yet in each of the QBs I used him in he ended things very quickly. In fact he ended things so quick I only got to throw out his final ability twice so far. Below is what I am running and why.

Creatures

Olivia, Mobilized for War: If you get her out as a first creature every other creature you pump out gets ridiculous as long as you can discard.
War oracle: quick life gain to pump Sorin's 3rd ability when out
Serene Steward: Beef up your creatures with life gain, all around good with all 3 of Sorin's abilities
Drana, Liberator of Malakir: Beef up your forces and boost life gain

Spells
Declaration in Stone: Quick creature removal (not the best option but I don't have any other better removal at the moment)
Grotesque Mutation: Back up plan in case I get stuck with just a Serene steward on the field. Otherwise just beef up your creatures even more.

Supports
Mirrorpool: I run this in all my decks because who doesn't like taking a creature and making it monstrous. Get it out with Olivia and you create a monster on the field.
Call the Bloodline: Back up summoning for tight spots. Life gain to pump the 3rd ability
Corrupted Grafstone: Mana booster
Shadows of the Past: Pump the 3rd ability while hitting your opponent on their turn for added effect.

I lack a lot of cards that could boost this deck even higher but it is fast and I love how it builds.

Let me know any suggestions you may have or your thoughts.

Nibiru

Here is my Sorin Deck

Creatures:
Olivia, Mobilized for War
Defiant Bloodlord

Spells:
Infinite Obliteration
Behold The Beyond
To The Slaughter
From Under The Floorboards

Support:
Caves Of Koilos
Hixus, Prison Warden
Shadows of the Past
Campaign of Vengeance

Defiant Bloodlord is really powerful with all the life gain and sorin second ability.

All the life gain is also useful for sorin's third ability.

Olivia making lifelink creatures makes the previous even more powerful.

I'm still trying to find a better card for Caves of Koilos. I don't like the convert 1 of each color, which screws up gems with each other.

Stormbringer0

Right now I'm playing my Sorin like this. I try to get Defiant Bloodlord since Sorin's out, but no such luck.

It works pretty well and especially Campaign for Vengeance makes any Sorin deck absurd. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.

Varakian

This is my Sorin build I've been messing around with, any helpful input would be greatly appreciated.

Creatures:
Defiant Bloodlord
Olivia, Mobilized for War
Guul Draz Overseer
Archangel Avacyn
Drana, Liberator of Malakir

Spells:
Healing Hands

Supports:
Always Watching
Sword of the Animist
Corrupted Grafstone
Silverstrike

I'm sort of new to the MtG universe, slowly starting to understand the mechanics of the cards and stuff, but any tips again would be greatly appreciated

Reaganstorme

Hey Vakarian,

I bet you're finding that you're waiting to play your creatures a lot and struggle with mana often? You have a lot of expensive creatures and supports there. Olivia + Defiant Bloodlord + 2 other cheaper creatures will suit you well enough. A great new addition is the EMN uncommon Lone Rider. Consider some of the other usual pump on lifegain creatures too, Serene Steward and Bloodbond Vampire.

Corrupted Grafstone is great for single coloured PWs but can often break potential matches for dual-colour PWs. Consider Shrine of the Forsaken Gods or Drownyard Temple for more consistent mana gain.

Hope these thoughts help.

Zentuan

My deck is simple but quite effective. I build on alliance creatures and life give power theory. It is slow, but i usually wins. Like 30-40 win Streaks... it also quite easy to get. But with more mythics, it can improve. I do love Sorin...

Creatures:
lantern scout (rare)
Serene stewart (uc)
Bloodbound vampire (uc)

Spells:
Grip of desolation (uc)
Unholy hunger (rare)
Dark petition (rare)

Support
Hixus prison warden (myth)
Shambling vent (myth)
Mirrorpool (myth)
Drownyard temple (rare)

Nitymp

Zentuan wrote:

Shambling vent (myth)

Vent is rare

Ciotog

After seeing Yunnnn's Nahiri zoo deck, I decided to try and make a Sorin version. This is what I came up with and am quite happy with its performance. It isn't the same speed because Nahiri's abilities are a bit better for speed, plus Sorin's abilities come with some animation delays. But I actually enjoy playing this version more because the cards combo together more:

Creatures:
Olivia, Mobilized for War (only gets used in maybe half of games, makes the difference between winning and winning+)
Drana, Liberator of Malakir (pump all creatures +1/+1 per turn)
Serene Steward (+1/+1 to 1st creature every time you gain life)
Lone Rider (Life Link / First Strike)
War Oracle (Life Link)
Bloodbond Vampire (+1/+1 every time you gain life)
Defiant Bloodlord (5 damage every time you gain life)

Spells:
Healing Hands (+5 life, Draw 1)
Grip of Desolation/To the Slaughter

Support:
Campaign of Vengeance