Creatureless Ob Nixilis Is Lame

RhysMarkov

I had just about the most asinine battle I think I've ever had in any kind of Magic.

Creatureless Ob Nixilis full of removal and discard.

Now I get why that can be a thing. Looking at his abilities, especially his ultimate, it makes perfect sense to do that. However, if your decks aren't specifically constructed to pump out a creature every turn to counteract all of the removal, and you're not running (or can't run) any kind of direct damage, then you have to take the loss.

Even though, in this sense, the other player isn't winning by you force quitting the match.

Just figured I'd throw this out there and see if anyone has any input or has experienced these shenanigsns, or in the case that someone put a deck together to troll people, then to acknowledge that the deck achieved its intended purpose and i have, in fact, been trolled.

wereotter

I've had this happen, but more often than not, I still win since the AI isn't smart enough to let him earn up enough loyalty points to get off his ultimate. Worst case scenario, you let the match go on for long enough that the AI kills itself by spamming his first ability. Probably the only way to take care of these types of decks if you face off against on in a PvP event. If it's quick battle, however, it's probably right that you're better off just forfeiting the match and rerolling your opponent.

bk1234

A lot of people, myself included are running creatureless OB decks -- and not to troll.

I run it because it's a sure win, it's easy to get almost any objective and it's really, really fun to play.

hawkyh1

tried hexproof or spawning supports?

HH

RhysMarkov

Wait a tick. Scratch that. I've played against something similar in paper Magic, except it involved Memory Jar. Same sentiment applies. Carry on.

RhysMarkov

First time I've encountered this particular kind of situation. Not a lot of people use Ob Nixilis for starters, and it definitely seems more like a deck that's fun to drive, not so much to play against. Sadly, planning for any particular deck type creates weaknesses to others, and to a point makes the game less fun because you nix 75% of the cards available in order to plan for it.

It's all good. It's not on the level of my antipathy for any and all things Koth lol

RhysMarkov

I tried to lead with the fact that I respect the idea hahaha... If I have the crystals next time he rolls into the vault I'll be tempted to make the deck since I have all the cards.

I think the time dragging futility of the match is what caused me to speak up about it. If the AI was able to follow through on the ultimate combined with Lost Legacy, then I'd have been like "huh." and gone on about my day.

This is ultimately another example of deck behavior when the player is driving vs deck behavior when the AI has the wheel, I think.

RhysMarkov

Perhaps I should have titled the post "Playing Against Creatureless Ob Nixilis Is Lame"... haha

madwren

Creatureless Ob is my favorite deck. I use it in every event, and it's by far my most successful deck. Running up against it does suck, certainly. Not to disparage you, but many, many people have faced it and thought it was some sort of troll deck. It isn't. To be honest, if the AI was smart enough to save for ultimate, Ob probably would have been nerfed by now.

However, decks like that are why Fevered Visions might be my favorite card.

RhysMarkov

Hahaha... i'd always see him in the vault, maybe look at his abilities and think "What's the appeal?"

madwren

RhysMarkov wrote:

Hahaha... i'd always see him in the vault, maybe look at his abilities and think "What's the appeal?"

In all seriousness, having an alternate win condition (aside from creature damage) is an extremely unique ability. While there are some other creatureless damage sources, being able to easily defeat creature-based objectives in Fateful Showdown or other events is fantastic.

RhysMarkov

I was trying to save up crystals for a blue/black planeswalker if it ever materializes, but I'm probably going to pick up Ob the next time he shows up.

wereotter

RhysMarkov wrote:

I was trying to save up crystals for a blue/black planeswalker if it ever materializes, but I'm probably going to pick up Ob the next time he shows up.

Tezzeret the Schemer is a black/blue planeswalker in the paper game and the face on the Aether Revolt stuff they're putting out so we'll likely see him in the not too distant future, though he will likely focus on colorless creatures or supports assuming they don't make him block specific.

RhysMarkov

I think I'd seen something to that effect, but when Nissa2 became a thing I thought I had been mistaken. Regardless, there will probably be time enough to farm the crystals for him by the time he's available for crystals.

Yvendros

Yeah, it's right up there with Starfield of Nix and Silverstrike. That Starfield had like 15 shields last night (I was playing Dovin). i actually almost destroyed it by matching it out of existence... but AI got me. that was a frustrating 25 minutes.

Yvendros

Also, I might argue that these kind of decks are a good thing. If they cause a loss in an event, it's KINDA like that player (and everyone else ahead of you) getting another win.

Justyce

Try playing g creatureless orb vs creatureless orb with the objective to win with less than 20 life

madwren

Justyce wrote:

Try playing g creatureless orb vs creatureless orb with the objective to win with less than 20 life

Oh man, I had that exact matchup a few NoPs ago, and it took me 45 minutes to whittle myself down with ability 1 and Live Fast. =p

AresOmega

I specifically bought Ob Nixilis the last time he was in the vault to make a creatureless deck for him. Having faced one in events, I knew how maddening the constant removal / discard decks can be to play against and wanted a piece of that pie. He is tons of fun to play, but thankfully the AI isn't smart enough to save the loyalty to pop his 3rd ability. By far one of the easiest PW to achieve the "Lose x or less creatures" objectives.

Mutang99

I played a creatureless Ob deck on the black node in the last NOP event. The only way to get my hit points below 20 was getting him to kill my creatures with fully charged Ruinous Path, but he kept killing the elementals with Laguish. At the end he had 3 fully charged Ruinous Paths but would only kill my creatures with other destroy spells until killing himself with his first ability. It felt like the AI was out to stop me getting the secondary objectives.

Steeme

Some Strategies for playing against heavy removal decks:

1. Include at least one hexproof creature in your deck (Runaway carriage is decent and widely available)
2. Include at least one chumper in your deck (ie. Devil's Playground / From Under The Floorboards)
3. Include a burn card that doubles as removal (ie. Exquisite firecraft)
4. Run Shrine and Drownyard as your mana ramp, allows for playing your creatures quickly
5. Include a support that spawns tokens
6. Include Emrakul with Haunted cloak to get a few powerful jabs in before removal
7. Include Distended mindbender or other discard mechanisms (Transgress, Lost Legacy) to throw their cards away