Return of the God-Pharaoh - strategies

Fedaykin

Please post your strategies here for RotGP: planeswalkers and decks used for the various nodes, and please leave some deck suggestions that aren't full of mythics, as a lot of players only have a small number of them. Since RotGP seems for the most part to be easier than ToZ was, I think most of the ideas shared will be concerning node 3.3, which is tougher than the old one, IMHO.

Mainloop25

Not at all. Go total creatureless and it renders much of his deck useless. 

Fedaykin

@Mainloop25
yes, i believe that is what i did last time on 3.3. 
which pw did you use?... i used Dovin Bann...

Fedaykin

last time on nodes 1.x and 2.3 i used Koth, and for 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, and 3.2 i used Tezz2. This time i might use the same ones, but my decks will be a bit different, as i have gotten a lot of new cards in the last two weeks...

this will be only the 2nd running of this event, so good luck to all...

Mainloop25

@Fedaykin Ob, just because his ultimate is so potent. DB is trickier to me, but I don't have Dynavolt Tower. 

Gilesclone

3.1 and 3.2 can be handled with a typical Cycling deck.  3.3 should use no creatures.  The AI can't use its abilities if you don't have creatures. 

Fredopoulos

Liliana for all, exept Nicol Bolas with Nahiri (but a pain)

Leulia

I use Nissa3 Cycling for 3.3

Key cards:
Shefet Monitor
Lay Claim (keep one in you hand and use it on the Wildfire Eternal)
Drake Haven
Sphinx's Tutelage (the most important card, you want to cast this one even before cast the Drake Haven, will slow down Nicol Bolas every time you cycling)

The rest are cheap cycling cards, I am current running:
Censor
Beneath the Sands
Dissenter's Deliverance
Desert of the Mindful
Hieroglyphic Illumination
Vizier of Tumbling Sands(not necessary for 3.3, could replace with Greater Sandwurm)

Fedaykin

Mainloop25 said:

@Fedaykin Ob, just because his ultimate is so potent. DB is trickier to me, but I don't have Dynavolt Tower. 

I don't have dynavolt tower either, I was using approach of the second son.

This time I tried ObNix and it worked fine, using his ult and faith of the devoted along with cyclers. Sunset pyramid helped with extra card draw.

arNero

I have to admit the God Pharaoh event is quite likeable due to basically giving me incentive to try out different deck strategies ( as opposed to the ToZ, where I run down all Node 3 bosses with the exact same Cast Out deck). Though this is coming from someone who doesn't have Drake Haven.

My personal favorite for 3.1 is Dovin Baan with Cast Out, Suppression Bond, Claustrophobia and Desert's Hold. Just trying my damn best to make sure that stupic Majestic Myriarch isn't causing problems.

3.2.... Just about any deck with lifelink or such will do since Razaketh's ability helps clear up his own board.

3.3.... My personal favorite since I have sooooo many planeswalkers I can use:
Chandra 1 is one of the best options since her abilities can shoot the face directly. If his Inferno Jet or Wildfire Eternal is acting up, counter with Aetherflux Reservoir (in fact, having Aetherflux Reservoir is an excellent idea in a creatureless deck)
Second favorite is Nahiri/RW Ajani, since you can combine Approach + Jet for massive damage (especially since Approach scales)
Sarkhan is an oddball favorite with his Underhanded Designs and Shadows of the Past (although Shadows' 2 shield usually renders is next to useless most of the time), plus, again, Inferno Jet.
Sorin technically can run Underhanded Designs and Approach, but his abilities are absolutely useless here (at least Nahiri has her 2nd, Ajani has his ult, and Sarkhan has his 1st), so I recommend against using him unless you really don't care.
Low-ish level Zendikar Gideon is a somewhat good idea also since his 1st ability makes a creature that doesn't last until your next turn, on top of being able to run Approach. At level 4, his 1st ability is a liability, so if you have overleveled him, don't use.
Dovin is also a favorite when considering Approach, thanks to the fact that he has Strategic Planning that allows you to dig for Approach faster for cheap (and in case that Strategic Planning shows you multiple Approaches, that works too.) And his 2nd ability also works as more card draws if you so desire.

...

Having said that, though, I just realize that almost all strategies to take down Bolas utterly requires rares at least, if only to speed up the process. Possible to make a nonrare deck for this?

Rasalghul

A no-rare winning deck against Bolas could be an interesting challenging that old and new players can participate. 

Already tried last time. I will try again when I reach 750 points : no cycling drake, no creatureless deck. Only uncommons and commons.

arNero

This is another rare/mythic-laden idea, but if you have Approach and Pyromancer's Goggles, Elspeth becomes a monster against Bolas.

There's this near spell-less deck I've consistently loved using against Bolas:

Creatures:
Bomat Bazaar Barge (card draw)
That 13-mana WU flying AER creature (card draw again with slight life gain) (what's her name again?)
Winged Shepherd (Cycling, aka card draw)
Cultiator's Caravan (if it somehow survives long enough, mana gain)

Spell:
Approach of the Second Sun (game-ender)

Supports:
Irrigated Farmland (mana fixing)
Scattered Groves (also mana fixing)
Sunset Pyramid (card draw)
Desert's Hold (cheap disable; perfect against decks that run a single creature like Bolas)
Pyromancer's Goggles (Approach tutor)
Honorary mention: Aetherflux Reservoir (which may replace Desert's Hold if I really just don't care about taking hits; and with Approach, I really don't care about taking hits)

Basically get the Goggles as soon as you can, then build up loyalty until you can fire her ultimate. It takes 4 ultimates to end Bolas this way.

And yes, I run creatures. This is mostly the same reason why my ToZ Cast Out decks only have Cast Out as the tutorable support; I don't want the wrong spell being picked up. And besides, once the Goggles + Approach starts firing, who cares about taking 40 damage?

ElvaanStride

I beat Bolas at 18 days old, you just need direct PW damage, a Support destruction and anything that will help draw cards. Healing is optional, but recommended if your PW has 60 or less Life.

luka1776

I find that the best PW to use is Ob Nixilis Reignited as his second ability can get rid of Nicol Bolas's creatures that he has (he only has one) then use only spells and supports to draw and discard as many cards as you can (if you don't have cards that do this automatically then just exile them from your hand).
This combined with the third ability of Ob Nixilis Reignited will ensure that he gets direct damage for each card that you draw and what is better is that he never uses any of his cards (other than his creature; that you should be able to kill) and he can't use his ability against you or any of his spells because they all require a creature to target.