Official Ob Nixilis Deck-Building Contest!

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  • Money.

    We all want it, we all need it – but not all of us have enough of it to spend on digital booster packs for an app they play in the bathroom at work.

    For those people, I present: "An Ob Nixilis Guide For The Rest Of Us".
    In this guide, I’m going to present a deck that doesn’t use ANY Rare or Mythic cards. I would argue (passionately!) that there isn’t a deck out there that couldn't benefit from having Olivia, Mobilized for War in it. I just haven’t actually drawn her from the free daily booster packs yet. And, odds are, I never will.

    For those of you who are new to the game, or don’t have time on weekends to complete events, or just refuse to spend money on mobile apps, this is the guide for you.

    A quick word on Ob Nixils:
    In my opinion, every Ob Nixilis deck should be creature free - if for no other reason than he can get away with it.

    That unique quirk means that Ob is perhaps the only Planeswalker who can consistently win games with a Common/Uncommon exclusive deck. Black has sufficient creature kill and card draw of that level to hold off your rival and bring the game to a swift conclusion. Even better, being creature free makes Ob Nixilis the perfect counter for all the most annoying decks you run into on the battlefield – from creature bounce and mana denial, to disable and destroy. Even better, Ob Nixilis can effortlessly blow through all those “Summon 2 or less creature” and “Lose 2 or fewer creatures” event objectives.

    I love Ob Nixilis.

    Strategy:
    Ob Nixilis wins games one way – by getting to his 18 Loyalty cost 3rd level Planeswalker ability "Forbidden Knowledge" - then drawing cards like a madman. All other strategies are folly.

    Forget about making matches for mana – you'll want to make matches for Loyalty.
    Loyalty is gained at a rate of +1 for every Planeswalker gem you match, + 1 for every additional mana gem match. That gives O.N. a weird gem matching hierarchy. You’re going to be looking for Planeswalker gem matches, and if you don’t see those, any multiple gem match combo – regardless of color. Give me a Green match that cascades into a White match over a straight up Black match any day. The former results in four mana and two Loyalty, vs six mana and one Loyalty. In other words, if I can make this choice every round I’m going to get to my 3rd level ability twice as fast.

    This brings us to Supports. Without the Rare cards of Corrupted Grafstone, Drownyard Temple or Forsaken Shrine, we have to turn elsewhere for mana ramp. I would recommend pairing Shivan Reef with Highland Lake…both cards that generate Blue/Red gems. Yes, that targets Ob Nixilis’ second best mana colors over Black, but by focusing on just two colors we’re more likely to flood the board with cascades and multiple-match opportunities. And, because the mana costs of our Commons and Uncommons are so low, our deck still plays quickly. The addition of Magnifying Glass gives us a tiny bit of Mana, and also gives us another possible card draw via Investigate.

    Remember, it’s all about racing to that all important 18 Loyalty, then cashing in on your first tier Planeswalker card draw ability, bolstered by your card draw spells. You might be tempted to start playing against your opponent like you’re normal Planeswalker at some point - practice restraint! You are not a normal Planeswalker. You are a unique killing machine. Save your kill spells for any big beasts that come out, ignore the little guys that only chip away at you, and match for Loyalty as much as possible.

    The Ob Nixils Deck - For The Rest Of Us
    Creatures:
    None. Hah.

    Spells:
    Kill Spells
    Grip of Desolation (Uncommon)
    Unlicensed Disintegration (Uncommon)

    Card Removal Spells
    Transgress the Mind (Uncommon)
    Whispers of Emrakul (Uncommon)

    Card Draw Spells
    Live Fast (Common)
    Prophetic Prism (Uncommon)
    Read the Bones (Common)

    Supports:
    Highland Lake (Uncommon)
    Shivan Reef (Common)
    Magnifying Glass (Uncommon)

    Sideboard:
    If you're lucky enough to possess some Rare or even Mythic Black cards, by all means substitute them in. The opportunities to improve this deck are too numerous to elaborate on here – but you’ll want to focus on increased card draw first. If you can substitute in Lost Legacy or even a Behold the Beyond for Live Fast, you’ll finish games in much better shape, and Tamiyo's Journal is a great replacement for Magnifying Glass.

    However, if you only have one Rare to add to this deck, I would controversially suggest Orbs of Warding. This oft overlooked Support comes into play with 6 shields, and reduces all damage you take by 2. The minor effect is that it softens the blows of any creatures your opponent plays. The more significant effect for Ob Nixilis is that you can now play your first tier Planeswalker ability and Read the Bones without taking any damage. (And, I might note, it also freezes Startled Awake out on the field. Very satisfying.)


    Thanks for reading - and good luck against all those whales out there, you mighty minnows!
  • MTG_Mage
    MTG_Mage Posts: 224 Tile Toppler
    my submission:
    Spells:

    Behold the Beyond - draw and mana
    to the slaughter - low cost destruction, auto-casts with BtB
    grip of desolation - low cost destruction, auto-casts with BtB
    transgress the mind - hand control, auto-casts with BtB

    Creatures:

    Olivia, mobilized for war - best creature in the game
    marionette master - generates supports and lots of non-combat damage

    Supports:

    Tamiyo's journal - generates supports and card draw
    shrine of the forsaken Gods - excellent mana support
    underhanded designs - consistant non-combat damage, lifegain and creature destruction
    mirrorpool - best support in the game, reinforces creatures and can cause a chain reaction of BtB spells going off since all other spells are less than 6 mana

    planeswalker playstyle:
    Save up PW points to get off ultimate asap, then spam first ability. Second ability can be used as needed but with all the creature control in the deck it shouldnt ever need to be used.
  • jogamundo
    jogamundo Posts: 107 Tile Toppler
    Ob Nixilis - Creatureless
    Decklist

    Supports (4)
    Shrine of the Forsaken Gods
    Sunken Hollow
    Smoldering Marsh
    Alhammarret's Archive

    Spells (6)
    To the Slaughter
    Grip of Desolation
    Whispers of Emrakul
    Transgress the Mind
    Infinite Obliteration
    Beyold the Beyond


    ObNixilis Abilities
    1: Dark Pact - cost: 3
    1 - lose 5 life and draw 1 card
    2 - lose 3 life and draw 1 card
    3 - lose 1 life and draw 1 card
    4 - lose 1 life and draw 2 cards

    2: Torment - cost: 9
    1 - lose 5 life to destroy target creature with power 4 or less
    2 - lose 5 life to destroy target creature with power 6 or less
    3 - lose 5 life to destroy target creature
    4 - lose 3 life to destroy target creature

    3: Forbidden Knowledge - cost: 18
    1 - create Support: deal 2 damage to your opponent every time a player draws a card
    2 - create Support: deal 4 damage to your opponent every time a player draws a card
    3 - create Support: deal 6 damage to your opponent every time a player draws a card
    4 - create Support: deal 8 damage to your opponent every time a player draws a card


    Strategy
    Ob Nixilis must have his 3rd ability active for this strategy to work.
    The higher the skill 1,2,3,4 the better the strategy works.

    We will only be using Abiltity 1 (Dark Pact) and Ability 3 (Forbidden Knowledge)

    This is a 2 part strategy
    Part 1 - Building up to Forbidden Knowledge Support

    In the early turns try to play your mana development supports first.
    Shrine of the Forsaken Gods is the one you want to play first.
    - it will give you 3 mana every turn and accelerating your other colorless/devoid spells out (Sunken Hollow, Smoldering Marsh, Alhammarret's Archive, Grip of Desolation, Transgress the Mind)

    Sunken Hollow and/or Smoldering Marsh are your secondary choices
    - these supports are great for giving you free matches when your turn starts
    - having your spells preload with mana is good, but the major benefit here is the number of free matches you get, every match is 1 rune closer to the Forbidden Knowledge activation

    Your opponent's opening play will direct you on what spells you want to fill next.
    If they play a creature, fill up removal (Grip of Desolation / To the Slaughter)
    If they add mana to a spell in their hand, play a discard spell (Transgress the Mind, Infinite Obliteration, Whispers of Emrakul)
    - If the mana added to their spell only moves the guage on the spell a small amount, it is a large spell.
    - you may have time to play another mana support instead of forcing them to discard it this turn.

    When matching gems, try to look for matches that will generate cascades, prioritize these such matches higher than ones that simply match your bonus colors (Black, Red, Blue)
    Match your bonus colors, when you NEED to cast/fill a spell
    Also look for matches that will cascade with/into Planeswalker gems, you want to get to Forbidden Knowledge as soon as possible.


    Optional spells
    Alhammaret's Archive
    - this is to hasten your opponents demise via the "draw twice as many cards" the lifegain is not used
    - so prioritize this low until after you have Forbidden Knowlege active

    Beyold the Beyond
    - ideally hold this until you have Forbidden Knowledge active
    - but you can play it before, since almost all your spells will trigger after you play it.




    Part 2 - Killing your opponent
    This part of the plan is about getting the upper hand on your opponent and keeping it.

    Once you have the Support created, you can then start utilizing Ob Nixilis' 1st ability to draw you additional cards and hasten your opponents demise.
    Keep using your discard spells to ensure your opponent has space in their hand to draw a card and remove spells they can fight back with.
    Try to keep 1 removal spell filled in case your opponent manages to quickly cast a creature.
    More than 1 removal spell takes up spots in your hand and prevents you from drawing cards to kill your opponent.

    Prioritize Beyold the Beyond highest so you can cast a bunch of spells and draw lots of cards at once.

    Alhammaret's Archive doubles the number of cards you draw, so make good use of exiling cards from your hand, so you have space to draw all the cards next turn.
  • This is my entry: Overgrown
    corrupted grafstone
    Gnarlroot trapper
    Crow of dark tidings
    Grave birthing
    Fertile thicket
    Tree of perdition
    Prophetic prism
    Eliminate the competition
    To the slaughter
    Brain in a jar

    It's based around Ob Nix's first ability. The theme of the deck is to not take any damage from your opponents creatures while digging for a couple of trees. Gnarlroot trapper is the star of the deck and tree of redemption is the win condition. Eliminate the competition is for any large hexproof threat that can surpass your defenders.

    Kill all of their major threats and let their smaller creatures bang their head against a giant tree of redemption. It's nearly impossible to lose a game with this setup as you'll always have inevitability going the distance with forbidden knowledge.

    The mana is great, the draws are even better and this deck doesn't have a weak point. Any starfield of nyx builds tend to struggle against this as you're almost always getting multiple matches a turn through spells, creature and supports of your own.

    Ob Nixilus is my favorite plainswalker and I love the versatility he provides for deck theory.

    *edit: tree of perdition, not tree of redemption
  • Brigby
    Brigby ADMINISTRATORS Posts: 7,757 Site Admin
    Thanks for all of the submissions everyone! We'll be having the D3 Go! team take a look at all of them and hand-pick our top 3 guides.

    Once we've done that, I'll create a poll where the rest of the community can vote on the winner! You can expect to see the poll up and running sometime tomorrow around late-afternoon time.

    Good luck to all the contestants! icon_e_smile.gif
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