Descent into Avernus has been a sleeper hit. One of the guys in our group has that in his Megatron deck, and it looks unassuming, (and almost group huggy, as everyone gets treasures) but it does massive work, and closes games out by itself if left unanswered.

@obsidiousmarical3498

4 ай бұрын

Group slug green so you can play collector ooph

A major difference between Group Slug and Stax is that Slug decks dramatically increase the pace of a game. While heavy Stax decks often slow down the game to a crawl. Once at my LGS I was in a pod with a Group Slug deck and another pod had a heavy stax player in it. In the time we finished three quick and highly dynamic games, the Stax pod still hadn't finished theirs and was just meandering about after the Thoracle Consultation win attempt was stopped.

@thetrinketmage

4 ай бұрын

That’s a good way of differentiating those two deck styles! Though a good stax player should be able to close the game out better…

Gotta confess I have a crush on group slug decks. Started from Mogis, then added Torbran, tried Purphoros, and recently switched it to Ojer Axonil. Also I built Vial / Sakashima clones deck to bombard with Vial triggers. They have different flavor on them, but play on the same field of melting opponents faces. There was once a game where my friends borrowed Mogis and Ojer, while I was piloting Vial / Sakashima. We managed to get games ending in 15 minutes or so. And I’m planning to try Liesa for some more punishment in Orzhov. I like how group slug increases games and makes people intensify their plans because they are on a clock. This prevents long dragging games where no one advances to winning. Also makes people learn life is a resource and should be used wisely 😊

Making a Toxrill, the Corrosive group Slug Deck.

Been building a group slug deck on moxfield myself recently. It's fun, because in addition to vial smasher I have Ishai, so get a full 4 colors to work with. Instead of parity breakers I go with alot of life gain (which sorta is parity breaking, since giving your cemetary gatekeeper lifelink sorta makes it not hurt you), and to deal with being arch enemy I run both illusionists gambit and take the bait, turning an attack against me into one between two opponents. Its definitely a fun strategy, just be aware some folks are also pretty against it just like they are against stax. Great when you can pull it out, though, I think the low life totals really ramp up the tension in games.

@thetrinketmage

4 ай бұрын

Life gain is a great parity breaker, I probably should’ve mentioned in the video! Sounds like a fun build

I have 2 group slug decks atm and they work on different axles. First one I built was Liesa, Shroud of Dusk which whittles down the health bars of my opponents using her lifelink as parity along with other life shenanigans. The second one is The Scarab God which plays around with discard and mill, then reanimating the good stuff I happen to make my opponents put there. I really like the archetype but my opponents are not always keen to face them haha

I recently built an Ojer Axonil deck and have been thinking of turning it into a group slug deck so this video showing up on my homepage is a godsend. Love the content, keep it up!

We need more group slug players, I'm an Ob Nixilis Captive Kingpin player and god it's so much fun! Everyone gets to do their cool shit faster with stuff like descend into avernus, but at the same time the more resources they use the more they get affected by cards like Rug of Smothering!

@thetrinketmage

4 ай бұрын

I haven’t gotten a chance to test descend out. How has it been?

@own2live

4 ай бұрын

​@@thetrinketmage We are two in my play group who dare use it. the on who cast it almost always lose by it's effect. But it's the best game of the night every single time. For context, i have put it into a nekusar deck. It does hinder the deck ability to win since i give mana to my opponent to use the card i'm giving them... but it's so fun.

@frederickhansarmstrongthe1656

4 ай бұрын

@@thetrinketmage Playing it in my Axonil. It is a house. More so with the dudes that damage opponents when an artifact hits the graveyard. Speeds the game up, has a few pieces to stop it from being a free lunch. I'm not full on group slug though, I do keep a small package in for spellslingerish wins. Gotta have more than one way to win after all.

I had only 1 commander deck for about 7 years until over this last year I have finally gotten more, and it is Mogis, God of Slaughter.

One potential Group Slug strategy beyond burn is steady mill (not combo mill). Stripping cards from opponent's decks creates this visible hourglass that opponents have on the game. It's arguably the most fair alternate win con not based on damage.

I made a Runic Thar deck ages ago thst I don't think is super good, but I'd like to make it more consistent because he's the ultimate vibe for Group Slug imo

I'm currently working on a Liesa Group Slug deck, and since my partner is a big fan of Derevi Stax, I'm going to try to use this video to convince them to try a group slug deck as a "friendlier" alternative!

My main deck for the longest time was Queen Marchesa group slug. Anything that said "deal 2 damage" or "lose 2 life" was in it. Since I mostly just got to sit back and gain advantage through being The Monarch, my opponents would slowly burn themselves out, and then I'd put a vicegrip on their life totals by playing something like Fraying Omnipotence. Was also fairly resilient due to it having a big focus on Legendary permanents, so The Primevals' Glorious Rebirth was huge if I needed to wipe a couple of times prematurely, or just the nature of the game becoming Archenemy kicked in. Solitary Confinement is a hell of a card too. EDIT: Since I saw it mentioned further in the comments, the big thing was I wanted to play a pillow fort-esque strat that actually advanced the gamestate. The Monarch incentivises combat, but they're less likely to hit you when you have out Michiko Konda or No Mercy. But they still need to try to kill you to stop your life taxing effects. And if they ignore you for too long, you can force gameplay to happen through cards like Approach of the Second Sun. I may need to rebuild this deck again.

@thetrinketmage

4 ай бұрын

Seems like a fun deck! You should build it again

@Yacopsev

3 ай бұрын

I had same idea after watching this vid, but I dont really want to look at much decks before i go back to playing and building decks, as there's difference between knowing what you need in one, and just subconsciously copying. Anyway it's good to know someone tried, and it worked.

Me forcing a 4 way tie with double damage Heartless Hidetsugu whenever it looks like I'll lose otherwise Also, an amazing card for Group Slug that leads to really fun big brain boardstates is Last Laugh. You can sneak in some unforeseen lethals with that.

I've thought about it before, but you did in fact inspire me to make a group slug deck. I now wanna brew a Zo-Zu deck, because I am giggling internally too much at the thought of giving him lifelink (I'm a life gain player even when I play mono-red!).

Group slug is one of my favorite archetypes (really just any deck that puts pressure on the game) but you're gonna be hard pressed to find a deck that fights 4v1 (because you're often hurting yourself as well). You're fighting 4v1 the entire time not because the other players hate you, but because the three other decks are probably generically powerful value decks that benefit greatly from the game's duration being drawn out. Aggressive aristocrats is the only deck I've found that worked as both a stax deck and a burn deck.

@xPixelParrot

4 ай бұрын

Which commanders have you had luck with for aggressive aristocrats?

I've been building up a Mogis group slug deck that plays around with the Monarch mechanic with cards like Court of Ambition, Embereth, and Ire. I think it helps with this playstyle.

I have a Liesa, Shroud of Dusk deck and I have a lot of effects that fit the theme that was explained. I think it's a fun strategy. 🙌

I started building a group slug deck on moxfield a while ago but didn't think about parity breakers. Thx!

I love this archetype. I built a Vial Smasher and Krark the Thumbless deck because I need something to get the game ending with my playgroup. Being able to flip a heads on a Goblin Game to copy it is one of my favorite moments I've had with it.

@thetrinketmage

4 ай бұрын

That’s awesome! Got a deck list?

@tealstatic

4 ай бұрын

@@thetrinketmage I can pout one on Moxfield. I'll get back to you.

I feel like There’s a big difference between completely stopping someone from playing and punishing someone for doing so because it gives them the choice

@thetrinketmage

4 ай бұрын

Yea slug and stax play very differently I think!

I had nekusaur naturally first before I knew how hated this type of deck was. My tibalt deck has elements of group slug and resource denial in red and black. My red Jaya deck is group slug and targeted burn with Jaya's activated ability. Clearly my favorite of them all is my liesa shroud of dusk deck. I run her over Kambal because she always cost 5 mana from the command zone and is a 5/5 with lifelink. Playing these decks forced me to double down on my interaction for obvious reasons. A tip I force myself to abide by is to always have interaction in my opening hand even if I can't play my commander. I always recommend other players do this as well.

Just finished building my own groupslug deck helmed by Mogis, God of Slaughter. I tried splashing in some extra defense artifacts like crawlspace, ensnaring bridge, silent arbiter and the best card for any rakdos slug deck is always exquisite blood

Hooray! A friendly Skittari has taught me Stax but friendly!

Oooooh! I'm building an ojer deck! I actually buff him and pingers that untap with instant and sorcery pinging. He can blast a table in one good turn mid game. The mana punishment is something I'm adding in next!

My favorite Group Slug commander is Mogis, the deck is basically lots of removal, horrible enchantments, no creatures and MLD. LOL I designed it after being inspired by WWF Cage Matches and the idea is it possible to make a deck without creatures? Thus Rakdo's Slugchantment was born! The deck rarely wins but creates really silly toxic board states that affects all of us; I think because it affects everyone that the deck has never come under much salty scrutiny despite using MLD's as finishers. The problem with Stax is it tends to not have a finisher and slows the game with asymmetrical benefits so I recently combined Historic, Stax and Battlecruiser (a deck that ramps for late game massive threats) so I have early slow game Stax effects for late game heavy hitters!, in my Sixth Doctor/Romana 2 deck. The concept is that the good Doctor creates a ''peaceful'' board states through over taxation (Don't forget the Doctor lies), ex: making non legendary copies of God-Pharaohs Statue or if I do have to get my hands dirty make copies of Zopandrel, Koma or Elesh Norn Grand Cenobite, my beloved. Strangely this deck has also not been met with salty tears despite others at FNM playing Staxxy decks ;p

Ojer Axonil is great, have a deck and put together with him and he’s awesome. I have it built mostly as storm deck, but I also got a handful of those good stax pieces like Mana Barbs and Pyrohemia and they put it work. Pyrohemia and some floating mana can just win games with Ojer.

Currently trying to build up an Auntie Blyte deck I'm happy with cause I love the flavor of the card. Definitely a bit more annoying to do with just red, so i'm doing a voltron-ey thing instead of discarding. Still new at deckbuilding, so wish me luck lmao

I had ghen as my group slug just because mardu gives it access to all the good enchantment based burn cards and I can get them back if one gets removed

@thetrinketmage

4 ай бұрын

Ghen is pretty cool! I played that commander for a while

Absolutely love my Auntie Blyte deck and this play style in general

@thetrinketmage

4 ай бұрын

She is a sweet commander for this type of deck!

My group slug commander is the new Zoyowa, Lava tongue. Hes two mana for a 2/2 with deathtouch who gives people a choice to lose something or take damage every turn. Its mostly permanents like enchantments but its a mix of discard and sac things to make choices my opponents make harder and harder as the game goes on. Plus hes innocuous until that 3 dmg start to really hurt

@mr.mammuthusafricanavus8299

4 ай бұрын

Zoyowa is a rad commander since most people do not think it is a threat but that little gobbo does work!

I'm running a gisella Blade of goldnight group slug/ burn deck right now, it works great if I can get her out

My wife has a Mogis deck. It wins mostly by “half their life” and “double that damage” effects. So topdeck manipulation is surprisingly significant there. Oh, and you’ll suffer a lot on that way.

I play that style as a secondary theme on my Neheb, the Eternal deck. Cards that damage all players are relatively cheap for all the damage they are capable of when there are 4 of us, and I get to profit from it on the second main phase. Pyrohemia borderline becomes a pay R get RRR

I absolutely love my Klothys group slug. Since most of my pieces are enchantments, I filled out the green in my deck with enchantress pieces so I get extra value

@thetrinketmage

4 ай бұрын

That sounds super fun! Green pairs so well with the red mana sinks

@rats_and_lilies

4 ай бұрын

@@thetrinketmage oh, it's a blast! Even my ramp spells help me deal damage because of my commander. I always bring it with me for game nights

@sebastiankruger1614

4 ай бұрын

Can you please post a link to a decklist, it sounds really fun😅.

90% of the mentioned cards are in my non-wheel Nekusar deck! Havoc Festival, Manabarbs, Sire of Insanity, Ojer Axonil means it’s a violent race on the way down. I make sure to include Repay in Kind to make sure no one can just lifegain their way out of the fun. I also throw in some stax (Arcane Laboratory, Back to Basics, Mana Maze, Trinisphere) because I’m already giving my opponents cards, they shouldn’t also expect to play them!

I made a group slug / reanimator deck with ball lighting creatures and Zoyowa Lava-Tongue

I like your inclusion of tax at the end. I decided to build a deck around each of the Strixhaven Elder Dragons and this cemented by direction for Shadrix Silverquill (taxing creatures that wear +1/+1 counters well)

@thetrinketmage

4 ай бұрын

I had a Shadrix deck for a while! Neat card the politics is pretty fun!

I love my Klothys enchantress groupslug deck!!

@thetrinketmage

4 ай бұрын

A few other people mentioned Klothys group slug I need to check that commander out!

@jessedelange4518

4 ай бұрын

@@thetrinketmage klothys is a great commander with build-in life gain your opponents will hopefully lose life faster then you do.

So I have a narset enlightened master deck that is group slug super friends … I wanted to build her in a different way. I love it but most people hate it cause it can turn a game around and take over in a turn or two.

Funny how you mentioned ojer as a group slug when i finished that exact deck yesterday 😂

I made a Kaervek the Merciless group slug deck. It's really fun but it's hard to win because for parity breakers I only run cards that give him lifelink, but since he's expensive to cast + begs to be removed it's hard to apply them. I use politics to disencourage my friends to get him removed, lots of fun!! Oh also I have nonbos with the cards that say "players can't gain life" hahahah but I really don't care :3

Oh, did not know "Hellbent" existed

Special shout out to a turn 2 Ankh Of Mishra! Bonus points if you can cast Fractured Identity on it 🥳

@thetrinketmage

4 ай бұрын

That’s a very funny play

Thanks dunkey

I don't have a group slug deck per se, but I do have a Heartless Hidetsugu deck that does the same thing but a little... Faster. Skipping the extra steps, if you will.

Great topic, and connecting the stax archetype to groupslug isn't something I'd considered before. Re: music, your videos are so tight and analysis/idea-dense, I don't think you really need it. The content of the videos really speaks for itself, I wouldn't at all miss the BGM. That said, I think the previous chill/lo-fi stuff worked a bit better, because it's more of an even sound bed, whereas some of these tracks really pierce through with higher pitches (snazzy synth lines, bright piano). I actually hadn't really noticed you had music in other videos until now - but today I was confused for a sec and thought I had Spotify on in the background!

@thetrinketmage

4 ай бұрын

Honestly I like the lofi stuff more as well… I’m probably going back to that in the future. I do think the audio would be worse without the music though. It hides a lot of imperfections in the recording. Appreciate the feedback though!

I want to build group slug with Ghen, arcanum weaver. He doesn't break pairity in any way, but he lets me play mardu, and if someone tries to remove one of our pieces (since most of those cards tend to be enchantments) we can just sac it and replace it with another one.

Mogis god of slaughter is my commander pretty nasty and hard to deal with

Stax is we’re gonna sit here until you die, group slug is I’m gonna beat the shizz out of the table until you die.

group slug is fun, i use mogis and is mostly just random cards and budget but still wins from time to time. Lets be honest you wont be winning much because well you will be target num 1 most times, all those pain enchantments hurts but even in losing there is fun because you do affect the game and mess up with everyone else game. Also so much pain, games tend to finish faster which is a plus i guess.

Uphill Battle 2R Enchantment Creatures your opponents control come into play tapped. A little extra “fuck you”, because it’s *that* kind of deck.

I hate magic and I’m gunna make sure no one gets to play it

@thetrinketmage

4 ай бұрын

Grrrrr… I’m evil!!!

@runemanqwe

4 ай бұрын

Is not the goal of the game to end the game by making each of your opponents stop playing?

@Sodasama5150

4 ай бұрын

Casual much? Lol

@mcolby7214

2 ай бұрын

That sounds like fun

The Ojer Axonil deck is borderline anti-social as it punishes anyone without interaction there and then when he is cast as usually a mana barbs will just end game.if deck is strong than table it is also highly unpleasant as you’re not even playing same game at that point.

Auntie Blyte

Wont be commenting again 😂😂😂