It's been one looooong time since I posted in the deck building forum, and that's because I don't generally post something unless I feel it stands out in some way. Anyways, in the GD Forum I had discussed abusing Exist Within with **Lord Raptor**, Olcadan's Mentoring, and Rising Rage Flash. Well, while building the deck, it started with that, but ended up becoming something much, much different.
Ladies and gentlemen, I bring to you the revival of Death aggro in the block 3 format. For those of you saying Death has no damage pump, no damage outlet, or is overshadowed by Evil, you can suck it:
*Zi Mei*
Assets: 3
3x Olcadan's Mentoring 0/6 +0-LOW
Attacks: 12
4x Monster Lariat 5/3 +2-MID
4x Tsurane Kiri 5/2 +3-MID (Chaos/Death/Evil)
4x Ichi no Tachi 3/3 +2-MID (Death/Evil/Good)
Foundations: 44
3x Mind Over Matter 3/5 +1-MID
3x Past Shrouded in Mystery 3/5 +3-LOW (Death/Evil/Order)
3x Inhuman Perception 2/5 +1-HIGH
4x Oral Dead 2/5 +1-LOW (Chaos/Death/Evil)
4x La Superba 2/5 +1-MID
4x Buddhist Devotion 2/5 +2-HIGH [breaker: 1]
4x Unorthodox Training 2/5-2/5 +2-MID
4x Trapped in a Nightmare 2/5 +3-HIGH
4x Vanished Father 2/4 +1-LOW
4x Looking for Peace 2/4
3x Manifest Destiny 1/4 +1-LOW (Death/Evil/Fire)
4x Huge Wrestling Army 1/4
Sideboard: 8
4x Destiny 2/5
4x Shadow Blade 5/2 +2-MID [Reversal] [stun: 2]
As I have done with every deck I make, allow me to first explain why this deck, and then how it works...
1. Why not Evil Zi Mei?
Although Evil is amazing, and a little less than a third of this deck is Death/Evil, Death simply has much more control, at least from what I've noticed. Sure, all of Bison's asshattery has D/E, as does Oral Dead, but Death has access to Inhuman Perception to stop Tag Along and Siberian Training (USE IT!), and Trapped in a Nightmare to turbo boost Zi Mei. Evil is good, but this deck revolves around Hugo's draw support, and Looking for Peace abuse.
2. No Dual-symboling? The 'ell?
Unlike the rest of the world, I'm a HUGE advocate of solo-symboling. I've been doing it since day one, and pretty much intend on doing it forever. As you can tell, a large portion of the deck is single symbol, so it'd take a bit of work to mix in symbols. Cycles aren't too kind for that...
3. Isn't the deck a little TOO aggressive?
Yes, and that's the way I intended it to be. If you guys can remember back in the day, a lot of games were: Player A builds, Player B builds, Player A wins. That's what this character brings back, and en masse. This character ups the Hell out of turbo speed utilizing Devotion (which cheats building), Huge Wrestling Army (which cheats drawing), and Looking for Peace (which destroys the card pool). Although one look will tell you this deck does nothing but crush face, it's DEATH! I can still use Death's naughty control forces to help.
Onto the deck...
Zi Mei: One of the best characters ever made. Congrats to Horvath (or whoever made it) on making a character so good, yet hasn't won a single event yet. That's what our game needs more of. Anyways, anybody who has played against Mei knows she's a ***** to play against. She IS control, and with the symbols to pretty much do as she pleases. Looking through Death characters, there's none other. While most would suggest Donovan, Donovan's abilities are both relatively useless in here. His enhance draws me next to nothing (and invalidates LFP), and his R is already covered by a foundation lol. Zi Mei bumps up Tsuranes, and with 44 foundations and 3 Owls, it can be a helluva bump.
Attacks: Beastin. Plenty of ways to lead. You can start with an Ichi, R with Zi to commit something, enhance with Ichi, maybe use TIAN, and bam, they're already near-tapped. Otherwise, Monster Lariat is God in here, and if you really want to F with the opponent, Mind Over Matter is pretty Jesusly in here. Anyways, the goal of offense is to get Lariat's enhance off, find a way to get rid of their hand (discard, blocks, etc), fill up your hand with Lariat and Wrestling Army, then pop LFP to dump the field. Now you've got another swing at the opponent, and this time around, you ought to have drawn into some Tsuranes. Oh, and did I mention Zi Mei is going damage pump happy? =D
Mind Over Matter: Truly is a mind over matter type of card. In this deck, eating a Monster Lariat could be the end of you, but really, trying to block a 6 speed attack (as in, MoM it), esp when I can control your stuffs ain't exactly easy. Plus, if you block one, you sure ain't blockin the next 8 speed one lol. It's the ultimate bully card, and ensures that, if I have 2 Lariats, one is certainly goin through.
Past Shrouded in Mystery: Cue Ludacris' "Get Out the Way". When Zi Mei is busy controling you with her army of R, Nightmares, Manifests, and Ichis, Shrouded is to cover any contingencies. Not the most useful thing out there, but it certainly has its place in the deck.
Inhuman: Bah, screw Charismatic. This deck can utilize the heck out of draw power, and Inhuman is going to be necessary for anybody running Tag Along (I herd from a reliable source that a lot of UFS players liek Tag Along), and any other responses not nabbed by Trapped in a Nightmare.
Oral Dead: It's Oral. It stops Olcadan's...although in this deck, Olcadan's isn't exactly an enemy; anything they give me (likely Army or Superba) is subject to be committed, destroyed, or fodder for Superba.
La Superba: Gotta run 4 because I gotta run 4 Looking for Peace, and I needs that momentum. Death has always had a trouble with 4s, so I've tried alleviating that. Superba, it's 2 quick momentum that, unlike Military Combat Arts, isn't eating away at my hand
.
Buddhist Devotion: I've said it upon release, and will say it until it cycles, Buddhist Devotion is hands-down the best card ever made. It's probably the only card that cheats the game and is balanced. Mediocre symbol spread followed by a "one use" effect and extreme weakness to Olcadan's balance it, yet anybody who has used it knows its turbo speed is unrivaled, and is the backbone to a LOT of decks. In this deck, it can be used in oh so many ways. Drop that Looking for Peace and La Superba, two Vanished Father, two Unorthodox Training, Mind Over Matter, its laundry list is uncanny.
Unorthodox: Because this deck needs a plethora of ways to force the opponent in. While Mind Over Matter is great, it is practically a lightningrod for Rejection. Unorthodox eats away at what few cards they have left, and with the draw power I'm packin, its action side is the snake bite <3.
Trapped in a Nightmare: It's happenin'. For those who don't already run this card, run it. It is the closest you'll get to Trade Your Passion or Ring Veteran. With 2/5 commit-of-choice (for responses), you can't say no.
Vanished Father: Not sure if this card will make it to the final cut, but it's here for now. The way I see it, with Buddhist and Wrestling Army, I should be able to get out at least two copies, and truly, that's all that's necessary. A +5 damage pump is really all that's going to matter, especially since it's probably only going to be used on Tsurane =D.
Looking for Peace: I'm positive this card does not see play because people have not used it. Anybody who has can understand that it's basically, "F Destroy this foundation: Both players card pools are discarded". Now, while it does negate my ability to draw any further, it shouldn't matter; Lariat and Wrestling Army are all that I need to refill the hand, hopefully with some Tsuranes and more Lariats for the insane stats on 'em
. Like I said, this card NEEDS to be ran, and I guess I'll have to be the first to abuse it.
Manifest: Lolspam. Turbos Zi Mei more than she needs lol.
Wrestling Army: Although it's spam, it's meant to be draw power in the off-chance Lariat ain't cuttin it. Generally, it's meant to be saved, so hope you don't draw any early, but on the same coin, you might use them to attempt to draw into what you want early game.
Sideboard: Destiny is for hackers, and Shadow Blade is when I need to play a more defensive game. Tsurane ought to cut it, but Shadow Blade is just retardedly vicious, esp in Zi Mei. Play it, tap something, tap anything else if I have my agents of commit, Stun 2, destroy something, give it a pump, all in one turn.
Hope you guys enjoy!
