Fan Submission - Simic Combo Deck

Rick M. shared this Simic Combo deck with us after seeing our previous blog post about my own Green Devotion Hydra deck. While this deck isn't standard legal, it uses many of the same pieces to create a truly epic kitchen table combo deck.  Let's take a look at his deck list.

---Creatures (34)
4 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Kiora's Follower
3 Elvish Mystic
1 Hydra Broodmaster
2 Progenitor Mimic
1 Yisan, the Wanderer Bard
3 Prophet of Kruphix
1 Mistcutter Hydra
3 Zameck Guildmage 
1 Genesis Hydra
3 Fathom Mage
3 Vorel of the Hull Clade
2 Gyre Sage
1 Kruphix, God of Horizons 
1 Azor's Elocutors 
1 Laboratory Maniac 
---Spells (6)
1 Dictate of Karametra
2 Plasm Capture 
2 Polymorphous Rush 
1 Cyclonic Rift
---Land (24)
7 Forest 
7 Island 
3 Temple of Mystery 
4 Simic Guildgate
2 Yavimaya Coast 
1 Thornwood Falls


Alright, I see a few familiar faces, but quite a few new ones too.  Tell me what's going on here.

"Originally the deck was a Biovisionary deck (i.e., Polymorphous Rush) but I've since changed it to what you see now. After the interaction between Vorel and Fathom Mage became a real threat, I realized I could Laboratory Maniac for the win, and Azor's Elocutors could win also because Vorel doubles the filibuster counters.

Plus being a something something black player it was a good change of pace for me to build way out of my color spectrum."

What inspired the deck? How did you decide on the cards in the deck?

"Honestly I decided on the deck when I pulled my third Temple of Mystery and second Yavimaya Coast. I had just way too many blue green cards in my binder and they never saw play so I thought I I'd just throw them together and see what happens. There were a lot of cards that got cut after a while like Unexpected Results and Biovisionary. So you could say I began by seeing the spare cards laying around and built off that."

Walk me through the mana curve. What does the deck do early, mid, and late game?

"The mana curve is designed with green in mind, so early on you have the Elvish Mystics, Sylvan Caryatids, and Kiora's Followers. As long as you have two mana and one is green then your mana should be safe. The 3-drop creatures are Vorel and Yisan. Vorel is the driving engine in the deck and being a 3-drop with 4 toughness is really nice or if I can't find him, Yisan can start doing his thing and putting out my creatures in increasing order. Fathom Mage is my 4-drop and is the super draw in the deck. Once she gets a single evolve trigger, off she is going. Vorel will double the counters on her, and Prophet of Kruphix lets me do it every turn. Kruphix and Gyre Sage are there for the hydras."

"If I can't keep out my Fathom Mage and all I have left is Gyre Sage, don't doubt the power of a mana-ramper whom will tap to add say.....128 green mana at a time. Kruphix also is needed if I am using and abusing Fathom Mage as I don't have a max hand size and is fetch-able with Yisan, the Wanderer Bard. Hydras are there for the smashing and possible counter removal from the Zamek Guildmages. They can function for draw possibilities as well. The Progenitor Mimics are needed for anti-fliers and if possible, I have done this a few times: Progenitor Mimic, Hydra Broodmaster, opponent's turn, monstrous hydra with the fat Gyre Sage, get a bunch of hydra tokens, swing for game! Oh and I got new Hydra Broodmasters to keep monstrifying."

"The instants are for emergencies only. Cyclonic Rift is for when my opponent is nearing completion for swinging for victory, countering spells. Also I keep the Polymorphous rushes in case of flash entrances. I had an opponent flash in Emrakrul and I rushed my Fathom Mage with five +1/+1 counters on it while she swung. Yes I missed the Emrakrul trigger but I did keep the counters, so Fathom Mage took down Emrakrul. In terms of play-style, unless there isn't any other option but to attack, I will sit there and keep building up my board-state and watch my opponent be baffled why I don't swing with a 33/33 Fathom Mage. It's usually safer and consistent to win with the key Laboratory Maniac and Azor's Elocutors. I keep them in hand and flash them in when I need them for victory thanks to Prophet of Kruphix."

"Thanks for being interested. I honestly never designed a sideboard as this is supposed to be fun. I mean, when you lose to Azor's Elocutors, how mad can you be as you're laughing your butt off."

I hope you enjoyed this in-depth look at Rick's Simic Combo deck.  It uses the same ramp/untapping engine of Kiora's Follower and Prophet of Kruphix, but instead of focusing on huge hydras, this deck aims to abuse the counter-adding ability of Vorel and the alternate win conditions of Azor's Elocutors and Laboratory Maniac.  While I cringe at the use of 64 cards instead of 60, Rick and his friends have carefully tweaked this deck for maximum fun at the kitchen table, and each card choice brings more and more combo fun to the deck.

Patrick