Burning Out Historic Fools w/ Acererak + Sarkhan's Unsealing | MTG Gameplay | Meme or Dream?

[@forcioni]

I think Bonecrusher Giant should be in the deck, it triggers Unsealing and is removal for the early game, which is something this deck sorely lacks

[@JohnWVarner]

Definitely. Plus it's positioned well against life-gain decks which are everywhere in Historic.

[@chocolatepiegames3617]

But it’s Seth, and if there is one person who is sick of eldraine cards, it’s gotta be Seth.

[@irou95]

Yeah the more eldraine cards your deck has the better

[@seanclark4071]

I want to see Seth make his own build of this deck, that would make a good against the odds or much abrew

[@johnfarley7074]

Against the odds if modern but I think he could brew them a to be reasonable in historic

[@Nolsie]

THIS, he needs to make a version with panharmonicon in it

[@dark293]

I would also really want this I have a bunch of wild cards and this deck is really tempting me to go back to mtg just to jank on my opponent

[@johnstephens9058]

At 35:16 Llanowar elves into Galta would have been lethal. 4 from unsealing, and 13 from galta + elf. Playing the elf first would have decreased the cost of galta such that you could have played both.

[@Maugena]

Pretty much any play other than Acererak would've worked. But yeah, sad he didn't see the line.

[@handsomemonkey9852]

He didn't even need elf! Ghalta cost 5, 4 lands + druid for lethal.

[@DonovanPresents]

That whole match felt like it could've gone differently for sure!

[@camfunme]

@@handsomemonkey9852 Ghalta is only 12+4= 16 damage, he needed the Elf for the last damage off Terror. Any elf would do. Actually Paradise Druid could 2 the Shark + 4 from Ghalta, thus he could swing in for 5 totalling 21.

[@handsomemonkey9852]

@@camfunme you're right! Ghalta is only 12. Good call!

[@smegmalasagna]

Dude I never thought about reducing Acererak's cost that is so sweet! Now we also need Heartless Summoning on arena :D

[@MTGGoldfish]

Would love to see Heartless Summoning on Arena. It's such a sweet card!

[@bowenarrowesquire9994]

I was just thinking of making a modern version of this deck with heartless summons

[@johnfarley7074]

It would go well with our froggy boys

[@smegmalasagna]

@@johnfarley7074 Yeah man Gitrog Monster could use some love in historic.

[@ryangainey94]

My Acererak EDH deck, in addition to having infinite mana combos, also runs a bunch of ramp and means to make Acererak super cheap. Like Urza's Incubator and K'rrik to make Acererak only cost 2 life to cast, or only 1 life with a Bontu's Monument... Storms off with Tendrils of Despair or Aetherflux Reservoir, and you can benefit further off casts with cards like the 4 mana black paladin, I think cabal paladin, that reads "whenever you cast a historic spell, deal 2 damage to each opponent" or Diregraf Colossus to make zombie tokens off Acererak casts. The deck has become one of my favorite decks of all time. It even rivals my Orvar aggro build with no counterspells.

[@egon4564]

Seth needs to rebuild this deck and feature it in "Redeem the Meme" video.

[@BurakBoraKapan]

The idea of this deck seems very fun, would love to see an improved version on Against the Odds (I'd love to try it myself but the Arena economy is horrible :( )

[@Nopenotyou]

I figured Deaths Shadow was less “body to stick around” and more “one mana board clear under unsealing”

[@lucidlullaby894]

It’s like street wraith It’s not a five mana 3/4, it’s an extra draw for 2 life It’s not a big creature for attacking, it’s a one mana one sided board wipe (as long as you have the enchantment ready)

[@Fyrefrye]

It's the way you get out of bad situations. The deck is slow and uninteractive early game, so the odds your opponent has knocked you down to low health by the time you stick an Unsealing are decent. And it's the only attacker you would need once you wipe the board.

[@wookieesden3133]

Completely agree. The fact that late game it might be a big body is just a bonus. It’s a pretty clever inclusion.

[@Fyrefrye]

@@wookieesden3133 I had a super casual deck I used to play with my friends (it ran maze's end as one of 3 win conditions...). The deck was slow, so it had to stall. I loved playing the "terrible card" Slumbering dragon because it made people hesitate just long enough to make the rest of my deck work. My main win condition was Phenax toughness-mill using gates to buff my creatures through the enchantment Hold the Gates. A 1 mana 3/3 that gained counters when my enemies attacked me was pretty much EXACTLY what my deck wanted, even if it never actually got large enough to attack. Never underestimate the utility of 1-drop creatures with bizarre abilities or stat-lines. Plus token decks hated it. Sure, attack me with 5 1/1 soldiers... I'll swing back with an 8/8 dragon.

[@ODIRGO]

Maybe the "weird" numbers of the creatures is because the player uses the cards he/she has instead of buying sets of 4 copies. I've never paid a single dollar for playing on MTGA and my decks look like that some times.

[@Helpmebeoriginal]

!punt in the last Jeskai control game. Could have played paradise Druid into Ghalta and just domed him with all the damage.

[@LucasTigy2]

yeah, i was a bit confused about why they didn't just simply play the ghalta since they would at least have 2 threats to deal with instead of the self returning acerarak

[@nicholasleyden2120]

36:00 Seth could have killed the shark with Terror’s trigger on the Paradise Druid, so he missed out on 3 damage. Then double Acerak cast would have killed. He could have won!

[@milisicht]

Also druid + Ghalta would have worked

[@pfr2205]

He could have in that game cast llanowar ping face (1) then ghalta cast trigger (4) and ghalta etb for (12)

[@Kettwiesel25]

I think we all agree there were plenty ways to win, but he just chose to lose instead.

[@brunopodolski3476]

I'd love to see an updated version of this deck. Better mana base, better quantities, improved sinergies. Seconded on Bonecrusher Giant and The Great Henge. They really could make the deck work.

[@gaberahamlincoln7358]

This deck has an interesting strategy. Would love to see some kind of 'keep dreaming' segment where you improve the deck and run it back!

[@LaveryJJ]

Hey Seth, big fan! I was your opponent in that last match where you got the Unsealing-Death's Shadow combo out. I have NEVER been more ".............what the fuck" in all my magic history and I say that with the utmost admiration. The play was glorious.

[@wookieesden3133]

I dream of coming up against him in a game and just waiting for the jank!

[@Nolsie]

This is somehow cooler than half against the odds decks, what a sweet brew

[@Kwynspired]

It's hilarious that you found this combo. I've been running a Modern version of this deck for a while that also has heartless summonings in addition to goreclaw. Never thought about the sarkhan's unsealing though.

[@Nuthouse01]

This deck is astonishingly competent, I also really want to see you continue tinkering with or upgrading this deck. Bonecrusher Giant and Rotting Regisaur seem like strong cards to consider adding. The 3-mana 5/5 with adventure that can make a 1/1 also seems worth considering.

[@Mark-xl2du]

Rotting regisaur can be a good card too, maybe to side for elves to block and help galtha to be almost free early :) And maybe the great henge (dont know the name lol) its a good engine and little of lifegain

[@LadyMapi]

Rotting Regisaur is also a wrath if you have Sarkhan's Unsealing out, so that's another point in its favor.

[@TheDaoOfLatino]

Rotting Regisaur is the exact card I was thinking about to get this to be a Pioneer playable deck.

[@DrMack9696]

Seth, good for you for taking a bit of a break. You pump out a ton of content and we appreciate you for it.:)

[@Saffron-mb8mp]

The deck looks awesome, I'd love to see it as an Against the Odds sometime!

[@TwoCatsinaTrenchcoat]

Really looking forward to the updated version of the deck!

[@crovax1375]

Imagine Ashaya Soul of the Wild and Lotus Cobra in the deck!

[@Gravebound]

In match 3 around 35:29 you've made a major punt not playing the Ghaltha instead of Acererak. 13 from Dragon+ 4 from Unsealing for lethal.

[@OverIoadTV]

Also could have went 5 to the face with the Acerak instead of using the 5 to klll the last 2 damage on the shark. He then went 2 to the face with the elf instead. which lost him 3 damage.

[@charlieb4993]

When you played the paradise druid to cast the kroxa in the event of a wrath that was so clever! I would never have thought of that.

[@bobzour]

Yep, personally I was thinking it was a punt as he knew there was a wrath, but setting up the wrath to get back Kroxa was great.

[@mttimlin]

I would love to see you play this deck again after rebuilding it!

[@smegmalasagna]

Man this list feels so nostalgic. I miss old cards like these.

[@Marceblackmetal]

me too, terribly nice name by the way

[@firstandlast.1254]

Back in my day, when damage still used the stack, we used to be able to swap out our Ragavan hits for whatever our 2nd ante was. If you managed to take 1 point of mana burn while Urza's Saga had exactly 2 lore counters, then Oko could +4 to regenerate all interrupts. Man, those were the days

[@Optimator7]

Old?

[@smegmalasagna]

@@Optimator7 In the sense of them not having seen play for quite a while. Rekindling Phoenix, Goreclaw, Ghalta and Sarkhan’s Unsealing all see zero play in historic.

[@margibso]

I'd love to see a "Meme or Dream Redemption" where you take meme or dream decks that show real promise and try to improve them. Here's a crazy idea. What if you ran CoCo and loaded the deck with 3 mana 4 power creatures. There is a surprisingly large number of them: Lovestruck Beast, Steel leaf champion, Oldgrowth troll, Grizzled Huntmaster. It would require going heavy green and relying on dual lands and triomes to get your red and black. The mana requirements might be too much, but if you could make it work it would be devastating.

[@pash_4904]

I absolutely want to see a refined deck list. I love goofy-yet-powerful combos like this they’re my favorite decks to pilot

[@Dolphgrim]

I enjoyed this strategy! Sometimes I have a tough time connecting w/ Historic videos as I'm unfamiliar w/ some older cards, but this one resonated just right. Thanks! :)

[@joshbaker8767]

Sweet video, I'd love to see you revisit this the core idea of this deck some time. Rotting Regisaur and/or Yargle could be worth considering for this deck too. Traxos, Scourge of Kroog and Daemogoth Titan would also proc the enhanced trigger on Unsealing for a reasonable mana cost.

[@druthorensen9958]

i made this deck back when goreclaw was first printed but in modern. goreclaw is great with myr superion and lupine prototype because they become free creatures.

[@thecrazycapn]

Thanks Seth. Super fun jank here.

[@brawlfan9999]

There are 4 creatures that come to mind to replace the Ronas and Ghaltas. On the cheaper side, we have: -Bonecrusher Giant, for pulling double duty in being early removal and a good, cheap body that triggers unsealing. Also you can drop it for 1 with Goreclaw. -Garruk's Harbringer, also a cheap 4/3, helps you keep finding the creatures you need to keep your engine going and is tough to remove for some decks. On the more expensice side, we have: -Chandra's Incinerator, has a beautiful synergy with Unsealing and Terror of the Peaks in that their indirect damage helps cast Incinerator for cheap and Incinerator in turn helps you deal direct damage AND hit something in the opponent's field. Goreclaw further enhances the combo by making a single proc of Unsealing (or often Terror of the Peaks) be enough to cast it for 1 mana. -Carnage Tyrant, a very dangerous, hard to remove threat that triggers the full wipe from Unsealing. Being uncounterable and having hexproof seems very valuable against all the removal that's always running around. Honorable mention goes to Beanstalk Giant, for pulling triple duty in ramping, thining the deck and and being a big boy that will likely trigger the full wipe from unsealing.

[@TheShadowGladiator]

Match 3, Game 3 you could have hit the shark with Unsealing, then the opponent with Terror of the Peak's trigger, then killed the shark with Paradise Druid. You would have won the next turn with Unsealing.

[@aaronshockney5009]

Or gone paradise hitting a shark, galta triggering unsealing, and then kill the other shark with the terror ability. The next turn it forces them to choose to deal with terror, galta, or unsealing. With two druids you would be able to aserack twice and either an untapped galta or terror triggers activating it would've been rough. And least thats what I saw.

[@danhan121]

Or just play Galta instead and won the game 🤣 17 to the face

[@Tawnos_]

This deck is a dream. I think I finally found something janky enough but not insanely stupid that I want to try it out. Time to put my wildcards to use! ;)

[@petersteiman2443]

I look forward to seeing your twist on this deck.

[@nicholaschidester887]

One option could be to cut green and add cards like bonecrusher, rotting regisaur, and maybe nyxathid in the 3 mana slot. This also stops some of the 3 color issues the deck was having. Could also experiment with grim wanderer

[@JacobBos1988]

Howdy Seth! I would to see you an upgraded version of this concept. Bonecrusher Giant would add much needed interaction. Rotting Regisaur might be great since it triggers the big mode on Unsealing.

[@Crazymachin3gun]

Finally some meme or Dream the best comedic vid on the internet

[@benjyskutch-freedman6839]

What a cool deck! Love the ideas here, would be awesome to see an "upgraded" version!

[@jackpabich763]

Shocklands work well with Death's Shadow. Rotting Regisaur is great for the deck as well. I like also a power matters overall theme, so 1-2 shadowspear to gain life and get trample. Maybe 2 inscription of abundance for removal. I like having a dino sub theme with Carnage Tyrant somewhere in the deck. Makes Drover of the mighty a powerful mana dork that also works well with Ghalta.

[@brunopodolski3476]

A suggestion I didn't see was Ilysian Caryatid. It is more fragile than Paradise Druid, but it can add BB so, if you have Goreclaw, it means double activation on Acererak.

[@lordmeep5803]

Wow!!!! What a deck, I absolutely love it!!

[@Clovislaying]

Adding the mdfc lands would be great for this deck instead of all the extra lands

[@roticet]

Please do a rebuild of the deck, it was a lot of fun to watch!

[@OsvaldoChannel1]

The main issue with Unsealing is that is it a bit too slow, you would need some way to get it to the field. Storm the Festival could be an idea, can put all the pieces on the field. Bonedaddy and Lovestruck could be a way to stall aggro long enough to get to the combo. Nissa is also a way to accelerate and provide threats, and if you use Domri as additional acceleration, the lands are 4/3s which trigger Goreclaw. Kroxa and Shadow are kinda superfluous, even if they trigger Unsealing and Terror (maybe Kroxa makes sense). This deck might be a dream, but it requires some definite tuning

[@princeLaharl2]

I want to see the tuned-up version of this deck. Bonecrusher Giant should be really good here.

[@zaton666]

Sarkhan's Unsealing is my favourite card of all time. If you ever decide to explore this idea more, there's a red card called Inferno Helion that's 7/3 for 4 mana. Pretty hilarious to drop that body with sarkhan's unsealing on the board and just watch everything take 4 damage.

[@jakeelephant006]

I think cutting some a couple lands, the Kroxas, a couple Death Shadows, and the Phonixes for more mana dorks, Bonecrusher Giants, and Rotting Regisaurs would work nicely.

[@NachWolf]

Acererak+Strict Proctor has been a fun combo for some off-meta standard. W/B Dungeon has been a great home for it.

[@georgefestivus]

I need to see more of this

[@feliciaamore1105]

Ah sarhkans unsealing. Was a pet card in my dragon decks. Was very very good.

[@elnatanbitensky8314]

How to improve the deck? Easy, add Eldraine cards! For a start, Love Struck Beast and Bone Crusher Giant allow you to brick wall aggro.

[@ArchbardWava]

First of all, I absolutely loved this deck. So much so that I'm reinstalling MtgA right now just so I can build it (I kind of quit after Alchemy's introduction). As for the changes... well, Rhonas is my favorite MtG character (lore-wise), so he's going nowhere haha. To maximize his potential, I'd do it like this: do away with Death's Shadow (-4), Ghaltas (-2), Kroxa (-1) and fill the Dorks (+3)... which opens 4 spots (less than I thought haha). On the low end, I'd add a pet card of mine which is Easy Pray. Helps dealing with Mono Red's early creatures and the Kavu. I believe in removal! On the high end, I'd add Elder Gargaroth, maybe even Questing Beast.

[@marlowemouse]

Acerak gives you a way to burn yourself to turn on deaths shadow earlier. Stops the unsealing loop early with it but may be good in games where you need to be applying pressure (like the control matchups)

[@ustgrot]

Marauding Raptor might be an interesting route to explore. It's a 1 mana reduction for the entire deck besides the mana dorks and Sarkhan's Unsealing.

[@DonovanPresents]

I NEED to build something like this deck! I have an Unsealing deck back when it was in standard so I have quite a bit of rares already in here!

[@joelhatterini6392]

This is the kind of Meme or Dream deck I like seeing, not a deck that is inoperable and RNG just happened to favor the player, but decks that almost seem like they got pulled out of Against the Odds and made it to 6-0

[@tgva8889]

So will we see the upgraded version of this deck, or a deck based around this synergy, on a Much Abrew sometime? Would love to see you take this inspiration and build something interesting out of it!

[@Tempestuous_Might]

It's worth noting that Death Shadow will always trigger Sarkhan's Unsealing's ultimate ability, leading to a guaranteed 4 damage and board clearance for one mana. Even if he doesn't stick around I think that's worth it.

[@ChaosForce08]

Feels like the sideboard and the manabase could use some work (in addition to adding Bonecrusher). Super sweet deck concept, though!

[@chips8623]

I kinda see this working best in Modern and cutting green entirely. Replace Goreclaw with Heartless Summoning and replace the green creatures with all the good black high power/low CMC cards like Egon, Hunted Nightmare, rotting regisaur, etc. Losing the color makes it more consistent, lets you lean into interactive pieces like thoughtseize. Not sure what you use to replace the card draw, but that's only 4 slots of the deck.

[@Optimator7]

This is definitely a dream. Love this deck; please revisit it one day!

[@wouterleten1982]

That first game was great.

[@TowanTalks]

Current standard brew. Reflections with Grinning Ingus. Copy bounce both repeat, go +1 mana each time.

[@StonedVorlon]

I've messed around with a few cost reduction effects for Aceacerak, even managed to get a BW version that's zombie tribal to platinum a few sets ago, but this list is definitely sweeter. Also commenting for the lack of alchemy cards

[@jimmybobsap8729]

Rotting Regisaur is sick in this too

[@nathanjohnson5088]

You gotta do a tuned version of this deck for much abrew!

[@matthewmcgreal4646]

Just leaving a comment to say I’d watch this deck again :)

[@ec3189]

Wandering Troubadour might fit the deck: it triggers Sarkhan Unsealing and plays well with Acererak on venturing. Even if it dies to a lot of things I think it might be quite good in the deck

[@ArchenGold]

I'd like to see a version of this in Pioneer. I don't know what direction you'd take it though

[@ohako79]

I think this deck could benefit a lot from 4x Wish, with one-ofs of the combo pieces in the sideboard.

[@generickwyjibo]

Or Gamble?

[@Syr_Robert]

I've been playing Gruul for a couple of years now in Arena and I know for sure that the best cards in the sideboard against Control and heavy spell-based decks like Niv are Cindervines and Leyline of Combustion. They quite literally kill the opponent all by themselves.

[@crillybafoon7730]

Been playing Gruul on Arena for a little and been doing ok. Any tips you can give would be appreciated.

[@eh7010]

wow this seems so fun, I would expect this out of against the odds

[@ericjills]

Def play an updated version of the deck. Super fun idea

[@Crazymachin3gun]

I luv meme or Dream so much watch this vid twice

[@goawayvoices13]

Could try going down Shadow's for Void Beckoner. Has cycle so not a totally dead card in hand. Same with Titanoth Rex, cycles and a big trigger for Unsealing. I would go down the Ronas and Phoenix for Rex. Go down lands, add four each of the elves. See if we can make room for Great Henge and/Bone Crusher :)

[@volosguidetomonsters3440]

Seth's perfect hand: 4 Mirrex and 3 Fountainport

[@sethbotwin523]

I feel like Bonecrusher Giant and Lovestruck Beats are kind of obvious answers, but I like the idea of Ammit Eternal and Thragtusk

[@herrerabeast]

Please refine the deck and make another video! This one was really fun to watch. Get rid of Ghatla and Death's Shadow, they are too situational. Put more early game interaction or creatures that can turn on Rhonas and also synergize with Unsealing.

[@danhan121]

Ohh Seth…why didn’t you play Galta at 35:14…17 damage to the face

[@SuenteusPi]

World Tree would help the mana situation; it can pretend to be Urborg when you need to machine-gun Acerak with the bear in play.

[@KunouNoHana]

I think against control you just actually take Acererak through the tomb path to force some sac/discard and then get the actual 5/5 and 4/4, trying to go through the minor advantage loops when your opponent is drawing 3 cards a turn and you don't have the ability to make it cheaper is a waste of time.

[@AaronRotenberg]

Since the goal of the deck is to burn the opponent out but it currently loses to fast aggro, maybe you want drain effects like Blood Artist and Meathook Massacre? Plus Bonecrusher Giant like everyone else says.

[@zup9494]

Seemed like a good deck. i think your play patterns with the deck may have been a bit off, which is to he expected with a deck your first time piloting it.

[@OverIoadTV]

35:40 ish. Shouldn't you have went the 5 damage to the face then used the 2 damage from the elf to kill the shark? Would have had lethal the next turn even with the Tefari top deck I think.

[@Firstonetolive]

Thought the same thing

[@xblful]

I think it would still be 3 points short of lethal, but regardless it would be the better choice considering we didn't know opponent would draw the teferi

[@OverIoadTV]

@@xblful nah 17 - 5 is 12. -5 again from the dragon to the face is 7. Then double cast azerak for 8 damage.

[@xblful]

@@OverIoadTV you're right. I was under the impression that he could only cast the accerak once

[@heartwoodmtg9246]

You spent a lot of time M3 G1 complaining about drawing no black sources, apparently forgetting that you had one but gave it up right away just to get in 2 damage.

[@MagicalMasterMind]

35:31 you could have won by shooting the 5 damage to the opponent, since you knew you had a paradise druid in hand to finish off the shark. Then play paradise druid, 2 damage to the shark to kill it and the opponent would have been at 7 after you attacked him so then two acceraks next turn would have been lethal

[@Crazymachin3gun]

I guess the upgraded version of this deck is this week's against the odds

[@realperson69]

Your Death’s Shadows might have been pretty good in game 1 against mono red after being knocked down to 3 life… if you had any black lands to cast the pair in your hand.

[@tylerbalding8777]

Coolest meme/dream so far.

[@xquizate8777]

can't wait for seth to do against the odds: redeem or meme.

[@stephenhousman6975]

14:25 You didn't need anything with them casting Woe. Cindervines targeting Klothys will deal 2 to them and they can only block at most 5 of your 20 power. 26:52 I am not sure that the mana is right. I would have expected a more balance between the 3 colors because you want to mana dork on 1 with Kroxa on t2 with unsealing on 3 or mana dork on t2 with unsealing on 3. 35:15 So why not Gaulta? Isn't that just lethal?

[@joshuajones2066]

This 100% counts as ATO. What a sweet idea.

[@Hanmacx]

Mtg Goldfish, try Hofri Ghostforge and Gisa and Kaya in Standard

[@danimals2000]

I wonder if the right play in match 3 is to actually finish tomb of annihilation and grind down the control player with zombies from acererak

[@Frostgiantbutsmall]

man, I wish this was standard legal, this deck is sick!

[@dark293]

Wouldn't adding hook massacre work against low to the ground deck giving us a grind game option?

[@kaemonbonet4931]

I mean, not to put too fine a point on it but just replace all the cards you don't like with the adventure creature package and the meme things with maybe a rotting regisaur... The lovestruck works with unsealing and goreclaw, so does the bonecrusher... Innkeeper as a secondary source of card draw and you can fit whatever other big Bois you want in there it's even got a little bit of removal.

[@jamesrule1338]

Wow... this deck is super cool.

[@SuenteusPi]

I say "Nice!" on Arena when my opponent plays a card I think is neat