Dream Halls Combo
Magic Legacy Format: A Primer
-Sheridan Lardner
August 2009

On September 19, 2009, Dream Halls came off the Legacy banlist. The card had been legal in Magic Online Classic, and resulted in no problems there; the assumption was that it would be safe for Legacy. It might even spawn some new decks. Everyone knew the enchantment was powerful (it had been banned for years in Extended and Legacy), and it had been some time since anyone built a successful Dream Halls deck for competition. Indeed the idea itself was consistently condemned on the forums as unrealistic, slow, and inconsistent. Yet, after much testing, debate, argument, and research, a number of new cards and interactions were found that interacted brilliantly with the Halls. This proved to be enough to bring Dream Halls from the casual box into the coveted card slots of tournament decks.

The end result was a powerful victory on January 2, 2010. In Frankfurt Germany, on day 6 of the 7 day Magic Marathon that was German Magic 1, Jonas Harbili piloted a Dream Halls deck to victory. With 270 competitors, over two dozen unique archetypes, and attendance from across the continent, the tournament was a major event. And Dream Halls took the top prize. Here is Harbili’s list.

Dream Halls
By Jonas Harbili
1st Place, Day 6 Legacy at German Magic 1, January 2 2010

Lands: 17
3 Ancient Tomb
4 Flooded Strand
5 Island
1 Polluted Delta
2 Scalding Tarn
2 Underground Sea

Creatures: 5
1 Bogardan Hellkite
4 Progenitus

Instants: 12
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
4 Lim-Dul's Vault

Sorceries: 19
4 Conflux
3 Cruel Ultimatum
4 Ponder
4 Show and Tell
4 Thoughtseize

Artifacts and Enchantments: 8
4 Dream Halls
3 Lotus Petal

Sideboard: 15
1 Hydroblast
2 Meditate
1 Rushing River
4 Spell Pierce
2 Duress
3 Propaganda
2 Pithing Needle

An impressive list for an impressive win. Before explaining individual card choices, I will explain how the combo itself works for those that do not immediately see it.

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Basic Deck Strategy

1. Get Dream Halls in play.
2A. Discard something to cast Conflux
2B. If you don’t have Conflux, discard something to cast Lim Dul’s Vault and cast a spell to draw Halls.
2C. If you don’t have LDV, then you should not be comboing yet.
3. With Conflux, find 1 Progenitus (Green card), 3 Cruel Ultimatum (Black, Blue, and Red cards), and 1 Conflux (White Card).
4. Discard Progenitus to cast Conflux 2, finding Hellkite, Thoughtseize, FoW.
5. Discard Hellkite to cast Ultimatum number 1. (5 life loss)
6. Ultimatum 1 returns Hellkite to hand. Discard Hellkite again to cast Ultimatum number 2. (10 life loss)
7. Ultimatum 2 returns Hellkite to hand. Discard Hellkite again to cast Ultimatum number 3. (15 life loss)
8. Ultimatum 3 returns Hellkite to hand. Discard Progenitus to cast Hellkite. (20 life loss)

This is the basic way the combo can work. You can always alter the order or find other cards as needed, but the fundamental operation will remain the same. If you are concerned about instant speed graveyard removal (A Crypt or Relic, for instance), which will kill your discarded Hellkite, then you can alter the combo process.

1. Get Dream Halls in play.
2A. Discard something to cast Conflux
2B. If you don’t have Conflux, discard something to cast Lim Dul’s Vault and cast a spell to draw Halls.
2C. If you don’t have LDV, then you should not be comboing yet.
3. With Conflux, find 1 Progenitus (White card), 2 Cruel Ultimatum (Blue and Black cards), and 1 Bogardan Hellkite (Red Card) and 1 Conflux (Green card).
4. Discard Progenitus to cast Conflux.
5. With Conflux find 1 Cruel Ultimatum and 4 Progenitus.
6. Discard Progenitus 1 to cast Ultimatum 1. (5 life loss)
7. Discard Progenitus 2 to cast Ultimatum 2. (10 life loss)
8. Discard Progenitus 3 to cast Ultimatum 3. (15 life loss)
9. Discard Progenitus 4 to cast Bogardan Hellkite. (20 life loss)

Back this up with FoW and Thoughtseize, and find your combo pieces with aggressive Brainstorming and Pondering, and you will be well on your way to some turn 2-4 wins in no time.

Alternately, you can always simply use Progenitus as a beating win condition, whether cast using Dream Halls, or dropped into play as early as turn 2 (or even 1) with Show and Tell. This makes the deck slightly more versatile than other combo decks, as it effectively as two different combo-based win conditions.

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Card Choices
THE MAINDECK

(Now, before I explain the card choices in Harbili’s deck itself, I must offer some words of disclaimer. There is no universally agreed upon deck list. Harbili’s interpretation won a major event and brought hope to Dream Halls players everywhere. But it is not flawless and it is not above criticism and revisal. This is the case with many decklists, but it is very noticeable with Dream Halls.
I have attempted to explain Harbili’s probably reasoning for using these cards in his deck. I have not spoken with him, and my reasons may not be his, and may simply be inadequate. But that is the point of discussion and refinement. )

Ancient Tomb: Accelerates Dream Halls and Show and Tell, allowing for a much faster clock. On occasion, can be risk in a tight Aggro matchup, especially against Zoo. Harbili’s build only runs 3 because Tomb can only cast 8 of his spells (Show and Tell, Dream Halls).

Islands: The deck is extremely resilient to Wasteland, owing to its 5 Island manabase. In many games, it does not even need Underground Sea, or Ancient Tomb, to win.

Lotus Petal: There are a number of contenders for this spot, Chrome Mox, Mox Diamond, and Dark Ritual being the frontrunners. Each has serious problems that Petal does not share.
Chrome Mox causes card disadvantage. That is particularly bad in hands where you don’t actually have your combo, and you have to pitch a draw or protection spell to get some mana. This leaves you vulnerable to counters or hate, and/or can slow you down in the long run.
Mox Diamond forces you to run extra lands to be most effective, and Harbili’s build (running only 17) does not really fit that bill.
Dark Ritual is powerful, but it costs B and adds BBB. If it cost U and added UUU, it would assuredly be in the deck. But Ritual increases your reliance on Underground Sea, which in turn makes you more vulnerable to Wasteland. Moreover, the only time that you would be able to maximize your mana gain is with Dream Halls itself. Casting anything else would not require Ritual; even with a Ritual, the earliest you could cast Show and Tell is still turn 2 (which you can do with a Petal anyway).

Bogardan Hellkite: The dragon serves multiple purposes in the deck. First, it pitches to cast Ultimatum in the first of the 2 combo processes I described above.
But Hellkite is also a viable Show and Tell target. If you need an extra turn or 2, a quick Hellkite can hold the line long enough for you to cast Halls, Ultimatums and then swing for the win.
Finally, Hellkite lets you circumvent Meddling Mage (if ever you see him…), Gaddock Teeg, and other cards that might prevent the Ultimatum path from working on its own.

Conflux / Dream Halls: Harbili’s build adheres to the combo philosophy of full-playsets. Every important combo card comes in 4’s. This increases consistency, but also decreases overall card slots.

Show and Tell: Enables the turn 2 win in some games, greatly aids the turn 3 win, and provides an alternate win in the form of Hellkite (if necessary). Redundant “mana acceleration” in most cases; between this, Petal, and Tomb, you are almost guaranteed to get Halls out before turn 4. An overall excellent card in the deck.

Brainstorm / Ponder: Quick, cheap, digging. Both pitch to FoW. Brainstorm hides combo pieces from probing discard spells. Probably the best ratio of cost to digging in all of Legacy (unless you are feeling lucky with Spoils of the Vault). Harbili likely considers these superior to comparable draw spells like Impulse, Accumulated Knowledge, Diving Top, etc. because Brainstorm/Ponder work faster and get more immediate returns. For his build, which is intent on speed, this is more important than the increased digging of Impulse, or the synergies of Top.

Lim-Dul’s Vault: Harbili decides to use the classic UB tutor instead of cards like Enlightened Tutor, Grim Tutor, Rhystic Tutor, redundant draw, etc. There are some strong cases to be made for Vault. For one it pitches to FoW, unlike any of these other cards. Second, it finds anything that you need, not just Halls. This is a limitation of Enlightened Tutor, for instance. If you need Show and Tell, a sideboard card, a FoW, etc. then LDV becomes much better.
It trumps Cunning Wish because it actually finds Halls itself (and Show and Tell for that matter). It also can be considered better than Grim Tutor owing to its cost. By turn 3, especially if on the play, Dream Halls should be casting its winning cards, not sacrificing a valuable Lotus Petal to cast the Tutor on turn 2. Tutor also loses some of its punch without Ritual, which Harbili did not choose to include. Finally, the 3 extra life loss of Tutor can be fatal in matches where you already are using Tomb to accelerate, FoW to counter a spell, and Fetchlands to grab your Islands.

Force of Will: Harbili is using a blue combo deck. FoW will be included. Period.

Thoughtseize: The 1 CC black sorcery disruption slot certainly belongs in this deck. But the question remains: Duress or Thoughtseize? Some players prefer Duress. After all, most threats are non-creature, and the 2 life loss can be very dangerous in aggro matchups (more on this to come). Is Thoughtseize warranted?
Thoughtseize handles 2 threats that Duress cannot touch. The first is Pridemage. If you don’t have FoW in the early turns of the game (which you probably won’t, given that you only have 4), then it helps to have additional assurance against the enchantment wrecking Lion. If you don’t, then you have to get redundant cards in your hand to counteract the Pridemage’s effect. This can slow you down at least a turn or two, which is lethal against Zoo.
Thoughtseize also slows down the opponent’s clock. If you are having a subpar start, or if your opponent is having a good one, preventing a turn 2 Goyf drop can be critical in keeping you alive until you can drop the Halls. Similarly, in Enchantress, taking out Argothian before she hits play can help stall the opponent until you can get your own combo online.
That said, 2 life can be a lot. If you are already losing about 3-6 life (from FoW, Fetch, Toom, and LDV), then the additional 2 life loss can put you too close to burn danger. Or attack danger. I will discuss more of this later (the self-inflicted damage), but for now, trust me that it can be a problem.
Duress can be a suitable replacement, but only if you are budget minded and confident that you will not face too many Pridemages/will be able to outrace opposing decks.

THE SIDEBOARD
Hydroblast: Additional anti-burn countermeasure. Similarly useful against a fast Goblin clock. Replace a Thoughtseize with a Blast, as in most cases, they will have the same end effect, although without the life loss (I acknowledge that Blast won’t nuke an artifact, but if you are boarding in Blast at all, then that is not your worry).
-1 Thoughtseize, +1 Hydroblast

Meditate: Boarded in against decks with a slow clock, especially Landstill and Stax decks. The card advantage is worth the wait, as your opponent is unlikely to be able to come up with a counter to your 4 additional cards in their one extra turn. When you are 5 cards richer at the beginning of your next turn, you will be more than ready to both combo out and defend your pieces. Also, the 3 CC is helpful to circumvent Chalice and Counterbalance.
Vault is less useful in these matchups. For one more mana you can get 4 more cards. The 2 CC of Vault is also a liability with Chalices and Counterbalances roaming around in these matchups (and Spell Snares, for that matter). Meditate circumvents all of these problems.
-2 LDV, +2 Meditate

Rushing River: Sometimes you just need to bounce something. Or two somethings. Whether a threatening Pridemage, a billowing Stax, or an early Reanimator target, River gets the job done. Take out a Thoughtseize for the River, as they will often accomplish the same task. You would not want to board in River against a deck that had more instant threats than permanent threats anyway.
-1 Thoughtseize, +1 Rushing River

Spell Pierce: Wins the counter war for you against the midrange UG decks (and Merfolk, for that matter). Also extremely early as disruption against fast combo like Belcher and ANT. When adding cards like Pierce and Duress, you want to use the “little off the top” boarding strategy; taking out a single copy of cards here and there to gain additional weapons.
-4 (Permutation of Petal, Vault, Show and Tell, Progenitus, etc.), +4 Pierce

Duress: If your opponent is playing green then you can expect Krosan Grip in games 2 and 3. Use a similar “off the top” boarding strategy to get all of the Duress into your deck.
Same as above

Propaganda: Most of the time you want to race your opponent. But against Dredge, Goblins, or Zoo, you might want the extra few turns of life that Propaganda buys you. Similarly effective against Enchantress, if they get their angel tokens online. This is a tougher card to board in, as you are acknowledging that you are slow against a fast deck, as opposed to Meditate where you accept some slowness against a similarly slow deck. Moreover, your opponent will still have cards that you need to take out with Thoughtseize and Duress (Grip in most cases). I would not board in this card in most matchups and would rather try to race.

Pithing Needle: Pridemage answer, pure and simple. If Pridemage hits play then this is your only solution. Has a host of other tangential applications, but its defeating Pridemage is at the top of your list.
-1 LDV, -1 Progenitus, +2 Needle

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Advanced Deck Strategy

In this section, I will discuss some of the nuances of the Dream Halls deck. These are strategic points that apply to all matchups, and are good to consider no matter who you are playing against.

The Mana Base: Here are your chances of getting a certain number of lands in your opening hand (without mulligans):
0 Lands: 5636 times (5.64%)
1 Land: 21353 times (21.35%)
2 Lands: 32372 times (32.37%)
3 Lands: 25703 times (25.7%)
4 Lands: 11439 times (11.44%)
5 Lands: 3024 times (3.02%)
6 Lands: 441 times (0.44%)
7 Lands: 32 times (0.03%)
In 90.86% of all scenarios, you will have 1 through 4 lands, which should be playable.

Self-Inflicted Life Loss: One of the biggest game-aspects lost in goldfishing is self-inflicted life loss. Dream Halls does a fair amount in a short time and on a consistent basis. This is problematic in a field full of fast aggro decks. While it will not matter in the control matchup (slower clocks) nor the combo matchup (if the opponent goes off you are dead whether your life total is 20 or 15), it is supremely important to understand self-inflicted life loss against decks like Zoo, Goblins, Burn, and so on. This is not just a function of Harbili’s deck, although I will use his list to illustrate the point.

Look at the mana base. Harbili runs 17 lands total, of which 10 damage you: 3 Ancient Tomb and 7 Fetchlands. So you have almost a 60% chance of getting at least 1 land that damages you in your hands. In practice, this means that you will probably have either 2-3 fetchlands or 1 fetchland/1 Ancient Tomb. This gives you about 2.5 damage per game from your lands.

Now let’s look at your disruption. In some games, you will be fine with just casting 1 FoW (1 life loss). In other games, you will not get a FoW, but will instead get a Thoughtseize (2 life loss). In other games, you may need/cast both (3 life loss). This works out to around a 1.75 life loss per game on average; you have an equal chance of getting FoW or Thoughtseize (so the average of the 2 is 1.5), and a less than likely chance of getting both. This raises the total to about 1.75.

Finally, you are using Lim-Dul’s Vault. You have about a 44% chance of getting it in your opening hand, and after you cast a single draw spell, that increases to about 50%. If you get Vault, you will probably cast it, and it will probably take around 2-3 digs to get a card that you need. This means that, in a game where Vault is used, you will lose about 2.5 life on average. But you do not always draw Vault. Indeed you will probably only use it in less than 50% of games. Let us say 40% of games. So multiplying the 2.5 life loss average by the 40% of games that it is used in gives you approximately 1 life loss on average from Vault every game.

So that means you will deal yourself 2.5 damage from lands, 1.75 damage from disruption, and 1 damage from Vault on average in any given game. That’s approximately 5 damage per game. Goldfish the deck a few times and you will find that this value is extremely close to the truth.

Why is this a problem? Because decks like Zoo have a scarily fast clock. Assume a scenario where the Zoo player goes turn 1 Lynx, turn 2 Goyf, turn 3 Burn. That’s 4 damage from the Lynx on turn 2, and 10 damage from the Goyf, Lynx, and Burn spell on turn 3. That’s 14 damage. See the problem? That puts you a measly 1 life from death. If you had an extra fetchland or need more Vault digging, this could mean that you are unable to pull of the combo.

So what is the point of all of this? I have demonstrated that self-inflicted life loss is a problem in this deck, a serious one that can cost games. The way around this is to be judicious. Here are my point-by-point pieces of advice for Dream Halls pilots:

1. Thoughtseize only when necessary: If you are playing against Goblins or Zoo and it is game 1, the only serious threat that Zoo has is Pridemage. Goblins has nothing. By “serious threat” I mean a card that can stop your combo. If you need to slow down the clock, then use FoW. Avoid Thoughtseizing in the serious aggro matchups unless you know that it will help you.

2. Crack fetches only when needed: Only crack your fetchlands when you need them for mana. In general this is a good practice, but it is even more important in Dream Halls owing to the possible life loss.

3. Be flexible and patient: This point pertains specifically to LDV. Do you REALLY need to dig for Halls? Or can you just Show and Tell a Progenitus/Hellkite out right now to hold the line? Or even win the game? Vault is one of the worst, and best, cards in the deck, because players who use it have a tendency to suicidally dig for their card even after it becomes clear that further life paying is not to their advantage.

When to use Progenitus: Show and Tell can get your combo out, but it can also get the 10/10 monster into beating mode. When would you use one strategy instead of the other? First of all, see how early you can do one strategy versus the other. If you have Tomb, Petal, Show and Tell, Progenitus in your opening hand and you are on the play, and you also happen to have a blue card and FoW, then by all means, get him out there and don’t worry about the Dream Halls win condition. Second, if your hand is light on digging spells (Brainstorm/Ponder/Vault), you lack combo pieces like Conflux and Halls, but you do have Show and Tell and Progenitus, then go with that combo. The clock is ticking in many matches, and Progenitus can really slow that down.
Similarly, sometimes Show and Tell on Hellkite is also a good decision. This is especially true in the Goblin and Merfolk matchups, where a single Hellkite can virtually clear the board. In general, just be flexible. If you do not feel that you can find your combo in time (whether through statistical analysis or the heart of the cards), then look for a backup plan in Progenitus/Show and Tell.

Cards to Watch Out For: In the Legacy format, there are a number of cards that you need to specifically watch out for in addition to the normal stuff like Duress/Thoughtseize/FoW/etc. EVERY deck needs to watch out for these cards. You also need to keep an eye open for the following. Some go without saying, but it still is important to mention them.
Krosan Grip: Default Dream Halls hatred.
Qasali Pridemage: Not many decks use him, but the maindecked hatred is rough in game 1.
Red Elemental Blast / Pyroblast: It is tempting to hastily combo out against decks that do not appear to pack countermagic. Then the Blast hits.
Gaddock Teeg: Shuts down all aspects of the main combo. Show and Tell with Hellkite/Progenitus circumvents the little guy.
Ethersworn Canonist: Same as above.
Umezawa’s Jitte: An early Jitte drop and equip will put your opponent above 20 life in a hurry. Progenitus beats is the solution here.
Burrenton Forge Tender: You have probably begun to notice that most of these cards stop the combo. Not the Progenitus.
Aura of Silence: The enchantment version of Pridemage, more or less.
Rhox War Monk: Similar to Jitte.
Extirpate: Nightmare card, even though not many decks use it. If cast in the middle of a combo, it could leave you a turn behind and on the rocks. As usual, however, it does nothing to stop Progenitus.
Chain of Vapor: Dredge’s weapon of choice against Halls. Bounces the enchantment in response to a spell being cast to slow you down. Useless against Progenitus.
Iona, Shield of the Emeria: This is the only card on the list that stops both of your plans. If Iona gets out and names blue, you are scooping. No Halls, no Show and Tell, no FoW, no nothing. This creature is one of the strongest cases to change part of the board to include a Snuff Out or two, although even that may be a lost cause, given that you cannot back it up with FoW (Duress/Thoughtseize backup, however, will work).
Arcane Laboratory: Enchantment version of Cannonist.
Ray of Revelation: Aggro Loam will use this and Grip for redundant hatred.
Zuran Orb: Like Jitte, but when combined with Glacial Chasm and Loam, can produce a seriously problematic engine that means Progenitus can’t attack.

This is not an exhaustive list, but it gives you some idea of the huge vulnerabilities, especially in games 2 and 3, that the Dream Halls combo itself is going to have. Plan accordingly. Do not assume that a deck has no threats just because you think you know their list. Always try to have a backup plan (read: Progenitus) whenever you are trying to combo against any deck that might have these cards. You will notice that these cards do little to stop Progenitus, but everything to stop Halls. Keep that well in mind.

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Matchups

Matchups are sorted alphabetically. Not all decks have been included on this list, as some matchups will be similar to others. Based off of recent tournament results, these are the decks that a potential Dream Halls player should be prepared to face.

Aggro Loam: Favorable
Your opponent will have almost no chance of stopping you in game 1, unless you get a bad draw and get beaten to death. The only cards that you have to worry about are Chalice of the Void at 1, which will slow your digging down, and Burning Wish for Hull Breach or Reverent Silence. Chalice only slows you down, and Wish is itself a slow plan that you should be able to stop with either Thoughtseize or FoW. It is to your advantage to just go for the Dream Halls route, unless you know that you can protect Progenitus from a possible Chainer’s Edict, Perish, or other wishable removal spell.
Krosan Grip will be the name of the game in games 2 and 3. Ray of Revelation might also make a showing. If your opponent showed no sign of Burning Wish during game 1, and you want to assume that he does not actually have a Burning Wish in his deck, then you can simply side out a few pieces of the Halls combo and switch to Progenitus beat mode with disruption package backup. If Wish is still in the picture, then keep your options open. Spell Pierce or Duress are the only cards worth bringing in no matter what, but because Loam has very few cards that actually threaten your plan, you need not bring in many.
Boarding strategy: -1 Conflux, -1 Halls, -1 Vault, +3 Duress/Pierce

ANT: Favorable
It’s almost a strict race to the finish. You have to worry about FoW, Pierce, Duress, and perhaps a maindecked bounce spell. There is no reason to not go for the Dream Halls combo, unless you can get Progenitus out on turn 1; by the time you get him out on turn 2, you will already be winning by turn 4. At that point in time, you might as well try for the turn 3 or 4 Halls win.
In games 2 and 3, you can totally switch around your plan. I have found it quite effective to board out most of the Halls combo and add in both the Pierces and Duresses. Then you can just go for the Progenitus/Hellkite beat plan, which you can resolve by turn 3 most of the time, while sitting behind a shield of a whopping 16 disruption/counter spells. ANT, on the other hand, will be unable to so easily switch their strategy, and will have a highly unfavorable game 2 and 3. Why get rid of your combo if the matchup is a straight race? Because in doing so, you can double your disruption spells while ANT is pretty much stuck at their usual package. This gives your Progenitus a strong chance of ending the game while ANT fumbles around for its Storm count. Regardless, as a result of games 2 and 3, the match as a whole is in your favor.
Boarding strategy: -2 Conflux, -3 Ultimatum, -1 Halls, +2 Duress, +4 Spell Pierce

Belcher: Favorable
ANT is almost a strict race. Belcher, at least in game 1, is 100% a strict race. Unless the Belcher player wishes for Hull Breach, you just need to beat them to the finish. As long as you have 1 FoW or 1 Thoughtseize, you should be able to manage this; the probability works out in your favor of having either these cards by turn 2.
Games 2 and 3 are a bit of a toss up. If Belcher resolves a turn 1 Xantid Swarm, then they are going to be able to win the subsequent race (most of the time). If they do not side in the Swarms and instead bring Duress into the picture, then you have to worry about disruption. Basically, you do not know what the Belcher player will do; will they try and stop your combo, or try and protect their own? Because of Swarm, it is extremely foolish to rely on the Progenitus strategy in games 2 and 3. If that green critter gets out, your clock is ticking down, and Progenitus is not going to be able to race it. Adding in the Duress set will be quite helpful, as 11 disruption spells are going to be a challenge for Belcher to circumvent (especially if used judiciously). Just watch out for the surprise Empty the Warrens. If you were planning to FoW Belcher and then find yourself having to FoW a Warrens, you are going to be in serious trouble. Remember, however, the Ultimatum can keep you alive here for a turn if you do not have the full combo assembled. The same goes for Hellkite.
Boarding strategy: -1 Vault, -2 Progenitus, +2 Duress, +1 Hydroblast

Countertop: Unfavorable
So much countermagic. Counterspell, FoW, Daze, Spell Snare, Counterbalance, Hydroblast; this is but a sample of what you will face in this matchup. When combined with the Goyf/Rhox clock, you could be in serious trouble. Especially given that one or two Rhox swings tends to put the Countertop pilot at 20+ life, and out of range of a single turn combo kill. Make sure that you have a Progenitus back up plan in the works; even a simple Swords on their own Tarmogoyf can put them at over 20 life, and bring your lone Hellkite into range of Path or Swords. Remember, the Countertop player just needs one creature out to smash, and can hold 4+ counters in hand to deal with your combo. You have to invest far more in order to win.
The story is not much better after boarding. You will have even more spells to worry about, like Grip, Elemental Blast, Chalice, and others. Your best bet is likely ditching the Halls combo altogether. But what about the random ‘I win’ factor? Forget about it. If you dealt with 12-16 counters in game 1, expect 16+ in game 2 (or at least 12+ and some permutation of Grips and Extirpates). You will have a much better chance of resolving a Show and Tell on Progenitus then you will of resolving the whole combo; one takes up 8 slots. The other takes up 15. Meditate is valuable in this matchup, especially because at 3 CC it does not get countered by Countertop or Snare. Moreover, your clock is not that serious. Getting 4 extra cards can help bolster your arsenal to win a counterwar.
Boarding strategy: -1 Vault, -2 Halls, -2 Conflux, -3 Ultimatum, +2 Meditate, +2 Duress, +3 Pierce.

Dredge: Neutral
Another race, but this time you are guaranteed to get hit by disruption spells. Or rather, one spell: Therapy. You will probably get Therapied 3 times by turn 4 (2 if you are lucky). Guaranteed disruption, by virtue of excessive dredging, coupled with a blazing fast clock can be problematic in game 1. Don’t even think about the Progenitus beating plan; three turns is just not fast enough when the zombies are building for an assault.
Games 2 and 3 are slightly better. Unfortunately, unlike most decks in the format, you do not have any graveyard hate in your board. That’s the bad news. The good news is Dredge has very little to board in against you. You might have to worry about a Dread Return on Iona, perhaps a Ray of Revelation, and maybe a Chain of Vapor. But you don’t have to worry about much else. Thoughtseize is useless in this matchup, so get rid of all 4 of them in favor of Spell Pierce, which can be critical for stopping Return and Therapy. Propaganda is also immensely helpful in slowing the clock down. Shed some of the less useful cards (in addition to Thoughtseize, get rid of Vault, because it’s suicidal, and Progenitus, because you are not going to win the beatdown game) to improve your game 2 and 3 matchup.
Boarding strategy: -1 Vault, -2 Progenitus, -4 Thoughtseize, +4 Spell Pierce, +3 Propaganda.

Goblins: Highly Favorable
What differentiates this Aggro matchup from the Zoo matchup or the Merfolk matchup? Lack of answers. Quite simply put, there is almost no card that Goblins can use that can stop you. All you have to worry about is their clock. This means you do not have to use Thoughtseize to proactively remove threats, nor do you have to waste time getting a FoW to protect your combo; once you go off, you go off. Period. End of story. The Goblins clock is about as fast as the Zoo clock (turn 4 win), and your clock is approximately a turn 3 win, with consistency. Turn 4 if you want to be conservative. Obviously you do not under any circumstances want to go for the Progenitus plan, unless you can get him out on turn 1 (or turn 2 on the play). The monster is just not fast enough to race the horde.
Games 2 and 3 you will only have to worry about Red Elemental Blast, and perhaps Chalice. Some decks pack neither, in which case this is just a repeat of game 1. You can board in Propaganda to give you a huge clock extension, and you can add in a Hydroblast to slightly bolster your counterspell arsenal.
Boarding strategy: -4 Thoughtseize, +3 Propaganda, +1 Hydroblast

Lands (38/43): Neutral-Favorable
Game 1 is essentially a free win for you. The only card you need to worry about is Glacial Chasm, but even Chasm can only stop 5 of the 20 life loss as a result of your combo. Bring Progenitus onto the field (to avoid Maze of Ith shenanigans) and keep Chasm in the yard (FoW on Loam) to seal the game. You have a lot of time to set this up, or at least more than you would in other matches.
So why is this match only neutral? Games 2 and 3 can get ugly. Krosan Grip and Ray of Revelation are slightly annoying, but overall not that bad; there is nothing uniquely bad about the matchup just regarding these two cards. Zuran Orb is the problem child here. When used in tandem with an active Chasm, this will shut down your entire attack strategy and leave your opponent hanging at around 5 life but just out of reach. Do not ever let an Orb resolve. If you do, endless life gain and Chasm/Stadium/Cycle-land recursion will dash all hopes of victory. Thankfully, however, because Lands does not exactly pack redundant hatred, you should be able to get lucky in at least 1 of the 3 games and dash to the finish while your opponent fumbles around for a Chasm or Grip. For boarding you want to add in a pair of Duress and Pierce, the former for Grip and Orb, and the latter for Ray and Loam. This will give you 12 disruption spells to guarantee your success.
Boarding Strategy: -2 Progenitus, -1 Vault, -1 Petal, +2 Duress, +2 Spell Pierce

Merfolk: Highly Unfavorable
Your nightmare matchup. Fast clock combined with ample countermagic shield is a recipe for catastrophe to the aspiring combo player. Cursecatcher alone will slow Show and Tell down by at least 1 turn. Combine that with Daze and FoW and you have a serious wall of counterspells to pierce. Now, add on top of that Standstill, so the Fish player can draw into even more countermagic, and Jitte, to put them out of combo range, and you have yourself the classic nightmare matchup. There are three tricks to winning this match. First, don’t be scared. If you have FoW backup for your Halls, do not assume that your opponent has a FoW AND a Daze just because they have more than three cards in hand. You will miss your window of opportunity to win and learn in dismay that they did not even have the FoW, let alone 2 counterspells.
Second, don’t be stupid. Do not tap out to cast a Show and Tell if your opponent has a Cursecatcher in play. Do not forget that there are charge counters on a Jitte. Errors like these will cost you games, and they are easy to make against the already frightening Merfolk deck.
Third, pay attention to the Merfolk clock. Unlike Zoo and Goblins, aggro decks that consistently can muster a turn 4 kill, Merfolk tends to be a bit slower. If your opponent is having a slower start, then use your draw and tutor spells to find protection spells (FoW, TS) or redundancy (extra Show and Tell, Halls). Double Show and Tell is especially effective, especially when backed up with other spells. You cannot afford to go for this sort of redundancy in a Zoo matchup, because the clock is so much faster. But against Merfolk, it can be worth the wait.
Games 2 and 3 are worse than game 1. You will also have to face Hydroblast and Spell Pierce in addition to all the counters of your first game. Duress and Spell Pierce are your answers here. Unfortunately, it is hard to sideboard against Merfolk because you cannot just ditch a strategy (Progenitus or Halls) as in other matchups. This means you have to choose which you are going to use as your primary. I prefer Progenitus, as it renders their Hydroblasts ineffective; they are meant to counter Ultimatum, not Show and Tell.
Boarding Strategy: -2 Halls, -2 Conflux, -1 Vault, +2 Duress, +3 Spell Pierce

Zoo: Unfavorable
Maindeck answers, a fast clock, and a dangerous sideboard characterizes the Zoo matchup. The turn 4 clock of Goblins is made far more dangerous when you add in Pridemage to the mix. If he slips through into play, then you essentially have to switch to the Progenitus plan. Even this, however, might not be enough, especially if burn spells start flying at your face. While Harbili himself went 2-0 against Zoo in his tournament, this should not be viewed as representative of the matchup overall. In his first game, the Zoo player did not drop a plains and thus missed out on 3 critical points of Nacatl damage over the next few turns; this would have ended the game. Similarly, his opponent did not draw any enchantment removal in either game.
The first order of business in sideboarding is to lower your Thoughtseize and Vault count; these cards tend to kill you rather than help you. Duress comes in to deal with Grip, and Propaganda comes in to greatly increase your survival chances.
Boarding Strategy: -1 Vault, -3 Thoughtseize, -1 Progenitus, +2 Duress, +3 Propaganda

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Conclusions

Dream Halls is a powerful combo deck, but Harbili’s build is not the end-all-be-all strategy. There have been similar Dream Halls showings since his win, many of which were slightly different builds. This should be debated and discussed in the post itself, and not leveled as an attack against the primer; I acknowledge that there is no BEST build. I merely am giving an explanation of one specific build.

To join in the Dream Halls discussion, visit The Source (Linked)

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Tooth and Nail (Part Two)
All About Natural Weapons
The Art of D&D
-Sheridan Lardner
August 2009

This is Part 2 in the All About Natural Weapons series

Having covered the basics of natural weaponry and their usage, the proverbial natural attacks 101, let us now turn to a more advanced curriculum. Extraordinary special attacks are the primary reason why the users of natural weaponry are so feared. A bear hug, a lion’s furious charge, a worm’s insatiable appetite for adventurers; all of these abilities are represented as Extraordinary special attacks, or as is more simply notated in the books, (Ex). We will consider the following 6 abilities, as they are the ones most frequently associated with natural attacks.

1. Pounce
2. Rake
3. Rend
4. Improved Grab
5. Constrict
6. Swallow Whole

There may be some other obscure abilities that are used in tandem with natural weaponry (the Mind Flayer’s Extract, for one), but these do not all merit their own in depth analysis and explanation. We will stick only with the primary abilities.

1. Pounce
“When a creature with this special attack makes a charge, it can follow with a full attack, including rake attacks if the creature also has the rake ability.”

A fundamental rule of D&D is that a character can only make one attack at the end of a charge. If that character has natural weaponry, they can only make an attack with one of their weapons (not even a pair, if they choose “claw” or “tentacle”). Pounce is a damage-inclined monster’s dream, combining the hard-hitting power of a charge with the all-out savagery of a full-attack routine. For most characters, a full-attack implies iterative attacks based off of high BAB. For users of natural weaponry, it means hitting an opponent once with all of your individual natural attacks. Your secondary attacks will still suffer the -5 penalty on the attack roll and the 1/2 strength penalty on the damage roll, but your primary weapons will work at full operational capacity. In addition, all attacks will receive the +2 bonus for the charge (both primary and secondary). The -2 AC penalty invoked by a charge only applies once, not once for each natural weapon attack made. Overall this is an amazing ability, the centerpiece of any character or monster who wishes to slay an opponent quickly with natural weapons (or with manufactured weapons for that matter).

If you are a creature with both multiple natural attacks AND multiple iterative attacks (for instance, a Mind Flayer dual-wielding swords who has used psionics to gain the Pounce ability), you CAN use all those attacks together. Your iterative attacks would be treated as the “primary weapons”, calculated normally with a +2 bonus due to the charge, with those attacks from your primary hand receiving a full strength modification, and those from your off hand receiving a half strength bonus (see the rules for Two-Weapon Fighting). All of your natural attacks, including those normally considered primary, would be reduced to secondary status, and receive penalties accordingly. You cannot use natural weapons in conjunction with iterative attacks if those natural weapons are part of the delivery mechanism for the iterative attack. For instance, if you had claws, you could not attack with your two swords and then with those two claws which hold the swords. The exception is if you dropped your weapons (a free action, as per the Core). In this case, you WOULD get to attack with those extra two natural weapons, although they are now demoted to secondary status, even if they otherwise would be your primary natural weapons.
 
Example 1: A Dire Lion charges an opponent. The Lion has two claws as his primary weapons, and one bite as his secondary. As the Lion has the Pounce (Ex) entry in his statistics block, it gets to attack with all three of its natural weapons. The two claws normally have a +13 bonus to hit, but this is augmented to +15 due to the charge action. Its bite is normally only +7, but charge increases the bonus to +9. The Lion’s AC reduces from 15 to 13 as a consequence of the charge, but that is a small price to pay for the powerful three attacks it gets to make. (Technically, the Lion will also get to make 2 rake attacks, but this ability will be discussed in the next section).
 
Example 2: A level 6 half-orc Barbarian wielding 2 handaxes charges an Orc. The Barbarian has the Pounce (Ex) ability courtesy of the alternate class feature from the Complete Champion (Lion Totem). The Barbarian’s strength is 24 (he is in a rage), and his BAB is +6. If the Barbarian charged without the pounce ability, he would only get to make one attack with one of his axes, even though he is wielding two weapons AND has an additional attack courtesy of high BAB. Because he has pounce, however, he will get to make BOTH the additional attack from wielding two weapons, and from having iterative attacks. Assuming the Barbarian has the Two-Weapon Fighting feat, all of his attacks will be made at a -2 penalty for dual-wielding. That brings his attack routine to +4/+4/-1; one attack with his primary hand, one attack with his off hand, and one more attack with his primary hand. Including strength modifiers in the equation, the pouncing Barbarian will make three attacks at the following routine, +13/+13/+8. (4 BAB + 7 Str + 2 Charge / 4 BAB + 7 Str + 2 Charge / -1 BAB + 7 Str + 2 charge). For damage, the attacks will deal 1d6 + 7, 1d6 +3, and 1d6 +7 damage (note that the second attack, that made with the offhand weapon, only has half of the strength modifier applied as a bonus to damage). His AC will have a -4 penalty off of the charge (-2 for raging and an additional -2 for charging).
Notice that because no natural attacks were used in this routine, the terms “primary” and “secondary” weapons never factor in to our equations. This is purely a manufactured, iterative attack routine.

Example 3: A level 3 Lizardfolk fighter wielding a sword charges his opponent. The Lizardfolk has pounce courtesy of a spell his party cleric just cast on him. The Lizardfolk has 18 Str and a BAB of +4 (+3 from three levels of fighter, +1 from 2 levels of monstrous humanoid). Because of his pounce ability, he will be able to make one attack with his sword, and then one additional attack with a single claw and his bite. If he choose to drop the sword, he can get both of his claw attacks into the routine (although these will all be treated as secondary weapons). Assume that the Lizardfolk does not wish to ditch his manufactured weapon. His first swing with the sword is made at a +8 bonus (4 BAB + 4 Str), and deals the full 1d8 + 4 damage. Next, the creature gets to make one attack with the claw not grasping the sword, and with his bite. Both attacks are treated as secondary weapons, each suffering a -5 penalty. That means both attacks are made at +3 (4 BAB + 4 Str – 5 secondary penalty). Regarding damage, both will apply only half of the Lizardfolk’s strength modifier. The claw will deal 1d4 + 2 damage, and the bite will deal 1d6 + 2.

2. Rake
“A creature with this special attack gains extra natural attacks when it grapples its foe. Normally, a monster can attack with only one of its natural weapons while grappling, but a monster with the rake ability usually gains two additional claw attacks that it can use only against a grappled foe. Rake attacks are not subject to the usual –4 penalty for attacking with a natural weapon in a grapple.
A monster with the rake ability must begin its turn grappling to use its rake—it can’t begin a grapple and rake in the same turn.”

The use of the Rake ability is twofold. Its primary purpose is to give a monster additional attacks while grappling. Consider what happens when a lion grapples a target. As part of the grapple action, its claws dig into the opponent’s skin to hold it in place (which, as we will see shortly, deals damage in and of itself). Raking is when the lion then digs its embedded claws deeper into the opponent, or rips them across his body. The lion is not releasing its hold to inflict this additional clawing damage. It is merely another natural weapon in its arsenal. As a general rule, a monster will have one rake attack for each claw it possesses (although exceptions exist, so consult individual statistics boxes for details). This enables it to make at least two more attacks than it would normally be allowed to make in a grapple. Remember, as per the Core, you can only make one attack with a light or natural weapon in a grapple, even if you would normally be allowed more. This single attack is also made at a -4 penalty. Rake gives you two more attacks in addition to that first one, and these will not suffer the -4 penalty. In order to use these attacks, however, the monster MUST use the “Attack your opponent” grappling option (for more on grappling, stay tuned to my Grappling 101 Primer coming up later this week).

The second use of Rake, which is not mentioned in the official rule entry, is its synergy with pounce. Most raking creatures will get to make at least two rake attacks as part of a pounce. This is IN ADDITION to their normal claw and bite attacks they normally have. As you might imagine, this quickly leads to some nutty damage values.

The final important point about rake attacks is that these are considered “half” primary weapons. On the one hand, they suffer no penalty on their attack roll. On the other hand, they may only apply half of the creature’s strength modifier to their damage roll. THIS IS NOT ALWAYS THE CASE. Some monsters apply a full bonus for each rake, and some apply only half. The damage die for rake is often the same as the creature’s claw damage die, but check the statistics block just to be sure.

Example 1: A Tiger charges a hapless explorer in the jungle. The tiger has both pounce and rake amongst its (Ex) abilities. As part of the charge, it gets to make 2 claw attacks (primary weapons), 1 bite attack (secondary weapon), and 2 rake attacks (also primary weapons). With 23 Str (+6 bonus), +4 BAB, and a -1 size penalty, the claws, rakes, and bites are normally made at +9, +9, and +4 respectively (a -5 penalty applies to the secondary bite attack). Because the tiger is charging, however, these all increase by +2, for a final attack routine of 2 claws (+11/+11), 1 bite (+6), and 2 rakes (+11/+11). The claws will deal the full 1d8 + 6 damage (primary weapons), and the bite will deal 2d6 + 3 damage (half strength for secondary weapon status). The rakes, because they are only half-primary weapons, will deal 1d8 + 3 damage; they use the damage dice of the claw, but only apply half of the strength.

Example 2: An Annis Hag wrestled a wizard to the ground last round, so they begin this turn in a grapple. The Hag wants to rip the wizard to pieces, so she elects to use the “attack your opponent” option on her round. This normally entitles her to one attack with a light or natural weapon against a grappled opponent, with that attack suffering a -4 penalty. The Hag choose one of her claws as that single weapon. Her BAB is +7, her Str is 25 (+7), and her size is Large (-1 penalty). Normally, her claw would have a mighty +13 modifier, but because she is in a grapple, this bonus decreases to +9. The Wizard takes 1d6 + 7 damage, and were he fighting a non-raking opponent, he would be done with the round’s dosage of pain. Unfortunately, the Annis has two more rake attacks. These do not suffer the -4 penalty, so she gets to more blows in at +13 each. Moreover, these rakes are not treated as “half” primary weapons. These are full fledged primary attacks. Thus, they both deal 1d6 + 7 damage to the poor, grappled wizard.

3. Rend
“A monster with the rend (Ex) ability that (does condition X) latches onto the opponent’s body and tears the flesh. This attack automatically deals an extra ___ damage.”

An elegant, simple, and painful ability, rend is a powerful addition to any clawing monster’s arsenal. Unlike rake, rend is not actually a natural weapon. The roll that determines whether or not the attack hits has been replaced with a condition; both claws hitting, a grapple being established, etc. This condition varies between different monsters with rend. If it is ever fulfilled, then rend automatically activates and deals its damage. This damage value is monster-dependent, although in almost all cases, it adds 1.5 times the creature’s strength modifier as a bonus to the dice roll.

In certain cases, the conditions for a rend attack can be met multiple times in the same round. If so, then the monster can make multiple rend attacks, dealing high amounts of damage. Bear in mind that if you choose to go with this route, stick closely to a Rules As Written (RAW) interpretation of the text, not a Rules As Intended (RAI) route. The game designers may or may not have intended rend to be used multiple times in a single round, and we will never have any way of definitively knowing this. As such, multiple rends per round should have nothing to do with intent, and everything to do with rules wording. For instance, if the rend ability activates when “both claws hit”, this clearly refers to a monster with only two claws. Let us say that somehow this monster grows two more claws with a spell. Does rend apply when both of its initial claws hit? Certainly, this is RAW. Does rend apply when the second pair of claws hit? Maybe, maybe not. This is an RAI argument based off of the intent of the word “both”, and is therefore abstruse nonsense that should be avoided.

On the other hand, consider a rend ability that activates off of a successful bite attack that leads to a grapple (bite in conjunction with Improved Grab). Ending a grapple is a free action (at least so long as the grappled opponent does not resist it). If the monster wants to bite, grab, rend, let go, and then do it again, this is perfectly in line with the RAW. Yes, the monster would somehow need to get a second bite attack with improved grab (grow another head, haste, frenzy, etc.) but once it accomplished this, it could rend at least twice in a round on the same opponent.

As a final note on rules as written (RAW) based arguments, always make sure that you know your rules extremely well before making them. RAW arguments should never ever make reference to the intent of a rule or the logical implications of a rule. It always should refer strictly to the written words and entries in the D&D Wizards rulebooks and nothing else. (And remember in this case that Core takes precedence over anything else).

Example 1: A Gray Render bites an enemy druid and successfully initiates a grapple off of the attack (courtesy of Improved Grab). Not only is the druid now on his back beneath a furious, gnashing, muscled beast, but he is now subject to the rend attack that is the monster’s namesake. The condition for the rend, “A gray render that wins a grapple check after a successful bite attack establishes a hold…”, is now met, and the rend attack is activated. This automatically deals 2d6+9 damage to the druid, who has no chance of avoiding the creature’s fang.

This covers the "striking" natural weaponry (Ex) abilities; those that primarily are damage-dealing in nature (the literal tooth and claw). Next installment, we will look at the grappling abilities: Improved Grab, Constrict, and Swallow Whole.

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Tooth and Nail (Part One)
All About Natural Weapons
The Art of D&D
-Sheridan Lardner

This is Part 2 in the All About Natural Weapons series

"Corran was actually frightened. Getting lost? Not a worry. Getting lost in a strange, dark forest that seemed to be exempt from daylight? No sweat. Getting lost in a strange, dark forest that seemed to be exempt from daylight while hunting Black Blood Cultists? Worse things had happened before (like that disaster with the maniac gnome and his sewing machine…) But after that first night in the woods when both Sal and Mayen had been severely mauled by that…thing, Corran came to a chilling realization; he was not hunting Cultists. Cultists were hunting him.
     Banton had exhausted most of his healing magic attempting to repair the bite marks to Mayen’s face and the clawing to her scalp, but it was like trying to repair a broken hull with just paint; it made for a pretty covering, but the ship was still sinking fast. She kept smiling and making snide remarks at Banton’s dwarven beard getting in the way of the healing, jesting that once she recovered she would personally give Corran a beating for not taking the cultist job earlier because it was “so much damn fun.” Corran knew better. She was dying just like Sal, although she was in far better shape than the half-orc. Sal was as tough a son of a bitch as half-orcs came, who had wrestled everything from mutant umber hulks to cave trolls. That creature last night had just looked like a man. Ok, he was a bit bigger, and his matted hair looked a bit odd, but he looked like a man nonetheless. How was Sal to know that it was stronger than a brown bear, with claws the size of a short-sword, and a fanged maw as big as his head? How was he to know that in all of 12 seconds he would be cut to pieces in a flurry of slashes and gnashing teeth?
     They were in trouble and Corran knew it, although he made sure to appear positive to his rapidly fading crew. But he knew the full severity. They had been paid to hunt a 10 man sect of the group. He had a full description of all of the members, each of whom was either a slightly mad local or an eccentric nature lover. No one like that man last night. And if the report had neglected one, how many more waited in the dark? Every time Corran paused to survey the forest, he thought he saw gleaming eyes, heard nostrils sniffing bestially in the shadows, or smelled the heavy musk of monstrous breath. Whatever was out there, it was going to be a long week."

Natural Weaponry is one of the most interesting, powerful, and misunderstood concepts in D&D. Whether the bite of a wild-shaped lion, the claws of a half-fiend monk, or the tentacles of a monstrous kraken, natural weapons invariably appear throughout every campaign in one form or another. Almost every monster has them, and almost every PC has the opportunity to use them. Despite their profusion, however, natural weapons are often improperly used, whether through sheer incomprehension of their rules, or a failure to maximize their potential. Over the next few weeks, I will conduct a comprehensive investigation of natural weaponry and its purpose, its rules, its potential, and its overall presence in D&D. In part one, I look at what exactly natural weaponry is, the different kinds of natural weaponry that exist, and the rules governing natural weapon usage in the game.

What is a natural weapon?
A natural weapon is any physical part of a creature’s body that is capable of functioning as a weapon. The core D&D books (hereafter referred to as the System Reference Documents or simply SRD) define the following attacks as natural weaponry:
Bite: An attack made with the creature’s mouth.
Claw or Talon: A ripping attack made with a sharp appendage.
Gore: A spearing attack made with an antler or horn.
Slap or Slam: A smashing attack made with a powerful appendage.
Sting: A piercing attack made with a stinging appendage.
Tentacle: A smashing attack made with a non-rigid appendage (different from Slam/Slap)
Monk unarmed attacks: Any unarmed strikes made by a monk are considered to be a natural attack: as the SRD states, “A monk’s unarmed strike is treated both as a manufactured weapon and a natural weapon for the purpose of spells and effects that enhance or improve either manufactured weapons or natural weapons.” An unarmed strike made by a character or creature without any of the above abilities or anything that specifies otherwise is NOT a natural weapon. For example, if a half-orc barbarian punches someone and does not have the Improved Unarmed Strike feat, his punch is not a natural weapon.

What are the benefits of a natural weapon?
1. Natural weapons deal lethal damage. A natural weapon can be used to deal nonlethal damage, but it suffers the same -4 penalty as all weapons do when making such attacks.
2. Creatures with natural weapons are always considered armed. As such, they never provoke attacks of opportunity for attacking an opponent, as the creature is technically “armed.”
3. Creatures with natural weapons threaten all squares in reach. This functions differently from polearms or other reach weapons. If a creature with claws has 10 ft reach, it threatens everything within those 10 feet, not just opponents at the end of the reach.
4. Natural weapons threaten a critical hit on a 20 and deal double damage on a successful critical hit.
5. Natural weapons are treated like weapons when it comes to feats and abilities. This seems obvious, but sometimes it is difficult to see when this applies. For instance, you can take Weapon Focus (Claw) as readily as Weapon Focus (Axe). You can use Power Attack, Cleave, Spring Attack, etc. with your bite attack just as you do with your scimitar. Natural weapons can even be used with such feats as Two-Weapon Fighting, although there are specific rules that govern these sorts of interactions.
6. Natural weapons are considered light weapons.  

These are the basics of natural weapons. Now, let’s get into using these in combat. Natural weapons function very differently from manufactured weapons and even unarmed strikes. There are special rules governing natural weapon usage in combat that depend on a combination of the creature’s statistics block and the specific weapons being used in combat.
With most weapons, a high base attack bonus (BAB) confers a creature with additional attacks per round with that weapon, hereafter referred to as iterative attacks. For instance, a creature with a +5 BAB gets only one attack per round, while a creature with a +6 BAB gets an additional attack at a +1 bonus (hence the BAB notation +6/+1). If the creature with a +5 BAB wields two weapons, they will get an additional attack per round, but that is NOT because of its BAB. The same goes for the +6/+1 creature.
Natural weapons never work that way. Even if you are a level 20 Minotaur fighter with a +20/+15/+10/+5 BAB progression, you will not get iterative attacks with your Gore attack. There are separate rules that govern how such attacks work. We will first consider two cases…

Creature attacks with its only sole natural weapon
This is the simplest case. If the creature only has one natural weapon, say, a bite attack or a gore attack, then it can make only one attack per round with that weapon, regardless of whether it charges, moves and attacks, or makes a full-attack action. This natural weapon is considered the creature’s primary weapon. If the creature makes only that one attack in a round, it will be made at the creature’s highest BAB plus any relevant modifiers. Its damage will include 1.5 times its Str mod, just like if the creature were wielding a two-handed weapon. If an effect would confer additional attacks on the creature (such as a Haste spell), those attacks are made with that weapon and include the same bonuses.

Example: A Bison has only one natural attack, a Gore that deals 1d8 damage. It has 22 Str (+6 mod) and a BAB of +3. If it attacks with its Gore, it gets a +9 (BAB + Str) bonus to its attack roll, and deals 1d8 + 9 damage (1.5 x 6 Str). If an allied Sorcerer Hasted the Bison, it would get two Gore attacks at the same bonuses (provided it made a full-attack action).

Creature has multiple natural weapons and attacks with all/some of them
Adding extra weapons complicates matters. If a creature has multiple natural weapons, one of them is designated as its primary weapon. All the others are designated as secondary weapons. A primary weapon is the creature’s most effective and dangerous weapon, whether by virtue of physiology, innate talent, or training. In almost all cases, one natural weapon will be explicitly assigned the primary designation.
A creature with multiple natural weapons may make up to one attack with each of its weapons per round. All attacks with the creature’s primary weapon are at its highest BAB, regardless of how many other additional natural weapons are attacking in the round. Primary weapons add the creature’s full strength mod to damage. If a creature has multiple instances of its primary weapon, these are all considered primary weapons. For instance, a Dire Lion’s primary weapons are its claws. Thus, when it makes its attacks, the lion gets two claw attacks at its full BAB with all modifiers.
All other weapons are considered the creature’s secondary weapons, regardless of how many other natural weapons this entails. All attacks made with secondary weapons in a round are at the creature’s highest BAB, but take a -5 penalty to the attack roll. Furthermore, they only inflict half of the creature’s strength mod in bonus damage. These penalties apply whenever the creature uses its secondary weapons to make an attack, even if the attack with the secondary weapon is the only attack being made in a round. This reflects the fact that the creature is just more accustomed to using its primary weapon.
To summarize, a creature gets up to one attack per round with each natural weapon. One natural weapon is/are the creature’s primary weapon(s), and attacks with these are made at the highest BAB and deal full Str mod in damage. All other attacks with natural weapons are secondary attacks, and are made at the creature’s full BAB -5, only dealing half of its Str mod in damage. Remember to always round down when calculating Str damage for secondary weapons.
NOTE 1: Unless a creature has the Pounce extraordinary ability or its equivalent (discussed more below), it can still only make one attack at the end of a charge. Even if it has 100 tentacles flailing around, it only gets a single melee attack if it charges.
NOTE 2: If a creature has the Multiattack feat or the Improved Multiattack feat, it instead takes a -2 or -0 (respectively) penalty to attacks made with its secondary weapons.

Example 1: A black bear makes a full-attack action. As its primary weapons, it has two claws dealing 1d4 damage. Its secondary attack is its bite dealing 1d6 damage. Its BAB is +2, and its Str is 19 (+4). Thus, its two claws get an attack bonus of +6 (BAB + Str) and deal 1d4 + 4 damage on a successful hit. The black bear’s bite, however, only gets a +1 bonus (BAB + Str – 5), and deals a mere 1d6+2 damage (1/2 of Str) on a hit.

Example 2: A Wyvern is grappled up with a Barbarian under the effects of Enlarge Person, thus having its Sting, Bite, and Talons all engaged. A cleric runs out of a threatened square to aid an injured party member on the other side of the battlefield. The Wyvern thus gets one attack of opportunity against the cleric. It must make the attack with its secondary Wing weapons, because everything else is engaged with the Barbarian. The wyvern’s BAB is +7, and its Str is 19 (+4). Unfortunately for the cleric, the Wyvern has the Multiattack feat, improving its penalties to secondary weapon attacks. Its attack bonus is thus +8 (BAB + Str – 2), and its Wing damage will be 1d8 + 2 (1/2 Str).

Example 3: A Girallon charges a fighter. The Girallon has a whopping 5 attacks (4 with claws, 1 with bite), a BAB of +7, and a Str of 22 (+6). Yet, it does not have the Pounce extraordinary ability. As such, it only gets to make one attack at the end of its charge. If that is a claw attack, it will be at a +14 bonus (BAB + Str + 2 for charging), and will deal 1d4+6 damage. If, for some reason, the Girallon cannot use its arms, this will be a bite attack at a +9 bonus (BAB + Str + 2 – 5), dealing 1d8 + 3 (1/2 Str) damage.

Example 4: A Dire Lion charges a hapless Wizard. The Lion has two claw attacks as its primary weapons and one bite as its secondary. Its BAB is +6, and its Str is 25 (+7). It does not  have Multiattack, but it does have Weapon Focus (Claw) and, more dangerously for the Wizard, the Pounce extraordinary ability. The Wizard is in trouble. The Lion gets to make both claw attacks, each at +15 ([+6 BAB] + [7 Str] + [+1 Weapon Focus] + [+2 Charge] + [-1 size]), dealing 1d6 + 7 damage on the attacks. It also gets a bite attack at +9 (BAB + Str + Charge – Size), dealing 1d8 + 3 damage. The Lion also gets Rake attacks and grapple attempts, but we will look at that later.

These are the two basic cases of natural weapon usage. Now let’s look at three less basic, but nonetheless important, natural weapon applications.

Creature uses a weapon in one/both hands in addition to natural weaponry
Assume you have a lizardfolk fighter with a longsword in one hand. The lizardfolk also has 2 claw attacks as its primary weapons (1d4 damage each), and one bite attack as a secondary (1d4 damage). If the lizardfolk were to attack with just the longsword, this would function as any normal iterative attack routine, and the lizardfolk would get additional attacks based off of a high BAB. But let us say the lizardfolk wants to make attacks with its natural weapons in addition to attacks with its sword.
There are two ways to handle this, one focusing on the natural weapons, one focusing on the manufacture weapon. If the lizardfolk wants to make the longsword the main weapon in the attack, then he must wield it in his dominant hand (as opposed to his off-hand) and declare that his primary attack. He makes all of his attacks with the longsword for the round based off of his high BAB and any other buffs. These deal full Str mod in damage. He then gets to attack with his natural attacks as secondary weapons. All of them, including his claws, take a -5 penalty on the attack roll (unless the Multiattack feat is in play), and only deal 1/2 Str mod in bonus damage. Note that even the lizardfolk’s claws, which are normally considered primary weapons, are declared secondary in this attack routine. This represents the lizardfolk’s conscious focusing on his swordsmanship instead of his slashing claws. As a final point, the lizardfolk is likely unable to attack with both of his claws, considering one hand is occupied with the longsword. If the lizardfolk is willing to drop his longsword, a free action as per the SRD, he can make both of his claw attacks and his bite in addition to the sword-swinging. It is even arguable that this makes the claws function as primary weapons again, as his hands are now free.
The second way to handle this situation is focusing on the natural weapons. In this scenario, the lizardfolk considers the longsword an offhand weapon, allowing him to make only one attack using it and including penalties for two-weapon fighting. This approach is only beneficial for monsters who have tons of natural weapons other than those wielding their manufactured ones, as it allows them to maximize damage and hitting capabilities.

Example: A lizardfolk fighter makes a full-attack action with an axe in one hand and his natural weaponry. His Str is 16 (+3) and his BAB is +6. Using his axe, the lizardfolk gets two attacks owing to his high BAB (+6/+1). These attacks are made at +9 and +4 respectively, combining Str mod and BAB. They both deal 1d8 + 3 damage. With these attacks done, the lizardfolk now gets to make two natural attacks with one of his claws and his bite. These are both considered secondary weapons, even though the claws are normally primary. The lizardfolk does not have Multiattack, so both its one claw and bite attacks are made at +4 (BAB + Str – 5). They both deal 1d4 + 1 (1/2 Str) damage.

The Karate Bear: flurry of blows and natural weapons
Many monks do not fully understand how their unarmed strikes work in conjunction with their natural weaponry. Remember that natural attacks never use BAB for iterative attacks. The Monk ability Flurry of Blows is based off high BAB and iterative attacks, using this to determine unarmed strike attacks and damage. This is never used with natural weapons, even claws or slam attacks. Rather, it works just as if a monk were using a manufactured weapon.
Treat the Monk’s unarmed strikes as the primary attacking implement, getting additional attacks by virtue of a high BAB and dealing bonus damage equal to the Monk’s full Str mod. Once the Flurry of Blows routine is complete, the Monk can now attack with all of his natural weaponry as secondary weapons. Remember that a Monk can use any part of his body to make an unarmed strike. Choose limbs and body parts for the unarmed strikes that will not interfere with your natural weapons.

Example: A level 8 Druid with two levels of Monk transforms into a brown bear. He then makes a full-attack action. First, he uses his Flurry of Blows routine. His Str is 27 (+8) and his BAB is +7. He gets to make three attacks in the round all at a -2 penalty: two at his highest BAB, one at his lowest. With all modifiers worked in, the Monks attacks are +12/+12/+7 ([+8 Str] + [+7/+7/+2 BAB] + [-2 Flurry] + [-1 Size]). Because the brown bear is large, he deals 1d8 + 8 damage with each attack. With this done, the Druid/Monk now gets to make his natural attacks. He gets two claws (1d8) and one bite (2d6). All of these are considered secondary weapons. The claws and the bite are both made at a +9 bonus ([+8 Str] + [+7 BAB] + [-1 Size] + [-5 secondary weapon]). The claws deal 1d8 + 4 damage, and the bite deals 2d6 + 4 damage. All in all, the Karate Bear gets 6 attacks in the round: 3 unarmed and 3 natural.

That goes over the basics of attacking with natural weapons. To review, there are four basic situations in which natural weapons are used.
1. The creature attacks with its sole natural weapon.
2. The creature attacks with all of its natural weapons.
3. The creature attacks with some of its natural weapons and its manufactured weapons.
4. The creature makes unarmed strikes and natural attacks.

Next time we will go over some of the most important Extraordinary Qualities in regards to natural weapons: Pounce, Improved Grab, Rake, Rend, and more.
-Sheridan L