Thoughts on Karn, Scion of Urza?
His -2 has some synergy with our deck...
Thinking more for the control matchups in place of Lodestone Golem.
I would snap build around it if he were an artifact. Sadly, he isn't. The steep cost makes it far less reliable as a finisher than it's worth. We want our non-attacking spells to either push control out of their options, or be able to assist in damage somehow, if not both. Four mana Master token that gets taxed by both Lodestone and Thorn doesn't help our control plan chug along.
Hello all. I have benefited from the discussion here so I've happily created an account to contribute. Grand Architect has been my favorite deck in cardboard since it was called 'Blue Man Group' and played Master of Waves. I recently installed MTGO and so created this on a budget, but I was surprised at its power, often 'going off' storm style. It performs well against heavy removal and discard where Blue Steel often struggles. Anyway here is Ninja Jellyfish:
Welcome aboard. I thought I was clever for coming up with the name Blue Man Group once I realized Chief Engineer was a card some years ago, and tried to brew with Architect and Sculptor as well. I'm sure I might not have been one of the first to do it lol
As far as your shell goes, you have some interesting things going on. I like the Esperzoa + Vial plan in some places, as it can really pack a punch in the air without coughing up too much of a disadvantage. If you wanted to go this route, I would suggest Aether Spellbomb over Snags, as you will need a critical mass of non-creature artifacts to maintain a healthy tempo for the Esperzoa triggers. It's very important that you're not just holding back a few points of damage a turn due mostly in part to your deck's design (when I tried to brew with Lupine Prototype, this is what I was faced with trying to solve, and it's just a nasty wrench in any plan when your deck can often lose to itself)
All around, the variant shows promise, but there are a few principles to build around when considering a Grand Architect shell. For one, you need a payoff for its ability to turn blue critters into Sol Ring. If you aren't playing some dumb 6 or 7 drop early on, or running Ballista as an endgame, then you might as well be playing Elves since you're on the dudes + lord plan, essentially.
One archetype that I feel warps the format in a way is Lantern, as you need to be considerate of your outs to the lock. I went as far as playing 3 Aether Spellbomb, 3 Phyrexian Revoker, and a playset of Drowned Rusalka and Signal Pests just to be able to interact with them more feasibly in game ones. Here you have literally no outs to Lantern + Mill rock(s) + Bridge, and that's worrisome.
Without Lodestone, your matches against removal heavy decks become much, much worse. I know you have ways to attrition, but you can't just keep drawing cards and letting creatures fall to the wayside in combat, even if you have multiple fliers. Pushing people out from interacting is one of the premier strategies for this archetype.
If you are just trying to apply this gritty cantrip aggressive strategy but are particular about using artifacts, I would spitball something like this:
If we are trying to make the deck synergistic and whole in its usage then I like Relic as an Esperzoa enabler for when Vials don't roll around. You can still garner some use from its tap ability as you bounce it every turn, plus it's just a free cantrip for any situation where you have multiples. Most importantly, it gives us percentage points against Mardu Pyromancer, Dredge, and other popular graveyard strategies
As you aren't overloaded on taxing effects, you will need to deal with more spells 1-for-1, which is why I would go with an extra Stormtamer and 3 Spell Queller as it can prevent a game-ending play outright. 3 is in consideration for the curve and land count.
If we aren't playing Lodestone or Ballista anyway, then Architect almost becomes moot, because we can just shave it and a few lands to play plenty more one drops to help keep our card supply moving.
If you are trying to have a deck that frequently cantrips while also playing lords and can counter individual spells, UW Spirits is probably your best bet
We have many options for improving our hand: Chart the Course, Military Intelligence, S. Copter, Bident of Thassa, Glint-Nest Crane, Sword of Fire&Ice...
Altar and Staff are not it.
Yeah a big proponent of game one victories is to have most of the cards "just win" rather than net value. I guess since we are primarily an aggressive shell, if we net value it has to either be game-winning outright or part of (or a reinforcement of) the aggro plan to actually 'net value'.
I've happened across some strange and peculiar lists and one was constantly being tweaked with some strong magic-league performances. It used Ongoing Investigation, which is interesting because it's not just outright dead against other aggro decks when you can gain 2 life spurts.
Have been undefeated with it so far in matches. You can get some clues to go under your own Bridge and then represent the Mindshrieker infinite. That or play a turn 1 dude, turn 2 Pili-Pala, turn 3 swing with Pili-Pala, play Architect, tap Architect to activate Pili-Pala to turn itself blue, use the 1-drop to untap it to go infinite, Trophy Mage for Staff to draw the deck or just Ballista to the dome if you already have it.
It fits into the same niche of your GW Value Town decks and still fulfills on the promise of sometimes just beating face game 1 without a combo kill, but in this case it can mulligan better against other combo decks due to its wide array of three card combos
Yeah it was putting in work last night. Made some deck design mistakes... I think Gift needs to be a singleton and maaaaybe only fits in with a 23 land deck, that features an Inventors' Fair as the 'second copy'.
Planning for my LGS. The meta is:
2-3x Lantern Prison
1-2x RG Titanshift
1-?x Burn
1-?x UR Gifts Storm
2-?x URx Control
1-?x Elves
1-?x Martyr Proc
1x Scrap Trawler Eggs
1-3 Tempo (Ug Fish, Uw Spirits, etc)
1-?x Jund
1-?x BR Hollow One
5+ Tier 3 lists, inefficiently racing or controlling
In a rush for work but will get to writing out an ideal shell matrix for each problem matchup and which Maybeboard cards to keep in the rotation of the 75 depending on what the room will look like. Worst beating is the KComm + Snapcaster matchup (duh) but other than that there are ways to hedge that I think are reasonable. As it stands I wish I had the Revokers last night but I'll stay posted with more findings and data as I try to break the Gift without going overboard.
As an aside, I think Negate is going to move into the board instead of Thorn for some matchups, because I would rather not tax either player in certain midrange matchups where Lodestone + Thorn is too unreliable, or we can't race them fast enough to get those online.
I have done more testing and replaced Kira with a Grafted Wargear. It can keep Ballista alive for those times when you need to disperse all its counters into your opponent's creatures. It gives you more range in game ones because your topdecks actually cut into the opponent's life total. And most importantly, it is an additional way to meaningfully interact with GPG.
Topdeck a dinky creature, slide wargear on it, slide it off and back onto something without summoning sickness, BOOM dinky creature is now a 4/4 Zombie token. Been loving this change!
Just from solitaire reps the deck performs better in the mid to late game scenarios with much smoother draws. Rusalka is the natural response to spot removal decks. It makes it easier not only to get to your Gift copies but pays off with the resources you traded in on your way there. Also solves my problem with the deck, which is flooding with low-impact spells and lands, usually in equal number. It provides a much less redundant curve if your tempo is lacking, which helps when we have to hunker down and play for the late game.
Currently too busy for additional writing but very much welcome to any C&C
I personally prefer Academy Ruins. Against a control deck, which is where Cavern of Souls is good, it will stop them from countering your things; they can still remove them. Academy Ruins lets you keep getting back a threat that if they counter or remove, you can just put back on top of your library and try again next turn; it gives you a lot of longevity.
I have been able to shut down Counters Company from winning, then convoked a 5/5 Ballista to whittle their board down to nothing until the opponent scooped, thanks to Academy Ruins giving me topdeck Ballista every turn. Simply too good of a long game to pass up.
Welp, after RG Vengevine takes down an open I think I'll be moving back to maindeck 1x Trinket Mage/2x Aether Spellbomb/1x Relic of Progenitus package, at least for testing purposes
Knowing my metagame people will be on this list like flies on stink
How would you guys hedge for the UW control matchup? I don't know how to gain an advantage using SB strategies without coughing one away for other important modern strategies. Trying to find a good catch-all in the Unified Will slot and play something that helps against Supreme Verdict that isn't soft to cheap spot removal.
Btw nice work on the sig RR7_7RR. When I first started brewing this deck, before realizing the optimal build, I was doodling away looking to make custom mat artwork of the spells, having a narrative of them as a whole. I made a production plant where Etherium Sculptors worked on high standing platforms, and equipped Superions and Lupine Prototypes for action, using scraps picked by Glint Nest Cranes, navigating the premises with Smuggler's Copters (see attached for loose sketch)
I think if I can hunker down and take the project seriously, I would want to do a playmat with narrative illustration that invokes the core of the optimal build. I've always called the deck Blue Man Group, so it would be nice to just have all the Vedalken using Copters and/or Ballistas as percussion instruments lol. Any other ideas would be sweet
After testing and tournament, do you feel 4 Master is the right number?
I wouldn't cut more than one from the main. You want to be able to accelerate into a win and having extra lords is always the best way. I was silly to shoot it down. What opened my eyes was how it protected Golem against Bolt in the RG Titanshift matchup in testing. Having your tax effects stick on the board is crucial to your game one wins, and Master is the best at getting your Copters and Golems into a range where they can be very effective in combat, irrespective of whether he's a 2/2 or a 5/5+. My only gripe is that I have zero data with Master + Myr Battlesphere, which I think would be better in the main in some cases.
The most attention I would direct would go to the sideboard. Not 100% on my numbers and each card is heavily relied upon, especially when needing to consolidate tasks in the matchups they are relevant in (Ex: Kira and Sword against control/mid is a non-bo as sometimes you can't equip to your guys)
Round 1 vs GW Value Land Bears (Lawson Zandi)
Mull to 5 game one and get buried underneath triple Knight of the Reliquary/double Courser draw
Game two he ended up having to GQ his own basics just to get on board, and sputtered on low tempo
Game three he had mana issues again, and I assembled Architect + 4 other blue guys + Ballista + Collar
(1-0-0)
Round 2 vs UB Control (Bruce Brown)
Game one he just has low impact/non-action cards and I get off turn three Architect into Lodestone + Copter
Game two I get Lodestone + Thorn out by turn 4 and his plays become too awkward to keep up on board
(2-0-0)
Round 3 vs Grixis Shadow (Ivan Contreras)
Game one I get stuffed on lands or else I'd have an opening to run out turn 3 Architect into Lodestone and Copter.
He discards relevant threat and stonewalls me with double Shadow at 6 life.
Game two I get ahead on board and land Lodestone + double Wanderer, he concedes
Game three I end up racing a Gurmag Angler with 7 power, he floods a bit and topdecks discard spells.
(3-0-0)
Round 4 vs Eldrazi Tron (Tyler Lindsey)
Game one I start on the play and just flood the board turn 3. Took him down with 4 life chunks thanks to quad fliers and a Throne
Game two he mulls to five but runs out TKS on 3 & 4 to keep parity, then races me but pulls ahead with Reshaper and Smasher
Game three came down to 1 life. I'm racing with double Wanderer, manland, and Kira while Master/Engineer muck up the ground. He's getting in with double TKS and I chump a few times with low impact creatures, before I land a copter and swing to pass. He attacks with Smasher, TKS, TKS, Reshaper. I'm at 10 and go to make a copter, go to blocks, put copter in front of Reshaper and an Engineer in front of TKS. After damage with only 2 mana up he extends the hand
(4-0-0)
Round 5 vs Mono-W Taxes (Aydin Kageler)
I get paired down so opponent refuses ID
Game one we get deckchecked and he incurs a loss from incorrect registration
Game two I lead with Wanderer, turn two Engineer > Scultpor > Copter, turn three Master into Lodestone, swing with Copter. He goes to attack with a Splicer token and forgets Master pumps Lodestone, after coughing up his only advantage on board and seeing me run out another two masters turn 5 he concedes
(5-0-0)
Round 6 ID
(5-0-1)
T8 vs Counter Company (Carl Hendrix)
Game one my 7 is 5 lands, a Throne and a Wurmcoil. 6 is no lands. 5 is Island/Nexus/Wanderer/Throne/Chief. I keep. Opened the game with a turn 3 Ballista to kill two birds and slow him a bit. Eventually clock him down to 4 life after he has cast two K Finks and a CoCo for a third and an E-Wit to grab CoCo. His turn before taking lethal, he Chords for Viscera Seer but doesn't even need to break his Finks open as he draws another Chord for Anafenza
Game two my 7 is mono islands and double engineer, 6 is copter/familiar/nexus/trip Islands so I keep and push an Island to the bottom. End up drawing two Islands to start the game and eventually wheeled into low impact creatures. Opponent had the stones so by then his board is developed with the infinite mana so even my topdeck cage can't stop his combo + double Abrupt Decay in hand.
Felt like I had a decent run but still struggling to see if I should have mulled another time in that second game. Defnitely have to go to the drawing board and see how I can gear up for the next run. Until then I guess :B
If opponent is taxed then so is Venser. 2 4-drops in 22 lands deck, costing at least 4 mana, is not ideal, when they cost 5-6 mana even less so.
We have Copters, manlands and tax effects so Verdict is less annoying than it could be.
Eldrazi Tron and Affinity are still popular decks and we need Rejections in the side (without those ETron is unbeatable), and being good against Tron and Lantern is a bonus.
Speaking of manlands, our mana base might be stretched with few more, like 2 Mutavaults or something. There are only 4 cards with UU in it, with plenty U sources. That could help against Explosives, Anger, Verdict, walkers and being creatures for Copter is nice.
If the opponent is taxed, that means we have at least an extra turn to procure enough lands to respond to their plays lol. Also, Venser doesnt care about Thorn.
Youre right about 22 lands being iffy, so I will test moving Collar to the main and playing Sea Gate Wreckage in its stead out of the board. I feel 15 Island/1 Cavern/1 A Ruins/1 Oboro main should be the configuration to help support Wreckage without hurting our tempo early game. Wreckage and a 23rd land help solve both the flooding problems, and the curving out problem doubly.
All this talk about extra nonblue lands is 100% wrong. We arent trying to whiff on getting turn 3 Architect mana. There are other more effective ways to keep parity with board wipes.
As an aside, I'm simply metagaming for my LGS crowd in a 25mi radius as PPTQ season is underway. About 1/3 opponents are on either UW or Rw Prison, and 0% on Eldrazi Tron. Affinity isn't where you want counterspells anyway, because they're usually dead after turn 3.
I'm thinking of adding a copy or two of Echoing Truth to deal with problematic permanents like Stony Silence. It doesn't permanently deal with it but it's a catch all (bar manlands) and can be effective enough to let us get through next turn.
I've tried to accommodate all the issues the deck has with midrange/control/hate cards lately, and so I went to remedy things my own way. Here is the updated sideboard from the list in post #1008:
The 2-1 split of Venser/Unsubstantiate has been exceptionally good against mid and control. It deals damage, unlike any regular counterspell, and you can proactively play it if your opponent is burdened by tax effects, just to bounce a ETB-tapped land and timewalk them.
Not only that, but it deals with Supreme Verdict in an elegant way, because it helps your clock after you keep your board alive a turn. Other great applications are bouncing an Ancestral Vision when the opponent is taxed (so that they can't counter your Venser in response,) countering a Cryptic Command meant to tap your team and then using Venser to crew a Copter, bouncing Emrakul once Nahiri ultimates (lol) and just plain dealing with pesky interaction and hate cards (Stony Silence, Ensnaring Bridge, Leyline of Sanctity, etc.)
I'm just glad I am finally able to see my board plan and navigate it without using any dead cards. Venser being able to tempo an opponent who might be playing a beefier creature deck (Merfolk) makes it equal parts versatile and high-impact, something the deck sorely needed as it played mainly redundant guys with a few payoff spells, but weak disruption for the late game.
If I had to hedge only against combo/mid/control I would use Specter's Shroud. It's low to the ground and very efficient, so we can start to get in and disrupt a slower deck on turn 3 with counterspell backup.
In T4 played against a Sun and Moon pilot, flooded game 1, won game two with T1 Wanderer > T2 Engineer/Sculptor/Copter > T3 Lodestone, crew/swing with team > T4 Sword Equip, which put my Lodestone out of Anger range. Game three got ran down by T2 SSG exile/Goblin Rabblemaster > T3 Rabblemaster > T4 Declaration in Stone. Had Wurmcoil on my next turn but it would've been close either way.
A few notes and takeaways:
Shop didn't have an Oboro to pick up and mine is still on its way in the mail u__u
Saw a lot of green creature decks (non-Elf tribal) and control so that's why I decided on the direction I went. Feel that Wurmcoil is better at trading with a Qasali Pridemage and hoped to dodged all the Paths. The field ended up being UW, Jeskai, Naya Zoo, GW hatebears, Sun and Moon, Wr Puresteel Equipment, Bant Eldrazi, I forget the others.
Sword was insane in the field, won me a game singlehandedly. It can gain life vs Burn while also attritioning well vs control and midrange decks (gains you life a turn later than Harvester if you block with Harvester ASAP, but nonetheless...) Synergy with our 1CMC guys and Ballistas was putting in a lot of work for me.
Still torn on whether to roll with Wurmcoils or Battlespheres, there's really a give and take between those two choices that I think is a lot closer than meets the eye. Guess Wurmcoil is better in the blind.
Spellbomb overperformed as per usual. Double Time Walks an opponent that's trying to block with Colonnade, isn't just another dinky 2/2 when both players are trading on board, and was able to save my more important creatures from removal when I needed to just sap the opponent of their resources. Had also kept a copy in vs. Sun and Moon as it's an out to their Nahiri play while still giving action when they don't pull it off.
Wish I could play another Copter. I got flooded a lot more than usual, but variance is most likely to blame. Can't emphasize enough that it needs to be a 4-of.
I'm trying to see if Curiosity will work for me where other cards have failed in the midrange/control matchups. It just seems like you can run away with the lead and then comfortably drop back into the race and clean up the opponent after a board wipe.
I have been testing Myr Battlesphere with good results. It blocks Death's Shadow an extra four times, in fact choosing it was inspired by Tsuyoshi Ikeda's Spectral Procession tech to fight 20/20 Dark Depths tokens. On top of that, it doesn't just lose value if bounced, which has frustrated me when trying to stick a Wurmcoil Engine. Was able to steal games vs Flickerwisp that Wurmcoil would have floundered in. Extra bodies also means more Throne of the God-Pharaoh damage. Give it a try?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
I would snap build around it if he were an artifact. Sadly, he isn't. The steep cost makes it far less reliable as a finisher than it's worth. We want our non-attacking spells to either push control out of their options, or be able to assist in damage somehow, if not both. Four mana Master token that gets taxed by both Lodestone and Thorn doesn't help our control plan chug along.
Welcome aboard. I thought I was clever for coming up with the name Blue Man Group once I realized Chief Engineer was a card some years ago, and tried to brew with Architect and Sculptor as well. I'm sure I might not have been one of the first to do it lol
As far as your shell goes, you have some interesting things going on. I like the Esperzoa + Vial plan in some places, as it can really pack a punch in the air without coughing up too much of a disadvantage. If you wanted to go this route, I would suggest Aether Spellbomb over Snags, as you will need a critical mass of non-creature artifacts to maintain a healthy tempo for the Esperzoa triggers. It's very important that you're not just holding back a few points of damage a turn due mostly in part to your deck's design (when I tried to brew with Lupine Prototype, this is what I was faced with trying to solve, and it's just a nasty wrench in any plan when your deck can often lose to itself)
All around, the variant shows promise, but there are a few principles to build around when considering a Grand Architect shell. For one, you need a payoff for its ability to turn blue critters into Sol Ring. If you aren't playing some dumb 6 or 7 drop early on, or running Ballista as an endgame, then you might as well be playing Elves since you're on the dudes + lord plan, essentially.
One archetype that I feel warps the format in a way is Lantern, as you need to be considerate of your outs to the lock. I went as far as playing 3 Aether Spellbomb, 3 Phyrexian Revoker, and a playset of Drowned Rusalka and Signal Pests just to be able to interact with them more feasibly in game ones. Here you have literally no outs to Lantern + Mill rock(s) + Bridge, and that's worrisome.
Without Lodestone, your matches against removal heavy decks become much, much worse. I know you have ways to attrition, but you can't just keep drawing cards and letting creatures fall to the wayside in combat, even if you have multiple fliers. Pushing people out from interacting is one of the premier strategies for this archetype.
If you are just trying to apply this gritty cantrip aggressive strategy but are particular about using artifacts, I would spitball something like this:
4 Chief Engineer
3 Siren Stormtamer
4 Mausoleum Wanderer
4 Signal Pest
4 Esperzoa
3 Spell Queller
4 Alchemist's Vial
4 Smuggler's Copter
2 Throne of the God-Pharaoh
3 Relic of Progenitus
1 Aether Spellbomb
4 Flooded Strand
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
5 Island
2 Hallowed Fountain
2 Dismember
2 Ethersworn Canonist
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Kira, Great Glass Spinner
1 Bident of Thassa
3 Stony Silence
2 Disenchant
If we are trying to make the deck synergistic and whole in its usage then I like Relic as an Esperzoa enabler for when Vials don't roll around. You can still garner some use from its tap ability as you bounce it every turn, plus it's just a free cantrip for any situation where you have multiples. Most importantly, it gives us percentage points against Mardu Pyromancer, Dredge, and other popular graveyard strategies
As you aren't overloaded on taxing effects, you will need to deal with more spells 1-for-1, which is why I would go with an extra Stormtamer and 3 Spell Queller as it can prevent a game-ending play outright. 3 is in consideration for the curve and land count.
If we aren't playing Lodestone or Ballista anyway, then Architect almost becomes moot, because we can just shave it and a few lands to play plenty more one drops to help keep our card supply moving.
If you are trying to have a deck that frequently cantrips while also playing lords and can counter individual spells, UW Spirits is probably your best bet
Yeah a big proponent of game one victories is to have most of the cards "just win" rather than net value. I guess since we are primarily an aggressive shell, if we net value it has to either be game-winning outright or part of (or a reinforcement of) the aggro plan to actually 'net value'.
I've happened across some strange and peculiar lists and one was constantly being tweaked with some strong magic-league performances. It used Ongoing Investigation, which is interesting because it's not just outright dead against other aggro decks when you can gain 2 life spurts.
4 Siren Stormtamer
4 Pili-Pala
4 Mindshrieker
1 Spellskite
3 Trophy Mage
4 Grand Architect
4 Ensnaring Bridge
3 Ongoing Investigation
2 Smuggler's Copter
1 Staff of Domination
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
2 Breeding Pool
14 Island
3 Master of Waves
2 Spellskite
1 Basilisk Collar
2 Pithing Needle
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Vedalken Shackles
2 Witchbane Orb
1 Unified Will
Have been undefeated with it so far in matches. You can get some clues to go under your own Bridge and then represent the Mindshrieker infinite. That or play a turn 1 dude, turn 2 Pili-Pala, turn 3 swing with Pili-Pala, play Architect, tap Architect to activate Pili-Pala to turn itself blue, use the 1-drop to untap it to go infinite, Trophy Mage for Staff to draw the deck or just Ballista to the dome if you already have it.
It fits into the same niche of your GW Value Town decks and still fulfills on the promise of sometimes just beating face game 1 without a combo kill, but in this case it can mulligan better against other combo decks due to its wide array of three card combos
Planning for my LGS. The meta is:
2-3x Lantern Prison
1-2x RG Titanshift
1-?x Burn
1-?x UR Gifts Storm
2-?x URx Control
1-?x Elves
1-?x Martyr Proc
1x Scrap Trawler Eggs
1-3 Tempo (Ug Fish, Uw Spirits, etc)
1-?x Jund
1-?x BR Hollow One
5+ Tier 3 lists, inefficiently racing or controlling
My new 75 to accommodate for the new intel
4x Signal Pest
3x Drowned Rusalka
4x Etherium Sculptor
4x Chief Engineer
4x Grand Architect
4x Lodestone Golem
4x Walking Ballista
2x Throne of the God-Pharaoh
1x Grafted Wargear
1x God-Pharaoh's Gift
4x Blinkmoth Nexus
1x Academy Ruins
1x Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
15x Island
2x Trinket Mage
2x Thorn of Amethyst
2x Dismember
2x Ratchet Bomb
1x Relic of Progenitus
1x Basilisk Collar
1x Grafdigger's Cage
1x Pithing Needle
3x Phyrexian Revoker
In a rush for work but will get to writing out an ideal shell matrix for each problem matchup and which Maybeboard cards to keep in the rotation of the 75 depending on what the room will look like. Worst beating is the KComm + Snapcaster matchup (duh) but other than that there are ways to hedge that I think are reasonable. As it stands I wish I had the Revokers last night but I'll stay posted with more findings and data as I try to break the Gift without going overboard.
As an aside, I think Negate is going to move into the board instead of Thorn for some matchups, because I would rather not tax either player in certain midrange matchups where Lodestone + Thorn is too unreliable, or we can't race them fast enough to get those online.
Topdeck a dinky creature, slide wargear on it, slide it off and back onto something without summoning sickness, BOOM dinky creature is now a 4/4 Zombie token. Been loving this change!
2 Judge's Familiar
3 Drowned Rusalka
4 Etherium Sculptor
4 Chief Engineer
4 Grand Architect
4 Walking Ballista
4 Lodestone Golem
1 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
4 Smuggler's Copter
2 God-Pharaoh's Gift
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
1 Academy Ruins
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
16 Island
1 Pithing Needle
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Basilisk Collar
2 Trinket Mage
2 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Dismember
2 Thorn of Amethyst
2 Echoing Truth
Just from solitaire reps the deck performs better in the mid to late game scenarios with much smoother draws. Rusalka is the natural response to spot removal decks. It makes it easier not only to get to your Gift copies but pays off with the resources you traded in on your way there. Also solves my problem with the deck, which is flooding with low-impact spells and lands, usually in equal number. It provides a much less redundant curve if your tempo is lacking, which helps when we have to hunker down and play for the late game.
Currently too busy for additional writing but very much welcome to any C&C
I have been able to shut down Counters Company from winning, then convoked a 5/5 Ballista to whittle their board down to nothing until the opponent scooped, thanks to Academy Ruins giving me topdeck Ballista every turn. Simply too good of a long game to pass up.
Knowing my metagame people will be on this list like flies on stink
Btw nice work on the sig RR7_7RR. When I first started brewing this deck, before realizing the optimal build, I was doodling away looking to make custom mat artwork of the spells, having a narrative of them as a whole. I made a production plant where Etherium Sculptors worked on high standing platforms, and equipped Superions and Lupine Prototypes for action, using scraps picked by Glint Nest Cranes, navigating the premises with Smuggler's Copters (see attached for loose sketch)
I think if I can hunker down and take the project seriously, I would want to do a playmat with narrative illustration that invokes the core of the optimal build. I've always called the deck Blue Man Group, so it would be nice to just have all the Vedalken using Copters and/or Ballistas as percussion instruments lol. Any other ideas would be sweet
I wouldn't cut more than one from the main. You want to be able to accelerate into a win and having extra lords is always the best way. I was silly to shoot it down. What opened my eyes was how it protected Golem against Bolt in the RG Titanshift matchup in testing. Having your tax effects stick on the board is crucial to your game one wins, and Master is the best at getting your Copters and Golems into a range where they can be very effective in combat, irrespective of whether he's a 2/2 or a 5/5+. My only gripe is that I have zero data with Master + Myr Battlesphere, which I think would be better in the main in some cases.
The most attention I would direct would go to the sideboard. Not 100% on my numbers and each card is heavily relied upon, especially when needing to consolidate tasks in the matchups they are relevant in (Ex: Kira and Sword against control/mid is a non-bo as sometimes you can't equip to your guys)
3x Judge's Familiar
4x Chief Engineer
4x Etherium Sculptor
4x Grand Architect
4x Master of Etherium
4x Walking Ballista
4x Lodestone Golem
1x Wurmcoil Engine
2x Throne of the God-Pharaoh
4x Blinkmoth Nexus
1x Academy Ruins
1x Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
16x Island
2x Thorn of Amethyst
2x Dismember
2x Unified Will
2x Relic of Progenitus
2x Trinket Mage
1x Grafdigger's Cage
1x Wurmcoil Engine
1x Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
1x Basilisk Collar
1x Pithing Needle
Round 1 vs GW Value Land Bears (Lawson Zandi)
Mull to 5 game one and get buried underneath triple Knight of the Reliquary/double Courser draw
Game two he ended up having to GQ his own basics just to get on board, and sputtered on low tempo
Game three he had mana issues again, and I assembled Architect + 4 other blue guys + Ballista + Collar
(1-0-0)
Round 2 vs UB Control (Bruce Brown)
Game one he just has low impact/non-action cards and I get off turn three Architect into Lodestone + Copter
Game two I get Lodestone + Thorn out by turn 4 and his plays become too awkward to keep up on board
(2-0-0)
Round 3 vs Grixis Shadow (Ivan Contreras)
Game one I get stuffed on lands or else I'd have an opening to run out turn 3 Architect into Lodestone and Copter.
He discards relevant threat and stonewalls me with double Shadow at 6 life.
Game two I get ahead on board and land Lodestone + double Wanderer, he concedes
Game three I end up racing a Gurmag Angler with 7 power, he floods a bit and topdecks discard spells.
(3-0-0)
Round 4 vs Eldrazi Tron (Tyler Lindsey)
Game one I start on the play and just flood the board turn 3. Took him down with 4 life chunks thanks to quad fliers and a Throne
Game two he mulls to five but runs out TKS on 3 & 4 to keep parity, then races me but pulls ahead with Reshaper and Smasher
Game three came down to 1 life. I'm racing with double Wanderer, manland, and Kira while Master/Engineer muck up the ground. He's getting in with double TKS and I chump a few times with low impact creatures, before I land a copter and swing to pass. He attacks with Smasher, TKS, TKS, Reshaper. I'm at 10 and go to make a copter, go to blocks, put copter in front of Reshaper and an Engineer in front of TKS. After damage with only 2 mana up he extends the hand
(4-0-0)
Round 5 vs Mono-W Taxes (Aydin Kageler)
I get paired down so opponent refuses ID
Game one we get deckchecked and he incurs a loss from incorrect registration
Game two I lead with Wanderer, turn two Engineer > Scultpor > Copter, turn three Master into Lodestone, swing with Copter. He goes to attack with a Splicer token and forgets Master pumps Lodestone, after coughing up his only advantage on board and seeing me run out another two masters turn 5 he concedes
(5-0-0)
Round 6 ID
(5-0-1)
T8 vs Counter Company (Carl Hendrix)
Game one my 7 is 5 lands, a Throne and a Wurmcoil. 6 is no lands. 5 is Island/Nexus/Wanderer/Throne/Chief. I keep. Opened the game with a turn 3 Ballista to kill two birds and slow him a bit. Eventually clock him down to 4 life after he has cast two K Finks and a CoCo for a third and an E-Wit to grab CoCo. His turn before taking lethal, he Chords for Viscera Seer but doesn't even need to break his Finks open as he draws another Chord for Anafenza
Game two my 7 is mono islands and double engineer, 6 is copter/familiar/nexus/trip Islands so I keep and push an Island to the bottom. End up drawing two Islands to start the game and eventually wheeled into low impact creatures. Opponent had the stones so by then his board is developed with the infinite mana so even my topdeck cage can't stop his combo + double Abrupt Decay in hand.
Felt like I had a decent run but still struggling to see if I should have mulled another time in that second game. Defnitely have to go to the drawing board and see how I can gear up for the next run. Until then I guess :B
If the opponent is taxed, that means we have at least an extra turn to procure enough lands to respond to their plays lol. Also, Venser doesnt care about Thorn.
Youre right about 22 lands being iffy, so I will test moving Collar to the main and playing Sea Gate Wreckage in its stead out of the board. I feel 15 Island/1 Cavern/1 A Ruins/1 Oboro main should be the configuration to help support Wreckage without hurting our tempo early game. Wreckage and a 23rd land help solve both the flooding problems, and the curving out problem doubly.
All this talk about extra nonblue lands is 100% wrong. We arent trying to whiff on getting turn 3 Architect mana. There are other more effective ways to keep parity with board wipes.
As an aside, I'm simply metagaming for my LGS crowd in a 25mi radius as PPTQ season is underway. About 1/3 opponents are on either UW or Rw Prison, and 0% on Eldrazi Tron. Affinity isn't where you want counterspells anyway, because they're usually dead after turn 3.
I've tried to accommodate all the issues the deck has with midrange/control/hate cards lately, and so I went to remedy things my own way. Here is the updated sideboard from the list in post #1008:
The 2-1 split of Venser/Unsubstantiate has been exceptionally good against mid and control. It deals damage, unlike any regular counterspell, and you can proactively play it if your opponent is burdened by tax effects, just to bounce a ETB-tapped land and timewalk them.
Not only that, but it deals with Supreme Verdict in an elegant way, because it helps your clock after you keep your board alive a turn. Other great applications are bouncing an Ancestral Vision when the opponent is taxed (so that they can't counter your Venser in response,) countering a Cryptic Command meant to tap your team and then using Venser to crew a Copter, bouncing Emrakul once Nahiri ultimates (lol) and just plain dealing with pesky interaction and hate cards (Stony Silence, Ensnaring Bridge, Leyline of Sanctity, etc.)
I'm just glad I am finally able to see my board plan and navigate it without using any dead cards. Venser being able to tempo an opponent who might be playing a beefier creature deck (Merfolk) makes it equal parts versatile and high-impact, something the deck sorely needed as it played mainly redundant guys with a few payoff spells, but weak disruption for the late game.
If I had to hedge only against combo/mid/control I would use Specter's Shroud. It's low to the ground and very efficient, so we can start to get in and disrupt a slower deck on turn 3 with counterspell backup.
3 Judge's Familiar
4 Chief Engineer
4 Etherium Sculptor
4 Grand Architect
4 Lodestone Golem
4 Walking Ballista
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Trinket Mage
4 Smuggler's Copter
2 Throne of the God-Pharaoh
3 Aether Spellbomb
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
1 Academy Ruins
17 Island
2 Dismember
2 Thorn of Amethyst
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Unsubstantiate
1 Unified Will
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Basilisk Collar
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Pithing Needle
1 Kira, Great Glass Spinner
In T4 played against a Sun and Moon pilot, flooded game 1, won game two with T1 Wanderer > T2 Engineer/Sculptor/Copter > T3 Lodestone, crew/swing with team > T4 Sword Equip, which put my Lodestone out of Anger range. Game three got ran down by T2 SSG exile/Goblin Rabblemaster > T3 Rabblemaster > T4 Declaration in Stone. Had Wurmcoil on my next turn but it would've been close either way.
A few notes and takeaways: