Primary and only casual rule: "any rule that is fine for the most part of the playgroup, is a fine rule". So any further thread with: "if somebody uses/does .... in a casual game, is it ethical/ok?", read the answer above.
- Being a "Johnny/Spike" means you like self-torture. You win often in casual, so everybody hates you; you loose often in competitive, so you hate yourself.
The basic combo is infinitely replaying 2 Cloud Of Faeries, bouncing them up and down with the Curio and milling the OP to death with Circu. Everything else plays a support role to the main combo and cycles through Fluctuator to draw through the deck. It's most hampered by the manabase, it's pretty heavily invested in both colors, so I can't really just throw in Slippery Karsts and the like. Even if I did make it so that the mana works, it just becomes a Fluctuator deck with a weaker win-con, which is pretty much what it turned into anyway :/
I'm shocked that there were even that many actually. I thought it would be the first round where everybody makes Top 8 by default, considering that Circu is probably the most difficult card to build around so far in this contest. I wonder how many entires there would have been if it was kept as EDH...
EclipSEverity would like to express his annoyance that he wasn't the first or only person to use Mirror Gallery. I'd like to express my amusement.
One of the first things I did was search for stuff that had legend or legendary in the text box. Out of all them, the only good cards for this round are Goryo's Vengeance (was better for the EDH version), Time of Need, and Mirror Gallery.
So I started my build with Circu, and I started trying to figure out how to run an effectively higher count of circu without running the full playset. I just don't like seeing the full playset of a legend in a deck that isn't situated to handle the duplicates. From here I settled on the unorthodox splash of green. I wanted worldly tutors. interestingly enough, i decided to include my draw in green (Krosan Tusker) and ended up dropping half the tutors eventually in the painful shavings. The other thing I really wanted green for was temporal spring. the spring has extraordinary synergies with circu, letting me selectively lobotomize enemy permanent potential. once i had sketched out my splash, i wanted to start maximizing the potential of circu. Clutch of the Undercity was an obvious choice for tutoring circu, bouncing already lobotomized permanents, etc. I added stitch togethers originally, to let me reclaim a killed circu or aggro out with tusker. I later realized that i received higher synergy with zombify due to clutch and made that switch. I realized that Jace 2 (a card i typically avoid) had amazing synergy with Circu and was a clear second target for clutch. Being able to select what you hit with circu is extremely powerful, and the draw and bounce just make it too obscene not to run. Man-o'-war and venser were obvious choices for tempo, circu-lock, and and defense. I threw in a couple counters for defense, trying to keep to the B/U ones to maximize circu potential. from here i realized the power that a couple free spells would have, so in went snap and frantic search. I then realized that Cavern Harpy was perfect for this deck. It can recur venser or man-o'-war, and it can circu for two whenever i got the mana. From there I saw that aluren offered the perfect completion to the deck. I can combo off with aluren + harpy +circu to mill their deck. Even better, i can do amazing stalling shenanigans with just a harpy and man-o'-war with aluren in play. Aluren is by no means essential to this deck's success, but it does provide a core complement to circu in making it a force to be reckoned with. Playing simple control with heavy tempo and circu lock is viable regardless.
Overall, test games have shown the gameplay of this deck to present very complex decisions. I urge the judges to keep a decklist by their side when testing this, because you will need to carefully way the percent chances of topdecks when making tutor decisions. Be careful in your play and this deck will prove remarkably stable. Expect to take damage on the first couple turns, but you should be able to stabilize very reliably.
Small tip: remember that you can worldly tutor after the the tusker's land search and before the draw.
Just got to say, you've definitely earned distinction as an MTGS hero
Quote from Stardust »
Because he's the hero MTGS deserves, and the one it needs right now. So we'll global him. Because he can take it. Because he's not just our hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector. An expired rascal.
Quote from LuckNorris »
ExpiredRascals you sir are a god-like hero.
Quote from Lanxal »
ER is a masterful god who cannot be beaten in any endeavour.
Borderpost acts like a Salt Marsh that triggers Circu lategame. Quarter thinns their library.
Head Games is partially me being silly, and partially setting up a hand of Circu-ed cards or lands.
Crumbling Sanctuarry is the deck's main defense, while also nabbing a random card or two once in a while (it's not the deck plans to actively deal damage, but who know?).
Jace is just too good to not have him.
The hand manipulation is both tempo and setting up Circu - too bad that his trigger resolves before the spells, but the curve is low enough to cast two spells per turn once Circu's out.
BOAB Cuts
- Jace for ... anything? Hard to replace the proverbial swiss army-knife appropriate.
- Damnation -> any sort of mass removal.
- The landbase works with Evolving Wilds, Expanse and basics.
- Glimpses can be more Sluices plus a Mind Funeral.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Each reality is but the dream of another, and each sleeper a god unknowing.
We define the boundaries of reality; they don't define us.
In previous seasons of this contest, I didn't really shy away from combo lock, because they're always fun as a deckbuilding exercise.
My previous deck was fun to think up and build, I've tested it a bit and it runs quite smoothly due to lots of draw and draw filtering... But it doesn't make for quite a fun casual game for everybody else.
So it is in that spirit that I've decided to scrap that deck and present another one, and while it's not as strong on it's own, it seems a heck a lot more fun, which I think is ultimately what this contest is all about...
Not at all and I'll explain why this deck stands to be kinda awesome...
Card choices:
Knowledge Pool: This card says that whenever you cast a spell, you exile it, then cast another one in the pool for free... Which means every spell makes Circu trigger twice! For you it's perfect, for opponents it can become quite a pain since Circu prevents both normal spells cast from the hand and those cast from the pool. The difficulty is that the opponent will then want to cast stuff you put there because that's what he can play. So any card you put there needs to to be irrelevant or subpar for him (no hard removal, weak creatures in terms of P/T, etc), that way you break the symmetry.
Also the thing to remember about Knowledge Pool is that it changes the timing restrictions on the cards cast from the pool; if you can play an instant, it means you can play any card from the pool (except lands), so in fact it gives you a kind of Vedalken Orrery or Leyline of Anticipation on it's own.
Vedalken Aethermage: I'm really surprised the round didn't see much of him as he can fetch Circu. In the deck, he also fetches all the wizards (Treasure Mage, Venser and Inkfathom Witch). He also has flash, very important if you want to play anything in the pool at instant speed.
Venser, Shaper Savant: Deals with anything out there. I had Sakasima, The Impostor in here at first but he was replaced when a little wizard subtheme crept in + Venser has flash as well. In the end, Venser added a lot more interaction (of course if Sakashima had been a wizard, I'd have put him there without question since he would have been fetchable as well...).
Oona's Gatewarden and Cavern Harpy: Very defensive creatures early on and they really can buy me some time. The thing is they get ridiculous when Circu + Knowledge Pool combine. For example, I cast the Warden, it gets exiled (Circu sees 2 card removed), say Harpy is in the pool, so cast it for free (Circu sees 2 more cards removed), Harpy self-boomerangs with it's ETB trigger, then I play it and it gets exiled (Circu sees 2 more cards), then I cast the Warden from the pool zone for free (Circu sees 2 more for a total of 8 cards !!). All this for a measly 3 mana.
A Harpy in the Pool and an instant (or flash) in hand also means I can rescue any creature I have.
Lurking Informant: Can control what's coming on top of the library for the opponent. He's also a cheap UB creature.
Inkfathom Witch: Circu is the main kill card in the deck, but this card (on top of being cheap UB) can double as wincon #2. In multiplayer, she can also boost other players' creatures (an ally or 2 opponents attacking each other).
Peel from Reality: So flexible in here, defensive and allows to recast your creatures. You can use it to get back a creature stolen from you with Knowledge Pool.
Familiar's Ruse: Counter stuff and bommerang something of yours. Of course if an opponent uses it he stands to lose either something he stole or return any critter he has on the field (or he can't even cast it if he has nothing).
Mistvein Borderpost: some acceleration is always good in a deck that wants to cast a 6-mana artifact. Bonus of course is the borderpost is UB and also can be cast on the cheap to enable more Pool Shenanigans.
Lands: Mystifying Maze is nice if someone attacks with something stolen. Riptide Laboratory is cool with all my Wizards (gives lots of resilience and offers some neat synnergies with the wizards I have. Think: Venser). The Skerry and Bog are there to give a little boost of mana so I can cast Knowledge Pool earlier.
Primary and only casual rule: "any rule that is fine for the most part of the playgroup, is a fine rule". So any further thread with: "if somebody uses/does .... in a casual game, is it ethical/ok?", read the answer above.
- Being a "Johnny/Spike" means you like self-torture. You win often in casual, so everybody hates you; you loose often in competitive, so you hate yourself.
Ah I'm glad someone finally posted this one. I brainstormed around K-Pool as well but disliked the inconsitencies.
I love how everybody is jumping on the Jace Train...
Yeah I know it was my 2nd idea from the start, it took me forever to try and get it to work, I must have searched magiccards.info every wich way possible. I'm quite satisfied with the result though, the trick was finding the RIGHT crap to put in :)...
As for Jace, heck, almost everybody in the magic community is getting on that train, it's like the budweiser express. It's probably the reason there is a rumor going on about banning him...
But for this deck he is good of course because you can filter a bit of the opponents draw, as Urweak already mentionned.
Primary and only casual rule: "any rule that is fine for the most part of the playgroup, is a fine rule". So any further thread with: "if somebody uses/does .... in a casual game, is it ethical/ok?", read the answer above.
- Being a "Johnny/Spike" means you like self-torture. You win often in casual, so everybody hates you; you loose often in competitive, so you hate yourself.
Damn. I avoid this thread all weak to prevent any contamination of ideas, and somehow people beat me to both jace and alluren as good additions to the deck. That being said, I do like my green splash best
Just got to say, you've definitely earned distinction as an MTGS hero
Quote from Stardust »
Because he's the hero MTGS deserves, and the one it needs right now. So we'll global him. Because he can take it. Because he's not just our hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector. An expired rascal.
Quote from LuckNorris »
ExpiredRascals you sir are a god-like hero.
Quote from Lanxal »
ER is a masterful god who cannot be beaten in any endeavour.
One of the first things I did was search for stuff that had legend or legendary in the text box. Out of all them, the only good cards for this round are Goryo's Vengeance (was better for the EDH version), Time of Need, and Mirror Gallery.
I was also designing around Mirror Gallery for my EDH version, but I feel that Sakashima the Impostor would be far superior for 1vs1. I'm surprised nobody used him actually.
I'm also interested in what everybody else's unused ideas were for this week, as Circu was particularly difficult to build around. My other ideas were:
1. The Lantern of Insight/Field of Dreams combo, but with a Green splash of Game Preserve. I think Game Preserve would have been interesting even without the Lantern as it shows you both players' libraries, and you can manipulate them with Circu before the opponent gets to draw. I abandoned the idea as it was difficult to get full mileage out of Game Preserve, since it required opponents to run creatures too.
2. "Self-Lobotomy" with Future Sight and/or Magus of the Future (also a wizard!). I liked this interaction a lot as it meant Circu was adding a pseudo "Scry 2" to each multicolor play. It helped quite a bit in topdeck mode since you can chain spells much more easily this way. I almost wanted to build it, but I chose Head Games/Panoptic Mirror over it.
3. Buyback Combo? I wonder why nobody used this one as it can be really brutal. Blue has some really insane buyback spells (Capsize, Whispers of the Muse, Spell Burst) combined with Memory Crystal, you can counter/bounce everything and win the game via Circu.
And in general, Mark of Eviction would have been a cool card choice for some decks (*cough* Ravnica), Alter Reality would have been nice to force double mill in a single color, and I'm surprised only 2 people used Aluren, as it's a pretty well known combo with Cavern Harpy, which was quite popular for this round.
I was also designing around Mirror Gallery for my EDH version, but I feel that Sakashima the Impostor would be far superior for 1vs1. I'm surprised nobody used him actually.
I'm also interested in what everybody else's unused ideas were for this week, as Circu was particularly difficult to build around. My other ideas were:
1. The Lantern of Insight/Field of Dreams combo, but with a Green splash of Game Preserve. I think Game Preserve would have been interesting even without the Lantern as it shows you both players' libraries, and you can manipulate them with Circu before the opponent gets to draw. I abandoned the idea as it was difficult to get full mileage out of Game Preserve, since it required opponents to run creatures too.
I had Field of Dreams in the build. I figured since I could see what they would draw, I could exile the good stuff, and let them draw into what was already exiled. I wanted to splash for green, and add that one card that puts stuff ontop of the library, but then just went with black/blue.
Also tried Jester's Scepter as kind of a slow control/mill deck. Trouble was, they were just so slow and boring to play.
I was also designing around Mirror Gallery for my EDH version, but I feel that Sakashima the Impostor would be far superior for 1vs1. I'm surprised nobody used him actually.
I'm also interested in what everybody else's unused ideas were for this week, as Circu was particularly difficult to build around. My other ideas were:
1. The Lantern of Insight/Field of Dreams combo, but with a Green splash of Game Preserve. I think Game Preserve would have been interesting even without the Lantern as it shows you both players' libraries, and you can manipulate them with Circu before the opponent gets to draw. I abandoned the idea as it was difficult to get full mileage out of Game Preserve, since it required opponents to run creatures too.
2. "Self-Lobotomy" with Future Sight and/or Magus of the Future (also a wizard!). I liked this interaction a lot as it meant Circu was adding a pseudo "Scry 2" to each multicolor play. It helped quite a bit in topdeck mode since you can chain spells much more easily this way. I almost wanted to build it, but I chose Head Games/Panoptic Mirror over it.
3. Buyback Combo? I wonder why nobody used this one as it can be really brutal. Blue has some really insane buyback spells (Capsize, Whispers of the Muse, Spell Burst) combined with Memory Crystal, you can counter/bounce everything and win the game via Circu.
And in general, Mark of Eviction would have been a cool card choice for some decks (*cough* Ravnica), Alter Reality would have been nice to force double mill in a single color, and I'm surprised only 2 people used Aluren, as it's a pretty well known combo with Cavern Harpy, which was quite popular for this round.
I was considering Mark of Eviction but it gave the opponent a whole turn to use their creature. While it did return to your hand, it just didn't provide the same defense as Whiplash Trap and friends.
Definitely a tough card to build around, I'm glad there weren't too many standard U/B mill decks. Cavern Harpy was a little over-used but easily the perfect card for the job.
I had an inkling of an Idea that no one else tried, but I didn't flesh it out at all. People mentionning their other ideas got me to try and think about it some more.
It was a wizard tribal deck and it's probably why I didn't think about it a whole lot (didn't want to paint myself as the "tribal" guy after last round).
Usually Circu just sits there, happy to trigger. I wanted to put him in a deck that cared about him doing more than he's used to.
Primary and only casual rule: "any rule that is fine for the most part of the playgroup, is a fine rule". So any further thread with: "if somebody uses/does .... in a casual game, is it ethical/ok?", read the answer above.
- Being a "Johnny/Spike" means you like self-torture. You win often in casual, so everybody hates you; you loose often in competitive, so you hate yourself.
I had an inkling of an Idea that no one else tried, but I didn't flesh it out at all. People mentionning their other ideas got me to try and think about it some more.
It was a wizard tribal deck and it's probably why I didn't think about it a whole lot (didn't want to paint myself as the "tribal" guy after last round).
Usually Circu just sits there, happy to trigger. I wanted to put him in a deck that cared about him doing more than he's used to.
I thought this was too obvious to post -.- Certainly Patron Wizard into Circu provides a 2-mana safe haven for protection, but I felt like it took away the spotlight from Circu too much. Considering how many people used Riptide Laboratory, I'm sure Wizard tribal wasn't too far from most people's thoughts.
I thought this was too obvious to post -.- Certainly Patron Wizard into Circu provides a 2-mana safe haven for protection, but I felt like it took away the spotlight from Circu too much. Considering how many people used Riptide Laboratory, I'm sure Wizard tribal wasn't too far from most people's thoughts.
This. Wizards as a tribal deck is just so bland and non-Circu that I really didn't want to try it.
Certainly Patron Wizard into Circu provides a 2-mana safe haven for protection, but I felt like it took away the spotlight from Circu too much. Considering how many people used Riptide Laboratory, I'm sure Wizard tribal wasn't too far from most people's thoughts.
Exactly, not only that but the fact that you are also preventing people from playing spells in the first place, makes Patron Wizard kinda useless on the long run... (and BTW I only count 2 decks that used the wizard land out of 13)
This. Wizards as a tribal deck is just so bland and non-Circu that I really didn't want to try it.
But that's just the point isn't it? (i.e bland AND non-circu as you say). You almost never see a wizard tribal deck really focused on Circu (I know I never have anyway), if I saw one it would not be bland IMO...
Primary and only casual rule: "any rule that is fine for the most part of the playgroup, is a fine rule". So any further thread with: "if somebody uses/does .... in a casual game, is it ethical/ok?", read the answer above.
- Being a "Johnny/Spike" means you like self-torture. You win often in casual, so everybody hates you; you loose often in competitive, so you hate yourself.
Exactly, not only that but the fact that you are also preventing people from playing spells in the first place, makes Patron Wizard kinda useless on the long run... (and BTW I only count 2 decks that used the wizard land out of 13)
My bad - the last time I did a whole runthrough of every decklist I thought I counted 4 people using Riptide...I guess they took them out in some subsequent edits?
But even without Riptide, a lot of people are using Wizards as partial support, yet none of them evolved into full tribal. Vendilion Clique, Architects of Will, Venser, Shaper Savant, Trinket Mage, Treasure Mage - all good wizards that appeared in various decklists, and nobody wanted to include Patron Wizard for support. I'm going to guess some people wanted to include it, but couldn't make a proper Circu deck work with 20 total creatures for the Tribal format. They probably started cutting Wizards for more multicolor U/B spells to focus on Circu, and with only a couple creatures left, Patron Wizard starts looking less favorable? Just a guess.
Just got to say, you've definitely earned distinction as an MTGS hero
Quote from Stardust »
Because he's the hero MTGS deserves, and the one it needs right now. So we'll global him. Because he can take it. Because he's not just our hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector. An expired rascal.
Quote from LuckNorris »
ExpiredRascals you sir are a god-like hero.
Quote from Lanxal »
ER is a masterful god who cannot be beaten in any endeavour.
I'm actually glad I didn't make the top 8 this round. After testing my deck I found that it just stalled the game for too long, and most people would just quit. It would have been a pain for you guys to test.
I think Tribal Faeries would have worked pretty well too. I threw together a quick list but couldnt find the time to test it.
hahaha I knew that was coming
I'm out this round on time restrictions :/
That's a good one...
My 2nd idea is still not taken (though Urweak comes oh so close with some of his card choices).
Still don't know which to pick (arghh!), if only I could post both :rolleyes:...
You would have one more, but I couldn't quite get a Circu/Fluctuator deck to work
I'll post it for fun, but it's not my entry, I'll try something new tomorrow
4 Cloud Of Faeries
2 Circu, Dimir Lobotomist
2 Cloudstone Curio
Counter
4 Miscalculation
4 Spell Snip
Disruption/Support
4 Unearth
4 Rescind
4 Swat
1 Esper Sojourners
4 Fluctuator
4 Street Wraith
2 Vedalken Aethermage
Land
4 Polluted Mire
4 Blasted Landscape
4 Remote Isle
3 Barren Moor
3 Lonely Sandbar
3 Cephalid Coliseum
The basic combo is infinitely replaying 2 Cloud Of Faeries, bouncing them up and down with the Curio and milling the OP to death with Circu. Everything else plays a support role to the main combo and cycles through Fluctuator to draw through the deck. It's most hampered by the manabase, it's pretty heavily invested in both colors, so I can't really just throw in Slippery Karsts and the like. Even if I did make it so that the mana works, it just becomes a Fluctuator deck with a weaker win-con, which is pretty much what it turned into anyway :/
360-cube - Suggestions welcome!
I'm shocked that there were even that many actually. I thought it would be the first round where everybody makes Top 8 by default, considering that Circu is probably the most difficult card to build around so far in this contest. I wonder how many entires there would have been if it was kept as EDH...
R: Copypasta Sauce {Browbeat}
UR: Mana Cache , One Spell to Bind them All {Magnetic Theft}
UG: Epic Struggle , All-In-Poison {Metamorphosis}
UW: Planar Overlay , Decree of the Bailiff {Saprazzan Bailiff}
BG: Thought Gorger , Dark Chroma {Umbra Stalker}
UBR: Dwarven Shrine
WUBRG: Dissipation Field , Maelstrom Nexus
EclipSEverity would like to express his annoyance that he wasn't the first or only person to use Mirror Gallery. I'd like to express my amusement.
The candles burn out for you; I am free.
One of the first things I did was search for stuff that had legend or legendary in the text box. Out of all them, the only good cards for this round are Goryo's Vengeance (was better for the EDH version), Time of Need, and Mirror Gallery.
BUWGRChilds PlayGRWUB
BUWGR Highlander GRWUB
UBSquee's Shapeshifting PetBU
BW Multiplayer Control WB
RG Changeling GR
UR Mana FlareRU
UMerfolkU
B MBMC B
Overall, test games have shown the gameplay of this deck to present very complex decisions. I urge the judges to keep a decklist by their side when testing this, because you will need to carefully way the percent chances of topdecks when making tutor decisions. Be careful in your play and this deck will prove remarkably stable. Expect to take damage on the first couple turns, but you should be able to stabilize very reliably.
Small tip: remember that you can worldly tutor after the the tusker's land search and before the draw.
4 Clutch of the Undercity
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Aluren
4 Krosan Tusker
4 Temporal Spring
2 Worldly Tutor
3 Cavern Harpy
1 Undermine
4 Man-o'-War
1 Snap
2 Frantic Search
2 Zombify
1 Exclude
1 Blue Sun's Zenith
2 Countersquall
4 Tropical Island
4 Underground Sea
2 Bayou
2 Forest
4 Island
2 Swamp
1 Grand Coliseum
Body Count: GRRRUUUUUUUUUUU
إن سرقت إسرق جمل
Level 1 Judge
My Cube for use with 6th ed. Rules
if you want to post a deck until tonight, don't read this
really, stop here.
I can see you.
4 Hedron Crabs
1 Chittering Rats
1 Nevermaker
3 Circu, Dimir Lobotomist
2 Memory Sluice
2 Portent
1 Painfull Memories
1 Lost Hours
2 Memory Lapse
2 Lim-Dûl's Vault
3 Glimpse the Unthinkable
2 Agony Warp
2 Recoil
1 Hinder
1 Agonizing Memories
1 Damnation
1 Jace, the Mindsculptor
4 Crumbling Sanctuary
1 Head Games
2 Ghost Quarter
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Urborg, Yawgmoth's Tomb
4 Polluted Delta
2 Terramorphic Expand
5 Swamp
5 Island
Borderpost acts like a Salt Marsh that triggers Circu lategame. Quarter thinns their library.
Head Games is partially me being silly, and partially setting up a hand of Circu-ed cards or lands.
Crumbling Sanctuarry is the deck's main defense, while also nabbing a random card or two once in a while (it's not the deck plans to actively deal damage, but who know?).
Jace is just too good to not have him.
The hand manipulation is both tempo and setting up Circu - too bad that his trigger resolves before the spells, but the curve is low enough to cast two spells per turn once Circu's out.
BOAB Cuts
- Jace for ... anything? Hard to replace the proverbial swiss army-knife appropriate.
- Damnation -> any sort of mass removal.
- The landbase works with Evolving Wilds, Expanse and basics.
- Glimpses can be more Sluices plus a Mind Funeral.
In previous seasons of this contest, I didn't really shy away from combo lock, because they're always fun as a deckbuilding exercise.
My previous deck was fun to think up and build, I've tested it a bit and it runs quite smoothly due to lots of draw and draw filtering... But it doesn't make for quite a fun casual game for everybody else.
So it is in that spirit that I've decided to scrap that deck and present another one, and while it's not as strong on it's own, it seems a heck a lot more fun, which I think is ultimately what this contest is all about...
Behold, as I present Circu, Dimir Lobotomist as the 2nd card trying to break Knowledge Pool.
Of course, the first card that broke the Pool was Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir, but he's an auto-lock combo win with it and that is the epitome of unfun.
So here's the deck:
4 Vedalken Aethermage
2 Treasure Mage
2 Venser, Shaper Savant
4 Oona's Gatewarden
3 Cavern Harpy
3 Circu, Dimir Lobotomist
2 Lurking Informant
1 Inkfathom Witch
4 Peel from Reality
3 Familiar's Ruse
2 Jace, The Mind Sculptor
4 Mistvein Borderpost
3 Knowledge Pool
Lands (23)
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Academy Ruins
1 Mystifying Maze
2 Riptide Laboratory
3 Sapprazzen Skerry
2 Peat Bog
2 Sunken Ruins
6 Island
5 Swamp
What a pile of crap you say ???
Not at all and I'll explain why this deck stands to be kinda awesome...
Card choices:
Knowledge Pool: This card says that whenever you cast a spell, you exile it, then cast another one in the pool for free... Which means every spell makes Circu trigger twice! For you it's perfect, for opponents it can become quite a pain since Circu prevents both normal spells cast from the hand and those cast from the pool. The difficulty is that the opponent will then want to cast stuff you put there because that's what he can play. So any card you put there needs to to be irrelevant or subpar for him (no hard removal, weak creatures in terms of P/T, etc), that way you break the symmetry.
Also the thing to remember about Knowledge Pool is that it changes the timing restrictions on the cards cast from the pool; if you can play an instant, it means you can play any card from the pool (except lands), so in fact it gives you a kind of Vedalken Orrery or Leyline of Anticipation on it's own.
Vedalken Aethermage: I'm really surprised the round didn't see much of him as he can fetch Circu. In the deck, he also fetches all the wizards (Treasure Mage, Venser and Inkfathom Witch). He also has flash, very important if you want to play anything in the pool at instant speed.
Treasure Mage: Fetches Knowledge Pool.
Venser, Shaper Savant: Deals with anything out there. I had Sakasima, The Impostor in here at first but he was replaced when a little wizard subtheme crept in + Venser has flash as well. In the end, Venser added a lot more interaction (of course if Sakashima had been a wizard, I'd have put him there without question since he would have been fetchable as well...).
Oona's Gatewarden and Cavern Harpy: Very defensive creatures early on and they really can buy me some time. The thing is they get ridiculous when Circu + Knowledge Pool combine. For example, I cast the Warden, it gets exiled (Circu sees 2 card removed), say Harpy is in the pool, so cast it for free (Circu sees 2 more cards removed), Harpy self-boomerangs with it's ETB trigger, then I play it and it gets exiled (Circu sees 2 more cards), then I cast the Warden from the pool zone for free (Circu sees 2 more for a total of 8 cards !!). All this for a measly 3 mana.
A Harpy in the Pool and an instant (or flash) in hand also means I can rescue any creature I have.
Lurking Informant: Can control what's coming on top of the library for the opponent. He's also a cheap UB creature.
Inkfathom Witch: Circu is the main kill card in the deck, but this card (on top of being cheap UB) can double as wincon #2. In multiplayer, she can also boost other players' creatures (an ally or 2 opponents attacking each other).
Peel from Reality: So flexible in here, defensive and allows to recast your creatures. You can use it to get back a creature stolen from you with Knowledge Pool.
Familiar's Ruse: Counter stuff and bommerang something of yours. Of course if an opponent uses it he stands to lose either something he stole or return any critter he has on the field (or he can't even cast it if he has nothing).
Jace, the Mind Sculptor: Pretty much self-explanatory...
Mistvein Borderpost: some acceleration is always good in a deck that wants to cast a 6-mana artifact. Bonus of course is the borderpost is UB and also can be cast on the cheap to enable more Pool Shenanigans.
Lands: Mystifying Maze is nice if someone attacks with something stolen. Riptide Laboratory is cool with all my Wizards (gives lots of resilience and offers some neat synnergies with the wizards I have. Think: Venser). The Skerry and Bog are there to give a little boost of mana so I can cast Knowledge Pool earlier.
Ah I'm glad someone finally posted this one. I brainstormed around K-Pool as well but disliked the inconsitencies.
I love how everybody is jumping on the Jace Train...
R: Copypasta Sauce {Browbeat}
UR: Mana Cache , One Spell to Bind them All {Magnetic Theft}
UG: Epic Struggle , All-In-Poison {Metamorphosis}
UW: Planar Overlay , Decree of the Bailiff {Saprazzan Bailiff}
BG: Thought Gorger , Dark Chroma {Umbra Stalker}
UBR: Dwarven Shrine
WUBRG: Dissipation Field , Maelstrom Nexus
Yeah I know it was my 2nd idea from the start, it took me forever to try and get it to work, I must have searched magiccards.info every wich way possible. I'm quite satisfied with the result though, the trick was finding the RIGHT crap to put in :)...
As for Jace, heck, almost everybody in the magic community is getting on that train, it's like the budweiser express. It's probably the reason there is a rumor going on about banning him...
But for this deck he is good of course because you can filter a bit of the opponents draw, as Urweak already mentionned.
Body Count: GRRRUUUUUUUUUUU
إن سرقت إسرق جمل
Level 1 Judge
My Cube for use with 6th ed. Rules
Blal's list is not to be considered:
I was also designing around Mirror Gallery for my EDH version, but I feel that Sakashima the Impostor would be far superior for 1vs1. I'm surprised nobody used him actually.
I'm also interested in what everybody else's unused ideas were for this week, as Circu was particularly difficult to build around. My other ideas were:
1. The Lantern of Insight/Field of Dreams combo, but with a Green splash of Game Preserve. I think Game Preserve would have been interesting even without the Lantern as it shows you both players' libraries, and you can manipulate them with Circu before the opponent gets to draw. I abandoned the idea as it was difficult to get full mileage out of Game Preserve, since it required opponents to run creatures too.
2. "Self-Lobotomy" with Future Sight and/or Magus of the Future (also a wizard!). I liked this interaction a lot as it meant Circu was adding a pseudo "Scry 2" to each multicolor play. It helped quite a bit in topdeck mode since you can chain spells much more easily this way. I almost wanted to build it, but I chose Head Games/Panoptic Mirror over it.
3. Buyback Combo? I wonder why nobody used this one as it can be really brutal. Blue has some really insane buyback spells (Capsize, Whispers of the Muse, Spell Burst) combined with Memory Crystal, you can counter/bounce everything and win the game via Circu.
And in general, Mark of Eviction would have been a cool card choice for some decks (*cough* Ravnica), Alter Reality would have been nice to force double mill in a single color, and I'm surprised only 2 people used Aluren, as it's a pretty well known combo with Cavern Harpy, which was quite popular for this round.
R: Copypasta Sauce {Browbeat}
UR: Mana Cache , One Spell to Bind them All {Magnetic Theft}
UG: Epic Struggle , All-In-Poison {Metamorphosis}
UW: Planar Overlay , Decree of the Bailiff {Saprazzan Bailiff}
BG: Thought Gorger , Dark Chroma {Umbra Stalker}
UBR: Dwarven Shrine
WUBRG: Dissipation Field , Maelstrom Nexus
I had Field of Dreams in the build. I figured since I could see what they would draw, I could exile the good stuff, and let them draw into what was already exiled. I wanted to splash for green, and add that one card that puts stuff ontop of the library, but then just went with black/blue.
Also tried Jester's Scepter as kind of a slow control/mill deck. Trouble was, they were just so slow and boring to play.
BUWGRChilds PlayGRWUB
BUWGR Highlander GRWUB
UBSquee's Shapeshifting PetBU
BW Multiplayer Control WB
RG Changeling GR
UR Mana FlareRU
UMerfolkU
B MBMC B
I was considering Mark of Eviction but it gave the opponent a whole turn to use their creature. While it did return to your hand, it just didn't provide the same defense as Whiplash Trap and friends.
Definitely a tough card to build around, I'm glad there weren't too many standard U/B mill decks. Cavern Harpy was a little over-used but easily the perfect card for the job.
I needed to find a way to pump my Cephalid Constable's power, but got bogged down with real life. I was considering Shadow Rift/Distortion Strike.
Multiplayer:
MonoBlack
Mono-Red
Cycling
Crush of Wurms
Zoo
Immortal Coil
Control
Reanimator
Mono-G
Cruel Ascension
Landfall
Esper Spirits/Tokens
Phantom Vigor
Not Explicitly Multiplayer:
Allies
Bant
Artifacts
It was a wizard tribal deck and it's probably why I didn't think about it a whole lot (didn't want to paint myself as the "tribal" guy after last round).
Usually Circu just sits there, happy to trigger. I wanted to put him in a deck that cared about him doing more than he's used to.
It was Tribal wizards with Patron Wizard (tap circu to counter stuff), Azami, Lady of Scrolls (tap Circu to draw), you get the picture...
The deck also featured Lich Lord of Unx and ultimately I felt that the deck became too much about him.
...
All that aside,
Can't wait for the top 8 :sweat:...
I thought this was too obvious to post -.- Certainly Patron Wizard into Circu provides a 2-mana safe haven for protection, but I felt like it took away the spotlight from Circu too much. Considering how many people used Riptide Laboratory, I'm sure Wizard tribal wasn't too far from most people's thoughts.
R: Copypasta Sauce {Browbeat}
UR: Mana Cache , One Spell to Bind them All {Magnetic Theft}
UG: Epic Struggle , All-In-Poison {Metamorphosis}
UW: Planar Overlay , Decree of the Bailiff {Saprazzan Bailiff}
BG: Thought Gorger , Dark Chroma {Umbra Stalker}
UBR: Dwarven Shrine
WUBRG: Dissipation Field , Maelstrom Nexus
This. Wizards as a tribal deck is just so bland and non-Circu that I really didn't want to try it.
The candles burn out for you; I am free.
Exactly, not only that but the fact that you are also preventing people from playing spells in the first place, makes Patron Wizard kinda useless on the long run... (and BTW I only count 2 decks that used the wizard land out of 13)
But that's just the point isn't it? (i.e bland AND non-circu as you say). You almost never see a wizard tribal deck really focused on Circu (I know I never have anyway), if I saw one it would not be bland IMO...
My bad - the last time I did a whole runthrough of every decklist I thought I counted 4 people using Riptide...I guess they took them out in some subsequent edits?
But even without Riptide, a lot of people are using Wizards as partial support, yet none of them evolved into full tribal. Vendilion Clique, Architects of Will, Venser, Shaper Savant, Trinket Mage, Treasure Mage - all good wizards that appeared in various decklists, and nobody wanted to include Patron Wizard for support. I'm going to guess some people wanted to include it, but couldn't make a proper Circu deck work with 20 total creatures for the Tribal format. They probably started cutting Wizards for more multicolor U/B spells to focus on Circu, and with only a couple creatures left, Patron Wizard starts looking less favorable? Just a guess.
R: Copypasta Sauce {Browbeat}
UR: Mana Cache , One Spell to Bind them All {Magnetic Theft}
UG: Epic Struggle , All-In-Poison {Metamorphosis}
UW: Planar Overlay , Decree of the Bailiff {Saprazzan Bailiff}
BG: Thought Gorger , Dark Chroma {Umbra Stalker}
UBR: Dwarven Shrine
WUBRG: Dissipation Field , Maelstrom Nexus
blutKing T
mchief111
1) Expired Rascals 2
2) PeterRiviera 2
3) urweak 2
4) Wingedkagouti 2
5) ExpiredRascals 2
kiljo 3
maserati 3
Flatulence Incarnate 3
Gaea's Regent 3
Dlink123 4
Fdtori 4
Why do two versions of me have 2 votes?
EDIT: I just found the fateseal(ish) card that everyone was searching for! Elemental Augury!
Body Count: GRRRUUUUUUUUUUU
إن سرقت إسرق جمل
Level 1 Judge
My Cube for use with 6th ed. Rules
I think Tribal Faeries would have worked pretty well too. I threw together a quick list but couldnt find the time to test it.
Excited for next round.
Multiplayer:
MonoBlack
Mono-Red
Cycling
Crush of Wurms
Zoo
Immortal Coil
Control
Reanimator
Mono-G
Cruel Ascension
Landfall
Esper Spirits/Tokens
Phantom Vigor
Not Explicitly Multiplayer:
Allies
Bant
Artifacts
Failure from my side, you do have four votes.
blutKing T
mchief111
1) PeterRiviera 2
2) urweak 2
3) Wingedkagouti 2
kiljo 3
maserati 3
Flatulence Incarnate 3
Gaea's Regent 3
Dlink123 4
Fdtori 4
ExpiredRascals 4