I would actually disagree that Expedition Map is untouchable.
To be perfectly honest, it is one of the weaker cards in Turbo Eldrazi. I find myself boarding it out a lot of the time (particularly against RUG, and any deck with a fast clock)
I've been happy with 3 copies main so far, but it might just be preference talking here.
The only reason I run only 3 is because I run Pithing Needle, Oblivion Stone AND Brainstorm main deck...
You are correct about it offering another avenue of play though. Sadly, a ton of cards are competing for space in the main, and as a compromise, I had to cut 1 Expedition Map, the weaker of Turbo Eldrazi's staples IMO.
Here's my rationale behind making some of these choices:
-No Trinket Mage:
To be honest, I found this card to be very underwhelming. There's usually three possible scenarios that happened when I cast a Trinket Mage:
1.) I am looking for a specific land and get an expedition map.
2.) I am ready to go for big mana and grab my Candelabra
3.) I am threatened by a specific card and grab a Pithing Needle to shut off something that already has done far too much damage
The times where I Trinket Maged for a proactive Needle were rare and I never really needed to grab a Top with it. Looking at the ways I used the Trinket Mage, I decided that just cutting out the middle man and running a 4th Expedition Map and 2nd Candelabra achieved almost the same thing at less of a mana cost. The literal best use I had for a Trinket Mage in a test game so far was throwing it in front of a Blightsteel Colossus to survive a single hit. That doesn't reek card quality to me.
First, always get Sensei's Divining Top first with Trinket Mage if you don't have one or just need any other one drop artifact more... no exceptions. Stabilizing our draws is a priority with 12-Post (as with any Combo-Control Deck).
Second, the thing about Trinket Mage is that he's the middle man that can be any one of those cards. You're not waiting to draw into those cards you need and can serve as a tool box.
Third, I get a lot of value out of Trinket Mage being a chump blocker. Or even in a couple of cases against control, my aggro push while I work out setting up my later finishers. The deck has very few cards that work on defense, so what I'm saying is that being able to keep me alive an extra turn against Blightsteel Colossus is one of my justifications for why I run mine.
However, Trinket Mage is a preference card. The deck functions with or without him, so I won't fight you tooth and nail to keep him in your 75.
-Pithing Needles:
I think Pithing Needle is really strong at this point in time. It's always good to have reassurance against Wasteland, but it also shuts off, or at least delays, several key cards in various matchups. Sneak Attack, Griselbrand, sometimes even Stoneforge Mystic, Deathrite Shaman, Engineered Explosivesand Batterskull are all targets that I've named so far. The clear and center target for this card in this deck is to fight Wastelands, but it has sufficient utility in a lot of matchups that I don't feel bad running it at all. I also feel that 3 is the right number to have. They aren't that bad in multiples, but you generally don't want two in your opener.
Agreed. In fact for awhile, it inspired people in my play group to up their Needle count.
-4 Expedition Map:
I've been thoroughly impressed by this card. Our Land base is akin to an underdog sports team in a feel-good disney movie: It needs just the right combination of pieces to unlock its full potential. Expedition Map is always that one land you need to supplement your manabasem be it a Cloudpost to start ramping, a Glimmerpost to get to the crucial Primeval Mana next turn, some colored mana so you can actually cast some of your spells or any of our utility lands. It's not instant speed like Crop Rotation, but hand disruption (besides Hymn or Liliana) doesn't interact with it at all and it actually gives you an additional land, which can be quite crucial. I really don't want to miss land drops in this deck, and Expedition Map ensures that I get the land drops I really want at the moment. My Playgroup has started to think of this card in a similar vein, and several people have picked up a habit of blind Cabal Therapying me for Expedition Map T1. Independent of whether or not that is actually a good play it at least shows the influence this card has had on the matches I've played so far. I know several people consider it to be one of the weaker cards amongst the deck's staples, but I've been very satisfied with running the full set so far.
That's because Expedition Map is one of the weaker staples in the deck, but that's like saying it's the poorest billionaire. It's still a staple. Expedition Map and I have a long and complicated relationship, but ultimately it adds speed to 12-Post, which is what the deck needs.
-4 Repeal: This is a bit of a doubleedged sword. It's really good in some matchups and utterly dead in others. It's super sweet in the Counterbalance matches or against non-blue Tarmogoyf decks. It does some great tempo plays occassionally and is sometimes your only out to grim situations. In the absolute worst case it can act as a Divination in conjunction with a Top so the card is never all that dead. I don't mind boarding out some number on the draw, but I've liked the full set in the maindeck so far.
Repeal comes and goes for most people, but what it ultimately boils down to when it comes to the numbers is whether or not you have room for four. If you do, then awesome. If you don't, I hope that whatever is running in slot number four (people tend to not go below three) is worth it.
-No Brainstorm:
My Bottomline is this: I certainly don't have space or desire for 3 or 4 Brainstorms in the deck. I can see making room for 2 of them by cutting a Repeal and an Expedition Map, but I'm simply not sure if that's worthwhile. What are your experiences with Brainstorm less lists? Are 4 Repeal just too many?
Generally, I'm all in favor of Brainstorm. It fixes early game hands, and the most common two cards I put back when I end of turn it is *top* Misty Rainforest *next one down* Tropical Island. That's actually comes up quite often. But I have no problems with Brainstorm.
As an aside, Sensei's Divining Top and Brainstorm have a great synergy if you Brainstorm first, then Top. Your looking at the two cards you put back + the fourth card down from before you Brainstormed... essentially letting you look four down with Top.
That being said, with the talk of dropping Brainstorm, I've been testing it, and I don't see any problem with dropping it if you want to. I side them out when I know I'm going to be going Chalice for 1 the next game anyway.
Has anybody had success with Thespian Stage? The card has occassionally done some cool stuff in a select few games, like being a tropical for Primeval Titan, then legend ruling a Karakas later on to allow me to Emrakul Lock them, but it just almost always was a colorless source that never really got activated for any profit. I ultimately decided to cut it because I was just not impressed.
Do we really need the full 4 Tropical Islands? I've been considering replacing one by a 2nd basic Island or another fetchland, and I'm quite in favor of running a 6th fetchland if I should include the two Brainstorm in the list.
I love mine as a one of, and I think we could go all the way to 16-Post... if we had the room for it. But when I get my one Thespian's Stage, I generally have no little to no trouble flowing it into what I need to get down... it's when it starts cropping up in multiples that it becomes a hassle to deal with because manually transforming so many lands gets distracting. Generally what I do is Vesuva Thespian's Stage if I need more than one because the Stage should already be a Cloudpost. No muss, no fuss.
Do we really want Chalice of the Void? I've never really boarded them against anything besides Storm (which I, admittedly, barely tested so far because noone in our group is a good storm player). Chalice on 1 is suicidal, Chalice on 2 or 3 can be good in some matchups, but are fairly slow, hard to get past the counterspells in those matchups and are hard to find if you board a single Chalice on no Trinket Mages. Basically, this is a singleton hatecard against Storm, and at that rate I just don't think it's worth having. Sure, turning of LEDs makes the life for Storm players quite a bit harder, but it's not good enough to mulligan to, and then a 1-of just doesn't seem to justify the sideboard space. I'd like to replace this with a more widely applicable hatecard.
First, Chalice of the Void is not a one of if you side it. Even with Trinket Mage. Chalice at 0 is an important play though, but Chalice to 2 against Storm (sans Spanish Inquisition... I think that one's 1 or 3) kills them harder than any other number. More importantly though... every Storm deck I've played can play out of Chalice that is not set on two. Multiple Chalice ensures you have a fighting chance to get to the magic number in said match-up.
Second, their Chalice set to 1 kills us. Our Chalice set to 1 is NOT suicidal. I've set Chalice to 1 many times post board when stopping their one-drops is more important than keeping my one drops in the main board. I've yet to regret that decision when I do it. Generally, when I lock down the 1-drops with Chalice, I don't regret it because either a. I was able to get the important 1-drops through first or b. locking opponents out of the game like that often induces scoop phase, so I don't get the chance to regret what I did.
Do we want 9 or 10 Counterspells in the sideboard? I mean, I fully understand WHY they are there, what matchups we want them for, and why we run the split we actually do. What I am not entirely convinced of yet is that we want ALL of them. I haven't tested much against combo decks yet, and I might completely change my opinion after jamming a dozen of games in the obvious combo matchups, but right now I have a feeling that I only want to have a total of 8 Counterspells in my board. Feel free to weight in on this.
Side-note: I'm not the biggest fan of Spell Pierce (not because it's bad, it's AWESOME) because Flusterstorm casts itself before it storms. Meaning that at Storm count 1, Flusterstorm makes the spell's caster pay 2, which is Spell Pierce. So for me, side Spell Pierce if you need more than four Flusterstorm.
Finally, here's a couple things I've been thinking of bringing on or things that have concerned me for a bit:
-I feel like I want another colorless creature to tutor for in the sideboard from time to time. The obvious candidates are Wurmcoil Engine and Steel Hellkite. I'm not sure if there's any matchup where I really want a Hellkite, but I've been longing for a Wurmcoil quite a few times. Here's the usual scenario: We're under enough pressure that we need to protect our life total. Glacial Chasm is not a good option, either because of Wasteland or maybe because Deathrite Shamans will just tear us appart over the course of two/three turns, even if we find another glimmerpost afterwards. We have access to 13/14 mana and Eye of Ugin (hand, Crop Rotation, in Play, whatever). We can't tutor and play an Eldrazi, or we're in a spot where a Kozilek might just not stabilize us enough. EoT tutor Emrakul is too slow. Being able to grab and play a Wurmcoil Engine would frequently just win the game in these spots. If this sounds like a scenario I just made up, well, I admit that it might sound fairly specialized but it seems to crop up time and time again against Jund or BUG lists, to the point where having a Wurmcoil in the board seems reasonable.
Personally, I wish there was a big colorless artifact creature with Shroud or Hexproof (we can't search out Inkwell Leviathan, and we have no use for Blightsteel or Darksteel Colossus because the Eldrazi are just better) because the biggest appeal of the Eldrazi is their ability to be hard to kill. That said, we don't, so Wurmcoil Engine is probably your best bet in those scenarios if you want an extra tutorable Eye of Ugin target, so I'm not going to stop you. In fact... you implied earlier that you have two slots to spare when you said you had room for a pair of Trinket Mage or Brainstorm if you wanted them. Why not see if Wurmcoil Engine would work there? Granted six 6 drops is intimidating, but doable for the sake of science. Also Sundering Titan is a great mana denial card... but just be careful with him if you test him (likely won't make the cut, but worth mentioning because any deck that can spit him out can hit all sorts of greedy mana bases).
-As an extension of the previous note, I've found Deathrite Shaman to be really quite a nuissance. Glacial Chasm just doesn't stop it and Pithing Needle on Deathrite Shaman isn't that great a play as most of theose decks run abrupt decay anyway. Can anybody think of something clever to solve this problem, or is wiping the board/mass Glimmerpost just the way to go? I never would have expected Deathrite Shaman to be that good a card against our deck, but it's just been giving me a way harder time than I feel it should.
Deathrite Shaman is one of the cards that I'm willing to risk setting Chalice of the Void to 1. And it works pretty well against BUG because it makes them digging for Abrupt Decay more difficult since cantrips/dig power usually all costs 1 as well as saves my hand from half their discard. I wonder whether or not that's a bad play at times... but it works at significantly slowing them down. Also, Cursed Totem, Phyrexian Revoker, and Pithing Needle (they can't always have Abrupt Decay) all have saved me on occasions. Cursed Totem is likely your best bet because it shuts down those people that tech Scavenging Ooze in those decks as well, and outside of BUG and Jund, Cursed Totem takes broad strokes against Maverick, Elves, MUD, and Griselbrand.
But thank you for your insights. They were an interesting read. I hope some of my responses are helpful, but remember that I'm not the 12-Post god, so feel free to rebut me if you don't agree.
Ok so i tested stifle in the last two local legacy event for flusterstorm. i came to the conclusion that storm is being played more with the recent sucess it has been having and i need to be able to stop other cards besides the storm trigger. also i think it weakened my sneak attack match which is heavily played at my shop. so my decision is to keep the four flusterstorm in the board. also i do like the 2 oblivion stone in the main and 1 in the board. So my changes from the list i top'd 8 with are ....main: -1 repeal -1 show and tell(moved 4th to board) +2 oblivion stone...side:-2 elephant grass +1 obllivion stone +1 show and tell.
Seems awfully quiet in this thread lately, so I'm going to get a new discussion up and running.
With the advent of the Rest in Peace + Helm of Obedience combo in UW/x Miracle Control decks, how has everyone's playtesting against that matchup fared?
So far, in our testing Game 1 is no longer the virtual bye it was once was, particularly if you don't resolve a Needle on Helm. Game 2 and 3 are still in our favor if we board right, though.
Seems awfully quiet in this thread lately, so I'm going to get a new discussion up and running.
With the advent of the Rest in Peace + Helm of Obedience combo in UW/x Miracle Control decks, how has everyone's playtesting against that matchup fared?
So far, in our testing Game 1 is no longer the virtual bye it was once was, particularly if you don't resolve a Needle on Helm. Game 2 and 3 are still in our favor if we board right, though.
How are your tests faring?
ive actually been randomly testing agaisnt it lately and the matches go drastically differently. they can get rip helm down fast if they are running two e-tutors. Basically it comes down to who has turn1/2 top and who doesnt. if your runnign more than one pneedle then that will help but its no longer an easy win and watch out for the versions running blood moon
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"Some have said there is no subtlety to destruction. You know what? They're dead."
—Jaya Ballard, task mage
Played a local legacy over the weekend and 3-0-1. still won the event. 10 people. round 1 i played maverick and we drew. he is an expert with maverick and aven mindcensor is an all star against us. Would of won the match but was one turn shy of killing him with kozelak. game two i played esper stoneblade and easily won 2-0 . i feel like this match is an auto win . i have had so much sucess against it. round 3 i played manaless dredge for the first time and also won with ease getting glacial chasm to buy me enough time in game one to cast emrakul. and game 2 bojuka bog and him not having a dredger was a very easy win (2-0). Round 4 i played u/r delver and lost game one. so game 2 and 3 i bought in the flusterstorms and the 4th show and tell to get one of my guys in fast to win games two and three. would of died game three but the crop rotation i left in hand all game to get glacial chasm to save me from price of progress really helped. i will be playing in nashville on the 19th for scg open. so hope to get on camera and give you guys a good show. still loving the deck. keep playing it!!!
Has anyone ever thought of splashing red in this deck for banefire? i am in the process of putting of putting post together and have been testing it here and there and thought that it seemed kinda good.
Well i played in scg nashville. my final record was 5-2-1. I lost round 2 against rug delver and round 7 to shardless bug (justin uppal) and he won his next round to make the top 8. here is the list of what i played.
i ended up 28th and have done well in the last two scg's including making top 8 in indy. i feel like the deck is a good choice and you get ppl that never have played it or understand it. which is a great advantage.
Well, the M14 Rules Change on the Legendary Rule changes some of our fringe plays significantly. First, we can no longer use Vesuva or Thespian's Stage to copy our opponents' legendary lands to get rid of them. Second, our interactions with the Legendary Rule and Show and Tell no longer apply. Those are the changes to our strategy that I am aware of, and I am unsure what else will affect us and how we play.
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Vive, vale. Siquid novisti rectius istis,
candidus inperti; si nil, his utere mecum.
~~~~~
Been a month since the last post so i thought i would chime in.
Got into the top 4 at a local event yesterday with the deck. There were 46 players who joined the event. This is the list I ran:
4 Cloudpost
4 Glimmerpost
4 Vesuva
4 Tropical Island
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Island
1 Karakas
1 Eye of Ugin
1 Glacial Chasm
1 Bojuka Bog
4 Brainstorm
4 Repeal
4 Show and Tell
4 Crop Rotation
4 Sensei's Divining Top
3 Expedition Map
2 Candelabra of Tawnos
4 Primeval Titan
2 Trinket Mage
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
SB:
1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
3 Mindbreak Trap
3 Iona, Shield of Emeria
4 Flusterstorm
4 Force of Will
My matchups were as follows:
Round 1: Won vs. Esper Deathblade 2-1
Round 2: Won vs. MUD 2-1
Round 3: Lost vs. Shardless BUG 1-2
Round 4: Draw vs. Dark Maverick 1-1 (Because I was a huge idiot and made a misplay at a critical time)
Round 5: Won vs. Nic Fit 2-0
Round 6: Won vs. Canadian Thresh 2-1 (My opponent mulled to 5 cards on the 3rd game, I was really lucky that time)
After 6 rounds of Swiss, I was ranked #5.
Quarterfinals: Won vs. Ad-Nauseam Tendrils 2-1 (Show and Tell Iona. 'Nuff said.)
We split the prize at Top 4 since people were basically tired and hungry at that point. Brought home a Volcanic Island for my trouble.
Moving on, I kind of miss not having Pithing Needle to take care of Liliana, so I will be testing cutting a Candelabra and/or an Expedition Map to make room for it. All in all, I had a blast with the deck and I'd tell you fans of the deck to give it a shot at your next local event.
Been a month since the last post so i thought i would chime in.
Got into the top 4 at a local event yesterday with the deck. There were 46 players who joined the event. This is the list I ran:
4 Cloudpost
4 Glimmerpost
4 Vesuva
4 Tropical Island
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Island
1 Karakas
1 Eye of Ugin
1 Glacial Chasm
1 Bojuka Bog
4 Brainstorm
4 Repeal
4 Show and Tell
4 Crop Rotation
4 Sensei's Divining Top
3 Expedition Map
2 Candelabra of Tawnos
4 Primeval Titan
2 Trinket Mage
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
SB:
1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
3 Mindbreak Trap
3 Iona, Shield of Emeria
4 Flusterstorm
4 Force of Will
My matchups were as follows:
Round 1: Won vs. Esper Deathblade 2-1
Round 2: Won vs. MUD 2-1
Round 3: Lost vs. Shardless BUG 1-2
Round 4: Draw vs. Dark Maverick 1-1 (Because I was a huge idiot and made a misplay at a critical time)
Round 5: Won vs. Nic Fit 2-0
Round 6: Won vs. Canadian Thresh 2-1 (My opponent mulled to 5 cards on the 3rd game, I was really lucky that time)
After 6 rounds of Swiss, I was ranked #5.
Quarterfinals: Won vs. Ad-Nauseam Tendrils 2-1 (Show and Tell Iona. 'Nuff said.)
We split the prize at Top 4 since people were basically tired and hungry at that point. Brought home a Volcanic Island for my trouble.
Moving on, I kind of miss not having Pithing Needle to take care of Liliana, so I will be testing cutting a Candelabra and/or an Expedition Map to make room for it. All in all, I had a blast with the deck and I'd tell you fans of the deck to give it a shot at your next local event.
Iona is great. Show and Tell -> Iona wins against many decks, and putting it into play against Omni-Tell is an instant win. Great against storm as well.
Also, do you recall the new Legend Rule having an impact at the tournament?
Regardless, congratulations on the Top 4. I'll add you deck to the primer later.
I don't take credit for the list. This is actually a slight modification of Jeremiah Rudolph's latest list. The difference between his list and mine is:
MB:
-1 Bojuka Bog
+1 Island
SB:
-1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
+1 Bojuka Bog
Iona was mostly for the Mono-U Omnitell match-up, though it also helps vs. Mono-Color decks in general (like Elves and Burn), and vs. Storm.
Force of Will, I believe, replaced Spell Pierce and/or BEB in the old lists. I don't think Turbo Eldrazi can afford not playing such a powerful tool any longer.
There are up to 25 blue cards in the deck post-board, so the deck can support playing these when they're needed in the matchup.
The reason I still run Tabernacle in the sb, and Bojuka Bog in the main is because in our local meta Tribal Aggro and Dredge are still a thing. In fact, one of the Top 4 in our event was a Dredge deck.
Report: 12th at 120-person side event at GP Vegas with Mono-green 12 Post
GP Vegas was the largest tournament in Magic history. This scale carried over to side events. On Sunday, 120 players signed up to battle Legacy -- a side event nearly half the size of the average SCG Open. Despite no sleep, a massive hangover, and a first-round match loss for tardiness, I still managed to take 12th place.
I will preface this by acknowledging that this will not be the best tournament report. I took no notes beyond life totals. Moreover, I was incredibly hung over from Saturday night's debauchery (and possibly still a bit drunk during the first few rounds), so I’m going purely off my (questionable) memory.
I've been playing this deck for a while, and I'm quite happy with the latest round of changes, which included a stronger anti-Storm sideboard and finally acquiring a Tabernacle.
Round 1: Match Loss - Tardiness
I stayed in the “Podcast House” for the weekend, which got pretty crazy. (There was lots of coverage of it, links at the bottom) We threw a huge party at the house on Saturday night (we even got Reuben Bressler to do commentary for the booze cube championship), and I was drinking until it was getting light out. As two of the guys made day 2 (Marcel and Corbin of Brainstorm Brewery), they had to get back to the venue early. The noise woke me up and, against my better judgment, I decided to hitch a ride. After we got there, I wandered around for a while, then I signed up for Legacy as soon as they were taking registration. Unfortunately, I wasn't paying attention and was in the bathroom when they called pairings. By the time I realized what was going on, I was about 12 minutes late and received a match loss. D'oh. It wasn't all bad, however, as got to have a nice chat with Helene Bergeot, who came to our house Friday and Saturday nights, and stopped by to see how I was recovering. It also gave me a chance to grab a pretzel from the concession stand, which had finally opened; this turned out to be my only meal all day.
Round 2 - RUG Delver (2-0) Game 1
I think I was on the draw here. I led with Cloudpost, followed by Glimmerpost and Expedition Map. My opponent Spell Pierced my Expedition Map, and I paid the 2. My opponent played a Delver, then I played a Forest, cast Ancient Stirrings to find another Cloudpost, and dropped a Candelabra. My opponent flipped Delver, then attempted to Wasteland a Cloudpost, so I floated some mana, untapped the Forest and Crop Rotationed into another Cloudpost. I used the floating mana to crack Expedition Map to find a Maze of Ith. Over the next 2-3 turns, he played and flipped another Delver, but I used Maze + Candelabra to hold off them off while I found another Cloudpost and an All Is Dust to wipe his board and cast Kozilek. He Stifled the casting trigger, then dropped a pair of Nimble Mongeese. I untapped and moved to combat; he Stifled the annihilator trigger and let Kozilek through to go to 4 life. I tutored up Karakas, bounced and recast Kozilek, and my opponent Snapcastered Stifle on the casting trigger. It wasn’t enough to save him, however, and he conceded. Game 2
I don’t remember how I boarded. I’m guessing that I brought in Powder Keg and maybe a Pithing Needle or two, probably cutting Crucible, Tabernacle, and an Exploration. Whatever it was wasn’t relevant, as I had a hand with 3 Cloudposts/Vesuvas, a Candelabra, and cast Ulamog on turn 3.
Round 3 - MUD Cloudpost (2-1) Game 1
I was on the draw and mulled to 5. I have never played the Cloudpost mirror (or even met another Cloudpost player), so I was pretty excited when my opponent opened with Ancient Tomb into Expedition Map. When I opened with Cloudpost, he just grinned right back at me. The game was over pretty quickly, as he went infinite with Staff of Domination on turn 3-4, thanks to my Posts fueling his. Game 2
After joking about boarding out our respective All Is Dusts (we each had 3x, although his were the new GP promo), I also cut Tabernacle, Karakas, and Bojuka Bog to bring in the full 3x Pithing Needles and 3x Krosan Grips.
My opening hand had 3x Vesuvas for land. I briefly considered keeping (as that would actually be sweet in this matchup) until I realized that it would be terrible on the play. I mulled into a hand with Thespian’s Stage, Forest x2, Cloudpost, Emrakul, Crop Rotation. I played Forest and Thespian’s Stage first, with Pithing Needle naming Wasteland (expecting Wasteland/Crucible from MUD) and found a Candelabra off Ancient Stirrings. At the end of his turn, I Crop Rotationed a Forest into a Cloudpost, and then turned Stage into a Cloudpost at the end of his next turn so that he couldn’t get the benefit of the additional Loci on his turns. I then untapped, dropped my own Cloudpost and cast Emrakul for the game. This was good, as my opponent would have dropped Staff for the win if he had untapped. Game 3
My opponent began with 2x Glimmerposts and Ancient Tomb into Lodestone Golem. I led with Forest, Exploration, Forest. I Cropped the Forest into Thespian’s Stage, then copied the Stage with Vesuva. I also played 2x Candelabras and some more forests. When I was ready, I Crop Rotationed into a Cloudpost at the end of his turn, turned my Stages into Cloudposts, untapped and cast Emrakul. As it turns out, this was definitely correct, as my opponent was holding Staff of Domination and several Vesuvas, so he was just waiting for me to play Cloudposts to copy.
Round 4 - Shardless BUG (2-1) Game 1
This one was over quickly. He cast a bunch of value creatures. I wiped his board with All Is Dust and cast Kozilek. Liliana made me sacrifice Kozilek, so I cast Emrakul and took infinite turns with Karakas. Game 2
This one was a slow grind. I kept his army at bay for a long time with a pair of Mazes and a Candelabra, then tutored up and cast Kozilek. Unfortunately, my opponent followed up with Liliana and made me sacrifice him. Wasteland killed the Eye, which he immediately exiled with Deathrite. I then managed to topdeck nothing but lands for about 7 turns in a row while he ticked up 2 Lilianas (I killed the first one at 5 counters with All Is Dust), eventually ultimating her. I don’t remember the split exactly, but it was basically mana vs. Eye and Mazes, so I kept mana. My opponent played a pair of 6/7 Goyfs, which killed me very quickly. Game 3
This one was also a slow grind. I played defense with Maze/Candelabra, wiped the board with Dust a few times, and lost an early Kozilek to Liliana. Krosan Grip took out my Powder Keg sitting at 2, which was sad, and eventually we were both in topdeck mode. Wasteland took out Maze. He cascaded Shardless Agent into a 7/8 Goyf, then did it again. Fortunately, I was at a high enough life total that I had a two-turn buffer. I topdecked Emrakul on the second turn, then topdecked Kozilek on my extra turn. He sacrificed everything but a Goyf to Emrakul’s annihilator, then conceded to Kozilek.
Round 5 - Storm/Doomsday (2-1) Game 1
My opponent went off with an impressive Empty the Warrens on turn 2. I Crop Rotationed my Forest into Tabernacle. Game 2
Sideboard: -3 Maze, -3 All Is Dust, -1 Karakas, -2 [something], +4 Mindbreak Trap, +2 Thorn of Amethyst, +2 Surgical Extraction, +1 Powder Keg
I dropped a Thorn of Amethyst on turn 2 and another one on turn 3. I played a Powder Keg, then ticked it up to 1 when my opponent played a Top. I blew the Keg at 1, hoping to keep my opponent slowed down by forcing him to waste more mana. This turned out to be irrelevant.
Apparently, my opponent was not on the pure TES that I put him on after game 1. Rather, he had brewed a crazy hybrid between TES and Doomsday (apparently, he was also the original creator of TinFins). After replaying Top, he paid full Thorn retail for a Chrome Mox and Lotus Petal. The following turn he played Doomsday, against which the Mindbreak Trap did exactly nothing. After making his Doomsday pile, he played Shelldock Isle, then Silenced me on my upkeep (prudent, as it kept me off the Emrakul in hand). My opponent then cast the Emrakul he had hidden away and took an extra turn. Forgetting that I had boarded out Karakas, I sacrificed everything but a Forest to his annihilator, hoping for a miraculous Crop Rotation or Ancient Stirrings. Obviously, this did not happen. Game 3
I was overjoyed to see one of the best possible opening hands I could imagine: 3 Cloudposts, Candelabra, Kozilek, Emrakul, Mindbreak Trap. My opponent bounced turn 3 Kozilek with Karakas, then conceded to turn 4 Emrakul.
Round 6 - Punishing Jund (1-2) Game 1
This one was pretty quick. He cast some guys, I wiped his board and cast Kozilek. Game 2
This one was brutal. I think it went something like: turn 1 Thoughtseize, followed by turn 2 Hymn, followed by turn 3 Duress and Hymn, followed by turn 4 Liliana. Basically, my opponent ripped apart my hand like a Christmas present. I held off his attack for a few turns with Mazes while I attempted to recover, but he ultimated Liliana and made me choose between defense and mana. I chose mana, which left me on a one-turn clock. I did not topdeck an answer. Game 3
I don’t remember this one very well. We went back and forth for a while. He dredged Life from the Loam into two Wastelands. I cast Surgical Extraction, targeting his Wastelands. I wiped his board a few times. I’m not sure exactly how dropped the ball here, but I recall thinking afterwards that I was playing way too defensively where I should have pressed my advantage. I think I tutored for a second Maze at some point when I should have grabbed a Glimmerpost or something.
Round 7 - Goblins (1-1) Game 1
I was slightly on tilt and getting really hungry and thirsty, so I kept a really bizarre hand without thinking. Basically, you’d have almost thought I was playing 43 Lands for the first half of the game. Double Forest, into double Exploration into 2 Mazes, and a Tabernacle. My opponent hit Tablernacle and Maze with Wastelands, but a got a Thespian’s Stage to copy Maze and replace it, and a pair of Candelabras to keep a veritable army at bay, while I kept topdecking large spells and Glimmerposts. My opponent found Krenko, which brought me down to dangerously low life. Fortunately, I found my seventh mana-producing land to cast All Is Dust, then a tutor to find a Cloudpost. Stage switched from Maze to Cloudpost, finally allowing me to cast Kozilek. I forgot to pay Kozilek’s upkeep for Tabernacle, which was dumb. Fortunately, it was irrelevant because I drew Eye of Ugin off Kozilek, so I just tutored up and cast Emrakul for the win after a 40-minute game 1. Game 2
I had turn 1 Pithing Needle naming Wasteland. This was good, as my opponent had kept a hand with three of them. My opponent used Matron to tutor for Tuktuk Scrapper. I cast another Pithing Needle, also naming Wasteland. I wiped his board with All Is Dust, but not before he got me down to dangerously low life. I cast Kozilek, but he found a pair of Goblin Warchiefs to kill me in turns.
Round 8 - Esper Deathblade (2-0) Game 1
This was pretty lopsided. He cast turn 2 Stoneforge for Batterskull and a turn 3 Stoneforge for Jitte. I didn’t care, because I had a Maze and a Thespian’s Stage to copy it, and resolved a Candelabra when he tapped out. I leisurely held off his army while laying Posts. Basically, it was a game of draw-go for thirty minutes, punctured with my opponent countering several Expedition Maps, Crop Rotations, and Ancient Stirrings (I still find it amusing to see Force of Will pitching Jace to stop Expedition Map, although it was clearly a must-counter since I would win immediately with Eye of Ugin). I cast Kozilek, which he Swordsed it. He dropped Jace, so I wiped his board with All Is Dust.
At one point, we did have an interesting judge call. I had Thespian’s Stage copying Maze of Ith. I copied Stage with Vesuva, then turned the Vesuva-Stage into a Cloudpost after All Is Dust made having a third Maze superfluous. I later copied the Vesuva-Stage-Cloudpost with another Vesuva, because I wanted it to also be a Stage copying Cloudpost, but we weren’t sure whether Vesuva came in as a “pure” Thespian’s Stage or a Thespian’s Stage-copying-Cloudpost or something else. Several judges put their heads together and determined that Vesuva came in as an actual “Cloudpost” with Thespian Stage’s ability.
Eventually, my opponent ran out of counterspells and I finally resolved an Expedition Map. At this point, I had several hundred mana available (3x Candelabras, 10x Loci), so I tutored for Eye of Ugin, then tutored for and cast all three legendary Eldrazi for the win. Game 2
Fortunately, this one went a lot quicker. I held off my opponent’s Stoneforge/Batterskull for a few turns with Maze of Ith, then cast Emrakul for the win.
Final record: 5-2-1 (12th Place)
Things learned:
1. Thespian’s Stage finally managed to impress me. Being able to switch back and forth between Maze of Ith and Cloudpost was very relevant in several games, allowing me to play early defense while I developed my mana. And I see it only getting better if Dark Depths becomes a thing. While I don’t think Depths fits in my deck, being able to copy my opponent’s Depths seems sweet.
2. I like maindeck Tabernacle.
3. Listening to announcements is crucial. Given that it looked like a field of fair decks, I’m pretty sure that I would have top 8’ed if I had actually showed up to play round 1.
4. Crucible of Worlds has been increasingly underwhelming. If I was to change the deck, I would cut this for something. Things I’m considering to replace it are a third Top, Sylvan Scrying, maindeck Pithing Needle, or another threat. I might test out Primeval Titan here, although I’m not confident that I can produce GG consistently without a Candelabra in play. A safe option might be Sundering Titan. A really spicy option might be a third Kozilek, since drawing multiples gets much, much better once the new legend rules take effect.
Coverage of the Podcast House On DailyMTG MTG Woodstock: Friday (LegitMTG) MTG Woodstock: Saturday (LegitMTG) "Meavy Meta" podcast (Brainstorm Brewery/GatheringMagic) What Happens in Vegas (QuietSpeculation) TwitchTV stream of booze cube championships (Note: heavily plagued with technical difficulties because Marcel was still in contention and hadn't come back yet to set it up)
I'll be adding it to the main post.
Another thing that I'm looking for to do is update the opening post. Cloudpost decks are in the midst of evolving to fit the ever changing metagame, especially with the advent of mono-Blue Omni Show, and the opening post is going to need to reflect that as well. For example, does anyone for any reason still play Phyrexian Revoker?
My time is limited, so my playtesting and ability to write out thoughts on new tech is limited, but what I'm looking for is cards that are on the rise in play (serious cards, not fun things like Strionic Resonator; ask insanely, he gets the punchline), and more and/or updated match-up analysis. All work is welcome and will be credited to their contributors.
What it looks like you are basically just taking the deck from Rock Lee's primer from The Source and repeating some of the stuff here. At the same time you are lacking all the valuable strategic insight and understanding of the deck while stating the obvious.
Why bother?
If the best you have to contribute to this thread is "your poorly ripping off Jeremiah Rudolph" then all I have to say is that I already said that in the Primer and cited my sources. At least other MTGtheSource users and deck pilots from Star City Games' Tops contribute their experience when they stop by and help me patch this thread.
And also please tell me that this also isn't about how I whimsically suggested Strionic Resonator on the Source with a clear disclaimer to not run it in a competitive build and misread "at" as "as" on Resonator. If so, let it go.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Vive, vale. Siquid novisti rectius istis,
candidus inperti; si nil, his utere mecum.
~~~~~
Magus of the Candelabra might not be a good idea. It's insane when you get it to stick, but unfortunately, it is highly unlikely that he won't face a kill spell or a counter right off the bat (unless your opponent has a terrible hand, or is an idiot)
Oracle of Mul Daya is a decent way to start Ramping as early as turn 3, and it functions similarly to the Show and Tell in the UG list. It's even more insane with a Top keeping the top card of your deck live. Though it does give away a tad too much information for my taste.
Ritual of Subdual seems interesting, but at 6 mana, it's going to be an uphill battle to get that to resolve.
Not a fan of It that Betrays. I would try to get Kozilek and Ulamog as soon as you can and run that instead.
Finally, I think you went a bit overboard with the land-drop-acceleration effects. Sensei's Top is really important, so I would try to get those as soon as you can. I would also replace Sylvan Scrying with Expedition Maps, as they don't need colored mana, which matters a lot of the time.
Another budget card you can play that has a heavy impact on the board is Sundering Titan. Although primarily a sideboard card, it wrecks multicolor mana bases.
To expand on insanely's point against It that Betrays, creatures need to have an immediate impact on the board, meaning that it needs to benefit the board the moment it hits the board (or even before it hits the board if we're talking about Legendary Eldrazi). The closest exception to this rule would likely be Wurmcoil Engine because its not an intense casting cost (like Woodfall Primus) and has an important leaves the battlefield effect.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Vive, vale. Siquid novisti rectius istis,
candidus inperti; si nil, his utere mecum.
~~~~~
I have recently puchased my 12 post deck for magic online. i have been doing very well online as well as doing great at the 2 scg's i have played with the deck (top 8 and tip 32). i am playing in cincinatti next weekend so i have been grinding a lot of games online. my question is would anyone like to see me steam on twitch and walk you through my plays? you could suggest if i am doing something wrong or question why i did something. i will have a mic and camera to walk you through my plays. let me know if interested and i will post when i will be doing some steaming and give you the link. thank you.
Level 1 Judge
Currently Playing:
W Death and Taxes
BGR ScapeWish Nic Fit
BGR Punishing Nic Fit
Crop Rotation is one of the more important cards in the deck.
It is so good that people are starting to leave it in post-sideboard even when facing a deck heavy on counterspells.
I would actually disagree that Expedition Map is untouchable.
To be perfectly honest, it is one of the weaker cards in Turbo Eldrazi. I find myself boarding it out a lot of the time (particularly against RUG, and any deck with a fast clock)
I've been happy with 3 copies main so far, but it might just be preference talking here.
The only reason I run only 3 is because I run Pithing Needle, Oblivion Stone AND Brainstorm main deck...
You are correct about it offering another avenue of play though. Sadly, a ton of cards are competing for space in the main, and as a compromise, I had to cut 1 Expedition Map, the weaker of Turbo Eldrazi's staples IMO.
I'm curious though, what list are you running?
Once thing Chalice is really great against is Burn, which really hoses 12-post, but I guess you're not expecting it in the meta, are you?
Have you considered Spell Pierce in your SB? It's not as great as BEB against Sneak Show and Burn, but it will help you in a discard-heavy matchup.
Second, the thing about Trinket Mage is that he's the middle man that can be any one of those cards. You're not waiting to draw into those cards you need and can serve as a tool box.
Third, I get a lot of value out of Trinket Mage being a chump blocker. Or even in a couple of cases against control, my aggro push while I work out setting up my later finishers. The deck has very few cards that work on defense, so what I'm saying is that being able to keep me alive an extra turn against Blightsteel Colossus is one of my justifications for why I run mine.
However, Trinket Mage is a preference card. The deck functions with or without him, so I won't fight you tooth and nail to keep him in your 75.
Agreed. In fact for awhile, it inspired people in my play group to up their Needle count.
That's because Expedition Map is one of the weaker staples in the deck, but that's like saying it's the poorest billionaire. It's still a staple. Expedition Map and I have a long and complicated relationship, but ultimately it adds speed to 12-Post, which is what the deck needs.
Repeal comes and goes for most people, but what it ultimately boils down to when it comes to the numbers is whether or not you have room for four. If you do, then awesome. If you don't, I hope that whatever is running in slot number four (people tend to not go below three) is worth it.
Generally, I'm all in favor of Brainstorm. It fixes early game hands, and the most common two cards I put back when I end of turn it is *top* Misty Rainforest *next one down* Tropical Island. That's actually comes up quite often. But I have no problems with Brainstorm.
As an aside, Sensei's Divining Top and Brainstorm have a great synergy if you Brainstorm first, then Top. Your looking at the two cards you put back + the fourth card down from before you Brainstormed... essentially letting you look four down with Top.
That being said, with the talk of dropping Brainstorm, I've been testing it, and I don't see any problem with dropping it if you want to. I side them out when I know I'm going to be going Chalice for 1 the next game anyway.
I love mine as a one of, and I think we could go all the way to 16-Post... if we had the room for it. But when I get my one Thespian's Stage, I generally have no little to no trouble flowing it into what I need to get down... it's when it starts cropping up in multiples that it becomes a hassle to deal with because manually transforming so many lands gets distracting. Generally what I do is Vesuva Thespian's Stage if I need more than one because the Stage should already be a Cloudpost. No muss, no fuss.
-Sideboard:
First, Chalice of the Void is not a one of if you side it. Even with Trinket Mage. Chalice at 0 is an important play though, but Chalice to 2 against Storm (sans Spanish Inquisition... I think that one's 1 or 3) kills them harder than any other number. More importantly though... every Storm deck I've played can play out of Chalice that is not set on two. Multiple Chalice ensures you have a fighting chance to get to the magic number in said match-up.
Second, their Chalice set to 1 kills us. Our Chalice set to 1 is NOT suicidal. I've set Chalice to 1 many times post board when stopping their one-drops is more important than keeping my one drops in the main board. I've yet to regret that decision when I do it. Generally, when I lock down the 1-drops with Chalice, I don't regret it because either a. I was able to get the important 1-drops through first or b. locking opponents out of the game like that often induces scoop phase, so I don't get the chance to regret what I did.
It's strictly a meta call. Flusterstorm, Mindbreak Trap, Spell Pierce, and Blue Elemental Blast/Hydroblast all depend on what you expect to play against. I guess Venser, Shaper Savant counts in that group too, but I generally consider him extra Repeals that can be brought in with Show and Tell, abused with Karakas, or attack.
Side-note: I'm not the biggest fan of Spell Pierce (not because it's bad, it's AWESOME) because Flusterstorm casts itself before it storms. Meaning that at Storm count 1, Flusterstorm makes the spell's caster pay 2, which is Spell Pierce. So for me, side Spell Pierce if you need more than four Flusterstorm.
Personally, I wish there was a big colorless artifact creature with Shroud or Hexproof (we can't search out Inkwell Leviathan, and we have no use for Blightsteel or Darksteel Colossus because the Eldrazi are just better) because the biggest appeal of the Eldrazi is their ability to be hard to kill. That said, we don't, so Wurmcoil Engine is probably your best bet in those scenarios if you want an extra tutorable Eye of Ugin target, so I'm not going to stop you. In fact... you implied earlier that you have two slots to spare when you said you had room for a pair of Trinket Mage or Brainstorm if you wanted them. Why not see if Wurmcoil Engine would work there? Granted six 6 drops is intimidating, but doable for the sake of science. Also Sundering Titan is a great mana denial card... but just be careful with him if you test him (likely won't make the cut, but worth mentioning because any deck that can spit him out can hit all sorts of greedy mana bases).
Deathrite Shaman is one of the cards that I'm willing to risk setting Chalice of the Void to 1. And it works pretty well against BUG because it makes them digging for Abrupt Decay more difficult since cantrips/dig power usually all costs 1 as well as saves my hand from half their discard. I wonder whether or not that's a bad play at times... but it works at significantly slowing them down. Also, Cursed Totem, Phyrexian Revoker, and Pithing Needle (they can't always have Abrupt Decay) all have saved me on occasions. Cursed Totem is likely your best bet because it shuts down those people that tech Scavenging Ooze in those decks as well, and outside of BUG and Jund, Cursed Totem takes broad strokes against Maverick, Elves, MUD, and Griselbrand.
But thank you for your insights. They were an interesting read. I hope some of my responses are helpful, but remember that I'm not the 12-Post god, so feel free to rebut me if you don't agree.
candidus inperti; si nil, his utere mecum.
~~~~~
With the advent of the Rest in Peace + Helm of Obedience combo in UW/x Miracle Control decks, how has everyone's playtesting against that matchup fared?
So far, in our testing Game 1 is no longer the virtual bye it was once was, particularly if you don't resolve a Needle on Helm. Game 2 and 3 are still in our favor if we board right, though.
How are your tests faring?
ive actually been randomly testing agaisnt it lately and the matches go drastically differently. they can get rip helm down fast if they are running two e-tutors. Basically it comes down to who has turn1/2 top and who doesnt. if your runnign more than one pneedle then that will help but its no longer an easy win and watch out for the versions running blood moon
"Some have said there is no subtlety to destruction. You know what? They're dead."
—Jaya Ballard, task mage
Legacy:
Goblins (21-8-4)
Death&Taxes
--refusing to casting Force of Will since 2010--
sig thanks to Heroes of the Plane Studios
sales thread
1. esper stoneblade(win)
2. rug delver(lost)
3. sneak attack(win)
4. high tide(win)
5. rug delver(win)
6. u/w control(win)
7. shardless bug(lost)
8. ant(intentional draw)
i ended up 28th and have done well in the last two scg's including making top 8 in indy. i feel like the deck is a good choice and you get ppl that never have played it or understand it. which is a great advantage.
candidus inperti; si nil, his utere mecum.
~~~~~
Got into the top 4 at a local event yesterday with the deck. There were 46 players who joined the event. This is the list I ran:
4 Cloudpost
4 Glimmerpost
4 Vesuva
4 Tropical Island
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Island
1 Karakas
1 Eye of Ugin
1 Glacial Chasm
1 Bojuka Bog
4 Brainstorm
4 Repeal
4 Show and Tell
4 Crop Rotation
4 Sensei's Divining Top
3 Expedition Map
2 Candelabra of Tawnos
4 Primeval Titan
2 Trinket Mage
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
SB:
1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
3 Mindbreak Trap
3 Iona, Shield of Emeria
4 Flusterstorm
4 Force of Will
My matchups were as follows:
Round 1: Won vs. Esper Deathblade 2-1
Round 2: Won vs. MUD 2-1
Round 3: Lost vs. Shardless BUG 1-2
Round 4: Draw vs. Dark Maverick 1-1 (Because I was a huge idiot and made a misplay at a critical time)
Round 5: Won vs. Nic Fit 2-0
Round 6: Won vs. Canadian Thresh 2-1 (My opponent mulled to 5 cards on the 3rd game, I was really lucky that time)
After 6 rounds of Swiss, I was ranked #5.
Quarterfinals: Won vs. Ad-Nauseam Tendrils 2-1 (Show and Tell Iona. 'Nuff said.)
We split the prize at Top 4 since people were basically tired and hungry at that point. Brought home a Volcanic Island for my trouble.
Moving on, I kind of miss not having Pithing Needle to take care of Liliana, so I will be testing cutting a Candelabra and/or an Expedition Map to make room for it. All in all, I had a blast with the deck and I'd tell you fans of the deck to give it a shot at your next local event.
Iona, Shield of Emeria and Force of Will? I'm intrigued by those tech. Please, say more.
No Oblivion Stone or All is Dust?
Also, do you recall the new Legend Rule having an impact at the tournament?
Regardless, congratulations on the Top 4. I'll add you deck to the primer later.
candidus inperti; si nil, his utere mecum.
~~~~~
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I don't take credit for the list. This is actually a slight modification of Jeremiah Rudolph's latest list. The difference between his list and mine is:
MB:
-1 Bojuka Bog
+1 Island
SB:
-1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
+1 Bojuka Bog
Iona was mostly for the Mono-U Omnitell match-up, though it also helps vs. Mono-Color decks in general (like Elves and Burn), and vs. Storm.
Force of Will, I believe, replaced Spell Pierce and/or BEB in the old lists. I don't think Turbo Eldrazi can afford not playing such a powerful tool any longer.
There are up to 25 blue cards in the deck post-board, so the deck can support playing these when they're needed in the matchup.
The reason I still run Tabernacle in the sb, and Bojuka Bog in the main is because in our local meta Tribal Aggro and Dredge are still a thing. In fact, one of the Top 4 in our event was a Dredge deck.
I'll be adding it to the main post.
Another thing that I'm looking for to do is update the opening post. Cloudpost decks are in the midst of evolving to fit the ever changing metagame, especially with the advent of mono-Blue Omni Show, and the opening post is going to need to reflect that as well. For example, does anyone for any reason still play Phyrexian Revoker?
My time is limited, so my playtesting and ability to write out thoughts on new tech is limited, but what I'm looking for is cards that are on the rise in play (serious cards, not fun things like Strionic Resonator; ask insanely, he gets the punchline), and more and/or updated match-up analysis. All work is welcome and will be credited to their contributors.
candidus inperti; si nil, his utere mecum.
~~~~~
If the best you have to contribute to this thread is "your poorly ripping off Jeremiah Rudolph" then all I have to say is that I already said that in the Primer and cited my sources. At least other MTGtheSource users and deck pilots from Star City Games' Tops contribute their experience when they stop by and help me patch this thread.
And also please tell me that this also isn't about how I whimsically suggested Strionic Resonator on the Source with a clear disclaimer to not run it in a competitive build and misread "at" as "as" on Resonator. If so, let it go.
candidus inperti; si nil, his utere mecum.
~~~~~
1 emrakul, the aeons torn
1 it that betrays
4 magus of the candelabra
4 oracle of mul daya
4 primeval titan
2 all is dust
3 ancient stirrings
4 crop rotation
4 explore
4 exploration
2 ritual of subdual
3 sylvan scrying
Magus of the Candelabra might not be a good idea. It's insane when you get it to stick, but unfortunately, it is highly unlikely that he won't face a kill spell or a counter right off the bat (unless your opponent has a terrible hand, or is an idiot)
Oracle of Mul Daya is a decent way to start Ramping as early as turn 3, and it functions similarly to the Show and Tell in the UG list. It's even more insane with a Top keeping the top card of your deck live. Though it does give away a tad too much information for my taste.
Ritual of Subdual seems interesting, but at 6 mana, it's going to be an uphill battle to get that to resolve.
Not a fan of It that Betrays. I would try to get Kozilek and Ulamog as soon as you can and run that instead.
Finally, I think you went a bit overboard with the land-drop-acceleration effects. Sensei's Top is really important, so I would try to get those as soon as you can. I would also replace Sylvan Scrying with Expedition Maps, as they don't need colored mana, which matters a lot of the time.
To expand on insanely's point against It that Betrays, creatures need to have an immediate impact on the board, meaning that it needs to benefit the board the moment it hits the board (or even before it hits the board if we're talking about Legendary Eldrazi). The closest exception to this rule would likely be Wurmcoil Engine because its not an intense casting cost (like Woodfall Primus) and has an important leaves the battlefield effect.
candidus inperti; si nil, his utere mecum.
~~~~~
candidus inperti; si nil, his utere mecum.
~~~~~