Straight up, like most Magic players, I mostly go for the artwork on cards I like. I just happen to really, really like the Zombies on the foil Eldritch Moon Zombie tokens. If you shine the light just right on their purple eyes, they get a really nice halo going on and it's so cool to toy with.
but I'd rather spend that money on guitar effects pedals (I don't know which addiction is worse!).
Well, it's surely better than having G.A.S. (which is probably more expensive).
...
I've been thinking of dropping the flayer package (-1 out of 3 DR and -1 flayer) but I can't decide on what to put in those 2 slots.
Ya, GAS is pretty bad when you're talking big Strymon pedals and nice tube amps.... and fuzz. Fuzz is a nasty addiction to get into.
I used to run Flayer, but since I started to play with Ashen Rider I haven't had too many situations where AR didn't solve the problem. That said, I still love Flayer.
Any thoughts on this? I haven't seen Elesh Norn in very many sideboards ITT or on mtgtop8, kind of hoping she's not an archaic piece like Tarnished Citadel.
I haven't seen Elesh Norn in very many sideboards ITT or on mtgtop8, kind of hoping she's not an archaic piece like Tarnished Citadel.
LOL - Citadels used to be worth something....
Nah, she's good. Can result in big swings. Fact she's more $$ valuable than Iona says something. I think the fact that she's an absolute gun VS tribal decks and the mirror is worth mentioning. I guess the real argument is whether you want her VS other targets.
Iona, Elesh Norn, and Ashen Rider are 3 cards that are a fixture in my sideboard. Grixis and BUG maybe have a few Maelstrom Pulse to answer Elesh Norn. She just wrecks their clock while accelerating yours. Infect is also a match up that Elesh Norn shines. Just don't attack with her to avoid Berserk killing her off. Even against DnT, Elesh Norn can serve as a wrath effect to clear the board even if StP or Karakas gets her. I don't see any creature based match up where Elesh Norn can't be of some use. Personally, I'd rather cut FKZ to put in Ashen Rider than cut Elesh Norn.
Okay, so now here's my new dilemma. I want to keep all four Dread Return targets, two in the main (FKZ and Iona) and two in the side (Elesh Norn and Ashen Rider). I like Flame-Kin too much to straight up cut him and I know Iona is a beast in every aspect.
So, here's the sideboard I have. It's sixteen cards.
The cards that're on the chopping block are Pithing Needle or 1 Chain of Vapor. I feel like Vapor should be cut to two because it essentially does what Ashen Rider is supposed to do, but instead of exiling it bounces. I like the Needle for the Miracles match-up (typically I name Top) and admittedly I haven't played enough of the other decks to know what else to name. And anyways, this is where I am as of current.
Since you already have a couple of Echoing Truths, cutting 1 Chain of Vapor isn't a bad idea. Although a singleton Pithing Needle won't see too much play either.
I think I'd rather have different cards to get rid of Sensei's Divining Top like a bounce spell into Cabal Therapy. I can't think of any other match-ups besides Miracles where Pithing Needle is useful. Stoneblade, maybe? Batterskull/Stoneforge decks in general, I guess. I think I'll cut Needle and jam Ashen Rider in the side. Better diversity for my DR package will probably help me more in the long run.
What are people's thoughts on Flame-Kin Zealot main? I've heard varying opinions from it being a "win-more" card, to it being essential in games vs. combo. Is it better to keep your Dread Return targets in the sideboard so that you can better decide when you know more of what your opponent is playing?
Another thing: Should you be running reactive cards like Nature's Claim in your sideboard to deal with hate? I've heard some people say that you should be focusing on your game more but I can never seem to bring myself to go without it.
FKZ and other dedicated DR targets are a matter of preference and/or play style. I wouldn't say it's essential against combo but it gives you another option to win the race. I will say that based on my experience against Storm, multiple Cabal Therapies is the more likey route to victory than a turn 1 kill via FKZ/DK/Flayer.
Same with reactive cards like Nature's Claim as some people prefer going the Fearless route (no reactive cards) in their sideboard. If your meta has very little hate then it doesn't make much sense to board in 4-6 cards that will dilute your combo just to answer 1-2 hate cards that might not even see play. For that reason, I prefer to have some answer to hate (2-4 cards) but not dilute the deck too much to affect the consistency of the combo. But that's just my preference.
(FKZ) I wouldn't say it's essential against combo but it gives you another option to win the race. I will say that based on my experience against Storm, multiple Cabal Therapies is the more likey route to victory than a turn 1 kill via FKZ/DK/Flayer.
I agree. Therapy is the way to beat fast combo/storm, and pretty much most decks. Thing is, if you can DR FKZ, chance are you've discarded their hand anyway, or they've hidden key cards under a Brainstorm.
I used to run Mindbreak Traps in the side a lot, but now I tend to side in 2x Petals and race them, cracking off Therapys on key cards ASAP.
Trap is dead for non-storm matchups. Since Storm isn't a big threat around me anymore, since Miracles and Death & Taxes became the dominant force, I've dropped them for now.
RE: Claims;
They're good, but then that's relative to what choices we have. Since our deck might struggle to reliably cast anything above 1cmc, we're limited. Claims are okay, but given Wasteland, Chalice of the Void, Thorn, Thalia etc. all make even Claims conditional to cast, it's one of those choices that is up to what decks you might expect to play against.
If Chalice is a big thing for you, consider the evoke creatures.
I'm with SHaboogs, I run ~3 Claims if I was going to run it.
I would also like to add that casting Therapy before you go all in with BT/CC/LED or DR is a good practice. As an example, a few weeks ago I lost to Burn of all things because I did not Therapy before casting BT in game 3. Turns out he had a Pyroblast (which I never saw coming) for my BT and I lost the race after that. I could have easily won with Iona if my BT resolved but because I did not Therapy before BT I punted that game away.
That's the sideboard I'm running currently. I'm not entirely sure about it but it's worked for the testing I've done. I'll try out Abrupt Decay against Miracles, that might be what I'm looking for. The mana might make it tricky though. I feel like you'll get stuck with something like 1 Mana Confluence and 1 Cephalid Coliseum on board with an Abrupt Decay in hand.
But yeah, Cabal Therapy is definitely the best answer to anything.
Eldrazi MU seems terrible after their SB. Especially if they are on the play.
T1: Sol land + Chalice for 1 and we're screwed. You have to hope you get Abrupt Decay with some rainbow lands in hand.
Other hate cards they have includes Ratchet Bomb (kills zombie tokens good), Farie Macabre (instant speed removal of your dredge cards or faithless looting) or Leyline for those that don't play Macabre (easier to beat with Nature's Claim assuming they don't Chalice for one on T1).
With Eldrazi a decent portion of the meta, any tips? Our primer guides says the archetype is 'too new' for assessment. The decks have been around and they are pretty much similar though I've seen decks splash white for Displacer, green for Worldbreaker or blue + white for Drowner/Displacer.
Thanks! I much prefer the flexibility of Nature's Claim (hits artifacts + enchantments) vs Wispmare but Ingot Chewer is definitely a good one ageinst Chalice. Will look at maybe 2 for the SB as it's easier to cast than Abrupt Decay (Eldrazi doesn't use counter spells bar Warping Wail anyway). Street Wraith is one way to combat Farie Macabre I guess!
@allyourlives: If you're going the Abrupt Decay route, please make sure to include additional mana sources like Lotus Petal and/or rainbow lands like City of Brass to help cast it. Cephalid Coliseum doesn't count as you've mention (unless you have Riftstone Portal in your graveyard).
Maybe a good balance for the side would be 1-2 Wispmare, 1-2 Ingot Chewer, and 2-4 Nature's Claim. That way you can tailor your sideboard toward the meta you expect to see and have the possibility of clearing out pesky T1 Chalices on 1, or Leyline, or Rest in Peace. Just a thought, but I don't know if diluting the sideboard with conditional additional copies of Nature's Claim is a good idea.
I've struggled against Eldrazi after game1, as Leyline of the Void comes down early. That said, I've seen them mulligan down to oblivion to find it too.
I'm still in the testing phase of the Force-Side (I've only taken it out in the wild 3 times so far), but so far I'm using the Chain/Therapy interaction, with Force to stop what I can. It's been okay so far, but I don't play against Eldrazi very often. Evoke creatures are a good answer otherwise.
I've struggled against Eldrazi after game1, as Leyline of the Void comes down early. That said, I've seen them mulligan down to oblivion to find it too.
I'm still in the testing phase of the Force-Side (I've only taken it out in the wild 3 times so far), but so far I'm using the Chain/Therapy interaction, with Force to stop what I can. It's been okay so far, but I don't play against Eldrazi very often. Evoke creatures are a good answer otherwise.
Let me know how you go with this plan and what your SB plan is. Seems like you'll need to board at least 6 cards to the MU: 4x FoW and 2x Chains. And the only other blue cards to pitch to FoW are Prized, Careful Study and Breakthrough? You save the FoW for Chalice and Chains for Leyline. Honestly though, the FoW route goes well in other combo decks like Reanimator and Sneak & Show but might dilute the Dredge plan too much?
I've also been testing one Prized Amalgam main. Nice to have a 'free' creature off an Ichorid or Narcomoeba. Only annoyance is sometimes it hits the yard after Narcomoeba ETBs.
You can also pitch Narcomoeba to FoW which makes the blue count high enough to make FoW effective in theory. Having different Artifact/Enchantment removal cards in the sideboard can be inefficient at times since you could potentially bring in other cards for different match ups but as long as you know the match ups those various disenchant cards come in then it should be fine. Here's what I have sleeved up for my 15.
Looking at my sideboard, the plan is dependent on whether or not they have countermagic (FoW). If they do, then Decays and Portal are coming in. If not, then Claims should be enough. If they have Leyline, Truth comes in as well.
I bit the bullet and will get 8 more this friday. Hopefully, 13 shiny tokens will be enough to go with my shiny deck.
I've been thinking of dropping the flayer package (-1 out of 3 DR and -1 flayer) but I can't decide on what to put in those 2 slots.
Ya, GAS is pretty bad when you're talking big Strymon pedals and nice tube amps.... and fuzz. Fuzz is a nasty addiction to get into.
I used to run Flayer, but since I started to play with Ashen Rider I haven't had too many situations where AR didn't solve the problem. That said, I still love Flayer.
Any thoughts on this? I haven't seen Elesh Norn in very many sideboards ITT or on mtgtop8, kind of hoping she's not an archaic piece like Tarnished Citadel.
LOL - Citadels used to be worth something....
Nah, she's good. Can result in big swings. Fact she's more $$ valuable than Iona says something. I think the fact that she's an absolute gun VS tribal decks and the mirror is worth mentioning. I guess the real argument is whether you want her VS other targets.
So, here's the sideboard I have. It's sixteen cards.
4 Nature's Claim
3 Chain of Vapor
3 Firestorm
2 Echoing Truth
1 Lotus Petal
1 Pithing Needle
1 Ashen Rider
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
The cards that're on the chopping block are Pithing Needle or 1 Chain of Vapor. I feel like Vapor should be cut to two because it essentially does what Ashen Rider is supposed to do, but instead of exiling it bounces. I like the Needle for the Miracles match-up (typically I name Top) and admittedly I haven't played enough of the other decks to know what else to name. And anyways, this is where I am as of current.
Another thing: Should you be running reactive cards like Nature's Claim in your sideboard to deal with hate? I've heard some people say that you should be focusing on your game more but I can never seem to bring myself to go without it.
Same with reactive cards like Nature's Claim as some people prefer going the Fearless route (no reactive cards) in their sideboard. If your meta has very little hate then it doesn't make much sense to board in 4-6 cards that will dilute your combo just to answer 1-2 hate cards that might not even see play. For that reason, I prefer to have some answer to hate (2-4 cards) but not dilute the deck too much to affect the consistency of the combo. But that's just my preference.
I agree. Therapy is the way to beat fast combo/storm, and pretty much most decks. Thing is, if you can DR FKZ, chance are you've discarded their hand anyway, or they've hidden key cards under a Brainstorm.
I used to run Mindbreak Traps in the side a lot, but now I tend to side in 2x Petals and race them, cracking off Therapys on key cards ASAP.
Trap is dead for non-storm matchups. Since Storm isn't a big threat around me anymore, since Miracles and Death & Taxes became the dominant force, I've dropped them for now.
RE: Claims;
They're good, but then that's relative to what choices we have. Since our deck might struggle to reliably cast anything above 1cmc, we're limited. Claims are okay, but given Wasteland, Chalice of the Void, Thorn, Thalia etc. all make even Claims conditional to cast, it's one of those choices that is up to what decks you might expect to play against.
If Chalice is a big thing for you, consider the evoke creatures.
I'm with SHaboogs, I run ~3 Claims if I was going to run it.
That's the sideboard I'm running currently. I'm not entirely sure about it but it's worked for the testing I've done. I'll try out Abrupt Decay against Miracles, that might be what I'm looking for. The mana might make it tricky though. I feel like you'll get stuck with something like 1 Mana Confluence and 1 Cephalid Coliseum on board with an Abrupt Decay in hand.
But yeah, Cabal Therapy is definitely the best answer to anything.
T1: Sol land + Chalice for 1 and we're screwed. You have to hope you get Abrupt Decay with some rainbow lands in hand.
Other hate cards they have includes Ratchet Bomb (kills zombie tokens good), Farie Macabre (instant speed removal of your dredge cards or faithless looting) or Leyline for those that don't play Macabre (easier to beat with Nature's Claim assuming they don't Chalice for one on T1).
With Eldrazi a decent portion of the meta, any tips? Our primer guides says the archetype is 'too new' for assessment. The decks have been around and they are pretty much similar though I've seen decks splash white for Displacer, green for Worldbreaker or blue + white for Drowner/Displacer.
Appreciate the thoughts.
Thanks! I much prefer the flexibility of Nature's Claim (hits artifacts + enchantments) vs Wispmare but Ingot Chewer is definitely a good one ageinst Chalice. Will look at maybe 2 for the SB as it's easier to cast than Abrupt Decay (Eldrazi doesn't use counter spells bar Warping Wail anyway). Street Wraith is one way to combat Farie Macabre I guess!
I've been running a blue side lately (one Prized Amalgam in the main)
4 Force of Will, 2 Chain of Vapor, 3 Firestorm, 2 Lotus Petal, 2 Dread Return, Iona, Ashen Rider.
I may up the Chains to 3....
I've struggled against Eldrazi after game1, as Leyline of the Void comes down early. That said, I've seen them mulligan down to oblivion to find it too.
I'm still in the testing phase of the Force-Side (I've only taken it out in the wild 3 times so far), but so far I'm using the Chain/Therapy interaction, with Force to stop what I can. It's been okay so far, but I don't play against Eldrazi very often. Evoke creatures are a good answer otherwise.
Let me know how you go with this plan and what your SB plan is. Seems like you'll need to board at least 6 cards to the MU: 4x FoW and 2x Chains. And the only other blue cards to pitch to FoW are Prized, Careful Study and Breakthrough? You save the FoW for Chalice and Chains for Leyline. Honestly though, the FoW route goes well in other combo decks like Reanimator and Sneak & Show but might dilute the Dredge plan too much?
I've also been testing one Prized Amalgam main. Nice to have a 'free' creature off an Ichorid or Narcomoeba. Only annoyance is sometimes it hits the yard after Narcomoeba ETBs.
2 Nature's Claim
2 Echoing Truth
2 Firestorm
3 Abrupt Decay
1 Riftstone Portal
1 Ashen Rider
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
Looking at my sideboard, the plan is dependent on whether or not they have countermagic (FoW). If they do, then Decays and Portal are coming in. If not, then Claims should be enough. If they have Leyline, Truth comes in as well.