@Rlesko: The tendency we can see now is that the 4x Hymn is not needed anymore. More and more, players are moving towards 3 Hymn 2 Thoughtseize, because removing the key card is more important than 2 random ones. There are cards than can screw your game, and also knowing their hand may help. So for me, Hymn is less important in a deck like this, when you tend to set up for the first turns trying not to fall far behind while preparing for the midgame, when you shine. So, Imho, 2 Lilianas are good, but then I'd avoid the other Hymns for Thoughtseize or pointed removal.
Cascading is great, feeels great, but really think what you really need. Playing a Liliana is not bad at all (specially after a chumpblocker).
Yea, I've already dropped the 4th in my side and I think I will also drop the 3rd main board. I'm basically running Gerry Thompson's list. I don't want to cut the Maelstrom Pulse as I always like having a catch all card in my main deck. I was thinking about putting a Jitte in main deck instead of 1 Hymn. 2 Lilianas is really good though because it provides so much board control.
Sorry, I didn't see this the first time around. I've now changed my sideboard considerably and don't remember my list before, apologies.
I played a small 4 rounder last night, and decided to test some things out. I wanted to try a list without Shardless Agent and Ancestral Vision. Of course, the card advantage power the engine generates is huge, but I've found myself wishing I had access to some more low cost disruption and a wider choice of sideboard cards. Secondly, I wanted to try out Notion Theif as more than a 1-of in the sideboard. Despite being a card lots of people laugh at when they see it, I think it's the real deal so decided on 2 maindeck. I also have a pet love already for the card as I'm a big fan of blowouts (isn't anyone?) and just getting it once in response to a Brainstorm is nuts.
My sideboard is pretty bad, and was essentially cards I pulled out of my folder that evening, but some of them came in handy. I definitely recommend at least one Krosan Grip SB, I found myself wishing for one in a fair few situations.
Unfortunately, I didn't get to play Notion Thief once, but he certainly did some work. He was the target of multiple Thoughtseizes and Cabal Therapy's as well as a Force of Will. I'll need to keep playing him to get the blowout I want.
The rest of the deck seemed to perform fairly well without shardless, except Spell Pierce which has been really weak for me for some time. I think I'll definitely move them to sideboard and think of another card instead. Mana Leak has been in my head for a while...
Here's a small and quick writeup of the games.
Round 1 vs Bye.
Was a well fought game, but I got there...
Round 2 vs ANT with burning wish
G1: He's on the play and plays Ponder. My turn 1 I Thoughseize him and take Ad Nauseum leaving him with no tutor or wish, but still with 2 brainstorms in hand and one ritual. The first brainstorm gets him a wish, LED and a ritual and he goes off.
G2: I thoughtseize into hymn, into hymn + wasteland and it's gg.
G3: I wasteland him twice and set him fairly far back, but he's drawing well and after a hymn is still left with enough gas to just about go off but he punts it pretty bad. I surgical his dark rituals and then drop a liliana hoping the discard would be enough as I have no other play. His hand is tutor, cabal ritual (with thresh) and ad nauseum. I assume he would discard the tutor, but instead discards the nauseum and tutors for past in flames (after topdecking another cabal ritual!). He's at 11 from a goyf and he misplays again by stopping the draws at 3, but he didn't have any LED to discard his hand for a tutor. After his misplay at stopping he asks if he can carry on, which i refuse and he concedes. His next 3 cards were land, land, led...the best way to learn is by losing.
Round 3 vs Deathblade
I don't remember all the plays and sequences as the games were quite long, but I remember the jist of what happened.
G1: After the first 5 or 6 turns of attrition plays, he comes out ahead with a Batterskull and after my goyf decides to plough some fields he gets there.
G2: I have t1 deathrite, t2 liliana with daze backup for his t2 play and he couldn't come back from it.
G3: Again, attritioned it out for a while, and the board is looking ok after turn 7 or so. I have a Strix with a jitte, 2 deathrites and a liliana. He has a jace, a strix of his own and a clique. Jace finds him a stoneforge to legend rule the jitt and a snapcaster to deal with one of my creatures and the card adv of Jace wins him the game easily.
Round 4 vs Goblins
I play against this goblin deck every week, so have 2 plagues sideboard by default.
G1: he mulls to 5 and I win easily with goyf beats.
G2: He has no t1 play, and I lay 3 goyfs on the table as defense until I can find a plague. I found it by turn 5 or 6, wipe his board except a ringleader and swing in with 3 5/6 goyfs and that was the end.
I'm running Shardless BUG, and am curious about the onset of Geist of Saint Traft, as shown to be fairly dominate in the most recent large legacy tournament. Is there a way to mitigate this threat without having a card in the side only dedicated to stopping it? I'm having trouble finding much beyond cheap board wipes. (Besides the Thoughtseize + Extirpate option)
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GBR Elves UBR ANT R Burn
UR Gift Storm GB/GR/GW/G Karn Tron GW Aura RW Burn
GBWUR Child of Alara BWR Kaalia of the Vast UWR Narset, Enlightened Master GWR Uril, the Miststalker
"Whether you think you can, or think you can't, you're right." - Henry Ford
I havent play tested it, but Massacare seems good to me! I was advocating it on another board as a way to combat aggro and mid range white decks. It's great against death + taxes, maverick, stoneforge, lingering souls, Geist and Mother of Runes. If we play around it, it can takeout their turn 1 & 2 drops while we spend those first turns attacking their hand and sculpting ours.
j
It can be played for 0 mana, which is always good, and may help this deck, especially given our potential weakness to tempo decks.
Edit: Massacre isn't irrelevant against elves or Merfolk either. Obviously it isn't optimal with a CMC of 4, but against those decks it will act like a Damnation that leaves our goyfs on the board.
If you want something more targeted, there is Diabolical Edict or Liliana.
I havent play tested it, but Massacare seems good to me! I was advocating it on another board as a way to combat aggro and mid range white decks. It's great against death + taxes, maverick, stoneforge, lingering souls, Geist and Mother of Runes. If we play around it, it can takeout their turn 1 & 2 drops while we spend those first turns attacking their hand and sculpting ours.
It can be played for 0 mana, which is always good, and may help this decks especially give our potential weakness to tempo decks.
Edit: Massacre isn't irrelevant against elves or Merfolk either. Obviously it isn't optimal with a CMC of 4, but against those decks it will act like a Damnation that leaves our goyfs on the board.
If you want something more targeted, there is Diabolical Edict or Liliana.
To be honest, that's an interesting answer (Massacre). I would suggest it's fairly relevant against anything that runs white. I'm not sure we'll be able to get it off in time for Elves or Merfolk, our Engineered Plague can handle that. Have to give this consideration.
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GBR Elves UBR ANT R Burn
UR Gift Storm GB/GR/GW/G Karn Tron GW Aura RW Burn
GBWUR Child of Alara BWR Kaalia of the Vast UWR Narset, Enlightened Master GWR Uril, the Miststalker
"Whether you think you can, or think you can't, you're right." - Henry Ford
To be honest, that's an interesting answer (Massacre). I would suggest it's fairly relevant against anything that runs white. I'm not sure we'll be able to get it off in time for Elves or Merfolk, our Engineered Plague can handle that. Have to give this consideration.
Engineered Plague is cheaper, but why not have 3x Massacre in the SB to bring in againt all of these decks and leave the rest of our slots for other matches? One thing to remember is that you will need 2 copies of Engineered Plague to take out all of the threats in Merfolk and Elves. Many of their creatures are X/2.
Engineered Plague is cheaper, but why not have 3x Massacre in the SB to bring in againt all of these decks and leave the rest of our slots for other matches? One thing to remember is that you will need 2 copies of Engineered Plague to take out all of the threats in Merfolk and Elves. Many of their creatures are X/2.
I tested Massacre out today. Only needed it once, and it saved that game for sure. The funny thing was, I used it in a Junk Blade deck, not BUG, but same purpose in either deck.
It's a winner vs any deck with white mana that utilizes creatures, as well as vs. Geist. For me, I played it as a free spell, which then allowed me to use my lands for whatever else was an advantage. As much as I would like to play it vs Elves and Merfolk, these decks don't run White, which means we must pay the 4cc. I'd rather have Damnation if that was the case. That being said, I say its worthy of a spot! Thoughts?
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GBR Elves UBR ANT R Burn
UR Gift Storm GB/GR/GW/G Karn Tron GW Aura RW Burn
GBWUR Child of Alara BWR Kaalia of the Vast UWR Narset, Enlightened Master GWR Uril, the Miststalker
"Whether you think you can, or think you can't, you're right." - Henry Ford
More results on Massacre ...its still doing well. Out of many times using it, only once did I pay the cost. Obviously against decks with White sources, so it may not be worth the real look, but it will win you a game vs an aggressive opponent not knowing you have it.
I saw this somewhere, has anyone given thought to Academy Ruins? It just seems like it sync well with this deck. I'd imagine dropping a Wasteland for 1, but like Creeping Tar Pit it gives us something to do with our mana, adds pressure...etc. Shardless Agent and Baleful Strix are reasonable targets, and if you side-boarded in artifacts it can only help more.
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GBR Elves UBR ANT R Burn
UR Gift Storm GB/GR/GW/G Karn Tron GW Aura RW Burn
GBWUR Child of Alara BWR Kaalia of the Vast UWR Narset, Enlightened Master GWR Uril, the Miststalker
"Whether you think you can, or think you can't, you're right." - Henry Ford
Massacre is an awesome sideboard card. I was in Philly and fair decks were everywhere. On The Source I am almost favoring Lejay's version with no game one discard and instead 4 liliana's of the Veil. I know you have to gauge whether or not the percentages of a combo heavy metagame are against you, but in Philly as an example, fair decks abounded so Lejay's version would have probably been much better overall. In Lejay's the discard and clique are sideboarded to fight combo specifically, which is a better setup for a fair meta. Back to massacre, I saw a lot of x/1-2 white guys in maverick, dark maverick, lingering souls in Philly and massacre would have done serious work.
Massacre is a great addition, but I thought this was already solved with the lonely Badlands / Volcanic Island and Whipflare. Isn't that path the main one Vs Creature decks anymore? Why has it been abandoned?
I'm not sure it was abandoned, just looking into alternatives. To be honest, Whipflare may be more consistent against all decks, whereas Massacre is stuck being best against white sources..but that is the the power it has in casting it for free.
Does anyone find that the Red addition for Whipflare hurt anything?
I'll ask another one again, has anyone given thought to 1 copy of Academy Ruins?
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GBR Elves UBR ANT R Burn
UR Gift Storm GB/GR/GW/G Karn Tron GW Aura RW Burn
GBWUR Child of Alara BWR Kaalia of the Vast UWR Narset, Enlightened Master GWR Uril, the Miststalker
"Whether you think you can, or think you can't, you're right." - Henry Ford
Academy Ruins could be cool for strix recursion. The only thing that bothers me about it is its yet another wasteland target and doesn't produce colored mana. But I don't think anything is wrong with trying out some games with it. My only concern is it might be too cute instead of efficient. Also, what matches specifically would having academy ruins strengthen? I think its imperative to ask these kinds of questions.
Lejay loves whipflare technology, and to be certain it probably is better if your meta is infested with x/1-2 dorks. Whipflare is good against Elves as well, which I think most events will have represented. Instant speed also makes it very appealing.
Overall, as far as builds go, more and more do I find myself preferring Lejay's builds, especially since most metas I see are fair metas.
Academy Ruins could be cool for strix recursion. The only thing that bothers me about it is its yet another wasteland target and doesn't produce colored mana. But I don't think anything is wrong with trying out some games with it. My only concern is it might be too cute instead of efficient. Also, what matches specifically would having academy ruins strengthen? I think its imperative to ask these kinds of questions.
Lejay loves whipflare technology, and to be certain it probably is better if your meta is infested with x/1-2 dorks. Whipflare is good against Elves as well, which I think most events will have represented. Instant speed also makes it very appealing.
Overall, as far as builds go, more and more do I find myself preferring Lejay's builds, especially since most metas I see are fair metas.
Good points on Whipflare. I'll have to consider trying it.
Academy Ruins works with Baleful Strix...but also Shardless Agent which was the real motivation behind it. The fact that it produces colorless is the reason I felt dropping 1 copy of Wasteland would be efficient. While I agree changes made to decks should affect certain match-ups, I feel this simply helps in all and more importantly does not hurt in any. It is really more for that mid/late game top deck advantage. Shardless in the yard? Activate the Academy on your opponents turn, get that Shardless on top, begin your cascade next turn, if not your Strix for that 1/1 while not losing a card. Also goes well with brainstorm, placing lands on top when you don't need them, only to Cascade them away. Its just something I don't really see hurting the deck, and only giving the chance to strengthen it.
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GBR Elves UBR ANT R Burn
UR Gift Storm GB/GR/GW/G Karn Tron GW Aura RW Burn
GBWUR Child of Alara BWR Kaalia of the Vast UWR Narset, Enlightened Master GWR Uril, the Miststalker
"Whether you think you can, or think you can't, you're right." - Henry Ford
Although I'd love to see Whipflare cast at instant speed, it's hardly difficult without some investment
Nah, honestly, being a sorcery makes it "quite alright" instead of "damn broken". Cascading into it seems good but the adjustment on the mana base was scaring me.
Regarding the Academy Ruins, I just feel you may screw yourself as, eventhough a Wasteland produces de "same amount" of mana, it's not as probable to be blown if you are light on mana. Academy ruins is a BIG target for their wasteland and may be destroyed ASAP.
Yes it would be a huge target, but here are a lot of 'land' targets everyone plays regardless of Wasteland. In ours, we have Creeping Tar Pit, in others, Karakas, Rishadan Port (to name a few) even a tapped Wasteland is a target. I still think its worthy giving more attention too. It isn't ideal to play early when wastelands are floating around looking for anything, but it is something mid/late that you can hold onto till the right time.
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GBR Elves UBR ANT R Burn
UR Gift Storm GB/GR/GW/G Karn Tron GW Aura RW Burn
GBWUR Child of Alara BWR Kaalia of the Vast UWR Narset, Enlightened Master GWR Uril, the Miststalker
"Whether you think you can, or think you can't, you're right." - Henry Ford
I would try academy ruins, but I cant in Lejay's list because I need double black by turn three as much as possible for Liliana. In Gerry's list, try it out. I usually only advocating cards if they will strengthen weak matchups typically.
I really advocate Lejays build IF your in a high fair meta. I know, losing maindeck discard hurts at first, until you figure out you mainly want it for combo decks anyway. So, its a give and take. Right now, where I play, I much prefer 4 Liliana's maindeck as opposed to thoughtseizes and hymns. Ill sideboard into discard and vendillion cliques.
I would try academy ruins, but I cant in Lejay's list because I need double black by turn three as much as possible for Liliana. In Gerry's list, try it out. I usually only advocating cards if they will strengthen weak matchups typically.
I really advocate Lejays build IF your in a high fair meta. I know, losing maindeck discard hurts at first, until you figure out you mainly want it for combo decks anyway. So, its a give and take. Right now, where I play, I much prefer 4 Liliana's maindeck as opposed to thoughtseizes and hymns. Ill sideboard into discard and vendillion cliques.
I've seen it, can't find it now. Are you able to provide a link?
So I started playing this deck, and I dont want to necessarily give up on it, but I have been struggling with it.
Some games seem to be easy but others I have found no way to reset the board if it gets out of our control. Maverick has been problems especially.
Is there something im doing wrong? Abrupt decays dont seem to help when your opponent resolves mirrian crusader.
So I started playing this deck, and I dont want to necessarily give up on it, but I have been struggling with it.
Some games seem to be easy but others I have found no way to reset the board if it gets out of our control. Maverick has been problems especially.
Is there something im doing wrong? Abrupt decays dont seem to help when your opponent resolves mirrian crusader.
*** I second the trouble with maverick! Game one feels nearly impossibly with Gerry T's list. After board it does improve some, however; I hate feeling like I have no shot winning game one. Anyone know why Pernicious deed feel out of favor? It seems that 1 or 2 main deck could improve the match up some...
*** I second the trouble with maverick! Game one feels nearly impossibly with Gerry T's list. After board it does improve some, however; I hate feeling like I have no shot winning game one. Anyone know why Pernicious deed feel out of favor? It seems that 1 or 2 main deck could improve the match up some...
i havent played enough against maverick to give too much advise, but have you played engineered plague calling human? tends to work wonders vs the bulk of their core creatures. Granted, thats game 2, game one is not a fun time unless you can get rid of mom and keep pressure down.
Yea I agree with all of the above statements in regarding to Shardless's problem in combating cheap efficient creatures. Mom, Knight, Ooze, are all so efficient it's tough to keep up in Game 1. Even playing against Merfolk, it seemed like I was being outclassed.
Post board, it seems either Pernicious Deed or Damnation would help you out. I really like Deed because it powers up your Tarmogoyfs and can destroy other types of permanents as well.
I know it sounds like a weird suggestion, but has anyone considered Black Sun's Zenith?
It's flexible, does more than Deed on turn 3, hits weaker dudes at lower costs, and can enable us to win Goyf wars if we time things right. And it's reusable, so theoretically you'd need less in the deck and board.
I know it sounds like a weird suggestion, but has anyone considered Black Sun's Zenith?
It's flexible, does more than Deed on turn 3, hits weaker dudes at lower costs, and can enable us to win Goyf wars if we time things right. And it's reusable, so theoretically you'd need less in the deck and board.
In a regular (non Shardless non Delver) configuration...considering it needs 4 mana to activate just to destroy the most common creatures (Agent, Deathrite, Stoneforge, Delver, Bob, Mom, KotR (without lands in yard) Geist...only to name a few...probably not the best choice. If your going to cast it for 4 mana, why not just run Damnnation, or Massacre in the side.
And definitely not in Shardless BUG.
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GBR Elves UBR ANT R Burn
UR Gift Storm GB/GR/GW/G Karn Tron GW Aura RW Burn
GBWUR Child of Alara BWR Kaalia of the Vast UWR Narset, Enlightened Master GWR Uril, the Miststalker
"Whether you think you can, or think you can't, you're right." - Henry Ford
problem with it is in a shardless build you only want 1 in play, and shardless likes to run multiples to maximize cascades. if you run a singleton in the deck, you'll never hit it, but if you cascade into one, thats a waste of a cascade.
Yea, I've already dropped the 4th in my side and I think I will also drop the 3rd main board. I'm basically running Gerry Thompson's list. I don't want to cut the Maelstrom Pulse as I always like having a catch all card in my main deck. I was thinking about putting a Jitte in main deck instead of 1 Hymn. 2 Lilianas is really good though because it provides so much board control.
Sorry, I didn't see this the first time around. I've now changed my sideboard considerably and don't remember my list before, apologies.
I played a small 4 rounder last night, and decided to test some things out. I wanted to try a list without Shardless Agent and Ancestral Vision. Of course, the card advantage power the engine generates is huge, but I've found myself wishing I had access to some more low cost disruption and a wider choice of sideboard cards. Secondly, I wanted to try out Notion Theif as more than a 1-of in the sideboard. Despite being a card lots of people laugh at when they see it, I think it's the real deal so decided on 2 maindeck. I also have a pet love already for the card as I'm a big fan of blowouts (isn't anyone?) and just getting it once in response to a Brainstorm is nuts.
My sideboard is pretty bad, and was essentially cards I pulled out of my folder that evening, but some of them came in handy. I definitely recommend at least one Krosan Grip SB, I found myself wishing for one in a fair few situations.
Anyway, here is the list I played:
3 Liliana of the Veil
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
3 Thoughtseize
3 Hymn to Tourach
2 Spell Pierce
4 Brainstorm
2 Daze
4 Abrupt Decay
4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Tarmogoyf
1 Vendilion clique
4 Dark Confidant
2 Notion Theif
1 Umezawa's Jitte
3 Verdant Catacombs
1 Misty Rainforest
4 Polluted Delta
3 Underground Sea
2 Bayou
1 Tropical Island
1 Creeping Tar Pit
2 Wasteland
1 Forest
1 Island
1 Swamp
Sideboard:
3 Surgical Extraction
2 Flusterstorm
4 Force of Will
2 Baleful Strix
2 Engineered Plague
1 Dimir Charm
1 Darkblast
Unfortunately, I didn't get to play Notion Thief once, but he certainly did some work. He was the target of multiple Thoughtseizes and Cabal Therapy's as well as a Force of Will. I'll need to keep playing him to get the blowout I want.
The rest of the deck seemed to perform fairly well without shardless, except Spell Pierce which has been really weak for me for some time. I think I'll definitely move them to sideboard and think of another card instead. Mana Leak has been in my head for a while...
Here's a small and quick writeup of the games.
Round 1 vs Bye.
Was a well fought game, but I got there...
Round 2 vs ANT with burning wish
G1: He's on the play and plays Ponder. My turn 1 I Thoughseize him and take Ad Nauseum leaving him with no tutor or wish, but still with 2 brainstorms in hand and one ritual. The first brainstorm gets him a wish, LED and a ritual and he goes off.
G2: I thoughtseize into hymn, into hymn + wasteland and it's gg.
G3: I wasteland him twice and set him fairly far back, but he's drawing well and after a hymn is still left with enough gas to just about go off but he punts it pretty bad. I surgical his dark rituals and then drop a liliana hoping the discard would be enough as I have no other play. His hand is tutor, cabal ritual (with thresh) and ad nauseum. I assume he would discard the tutor, but instead discards the nauseum and tutors for past in flames (after topdecking another cabal ritual!). He's at 11 from a goyf and he misplays again by stopping the draws at 3, but he didn't have any LED to discard his hand for a tutor. After his misplay at stopping he asks if he can carry on, which i refuse and he concedes. His next 3 cards were land, land, led...the best way to learn is by losing.
Round 3 vs Deathblade
I don't remember all the plays and sequences as the games were quite long, but I remember the jist of what happened.
G1: After the first 5 or 6 turns of attrition plays, he comes out ahead with a Batterskull and after my goyf decides to plough some fields he gets there.
G2: I have t1 deathrite, t2 liliana with daze backup for his t2 play and he couldn't come back from it.
G3: Again, attritioned it out for a while, and the board is looking ok after turn 7 or so. I have a Strix with a jitte, 2 deathrites and a liliana. He has a jace, a strix of his own and a clique. Jace finds him a stoneforge to legend rule the jitt and a snapcaster to deal with one of my creatures and the card adv of Jace wins him the game easily.
Round 4 vs Goblins
I play against this goblin deck every week, so have 2 plagues sideboard by default.
G1: he mulls to 5 and I win easily with goyf beats.
G2: He has no t1 play, and I lay 3 goyfs on the table as defense until I can find a plague. I found it by turn 5 or 6, wipe his board except a ringleader and swing in with 3 5/6 goyfs and that was the end.
Any questions, feel free to ask!
UBR ANT
R Burn
GB/GR/GW/G Karn Tron
GW Aura
RW Burn
BWR Kaalia of the Vast
UWR Narset, Enlightened Master
GWR Uril, the Miststalker
j
It can be played for 0 mana, which is always good, and may help this deck, especially given our potential weakness to tempo decks.
Edit: Massacre isn't irrelevant against elves or Merfolk either. Obviously it isn't optimal with a CMC of 4, but against those decks it will act like a Damnation that leaves our goyfs on the board.
If you want something more targeted, there is Diabolical Edict or Liliana.
To be honest, that's an interesting answer (Massacre). I would suggest it's fairly relevant against anything that runs white. I'm not sure we'll be able to get it off in time for Elves or Merfolk, our Engineered Plague can handle that. Have to give this consideration.
UBR ANT
R Burn
GB/GR/GW/G Karn Tron
GW Aura
RW Burn
BWR Kaalia of the Vast
UWR Narset, Enlightened Master
GWR Uril, the Miststalker
Engineered Plague is cheaper, but why not have 3x Massacre in the SB to bring in againt all of these decks and leave the rest of our slots for other matches? One thing to remember is that you will need 2 copies of Engineered Plague to take out all of the threats in Merfolk and Elves. Many of their creatures are X/2.
I tested Massacre out today. Only needed it once, and it saved that game for sure. The funny thing was, I used it in a Junk Blade deck, not BUG, but same purpose in either deck.
It's a winner vs any deck with white mana that utilizes creatures, as well as vs. Geist. For me, I played it as a free spell, which then allowed me to use my lands for whatever else was an advantage. As much as I would like to play it vs Elves and Merfolk, these decks don't run White, which means we must pay the 4cc. I'd rather have Damnation if that was the case. That being said, I say its worthy of a spot! Thoughts?
UBR ANT
R Burn
GB/GR/GW/G Karn Tron
GW Aura
RW Burn
BWR Kaalia of the Vast
UWR Narset, Enlightened Master
GWR Uril, the Miststalker
I saw this somewhere, has anyone given thought to Academy Ruins? It just seems like it sync well with this deck. I'd imagine dropping a Wasteland for 1, but like Creeping Tar Pit it gives us something to do with our mana, adds pressure...etc. Shardless Agent and Baleful Strix are reasonable targets, and if you side-boarded in artifacts it can only help more.
UBR ANT
R Burn
GB/GR/GW/G Karn Tron
GW Aura
RW Burn
BWR Kaalia of the Vast
UWR Narset, Enlightened Master
GWR Uril, the Miststalker
I'm not sure it was abandoned, just looking into alternatives. To be honest, Whipflare may be more consistent against all decks, whereas Massacre is stuck being best against white sources..but that is the the power it has in casting it for free.
Does anyone find that the Red addition for Whipflare hurt anything?
I'll ask another one again, has anyone given thought to 1 copy of Academy Ruins?
UBR ANT
R Burn
GB/GR/GW/G Karn Tron
GW Aura
RW Burn
BWR Kaalia of the Vast
UWR Narset, Enlightened Master
GWR Uril, the Miststalker
Lejay loves whipflare technology, and to be certain it probably is better if your meta is infested with x/1-2 dorks. Whipflare is good against Elves as well, which I think most events will have represented. Instant speed also makes it very appealing.
Overall, as far as builds go, more and more do I find myself preferring Lejay's builds, especially since most metas I see are fair metas.
Good points on Whipflare. I'll have to consider trying it.
Academy Ruins works with Baleful Strix...but also Shardless Agent which was the real motivation behind it. The fact that it produces colorless is the reason I felt dropping 1 copy of Wasteland would be efficient. While I agree changes made to decks should affect certain match-ups, I feel this simply helps in all and more importantly does not hurt in any. It is really more for that mid/late game top deck advantage. Shardless in the yard? Activate the Academy on your opponents turn, get that Shardless on top, begin your cascade next turn, if not your Strix for that 1/1 while not losing a card. Also goes well with brainstorm, placing lands on top when you don't need them, only to Cascade them away. Its just something I don't really see hurting the deck, and only giving the chance to strengthen it.
UBR ANT
R Burn
GB/GR/GW/G Karn Tron
GW Aura
RW Burn
BWR Kaalia of the Vast
UWR Narset, Enlightened Master
GWR Uril, the Miststalker
Yes it would be a huge target, but here are a lot of 'land' targets everyone plays regardless of Wasteland. In ours, we have Creeping Tar Pit, in others, Karakas, Rishadan Port (to name a few) even a tapped Wasteland is a target. I still think its worthy giving more attention too. It isn't ideal to play early when wastelands are floating around looking for anything, but it is something mid/late that you can hold onto till the right time.
UBR ANT
R Burn
GB/GR/GW/G Karn Tron
GW Aura
RW Burn
BWR Kaalia of the Vast
UWR Narset, Enlightened Master
GWR Uril, the Miststalker
I really advocate Lejays build IF your in a high fair meta. I know, losing maindeck discard hurts at first, until you figure out you mainly want it for combo decks anyway. So, its a give and take. Right now, where I play, I much prefer 4 Liliana's maindeck as opposed to thoughtseizes and hymns. Ill sideboard into discard and vendillion cliques.
I've seen it, can't find it now. Are you able to provide a link?
UBR ANT
R Burn
GB/GR/GW/G Karn Tron
GW Aura
RW Burn
BWR Kaalia of the Vast
UWR Narset, Enlightened Master
GWR Uril, the Miststalker
Here you go.
http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?24698-DTB-BUG-quot-Shardless-quot-Control&p=731403#post731403
So I started playing this deck, and I dont want to necessarily give up on it, but I have been struggling with it.
Some games seem to be easy but others I have found no way to reset the board if it gets out of our control. Maverick has been problems especially.
Is there something im doing wrong? Abrupt decays dont seem to help when your opponent resolves mirrian crusader.
*** I second the trouble with maverick! Game one feels nearly impossibly with Gerry T's list. After board it does improve some, however; I hate feeling like I have no shot winning game one. Anyone know why Pernicious deed feel out of favor? It seems that 1 or 2 main deck could improve the match up some...
i havent played enough against maverick to give too much advise, but have you played engineered plague calling human? tends to work wonders vs the bulk of their core creatures. Granted, thats game 2, game one is not a fun time unless you can get rid of mom and keep pressure down.
Primer - Mishra, Artificer Prodigy
Thor, Ragnar Röks!
Hela, and the Enemies of Asgard
Teferi, Temporal Archmage
Post board, it seems either Pernicious Deed or Damnation would help you out. I really like Deed because it powers up your Tarmogoyfs and can destroy other types of permanents as well.
It's flexible, does more than Deed on turn 3, hits weaker dudes at lower costs, and can enable us to win Goyf wars if we time things right. And it's reusable, so theoretically you'd need less in the deck and board.
In a regular (non Shardless non Delver) configuration...considering it needs 4 mana to activate just to destroy the most common creatures (Agent, Deathrite, Stoneforge, Delver, Bob, Mom, KotR (without lands in yard) Geist...only to name a few...probably not the best choice. If your going to cast it for 4 mana, why not just run Damnnation, or Massacre in the side.
And definitely not in Shardless BUG.
UBR ANT
R Burn
GB/GR/GW/G Karn Tron
GW Aura
RW Burn
BWR Kaalia of the Vast
UWR Narset, Enlightened Master
GWR Uril, the Miststalker
Credit goes to Brofoux for the Sig pic.
Current Modern Deck
Black Licorice
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?p=11006564#post11006564
problem with it is in a shardless build you only want 1 in play, and shardless likes to run multiples to maximize cascades. if you run a singleton in the deck, you'll never hit it, but if you cascade into one, thats a waste of a cascade.
Personally, its a no from me
Primer - Mishra, Artificer Prodigy
Thor, Ragnar Röks!
Hela, and the Enemies of Asgard
Teferi, Temporal Archmage