Q: Can I play Indomitable Creativity in Modern competitively?
A: Yes, you can.
Introduction and History of the Deck
Welcome to the humble primer for my brew, Sword & Shield. Yes, I could have called it something boring like Mardu creativity or Nahiri Creativity, but I prefer my deck names with some history and lore in it. This deck was originally conceived as go-wide aggro with a possible plan B of pulling in Emrakul, the Aeons Torn with Indomitable Creativity. If you'd like to read about the concept, development and previous iterations of the deck, open the spoiler below.
The deck is essentially tokens with a superior polymorph. (superiority is contextual in this case, which will be explained further down the primer during single card discussion). On the archetype clock, we're sitting lightly on Control and Aggro, and more firmly on Combo. Postboard, we can pull out of Combo and lean into the first 2 archetypes, depending on the opponent's position and expected boarding pattern.
We accomplish this by being a mixture of the format's best token makers coupled with lesser rated token makers that make the list because of their instant speed, buff the tokens with Intangible virtues, and add reach. The deck achieves control with elements such as Nahiri's -2, your basic removal package of bolt, push, path, terminates, and the combo element is basically Indomitable creativity or Nahiri's ultimate. As such, you have possible early game aggression, late game power, and midrange control.
The first iteration was mono red. The plan A was to win with goblin tokens and reach - it sported 12 goblen token generators, namely playsets of Krenko's Command, Goblin Fodder and Hordeling Outburst. All the common mono red reach spells including Goblin Grenade were included as playsets, and finally add Emrakul and 4 copies of Creativity, and that was basically the deck. The combo was plan B, and this plan only had the Sword and no Shield. This proved to be an issue against decks with planeswalkers and other such ability-based removal like Detention Sphere. Also, the deck operated completely at sorcery speed and was thus vulnerable to blue based control, having no way to overload counterspell decks by flashing tokens and then going off. This led to the second iteration.
The second iteration was boros. The deck was now divided between go-wide aggro and combo. It had gained powerful burn spells like Boros Charm and Lightning Helix, and instant speed token generator Raise the Alarm. It also introduced Nahiri as a secondary way to combo off, increasing the emphasis on combo. To combat the Sword's vulnerability, I included her Shield, literally. The deck could now leverage Creativity's X cost, and Go for 2. With the Sword on the field and the Shield to hold off any potential outs, this combination meant that Creativity with X=2 was basically a win. This iteration was able to hold its own in a competitive meta, going 2-1 at FNM and 3-2 at a 22 man win-a-box. It was during the 22 man that I realized that 1. I needed more instant speed tokens and 2. I needed some form of card selection beyond Nahiri. Otherwise I was a mediocre aggro deck with 23 lands and a combo deck with no consistency.
The final iteration, which this primer is all about, includes the third and probably final color. The black splash unlocked Fatal Push, which meant being able to deal with creatures using one mana and not ramping the opponent with path all the time, terminate, Mardu Charm, Lingering souls and indirectly, Faithless looting (because of Souls' flashback ability). At time of writing, it has gone 3-0 at an FNM against Dredge (creeping chill vsn), Jund (with Trophy) and Affinity (with Karn). In other words, a partial snapshot of your typical current meta (October 2018).
Glossary
Here's a few terms I will use in the primer and will be useful during discussion. They make discussion less clunky.
"Go for X" or "Went for X" - means casting indomitable creativity with value = X. Typically 1 means you're just going for one piece, while 2 means you're aiming for both sword and shield. In special cases, you may target enemy artifacts/creatures, which will be discussed in the single card discussions.
"Hit the Sword" - to Go for 1 and hit Emrakul
"Hit the Shield" - to Go for 1 and hit Iona
"Flash tokens" - refers to token creation at instant speed, be it via an ability (Adanto) or spells (Raise the Alarm)
Why play this deck
The beauty of this deck is that it combos, but the potential "blowouts" are minimal. For instance, a well timed bolt to Baral when you're floating 1 mana and Past in Flames is on the stack, path/push to Restoration Angel after you tap out for kiki, Assassin's Trophy/Bolt at Saheeli and so on, typically leave the combo attempter in a very bad position. In this deck, being denied the combo typically doesn't result in such a situation. Additionally, we don't get hit by meta hate such as RIP, Stony Silence, leylines. Ensnaring Bridge is one way to stop emrakul, but creativity can be cast for 2 or 3, and include the bridge as a target.
The deck threatens the opponent on 2 axes - they have to survive your tokens and burn, and also watch out for the combo via creativity or if Nahiri is on the board looking for her Wifi signal. They want to attack Nahiri, but they risk being chumped. They want to remove tokens to minimize damage, but they also want to save spot removal for your Creativity targets. They want to spend mana to wipe the board on their turn, but they risk getting comboed out by flash tokens and creativity. By this virtue, it is exceedingly common to win by attack steps and just finishing out with reach. That's right - you're playing splinter twin.
If you always wanted a deck that:
had a higher chance to ult Nahiri,
play indomitable creativity in modern,
will Annihilator 6 opponents often,
or are a big fan of having people gawk at incredible boardstates and ask "how the heck did this happen",
then please, read on.
Decklist
The deck is in its third iteration, and by third I don't mean a couple of card changes here and there. The deck list is below, and its previous iterations and philosophies are described in the History Spoiler above. If you're a budget conscious player, you'd be interested in versions 1 and 2, since they're considerably cheap.
I have sorted the deck by purpose as opposed to card type for easy analysis, critique and planning.
I'm going to talk about the key cards in this deck - their nuances, tips and tricks to using the cards, and how they were included, if not already apparent.
Indomitable Creativity:
The splinter twin card of the deck, this card threatens any player not holding a counterspell or multiple removals in their hand. The opponent has 2 options - counter creativity, or remove all creatures targeted by creativity before it resolves. Typically, life gets harder for combo as the game drags on. This deck, however, will cast creativity for 3, and then demand 3 instant speed answers from the opponent.
Now, I called this a superior polymorph, and promised to explain. Here we go:
1. You can hit more than 1 target, which enables the whole concept of Sword AND Shield.
2. You can hit artifacts, which means the opponent's ensnaring bridge, O Stone, Planar Bridge - whatever makes you happy - and you can do it with the SAME creativity you're going off with. Basically, destroy the out AND pull in Emrakul and Iona with 1 spell.
3. Creativity EXILES the card, THEN puts in on the battlefield. Polymorph puts the card directly on the battlefield from the library. Basically, you can't Grafdigger's Cage this beast.
I know what some of you are thinking - have I met any opponents who boarded in Grafdigger's Cage in round 2 thinking it would work? The answer is yes, 1 so far, and he was quite bummed out when the L2 explained why his cage wasn't going to stop him from being annihilated next turn.
Emrakul, the Aeons Torn:
The original win con of the first iteration, this card ends the game in a very obvious way. It either comes out Hasty from Nahiri and only hits once, or it comes out from creativity without haste but sticks around. Either way, this sword has to be dealth with before it turns sideways, because like Howard Stark said: "I like the stick that you only have to use ONCE."
Iona, Shield of Emeria:
When I included the Shield I had not considered the lore. I was including her so she could protect Emrakul from Detention Spheres, Terminus, board wipes. It only came to me after I'd bought the card and was sleeving it up - Emeria in Zendikari lore was referring to none other than the Eldrazi Titan herself. Basically, Iona is the Shield of Emrakul. That's how this deck got its name.
Nahiri, The Harbinger:
She's just as powerful in this deck as the old Jeskai version. And just like Iona, she too has a flavor win here - the reason she is described as the Harbinger on this card was because she called Emrakul down onto Innistrad to vex Sorin. In this case, she's calling Emrakul down too - on your opponent. I probably don't have to explain too much, so just briefly - +2 helps you rummage extra lands/useless cards away and find what you need, -2 is removal, and the ultimate is "I'd like to call a friend."
Faithless Looting:
BANNED Dig for combo, discard the Sword or Shield if you draw them, and provides value with Lingering Souls. In longer games, that flashback is invaluable. Just beware the nonbo with the Emrakul trigger.
Lingering Souls:
The only source of flying tokens in the deck, it also provides value with faithless looting. And just like with looting, beware the nonbo with the Emrakul trigger. This can be tad tricky, as against a control opponent you don't want to put all 4 bodies on the board at once to be answered with a single wipe, but at the same time a looting may draw you the Sword. Typically, if the control opponent isn't removing my tokens, I'm content to just chip away and hold on to my lootings, so I can choose to cast them only if I draw the Sword.
Mardu Charm:
This is the Cryptic Command of the deck. Its not played as a playset because the individual modes aren't incredible - but the combination of them is. This card basically reads:
1. Instant Speed Flame Slash
2. Instant Speed Create 2 tokens
3. Instant Speed Duress
This means if you have 2 or more tokens on the battlefield and you have creativity and charm in your hand, you can Duress the opponent on their end step to check if the coast is clear and then combo off the following turn. If the opponent taps out to wipe the board, you can make 2 tokens at their end step and combo off. Otherwise, just point it at a creature with toughness 4 and below (Hollow one/Colonnade and below).
Legion's Landing:
This card is triple duty in this deck:
1. Turn 1 Proactive play
2. Possible turn 3 ramp and the only way to execute a turn 3 Emrakul/Iona
3. Offers lategame advantage with the fort producing an endless supply of lifelinking tokens.
Adanto singlehandedly won me the game against Jund by continually holding off a giant Raging Ravine from killing Nahiri. The jund player would draw removal, but so would I be drawing generators, so he simply could not break through.
Tips and Tricks
The turn 3 Emrakul:
To execute this requires you to,
1. Turn 1 Legion's Landing
2. Turn 2 any 2 cmc token generator, preferably Raise the Alarm for that instant speed.
3. Turn 3 Attack with 3 tokens, flip Legion's landing, play your 4th land, and Go for 1. You might hit the Shield, which is a bummer. Imagine that, Iona on turn 3 being a bummer. Go ahead, moan loudly at your opponent. "Oh MAN, its JUST Iona. Curse my poor luck."
4. Ignore the glare from across the table.
How not to get fizzled when Going for X:
If playing against an opponent you suspect has instant speed removal, go for a high X. If they have 1 card left in hand, going for 2 pretty much guarantees you'll at least get to go for 1, and so on. The more tokens and mana you have, the harder it will be to stop you. The cleanest answers to Creativity are in blue: counterspells, which means you get to keep your tokens anyway so its a 1-for-1 trade or at worst they may have Cryptic Commanded it and drawn a card. Against URx, watch out for Electrolyze. Postboard against blue decks like Storm, look out for Echoing Truths. If you suspect echoing truths, try to hit tokens of different names, such as 1 Soldier token and 1 Spirit token, to avoid getting fizzled. If course, there is always end-step Mardu Charm, discard mode.
Creatively comboing and dealing with hate:
As has been mentioned a couple of times above, you can hit opposing problematic artifacts or creatures with Creativity. An O Stone without the mana to activate can be destroyed while you Go for 1 or 2. Likewise, you can hit Ensnaring bridge. These are the 2 commonly played cards that will allow an opponent an out to your Sword and Shield.
Slow Rolling:
Against interactive opponents, the key to winning is to slow roll. Unless you're on the defensive for Nahiri, there is absolutely no pressure to overextend. If you have a Virtue on the table, it becomes all the more problematic for the opponent. Remove opposing threats with your removal suite and chip, chip, chip away. Then, when the opponent cracks and taps out for their threat or wipe, Flash tokens and Go for 2.
Charming the blue/control mage:
The deck has only 2 maindeck target discard, and they're built into the swiss knife Mardu Charm. If the blue mage has been holding up their mana for your big creative turn, Charm them on your end step and duress them. They now have 3 options: use their removal now, counter your charm, or do nothing. If they use their removal now, and you don't see another removal, you know you can flash in more tokens or simply continue slow rolling and not have wasted a creativity to a fizzle. If they counter the charm, they are down a precious counterspell and mana. If they do nothing, you get to check. 2 counterspells or 2 removals in hand? Record the info and continue chipping. If the opponent taps out for anger or supreme verdict, they'll soon understand this deck plays "splinter twin": end step Raise the Alarm or Mardu Charm for tokens, and Go for 2.
Lands:
There are 2 tricky spells in the deck: Creativity with its triple red and Mardu Charm with, well, Mardu. The filter lands help a great deal with triple red, so your fetch choices can be more or less catered to varying your mana appropriately. Rugged Prairie is key in this deck because the turn 3 Creativity execution involves Adanto, which produces straight white.
Sideboard:
The board is pretty straightforward - you have your white hate cards for Affinity and Tron (Stony Silence), GY decks (Rest in Peace), anti-Tron and efficient manland hate in Alpine Moon, flexible removal in Wear Tear. Thoughtseizes for opposing combo or to check control hands before comboing off, and Timely Reinforcements because sometimes burn just has the godhand and this is the only way you're going to survive while advancing your plan A.
Boros Charm is double duty - comes in control matches to buff up the aggro plan in case comboing off becomes too hairy, and also renders Nahiri and your board indestructible in response to wipes, Trophies, O Stones.
Helix is likewise here for control matches for additional reach, while also improving the burn and other such aggro match ups. It helped a lot against Creeping Chill Dredge, thats for sure.
Additional Intangible Virtues are for those matches where you want to lean toward aggro and away from combo. You typically drop Nahiris for these, since your tokens wouldn't be blocking.
Summary
Game 1 - Double threat the opponent with tokens aggro and combo, twin style, sometimes as early as turn 3.
Games 2 and 3 - Blank their sideboard by becoming a pure aggro/burn deck, or go deeper into combo with hand hate and protection with Boros charm.
If you've made it this far, thank you for your interest in the deck. I hope I've piqued your interest with this humble brew, and I look forward to any feedback, or even your experiences with this list after trying it out.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to annihilator 6 someone.
I never thought I'd have to use this reserved space like this, but it is what it is. With Faithless Looting banned and lingering souls a lot less attractive, the time was ripe to explore other options which could provide the same card velocity and ability to stay alive while combo-ing off consistently. This led to a version with not only a pseudo-looting spell that can also be a shock or spell pierce, but also redundancy in the form of the OG destroy-my-token-flip-emrakul spell.
Deck has participated in 2 FNMs so far, going 2-1 and then 3-0 for an overall of 5-1. Not too bad, but plenty more testing to do. About the card choices-
Izzet Charm
Yup, the successor to Faithless Looting can only be cast once and costs U more, but is also a swiss army knife. It's a spell pierce or shock if u need it to be. Hitting a Karn and then polymorphing into Emrakul is good. Speaking of polymorph-
Polymorph
Splashing blue for Izzet Charm naturally means access to redundancies. There are a large number of games where Creativity would simply save the day but we can't find it. Losing the awesome selection and velocity of Looting just makes it worse. With 2 extra combo pieces in the deck, I've been flipping up iona and emmy a lot more often.
Serum Visions
Speaking of velocity, this card digs the deepest of the 3 blue modern cantrips. I could see this being Sleight of Hand, but I supposed I'm still undecided.
Cloudform
The substitute for lingering souls at the 3-drop slot, this hexproof flier can win games against midrange/control by itself, and can't be removed when you're polymorphing or creativity-ing it.
Teferi, Time Raveler
He brings so much to the deck I can't even. Stops people interacting with creativity or your tokens as you're going for it. Enables end-step creativity/polymorph. Bounces troublesome stuff like Aria of Flame, and even drawing.
I've been playing for a time, a WR deck, that is could look similar to this one, with good results. My list is more focused on tokens but has also the combo approach. It is not mardu also and I don't play Iona nor Nahiri but other things to improve my game plans.
In my deck I'm using windbrisk heights to cheat the big monsters or the divine visitations (which are the other win con) so for each token spell I play, I get a bunch of angels, while being possible to cast them in long games. Only playing 2 because they are useless in multiples but in the games I've played the visitations I've won.
When Indomitable Creativity was spoiled I realized how good it should be in my tokens deck so I changed to Wr without regreting it. Also faithless looting gives you some manipulation so makes the deck more consistent.
I've always doubting and testing one or the other between Ulamog, The Ceaseless Hunger and blightsteel Colossus. Each one gives you an alternative win con to beat infinite lifes. Right now I'm playing Ulamog because with heights you can cast it, so you have the chance to exile two permanents when you do it. Anyways both options are good enough.
Finally in my SDB I have 1 platinum emperion and 1 gideon against combo and the so. I've always be tempted to play more gideons (more types of gideons also) because they are also very good.
That's a beautiful list, but I really feel like you're missing out the flashback on lingering souls. If you're not intending to splash black, then Midnight Haunting is strictly better in your list, because you get the instant speed, which is very powerful with creativity.
I tried visitations out of the sideboard after GRN. However, I found that it was really expensive (cmc) and you wanted it before all your tokens for maximum value, and sometimes if you drew it late when you could cast it, it was basically a dead card. Nahiri and lootings does help with that though.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
Deck went 2-1 today, so the version 3 (Mardu) is standing at 5-1 overall. Today's Matches were Jund (Loss), Mill (Win), and Jund again (Win).
I lost the first round very much to my own mistakes rather than the deck's builds. For instance I kept a hand of Terminate, 2 Nahiris and 4 lands in match 1. What was I thinking? A single thoughtseize was enough to render me basically a spectator.
The second round was a victory, I didn't feel too good about it though. The chap started with a tome scour for me. At first I'd misheard and assumed he said THOUGHT scour. I waited for him to mill 2 and draw. Then he said, I'm milling you for 5. Well, I have Emrakul in my library, so. I'm not even sure how I could have lost this even if I tried.
Last match up was against Jund and this time I kept my head in the game. Round 1 tokens kept up the pressure and every time he killed the chippers on the board I just topped up. Had creativity in my hand but I know he was holding up removal for me too. A lily of the veil came, prolonged the game a little, then tokens killed her. Apart from that, nothing interesting happened. Round 2 I went into stupid mode again and kept a 1 lander after a mull to 6. Murphy says if you wanna test your luck, he's going to destroy you. So I scried a creativity to the bottom, and of course the next 4 draws were all nonland. I scooped. Game 3 I went for 1 on turn 4 on the play when he missed his third land drop and hit Iona, chose black. Straight scoop for him.
Overall the deck still feels keenly balanced. As long as I don't keep stupid hands the deck has a chance to perform. If anything, I do wish I had more card selection beyond lootings. But the issue is probably more with my poor mulligan decisions than anything else.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
Deck went 3-1-1 (ID) at a 22 man win-a-box today. Got into top 8 and we split the prize of 54 packs. Deck List and Match report below:
Agora win a box 10.11.18
Decklist notes: Gather the townsfolk removed and helixes pushed to mainboard to better deal with elves, humans and spirits. The 2 vacated sideboard slots are given to Tormod's crypt to battle bridgevine and Blessed Alliance for Bogles. The Arid Mesas are currently Wooded Foothills for budgetary reasons; any optimal list should be on-color.
Match 1 vs mesmeric orb mill (Match was videotaped by shopkeep; link: https://www.facebook.com/Agorahobby/videos/561373887618472/ ) (Win)
G1 emrakul got milled in and reset my library in the late game. He surgicalled emrakul, but the library advantage was too much and the Opponent milled himself out first. He had Locked me with ensnaring bridge, so I wasn’t going to win by aggro.
In: 2 wear // tear and 2 boros charm ; out terminate, path and 2 push
G2 the opponent got lucky with double archive traps which took out most of my burn spells and both copies of wear//tear. I went for 1 and got Emrakul, but he locked the eldrazi titan behind a bridge again and that was the loss.
G3 I have emrakul in starting hand but the rest is good, with a couple of token makers and wear // tear. Opponent casts mesmeric orb turn 2. Turn 4 I go for 1 and hit the shield, and block blue. Opponent casts bridge and I wear it out, and win with Iona Beats plus a bolt to the face.
Match 2 vs jund (Win)
G1 I win by attrition using tokens. Opponent spends removal trying to keep my board clear. Nahiri ticks up while my remaining tokens stay on defence. Opponent scoops when he can’t stop her ultimate.
In: 2 boros charms, out nahiri and helix
G2 opponent clears my board with last hope. I end step raise the alarm and bolt his dark confidant, untap and play virtue and hit last hope for 4, bringing her to 1. Opponent has untapped BR land but does not remove token, implying no 1 mana removal. Next turn, he pulses the virtue and upticks hope to kill 1 token, leaving me 1 soldier. I untap and go for 1, and hit emrakul. Opponent plays a tarmogoyf putting his permanent count at 7. I push the goyf and then swing him to clear his board for the win.
Match 3 vs mono U turns (Loss)
G1 opponent wins die roll, goes off turn 5 after 2 consecutive exhaustion while I stumble on red mana. He eventually kills me with inkmoth nexus beefed up by Part the Waterveil. Once the first Time Warp resolves, its basically out of my hands.
In: 2 thoughtseize and 2 boros charm
G2 I go off on turn 4 for emrakul, while he tapped out for thing in the ice on his turn 3 leaving only 1 mana up. He cannot flip it in time and scoops.
G3 opponent mulls to 5 but his howling mines help him draw back into the game. I draw both Iona and emrakul somehow, leaving me without creativity targets in the deck, and wind up having my tokens bounced by Thing in the Ice.
Match 4 vs Runaway red (win and in)
G1 I win the die roll and open with legions landing. Nothing happens until opp's turn 2 where opp goes ritual into manamorphose into looting, discards arclight and fiery temper and kills my token off the madness, which gives me revolt for fatal push to kill the arclight that comes back. On my turn 3 I cast a second landing and pass. He chains spells again on turn 3 and brings back arclight, which I bolt. I untap on turn 4 and go for 1, hitting emrakul and he scoops.
In: timely reinforcements : out nahiri
G2 was closer, opponent burns me down to 11 on turn 3, and taps out to reload with reveler using all 4 mountains, so I cast raise the alarm on his end step, and go off on my turn 4 and hit emrakul. Opponent sends another 8 damage to my face with annihilator trigger on the stack bringing me to 2 (I fetched and took 1 damage). He has 1 card in hand and 1 draw step, and no permanents in play. So, exactly one out, which is drawing either a burn or land to match what he has and burn me out. I cast mardu charm on the end of his draw step to seal the win. (He actually revealed 2 mountains, but that moment made me real glad I had an instant speed duress)
Match 5: Intentional draw into top 8.
Event summary and thoughts:
The mardu iteration is definitely leaps and bounds ahead of the boros set-up that brought me to 3-2 in the last win-a-box. The additional 2 instant speed token generators in the form of Mardu Charms are invaluable; opponents tend to let their guard down when they see an empty board, only to get "twinned" out. I dropped Gather the Townsfolk because it just felt like I was pushing the turn 3 angle too much; the deck could do with more anti-aggro elements and so the helixes came in. In the testing leading up to this weekend I found that the deck had trouble with elves, spirits and humans, and making 2 human tokens at sorcery speed just didn't feel impactful at all. I was also dead to Bogles; adding a Blessed Alliance isn't going to turn things all the way around, but I feel like I at least give myself an out.
Moving forward, I'm going to slowly procure my Arid Mesas and finish up the manabase. I feel like this iteration is as close to optimal as it can be; although I'm feeling like noncreature strategies are pretty daunting. Mono U turns had me beat, and against the mill deck I was basically a passenger on that victory train, the emrakul trigger gave me an edge that I didn't have to fight for. I am considering to fit in Anguished Unmaking somewhere in the 75, but I can't decide where.
Hey thanks for visiting! I hope you'll try the deck out soon. You've brought up pretty much all the key, mobile points on the deck, I'm happy to discuss it!
RE: Bitterblossom
Good ol' blossom would compete with 2 of the cards in the existing 60: Raise the Alarm at the 2 cmc slot, or Legion's Landing. It's notable that Landing is supported strongly by Raise the Alarm, so if we drop Raise the Alarm for Blossom, Landing loses much of its power, namely the powerful line of T1 Landing T2 Raise T3 Creativity. Conversely, we can drop landing itself, retaining the instant speed token threat from Raise and giving up on the turn 1 proactive play. The ramp and instant speed I value more than the grindiness accorded by Blossom, hence the decision to go with the more aggressive options. Incidentally, having Landing VS Blossom turns the burn match up about pretty hard.
RE: Creativity's consistency
I used to run 15 token generating cards, namely 3 Landing 4 Raise 4 Lingering 2 Gather Townsfolk and 2 Mardu Charm. I found myself wanting interaction over tokens and so cut the weakest link of 2 Gather the Townsfolk and brought Helix up to maindeck. I found that having instant speed token makers (4 raise and 2 mardu charms) provided the threat needed to "browbeat" midrange and control decks. They have to deal with the tokens from lingering souls and landing, but if they spend their removal this way, I can flash in tokens on their end step and go off. Bitterblossom is certainly very strong against certain decks like Grixis who are hard pressed to deal with a resolved Bitterblossom, but right now I'm see more Assassin's Trophies, Detention Spheres and Bridge from Below, and I'm not really into Bitterblossom for that.
RE: Removal Suite
As of 11 Nov 2018, I've changed the suite (again) to 3 Push 1 Path, no dismember. These dedicated creature spots are pretty much flex and you can pick your best removal for them. Dismember was a carry-over from when my deck was RW and I didn't want to path everything that hit the board. As more matches went by and I splashed black, I steadily dropped Paths for Push as I simply seldom needed to deal with anything a push couldn't already handle, and path just gives them a land, which can be pretty bad if you're up against Jund, Storm or any opposing midrange. The creatures I deal with on a regular basis are: Arclight, Runaway Steam-kin, Humans, Spirits, Elves, Goyfs, Dark Confidants, BBE. I hardly see Wurmcoils, delve threats or Hollow Ones. If they were more prevalent, I'd probably start leaning toward Path.
RE: Graveyard hate
I totally want 4x Leyline, I just find the price on the market really unreasonable now. I'd thought about the issue of RIP as well, so actually, I picked up a playset of Ravenous Trap. I'm just wondering how many to put in.
RE: Boros Charm
Boros Charm does a lot of funny stuff in a variety of match ups, and all the funny stuff is really useful. Without a doubt Helix would be superior in a Burn heavy meta.
1. Kill a Liliana of the Veil after she upticks to 4. Really important if you intend to creativity on turn 4.
2. Kill a Liliana, the Last Hope after she upticks to 4 and kills off a token. Really important for obvious reasons.
3. Saves Nahiri from Assassin's Trophy.
4. Saves your board of tokens from Anger, Pyroclasm, Supreme Verdict, Damnation.
On top of those scenarios, it reaches out for 4 damage over Helix's 3. So it comes in for the UW matches as well, where chip + reach is usually how the game closes out. On a side note, I'm planning to try 2 copies of Ricochet Trap as well, because cryptic command bouncing my Iona on white, or cryptic command countering Creativity is really annoying.
RE: Discard
I know right?? A combo deck seems like it should have some number of discard. I've given up trying to squeeze them in, but I do have 2 Thoughtseizes in the side for combo and control matches. At this point in time, Aggro and proactive strategies like Bridgevine, Burn, Dredge, Humans and elves seem to be dominating my meta though, so I leaned toward having a robust removal suite instead of hand-attack. I've actually found the deck does OK without the spot discard, because you have the instant speed surprises to keep the people with answers on their toes. It can be tricky when *they* have discard and we're forced to be honest.
I'm keen on Collective Brutality, it would cover the burn match even better than Helix. If Burn were to start featuring more than graveyard strats and creature based aggro, I'd definitely start moving in that direction. On a side note, Killing off a drogskol captain and taking a collected company sounds really good.
Thanks for your clarifications.
I am going to proxy your list with some minor changes. Brutality being one probably.
Does the manabase give you trouble some time? If the deck goes dips deeper into black a carven cairns could be good.
Btw, keep up the good work on your primer, the deck is really sweet!
Edit:
When Rest in Peace is the graveyard hate off choice, and you really feel like 2 copies arent enough, maybe complementing the RiPs with one or two surgical extractions or Nihil Spellbombs could do the trick.
I tested ravenous trap against Dredge but it didn't seem strong enough. RIP really seals the deal, although its a bit slow. Now, I'm running 1 RIP and 2 Traps. Will let you know how it goes. Creeping Chill really gives them an edge, since it totally ignores both emrakul and iona.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
Round 1: BG Elves (Win) 2-0
G1: The deck moves like clockwork. I bolt the T1 dork. Raise the Alarm turn 2, turn 3 intangible plus a Push to the Archdruid. T4 I go for 1 and hit Iona, naming green. If only all games lined up like this.
In: Timely Reinforcements; Out: Nahiri x1
G2: This game is a little closer; I don't draw enough removals but a pair of early legion's landing coupled with intangible virtue brought me as high as 35 life. Towards the end he had ezuri and enough mana to potentially hit me for 20+ damage, but he'd die on the crackback. I went for 1, hit Iona and chose green again ending any possible board development for him, and that was the win.
Round 2: RW Burn (Win) 2-0
G1: I'm so glad to win the die roll against Burn. I lay a mountain and pass. A swiftspear appears and gets duly bolted. Turn 2 I hold up my mana, get skullcracked so I cast my raise the alarm. Turn 3 I cast intangible, hit for 4 and hold up B for fatal push. Alas I instead get domed with a Boros charm and bolt, putting me below 10 and a little nervous. I have creativity but Emrakul isn't what I want. Luckily enough, I hit the Shield and name red, securing the first game.
In: Timely Reinforcements; Out: Nahiri x1
G2: Opponent suspends a rift bolt t1. On my T1 I play legion's landing. Opponent opts to aim the rift bolt at me, which is probably a misplay. I have both intangible and raise the alarm in hand, and decide to instead go for the adanto flip instead of playing the virtue. Opponent is unable to stop the flip, which is pretty bad for him. T3 I play my intangible, helix him and hit for 6 and gain 2 life. It's downhill from there but he marches on gamely, until I topdeck Creativity and hit Emrakul.
Round 3: Mardu Pyro (Loss) 0-2
G1: We both engage in the typical value plays of faithless lootings and souls. However, he outgasses me via Bedlam Reveler and Kolaghan's Command retrieving Young Pyros that I'd killed off. Eventually his LOTV actually ultimates and seals the game.
In: 2x Ravenous Trap, 1x RIP; Out: 2x Creativity, 1x Iona
G2: This was basically a non-game, despite me casting 2 faithless lootings I was somehow miraculously unable to draw any black sources. Being unable to flashback lingering souls is very bad. To add insult to injury, I draw Ravenous Trap towards the end of the game, still without black mana and my opponent already having looted and flashbacked souls to his heart's content.
Round 4: Creeping Dredge (Win) 2-0
G1: The opponent wins the die roll but gets pretty unlucky with his dredges, and he manages 2 bloodghasts and 1 narcomeba on turn 3. On his turn 4, he attacks and I cast Mardu Charm, blocking and killing both bloodghasts. I untap on turn 4 and go for 1, hit Iona and name Red. He still manages to dredge prized amalgams in and get them into play via the bloodghasts, but my flying 7/7 backed up by removals lets me win this race. I was hit by 1 creeping chill this game.
In: Ravenous Trap x2, RIP x1; Out: 3x Nahiri
G2: I get hit by 2 creeping chills this time, but manage to weather the onslaught with a combination of chumps and removal spells. I eventually go off for 1 again and again get Iona on red. The opp tries to push damage thru with his returning creatures but I eventually manage to go for 1 again, getting emrakul out as well.
I'll be taking the deck to a 1k tomorrow, and will be expecting dredge. I will probably up my GY hate to at least 5-6 pieces, probably 2 RIP, 2 Trap and 2 Rakdos Charm.
Current Standing: 11-3-1
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
Is Iona really the best choice for the maindeck slot ?
What about playing Elesh Norn in the maindeck and bringing Iona in from the SB when it is really good ?
Another idea I thought about is finding a replacement for Intangible Virtue as it doesn't really stand on its own unlike a PW like: Gideon, Sorin or Elspeth would.
Another option could be a combat trick like Rally the Peasants which can be cast from the GY (like Lingering Souls) and would work well with Looting and Nahiri.
Btw, I like the deck and want to try it out myself.
Decklist notes: I borrowed on-color fetches for this event from a friend; The sideboard turned out to be farce since I prepared heavily for dredge and bridgevine (5 slots dedicated to it!) and did not meet a single GY based deck. My 3 stony silences never made an appearance in the single match up where it mattered either, which was quite infuriating. Nonetheless I'm heartened by the fact that my maindeck alone was enough to take me to 3-2 in a competitive meta.
M1 vs runaway red win 2-1
On the Play.
G1 opponent screws when he keeps a 1 lander with looting, and I punish it with beat down by tokens. The turn 1 swiftspear was promptly bolted and he couldn't do much afterward.
G2 The opponent's deck runs like clockwork; his 3 lootings each carried a fiery temper, his arclights are drawn and discarded for the return, and he's got 1 runaway plus 1 swiftspear in the mix as well. I get burned out by fiery tempers while gut shots erase any tokens I manage to place on the board.
G3 Its my turn to run like clockwork; his early creatures get removed with pushes and bolts, and I perform a turn 3 end-step raise the alarm into turn 4 combo into emrakul.
M2 vs affinity loss 1-2
On the Draw.
G1 I mull to 5, keep a 1-lander with looting, draw another looting and cast that too. 4 draw steps and 2 lootings later (or 8 cards deep), I am still on one land. The opponent on the other hand had a turn 1 steel overseer. This is a non-game.
G2 I win via attrition with tokens; She gamely holds the fort with 2 manlands; 1 pumped up by an arcbound while the other is supported by the blinkmoth pump ability. However, a combination of spot removals and token spells prove too much to overcome. I eventually wear // tear one of the mothlands while the other is still being activated; leading to a forced bad choice for the opponent.
G3 I lose to an early etched champion followed up with cranial plating. 3 Stony Silences and 1 Wear // tear fail to make an appearance.
M3 vs sultai shadow win 2-1
On the Draw.
G1 The opponent picks apart my hand and fathoms my strategy with multiple inquisitions/thoughtseizes. He has a stubborn denial for every spell I try to cast, and in the meantime I get beat down by a large shadow plus goyf.
G2 I lead with Landing. Opponent plays bauble, checks, fetches and shocks, and passes. Turn 2, I lay a land and my token gets in for 1 damage. Opponent taps out turn 2 for goyf. So of course I play Raise the alarm on his end step, attack with 3 tokens on turn 3, flip adanto, lay a fourth land, cast creativity and get Iona on the board blocking Black. My opponent can't believe it.
G3 The opponent has no play on turn 1 again - he casts a goyf of turn 2. I have Push and helix, and I figure I want to use the helix on the goyf (we hardly get to do that do we) and save the push for a shadow later. So I fetch tapped, lay my second land and tap out to helix the goyf which dies as a 2/3 (land and instant). He casts a lily on turn 3, and upticks. My hand is the push, raise, 2 land, and creativity. I discard a land. On my turn 3 I draw another land, I play my third land and pass. Opponent's turn 4 is more fetch/shock action, and a shadow hits the board. He upticks again and I'm forced to discard the land that would be my fourth; I'll need to draw another land if I want to combo off next turn. On his endstep, I use my 3 mana to push the Shadow and raise alarm. I untap, and draw the land I need. The soldiers hit Lily for 2, placing her at 3 loyalty. I Go for 1 and hit emrakul. If the opponent draws a spot removal for my remaining token he can kill it then -2 lily and stay in the game. He doesn't.
M4 vs bant spirits win 2-0
On the Draw.
G1 He has no vial and we play out like a midrange vs a poor zoo deck. I trade removals for spirits, then get the opponent into a nahiri subgame, which is never going to end well for them. Some chump blocks and removals later, I eventually ultimate.
G2 The opponent has Thalia and reflector slow down the game, but my flipped adanto keeps me in the race. A midgame Intangible virtue makes for a stalemate, but only 1 of us has an actual endgame. I eventually draw the 6 mana I need to go for 2 (2RRR plus 1 for tax) and get both my sword and shield on the board, with my shield blocking white. On hindsight, this should have been green. On my next turn, I attack and Emrakul triggers, he floats 4 mana and sacs thalia along with his lands, leaving a vial, noble hierarch and his reflector mage. With Thalia gone, he can cast coco. Reflector mage and drogskol come down and bounce emrakul. However, next turn I swing with 5 tokens and Iona to win anyway.
M5 vs bant spirits loss 0-2
On the Draw.
G1 It goes horribly; the opponent runs like a well oiled engine, with a turn 1 vial, and every spirit on curve. I get outvalued with coco and queller in the midgame and just can't stay alive in front of the flying, disruptive merfolk.
G2 The opponent has no early spirits, but I am overrun by double coco into double lord each time, while unable to draw either creativity or Nahiri.
Is Iona really the best choice for the maindeck slot ?
What about playing Elesh Norn in the maindeck and bringing Iona in from the SB when it is really good ?
Another idea I thought about is finding a replacement for Intangible Virtue as it doesn't really stand on its own unlike a PW like: Gideon, Sorin or Elspeth would.
Another option could be a combat trick like Rally the Peasants which can be cast from the GY (like Lingering Souls) and would work well with Looting and Nahiri.
Btw, I like the deck and want to try it out myself.
Hi Dennis, you've got good points, some of which I'd considered before.
RE: Iona
Iona wasn't chosen without a great deal of consideration. The 2nd creature beside Emrakul has quite a big job cut out for them. They have to, like emrakul, be:
1. Resilient to removal,
2. Be able to also win a game on their own,
3. Be valid in most match ups,
4. If complemented with Emrakul, be practically a sure-win.
Elesh Norn seems great because she's an anthem, but on closer scrutiny is not so attractive.
1. Does not protect herself in anyway, so any spot removal can dispose of her, from path to trophy.
2. With 4 power and no evasion, she will take a long time to close a game, although she might be supporting tokens.
3. She fails this test hard since there are decks that simply don't care, such as storm and UW control. Even against Burn, hitting Elesh isn't as awesome as Iona blocking Red, since the opponent will probably finish you with reach.
4. She doesn't complement Emrakul, and the opponent can take back the game easily with Terminus, Detention Sphere, Teferi, Supreme Verdict.
All this being said, I am interested in adding Elesh to the board (instead of the other way around) since she can deal with elves, affinity and humans pretty well, which can't be said for Iona, who isn't fast enough for elves, doesn't impact affinity, and is practically ignored by humans and their vials.
RE: Intangible Virtue
Virtue is here not to stand on its own; its here to give credibility to your plan B, which is to beatdown with tokens. The planeswalkers you've named sit on 4 on your cmc curve; along with the 4 copies of nahiri, you're talking about raising the entire curve of the deck! If we were playing dedicated control or BW tokens, these would be excellent choices and they are in fact played by BW tokens, which focuses on disruption and a flying army. By the way, they play 4 copies of Intangible Virtue.
RE: Rally the Peasants
Well, Intangible Virtue does this job better and cheaper too. Sure, it doesn't synergize with looting, but I don't think that's a reason to include a card that is one-time use, and adds itself to indomitable creativity as dead cards if there are no tokens around. 4 copies of Creativity is plenty of potential dead cards. You don't really want more.
I've made some improvements to the manabase and adjusted the sideboard to combat decks better with creativity. The most pertinent change is dropping the legion's landing as the turn 1 proactive play and replacing it with discard. The intangible virtues are moved to the side to make way for more discard, rounding out the discard maindeck to 3 Inquisition, 2 thoughtseize and 2 mardu charm.
M1 vs Dredge (Loss 2-0)
G1 he has a bad start but still manages to win via multiple creeping chills and finishing me out with conflagrate. I get stuck on 3 lands and can't combo off.
SB: Rest in Peace, Ravenous traps, Rakdos Charm, removing 2 inquisition and 2 thoughtseizes
G2 I draw none of my sideboard and die pretty much the same way.
M2 vs UW Control (Win 2-1)
G1 I chip away with tokens until he finally responds - I simply play more tokens and continue. Finally, I manage to go for 1 and put Emrakul on the board. His out is top-deck terminus - but he doesnt find it.
SB: 2x Ricochet Trap in, remove 1 path and 1 bolt
G2 the game goes really long, and he manages to counter the meaningful spells and stick a JTMS, which accrues an insurmountable card advantage.
G3 the game also goes long, but my tokens and burn spells get there.
M3 vs Grixis Shadow (Win 2-1)
G1 I'm stripped of all my key spells and fall to Tasigur beats.
SB: 2x Ricochet Trap in, 1 Bolt and 1 Creativity out
G2 I manage to lure out counterspells with Raise and beatdown with spirits; then I manage to creativity for 1 and get emnrakul on the board.
G3 I screw on mana (2 lands from start to end) while he doesnt draw his gas (he had 1 lily the last hope which I inquisition away). A good faithless looting places 2 souls in my GY which basically win me the game in the air.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
....I actually have been pulling together the cards to build it. I love Nahiri, as well as the 2 main Idomitable Creativity hit creatures you have. I think the idea of all the tokens is pretty smart as well.
....I actually have been pulling together the cards to build it. I love Nahiri, as well as the 2 main Idomitable Creativity hit creatures you have. I think the idea of all the tokens is pretty smart as well.
Ello! Of course I'm still on the deck. It's been continuing to evolve. I've seen my win rate slide to the 50-50 range lately, largely due to 2 reasons:
1. A disproportionate number of games where I mana screw on 2-3 lands.
2. An equally disproportionate number of games against Dredge where I basically can't keep up, and even if I stabilize, I get chilled out.
Solving problem #1 was pretty easy; I toned down the greedy number of Nahiri to 2, to make space for lands. Problem #2 is a little more difficult. We're talking about a meta-changing deck that's pretty close to eldrazi winter level, so I suppose that can't be helped.
I've also added Bitterblossom to the deck; This has improved the UW match up tremendously.
The sideboard certainly is a work in progress. With Dredge being such a huge issue, I'm seriously considering RIP back in anyway, to hell with the nonbo with souls and looting Emrakul. It just hits them a lot worse.
Anyway, this deck went 2-1 at FNM last Friday. I didn't take notes, so here are just highlights:
M1 vs Dredge Loss 2-0
G1 he has an average-ish start meaning about 7-9 power on the board turn 2. I turn 4 iona and name red, but of course turn 4 Iona is nothing to this broken deck. He digs 12-14 cards on his turn 4 easy, chilling me to death.
G2 I get a turn 4 emperion out, so what he does is keep his creatures back to threaten a gangblock and trade which makes 0 sense for me since his stuff will all come back. I wait for a second creativity so I can land Elesh or Emrakul as well; he draws Nature's claim first. This makes me consider playing only Elesh and Emrakul and skipping on Emperion, since dredge players will play artifact/enchantment hate for RIP.
M2 vs Mono Red Prison Win 2-0
G1 Chalice on 1 doesn't really faze me. I go off on turn 4, opponent has to read creativity. He needs ensnaring bridge to win; he doesn't draw it and gets annihilated.
G2 He does get a bridge out. There's some combat and trading between my tokens and his rabblemaster tokens before his hand dries up and we stalemate. During the stalemate I go off and get Emrakul down. Then, I eventually dig my way to a wear // tear and open the path for Emrakul.
M3 vs Ponza Win 2-1
G1 I lose the die roll to Ponza, hehe. I never hit my third land. And Blood moon comes down and I get locked out of white. I eventually get killed by a Stormbreath. Ponza is such a fun deck to play. I hated losing the die roll as the Ponza pilot though.
G2 I'm on the play, and I keep a 4 land hand. I manage to go off turn 5 after 1 land gets destroyed. Emrakul hits the board, opponent has no answer and we go to G3.
G3 is pretty close and runs long. Opponent draws the creature half of the deck, meaning a steady stream of courser, tracker, BBE. No Titan, fortunately. On my side is a steady stream of tokens. My endgame creature is however, quite a bit larger. Without the land destruction holding me back, I am able to cast creativity and get my Emrakul on the board again. Opponent actually has enough clue tokens that he doesn't fear Annihilator 6, but I have 19 flying power that he can't block. GG.
Conclusions: 23 Lands is definitely where I'm staying. Mutavault as my 23rd land = no regrets. It acts as creativity fodder when people least expect it, it can pay for itself to activate meaning you can totally surprise people on turn 5 even from an empty board by laying mutavault as the 5th land, activating it, and just going for 1. Mutavault also helped me flip an Adanto once during the FNM. Bitterblossoms didn't meet the MU they were meant for, but I'm just glad we didn't run into burn. Ironically, its Dredge that's keeping burn out of sight. Honestly I'd rather deal with Burn. Dredge is a problem I honestly can't solve beyond sacrificing other MU out of the board. And then mulling aggressively for said SB cards. I don't like it. I think creeping chill adds a layer of inevitability that this sort of deck should not have access to.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
I literally made all those changes to the deck myself in the build i made changing it to my tastes.
I felt your landbase was too light, and could easily see that you had too many 4 drops to be carried by it. I also decided to draw your colors closer to 2 primary - Black and Red to cut down on the damage you would take from your manabase. You should only splash white in my opinion. I also immediately felt this deck was perfect for Bitterblossoms, and I actually just got mine in the mail and added them a few days ago.
Still reading your response. Its just that this was so unlikely to see all these changes reflected in how I built my version of your deck it was just uncanny and I had to immediately respond.
Okay - I'll see what I can think of concerning dredge. I think maybe we should drop Ravenous Trap for 2 more RIP and bring them all in against dredge. RIP should still be helpful against nearly every match you would bring in Ravenous Trap. Why did you go with trap? I feel like if its for something like KCI you can probably get away with RIPs, and your regular discard engine. You merely need to delay them a turn or 2 to reach your plan first I think.
I would probably just drop 1 of your win cons and bring in Elesh Norn or keep Emrakul. Another possibility is using that creature that brings your life up to half your starting total when it enters the battlefield, Torgaar, Famine Incarnate - he can also be used with our tokens pretty early in the game. He may not be enough, but he may be a potential stabilizing tool.
Okay - I'll see what I can think of concerning dredge. I think maybe we should drop Ravenous Trap for 2 more RIP and bring them all in against dredge. RIP should still be helpful against nearly every match you would bring in Ravenous Trap. Why did you go with trap? I feel like if its for something like KCI you can probably get away with RIPs, and your regular discard engine. You merely need to delay them a turn or 2 to reach your plan first I think.
I would probably just drop 1 of your win cons and bring in Elesh Norn or keep Emrakul. Another possibility is using that creature that brings your life up to half your starting total when it enters the battlefield, Torgaar, Famine Incarnate - he can also be used with our tokens pretty early in the game. He may not be enough, but he may be a potential stabilizing tool.
The reason I went into trap (I was on RIP at one point) was because the nonbo extends beyond not having lingering souls - there is the risk of drawing the sword/shield and then losing the creativity. So RIP runs the risk of sharply increasing dead cards. If you draw emrakul, creativity, creativity with RIP on the board, we're in pretty bad shape. The other possibility is, RIP comes in - and replaces the combo entirely. That way we don't care any more and go laser focused on winning with tokens.
There is also of course the option mentioned by Mazeron above (by the way, he too mentioned bitterblossoms might be a good idea) of Leyline of the Void. I haven't tested it, but I think a lot of games we see decent hands even without sideboard, and we can try looting into it. As opposed to mulliganing for Leyline which is a scary proposition, to me at least.
What I wish we had was a creature that, when it enters the battlefield basically has a grafdigger, yixlid jailer or RIP effect. That way we can just toolbox for it. Yixlid Jailer is too fragile, and it doesn't have closing power. One option is to play grafdigger's cage and just let it be the creativity target, as though we were casting a red Whir of Invention. But then again I was killed by dredge using their nature's claim.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
I just had an idea: Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet. Can be hit off creativity, actually castable, exiles the creatures when you remove them, actually stabilizes you against creeping chills by gaining you a steady stream of life.
downside is it can be killed by a conflagrate for 4.
I've made the following changes to the deck in preparation for tomorrow's FNM:
The sideboard against GY is pretty large and hard hitting now.
2 copies of Ravenous stay in, partly because you will sometimes need to exile their graveyard on their turn 2 when you're on the play. If you meet hollowvine, you will need to do it turn 0 sometimes.
2 copies of RIP go in, replacing ricochet trap. Blue is tricky and I love blowing their counterspells out but right now Dredge is front-and-centre the bugbear.
1 Rakdos charm which also serves double duty against artifacts and occasionally kills opposing elves or token decks who thought flooding the board is an excellent idea.
1 Kalitas, let's see if the vulnerability to conflagrate is a huge issue.
Thats 6 anti dredge cards. If I meet it tomorrow, I'd better mull aggressively for them.
Hello boys and girls. I haven't updated in a long time, but quite a bit has happened. First: this deck took down a 25 man win-a-box...
I didn't meet a single dredge deck, which is annoying.
Round 1 vs Mono Red Phoenix. I get Iona out in G1 and choose red. In game 2 I get burned and beaten down by Phoenixes with my flying tokens being strategically gut shotted or skewered. G3 I take the game with Helixes keeping me afloat until Iona comes down again.
Round 2 vs Mono Red Phoenix. I lose the die roll and die immediately after casting a bitterblossom, on the opponent's turn 3. With a swifty and scar mage on the board he chains 3 manamorphose into bolt and skewer to the face and attacks for 12, a total of 18 damage on his turn 3. G2 I manage to take with an Iona on Red. G3 goes ridiculously long as he surgicals first my lingering souls and then my creativity. In turn I burn out every creature he puts on the board. Eventually though his deck coughs up a phoenix and I don't have any flying bodies to hide behind.
Round 3 vs Storm. I take both games quite handily, with G1 being a breeze as I remove every bear that hits the board and beat down with tokens, before putting an iona on the board and naming red. Iona is blocking all red today. G2 must have felt pretty bad for the oppo. He shocks on his turn 3 with a steam vents and passes, which is a dead giveaway for a ritual into gifts on my end step while presumably holding up remand. I lay my third land and pass, and sure enough he taps 2 lands and casts a ritual, placing it straight into his graveyard, because who asks a Mardu for permission am I right? I say, "Ritual on the stack please" and with a raised eyebrow the ritual goes back on the centre of the table. "Mardu charm, duress mode." The card has to read, of course. He reveals a semi decent hand of cantrip, remand, grapeshot, gifts, land and ritual. The gifts are ungiven. Having picked the gifts out of his hand, "OK, ritual resolves." Its kinda downhill from there for storm and at some point I go for 2, putting both Emrakul and her Shield on the board.
Round 4 vs Foretold Living End (the "bye")
Apparently I got paired down. Opponent knows he can't make top8, so he asks 2 packs to cover the entry if I make the top seed, and I take up his offer.
Round 5 vs Ponza (win and in)
Both me and my opponent teeter on 9 points, so an ID doesn't guarantee either of us a spot to vie for the box.
I make my first Annihilator 6 today on G1.
Iona blocks red (again!) for the win.
The 75 I brought catered for my bugbears Tron and Dredge, but apparently neither turned up. Annoying.
Thoughts:
Wheel of Sun and Moon is the one sided RIP that I'd been looking for, with a downside of requiring double white. It's a pity I didn't get to field it, with mono Red Phoenix being the only remotely GY dependant deck out there. Well, if the Living End had been at 6 points, I probably would have gotten to go with it.
Bitterblossom underperforms in this aggressive meta. I'm leaning back towards discard again in the main with Blossoms in the side for the midrange and control matches.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
A: Yes, you can.
We accomplish this by being a mixture of the format's best token makers coupled with lesser rated token makers that make the list because of their instant speed, buff the tokens with Intangible virtues, and add reach. The deck achieves control with elements such as Nahiri's -2, your basic removal package of bolt, push, path, terminates, and the combo element is basically Indomitable creativity or Nahiri's ultimate. As such, you have possible early game aggression, late game power, and midrange control.
The first iteration was mono red. The plan A was to win with goblin tokens and reach - it sported 12 goblen token generators, namely playsets of Krenko's Command, Goblin Fodder and Hordeling Outburst. All the common mono red reach spells including Goblin Grenade were included as playsets, and finally add Emrakul and 4 copies of Creativity, and that was basically the deck. The combo was plan B, and this plan only had the Sword and no Shield. This proved to be an issue against decks with planeswalkers and other such ability-based removal like Detention Sphere. Also, the deck operated completely at sorcery speed and was thus vulnerable to blue based control, having no way to overload counterspell decks by flashing tokens and then going off. This led to the second iteration.
The second iteration was boros. The deck was now divided between go-wide aggro and combo. It had gained powerful burn spells like Boros Charm and Lightning Helix, and instant speed token generator Raise the Alarm. It also introduced Nahiri as a secondary way to combo off, increasing the emphasis on combo. To combat the Sword's vulnerability, I included her Shield, literally. The deck could now leverage Creativity's X cost, and Go for 2. With the Sword on the field and the Shield to hold off any potential outs, this combination meant that Creativity with X=2 was basically a win. This iteration was able to hold its own in a competitive meta, going 2-1 at FNM and 3-2 at a 22 man win-a-box. It was during the 22 man that I realized that 1. I needed more instant speed tokens and 2. I needed some form of card selection beyond Nahiri. Otherwise I was a mediocre aggro deck with 23 lands and a combo deck with no consistency.
The final iteration, which this primer is all about, includes the third and probably final color. The black splash unlocked Fatal Push, which meant being able to deal with creatures using one mana and not ramping the opponent with path all the time, terminate, Mardu Charm, Lingering souls and indirectly, Faithless looting (because of Souls' flashback ability). At time of writing, it has gone 3-0 at an FNM against Dredge (creeping chill vsn), Jund (with Trophy) and Affinity (with Karn). In other words, a partial snapshot of your typical current meta (October 2018).
Here's a few terms I will use in the primer and will be useful during discussion. They make discussion less clunky.
"Hit the Sword" - to Go for 1 and hit Emrakul
"Hit the Shield" - to Go for 1 and hit Iona
"Flash tokens" - refers to token creation at instant speed, be it via an ability (Adanto) or spells (Raise the Alarm)
The deck threatens the opponent on 2 axes - they have to survive your tokens and burn, and also watch out for the combo via creativity or if Nahiri is on the board looking for her Wifi signal. They want to attack Nahiri, but they risk being chumped. They want to remove tokens to minimize damage, but they also want to save spot removal for your Creativity targets. They want to spend mana to wipe the board on their turn, but they risk getting comboed out by flash tokens and creativity. By this virtue, it is exceedingly common to win by attack steps and just finishing out with reach. That's right - you're playing splinter twin.
If you always wanted a deck that:
I have sorted the deck by purpose as opposed to card type for easy analysis, critique and planning.
4 Nahiri, the Harbinger
4 Indomitable Creativity
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
Token Generators (13)
3 Legion's Landing
4 Raise the Alarm
4 Lingering Souls
2 Mardu Charm
Removals (10)
1 Path to Exile
1 Dismember
2 Fatal Push
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Lightning Helix
4 Faithless Looting
2 Intangible Virtue
Lands (21)
3 Inspiring Vantage
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Bloodstained Mire
3 Sacred Foundry
1 Godless Shrine
1 Blood Crypt
2 Rugged Prairie
1 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Swamp
2 Rest in Peace
2 Stony Silence
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Blessed Alliance
2 Boros Charm
2 Lightning Helix
2 Thoughtseize
1 Timely Reinforcements
1 Wear // Tear
1 Alpine Moon
Version 3.2 10 Jan 2019
4 Indomitable Creativity
2 Nahiri, the Harbinger
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
Tokens (15)
2 Legion's Landing
4 Raise the Alarm
4 Lingering Souls
3 Bitterblossom
2 Mardu Charm
Disruption (2)
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
Removal (8)
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Lightning Helix
3 Fatal Push
4 Faithless Looting
Lands (23)
4 Arid Mesa
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Wooded Foothills
2 Sacred Foundry
1 Blood Crypt
1 Godless Shrine
2 Inspiring Vantage
1 Rugged Prairie
1 Graven Cairns
2 Mountain
1 Swamp
1 Plains
1 Mutavault
1 Path to Exile
1 Lightning Helix
1 Intangible Virtue
3 Stony Silence
2 Ravenous Trap
1 Rakdos Charm
2 Ricochet Trap
1 Platinum Emperion
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Timely Reinforcements
1 Wear //Tear
Agorahobby 6th Seed (top 8 prize split) 23 Mar 2019
4 Indomitable Creativity
1 Emrakul, the Aeons torn
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Nahiri, the Harbinger
Tokens (12)
2 Legion's Landing
2 Bitterblossom
4 Raise the Alarm
4 Lingering Souls
Interaction (13)
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Fatal Push
1 Path to Exile
4 Faithless Looting
1 Intangible Virtue
Real Estate (23)
4 Arid Mesa
4 Bloodstained Mire
3 Sacred Foundry
2 Blood Crypt
1 Dragonskull Summit
2 Inspiring Vantage
2 Rugged Prairie
1 Graven Cairns
2 Mountain
1 Swamp
1 Plains
3 Stony Silence
3 Alpine Moon
3 Wheel of Sun and Moon
2 Lightning Helix
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
2 Wear // Tear
1 Timely Reinforcements
Post Faithless Looting Ban September 2019
4 Indomitable Creativity
1 Emrakul, the Aeons torn
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Nahiri, the Harbinger
Tokens (12)
2 Legion's Landing
2 Bitterblossom
4 Raise the Alarm
2 Kaya's Guile
2 Chandra, Acolyte of Flame
Interaction (14)
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Path to Exile
2 Lightning Helix
2 Collective Brutality
2 Tormenting Voice
Real Estate (23)
4 Arid Mesa
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Sacred Foundry
1 Godless Shrine
1 Blood Crypt
1 Inspiring Vantage
2 Clifftop Retreat
1 Dragonskull Summit
2 Rugged Prairie
3 Mountain
1 Swamp
1 Plains
3 Stony Silence
3 Alpine Moon
3 Wheel of Sun and Moon
2 Lightning Helix
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
2 Wear // Tear
1 Timely Reinforcements
I'm going to talk about the key cards in this deck - their nuances, tips and tricks to using the cards, and how they were included, if not already apparent.
The splinter twin card of the deck, this card threatens any player not holding a counterspell or multiple removals in their hand. The opponent has 2 options - counter creativity, or remove all creatures targeted by creativity before it resolves. Typically, life gets harder for combo as the game drags on. This deck, however, will cast creativity for 3, and then demand 3 instant speed answers from the opponent.
Now, I called this a superior polymorph, and promised to explain. Here we go:
1. You can hit more than 1 target, which enables the whole concept of Sword AND Shield.
2. You can hit artifacts, which means the opponent's ensnaring bridge, O Stone, Planar Bridge - whatever makes you happy - and you can do it with the SAME creativity you're going off with. Basically, destroy the out AND pull in Emrakul and Iona with 1 spell.
3. Creativity EXILES the card, THEN puts in on the battlefield. Polymorph puts the card directly on the battlefield from the library. Basically, you can't Grafdigger's Cage this beast.
I know what some of you are thinking - have I met any opponents who boarded in Grafdigger's Cage in round 2 thinking it would work? The answer is yes, 1 so far, and he was quite bummed out when the L2 explained why his cage wasn't going to stop him from being annihilated next turn.
The original win con of the first iteration, this card ends the game in a very obvious way. It either comes out Hasty from Nahiri and only hits once, or it comes out from creativity without haste but sticks around. Either way, this sword has to be dealth with before it turns sideways, because like Howard Stark said: "I like the stick that you only have to use ONCE."
When I included the Shield I had not considered the lore. I was including her so she could protect Emrakul from Detention Spheres, Terminus, board wipes. It only came to me after I'd bought the card and was sleeving it up - Emeria in Zendikari lore was referring to none other than the Eldrazi Titan herself. Basically, Iona is the Shield of Emrakul. That's how this deck got its name.
She's just as powerful in this deck as the old Jeskai version. And just like Iona, she too has a flavor win here - the reason she is described as the Harbinger on this card was because she called Emrakul down onto Innistrad to vex Sorin. In this case, she's calling Emrakul down too - on your opponent. I probably don't have to explain too much, so just briefly - +2 helps you rummage extra lands/useless cards away and find what you need, -2 is removal, and the ultimate is "I'd like to call a friend."
BANNED
Dig for combo, discard the Sword or Shield if you draw them, and provides value with Lingering Souls. In longer games, that flashback is invaluable. Just beware the nonbo with the Emrakul trigger.Lingering Souls:
The only source of flying tokens in the deck, it also provides value with faithless looting. And just like with looting, beware the nonbo with the Emrakul trigger. This can be tad tricky, as against a control opponent you don't want to put all 4 bodies on the board at once to be answered with a single wipe, but at the same time a looting may draw you the Sword. Typically, if the control opponent isn't removing my tokens, I'm content to just chip away and hold on to my lootings, so I can choose to cast them only if I draw the Sword.
Mardu Charm:
This is the Cryptic Command of the deck. Its not played as a playset because the individual modes aren't incredible - but the combination of them is. This card basically reads:
1. Instant Speed Flame Slash
2. Instant Speed Create 2 tokens
3. Instant Speed Duress
This means if you have 2 or more tokens on the battlefield and you have creativity and charm in your hand, you can Duress the opponent on their end step to check if the coast is clear and then combo off the following turn. If the opponent taps out to wipe the board, you can make 2 tokens at their end step and combo off. Otherwise, just point it at a creature with toughness 4 and below (Hollow one/Colonnade and below).
Legion's Landing:
This card is triple duty in this deck:
1. Turn 1 Proactive play
2. Possible turn 3 ramp and the only way to execute a turn 3 Emrakul/Iona
3. Offers lategame advantage with the fort producing an endless supply of lifelinking tokens.
Adanto singlehandedly won me the game against Jund by continually holding off a giant Raging Ravine from killing Nahiri. The jund player would draw removal, but so would I be drawing generators, so he simply could not break through.
The turn 3 Emrakul:
To execute this requires you to,
1. Turn 1 Legion's Landing
2. Turn 2 any 2 cmc token generator, preferably Raise the Alarm for that instant speed.
3. Turn 3 Attack with 3 tokens, flip Legion's landing, play your 4th land, and Go for 1. You might hit the Shield, which is a bummer. Imagine that, Iona on turn 3 being a bummer. Go ahead, moan loudly at your opponent. "Oh MAN, its JUST Iona. Curse my poor luck."
4. Ignore the glare from across the table.
How not to get fizzled when Going for X:
If playing against an opponent you suspect has instant speed removal, go for a high X. If they have 1 card left in hand, going for 2 pretty much guarantees you'll at least get to go for 1, and so on. The more tokens and mana you have, the harder it will be to stop you. The cleanest answers to Creativity are in blue: counterspells, which means you get to keep your tokens anyway so its a 1-for-1 trade or at worst they may have Cryptic Commanded it and drawn a card. Against URx, watch out for Electrolyze. Postboard against blue decks like Storm, look out for Echoing Truths. If you suspect echoing truths, try to hit tokens of different names, such as 1 Soldier token and 1 Spirit token, to avoid getting fizzled. If course, there is always end-step Mardu Charm, discard mode.
Creatively comboing and dealing with hate:
As has been mentioned a couple of times above, you can hit opposing problematic artifacts or creatures with Creativity. An O Stone without the mana to activate can be destroyed while you Go for 1 or 2. Likewise, you can hit Ensnaring bridge. These are the 2 commonly played cards that will allow an opponent an out to your Sword and Shield.
Slow Rolling:
Against interactive opponents, the key to winning is to slow roll. Unless you're on the defensive for Nahiri, there is absolutely no pressure to overextend. If you have a Virtue on the table, it becomes all the more problematic for the opponent. Remove opposing threats with your removal suite and chip, chip, chip away. Then, when the opponent cracks and taps out for their threat or wipe, Flash tokens and Go for 2.
Charming the blue/control mage:
The deck has only 2 maindeck target discard, and they're built into the swiss knife Mardu Charm. If the blue mage has been holding up their mana for your big creative turn, Charm them on your end step and duress them. They now have 3 options: use their removal now, counter your charm, or do nothing. If they use their removal now, and you don't see another removal, you know you can flash in more tokens or simply continue slow rolling and not have wasted a creativity to a fizzle. If they counter the charm, they are down a precious counterspell and mana. If they do nothing, you get to check. 2 counterspells or 2 removals in hand? Record the info and continue chipping. If the opponent taps out for anger or supreme verdict, they'll soon understand this deck plays "splinter twin": end step Raise the Alarm or Mardu Charm for tokens, and Go for 2.
Lands:
There are 2 tricky spells in the deck: Creativity with its triple red and Mardu Charm with, well, Mardu. The filter lands help a great deal with triple red, so your fetch choices can be more or less catered to varying your mana appropriately. Rugged Prairie is key in this deck because the turn 3 Creativity execution involves Adanto, which produces straight white.
Sideboard:
The board is pretty straightforward - you have your white hate cards for Affinity and Tron (Stony Silence), GY decks (Rest in Peace), anti-Tron and efficient manland hate in Alpine Moon, flexible removal in Wear Tear. Thoughtseizes for opposing combo or to check control hands before comboing off, and Timely Reinforcements because sometimes burn just has the godhand and this is the only way you're going to survive while advancing your plan A.
Boros Charm is double duty - comes in control matches to buff up the aggro plan in case comboing off becomes too hairy, and also renders Nahiri and your board indestructible in response to wipes, Trophies, O Stones.
Helix is likewise here for control matches for additional reach, while also improving the burn and other such aggro match ups. It helped a lot against Creeping Chill Dredge, thats for sure.
Additional Intangible Virtues are for those matches where you want to lean toward aggro and away from combo. You typically drop Nahiris for these, since your tokens wouldn't be blocking.
Games 2 and 3 - Blank their sideboard by becoming a pure aggro/burn deck, or go deeper into combo with hand hate and protection with Boros charm.
If you've made it this far, thank you for your interest in the deck. I hope I've piqued your interest with this humble brew, and I look forward to any feedback, or even your experiences with this list after trying it out.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to annihilator 6 someone.
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
I never thought I'd have to use this reserved space like this, but it is what it is. With Faithless Looting banned and lingering souls a lot less attractive, the time was ripe to explore other options which could provide the same card velocity and ability to stay alive while combo-ing off consistently. This led to a version with not only a pseudo-looting spell that can also be a shock or spell pierce, but also redundancy in the form of the OG destroy-my-token-flip-emrakul spell.
4 Indomitable Creativity
2 Polymorph
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
Tokens (9)
3 Legion's Landing
4 Raise the Alarm
2 Cloudform
Interaction (12)
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Path to Exile
4 Izzet Charm
Cantrips (4)
4 Serum Visions
Walkers (6)
4 Teferi, Time Raveler
2 Chandra, Acolyte of Flame
4 Arid Mesa
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Sacred Foundry
1 Steam Vents
1 Hallowed Fountain
3 Inspiring Vantage
2 Sulfur Falls
1 Rugged Prairie
1 Mountain
1 Island
1 Plains
4 Tocatli Honor Guard
2 Lightning Helix
1 Timely Reinforcements
3 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Platinum Emperion
1 Stony Silence
2 Rest In Peace
Deck has participated in 2 FNMs so far, going 2-1 and then 3-0 for an overall of 5-1. Not too bad, but plenty more testing to do. About the card choices-
Izzet Charm
Yup, the successor to Faithless Looting can only be cast once and costs U more, but is also a swiss army knife. It's a spell pierce or shock if u need it to be. Hitting a Karn and then polymorphing into Emrakul is good. Speaking of polymorph-
Polymorph
Splashing blue for Izzet Charm naturally means access to redundancies. There are a large number of games where Creativity would simply save the day but we can't find it. Losing the awesome selection and velocity of Looting just makes it worse. With 2 extra combo pieces in the deck, I've been flipping up iona and emmy a lot more often.
Serum Visions
Speaking of velocity, this card digs the deepest of the 3 blue modern cantrips. I could see this being Sleight of Hand, but I supposed I'm still undecided.
Cloudform
The substitute for lingering souls at the 3-drop slot, this hexproof flier can win games against midrange/control by itself, and can't be removed when you're polymorphing or creativity-ing it.
Teferi, Time Raveler
He brings so much to the deck I can't even. Stops people interacting with creativity or your tokens as you're going for it. Enables end-step creativity/polymorph. Bounces troublesome stuff like Aria of Flame, and even drawing.
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
I've been playing for a time, a WR deck, that is could look similar to this one, with good results. My list is more focused on tokens but has also the combo approach. It is not mardu also and I don't play Iona nor Nahiri but other things to improve my game plans.
For reference this is my list:
4 Raise the Alarm
4 Lingering Souls
4 Spectral Procession
4 Gather the Townsfolk
3 Path to Exile
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Faithless Looting
4 Intangible Virtue
2 Divine Visitation
4 Indomitable Creativity
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Ulamog, The Ceaseless Hunger
3 Sacred Foundry
4 Flagstones of trokair
4 Windbrisk heights
1 Godless Shrine
3 Rugged Prairie
1 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Shefet Dunes
2 Rest in Peace
2 Stony Silence
2 Timely Reinforcements
2 Wear // Tear
2 Alpine Moon
2 Path to Exile
1 Settle the wreckage
1 Platinum Emperion
1 gideon of the trials
In my deck I'm using windbrisk heights to cheat the big monsters or the divine visitations (which are the other win con) so for each token spell I play, I get a bunch of angels, while being possible to cast them in long games. Only playing 2 because they are useless in multiples but in the games I've played the visitations I've won.
Also I have the full tokens plan with intangible virtue and so on.
When Indomitable Creativity was spoiled I realized how good it should be in my tokens deck so I changed to Wr without regreting it. Also faithless looting gives you some manipulation so makes the deck more consistent.
I've always doubting and testing one or the other between Ulamog, The Ceaseless Hunger and blightsteel Colossus. Each one gives you an alternative win con to beat infinite lifes. Right now I'm playing Ulamog because with heights you can cast it, so you have the chance to exile two permanents when you do it. Anyways both options are good enough.
Finally in my SDB I have 1 platinum emperion and 1 gideon against combo and the so. I've always be tempted to play more gideons (more types of gideons also) because they are also very good.
Right now I'm very happy with my list.
I tried visitations out of the sideboard after GRN. However, I found that it was really expensive (cmc) and you wanted it before all your tokens for maximum value, and sometimes if you drew it late when you could cast it, it was basically a dead card. Nahiri and lootings does help with that though.
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
I lost the first round very much to my own mistakes rather than the deck's builds. For instance I kept a hand of Terminate, 2 Nahiris and 4 lands in match 1. What was I thinking? A single thoughtseize was enough to render me basically a spectator.
The second round was a victory, I didn't feel too good about it though. The chap started with a tome scour for me. At first I'd misheard and assumed he said THOUGHT scour. I waited for him to mill 2 and draw. Then he said, I'm milling you for 5. Well, I have Emrakul in my library, so. I'm not even sure how I could have lost this even if I tried.
Last match up was against Jund and this time I kept my head in the game. Round 1 tokens kept up the pressure and every time he killed the chippers on the board I just topped up. Had creativity in my hand but I know he was holding up removal for me too. A lily of the veil came, prolonged the game a little, then tokens killed her. Apart from that, nothing interesting happened. Round 2 I went into stupid mode again and kept a 1 lander after a mull to 6. Murphy says if you wanna test your luck, he's going to destroy you. So I scried a creativity to the bottom, and of course the next 4 draws were all nonland. I scooped. Game 3 I went for 1 on turn 4 on the play when he missed his third land drop and hit Iona, chose black. Straight scoop for him.
Overall the deck still feels keenly balanced. As long as I don't keep stupid hands the deck has a chance to perform. If anything, I do wish I had more card selection beyond lootings. But the issue is probably more with my poor mulligan decisions than anything else.
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
Agora win a box 10.11.18
Decklist notes: Gather the townsfolk removed and helixes pushed to mainboard to better deal with elves, humans and spirits. The 2 vacated sideboard slots are given to Tormod's crypt to battle bridgevine and Blessed Alliance for Bogles. The Arid Mesas are currently Wooded Foothills for budgetary reasons; any optimal list should be on-color.
4 Nahiri, the Harbinger
4 Indomitable Creativity
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
Token Generators (13)
3 Legion's Landing
4 Raise the Alarm
4 Lingering Souls
2 Mardu Charm
Removals (10)
1 Path to Exile
1 Dismember
2 Fatal Push
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Lightning Helix
4 Faithless Looting
2 Intangible Virtue
Lands (21)
3 Inspiring Vantage
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Bloodstained Mire
3 Sacred Foundry
1 Godless Shrine
1 Blood Crypt
2 Rugged Prairie
1 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Swamp
2 Rest in Peace
2 Stony Silence
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Blessed Alliance
2 Boros Charm
2 Lightning Helix
2 Thoughtseize
1 Timely Reinforcements
1 Wear // Tear
1 Alpine Moon
Match 1 vs mesmeric orb mill (Match was videotaped by shopkeep; link: https://www.facebook.com/Agorahobby/videos/561373887618472/ ) (Win)
G1 emrakul got milled in and reset my library in the late game. He surgicalled emrakul, but the library advantage was too much and the Opponent milled himself out first. He had Locked me with ensnaring bridge, so I wasn’t going to win by aggro.
In: 2 wear // tear and 2 boros charm ; out terminate, path and 2 push
G2 the opponent got lucky with double archive traps which took out most of my burn spells and both copies of wear//tear. I went for 1 and got Emrakul, but he locked the eldrazi titan behind a bridge again and that was the loss.
G3 I have emrakul in starting hand but the rest is good, with a couple of token makers and wear // tear. Opponent casts mesmeric orb turn 2. Turn 4 I go for 1 and hit the shield, and block blue. Opponent casts bridge and I wear it out, and win with Iona Beats plus a bolt to the face.
Match 2 vs jund (Win)
G1 I win by attrition using tokens. Opponent spends removal trying to keep my board clear. Nahiri ticks up while my remaining tokens stay on defence. Opponent scoops when he can’t stop her ultimate.
In: 2 boros charms, out nahiri and helix
G2 opponent clears my board with last hope. I end step raise the alarm and bolt his dark confidant, untap and play virtue and hit last hope for 4, bringing her to 1. Opponent has untapped BR land but does not remove token, implying no 1 mana removal. Next turn, he pulses the virtue and upticks hope to kill 1 token, leaving me 1 soldier. I untap and go for 1, and hit emrakul. Opponent plays a tarmogoyf putting his permanent count at 7. I push the goyf and then swing him to clear his board for the win.
Match 3 vs mono U turns (Loss)
G1 opponent wins die roll, goes off turn 5 after 2 consecutive exhaustion while I stumble on red mana. He eventually kills me with inkmoth nexus beefed up by Part the Waterveil. Once the first Time Warp resolves, its basically out of my hands.
In: 2 thoughtseize and 2 boros charm
G2 I go off on turn 4 for emrakul, while he tapped out for thing in the ice on his turn 3 leaving only 1 mana up. He cannot flip it in time and scoops.
G3 opponent mulls to 5 but his howling mines help him draw back into the game. I draw both Iona and emrakul somehow, leaving me without creativity targets in the deck, and wind up having my tokens bounced by Thing in the Ice.
Match 4 vs Runaway red (win and in)
G1 I win the die roll and open with legions landing. Nothing happens until opp's turn 2 where opp goes ritual into manamorphose into looting, discards arclight and fiery temper and kills my token off the madness, which gives me revolt for fatal push to kill the arclight that comes back. On my turn 3 I cast a second landing and pass. He chains spells again on turn 3 and brings back arclight, which I bolt. I untap on turn 4 and go for 1, hitting emrakul and he scoops.
In: timely reinforcements : out nahiri
G2 was closer, opponent burns me down to 11 on turn 3, and taps out to reload with reveler using all 4 mountains, so I cast raise the alarm on his end step, and go off on my turn 4 and hit emrakul. Opponent sends another 8 damage to my face with annihilator trigger on the stack bringing me to 2 (I fetched and took 1 damage). He has 1 card in hand and 1 draw step, and no permanents in play. So, exactly one out, which is drawing either a burn or land to match what he has and burn me out. I cast mardu charm on the end of his draw step to seal the win. (He actually revealed 2 mountains, but that moment made me real glad I had an instant speed duress)
Match 5: Intentional draw into top 8.
Event summary and thoughts:
The mardu iteration is definitely leaps and bounds ahead of the boros set-up that brought me to 3-2 in the last win-a-box. The additional 2 instant speed token generators in the form of Mardu Charms are invaluable; opponents tend to let their guard down when they see an empty board, only to get "twinned" out. I dropped Gather the Townsfolk because it just felt like I was pushing the turn 3 angle too much; the deck could do with more anti-aggro elements and so the helixes came in. In the testing leading up to this weekend I found that the deck had trouble with elves, spirits and humans, and making 2 human tokens at sorcery speed just didn't feel impactful at all. I was also dead to Bogles; adding a Blessed Alliance isn't going to turn things all the way around, but I feel like I at least give myself an out.
Moving forward, I'm going to slowly procure my Arid Mesas and finish up the manabase. I feel like this iteration is as close to optimal as it can be; although I'm feeling like noncreature strategies are pretty daunting. Mono U turns had me beat, and against the mill deck I was basically a passenger on that victory train, the emrakul trigger gave me an edge that I didn't have to fight for. I am considering to fit in Anguished Unmaking somewhere in the 75, but I can't decide where.
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
FNM 26 Oct 2018
Dredge Win
Jund Win
Affinity Win
FNM 2 Nov 2018
Jund Loss
U Mill Win
Jund Win
Win-a-box 9 Nov 2018
UB Orb Mill Win
Jund Win
Mono U Turns Loss
Runaway Red Win
?? Intentional Draw
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
RE: Bitterblossom
Good ol' blossom would compete with 2 of the cards in the existing 60: Raise the Alarm at the 2 cmc slot, or Legion's Landing. It's notable that Landing is supported strongly by Raise the Alarm, so if we drop Raise the Alarm for Blossom, Landing loses much of its power, namely the powerful line of T1 Landing T2 Raise T3 Creativity. Conversely, we can drop landing itself, retaining the instant speed token threat from Raise and giving up on the turn 1 proactive play. The ramp and instant speed I value more than the grindiness accorded by Blossom, hence the decision to go with the more aggressive options. Incidentally, having Landing VS Blossom turns the burn match up about pretty hard.
RE: Creativity's consistency
I used to run 15 token generating cards, namely 3 Landing 4 Raise 4 Lingering 2 Gather Townsfolk and 2 Mardu Charm. I found myself wanting interaction over tokens and so cut the weakest link of 2 Gather the Townsfolk and brought Helix up to maindeck. I found that having instant speed token makers (4 raise and 2 mardu charms) provided the threat needed to "browbeat" midrange and control decks. They have to deal with the tokens from lingering souls and landing, but if they spend their removal this way, I can flash in tokens on their end step and go off. Bitterblossom is certainly very strong against certain decks like Grixis who are hard pressed to deal with a resolved Bitterblossom, but right now I'm see more Assassin's Trophies, Detention Spheres and Bridge from Below, and I'm not really into Bitterblossom for that.
RE: Removal Suite
As of 11 Nov 2018, I've changed the suite (again) to 3 Push 1 Path, no dismember. These dedicated creature spots are pretty much flex and you can pick your best removal for them. Dismember was a carry-over from when my deck was RW and I didn't want to path everything that hit the board. As more matches went by and I splashed black, I steadily dropped Paths for Push as I simply seldom needed to deal with anything a push couldn't already handle, and path just gives them a land, which can be pretty bad if you're up against Jund, Storm or any opposing midrange. The creatures I deal with on a regular basis are: Arclight, Runaway Steam-kin, Humans, Spirits, Elves, Goyfs, Dark Confidants, BBE. I hardly see Wurmcoils, delve threats or Hollow Ones. If they were more prevalent, I'd probably start leaning toward Path.
RE: Graveyard hate
I totally want 4x Leyline, I just find the price on the market really unreasonable now. I'd thought about the issue of RIP as well, so actually, I picked up a playset of Ravenous Trap. I'm just wondering how many to put in.
RE: Boros Charm
Boros Charm does a lot of funny stuff in a variety of match ups, and all the funny stuff is really useful. Without a doubt Helix would be superior in a Burn heavy meta.
1. Kill a Liliana of the Veil after she upticks to 4. Really important if you intend to creativity on turn 4.
2. Kill a Liliana, the Last Hope after she upticks to 4 and kills off a token. Really important for obvious reasons.
3. Saves Nahiri from Assassin's Trophy.
4. Saves your board of tokens from Anger, Pyroclasm, Supreme Verdict, Damnation.
On top of those scenarios, it reaches out for 4 damage over Helix's 3. So it comes in for the UW matches as well, where chip + reach is usually how the game closes out. On a side note, I'm planning to try 2 copies of Ricochet Trap as well, because cryptic command bouncing my Iona on white, or cryptic command countering Creativity is really annoying.
RE: Discard
I know right?? A combo deck seems like it should have some number of discard. I've given up trying to squeeze them in, but I do have 2 Thoughtseizes in the side for combo and control matches. At this point in time, Aggro and proactive strategies like Bridgevine, Burn, Dredge, Humans and elves seem to be dominating my meta though, so I leaned toward having a robust removal suite instead of hand-attack. I've actually found the deck does OK without the spot discard, because you have the instant speed surprises to keep the people with answers on their toes. It can be tricky when *they* have discard and we're forced to be honest.
I'm keen on Collective Brutality, it would cover the burn match even better than Helix. If Burn were to start featuring more than graveyard strats and creature based aggro, I'd definitely start moving in that direction. On a side note, Killing off a drogskol captain and taking a collected company sounds really good.
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
I tested ravenous trap against Dredge but it didn't seem strong enough. RIP really seals the deal, although its a bit slow. Now, I'm running 1 RIP and 2 Traps. Will let you know how it goes. Creeping Chill really gives them an edge, since it totally ignores both emrakul and iona.
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
One of my matches at a 22 man win-a-box was recorded, you can check it out here: https://www.facebook.com/Agorahobby/videos/561373887618472/
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
4 Nahiri, the Harbinger
4 Indomitable Creativity
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
Token Generators (13)
3 Legion's Landing
4 Raise the Alarm
4 Lingering Souls
2 Mardu Charm
Removals (10)
1 Path to Exile
3 Fatal Push
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Lightning Helix
4 Faithless Looting
2 Intangible Virtue
Lands (21)
3 Inspiring Vantage
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Bloodstained Mire
3 Sacred Foundry
1 Godless Shrine
1 Blood Crypt
2 Rugged Prairie
1 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Swamp
2 Ravenous Trap
2 Ricochet Trap
3 Stony Silence
2 Boros Charm
2 Thoughtseize
1 Timely Reinforcements
1 Wear // Tear
1 Rest in Peace
1 Leave No Trace
Round 1: BG Elves (Win) 2-0
G1: The deck moves like clockwork. I bolt the T1 dork. Raise the Alarm turn 2, turn 3 intangible plus a Push to the Archdruid. T4 I go for 1 and hit Iona, naming green. If only all games lined up like this.
In: Timely Reinforcements; Out: Nahiri x1
G2: This game is a little closer; I don't draw enough removals but a pair of early legion's landing coupled with intangible virtue brought me as high as 35 life. Towards the end he had ezuri and enough mana to potentially hit me for 20+ damage, but he'd die on the crackback. I went for 1, hit Iona and chose green again ending any possible board development for him, and that was the win.
Round 2: RW Burn (Win) 2-0
G1: I'm so glad to win the die roll against Burn. I lay a mountain and pass. A swiftspear appears and gets duly bolted. Turn 2 I hold up my mana, get skullcracked so I cast my raise the alarm. Turn 3 I cast intangible, hit for 4 and hold up B for fatal push. Alas I instead get domed with a Boros charm and bolt, putting me below 10 and a little nervous. I have creativity but Emrakul isn't what I want. Luckily enough, I hit the Shield and name red, securing the first game.
In: Timely Reinforcements; Out: Nahiri x1
G2: Opponent suspends a rift bolt t1. On my T1 I play legion's landing. Opponent opts to aim the rift bolt at me, which is probably a misplay. I have both intangible and raise the alarm in hand, and decide to instead go for the adanto flip instead of playing the virtue. Opponent is unable to stop the flip, which is pretty bad for him. T3 I play my intangible, helix him and hit for 6 and gain 2 life. It's downhill from there but he marches on gamely, until I topdeck Creativity and hit Emrakul.
Round 3: Mardu Pyro (Loss) 0-2
G1: We both engage in the typical value plays of faithless lootings and souls. However, he outgasses me via Bedlam Reveler and Kolaghan's Command retrieving Young Pyros that I'd killed off. Eventually his LOTV actually ultimates and seals the game.
In: 2x Ravenous Trap, 1x RIP; Out: 2x Creativity, 1x Iona
G2: This was basically a non-game, despite me casting 2 faithless lootings I was somehow miraculously unable to draw any black sources. Being unable to flashback lingering souls is very bad. To add insult to injury, I draw Ravenous Trap towards the end of the game, still without black mana and my opponent already having looted and flashbacked souls to his heart's content.
Round 4: Creeping Dredge (Win) 2-0
G1: The opponent wins the die roll but gets pretty unlucky with his dredges, and he manages 2 bloodghasts and 1 narcomeba on turn 3. On his turn 4, he attacks and I cast Mardu Charm, blocking and killing both bloodghasts. I untap on turn 4 and go for 1, hit Iona and name Red. He still manages to dredge prized amalgams in and get them into play via the bloodghasts, but my flying 7/7 backed up by removals lets me win this race. I was hit by 1 creeping chill this game.
In: Ravenous Trap x2, RIP x1; Out: 3x Nahiri
G2: I get hit by 2 creeping chills this time, but manage to weather the onslaught with a combination of chumps and removal spells. I eventually go off for 1 again and again get Iona on red. The opp tries to push damage thru with his returning creatures but I eventually manage to go for 1 again, getting emrakul out as well.
I'll be taking the deck to a 1k tomorrow, and will be expecting dredge. I will probably up my GY hate to at least 5-6 pieces, probably 2 RIP, 2 Trap and 2 Rakdos Charm.
Current Standing: 11-3-1
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
What about playing Elesh Norn in the maindeck and bringing Iona in from the SB when it is really good ?
Another idea I thought about is finding a replacement for Intangible Virtue as it doesn't really stand on its own unlike a PW like:
Gideon, Sorin or Elspeth would.
Another option could be a combat trick like Rally the Peasants which can be cast from the GY (like Lingering Souls) and would work well with
Looting and Nahiri.
Btw, I like the deck and want to try it out myself.
1k series GHPL 24.11.18
4 Indomitable Creativity
4 Nahiri, the Harbinger
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
Interaction (10)
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Lightning Helix
1 Path to Exile
3 Fatal Push
Tokens (13)
4 Lingering Souls
4 Raise the Alarm
3 Legion's Landing
2 Mardu Charm
Utility (6)
4 Faithless Looting
2 Intangible Virtue
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Marsh Flats
2 Arid Mesa
3 Sacred Foundry
1 Godless Shrine
1 Blood Crypt
2 Rugged Prairie
1 Graven Cairns
2 Inspiring Vantage
1 Mountain
1 Swamp
1 Plains
3 Stony Silence
2 Rest in Peace
2 Ravenous Trap
1 Rakdos Charm
2 Ricochet Trap
1 Wear // Tear
1 Timely Reinforcements
2 Thoughtseize
1 Alpine Moon
Decklist notes: I borrowed on-color fetches for this event from a friend; The sideboard turned out to be farce since I prepared heavily for dredge and bridgevine (5 slots dedicated to it!) and did not meet a single GY based deck. My 3 stony silences never made an appearance in the single match up where it mattered either, which was quite infuriating. Nonetheless I'm heartened by the fact that my maindeck alone was enough to take me to 3-2 in a competitive meta.
M1 vs runaway red win 2-1
On the Play.
G1 opponent screws when he keeps a 1 lander with looting, and I punish it with beat down by tokens. The turn 1 swiftspear was promptly bolted and he couldn't do much afterward.
G2 The opponent's deck runs like clockwork; his 3 lootings each carried a fiery temper, his arclights are drawn and discarded for the return, and he's got 1 runaway plus 1 swiftspear in the mix as well. I get burned out by fiery tempers while gut shots erase any tokens I manage to place on the board.
G3 Its my turn to run like clockwork; his early creatures get removed with pushes and bolts, and I perform a turn 3 end-step raise the alarm into turn 4 combo into emrakul.
M2 vs affinity loss 1-2
On the Draw.
G1 I mull to 5, keep a 1-lander with looting, draw another looting and cast that too. 4 draw steps and 2 lootings later (or 8 cards deep), I am still on one land. The opponent on the other hand had a turn 1 steel overseer. This is a non-game.
G2 I win via attrition with tokens; She gamely holds the fort with 2 manlands; 1 pumped up by an arcbound while the other is supported by the blinkmoth pump ability. However, a combination of spot removals and token spells prove too much to overcome. I eventually wear // tear one of the mothlands while the other is still being activated; leading to a forced bad choice for the opponent.
G3 I lose to an early etched champion followed up with cranial plating. 3 Stony Silences and 1 Wear // tear fail to make an appearance.
M3 vs sultai shadow win 2-1
On the Draw.
G1 The opponent picks apart my hand and fathoms my strategy with multiple inquisitions/thoughtseizes. He has a stubborn denial for every spell I try to cast, and in the meantime I get beat down by a large shadow plus goyf.
G2 I lead with Landing. Opponent plays bauble, checks, fetches and shocks, and passes. Turn 2, I lay a land and my token gets in for 1 damage. Opponent taps out turn 2 for goyf. So of course I play Raise the alarm on his end step, attack with 3 tokens on turn 3, flip adanto, lay a fourth land, cast creativity and get Iona on the board blocking Black. My opponent can't believe it.
G3 The opponent has no play on turn 1 again - he casts a goyf of turn 2. I have Push and helix, and I figure I want to use the helix on the goyf (we hardly get to do that do we) and save the push for a shadow later. So I fetch tapped, lay my second land and tap out to helix the goyf which dies as a 2/3 (land and instant). He casts a lily on turn 3, and upticks. My hand is the push, raise, 2 land, and creativity. I discard a land. On my turn 3 I draw another land, I play my third land and pass. Opponent's turn 4 is more fetch/shock action, and a shadow hits the board. He upticks again and I'm forced to discard the land that would be my fourth; I'll need to draw another land if I want to combo off next turn. On his endstep, I use my 3 mana to push the Shadow and raise alarm. I untap, and draw the land I need. The soldiers hit Lily for 2, placing her at 3 loyalty. I Go for 1 and hit emrakul. If the opponent draws a spot removal for my remaining token he can kill it then -2 lily and stay in the game. He doesn't.
M4 vs bant spirits win 2-0
On the Draw.
G1 He has no vial and we play out like a midrange vs a poor zoo deck. I trade removals for spirits, then get the opponent into a nahiri subgame, which is never going to end well for them. Some chump blocks and removals later, I eventually ultimate.
G2 The opponent has Thalia and reflector slow down the game, but my flipped adanto keeps me in the race. A midgame Intangible virtue makes for a stalemate, but only 1 of us has an actual endgame. I eventually draw the 6 mana I need to go for 2 (2RRR plus 1 for tax) and get both my sword and shield on the board, with my shield blocking white. On hindsight, this should have been green. On my next turn, I attack and Emrakul triggers, he floats 4 mana and sacs thalia along with his lands, leaving a vial, noble hierarch and his reflector mage. With Thalia gone, he can cast coco. Reflector mage and drogskol come down and bounce emrakul. However, next turn I swing with 5 tokens and Iona to win anyway.
M5 vs bant spirits loss 0-2
On the Draw.
G1 It goes horribly; the opponent runs like a well oiled engine, with a turn 1 vial, and every spirit on curve. I get outvalued with coco and queller in the midgame and just can't stay alive in front of the flying, disruptive merfolk.
G2 The opponent has no early spirits, but I am overrun by double coco into double lord each time, while unable to draw either creativity or Nahiri.
Current Standing: 14-5-1 (70% win rate)
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
Hi Dennis, you've got good points, some of which I'd considered before.
RE: Iona
Iona wasn't chosen without a great deal of consideration. The 2nd creature beside Emrakul has quite a big job cut out for them. They have to, like emrakul, be:
1. Resilient to removal,
2. Be able to also win a game on their own,
3. Be valid in most match ups,
4. If complemented with Emrakul, be practically a sure-win.
Elesh Norn seems great because she's an anthem, but on closer scrutiny is not so attractive.
1. Does not protect herself in anyway, so any spot removal can dispose of her, from path to trophy.
2. With 4 power and no evasion, she will take a long time to close a game, although she might be supporting tokens.
3. She fails this test hard since there are decks that simply don't care, such as storm and UW control. Even against Burn, hitting Elesh isn't as awesome as Iona blocking Red, since the opponent will probably finish you with reach.
4. She doesn't complement Emrakul, and the opponent can take back the game easily with Terminus, Detention Sphere, Teferi, Supreme Verdict.
All this being said, I am interested in adding Elesh to the board (instead of the other way around) since she can deal with elves, affinity and humans pretty well, which can't be said for Iona, who isn't fast enough for elves, doesn't impact affinity, and is practically ignored by humans and their vials.
RE: Intangible Virtue
Virtue is here not to stand on its own; its here to give credibility to your plan B, which is to beatdown with tokens. The planeswalkers you've named sit on 4 on your cmc curve; along with the 4 copies of nahiri, you're talking about raising the entire curve of the deck! If we were playing dedicated control or BW tokens, these would be excellent choices and they are in fact played by BW tokens, which focuses on disruption and a flying army. By the way, they play 4 copies of Intangible Virtue.
RE: Rally the Peasants
Well, Intangible Virtue does this job better and cheaper too. Sure, it doesn't synergize with looting, but I don't think that's a reason to include a card that is one-time use, and adds itself to indomitable creativity as dead cards if there are no tokens around. 4 copies of Creativity is plenty of potential dead cards. You don't really want more.
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
I've made some improvements to the manabase and adjusted the sideboard to combat decks better with creativity. The most pertinent change is dropping the legion's landing as the turn 1 proactive play and replacing it with discard. The intangible virtues are moved to the side to make way for more discard, rounding out the discard maindeck to 3 Inquisition, 2 thoughtseize and 2 mardu charm.
4 Indomitable Creativity
4 Nahiri, the Harbinger
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
Tokens (10)
4 Raise the Alarm
4 Lingering Souls
2 Mardu Charm
Disruption (5)
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
Removal (10)
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Lightning Helix
3 Fatal Push
1 Path to Exile
4 Faithless Looting
Lands (21)
4 Arid Mesa
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Wooded Foothills
2 Sacred Foundry
1 Blood Crypt
1 Godless Shrine
2 Inspiring Vantage
1 Rugged Prairie
1 Graven Cairns
1 Mountain
1 Swamp
1 Plains
2 Intangible Virtue
3 Stony Silence
1 Rest in Peace
2 Ravenous Trap
1 Rakdos Charm
2 Ricochet Trap
1 Platinum Emperion
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Timely Reinforcements
1 Wear //Tear
M1 vs Dredge (Loss 2-0)
G1 he has a bad start but still manages to win via multiple creeping chills and finishing me out with conflagrate. I get stuck on 3 lands and can't combo off.
SB: Rest in Peace, Ravenous traps, Rakdos Charm, removing 2 inquisition and 2 thoughtseizes
G2 I draw none of my sideboard and die pretty much the same way.
M2 vs UW Control (Win 2-1)
G1 I chip away with tokens until he finally responds - I simply play more tokens and continue. Finally, I manage to go for 1 and put Emrakul on the board. His out is top-deck terminus - but he doesnt find it.
SB: 2x Ricochet Trap in, remove 1 path and 1 bolt
G2 the game goes really long, and he manages to counter the meaningful spells and stick a JTMS, which accrues an insurmountable card advantage.
G3 the game also goes long, but my tokens and burn spells get there.
M3 vs Grixis Shadow (Win 2-1)
G1 I'm stripped of all my key spells and fall to Tasigur beats.
SB: 2x Ricochet Trap in, 1 Bolt and 1 Creativity out
G2 I manage to lure out counterspells with Raise and beatdown with spirits; then I manage to creativity for 1 and get emnrakul on the board.
G3 I screw on mana (2 lands from start to end) while he doesnt draw his gas (he had 1 lily the last hope which I inquisition away). A good faithless looting places 2 souls in my GY which basically win me the game in the air.
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
....I actually have been pulling together the cards to build it. I love Nahiri, as well as the 2 main Idomitable Creativity hit creatures you have. I think the idea of all the tokens is pretty smart as well.
Ello! Of course I'm still on the deck. It's been continuing to evolve. I've seen my win rate slide to the 50-50 range lately, largely due to 2 reasons:
1. A disproportionate number of games where I mana screw on 2-3 lands.
2. An equally disproportionate number of games against Dredge where I basically can't keep up, and even if I stabilize, I get chilled out.
Solving problem #1 was pretty easy; I toned down the greedy number of Nahiri to 2, to make space for lands. Problem #2 is a little more difficult. We're talking about a meta-changing deck that's pretty close to eldrazi winter level, so I suppose that can't be helped.
I've also added Bitterblossom to the deck; This has improved the UW match up tremendously.
4 Indomitable Creativity
2 Nahiri, the Harbinger
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
Tokens (15)
2 Legion's Landing
4 Raise the Alarm
4 Lingering Souls
3 Bitterblossom
2 Mardu Charm
Disruption (2)
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
Removal (8)
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Lightning Helix
3 Fatal Push
4 Faithless Looting
Lands (23)
4 Arid Mesa
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Wooded Foothills
2 Sacred Foundry
1 Blood Crypt
1 Godless Shrine
2 Inspiring Vantage
1 Rugged Prairie
1 Graven Cairns
2 Mountain
1 Swamp
1 Plains
1 Mutavault
1 Path to Exile
1 Lightning Helix
1 Intangible Virtue
3 Stony Silence
2 Ravenous Trap
1 Rakdos Charm
2 Ricochet Trap
1 Platinum Emperion
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Timely Reinforcements
1 Wear //Tear
The sideboard certainly is a work in progress. With Dredge being such a huge issue, I'm seriously considering RIP back in anyway, to hell with the nonbo with souls and looting Emrakul. It just hits them a lot worse.
Anyway, this deck went 2-1 at FNM last Friday. I didn't take notes, so here are just highlights:
M1 vs Dredge Loss 2-0
G1 he has an average-ish start meaning about 7-9 power on the board turn 2. I turn 4 iona and name red, but of course turn 4 Iona is nothing to this broken deck. He digs 12-14 cards on his turn 4 easy, chilling me to death.
G2 I get a turn 4 emperion out, so what he does is keep his creatures back to threaten a gangblock and trade which makes 0 sense for me since his stuff will all come back. I wait for a second creativity so I can land Elesh or Emrakul as well; he draws Nature's claim first. This makes me consider playing only Elesh and Emrakul and skipping on Emperion, since dredge players will play artifact/enchantment hate for RIP.
M2 vs Mono Red Prison Win 2-0
G1 Chalice on 1 doesn't really faze me. I go off on turn 4, opponent has to read creativity. He needs ensnaring bridge to win; he doesn't draw it and gets annihilated.
G2 He does get a bridge out. There's some combat and trading between my tokens and his rabblemaster tokens before his hand dries up and we stalemate. During the stalemate I go off and get Emrakul down. Then, I eventually dig my way to a wear // tear and open the path for Emrakul.
M3 vs Ponza Win 2-1
G1 I lose the die roll to Ponza, hehe. I never hit my third land. And Blood moon comes down and I get locked out of white. I eventually get killed by a Stormbreath. Ponza is such a fun deck to play. I hated losing the die roll as the Ponza pilot though.
G2 I'm on the play, and I keep a 4 land hand. I manage to go off turn 5 after 1 land gets destroyed. Emrakul hits the board, opponent has no answer and we go to G3.
G3 is pretty close and runs long. Opponent draws the creature half of the deck, meaning a steady stream of courser, tracker, BBE. No Titan, fortunately. On my side is a steady stream of tokens. My endgame creature is however, quite a bit larger. Without the land destruction holding me back, I am able to cast creativity and get my Emrakul on the board again. Opponent actually has enough clue tokens that he doesn't fear Annihilator 6, but I have 19 flying power that he can't block. GG.
Conclusions:
23 Lands is definitely where I'm staying. Mutavault as my 23rd land = no regrets. It acts as creativity fodder when people least expect it, it can pay for itself to activate meaning you can totally surprise people on turn 5 even from an empty board by laying mutavault as the 5th land, activating it, and just going for 1. Mutavault also helped me flip an Adanto once during the FNM.
Bitterblossoms didn't meet the MU they were meant for, but I'm just glad we didn't run into burn. Ironically, its Dredge that's keeping burn out of sight. Honestly I'd rather deal with Burn.
Dredge is a problem I honestly can't solve beyond sacrificing other MU out of the board. And then mulling aggressively for said SB cards. I don't like it. I think creeping chill adds a layer of inevitability that this sort of deck should not have access to.
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
I literally made all those changes to the deck myself in the build i made changing it to my tastes.
I felt your landbase was too light, and could easily see that you had too many 4 drops to be carried by it. I also decided to draw your colors closer to 2 primary - Black and Red to cut down on the damage you would take from your manabase. You should only splash white in my opinion. I also immediately felt this deck was perfect for Bitterblossoms, and I actually just got mine in the mail and added them a few days ago.
Still reading your response. Its just that this was so unlikely to see all these changes reflected in how I built my version of your deck it was just uncanny and I had to immediately respond.
I would probably just drop 1 of your win cons and bring in Elesh Norn or keep Emrakul. Another possibility is using that creature that brings your life up to half your starting total when it enters the battlefield, Torgaar, Famine Incarnate - he can also be used with our tokens pretty early in the game. He may not be enough, but he may be a potential stabilizing tool.
The reason I went into trap (I was on RIP at one point) was because the nonbo extends beyond not having lingering souls - there is the risk of drawing the sword/shield and then losing the creativity. So RIP runs the risk of sharply increasing dead cards. If you draw emrakul, creativity, creativity with RIP on the board, we're in pretty bad shape. The other possibility is, RIP comes in - and replaces the combo entirely. That way we don't care any more and go laser focused on winning with tokens.
There is also of course the option mentioned by Mazeron above (by the way, he too mentioned bitterblossoms might be a good idea) of Leyline of the Void. I haven't tested it, but I think a lot of games we see decent hands even without sideboard, and we can try looting into it. As opposed to mulliganing for Leyline which is a scary proposition, to me at least.
What I wish we had was a creature that, when it enters the battlefield basically has a grafdigger, yixlid jailer or RIP effect. That way we can just toolbox for it. Yixlid Jailer is too fragile, and it doesn't have closing power. One option is to play grafdigger's cage and just let it be the creativity target, as though we were casting a red Whir of Invention. But then again I was killed by dredge using their nature's claim.
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
downside is it can be killed by a conflagrate for 4.
I've made the following changes to the deck in preparation for tomorrow's FNM:
4 Indomitable Creativity
2 Nahiri, the Harbinger
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
Tokens (15)
2 Legion's Landing
4 Raise the Alarm
4 Lingering Souls
3 Bitterblossom
2 Mardu Charm
Disruption (2)
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
Removal (8)
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Lightning Helix
3 Fatal Push
4 Faithless Looting
Lands (23)
4 Arid Mesa
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Wooded Foothills
2 Sacred Foundry
1 Blood Crypt
1 Godless Shrine
2 Inspiring Vantage
1 Rugged Prairie
1 Graven Cairns
2 Mountain
1 Swamp
1 Plains
1 Mutavault
1 Path to Exile
1 Lightning Helix
1 Intangible Virtue
3 Stony Silence
2 Ravenous Trap
1 Rakdos Charm
2 Rest In Peace
1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Timely Reinforcements
1 Wear //Tear
The sideboard against GY is pretty large and hard hitting now.
2 copies of Ravenous stay in, partly because you will sometimes need to exile their graveyard on their turn 2 when you're on the play. If you meet hollowvine, you will need to do it turn 0 sometimes.
2 copies of RIP go in, replacing ricochet trap. Blue is tricky and I love blowing their counterspells out but right now Dredge is front-and-centre the bugbear.
1 Rakdos charm which also serves double duty against artifacts and occasionally kills opposing elves or token decks who thought flooding the board is an excellent idea.
1 Kalitas, let's see if the vulnerability to conflagrate is a huge issue.
Thats 6 anti dredge cards. If I meet it tomorrow, I'd better mull aggressively for them.
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
I didn't meet a single dredge deck, which is annoying.
Round 1 vs Mono Red Phoenix. I get Iona out in G1 and choose red. In game 2 I get burned and beaten down by Phoenixes with my flying tokens being strategically gut shotted or skewered. G3 I take the game with Helixes keeping me afloat until Iona comes down again.
Round 2 vs Mono Red Phoenix. I lose the die roll and die immediately after casting a bitterblossom, on the opponent's turn 3. With a swifty and scar mage on the board he chains 3 manamorphose into bolt and skewer to the face and attacks for 12, a total of 18 damage on his turn 3. G2 I manage to take with an Iona on Red. G3 goes ridiculously long as he surgicals first my lingering souls and then my creativity. In turn I burn out every creature he puts on the board. Eventually though his deck coughs up a phoenix and I don't have any flying bodies to hide behind.
Round 3 vs Storm. I take both games quite handily, with G1 being a breeze as I remove every bear that hits the board and beat down with tokens, before putting an iona on the board and naming red. Iona is blocking all red today. G2 must have felt pretty bad for the oppo. He shocks on his turn 3 with a steam vents and passes, which is a dead giveaway for a ritual into gifts on my end step while presumably holding up remand. I lay my third land and pass, and sure enough he taps 2 lands and casts a ritual, placing it straight into his graveyard, because who asks a Mardu for permission am I right? I say, "Ritual on the stack please" and with a raised eyebrow the ritual goes back on the centre of the table. "Mardu charm, duress mode." The card has to read, of course. He reveals a semi decent hand of cantrip, remand, grapeshot, gifts, land and ritual. The gifts are ungiven. Having picked the gifts out of his hand, "OK, ritual resolves." Its kinda downhill from there for storm and at some point I go for 2, putting both Emrakul and her Shield on the board.
Round 4 vs Foretold Living End (the "bye")
Apparently I got paired down. Opponent knows he can't make top8, so he asks 2 packs to cover the entry if I make the top seed, and I take up his offer.
Round 5 vs Ponza (win and in)
Both me and my opponent teeter on 9 points, so an ID doesn't guarantee either of us a spot to vie for the box.
I make my first Annihilator 6 today on G1.
Iona blocks red (again!) for the win.
The 75 I brought catered for my bugbears Tron and Dredge, but apparently neither turned up. Annoying.
4 Indomitable Creativity
1 Nahiri, the Harbinger
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
Tokens (15)
2 Legion's Landing
4 Raise the Alarm
4 Lingering Souls
3 Bitterblossom
2 Mardu Charm
1 Intangible Virtue
Removal (10)
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Lightning Helix
3 Fatal Push
1 Path to Exile
4 Faithless Looting
Lands (23)
4 Arid Mesa
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Wooded Foothills
2 Sacred Foundry
1 Blood Crypt
1 Godless Shrine
2 Inspiring Vantage
1 Rugged Prairie
1 Graven Cairns
2 Mountain
1 Swamp
1 Plains
1 Mutavault
2 Thoughtseize
3 Alpine Moon
1 Ravenous Trap
3 Wheel of Sun and Moon
3 Stony Silence
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Timely Reinforcements
1 Wear // Tear
Thoughts:
Wheel of Sun and Moon is the one sided RIP that I'd been looking for, with a downside of requiring double white. It's a pity I didn't get to field it, with mono Red Phoenix being the only remotely GY dependant deck out there. Well, if the Living End had been at 6 points, I probably would have gotten to go with it.
Bitterblossom underperforms in this aggressive meta. I'm leaning back towards discard again in the main with Blossoms in the side for the midrange and control matches.
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR