Mystical Teachings is a card that spawned one of the more dominant decks in timespiral block constructed and has had a bit of exposure in different extended seasons when it was legal. At heart this deck is a U/B/x/x control deck. The primary focus of the deck is using mostly instants to control the board. Some builds use Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir and 1-2 large creatures because mystical teachings can tutor for Teferi and when he is in play it can tutor for any other creature.
THE CARDS
The answers in this deck need to be as cheap as possible to help gain tempo advantage over faster decks. These spoilers will contain card choices and my opinion and experience with them.
doom blade: a great removal spell that kills several threats...unfortunately it doesn't kill Bob.
path to exile: The best removal spell in the format.
oblivion ring: Very slow but answers a lot of problems. Sideboard at best, since bounce spells tend to be better in this deck.
smother: Probably the second best removal spell since every deck in the format is based off of creatures with a cmc of 3 or less.
dismember: This card is ok, but slaughter pact is better to get off of teachings and both path to exile and smother are better early.
slaughter pact: I love this as a one of to kill pesky creatures off of mystical teachings. A 1-of is probably the best use of this card.
go for the throat:A solid removal spell, but with affinity around it is probably best in your sideboard.
Consume the meek: This is a solid one of because you can use teachings to tutor for it on turn 4 then drop a land and "wrath" the board.
Damnation,Wrath of god: 1-2 of these main deck is fine to augment the one consume the meek you should be running. These are also good in board to deal with Zoo.
Engineered explosives: At one point and time this was used in the deck, but I don't know if it is really worth it anymore. If elves get big this could be thrown into the sideboard.
deathmark: 2-4 in board are great against, zoo,bant, and elves.
condescend: decent counterspell, but it might be too inefficient for this deck.
delay:This is a fine 1-2 of in decks with a heavy Teferi base.
mana leak: A solid counterspell especially if your not counter heavy.
rune snag:About the same as mana leak early, however it is much better late game while still being good in the first few turns.
spell burst:A silver bullet of sorts. If you get it late game it is almost a hard lock for opponents spells. Some decks may opt to run this.
spell pierce: This has less uses now that combo decks are mostly slow. It might be decent to sideboard in against decks with heavy discard.
negate:This is similar to spell pierce except it is a hard counter for later.
flashfreeze: Probably the most solid counterspell from your sideboard. I have often ran 1 main deck in different builds since the best spells are almost always red or green in this format.
cryptic command: This card is right at the edge of efficiency. There is no doubt that it is powerful, but clogging your deck up with tons of 4cmc spells is ill advised. Better in the versions that don't run Teferi and other optional high converted mana cost spells.
spell snare:I would only run these in counterspell heavy builds because of how narrow it is. With that being said it is pretty good to regain tempo and not bad in counter wars since the best counterspells cost 2.
remand: Remand is a solid card, if you just want a few counterspells to deal with living end or want to add a few "sort of unconditional" counterspells to a counter suite.
logic knot: late game this is counterspell; its terrible early though., and it doesn't have synergy with snapcaster mage.
Efficiency is a must for creatures also. The teferi package is 1-3 teferi and 1-2 fatties.
Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir: He is the center piece of the deck just as mystical teachings is. they go hand and hand. 2-3 of him is enough.
Baneslayer angel: The most efficient beater with a quick clock that makes aggro players cry. Still dies a lot and stuff.
Grave titan:Slightly more resilent than BSA drops tokens that do some blocking, while typically being the biggest body on the field.
wurmcoil engine: Path to exile makes this card worse, but nothing else can effectively trade 1 for 1 with it. I recommend this card highly if your running any beef.
Crovax, Ascendant Hero:This guy is kinda old tech, could have its uses if the meta game switches up a bit.
plumeveil:If you need a kickass wall look no further.
vendilion clique: Decent at applying pressure on your opponent, and nice if you run a bit more disruption in your board.
Spinx of Jwar Isle: probably the best strait up win con. Toss 1 in the board and bring him in against decks with answers.
Snapcaster mage: similar to vinny clique in it's uses. This card is sort of the glue that can hold your whole deck together. Tiago allows you run more pseudo copies of each spell type(discard, card draw/cantrips, removal, and counterspells) in your deck which allows you to run a more diverse spread.
repeal: decent card that doesn't do exactly what we want although it's versatility is pretty good.
merchant scroll: Some people might want to run this......I just don't see the use in it.
esper charm: best card draw spell in the format. it also destroys enchantments while being an instant speed mind rot when necessary.
extirpate/surgical extraction: one of these makes a nice silver bullet in your main. 3 might be the correct number in your 75 depending on the meta. I chose surgical extraction main because of the option to be free off of a teachings.
into the roil:Can bounce blood moon or gaddok teeg without having a restrictive cost.
Pulse of the Fields: This has been better historically, but probably not as good as other options.
thoughtseize/Inquisition of Kozilek: These can pick up for the slack that counterspells create because discard is generally better than counterspells in this format.
These are some of the "fun" lands as I call them. Non basics that do more than tap for colors. Run these in moderation. Our deck is already weak to moon effects with our tri-color mana-base.
Creeping Tar Pit : EBT is kinda tough, but this is the best way to help snapcaster mage end the game if don't run the teferi package.
Tolaria West : I like this card better in tron or post, but it might have applications here to search out a pact or one of these lands.
academy ruins: this is a good card if you have artifact things to return.
Shizo, Death's Storehouse: This is a pretty good land to run with teferi or if you run something like Geist of Saint Traft in your sideboard.
THE SPLASH
You can run UB if you want but most of the time this deck runs at least 3 colors because of the power and versatility that another color adds. Sometimes B is the splash while it ends up looking kinda like a UW permission list.(in TS block it was primarily UBr and sometimes UBrw)
In life all we can do is try to make things better. Sitting lost in old ways and fearing change only makes us outdated and ignorant.
Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.
Albert Einstein
Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity.
v1.0 OP
v1.1 grammar fixes
v1.2 Added sample list and cleaned up text
v1.3 added my current list that is still needing to be tested.
v1.4 added card options in spoilers. Still need to add more.
v1.5 added additional content as well as added omitted cards and fixed typos.
v1.6 added "the splash" with color specific spoilers. Added link to old Teachings thread.
v1.7 added new heading for sample list. also added a UBlist and cleaned up a bit.
v1.8 added a new UB list that was created by a community member
v2.0 modified deck list as well as added sideboard plan vs several match ups.
v2.1 Modiied deck list as well as added devils advocates new list.
v2.2 Updated my list.
v2.3 Added card images to intro.
v2.4 added new deck list; fixed a few errors.
v2.5 added a new list(10/6/11)
v3.0 after worlds(11/23/11)
In life all we can do is try to make things better. Sitting lost in old ways and fearing change only makes us outdated and ignorant.
Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.
Albert Einstein
Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity.
Glad someone is working on a primer for this deck. Needs work though, particularly card choice analysis and sample lists for other builds. Working on a UB version myself, I'll be sure to post my findings.
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perceptive would still be fundamentally
unprepared for the truth of House Dimir."
It's impossible to be succesful in deck such as yours in unknown meta since you can't possible now what kind of answers are you gonna need, how much removal do you need, what removal is best in meta, et cetera. Pretty much only thing you can know for sure is that Stoneforge Mystic decks are going to be big so I suggest playing 2-3 Vendilion Cliques main (you flash them in in resp to Mystic's ability that puts equipment into play, which makes them lose a lot of tempo), and at least 1 card that can kill artifacts main. Also, Extirpate > Surgical Extraction in decks that can pay its mana cost, as its split second is very relevant in many matchups where you'd like to see such card. I also don't like Delay and Spell Burst in your list. Urza's Factory doesn't seem like the best card ever, I'd rather have more Creeping Tar Pits and/or Academy Ruins + some artifact shaeningans like Engineered Explosives, Eqecutioner's Capsule and maybe artifact win con in form of Wurmcoil Engine. I also always loved singleton Logic Knot in Mystical Teachings control decks.
I used to use logic knot, but it was almost never cheap. Most decks that extirpate is good against don't run counter spells, thus why surgical extraction as I have the option of free when necessary. I have on extirpate in board if I need it for something. Again it is hard to write a primer for a control deck this early in a formats life. I have played this deckin TS block, standard, and extended so I have plenty of knowledge of it. spell burst is a 1cmc answer to hypergen as well as a semi-lock late game.
I am working toward developing the wins cons more however I want to test like this; remember path to exile removes creatures from the game thus killing all academy ruins fun. Urza's Factory was a concession to avoid another EtBT land because too many of those and you lose way to much tempo to recover. Also this deck is not what it was in TS block for a reason, and this list is based off a a old 1.x Guillaume Wafo-Tapa list I don't think you can argue his pedigree.
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In life all we can do is try to make things better. Sitting lost in old ways and fearing change only makes us outdated and ignorant.
Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.
Albert Einstein
Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity.
Glad someone is working on a primer for this deck. Needs work though, particularly card choice analysis and sample lists for other builds. Working on a UB version myself, I'll be sure to post my findings.
IMO your ubwx or your not playing the best deck. you get so much from esper charm its stupid not to run it. I will do a splash analysis for everyone though. I will say that you at least need white for esper charm though.
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In life all we can do is try to make things better. Sitting lost in old ways and fearing change only makes us outdated and ignorant.
Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.
Albert Einstein
Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity.
You missed Remand in your list of counters, which I think is one of the best reasons to be playing control. All you want is to stay alive until the late game. It helps keep the board clear while also drawing you into more answers, which is the important part that other counters can't do.
Also, could you please check your grammar.
Other than that, I like your list.
But could someone explain why you need Teferi? It seems like it's just a sacred cow from Time Spiral-era Standard.
I'd rather just have a solid finisher, or card draw.
Edit:
Why no Thoughtseize?
And the absence of Vendilion Clique seems strange as well.
I also think you want the full playset of Mental Misstep, so 3 more in the sideboard, because in the matchups where it's good, its very good. And cheaper than any other answer you have.
Edit again: more on Teferi:
I don't thinks he's that great. Everybody's playing removal, and he's the first thing you play that they can use their removal on. So you play him eot, untap and pass the turn. They untap and path or doom blade it? This is turn 6 at the earliest, so if you counter their removal, they probably just play another. Do you counter that too? If you do, then you're probably out of counters or tapped out so they can land a two or three mana threat.
I do think he's good (I can't fault anyone for playing him as a one-of). And I can see how he can be very good, but I just think you have to work too hard to use him well enough.
You missed Remand in your list of counters, which I think is one of the best reasons to be playing control. All you want is to stay alive until the late game. It helps keep the board clear while also drawing you into more answers, which is the important part that other counters can't do.
[
Forgot one....remand added to list.
Also, could you please check your grammar.
I looked at it sue me I'm not an English teacher lol. you can proof read if you want as I would my a ****ty editor.
Other than that, I like your list.
But could someone explain why you need Teferi? It seems like it's just a sacred cow from Time Spiral-era Standard.
I'd rather just have a solid finisher, or card draw.
Teferi gives you 5-10% against other control decks. It also makes your big guys tutorable with Mystical teachings, and gives them flash.(i know the lat two parts are essentially the same) Sometimes he also makes a good wall.
Thoughseize is a casualty of aggro decks that may or may not be bad matchups. most of this is old knowledge and theory crafting as I haven't had a chance to test yet. I will before friday. 3 in the board seems decent to board in against hypergeneisis and control.
And the absence of Vendilion Clique seems strange as well.
I also think you want the full playset of Mental Misstep, so 3 more in the sideboard, because in the matchups where it's good, its very good. And cheaper than any other answer you have.
Vendilion Clique is something I'm going to try out, although I liked it better in 5cc than in teachings.
Mental misstep is nuts against elves and 1 drop zoo, but lack luster else where. 4 in the 75 could be a bit extreme unless those are the top decks and bad matchups.
Beyond that remember that this is an unknown meta. Most cards in the deck need and sideboard need to be as general as possible. This is untested as of yet in a nearly untested format.
In life all we can do is try to make things better. Sitting lost in old ways and fearing change only makes us outdated and ignorant.
Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.
Albert Einstein
Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity.
I would like to see Teachings do well in Modern, and even if it ends up not being able to make the cut, I don't want to give up on it until it does absolutely die. So, with that said, here are a list of cards that I would suggest. I currently have a (nearly) Modern version of it (I have Swords to Plowshares in it rather than Path to Exile, Brainstorm, and Counterspell rather than Delay or Remand.)
Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir - Tutorable, makes all of your other creatures tutorable. Baneslayer Angel - Swings games back after you've slowed down the opponent enough. Dralnu, Lich Lord - This would probably have to be a meta call, but I currently run one, and once he hits the board my opponent needs my help for him or her to win. Crovax, Ascendant Hero - As a one of against decks like Elves and Goblins. Works well against other decks too, of course, but normally it's a last ditch effort with him. Ancestral Visions - I don't run it, some people do. If I were to make mine all Modern legal, it's probably what I'd use. Esper Charm - The alternate to Ancestral Visions. Up to the builder on this one. Remand - Good Time Walk. I particularly don't like it because it's a dead draw later in the game, which is what the deck tries to reach. Delay - Great interaction with Teferi. I find that the spell ends up resolving before Teferi hits in the early game, making it somewhat of meh. Cryptic Command - Amazing. This card is the nuts. Mystical Teachings - The deck's namesake. Shouldn't have to be explain. Path to Exile - Good for getting you to the point where you can start controlling the game. I'm not big on the search ability, but sadly Swords isn't in Modern, and I'm not aware of a card that works so well. Tolaria West - I find it good to play a bit on the land heavy side with the deck, with this as putting it over the edge in lands. If you need land early game, you have it, or you can tutor for one of the following two cards later on.... Slaughter Pact - Can be tutored for with either Tolaria West or Teachings. I play one. Pact of Negation - Again, can be tutored for with either Tolaria West or Teachings. I normally use it to set up for my Dralnu play. Pulse of the Fields - I love this card in this deck. This has kept me in the game so many times when I should have just lost, and is especially good against the decks that this specific deck is weak against. Mindbreak Trap - I've loved this card in here. I'll never forget the look on my opponent's face when I first played this in old Extended against his Punishing Fires/Scapeshift deck. Consume the Meek - Since I ran nothing in the range, this card always gave me card advantage and was great to get against Zoo. Makes them play slow, which is what I want anyways. Echoing Truth - Pretty much speaks for itself in the card advantage and tempo it can give you against swarm decks. Repeal - I used to run these when Thoptercombo/Dark Depths was big, saved me quite a few times. Cut them when I converted the deck to casual and put in Swords. I could see myself putting these in for Swords, I suppose, if not Paths. Extirpate - Works great against the decks that it should. I suppose it could be replaced by Ravenous Trap against decks like Dredge. Angel's Grace - Awesome for the Hive Mind matchups, along with buying me a turn against the aggro or making some other combo player unhappy. Mikokoro, Center of the Sea - Instant speed card draw. Helps me draw into the answers I need. Might be a win-more card, but has done well for me. Minamo, School at Water's Edge - Lets my Dralnu pull double time. Again, might be win-more, but worth it to me as a one-of. Urza's Factory - Allows me to keep making chump blockers that can't be countered. I haven't needed it always, but has saved me a few times. Creeping Tar Pit - Originally put in as a Jace sniper, never took it out. I rarely use it any more, but never wanted to risk taking it out. Calciform Pools/Dreadship Reef - I have one of each, helps boost me into mana when I don't have a better play or I'm not doing anything else. Negate - I currently use these for Counterspell 5 and 6. Works well enough for me right now. Rune Snag - I can see this card doing great things in the deck. This is what I'd probably replace my Counterspells with. Spell Snare - Good counter, I'm not sure of how many I'd put in though. Would need a good amount of playtesting and a meta call. Spell Pierce - I don't feel that this belongs in this deck, along with Mana Leak, as they end up being dead cards later in the game.
EDIT: Forgot a couple of cards that work well. Aven Mindcensor, Offalsnout, Stonecloaker, and Faerie Macabre. I'm not big on the Offalsnout and Macabre, as I'd rather have an Extirpate, but if you need more threats or are on a budget, they're great. Mindcensor is great, and Stonecloaker is good for saving your own creatures or repeat-graveyard hate.
I would like to see Teachings do well in Modern, and even if it ends up not being able to make the cut, I don't want to give up on it until it does absolutely die. So, with that said, here are a list of cards that I would suggest. I currently have a (nearly) Modern version of it (I have Swords to Plowshares in it rather than Path to Exile, Brainstorm, and Counterspell rather than Delay or Remand.)
Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir - Tutorable, makes all of your other creatures tutorable. Baneslayer Angel - Swings games back after you've slowed down the opponent enough. Dralnu, Lich Lord - This would probably have to be a meta call, but I currently run one, and once he hits the board my opponent needs my help for him or her to win. Crovax, Ascendant Hero - As a one of against decks like Elves and Goblins. Works well against other decks too, of course, but normally it's a last ditch effort with him. Ancestral Visions - I don't run it, some people do. If I were to make mine all Modern legal, it's probably what I'd use. Esper Charm - The alternate to Ancestral Visions. Up to the builder on this one. Remand - Good Time Walk. I particularly don't like it because it's a dead draw later in the game, which is what the deck tries to reach. Delay - Great interaction with Teferi. I find that the spell ends up resolving before Teferi hits in the early game, making it somewhat of meh. Cryptic Command - Amazing. This card is the nuts. Mystical Teachings - The deck's namesake. Shouldn't have to be explain. Path to Exile - Good for getting you to the point where you can start controlling the game. I'm not big on the search ability, but sadly Swords isn't in Modern, and I'm not aware of a card that works so well. Tolaria West - I find it good to play a bit on the land heavy side with the deck, with this as putting it over the edge in lands. If you need land early game, you have it, or you can tutor for one of the following two cards later on.... Slaughter Pact - Can be tutored for with either Tolaria West or Teachings. I play one. Pact of Negation - Again, can be tutored for with either Tolaria West or Teachings. I normally use it to set up for my Dralnu play. Pulse of the Fields - I love this card in this deck. This has kept me in the game so many times when I should have just lost, and is especially good against the decks that this specific deck is weak against. Mindbreak Trap - I've loved this card in here. I'll never forget the look on my opponent's face when I first played this in old Extended against his Punishing Fires/Scapeshift deck. Consume the Meek - Since I ran nothing in the range, this card always gave me card advantage and was great to get against Zoo. Makes them play slow, which is what I want anyways. Echoing Truth - Pretty much speaks for itself in the card advantage and tempo it can give you against swarm decks. Repeal - I used to run these when Thoptercombo/Dark Depths was big, saved me quite a few times. Cut them when I converted the deck to casual and put in Swords. I could see myself putting these in for Swords, I suppose, if not Paths. Extirpate - Works great against the decks that it should. I suppose it could be replaced by Ravenous Trap against decks like Dredge. Angel's Grace - Awesome for the Hive Mind matchups, along with buying me a turn against the aggro or making some other combo player unhappy. Mikokoro, Center of the Sea - Instant speed card draw. Helps me draw into the answers I need. Might be a win-more card, but has done well for me. Minamo, School at Water's Edge - Lets my Dralnu pull double time. Again, might be win-more, but worth it to me as a one-of. Urza's Factory - Allows me to keep making chump blockers that can't be countered. I haven't needed it always, but has saved me a few times. Creeping Tar Pit - Originally put in as a Jace sniper, never took it out. I rarely use it any more, but never wanted to risk taking it out. Calciform Pools/Dreadship Reef - I have one of each, helps boost me into mana when I don't have a better play or I'm not doing anything else. Negate - I currently use these for Counterspell 5 and 6. Works well enough for me right now.
EDIT: Forgot a couple of cards that work well. Aven Mindcensor, Offalsnout, Stonecloaker, and Faerie Macabre. I'm not big on the Offalsnout and Macabre, as I'd rather have an Extirpate, but if you need more threats or are on a budget, they're great. Mindcensor is great, and Stonecloaker is good for saving your own creatures or repeat-graveyard hate.
I'm getting to the lands and other stuff asap. Also sideboard plans against other decks that have primers will be coming soon.
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In life all we can do is try to make things better. Sitting lost in old ways and fearing change only makes us outdated and ignorant.
Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.
Albert Einstein
Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity.
IMO your ubwx or your not playing the best deck. you get so much from esper charm its stupid not to run it. I will do a splash analysis for everyone though. I will say that you at least need white for esper charm though.
I disagree. While Esper Charm and PtE are both very good reasons to play white, but I think there are other good options that are at least worth playtesting. Manabase stability is good.
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"I am confident that if anyone actually
penetrates our facades, even the most
perceptive would still be fundamentally
unprepared for the truth of House Dimir."
I'm not sure if this has been mentioned, but a straight blue/black alternative to esper charm would be Consult the Necrosages. You lose the destroy enchantment part, but if any random redirect targets come up, Necrosages could be used against you. (I'm not sure how relevant that would be though.)
I disagree. While Esper Charm and PtE are both very good reasons to play white, but I think there are other good options that are at least worth playtesting. Manabase stability is good.
if you don't run esper charm you have to run ancestral visions which is kinda slow and a bad top deck. No other spells give you what you need cheap, or at instant speed.
Quote from Knighthawk »
I'm not sure if this has been mentioned, but a straight blue/black alternative to esper charm would be Consult the Necrosages. You lose the destroy enchantment part, but if any random redirect targets come up, Necrosages could be used against you. (I'm not sure how relevant that would be though.)
sorcery is bad. This deck functions mostly as a permission deck. I guess you could take a tapout route by be prepared to lose to fae.
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In life all we can do is try to make things better. Sitting lost in old ways and fearing change only makes us outdated and ignorant.
Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.
Albert Einstein
Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity.
Whoops...missed the sorcery part. Thank you for catching that.
its ok I was advocating the use of partirachs bidding in the goblins primer. lol Most of us haven't seen several of these cards in years which makes this format cool.
I need help finding specific cards in splash colors.(white,red,green) I have some listed Please post anything you think might be tech or cards that are missing from the color specific spoilers under the heading "the splash"
In life all we can do is try to make things better. Sitting lost in old ways and fearing change only makes us outdated and ignorant.
Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.
Albert Einstein
Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity.
I disagree. While Esper Charm and PtE are both very good reasons to play white, but I think there are other good options that are at least worth playtesting. Manabase stability is good.
Thank you Devils Advocate for the new UB list. The other one made me want to hurl every time I saw it.
In life all we can do is try to make things better. Sitting lost in old ways and fearing change only makes us outdated and ignorant.
Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.
Albert Einstein
Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity.
I have been playing this version for almost 3 months now.
I have tried out red for Punishing Fire + Grove and it was very good, just unnecessary. The bonus was tearing fae and merfolk a new one and never having to deal with dark confidant. You also get to set up a pretty spicy gifts ungiven engine with noxious revival that makes teaching almost into an afterthought.
Green Splash was never considered but not the absolute worst. You get Putrefy, Goyf, Beast Within (possibly), while still having access to Finks and artifact removal.
White is the color I have done the most testing with and the winning cards are Fink and Esper Charm. Esper Charm is pretty much everything this deck ever wanted.
Thought Scour is terrible in BV. How many flashback spells are being run? Say roughly 15. This gives you a roughly 38% chance of milling one flashback spell. And even if you do, you paid one mana to cantrip and dump an overcosted spell. Alchemy, Geistflame, Devil's play, etc. all cost much more to flash back than your average card, so you're not getting full value out of it.
You'd much rather play Ponder. At least that generates a tangible advantage.
I have been playing this version for almost 3 months now.
I have tried out red for Punishing Fire + Grove and it was very good, just unnecessary. The bonus was tearing fae and merfolk a new one and never having to deal with dark confidant. You also get to set up a pretty spicy gifts ungiven engine with noxious revival that makes teaching almost into an afterthought.
Green Splash was never considered but not the absolute worst. You get Putrefy, Goyf, Beast Within (possibly), while still having access to Finks and artifact removal.
White is the color I have done the most testing with and the winning cards are Fink and Esper Charm. Esper Charm is pretty much everything this deck ever wanted.
Is that too many shadow of doubts? I cut them from my list completely because I just don't see the use. I think it is better just to count Stoneforge mystic, and other things instead of a cantrip. Also how is EE working for you. In my old 1.x list I cut them for main deck ***, but right now all I have is a consume the meek. Also I would run at least one academy ruins and 1-2 tolaria west to abuse the EEs.
For the Red splash section, you could add Terminate, the Punishing Grove combo, and Grim Lavamancer as possibilities.
Lavamancer definitely not, but I will add terminate.
In life all we can do is try to make things better. Sitting lost in old ways and fearing change only makes us outdated and ignorant.
Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.
Albert Einstein
Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity.
Lavamancer is one of the better creatures in magic. You're always pitching fetches and instants to the GY, why NOT run it. He's a good finisher and can take care of Merfolk and Fae pretty well....
Lavamancer is one of the better creatures in magic. You're always pitching fetches and instants to the GY, why NOT run it. He's a good finisher and can take care of Merfolk and Fae pretty well....
My guess would be that the red splash can be rough on the mana, and this isn't really the deck that wants to sink its mana into 1 for 1-ing creatures. Sure, if you look at it though card advantage, mancer is more than a 1-for-1 but this deck has more than enough C.A. As far as it goes manawise, mancer is probably too much of a mana sink, but I could be wrong, the format's still very young, so it's tough to tell
Lavamancer is one of the better AGGRO creatures in magic. You're always pitching fetches and instants to the GY, why NOT run it. He's good at pushing the last few damage through in an aggro mirror for red decks.
Fixed. there is a reason why I would not run goyf here, and he is a better strait up creature. aka the "dies to everything" argument which matters in a control deck, but is a poor argument in an aggro deck that can afford to run creatures without staying power.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
In life all we can do is try to make things better. Sitting lost in old ways and fearing change only makes us outdated and ignorant.
Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.
Albert Einstein
Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity.
I see your point there. I've looked at Lavamancer as more of a control creature than an aggro creature, because 99% of the time you're shooting down Merfolk or other small, but efficient beaters with it. I guess that's what Punishing Willows is for though, if you wanted to splash red here.
I think Esper seems to be the right color combo for the deck - You get use of the Charm, PtE, and other white removal like Wrath of God and Day of Judgment.
Another thing I've wanted to test with this - a small creature package, since Teferi makes all your stuff tutorable. V-Clique, Tidehollow, etc. Just 1 ofs that can kill certain decks (Like Hypergenesis...) Is it good? I've never played this deck, I realize that it searches for a lot of bullets in the form of instants, but I'm a man that likes having a body with the bullet too
I see your point there. I've looked at Lavamancer as more of a control creature than an aggro creature, because 99% of the time you're shooting down Merfolk or other small, but efficient beaters with it. I guess that's what Punishing Willows is for though, if you wanted to splash red here.
I think Esper seems to be the right color combo for the deck - You get use of the Charm, PtE, and other white removal like Wrath of God and Day of Judgment.
Another thing I've wanted to test with this - a small creature package, since Teferi makes all your stuff tutorable. V-Clique, Tidehollow, etc. Just 1 ofs that can kill certain decks (Like Hypergenesis...) Is it good? I've never played this deck, I realize that it searches for a lot of bullets in the form of instants, but I'm a man that likes having a body with the bullet too
Not to mention Baneslayer Angel, which is likely the best creature over 3CMC in the format.
I see your point there. I've looked at Lavamancer as more of a control creature than an aggro creature, because 99% of the time you're shooting down Merfolk or other small, but efficient beaters with it. I guess that's what Punishing Willows is for though, if you wanted to splash red here.
I think Esper seems to be the right color combo for the deck - You get use of the Charm, PtE, and other white removal like Wrath of God and Day of Judgment.
Another thing I've wanted to test with this - a small creature package, since Teferi makes all your stuff tutorable. V-Clique, Tidehollow, etc. Just 1 ofs that can kill certain decks (Like Hypergenesis...) Is it good? I've never played this deck, I realize that it searches for a lot of bullets in the form of instants, but I'm a man that likes having a body with the bullet too
IMO tidehollow sculler doesn't have the staying power to be worth the effect, which ends when he dies. V clique is already tutorable, but I cant think of a situation in which I would tutor it. If I have nothing specific to look for I'll just grab another teachings to help jump start the teachings chain.
V. clique could be just great on his own as I haven't tested him, but I think a 2 of should be the right number.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
In life all we can do is try to make things better. Sitting lost in old ways and fearing change only makes us outdated and ignorant.
Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.
Albert Einstein
Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity.
Thomas Jefferson
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Mystical Teachings is a card that spawned one of the more dominant decks in timespiral block constructed and has had a bit of exposure in different extended seasons when it was legal. At heart this deck is a U/B/x/x control deck. The primary focus of the deck is using mostly instants to control the board. Some builds use Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir and 1-2 large creatures because mystical teachings can tutor for Teferi and when he is in play it can tutor for any other creature.
THE CARDS
The answers in this deck need to be as cheap as possible to help gain tempo advantage over faster decks. These spoilers will contain card choices and my opinion and experience with them.
doom blade: a great removal spell that kills several threats...unfortunately it doesn't kill Bob.
path to exile: The best removal spell in the format.
oblivion ring: Very slow but answers a lot of problems. Sideboard at best, since bounce spells tend to be better in this deck.
smother: Probably the second best removal spell since every deck in the format is based off of creatures with a cmc of 3 or less.
dismember: This card is ok, but slaughter pact is better to get off of teachings and both path to exile and smother are better early.
slaughter pact: I love this as a one of to kill pesky creatures off of mystical teachings. A 1-of is probably the best use of this card.
go for the throat:A solid removal spell, but with affinity around it is probably best in your sideboard.
Consume the meek: This is a solid one of because you can use teachings to tutor for it on turn 4 then drop a land and "wrath" the board.
Damnation,Wrath of god: 1-2 of these main deck is fine to augment the one consume the meek you should be running. These are also good in board to deal with Zoo.
Engineered explosives: At one point and time this was used in the deck, but I don't know if it is really worth it anymore. If elves get big this could be thrown into the sideboard.
deathmark: 2-4 in board are great against, zoo,bant, and elves.
condescend: decent counterspell, but it might be too inefficient for this deck.
delay:This is a fine 1-2 of in decks with a heavy Teferi base.
mana leak: A solid counterspell especially if your not counter heavy.
rune snag:About the same as mana leak early, however it is much better late game while still being good in the first few turns.
spell burst:A silver bullet of sorts. If you get it late game it is almost a hard lock for opponents spells. Some decks may opt to run this.
spell pierce: This has less uses now that combo decks are mostly slow. It might be decent to sideboard in against decks with heavy discard.
negate:This is similar to spell pierce except it is a hard counter for later.
flashfreeze: Probably the most solid counterspell from your sideboard. I have often ran 1 main deck in different builds since the best spells are almost always red or green in this format.
cryptic command: This card is right at the edge of efficiency. There is no doubt that it is powerful, but clogging your deck up with tons of 4cmc spells is ill advised. Better in the versions that don't run Teferi and other optional high converted mana cost spells.
spell snare:I would only run these in counterspell heavy builds because of how narrow it is. With that being said it is pretty good to regain tempo and not bad in counter wars since the best counterspells cost 2.
remand: Remand is a solid card, if you just want a few counterspells to deal with living end or want to add a few "sort of unconditional" counterspells to a counter suite.
logic knot: late game this is counterspell; its terrible early though., and it doesn't have synergy with snapcaster mage.
Efficiency is a must for creatures also. The teferi package is 1-3 teferi and 1-2 fatties.
Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir: He is the center piece of the deck just as mystical teachings is. they go hand and hand. 2-3 of him is enough.
Baneslayer angel: The most efficient beater with a quick clock that makes aggro players cry. Still dies a lot and stuff.
Grave titan:Slightly more resilent than BSA drops tokens that do some blocking, while typically being the biggest body on the field.
wurmcoil engine: Path to exile makes this card worse, but nothing else can effectively trade 1 for 1 with it. I recommend this card highly if your running any beef.
Crovax, Ascendant Hero:This guy is kinda old tech, could have its uses if the meta game switches up a bit.
plumeveil:If you need a kickass wall look no further.
vendilion clique: Decent at applying pressure on your opponent, and nice if you run a bit more disruption in your board.
Spinx of Jwar Isle: probably the best strait up win con. Toss 1 in the board and bring him in against decks with answers.
Snapcaster mage: similar to vinny clique in it's uses. This card is sort of the glue that can hold your whole deck together. Tiago allows you run more pseudo copies of each spell type(discard, card draw/cantrips, removal, and counterspells) in your deck which allows you to run a more diverse spread.
repeal: decent card that doesn't do exactly what we want although it's versatility is pretty good.
merchant scroll: Some people might want to run this......I just don't see the use in it.
esper charm: best card draw spell in the format. it also destroys enchantments while being an instant speed mind rot when necessary.
extirpate/surgical extraction: one of these makes a nice silver bullet in your main. 3 might be the correct number in your 75 depending on the meta. I chose surgical extraction main because of the option to be free off of a teachings.
into the roil:Can bounce blood moon or gaddok teeg without having a restrictive cost.
Pulse of the Fields: This has been better historically, but probably not as good as other options.
thoughtseize/Inquisition of Kozilek: These can pick up for the slack that counterspells create because discard is generally better than counterspells in this format.
These are some of the "fun" lands as I call them. Non basics that do more than tap for colors. Run these in moderation. Our deck is already weak to moon effects with our tri-color mana-base.
Calciform Pools/Dreadship Reef: These are great for control mirrors and not terrible overall.
Creeping Tar Pit : EBT is kinda tough, but this is the best way to help snapcaster mage end the game if don't run the teferi package.
Tolaria West : I like this card better in tron or post, but it might have applications here to search out a pact or one of these lands.
academy ruins: this is a good card if you have artifact things to return.
Shizo, Death's Storehouse: This is a pretty good land to run with teferi or if you run something like Geist of Saint Traft in your sideboard.
THE SPLASH
You can run UB if you want but most of the time this deck runs at least 3 colors because of the power and versatility that another color adds. Sometimes B is the splash while it ends up looking kinda like a UW permission list.(in TS block it was primarily UBr and sometimes UBrw)
- esper charm
- disenchant
- path to exile
- celestial purge
- baneslayer angel
- Crovax, Ascendant Hero
- wrath of god
(if B is more of a splash in the deck)Nothing is really to great in green.
SAMPLE LISTS
My current list
4 Path to Exile
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Esper Charm
3 Mystical Teachings
2 Damnation
2 Thoughtseize
1 Consume the Meek
1 Cryptic Command
1 Dissipate
1 Negate
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Pact of Negation
1 Remand
1 Rest for the Weary
1 Slaughter Pact
1 Smother
1 Surgical Extraction
1 Darkslick Shores
2 Fetid Heath
1 Godless Shrine
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Island
3 Isolated Chapel
4 Marsh Flats
1 Plains
4 River of Tears
1 Shizo, Death's Storehouse
1 Swamp
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Watery Grave
4 Timely Reinforcements
3 Geist of Saint Traft
3 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
2 Deathmark
1 Damnation
1 Duress
1 Negate
2 Snapcaster Mage
1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
1 Wurmcoil Engine
[31 other spells]
4 Esper Charm
4 Path to Exile
4 Rune Snag
3 Spell Snare
2 Repeal
2 Smother
2 Doom Blade
2 Mystical Teachings
2 Think Twice
1 Consume the Meek
1 Dismember
1 Echoing Truth
1 Flashfreeze
1 Sudden Death
1 Surgical Extraction
4 Darkslick Shores
4 Marsh Flats
3 Seachrome Coast
2 Misty Rainforest
1 Adarkar Wastes
1 Glacial Fortress
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Sunken Ruins
1 Underground River
1 Watery Grave
1 Isolated Chapel
2 Swamp
2 Island
1 Plains
1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
3 Vendilion Clique
2 Damnation
1 Flashfreeze
2 Sudden Death
4 Thoughtseize
2 Wipe Away
I will update this later. It was very out of date.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Albert Einstein
Thomas Jefferson
v1.1 grammar fixes
v1.2 Added sample list and cleaned up text
v1.3 added my current list that is still needing to be tested.
v1.4 added card options in spoilers. Still need to add more.
v1.5 added additional content as well as added omitted cards and fixed typos.
v1.6 added "the splash" with color specific spoilers. Added link to old Teachings thread.
v1.7 added new heading for sample list. also added a UBlist and cleaned up a bit.
v1.8 added a new UB list that was created by a community member
v2.0 modified deck list as well as added sideboard plan vs several match ups.
v2.1 Modiied deck list as well as added devils advocates new list.
v2.2 Updated my list.
v2.3 Added card images to intro.
v2.4 added new deck list; fixed a few errors.
v2.5 added a new list(10/6/11)
v3.0 after worlds(11/23/11)
Albert Einstein
Thomas Jefferson
"I am confident that if anyone actually
penetrates our facades, even the most
perceptive would still be fundamentally
unprepared for the truth of House Dimir."
I used to use logic knot, but it was almost never cheap. Most decks that extirpate is good against don't run counter spells, thus why surgical extraction as I have the option of free when necessary. I have on extirpate in board if I need it for something. Again it is hard to write a primer for a control deck this early in a formats life. I have played this deckin TS block, standard, and extended so I have plenty of knowledge of it. spell burst is a 1cmc answer to hypergen as well as a semi-lock late game.
I am working toward developing the wins cons more however I want to test like this; remember path to exile removes creatures from the game thus killing all academy ruins fun. Urza's Factory was a concession to avoid another EtBT land because too many of those and you lose way to much tempo to recover. Also this deck is not what it was in TS block for a reason, and this list is based off a a old 1.x Guillaume Wafo-Tapa list I don't think you can argue his pedigree.
Albert Einstein
Thomas Jefferson
IMO your ubwx or your not playing the best deck. you get so much from esper charm its stupid not to run it. I will do a splash analysis for everyone though. I will say that you at least need white for esper charm though.
Albert Einstein
Thomas Jefferson
Also, could you please check your grammar.
Other than that, I like your list.
But could someone explain why you need Teferi? It seems like it's just a sacred cow from Time Spiral-era Standard.
I'd rather just have a solid finisher, or card draw.
Edit:
Why no Thoughtseize?
And the absence of Vendilion Clique seems strange as well.
I also think you want the full playset of Mental Misstep, so 3 more in the sideboard, because in the matchups where it's good, its very good. And cheaper than any other answer you have.
Edit again: more on Teferi:
I don't thinks he's that great. Everybody's playing removal, and he's the first thing you play that they can use their removal on. So you play him eot, untap and pass the turn. They untap and path or doom blade it? This is turn 6 at the earliest, so if you counter their removal, they probably just play another. Do you counter that too? If you do, then you're probably out of counters or tapped out so they can land a two or three mana threat.
I do think he's good (I can't fault anyone for playing him as a one-of). And I can see how he can be very good, but I just think you have to work too hard to use him well enough.
Beyond that remember that this is an unknown meta. Most cards in the deck need and sideboard need to be as general as possible. This is untested as of yet in a nearly untested format.
EDIT: BTW the purple letters are so its visible.
Albert Einstein
Thomas Jefferson
Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir - Tutorable, makes all of your other creatures tutorable.
Baneslayer Angel - Swings games back after you've slowed down the opponent enough.
Dralnu, Lich Lord - This would probably have to be a meta call, but I currently run one, and once he hits the board my opponent needs my help for him or her to win.
Crovax, Ascendant Hero - As a one of against decks like Elves and Goblins. Works well against other decks too, of course, but normally it's a last ditch effort with him.
Ancestral Visions - I don't run it, some people do. If I were to make mine all Modern legal, it's probably what I'd use.
Esper Charm - The alternate to Ancestral Visions. Up to the builder on this one.
Remand - Good Time Walk. I particularly don't like it because it's a dead draw later in the game, which is what the deck tries to reach.
Delay - Great interaction with Teferi. I find that the spell ends up resolving before Teferi hits in the early game, making it somewhat of meh.
Cryptic Command - Amazing. This card is the nuts.
Mystical Teachings - The deck's namesake. Shouldn't have to be explain.
Path to Exile - Good for getting you to the point where you can start controlling the game. I'm not big on the search ability, but sadly Swords isn't in Modern, and I'm not aware of a card that works so well.
Tolaria West - I find it good to play a bit on the land heavy side with the deck, with this as putting it over the edge in lands. If you need land early game, you have it, or you can tutor for one of the following two cards later on....
Slaughter Pact - Can be tutored for with either Tolaria West or Teachings. I play one.
Pact of Negation - Again, can be tutored for with either Tolaria West or Teachings. I normally use it to set up for my Dralnu play.
Pulse of the Fields - I love this card in this deck. This has kept me in the game so many times when I should have just lost, and is especially good against the decks that this specific deck is weak against.
Mindbreak Trap - I've loved this card in here. I'll never forget the look on my opponent's face when I first played this in old Extended against his Punishing Fires/Scapeshift deck.
Consume the Meek - Since I ran nothing in the range, this card always gave me card advantage and was great to get against Zoo. Makes them play slow, which is what I want anyways.
Echoing Truth - Pretty much speaks for itself in the card advantage and tempo it can give you against swarm decks.
Repeal - I used to run these when Thoptercombo/Dark Depths was big, saved me quite a few times. Cut them when I converted the deck to casual and put in Swords. I could see myself putting these in for Swords, I suppose, if not Paths.
Extirpate - Works great against the decks that it should. I suppose it could be replaced by Ravenous Trap against decks like Dredge.
Angel's Grace - Awesome for the Hive Mind matchups, along with buying me a turn against the aggro or making some other combo player unhappy.
Mikokoro, Center of the Sea - Instant speed card draw. Helps me draw into the answers I need. Might be a win-more card, but has done well for me.
Minamo, School at Water's Edge - Lets my Dralnu pull double time. Again, might be win-more, but worth it to me as a one-of.
Urza's Factory - Allows me to keep making chump blockers that can't be countered. I haven't needed it always, but has saved me a few times.
Creeping Tar Pit - Originally put in as a Jace sniper, never took it out. I rarely use it any more, but never wanted to risk taking it out.
Calciform Pools/Dreadship Reef - I have one of each, helps boost me into mana when I don't have a better play or I'm not doing anything else.
Negate - I currently use these for Counterspell 5 and 6. Works well enough for me right now.
Rune Snag - I can see this card doing great things in the deck. This is what I'd probably replace my Counterspells with.
Spell Snare - Good counter, I'm not sure of how many I'd put in though. Would need a good amount of playtesting and a meta call.
Spell Pierce - I don't feel that this belongs in this deck, along with Mana Leak, as they end up being dead cards later in the game.
EDIT: Forgot a couple of cards that work well. Aven Mindcensor, Offalsnout, Stonecloaker, and Faerie Macabre. I'm not big on the Offalsnout and Macabre, as I'd rather have an Extirpate, but if you need more threats or are on a budget, they're great. Mindcensor is great, and Stonecloaker is good for saving your own creatures or repeat-graveyard hate.
Lantern Control
(with videos)
Uc Tron
Netdecking explained
Netdecking explained, Part 2
On speculators and counterfeits
On Interaction
Every single competitive deck in existence is designed to limit the opponent's ability to interact in a meaningful way.
Record number of exclamation points on SCG homepage: 71 (6 January, 2018)
"I don't want to believe, I want to know."
-Carl Sagan
I'm getting to the lands and other stuff asap. Also sideboard plans against other decks that have primers will be coming soon.
Albert Einstein
Thomas Jefferson
I disagree. While Esper Charm and PtE are both very good reasons to play white, but I think there are other good options that are at least worth playtesting. Manabase stability is good.
"I am confident that if anyone actually
penetrates our facades, even the most
perceptive would still be fundamentally
unprepared for the truth of House Dimir."
if you don't run esper charm you have to run ancestral visions which is kinda slow and a bad top deck. No other spells give you what you need cheap, or at instant speed.
sorcery is bad. This deck functions mostly as a permission deck. I guess you could take a tapout route by be prepared to lose to fae.
Albert Einstein
Thomas Jefferson
its ok I was advocating the use of partirachs bidding in the goblins primer. lol Most of us haven't seen several of these cards in years which makes this format cool.
I need help finding specific cards in splash colors.(white,red,green) I have some listed Please post anything you think might be tech or cards that are missing from the color specific spoilers under the heading "the splash"
Albert Einstein
Thomas Jefferson
Thank you Devils Advocate for the new UB list. The other one made me want to hurl every time I saw it.
Albert Einstein
Thomas Jefferson
1 Consume the Meek
2 Mystical Teachings
4 Esper Charm
3 Mana Leak
4 Spell Snare
3 Mental Misstep
2 Path to Exile
1 Smother
2 Shadow of Doubt
1 Go for the Throat
3 Cryptic Command
2 Engineered Explosives
1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
2 Grave Titan
1 Baneslayer Angel
2 Hallowed Fountain
4 Marsh Flats
3 Glacial Fortress
2 Drowned Catacomb
3 Island
1 Swamp
1 Plains
2 Mystic Gate
3 Creeping Tar Pit
2 Tectonic Edge
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
3 Kitchen Finks
1 Fracturing Gust
1 Tectonic Edge
2 Crucible of Worlds
1 Mental Mistep
1 Consume the Meek
1 Shadow of Doubt
2 Extirpate
3 Chalice of the Void
I have been playing this version for almost 3 months now.
I have tried out red for Punishing Fire + Grove and it was very good, just unnecessary. The bonus was tearing fae and merfolk a new one and never having to deal with dark confidant. You also get to set up a pretty spicy gifts ungiven engine with noxious revival that makes teaching almost into an afterthought.
Green Splash was never considered but not the absolute worst. You get Putrefy, Goyf, Beast Within (possibly), while still having access to Finks and artifact removal.
White is the color I have done the most testing with and the winning cards are Fink and Esper Charm. Esper Charm is pretty much everything this deck ever wanted.
Is that too many shadow of doubts? I cut them from my list completely because I just don't see the use. I think it is better just to count Stoneforge mystic, and other things instead of a cantrip. Also how is EE working for you. In my old 1.x list I cut them for main deck ***, but right now all I have is a consume the meek. Also I would run at least one academy ruins and 1-2 tolaria west to abuse the EEs.
Lavamancer definitely not, but I will add terminate.
Albert Einstein
Thomas Jefferson
Why not Lavamancer?
Heroes of the Plane
The Price of Legacy
The Price of Legacy 2.0!
Decks:
EDH
Malestrom Wanderer Group Chaotic Hugs
Tasigur, The Golden Fang Valu-Town
Modern
Too many to List...
Legacy
GWBNic-Fit PodGWB
G12-Post (Building)G
My guess would be that the red splash can be rough on the mana, and this isn't really the deck that wants to sink its mana into 1 for 1-ing creatures. Sure, if you look at it though card advantage, mancer is more than a 1-for-1 but this deck has more than enough C.A. As far as it goes manawise, mancer is probably too much of a mana sink, but I could be wrong, the format's still very young, so it's tough to tell
Fixed. there is a reason why I would not run goyf here, and he is a better strait up creature. aka the "dies to everything" argument which matters in a control deck, but is a poor argument in an aggro deck that can afford to run creatures without staying power.
Albert Einstein
Thomas Jefferson
I think Esper seems to be the right color combo for the deck - You get use of the Charm, PtE, and other white removal like Wrath of God and Day of Judgment.
Another thing I've wanted to test with this - a small creature package, since Teferi makes all your stuff tutorable. V-Clique, Tidehollow, etc. Just 1 ofs that can kill certain decks (Like Hypergenesis...) Is it good? I've never played this deck, I realize that it searches for a lot of bullets in the form of instants, but I'm a man that likes having a body with the bullet too
Heroes of the Plane
The Price of Legacy
The Price of Legacy 2.0!
Decks:
EDH
Malestrom Wanderer Group Chaotic Hugs
Tasigur, The Golden Fang Valu-Town
Modern
Too many to List...
Legacy
GWBNic-Fit PodGWB
G12-Post (Building)G
Not to mention Baneslayer Angel, which is likely the best creature over 3CMC in the format.
IMO tidehollow sculler doesn't have the staying power to be worth the effect, which ends when he dies. V clique is already tutorable, but I cant think of a situation in which I would tutor it. If I have nothing specific to look for I'll just grab another teachings to help jump start the teachings chain.
V. clique could be just great on his own as I haven't tested him, but I think a 2 of should be the right number.
Albert Einstein
Thomas Jefferson