In all fairness should we even bother considering the long game? especially with the way the meta is?
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If you side in heaps of counters, and the opponent has few creatures, mystic A is awesome.
I know this, because I have played it.
Keeping up with 6 mana bombs is easy, if you counter them.
And sure, 3 mana for the Djinn, plus 1 or 2 mana for the counter.
Then, something happens to the Djinn.
And that's game over.
I had that exact situation in my last match. The one you describe.
I cast Djinn, with U left over for my Spell Pierce.
He cast Lava Coil, and I Lost.
Curious obsession is difficult to stick on a creature when they have so much point and kill early on.
In the situation you describe, it is not 'Going to die immediately'.
Worst case it will die, and draw 2 cards. 3 for 1.
And that is the explicit case you reckon is Horrible.
Have you considered it costs 1U ?
Not 7 ?
And we are playing counterspells?
And draw 2 cards happens at instant speed?
. . And Primarily it is just a 2 cost wizard?
I mean, the card does just win games when left alone.
I realise this is outside of you ken, but, this is a completely reasonable suggestion, and I have played it, and it has worked for me.
I have actually played a game against G/B where he activated multiple times per turn.
Furiously throwing away blockers, then the Djinn swung ONCE, for Fourteen.
Sure, that is an odd situation.
But it happens, and he powers the Wizards retort.
I realise this is outside of you ken, but, this is a completely reasonable suggestion, and I have played it, and it has worked for me.
This deck, as constituted, has put up a 5-0 competitive list in every WotC metagame release. It has a top 2 appearance at a GP. It has top 8s at multiple large tournaments. It has won many PPTQs. If you want to make this personal, I have ridden it to a share of the competitive league trophy lead.
On the other hand, your preferred list, removing 2 Curious Obsession and adding Mystic Archaeologist, has been successful for you at your LGS. Which is great. But maybe keep some perspective and shelve the condescension until you go win a recognizable tournament with your version.
In other news, Lookout's Dispersal looked quite good in its first outing. The league itself was a little frustrating (3-2 off a tough Phoenix match and getting mised out game 3 by 4-color Niv Mizzet (!)), but I was always happy to see the Pirate Leak.
It does make keeping track of your creature types a little tricky. It helps that your only two mana sorcery speed creature is a pirate. Having another counterspell that hits Deafening Clarion and Nicol Bolas and Lyra and Teferi is very nice.
I'm not quite to the point that I'd say to drop the 6 two mana counters from the side in favor of two more dispersals, but part of that is that I don't have anything else I really want to bring in. If you're running eight pirates I'd try fitting one or two dispersals into your 75.
Hey jacobk, Since, as you claim "This deck, as constituted, has put up a 5-0 competitive list in every WotC metagame release."
Whats the decklist?
Does it play Opt?
Since it has been 'constituted' it must have a really regular 15 sideboard cards.
What's the sideboard?
Does it play sleep?
or Entrancing Melody?
or Surge Mare?
.
I have been unable to find the last 2 Obsessions to buy, 2 is not my preferred number.
Making stuff up, and claiming I wrote it seems a tad rude.
.
This deck uses small Blue wizards.
I have played one called Mystic Archaeologist, and You have not.
Yet, You know it is 'Just Bad'.
.
You claim 'double digits' of turns are required to play 5 Islands.
Pretty Regularly I can do that on the 5th turn. Why can't you?
Have you played Curious Obsession? It lets you draw loads of card, some of which are Islands.
Since Curious obsession draws cards, and 1/3rd are islands, why does it take you 'double digits' of turns?
Hey wow, Mystic Archaeologist combo's with Curious obsession. . . .must be 'Just Bad'
.
I found 8 pirates was not enough for the discount to reliably happen, but it was close.
Hey jacobk, Since, as you claim "This deck, as constituted, has put up a 5-0 competitive list in every WotC metagame release."
Whats the decklist?
Does it play Opt?
Since it has been 'constituted' it must have a really regular 15 sideboard cards.
What's the sideboard?
Does it play sleep?
or Entrancing Melody?
or Surge Mare?
.
I have been unable to find the last 2 Obsessions to buy, 2 is not my preferred number.
Making stuff up, and claiming I wrote it seems a tad rude.
.
This deck uses small Blue wizards.
I have played one called Mystic Archaeologist, and You have not.
Yet, You know it is 'Just Bad'.
.
You claim 'double digits' of turns are required to play 5 Islands.
Pretty Regularly I can do that on the 5th turn. Why can't you?
Have you played Curious Obsession? It lets you draw loads of card, some of which are Islands.
Since Curious obsession draws cards, and 1/3rd are islands, why does it take you 'double digits' of turns?
Hey wow, Mystic Archaeologist combo's with Curious obsession. . . .must be 'Just Bad'
In general, I'm a big advocate for playtesting. For example, playing a deck with the full playset of Curious Obsession is important if you want to understand how the cards in the deck work together. If you are only drawing Curious Obsession half as often as everybody else you will get a skewed idea of how often the deck runs out of gas.
However, when a card is underpowered on its face the burden of proof shifts the other way: somebody needs to do well with it before anybody will believe that they are good. I understand this, which is why I don't get all pissy when people don't buy into my advice on Surge Mare.
My point, which I apparently have not explained clearly enough, is that Mystic Archaeologist is an underpowered vanilla two drop until you have five extra mana available. Furthermore, you will never have five unoccupied islands sitting around doing nothing until extremely late in the game. Even after investing seven mana into it, Mystic Archaeologist has given you the same card draw power as Chart a Course stapled to a 2/1 body. At a whopping 12 mana investment you have reached the digging power of a jump-started Chemister's Insight--a card that costs 8 mana in two 4 mana chunks and that itself is too clunky for our deck. You need to sink 17 mana into the creature before you reach a level of card draw that exceeds what you get from the commonly played card draw spells. This doesn't include any effort you have to put into keeping a one toughness creature alive. At that point, why not just run Overflowing Insight?
The question is not when you will hit five islands. The question is when will you have five mana to spare. If you are actually taking turn five off in order to activate Mystic Archaeologist, well, no wonder you think the deck is bad and needs fixing if that's how you're playing it.
Yup, that basedeck is 2 cards off what I want to play next.
-2 Spell pierce
+1 Mystic A
+1 Essence Scatter
So, obviously I am way off target, because 58 same is 2 different.
My sideboard will be WAY different though, 9 cards look bad to me.
Deep freeze blows
Sleep is mostly poor
Selective snare seems very narrow
& Surge Mare hasn't worked for me.
Just to be clear, I have written above, and you have quoted. . .
" a singleton could be a good call. "
. . And that is too much for you to cope with.
Wow. A new card you have not played is unacceptable.
You claim to "play with the deck a lot in a competitive environment so I know what I'm talking about when I evaluate the cards in it."
Sure.
And that's why you know everything about the cards that are NOT in it.
JK- "In general, I'm a big advocate for playtesting. For example, playing a deck with the full playset of Curious Obsession is important if you want to understand how the cards in the deck work together. If you are only drawing Curious Obsession half as often as everybody else you will get a skewed idea of how often the deck runs out of gas. "
Have you ever heard the term "Proxies" ?
Because they aint legal in tournaments, but seem to do fine outside of them.
JK- "However, when a card is underpowered on its face the burden of proof shifts the other way: somebody needs to do well with it before anybody will believe that they are good."
If somebody needs to do well with the cards before they are played, they will never get played.
I have played the card, and it worked.
JK -" I understand this, which is why I don't get all pissy when people don't buy into my advice on Surge Mare."
Ah, yes.
Surge Mare.
At least some of the decks you list have Surge Mare, including one of the last 3 lists you posted.
Personally, my current build has 2 in the board, but they have been crap for me, and I will be removing them.
Most sideboards dont have them. Spoze most of us are wrong.
JK -"My point, which I apparently have not explained clearly enough, is that Mystic Archaeologist is an underpowered vanilla two drop until you have five extra mana available."
When did that become your point? I said that from the start.
JK- "Furthermore, you will never have five unoccupied islands sitting around doing nothing until extremely late in the game."
Or turn 5 if they don't cast something, and U has an active Obsession.
Beyond one activation is just excess gravy.
" why not just run Overflowing Insight?"
Because it isn't a 2/1 wizard for U1
And it costs SEVEN, not TWO
And it does not carry a curious obsession in a pinch.
JK- "The question is not when you will hit five islands. The question is when will you have five mana to spare."
On turn 5, after they haven't cast anything.
. . and at that point the Mystic Archaeologist ends the game.
JK- " If you are actually taking turn five off in order to activate Mystic Archaeologist, well, no wonder you think the deck is bad and needs fixing if that's how you're playing it."
Really?
I think the deck is bad because I think a singleton Mystic Archaeologist might be worthwhile !
Tee-Hee You Funny !
Could you post a decklist or something instead of attempted witty banter? It would at least help to see what is going on in the deck to prompt the thinking.
I am not a fan of Mystic Archaelogist...I'm also not how it ends up being a wincon...
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Been tweaking this mono blue deck for a friend for quite some time. I haven't played this deck very often (so I don't know what the best builds are), but it's built for a friend who doesn't have time to build a deck. The current meta that we've been encountering is GB Midrange, Izzet Drakes, UB/Grixis Control, and GW/Naya Tokens. I notice that there are a few variations of the deck and I guess I have a few important questions that I wanted advice on please:
1) Should you Opt or not Opt? I see that the arguments for running it are that it smooths out hands and makes mulligans or keeping 1 land hands with an opt not as bad, as it's a "virtual" land a good portion of the time. I see that the arguments against it are that it's a filler card that does nothing to progress the board state and that it doesn't draw you a card but replaces it. My friend has run into a lot of flooding with the deck and I think Opt can help dig out of a flood or screw (my previous change was adding a 3rd Chart a Course).
2) Exclusion Mage in the main or board? I've seen that more decks have placed anywhere between 2-4 copies in the board or have 2 copies in the main. I think that the card is good and belongs in the 75 because of the tempo swing against Boros Angels and Mono Green Aggro, but it is a dead card against GB Midrange, and Jeskai Control/UW Control, and it's okay against Mono Red Aggro. If it's not in the main, then what should I add to the main to replace it?
3) Is Spell Pierce better than Dive Down in the main? Looking at the more recent results of the MOCS and competitive leagues, there has been a trend of 4 Dive Downs and 0 Spell Pierces. I think that a good portion of the time, Spell Pierce functions as a Dive Down. So my question is do we replace all of the Spell Pierces with Dive Downs? We have Negate and Syncopate in the board against control, so I feel that Spell Pierce is the weakest card in the deck at the moment.
4) Has anyone tried Whisper Agent? I want to try out Whisper Agent because surveil is great and so is flash. It can keep up with the tempo because you can leave up counter mana up and utilize the mana if you don't need to use it. I've heard of some fringe decks running it, but wasn't sure what the consensus was on it.
As for the questionable main board and side board slots: Amulet of Safekeeping is sorta useful against Burn and token decks as it buys some time with both. Metamorphic Alteration is a card that answers Carnage Tyrant and Niv-Mizzet, Parun, since it doesn't target the tyrant to make a copy and gets around the uncounterable clauses of both. I currently only own 1 Warkite Marauder and I feel that there should be at least 2, thus the Storm Fleet Aerialist is a place holder until I find another one.
Been tweaking this mono blue deck for a friend for quite some time. I haven't played this deck very often (so I don't know what the best builds are), but it's built for a friend who doesn't have time to build a deck. The current meta that we've been encountering is GB Midrange, Izzet Drakes, UB/Grixis Control, and GW/Naya Tokens. I notice that there are a few variations of the deck and I guess I have a few important questions that I wanted advice on please:
The evolution of the deck has more less settled on these cards:
As long as you fill the rest of the deck with cheap blue cards it will at least be ok. I've seen nonsense like Naban get played in winning games. That said, the successful lists fill out the remaining 12 slots as follows:
I like the full four Opt. When we are looking for something specific out of our top two cards (a land, a creature, a protection spell), Opt will find that thing as well as Chart a Course does. Opt can be cast off the leftover mana from leaving up counterspells you don't need to cast, and of course is half the mana cost. In other words, Opt is better when you need something specific early and Chart a Course is better when you want to refuel late. I prioritize the early game with this deck, so I like Opt better. Some people play both, which I think is fine in a low-aggro meta.
I like playing Spell Pierce because it gives me the best chance of the one drop -> obsession -> protection start that this deck loves. Hitting a planeswalker or Deafening Clarion with pierce is a huge tempo swing. It also is almost never actually dead. On the other hand, there are matchups where Spell Pierce is a poor card. If you are siding in Essence Scatter all the time then you might as well have some in the main.
I was a big fan of Nightveil Sprite in the flying two drop spot. The surveil is great. You get virtual card advantage without even suiting it up. Unfortunately, it's no good against flying blockers. Half the meta seems to run flying blockers these days. Warkite Marauder letting your team attack through a single blocker is pretty huge. If you're expecting to play against Izzet Phoenix at all I think you really want to max out the marauder before you play other flying two drops.
The tempo cards are good if you're seeing a lot of aggro. I don't like them in the main deck myself, but enough people succeed with them that they can't be all bad. Just comes down to what you expect to play against. In the meta you describe they're only really great against Izzet Phoenix. Sleep is ok against Golgari and Selesnya but you'd really just rather be countering their bombs.
Whisper Agent seems great if the opponent will struggle to block it. Against most decks I think it's just going to be a blocker.
Out of the sideboard, I think you want at least one two drop that buys you time. I'm partial to Surge Mare, but the most common card to fill that role is Diamond Mare. You can probably trim a couple counters--think about the maximum amount of counters you will ever want to bring in and only keep enough counters in the sideboard to support the max counter build that you want (I don't usually go above 10 total). I've never had Metamorphic Alteration really work out for me. It's a little conditional for a sideboard card. Deep Freeze is reliable if unexciting for Niv-Mizzet, and you can usually race Carnage Tyrant.
Most of the time you will see about 13 focused sideboard cards and then one or two cards that present random blowout potential. I'd put Amulet of Safekeeping squarely in that tradition. Other cards to consider for that kind of thing are Selective Snare and Entrancing Melody.
Thanks for the quick reply. I like the idea of Surge Mare against GB decks as well as random red removal. I know that my friend mentioned that he was not a fan of a full play set of Spell Pierce, so we're going to keep it at 2. In my meta, I think Essence Scatter is a good thing in the main, so we're keeping those. Making adjustments and using some of your advice, I'm going to see if this build will work better:
Not sure if this counts as advertising, but I recorded myself playing Mono U Tempo, mostly looking for criticism on plays, and keeps. I think the decklist itself is where I want it, but I am very open to changes, this was online on MTG Arena.
Hard to say for arena because you have no sideboard.
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Random Q about the deck. Been playing it pretty consistently for about a month with some success on Arena. But I'm no pro at constructed (mainly EDH) and especially poor at deckbuilding so looking for advice from people who are better in that regard.
Wondering what people sideboard for various matchups, and particularly the mirror. I know that what I dread to see is T1 removal and mountains in general, but we don't really get that. Mirrors for me currently seem to come down to opening hands, first turn and draws, which is probably somewhat natural in the deck but outside of random trickster value I don't know of anything particularly good here.
Has anyone had success running 19 lands? I've found that a good portion of my losses with the deck involve land flood or screw, with flood being the bigger culprit. I've changed one land to Anticipate as a placeholder and have yet to feel screwed by it, and at the same time have been happier to draw it over another island in multiple games.
Also, pirate mana leak. I see a few posts from Jacobk about this, wondering if anyone else has given it a go? With the increase in warkite marauders in the main, I'm starting to like it as an option. Its super sick in the UB version of the deck and if it wasn't for my unhealthy love for Merfolk trickster would consider a straight swap for the retorts.
Finally, Niv Mizzet. Have we just written this off as "UR wins if it gets to 6 mana?" Currently running that enchantment that turns him into a wall, and the amazing gem that is Metamorphic Alteration as some janky answers but they still don't feel fantastic.
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EDH RRGrenzo plays your deck, GGYeva's mono green control, WW9-tails trys desperately for monowhite not to suck RWBUTymna and Kraum's saboteur tribal, UWG Kestia's Enchantress Aggro, RUB Jeleva casts big dumb spells, RGB Vaevictis' big critters can kill your critters hard
Amulet is interesting. Works against Thousand year storm.
How effective is it against Red Aggro?
I spoze it works against Selasnya Tokens, but, How well?
Is it good enough to use against Red to justify playing Zahid?
(I think Red Aggro is still a real problem for this deck. Mostly it beats me)
Whisper Agent just doesn't seem classy enough.
Are you sure about Metamorphic Alteration working on Untargetable Stuff?
It doesn't say 'Target', but, . . . ?
I do not believe Chart a Course will stay in the deck long term.
I do not believe Surge Mare is good enough against G/B, or Red.
Blocking a 2 power explorer just isn't good enough since they have still drawn the mana they need. Everything in G/B is a snowball that ends with a big hammer.
They can still target it with all their Black kill so, whats the point?
And yeah, Since the deck does have any sweepers, Flood & mana screw are real problems. More so than most.
Too little land will happen more than too much, but that is what the Opt's are really for, increasing the stability of the land draw. I do not believe this deck can be effective on 18 land, and personally, I would prefer 21 on the play.
I reckon an Island in the board may be worthwhile.
Surge Mare seems v. nice, it could do many things; sneak through for 4+, loot away lands, keep out 4/3's and threaten 2/2's, it has synergy with Dive Down
it must be pretty funny against red to send it in as a 1/6
you probably have to decide for yourself if you need more protection against targeted removal & PWs/Frenzy(Spell Pierce) or Wildgrowth Walker/Chupacabra (Scatter)
trying to find ways to not run out of gas without being tempo wasteful, Quasiduplicate might work as a singleton
Melody seems like a sure thing for your mirrors
But honesstly I don't really understand the sideboard (other than Horses v Aggro), Mage vs. flying blockers, counters vs. control.
This was spoken about earlier about chart a course and opt, generally 1 or the other is played and not both or at least that was what I understood from the 5-0 lists.
I like the full four Opt. When we are looking for something specific out of our top two cards (a land, a creature, a protection spell), Opt will find that thing as well as Chart a Course does. Opt can be cast off the leftover mana from leaving up counterspells you don't need to cast, and of course is half the mana cost. In other words, Opt is better when you need something specific early and Chart a Course is better when you want to refuel late. I prioritize the early game with this deck, so I like Opt better. Some people play both, which I think is fine in a low-aggro meta.
The sideboard is very toolboxy, I would condense it down based off of jacob's list vs trying to use the toolbox approach. It shouldn't be that complicated.
Example
3 Diamond Mare
2 Disdainful stroke
2 Negate
4 Surge Mare
1 Sleep
3 Exclusion Mage
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Wow you are on 7 horsies? Cut all the x/1s vs. chainwhirler?
I think I am going to go 4 opt 4 pierce main. Maybe a 1x chemister's insight in the board. Negate seems strange. You already have pierce and stroke. I guess it's pretty good against Deafening Clarion like on T6.
I know I like to blah blah when I should just play, but really I don't play very much Standard.
Wow you are on 7 horsies? Cut all the x/1s vs. chainwhirler?
I think I am going to go 4 opt 4 pierce main. Maybe a 1x chemister's insight in the board. Negate seems strange. You already have pierce and stroke. I guess it's pretty good against Deafening Clarion like on T6.
I know I like to blah blah when I should just play, but really I don't play very much Standard.
You can cut Diamond Mare, not a lot of folks play it that much. Surge Mare is pretty solid as a 3-of.
Most sideboards run 2 Disdainful Stroke and 2 Negate, unless they take the toolbox approach. Those should hit most of the threats you would be looking at. Spell Pierce is good in the early game, but is a dead draw in the late game.
"To keep things 100, anything I state is an opinion and not intended to be a fact. Any and all suggestions I give are a 100% opinion. If you need further clarification take the conversation to a PM. I am not in the business of assuming things. I'm only interested in 1 business and that business serves 2 things, Cold L's and Hot Dub's."
I play Mystic Archaeologist in MTGA as a filler. The card has done serious work vs. control decks, specially UB. Warkite and Trickster are nothing but 2 cmc critter that threats 2 damage. It means the opponent ignores then for a while, save spot removal for real targets and try to eliminate then with sweepers. Mystic Archeologist will demand removal right away or swings the CA game in your favor.
With that said, the card is very lackluster vs. anything else, specially mono red. So I would advise against MD it, even one copy. Unless you play in a very controlling meta.
I play Mystic Archaeologist in MTGA as a filler. The card has done serious work vs. control decks, specially UB. Warkite and Trickster are nothing but 2 cmc critter that threats 2 damage. It means the opponent ignores then for a while, save spot removal for real targets and try to eliminate then with sweepers. Mystic Archeologist will demand removal right away or swings the CA game in your favor.
With that said, the card is very lackluster vs. anything else, specially mono red. So I would advise against MD it, even one copy. Unless you play in a very controlling meta.
dunno why we are still bringing this card up...
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Took down the local PPTQ today (~40 people) with mono blue. Same list as usual, although 3 Exclusion Mage in the sideboard instead of 2 and a Selective Snare, based solely on card availability. Super fun tournament, I didn't play against the same list twice.
Round one: Selesnya go-wide (2-0)
Game one he was racing with Adanto Vanguard, Benalish Marshal, and Ajani. I had Warkite Marauder into the rare turn three Tempest Djinn. I drew enough chump blockers to stymie his attack while the flyers took him down.
Game two he had two plains and only ever cast Legion's Landing.
Round two: Abzan tokens (1-2)
This opponent had some spice, including Chromatic Lantern to fix his mana. Game one I get an obsession going and win fairly easily. Game two he gets off a big March of the Multitudes that I don't have the counterspell for and is able to buffer his life total. I have a Tempest Djinn that could swing for near lethal as well as a Sleep, but I feared the Settle. I finally drew a Retort and went for it, only to find the opponent had Assassin's Trophy and Seal Away. He also made the Sleep plan moot by casting Lyra the next turn.
Game three I was stuck trying to get home by attacking with the little crew. He stuck a Lyra. Warkite Marauder meant I could still attack, but the life gain on the backswing canceled most of it out. I had one trickster but needed a second in order to tempo him out. I didn't get it.
Round three: Golgari midrange (2-1)
Game one we punted back and forth. I'm doing my thing, hitting for five a turn and drawing an extra card. Opponent had Arguel's blood fast and eventually played Carny T. I carefully read Blood Fast and instead of attacking my opponent down to 3 I put him to exactly five. Opponent looked at me funny and then flipped his blood fast. Oopsie. Could have sworn it said less than five. Opponent casts a Golgari Findbroker and returns the favor by failing to pick up a card from the graveyard. His attack with Carnage Tyrant puts me to exactly one. I knock him down to four after he sacs the Findbroker (only creature in play now Carny T). I play Tempest Djinn. Opponent plays Vivien Reid and goes after the Djinn. I dive it down, locking him out of the game. If he trades Djinn for Tyrant my other guys will kill him, while if he sacs the Tyrant the Djinn will take care of the 6 additional life.
Game two opponent goes elf into elf. We had bonded over our mutual mistakes in the first game, so he was cheerfully exhorting his deck to spit out Carnage Tyrant. Instead he draws and resolves Doom Whisperer, which surveils once and finds Carnage Tyrant for turn 4. Welp.
Game three he has no elves and is on the draw. I do mono blue things and the turn five Doom Whisperer is countered en route to an easy win.
Round four: Grixis control (2-1)
He's basically on Dimir splashing for Nicol Bolas. Game one I mull to six, play Herald, and his Thought Erasure reveals island, island, pierce, pierce, opt. Not great. I fight it out but eventually he gets Nicky B and Dream Eater down for the win. Game two I get out ahead and do mono blue things to him. Game three was interesting. I led with Herald, which he snap Cast Down on his turn. This turned out to be his only instant speed removal. I flashed in Trickster on his EOT, suited it up with Obsession, and protected it the rest of the game.
Round five: Mirror match (2-0)
I had talked with and had been pulling for my opponent between rounds as a fellow member of Team Blue, so we both knew what was up. He was on the Sprite/Exclusion Mage main deck plan. Game one was weird. I just kept drawing one drops. Opponent got down a trickster and an exclusion mage both with Curious Obsession. I had no obsession and was just attacking with more and more evasive 1/1s every turn. I had just enough disruption to keep my opponent from sticking a blocker. At the end of the game he had two attackers against one blocker with me at 5 life and him at 4. He had seven cards in hand. My last card was Dive Down, but I turned out not to need it as he conceded.
Game two was a race between his one drop and trickster and my Warkite and Trickster. No djinns resolved in either game. I eventually manage to trade off tricksters and tilt the race in my favor.
Round six: intentional draw into top 8
Top 8: I'm on the draw in every round as the lower seed.
Quarterfinals: Izzet Phoenix (2-1)
Game one opponent leads with Warlord's Fury and I realize I got paired with my single worst matchup of the top 8 decks. Fortunately I get herald down and obsession into another obsession and keep it protected. Everybody else is able to do just enough to keep his drakes from killing me as the Herald takes it home.
Game two opponent gets a phoenix going. Also a lot of Drakes. I essence scatter one, Deep Freeze into a Dive Down, trade with a Djinn, Deep Freeze Niv Mizzet, and still get killed by drakes.
Game three opponent keeps a speculative two lander with removal but no cantrips. He kills my first guy. I flash in a trickster EOT and suit it up. I keep it protected and also counter his attempts to resolve drakes. The "maybe he stumbles" plan pays off.
Semi-finals: Selesnya go-big (2-0)
I get an obsession going early. I then spell pierce his turn 3 Karn and turn 5 Vivien Reid. It's pretty brutal. Opponent does resolve a Carnage Tyrant. I was out of counters for the Serra's Wings spell, but I was able to cast a Djinn (at 6 power) and Stormtamer. Opponent spends a while doing math before conceding--the On Serra's Wings probably wouldn't have been enough (an attack would trade with Stormtamer and Djinn to allow the obsession beatdown to continue, while staying back would have let me play an island and force the trade with the djinn), so he wanted to keep me in the dark. Game two I again get a quick Obsession going and counter everything relevant.
Finals: Jeskai control (2-1)
Opponent offers me all the prizes in exchange for a concession before I can make the same offer to him. I decline, so we play for the championship of each other (and a PTQ invite).
Game one I drop early creatures into a drumbeat of removal, holding my two obsessions in hand. The big swing happens when opponent cats Teferi into four open mana. I resolve trickster and retort. I untap and draw another obsession, making my whole hand trips obsession. I go ahead and YOLO all three of them onto an attacker and go to town. I get to connect twice before he sweeps the board. I have plenty of cards in hand to rebuild with Djinn + counter backup and that's that.
Game two I wind up with a marauder in play and a bunch of counters. I keep him off his bombs but can't apply enough pressure before he resolved a Niv Mizzet that took over the game.
Game three he mulliganed to five. I kept a very reactive hand of obsession, disdainful stroke, disdainful stroke, retort, and three islands. Fortunately I draw into a trickter on time, flash it in, and start going to work. I counter a lot of stuff and he's eventually forced to scoop it up. In the last two turns I actually countered both halves of a Chemister's Insight. Even after that I ended the game with two unused counterspells and a Deep Freeze in hand. When you get out ahead of people with this deck it just feels unfair.
I wouldn't stretch that statement that far. CO is a good card though.
whew 1 karn and jace cunning castaway in the SB. Ain't that something.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"To keep things 100, anything I state is an opinion and not intended to be a fact. Any and all suggestions I give are a 100% opinion. If you need further clarification take the conversation to a PM. I am not in the business of assuming things. I'm only interested in 1 business and that business serves 2 things, Cold L's and Hot Dub's."
-Stay Frosty
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-Stay Frosty
I know this, because I have played it.
Keeping up with 6 mana bombs is easy, if you counter them.
And sure, 3 mana for the Djinn, plus 1 or 2 mana for the counter.
Then, something happens to the Djinn.
And that's game over.
I had that exact situation in my last match. The one you describe.
I cast Djinn, with U left over for my Spell Pierce.
He cast Lava Coil, and I Lost.
Curious obsession is difficult to stick on a creature when they have so much point and kill early on.
In the situation you describe, it is not 'Going to die immediately'.
Worst case it will die, and draw 2 cards. 3 for 1.
And that is the explicit case you reckon is Horrible.
Have you considered it costs 1U ?
Not 7 ?
And we are playing counterspells?
And draw 2 cards happens at instant speed?
. . And Primarily it is just a 2 cost wizard?
I mean, the card does just win games when left alone.
I realise this is outside of you ken, but, this is a completely reasonable suggestion, and I have played it, and it has worked for me.
I have actually played a game against G/B where he activated multiple times per turn.
Furiously throwing away blockers, then the Djinn swung ONCE, for Fourteen.
Sure, that is an odd situation.
But it happens, and he powers the Wizards retort.
This deck, as constituted, has put up a 5-0 competitive list in every WotC metagame release. It has a top 2 appearance at a GP. It has top 8s at multiple large tournaments. It has won many PPTQs. If you want to make this personal, I have ridden it to a share of the competitive league trophy lead.
On the other hand, your preferred list, removing 2 Curious Obsession and adding Mystic Archaeologist, has been successful for you at your LGS. Which is great. But maybe keep some perspective and shelve the condescension until you go win a recognizable tournament with your version.
It does make keeping track of your creature types a little tricky. It helps that your only two mana sorcery speed creature is a pirate. Having another counterspell that hits Deafening Clarion and Nicol Bolas and Lyra and Teferi is very nice.
I'm not quite to the point that I'd say to drop the 6 two mana counters from the side in favor of two more dispersals, but part of that is that I don't have anything else I really want to bring in. If you're running eight pirates I'd try fitting one or two dispersals into your 75.
Whats the decklist?
Does it play Opt?
Since it has been 'constituted' it must have a really regular 15 sideboard cards.
What's the sideboard?
Does it play sleep?
or Entrancing Melody?
or Surge Mare?
.
I have been unable to find the last 2 Obsessions to buy, 2 is not my preferred number.
Making stuff up, and claiming I wrote it seems a tad rude.
.
This deck uses small Blue wizards.
I have played one called Mystic Archaeologist, and You have not.
Yet, You know it is 'Just Bad'.
.
You claim 'double digits' of turns are required to play 5 Islands.
Pretty Regularly I can do that on the 5th turn. Why can't you?
Have you played Curious Obsession? It lets you draw loads of card, some of which are Islands.
Since Curious obsession draws cards, and 1/3rd are islands, why does it take you 'double digits' of turns?
Hey wow, Mystic Archaeologist combo's with Curious obsession. . . .must be 'Just Bad'
.
I found 8 pirates was not enough for the discount to reliably happen, but it was close.
Gee, let's check out the most recent 5-0 list:
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1448999#paper
4 Siren Stormtamer
4 Merfolk Trickster
4 Warkite Marauder
4 Tempest Djinn
4 Opt
4 Spell Pierce
4 Wizard's Retort
4 Curious Obsession
1 Selective Snare
2 Disdainful Stroke
2 Essence Scatter
2 Negate
3 Surge Mare
2 Deep Freeze
2 Exclusion Mage
1 Sleep
Why, look at that. Does it play Surge Mare? Does it play main deck Sleep? Weird.
It's almost as if I play with the deck a lot in a competitive environment so I know what I'm talking about when I evaluate the cards in it.
Meanwhile, Mystic Archaeologist has put up results, where, exactly?
In general, I'm a big advocate for playtesting. For example, playing a deck with the full playset of Curious Obsession is important if you want to understand how the cards in the deck work together. If you are only drawing Curious Obsession half as often as everybody else you will get a skewed idea of how often the deck runs out of gas.
However, when a card is underpowered on its face the burden of proof shifts the other way: somebody needs to do well with it before anybody will believe that they are good. I understand this, which is why I don't get all pissy when people don't buy into my advice on Surge Mare.
My point, which I apparently have not explained clearly enough, is that Mystic Archaeologist is an underpowered vanilla two drop until you have five extra mana available. Furthermore, you will never have five unoccupied islands sitting around doing nothing until extremely late in the game. Even after investing seven mana into it, Mystic Archaeologist has given you the same card draw power as Chart a Course stapled to a 2/1 body. At a whopping 12 mana investment you have reached the digging power of a jump-started Chemister's Insight--a card that costs 8 mana in two 4 mana chunks and that itself is too clunky for our deck. You need to sink 17 mana into the creature before you reach a level of card draw that exceeds what you get from the commonly played card draw spells. This doesn't include any effort you have to put into keeping a one toughness creature alive. At that point, why not just run Overflowing Insight?
The question is not when you will hit five islands. The question is when will you have five mana to spare. If you are actually taking turn five off in order to activate Mystic Archaeologist, well, no wonder you think the deck is bad and needs fixing if that's how you're playing it.
-2 Spell pierce
+1 Mystic A
+1 Essence Scatter
So, obviously I am way off target, because 58 same is 2 different.
My sideboard will be WAY different though, 9 cards look bad to me.
Deep freeze blows
Sleep is mostly poor
Selective snare seems very narrow
& Surge Mare hasn't worked for me.
Just to be clear, I have written above, and you have quoted. . .
" a singleton could be a good call. "
. . And that is too much for you to cope with.
Wow. A new card you have not played is unacceptable.
You claim to "play with the deck a lot in a competitive environment so I know what I'm talking about when I evaluate the cards in it."
Sure.
And that's why you know everything about the cards that are NOT in it.
JK- "In general, I'm a big advocate for playtesting. For example, playing a deck with the full playset of Curious Obsession is important if you want to understand how the cards in the deck work together. If you are only drawing Curious Obsession half as often as everybody else you will get a skewed idea of how often the deck runs out of gas. "
Have you ever heard the term "Proxies" ?
Because they aint legal in tournaments, but seem to do fine outside of them.
JK- "However, when a card is underpowered on its face the burden of proof shifts the other way: somebody needs to do well with it before anybody will believe that they are good."
If somebody needs to do well with the cards before they are played, they will never get played.
I have played the card, and it worked.
JK -" I understand this, which is why I don't get all pissy when people don't buy into my advice on Surge Mare."
Ah, yes.
Surge Mare.
At least some of the decks you list have Surge Mare, including one of the last 3 lists you posted.
Personally, my current build has 2 in the board, but they have been crap for me, and I will be removing them.
Most sideboards dont have them. Spoze most of us are wrong.
JK -"My point, which I apparently have not explained clearly enough, is that Mystic Archaeologist is an underpowered vanilla two drop until you have five extra mana available."
When did that become your point? I said that from the start.
JK- "Furthermore, you will never have five unoccupied islands sitting around doing nothing until extremely late in the game."
Or turn 5 if they don't cast something, and U has an active Obsession.
Beyond one activation is just excess gravy.
" why not just run Overflowing Insight?"
Because it isn't a 2/1 wizard for U1
And it costs SEVEN, not TWO
And it does not carry a curious obsession in a pinch.
JK- "The question is not when you will hit five islands. The question is when will you have five mana to spare."
On turn 5, after they haven't cast anything.
. . and at that point the Mystic Archaeologist ends the game.
JK- " If you are actually taking turn five off in order to activate Mystic Archaeologist, well, no wonder you think the deck is bad and needs fixing if that's how you're playing it."
Really?
I think the deck is bad because I think a singleton Mystic Archaeologist might be worthwhile !
Tee-Hee You Funny !
I am not a fan of Mystic Archaelogist...I'm also not how it ends up being a wincon...
-Stay Frosty
4 Siren Stormtamer
4 Merfolk Trickster
4 Mist-Cloaked Herald
4 Tempest Djinn
2 Exclusion Mage
2 Nightveil Sprite
1 Storm Fleet Aerialist
1 Warkite Marauder
4 Curious Obsession
Sorcery
3 Chart a COurse
Instant
4 Wizard's Retort
2 Dive Down
2 Spell Pierce
3 Essence Scatter
Lands
20 Island
2 Sentinel Totem
1 Amulet of Safekeeping
2 Metamorphic Alteration
2 Sleep
2 Disdainful Stroke
3 Syncopate
3 Negate
Been tweaking this mono blue deck for a friend for quite some time. I haven't played this deck very often (so I don't know what the best builds are), but it's built for a friend who doesn't have time to build a deck. The current meta that we've been encountering is GB Midrange, Izzet Drakes, UB/Grixis Control, and GW/Naya Tokens. I notice that there are a few variations of the deck and I guess I have a few important questions that I wanted advice on please:
1) Should you Opt or not Opt? I see that the arguments for running it are that it smooths out hands and makes mulligans or keeping 1 land hands with an opt not as bad, as it's a "virtual" land a good portion of the time. I see that the arguments against it are that it's a filler card that does nothing to progress the board state and that it doesn't draw you a card but replaces it. My friend has run into a lot of flooding with the deck and I think Opt can help dig out of a flood or screw (my previous change was adding a 3rd Chart a Course).
2) Exclusion Mage in the main or board? I've seen that more decks have placed anywhere between 2-4 copies in the board or have 2 copies in the main. I think that the card is good and belongs in the 75 because of the tempo swing against Boros Angels and Mono Green Aggro, but it is a dead card against GB Midrange, and Jeskai Control/UW Control, and it's okay against Mono Red Aggro. If it's not in the main, then what should I add to the main to replace it?
3) Is Spell Pierce better than Dive Down in the main? Looking at the more recent results of the MOCS and competitive leagues, there has been a trend of 4 Dive Downs and 0 Spell Pierces. I think that a good portion of the time, Spell Pierce functions as a Dive Down. So my question is do we replace all of the Spell Pierces with Dive Downs? We have Negate and Syncopate in the board against control, so I feel that Spell Pierce is the weakest card in the deck at the moment.
4) Has anyone tried Whisper Agent? I want to try out Whisper Agent because surveil is great and so is flash. It can keep up with the tempo because you can leave up counter mana up and utilize the mana if you don't need to use it. I've heard of some fringe decks running it, but wasn't sure what the consensus was on it.
As for the questionable main board and side board slots: Amulet of Safekeeping is sorta useful against Burn and token decks as it buys some time with both. Metamorphic Alteration is a card that answers Carnage Tyrant and Niv-Mizzet, Parun, since it doesn't target the tyrant to make a copy and gets around the uncounterable clauses of both. I currently only own 1 Warkite Marauder and I feel that there should be at least 2, thus the Storm Fleet Aerialist is a place holder until I find another one.
Again, thanks in advance!
Standard: Risky Burn, Aggro/Burn, Tempo
Modern: Goblins, Budget 8 Rack, Soul Sisters, 42 Land Swan Hunt, Stompy, Burn
Pauper: Miracles, Madness
The evolution of the deck has more less settled on these cards:
4 Siren Stormtamer
4 Mist-Cloaked Herald
4 Merfolk Trickster
4 Tempest Djinn
4 Wizard's Retort
4 Curious Obsession
As long as you fill the rest of the deck with cheap blue cards it will at least be ok. I've seen nonsense like Naban get played in winning games. That said, the successful lists fill out the remaining 12 slots as follows:
2-6 Card draw effects: 0-2 Chart a Course and 0-4 Opt.
2-4 Extra countermagic: 0-2 Essence Scatter and 0-4 Spell Pierce.
2-4 Flying two drops: 0-4 Nightveil Sprite and 0-4 Warkite Marauder.
0-3 Tempo plays: 0-1 Sleep and 0-2 Exclusion Mage
0-1 Island (typically the extra island accompanies the exclusion mages and sleep)
As to the specific card choices:
I like the full four Opt. When we are looking for something specific out of our top two cards (a land, a creature, a protection spell), Opt will find that thing as well as Chart a Course does. Opt can be cast off the leftover mana from leaving up counterspells you don't need to cast, and of course is half the mana cost. In other words, Opt is better when you need something specific early and Chart a Course is better when you want to refuel late. I prioritize the early game with this deck, so I like Opt better. Some people play both, which I think is fine in a low-aggro meta.
I like playing Spell Pierce because it gives me the best chance of the one drop -> obsession -> protection start that this deck loves. Hitting a planeswalker or Deafening Clarion with pierce is a huge tempo swing. It also is almost never actually dead. On the other hand, there are matchups where Spell Pierce is a poor card. If you are siding in Essence Scatter all the time then you might as well have some in the main.
I was a big fan of Nightveil Sprite in the flying two drop spot. The surveil is great. You get virtual card advantage without even suiting it up. Unfortunately, it's no good against flying blockers. Half the meta seems to run flying blockers these days. Warkite Marauder letting your team attack through a single blocker is pretty huge. If you're expecting to play against Izzet Phoenix at all I think you really want to max out the marauder before you play other flying two drops.
The tempo cards are good if you're seeing a lot of aggro. I don't like them in the main deck myself, but enough people succeed with them that they can't be all bad. Just comes down to what you expect to play against. In the meta you describe they're only really great against Izzet Phoenix. Sleep is ok against Golgari and Selesnya but you'd really just rather be countering their bombs.
Whisper Agent seems great if the opponent will struggle to block it. Against most decks I think it's just going to be a blocker.
Out of the sideboard, I think you want at least one two drop that buys you time. I'm partial to Surge Mare, but the most common card to fill that role is Diamond Mare. You can probably trim a couple counters--think about the maximum amount of counters you will ever want to bring in and only keep enough counters in the sideboard to support the max counter build that you want (I don't usually go above 10 total). I've never had Metamorphic Alteration really work out for me. It's a little conditional for a sideboard card. Deep Freeze is reliable if unexciting for Niv-Mizzet, and you can usually race Carnage Tyrant.
Most of the time you will see about 13 focused sideboard cards and then one or two cards that present random blowout potential. I'd put Amulet of Safekeeping squarely in that tradition. Other cards to consider for that kind of thing are Selective Snare and Entrancing Melody.
4 Siren Stormtamer
4 Merfolk Trickster
4 Mist-Cloaked Herald
4 Tempest Djinn
2 Nightveil Sprite
1 Warkite Marauder
1 Exclusion Mage
4 Curious Obsession
Instant (16)
4 Opt
4 Wizard's Retort
4 Dive Down
2 Spell Pierce
2 Essence Scatter
Lands
20 Island
1 Sentinel Totem
1 Amulet of Safekeeping
2 Metamorphic Alteration
2 Sleep
2 Disdainful Stroke
2 Syncopate
2 Negate
2 Surge Mare
1 Exclusion Mage
Thank you for the advice!
Standard: Risky Burn, Aggro/Burn, Tempo
Modern: Goblins, Budget 8 Rack, Soul Sisters, 42 Land Swan Hunt, Stompy, Burn
Pauper: Miracles, Madness
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQpbvp6BZpc&feature=youtu.be
-Stay Frosty
Wondering what people sideboard for various matchups, and particularly the mirror. I know that what I dread to see is T1 removal and mountains in general, but we don't really get that. Mirrors for me currently seem to come down to opening hands, first turn and draws, which is probably somewhat natural in the deck but outside of random trickster value I don't know of anything particularly good here.
Has anyone had success running 19 lands? I've found that a good portion of my losses with the deck involve land flood or screw, with flood being the bigger culprit. I've changed one land to Anticipate as a placeholder and have yet to feel screwed by it, and at the same time have been happier to draw it over another island in multiple games.
Also, pirate mana leak. I see a few posts from Jacobk about this, wondering if anyone else has given it a go? With the increase in warkite marauders in the main, I'm starting to like it as an option. Its super sick in the UB version of the deck and if it wasn't for my unhealthy love for Merfolk trickster would consider a straight swap for the retorts.
Finally, Niv Mizzet. Have we just written this off as "UR wins if it gets to 6 mana?" Currently running that enchantment that turns him into a wall, and the amazing gem that is Metamorphic Alteration as some janky answers but they still don't feel fantastic.
RRGrenzo plays your deck, GGYeva's mono green control, WW9-tails trys desperately for monowhite not to suck
RWBUTymna and Kraum's saboteur tribal, UWG Kestia's Enchantress Aggro, RUB Jeleva casts big dumb spells, RGB Vaevictis' big critters can kill your critters hard
Arena Standard
UUUU Tempo, since before it was cool
Various Wx decks running Fountain of Renewal and Day of Glory
Anything I can cram Chaos Wand in to
How effective is it against Red Aggro?
I spoze it works against Selasnya Tokens, but, How well?
Is it good enough to use against Red to justify playing Zahid?
(I think Red Aggro is still a real problem for this deck. Mostly it beats me)
Whisper Agent just doesn't seem classy enough.
Are you sure about Metamorphic Alteration working on Untargetable Stuff?
It doesn't say 'Target', but, . . . ?
I do not believe Chart a Course will stay in the deck long term.
I do not believe Surge Mare is good enough against G/B, or Red.
Blocking a 2 power explorer just isn't good enough since they have still drawn the mana they need. Everything in G/B is a snowball that ends with a big hammer.
They can still target it with all their Black kill so, whats the point?
And yeah, Since the deck does have any sweepers, Flood & mana screw are real problems. More so than most.
Too little land will happen more than too much, but that is what the Opt's are really for, increasing the stability of the land draw. I do not believe this deck can be effective on 18 land, and personally, I would prefer 21 on the play.
I reckon an Island in the board may be worthwhile.
it must be pretty funny against red to send it in as a 1/6
you probably have to decide for yourself if you need more protection against targeted removal & PWs/Frenzy(Spell Pierce) or Wildgrowth Walker/Chupacabra (Scatter)
trying to find ways to not run out of gas without being tempo wasteful, Quasiduplicate might work as a singleton
Melody seems like a sure thing for your mirrors
My list is roughly:
4 Siren Stormtamer
4 Merfolk Trickster
4 Mist-Cloaked Herald
4 Tempest Djinn
3 Warkite Marauder
Enchantments (4)
4 Curious Obsession
4 Opt
4 Wizard's Retort
4 Dive Down
2 Spell Pierce
2 Chart a Course
1 Sleep
20 Island
1 Sentinel Totem
1 Metamorphic Alteration
1 Sleep
2 Disdainful Stroke
1 Syncopate
2 Essence Scatter
1 Diamond Mare
2 Surge Mare
1 Entrancing Melody
3 Exclusion Mage
But honesstly I don't really understand the sideboard (other than Horses v Aggro), Mage vs. flying blockers, counters vs. control.
This was spoken about earlier about chart a course and opt, generally 1 or the other is played and not both or at least that was what I understood from the 5-0 lists.
I like the full four Opt. When we are looking for something specific out of our top two cards (a land, a creature, a protection spell), Opt will find that thing as well as Chart a Course does. Opt can be cast off the leftover mana from leaving up counterspells you don't need to cast, and of course is half the mana cost. In other words, Opt is better when you need something specific early and Chart a Course is better when you want to refuel late. I prioritize the early game with this deck, so I like Opt better. Some people play both, which I think is fine in a low-aggro meta.
The sideboard is very toolboxy, I would condense it down based off of jacob's list vs trying to use the toolbox approach. It shouldn't be that complicated.
Example
3 Diamond Mare
2 Disdainful stroke
2 Negate
4 Surge Mare
1 Sleep
3 Exclusion Mage
-Stay Frosty
I think I am going to go 4 opt 4 pierce main. Maybe a 1x chemister's insight in the board. Negate seems strange. You already have pierce and stroke. I guess it's pretty good against Deafening Clarion like on T6.
I know I like to blah blah when I should just play, but really I don't play very much Standard.
You can cut Diamond Mare, not a lot of folks play it that much. Surge Mare is pretty solid as a 3-of.
Most sideboards run 2 Disdainful Stroke and 2 Negate, unless they take the toolbox approach. Those should hit most of the threats you would be looking at. Spell Pierce is good in the early game, but is a dead draw in the late game.
Essence Scatter or Wizard's Retort will bin chainwhirler if you plan it right.
-Stay Frosty
With that said, the card is very lackluster vs. anything else, specially mono red. So I would advise against MD it, even one copy. Unless you play in a very controlling meta.
BGU Control
R Aggro
Standard - For Fun
BG Auras
dunno why we are still bringing this card up...
-Stay Frosty
Round one: Selesnya go-wide (2-0)
Game one he was racing with Adanto Vanguard, Benalish Marshal, and Ajani. I had Warkite Marauder into the rare turn three Tempest Djinn. I drew enough chump blockers to stymie his attack while the flyers took him down.
Game two he had two plains and only ever cast Legion's Landing.
Round two: Abzan tokens (1-2)
This opponent had some spice, including Chromatic Lantern to fix his mana. Game one I get an obsession going and win fairly easily. Game two he gets off a big March of the Multitudes that I don't have the counterspell for and is able to buffer his life total. I have a Tempest Djinn that could swing for near lethal as well as a Sleep, but I feared the Settle. I finally drew a Retort and went for it, only to find the opponent had Assassin's Trophy and Seal Away. He also made the Sleep plan moot by casting Lyra the next turn.
Game three I was stuck trying to get home by attacking with the little crew. He stuck a Lyra. Warkite Marauder meant I could still attack, but the life gain on the backswing canceled most of it out. I had one trickster but needed a second in order to tempo him out. I didn't get it.
Round three: Golgari midrange (2-1)
Game one we punted back and forth. I'm doing my thing, hitting for five a turn and drawing an extra card. Opponent had Arguel's blood fast and eventually played Carny T. I carefully read Blood Fast and instead of attacking my opponent down to 3 I put him to exactly five. Opponent looked at me funny and then flipped his blood fast. Oopsie. Could have sworn it said less than five. Opponent casts a Golgari Findbroker and returns the favor by failing to pick up a card from the graveyard. His attack with Carnage Tyrant puts me to exactly one. I knock him down to four after he sacs the Findbroker (only creature in play now Carny T). I play Tempest Djinn. Opponent plays Vivien Reid and goes after the Djinn. I dive it down, locking him out of the game. If he trades Djinn for Tyrant my other guys will kill him, while if he sacs the Tyrant the Djinn will take care of the 6 additional life.
Game two opponent goes elf into elf. We had bonded over our mutual mistakes in the first game, so he was cheerfully exhorting his deck to spit out Carnage Tyrant. Instead he draws and resolves Doom Whisperer, which surveils once and finds Carnage Tyrant for turn 4. Welp.
Game three he has no elves and is on the draw. I do mono blue things and the turn five Doom Whisperer is countered en route to an easy win.
Round four: Grixis control (2-1)
He's basically on Dimir splashing for Nicol Bolas. Game one I mull to six, play Herald, and his Thought Erasure reveals island, island, pierce, pierce, opt. Not great. I fight it out but eventually he gets Nicky B and Dream Eater down for the win. Game two I get out ahead and do mono blue things to him. Game three was interesting. I led with Herald, which he snap Cast Down on his turn. This turned out to be his only instant speed removal. I flashed in Trickster on his EOT, suited it up with Obsession, and protected it the rest of the game.
Round five: Mirror match (2-0)
I had talked with and had been pulling for my opponent between rounds as a fellow member of Team Blue, so we both knew what was up. He was on the Sprite/Exclusion Mage main deck plan. Game one was weird. I just kept drawing one drops. Opponent got down a trickster and an exclusion mage both with Curious Obsession. I had no obsession and was just attacking with more and more evasive 1/1s every turn. I had just enough disruption to keep my opponent from sticking a blocker. At the end of the game he had two attackers against one blocker with me at 5 life and him at 4. He had seven cards in hand. My last card was Dive Down, but I turned out not to need it as he conceded.
Game two was a race between his one drop and trickster and my Warkite and Trickster. No djinns resolved in either game. I eventually manage to trade off tricksters and tilt the race in my favor.
Round six: intentional draw into top 8
Top 8: I'm on the draw in every round as the lower seed.
Quarterfinals: Izzet Phoenix (2-1)
Game one opponent leads with Warlord's Fury and I realize I got paired with my single worst matchup of the top 8 decks. Fortunately I get herald down and obsession into another obsession and keep it protected. Everybody else is able to do just enough to keep his drakes from killing me as the Herald takes it home.
Game two opponent gets a phoenix going. Also a lot of Drakes. I essence scatter one, Deep Freeze into a Dive Down, trade with a Djinn, Deep Freeze Niv Mizzet, and still get killed by drakes.
Game three opponent keeps a speculative two lander with removal but no cantrips. He kills my first guy. I flash in a trickster EOT and suit it up. I keep it protected and also counter his attempts to resolve drakes. The "maybe he stumbles" plan pays off.
Semi-finals: Selesnya go-big (2-0)
I get an obsession going early. I then spell pierce his turn 3 Karn and turn 5 Vivien Reid. It's pretty brutal. Opponent does resolve a Carnage Tyrant. I was out of counters for the Serra's Wings spell, but I was able to cast a Djinn (at 6 power) and Stormtamer. Opponent spends a while doing math before conceding--the On Serra's Wings probably wouldn't have been enough (an attack would trade with Stormtamer and Djinn to allow the obsession beatdown to continue, while staying back would have let me play an island and force the trade with the djinn), so he wanted to keep me in the dark. Game two I again get a quick Obsession going and counter everything relevant.
Finals: Jeskai control (2-1)
Opponent offers me all the prizes in exchange for a concession before I can make the same offer to him. I decline, so we play for the championship of each other (and a PTQ invite).
Game one I drop early creatures into a drumbeat of removal, holding my two obsessions in hand. The big swing happens when opponent cats Teferi into four open mana. I resolve trickster and retort. I untap and draw another obsession, making my whole hand trips obsession. I go ahead and YOLO all three of them onto an attacker and go to town. I get to connect twice before he sweeps the board. I have plenty of cards in hand to rebuild with Djinn + counter backup and that's that.
Game two I wind up with a marauder in play and a bunch of counters. I keep him off his bombs but can't apply enough pressure before he resolved a Niv Mizzet that took over the game.
Game three he mulliganed to five. I kept a very reactive hand of obsession, disdainful stroke, disdainful stroke, retort, and three islands. Fortunately I draw into a trickter on time, flash it in, and start going to work. I counter a lot of stuff and he's eventually forced to scoop it up. In the last two turns I actually countered both halves of a Chemister's Insight. Even after that I ended the game with two unused counterspells and a Deep Freeze in hand. When you get out ahead of people with this deck it just feels unfair.
CO is a pushed card, glad to have it.
I wouldn't stretch that statement that far. CO is a good card though.
whew 1 karn and jace cunning castaway in the SB. Ain't that something.
-Stay Frosty