I've had a fee times where I have Syncopate turn two and a lot of times I have been able to just make X=1 in the late game. A lot of decks currently like to tap out for their cards, curving out, and Syncopate just helps at all stages against that. But there is definitely a point where Dissipate ends up being better, though the UU can (rarely) mess us up.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I make art!
Sorry for any grammar/spelling errors, I mostly post from my tablet/smartphone.
Currently playing: Standard: UBRControl
Commander:
White Makes Right (Mikaeus, The Lunarch)
Izzet Fun Yet? (Jhoira of the Ghitu)
The Perfect Storm (Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge)
Dead Grave Walking (Skullbriar, the Walking Grave)
How Could You Be So Heartless? (Heartless Hidetsugu)
If anyone has SCG Premium membership, AJ just posted a new article about Bant Flash (kind of more abou Advent of the Wrm than our deck, but it still talks about it). It's a little too all over the place to really be a good resource for us, but one thing I did notice is that on the sideboard of his proposed Bant Flash build he has a one-of Silklash Spider. Has anyone tested this card out on the sideboard? I'm not convinced its really what we want but being able to untap with him gives us a plethora of options on top of our Instant spells, which is nice. What would we board this in against? Thundermaw Hellkite? Falkenrath Aristocrat? Lingering Souls? It seems so slow for those cards (except for maybe Hellkite) though, since we don't run any ramp cards to get there earlier than turn 5.
Just was wondering everyone's though on the card, since I think Matt Costa also ran it as a one-of on the SB in at least one of the builds he talked about.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I make art!
Sorry for any grammar/spelling errors, I mostly post from my tablet/smartphone.
Currently playing: Standard: UBRControl
Commander:
White Makes Right (Mikaeus, The Lunarch)
Izzet Fun Yet? (Jhoira of the Ghitu)
The Perfect Storm (Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge)
Dead Grave Walking (Skullbriar, the Walking Grave)
How Could You Be So Heartless? (Heartless Hidetsugu)
If anyone has SCG Premium membership, AJ just posted a new article about Bant Flash (kind of more abou Advent of the Wrm than our deck, but it still talks about it). It's a little too all over the place to really be a good resource for us, but one thing I did notice is that on the sideboard of his proposed Bant Flash build he has a one-of Silklash Spider. Has anyone tested this card out on the sideboard? I'm not convinced its really what we want but being able to untap with him gives us a plethora of options on top of our Instant spells, which is nice. What would we board this in against? Thundermaw Hellkite? Falkenrath Aristocrat? Lingering Souls? It seems so slow for those cards (except for maybe Hellkite) though, since we don't run any ramp cards to get there earlier than turn 5.
Just was wondering everyone's though on the card, since I think Matt Costa also ran it as a one-of on the SB in at least one of the builds he talked about.
I'm not sure I really get it either. It seems pretty bad, but I wish I was able to watch it in action and see where he is liking it since it is showing up over and over again.
I played one last week and it was okay. I cut it this week because I wanted to try some other stuff but if I would have had it against junk tokens it would have been better than Sigarda was. And it blocks pretty much every creature that sees play without dying. Also kills a olivia, aristocrat and angel of serenity in response to the trigger if we have open mana.
If anyone has SCG Premium membership, AJ just posted a new article about Bant Flash (kind of more abou Advent of the Wrm than our deck, but it still talks about it). It's a little too all over the place to really be a good resource for us, but one thing I did notice is that on the sideboard of his proposed Bant Flash build he has a one-of Silklash Spider. Has anyone tested this card out on the sideboard? I'm not convinced its really what we want but being able to untap with him gives us a plethora of options on top of our Instant spells, which is nice. What would we board this in against? Thundermaw Hellkite? Falkenrath Aristocrat? Lingering Souls? It seems so slow for those cards (except for maybe Hellkite) though, since we don't run any ramp cards to get there earlier than turn 5.
Just was wondering everyone's though on the card, since I think Matt Costa also ran it as a one-of on the SB in at least one of the builds he talked about.
Silklash spider has been a 1-of in bant control sideboards since Reid Duke started playing it with Drownyard. I think the spider gets significantly worse when not being ramped into via farseek, but other than that you answered your own question. The spider was tech during a time when Thundermaw and falkenrath ruled the air on a larger scale.
He also mentions that none of the lists he talks about and shares have been tested and that they're just rough sketches off the top of his head.
Yeah I saw that he mentioned that all his lists we just speculative, but I had seen it in sideboards before and wondered if I was missing something, since I've never played with the card.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I make art!
Sorry for any grammar/spelling errors, I mostly post from my tablet/smartphone.
Currently playing: Standard: UBRControl
Commander:
White Makes Right (Mikaeus, The Lunarch)
Izzet Fun Yet? (Jhoira of the Ghitu)
The Perfect Storm (Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge)
Dead Grave Walking (Skullbriar, the Walking Grave)
How Could You Be So Heartless? (Heartless Hidetsugu)
This deck placed for (only) the second time in published MTGO dailies yesterday. Some interesting choices, but overall a pretty standard list but with voices instead of augurs:
The renounce the guilds have been really good for me in testing (aristocrats of all varities, geist, obzedat, sire, reckoner), I think one is justified main - you see enough of your deck with thought scours/snapcaster that one ofs are OK. I'm unsure why he thinks 3 clones are necessary though, it seems like a pretty marginal card. Do you bring it in vs reanimator or something? I can't see why you want to tap out for a 4 mana spell too often, really.
For reference, here's the other version that placed, the talrand package in the sideboard is pretty lolzy but probably not optimal:
As your noticing people are almost all playing the haunt/pike package an here's why. It used to be universal that you named revelation with slaughter games but recently people online are naming advent which is MUCH worse for us. Naming advent literally leaves us no way to win at all. Any suggestions for this? That also explains the talrand in his sb
Talrand with 25+ instants/sorceries seems pretty cool. I've run into jund lists in paper and they have been slaughtering my wurms first.
In these games I have still won w/o pike, but solely on the back of resto beats. One game I finished with 16 cards in my library and another with 2 dead revelations in hand and 4 cards in the library (3 land & augur).
As your noticing people are almost all playing the haunt/pike package an here's why. It used to be universal that you named revelation with slaughter games but recently people online are naming advent which is MUCH worse for us. Naming advent literally leaves us no way to win at all. Any suggestions for this? That also explains the talrand in his sb
Interesting. That seems to be a very compelling reason for a Pike and a couple of other critters somewhere between the main and side.
Talrand is an intriguing option. I was able to play a 4 rounder last night. I started 3-0 beating 4 color control, BWR reanimator and Sire Jund. Then lost to naya blitz but had some crappy draws. Played a different Jund in top 4 and lost 2-1. But games 2 and 3 he cast turn 3 and 4 slaughter games ripping Advent and Revelations both games. I think my MD is pretty close to where I want it but the sb is still a few car off. I'm on my phone at work but Ill try to get my list posted when I eat lunch. I didn't run any voice and I didn't miss it, so he's staying cut for now.
Yeah naming Advent off Slughter Games is pretty backbreaking for us, so having a backup plan isn't terrible. I'm not sure how to combat it, but I'm not sure if the Pike plan is the best option. Talrand is definitely interesting, but he just dies to everything, so tapping out to play him sucks. I do like that he is a card we don't really need to slam down on turn 4, however. I could definitely see us playing him and having mana up for a counterspell so that not only can we stop our opponents play, but get some immediate value from him. It's not a bad option.
Still, for States on Saturday ill probably be running a more standard list. Actually, the deck has a lot of strength in more than Wurm, as Resto beats and even our Knight tokens have won me plenty of games where the Wurms never showed up.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I make art!
Sorry for any grammar/spelling errors, I mostly post from my tablet/smartphone.
Currently playing: Standard: UBRControl
Commander:
White Makes Right (Mikaeus, The Lunarch)
Izzet Fun Yet? (Jhoira of the Ghitu)
The Perfect Storm (Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge)
Dead Grave Walking (Skullbriar, the Walking Grave)
How Could You Be So Heartless? (Heartless Hidetsugu)
I'm definitely going to try Talrand out of the board. Him + unsummon or dispel as the "5 drop" against esper should be solid and gives us a good value creature to bring in against slaughter games.
Sorry for the formatting but I'm still on my phone and wanted to get it up for people that might be going to fnm tonight. I am cutting 1 azorius charm from the md, just not sure if it should be a selesnya charm or a md renounce the guilds. I'm almost certain we need 2 creatures and card draw spells out of the board for jund and/or esper. If I was going to states I would keep my "tech" secret but since I'm not ill throw out what I think the board should be moving forward.
2 Talrand (or something else if he's bad)
2 urban evolution (boom!) (exta sphinx against jund, killer 5 drop against esper and lets us leave up dispel)
2 dispel
3 deathrite shaman
1/2 renounce the guilds (depending on if 1 is moved md)
1/2 heroes reunion (depending on renounce the guilds)
1 progenitor mimic
2 supreme verdict
How do we feel about Trostani? I remember a fee people posted having success with the card a little bit ago, but I have not been able to test her on the sideboard. Is she still worth having in the side? I think she has some really sweet implications in our build both for gaining life, road blocking aggro, and populating so we don't overextend, but it's all theoretical.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I make art!
Sorry for any grammar/spelling errors, I mostly post from my tablet/smartphone.
Currently playing: Standard: UBRControl
Commander:
White Makes Right (Mikaeus, The Lunarch)
Izzet Fun Yet? (Jhoira of the Ghitu)
The Perfect Storm (Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge)
Dead Grave Walking (Skullbriar, the Walking Grave)
How Could You Be So Heartless? (Heartless Hidetsugu)
I liked her the first week I played her, but I'm finding now that 4 mana is really overloaded with spells and if our opponent is a little too fast she doesn't do enough for us.
I'm currently testing heroes' reunion as a "fog" that we can cast on our own turn against Voice of Resurgence. Here's to hoping they reprint some timely reinforcements for the aggro MU in m14.
I'm also starting to think that Aetherling might be better than Talrand if the primary reason is for another creature against jund.
Took 1st place at my FNM. Moorland Haunt and Pike were amazing... just not together as I never drew them together. Azorius Charm and Simic Charm worked wonders also. I'm also glad I moved the Voice of Resurgence to the sideboard. I only sideboarded them in against an American control deck and I didn't see them in that match. Ended up in a draw (almost won by time out). He won 2nd game after sticking a Curse of Echoes. Thoughts on that card for Control/Mirror match-ups?
Exactly what grim said. Went 5-0 last night with pike/haunt being MVP. One simic 2 unsummon was perfect and 3 renounce out of sb was brought in almost every match. Only lost one game all night to American aggro when I couldn't answer two early delvers
There is counter magic and 4 MB Selesnya Charm (which is what I run and recommend after last night). At the very least you could attempt to Simic Charm /Unsummon it in response to its effect and make him discard it. And if you could, since it is a 6 drop, try to stick a creature before discarding your hand.
Sideboard options are 3 SB Renounce the Guilds
For those interested my matchups were:
Round 1 vs Boros Aggro (2-0)
This deck did very poorly during our match. First game he drew 2 plains for the entire match, 2nd game he drew only 1. I wiped the floor with him. However I feel as though since I did have enough MB answers that it wouldn't have mattered with the build he was running whether he drew more land or not.
Round 2 vs American Control (1-1-0)
This was a long match and we ended up not making it to the third game due to running out of time. In the first round he either couldn't draw the answers he needed or I had an answer for them. In the 2nd round he was able to stick Curse of Echoes locking me out of counter magic and Advent of the Wurm unless I was packing an Azorius Charm which he wouldn't have been able to copy if he was attacking and I wasn't blocking. Thoughts on this as mirror/control matchup SB tech?. Pike sealed the deal during game one.
Round 3 vs Life gain version of Junk Reanimator (2-0)
This was an interesting match. He used many things that normal Junk Reanimator used except he had MB Rhox Faithmender. Packing Vault made it a very real threat, however (despite the long matches due to the life gain and deathtouch threats) I still beat him 2-0. Pike sealed the deal in game 2.
Round 4 vs Naya Midrange (2-0)
I feel as though his build was not an optimal one, however in the first match he brought me down to 6 life. In game one, after many charm answers in a row, I played Supreme Verdict. He tried to stop it with Boros Charm, but I had a Syncopate and he was tapped out. He said he made many mistakes, but that is Magic for you. Against control, you don't know what your opponent has. He did have MB Voice of Resurgence, but it didn't matter. Playing on my turn was doable until he buffed it up so much (Rancor and Unfl Cour) that I could Selesnya Charm it on my turn. Game 2 I never dropped below 18 life.
Round 5 (top 4) vs same guy as round 4
Pretty much the same conclusions as in the previous match. Afterward I helped him with deck teching. Primary tech being Armed // Dangerous. With his Advent of the Wurm (Armed) and Boros Reckoner (Dangerous) it's a great tech.
Round 6 (top 2) vs same guy as round 1 (2-1)
He still didn't draw very many land (only runs 20, I recommended 22 afterward since even blitz runs 22, he disagreed lol). He did better though and beat me game 2. However game 1 and 3 I had an answer for almost every creature he put out and overpowered him with Pike and wurm/angel in both games.
Afterward I can see Voice being very overrated and am considering removing it altogether from the 75. I'm thinking of this for my SB now:
3 Heroes' Reunion (never saw Trostani)
1 Supreme Verdict (great card all night)
2 Clone
3 Renounce the Guilds (MVP)
2 Curse of Echoes (rock star against me, highly considered for control/mirror matchup, copies counters, Revelation, Advent, etc)
2 Negate
2 Purify the Grave
Were you running haunt in addition to ghost quarter or in place of ghost quarter?
I considered Curse of Echoes (actually ran 1 Thursday night), but I don't know that we really need it against UWR flash, since all of their "finishers" (Thundermaw, Aurelia, Etc.) have to be cast on our turn anyways. And against Esper most lists are running multiple Far/Away so I don't know if it's that useful. I feel like they will just be able to set up a turn where they will be able to sphinx revelation anyways; and whoever casts more revelations is usually what the match comes down to.
I also think that in a deck with the Runechanters pike, Deathrite Shaman is the best Graveyard Hate. I don't think Junk can beat turn 1 shaman, and they really have no way to kill it.
I actually love playing against sire. I haven't lost a game against sire yet. Unsummon + Wurm or Resto with the trigger on the stack is really hard for them to come back from.
Were you running haunt in addition to ghost quarter or in place of ghost quarter?
I considered Curse of Echoes (actually ran 1 Thursday night), but I don't know that we really need it against UWR flash, since all of their "finishers" (Thundermaw, Aurelia, Etc.) have to be cast on our turn anyways. And against Esper most lists are running multiple Far/Away so I don't know if it's that useful. I feel like they will just be able to set up a turn where they will be able to sphinx revelation anyways; and whoever casts more revelations is usually what the match comes down to.
I also think that in a deck with the Runechanters pike, Deathrite Shaman is the best Graveyard Hate. I don't think Junk can beat turn 1 shaman, and they really have no way to kill it.
I actually love playing against sire. I haven't lost a game against sire yet. Unsummon + Wurm or Resto with the trigger on the stack is really hard for them to come back from.
I used Haunt instead of Ghost Quarter.
I don't understand your argument for Curse of Echoes. First, those creatures are cast on their turn not ours and they have nothing to do with Curse of Echoes. Second, I wasn't up against Esper, I was up against American Control, not flash. And if they do Revelation while I have Curse, they won't be getting more Revelations than me as I could just copy it each time.
On Deathrite Shaman, I don't see us using any more than 1 of the effects most of the time. But if its just against reanimator, maybe. However in my case the Reanimator decks weren't your typical Reanimator decks. More like Junk Lifegain plus Serenity and Rites. I might consider SBing Tormod's Crypt though because after our match the American Control guy said he also sided in Psychic Spiral.
I don't understand your argument for Curse of Echoes. First, those creatures are cast on their turn not ours and they have nothing to do with Curse of Echoes. Second, I wasn't up against Esper, I was up against American Control, not flash. And if they do Revelation while I have Curse, they won't be getting more Revelations than me as I could just copy it each time.
My apologies, I just assumed when you said UWR control you were talking about flash. The list gets labeled as both, and not many people are playing actual control. I just don't really see psychic spiral Curse of Echoes doing enough for us. Maybe if the mirror gets more popular, but I'd rather devote slots to cards that do something immediately or help against Jund and aggro.
On Deathrite Shaman, I don't see us using any more than 1 of the effects most of the time. But if its just against reanimator, maybe. However in my case the Reanimator decks weren't your typical Reanimator decks. More like Junk Lifegain plus Serenity and Rites.
What does Purify do against that style of reanimator that Deathrite wouldnt?
I wasn't talking about me using the spiral. He said he sided it in against me, and I was thinking Tormod's Crypt might be the better gy hate if that's the case. EDIT: Also, I've already devoted 5 slots for Jund (clone and renounce) and 4 slots for aggro (verdict and reunion)
They will see Deathrite's effect coming before activating Rites, but they won't know if I'm holding a Purify or not. Shaman also doesn't allow me to deal with Snapcaster Mage targets since I use 0 black mana.
I wasn't talking about me using the spiral. He said he sided it in against me, and I was thinking Tormod's Crypt might be the better gy hate if that's the case. EDIT: Also, I've already devoted 5 slots for Jund (clone and renounce) and 4 slots for aggro (verdict and reunion)
They will see Deathrite's effect coming before activating Rites, but they won't know if I'm holding a Purify or not. Shaman also doesn't allow me to deal with Snapcaster Mage targets since I use 0 black mana.
Sorry, I meant curse of echoes :-/....Not Psychic Spiral, that was a typo on my part.
I don't run any black mana for deathrite either, but casting a purify on a SnapMage target still leaves you down in that trade unless you're flashing it back. There may be times when its beneficial, but I know the times I've played against other Snap decks (with this, or UWR flash, or delver) I'm not sitting there wishing I had Purify the Grave to board in.
And if a reanimator player chooses to not use Unburial Rites (assuming he didn't side all/some out) because I have a Shaman out, that seems like a better move for me than him. So it's (shaman) still doing its job. Plus at the point we get ahead, he can pick up a pike and start swinging if necessary. Purify definitely plays better with Augur and Thought Scour though. But until I get more games in against reanimator to see how Deathrite performs (or underperforms), on paper he seems better.
Sorry for any grammar/spelling errors, I mostly post from my tablet/smartphone.
Currently playing:
Standard:
UBRControl
Commander:
White Makes Right (Mikaeus, The Lunarch)
Izzet Fun Yet? (Jhoira of the Ghitu)
The Perfect Storm (Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge)
Dead Grave Walking (Skullbriar, the Walking Grave)
How Could You Be So Heartless? (Heartless Hidetsugu)
Just was wondering everyone's though on the card, since I think Matt Costa also ran it as a one-of on the SB in at least one of the builds he talked about.
Sorry for any grammar/spelling errors, I mostly post from my tablet/smartphone.
Currently playing:
Standard:
UBRControl
Commander:
White Makes Right (Mikaeus, The Lunarch)
Izzet Fun Yet? (Jhoira of the Ghitu)
The Perfect Storm (Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge)
Dead Grave Walking (Skullbriar, the Walking Grave)
How Could You Be So Heartless? (Heartless Hidetsugu)
I'm not sure I really get it either. It seems pretty bad, but I wish I was able to watch it in action and see where he is liking it since it is showing up over and over again.
Silklash spider has been a 1-of in bant control sideboards since Reid Duke started playing it with Drownyard. I think the spider gets significantly worse when not being ramped into via farseek, but other than that you answered your own question. The spider was tech during a time when Thundermaw and falkenrath ruled the air on a larger scale.
He also mentions that none of the lists he talks about and shares have been tested and that they're just rough sketches off the top of his head.
Sorry for any grammar/spelling errors, I mostly post from my tablet/smartphone.
Currently playing:
Standard:
UBRControl
Commander:
White Makes Right (Mikaeus, The Lunarch)
Izzet Fun Yet? (Jhoira of the Ghitu)
The Perfect Storm (Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge)
Dead Grave Walking (Skullbriar, the Walking Grave)
How Could You Be So Heartless? (Heartless Hidetsugu)
Standard Daily #5399834 on 05/15/2013Magic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Hinterland Harbor
1 Island
1 Moorland Haunt
3 Sunpetal Grove
4 Temple Garden
2 Restoration Angel
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Voice of Resurgence
4 Azorius Charm
2 Rewind
1 Runechanter's Pike
2 Selesnya Charm
3 Sphinx's Revelation
1 Supreme Verdict
2 Syncopate
4 Thought Scour
2 Unsummon
2 Dispel
1 Dissipate
3 Renounce the Guilds
1 Runechanter's Pike
1 Selesnya Charm
2 Supreme Verdict
2 Unsummon
The renounce the guilds have been really good for me in testing (aristocrats of all varities, geist, obzedat, sire, reckoner), I think one is justified main - you see enough of your deck with thought scours/snapcaster that one ofs are OK. I'm unsure why he thinks 3 clones are necessary though, it seems like a pretty marginal card. Do you bring it in vs reanimator or something? I can't see why you want to tap out for a 4 mana spell too often, really.
For reference, here's the other version that placed, the talrand package in the sideboard is pretty lolzy but probably not optimal:
Standard Daily #5399750 on 05/12/2013Magic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
1 Forest
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Hinterland Harbor
1 Island
1 Moorland Haunt
3 Sunpetal Grove
3 Temple Garden
4 Augur of Bolas
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Azorius Charm
1 Renounce the Guilds
2 Rewind
1 Runechanter's Pike
2 Selesnya Charm
1 Simic Charm
3 Sphinx's Revelation
2 Supreme Verdict
1 Syncopate
4 Thought Scour
2 Unsummon
2 Dispel
2 Dissipate
1 Purify the Grave
1 Renounce the Guilds
2 Sundering Growth
2 Supreme Verdict
2 Talrand, Sky Summoner
In these games I have still won w/o pike, but solely on the back of resto beats. One game I finished with 16 cards in my library and another with 2 dead revelations in hand and 4 cards in the library (3 land & augur).
EDH:▼
(links to 3D generals)
Playing: Designing:
Retired:
Interesting. That seems to be a very compelling reason for a Pike and a couple of other critters somewhere between the main and side.
Still, for States on Saturday ill probably be running a more standard list. Actually, the deck has a lot of strength in more than Wurm, as Resto beats and even our Knight tokens have won me plenty of games where the Wurms never showed up.
Sorry for any grammar/spelling errors, I mostly post from my tablet/smartphone.
Currently playing:
Standard:
UBRControl
Commander:
White Makes Right (Mikaeus, The Lunarch)
Izzet Fun Yet? (Jhoira of the Ghitu)
The Perfect Storm (Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge)
Dead Grave Walking (Skullbriar, the Walking Grave)
How Could You Be So Heartless? (Heartless Hidetsugu)
This is the list I played last night:
4 of each other dual land
1 forest
1 ghost quarter
3 restoration angel
3 augur of bolas
3 snapcaster mage
4 advent of the wurm
3 azorius charm
2 selesnya charm
3 unsummon
3 thought scour
2 think twice
2 syncopate
2 rewind
3 sphinx revelation
1 supreme verdict
1 runechanters pike
2 trostani
2 negate
2 renounce the guilds
3 deathrite shaman
1 progenitor mimic
1 supreme verdict
1 heroes reunion
1 sundering growth
1 sigarda
1 curse of echoes
Sorry for the formatting but I'm still on my phone and wanted to get it up for people that might be going to fnm tonight. I am cutting 1 azorius charm from the md, just not sure if it should be a selesnya charm or a md renounce the guilds. I'm almost certain we need 2 creatures and card draw spells out of the board for jund and/or esper. If I was going to states I would keep my "tech" secret but since I'm not ill throw out what I think the board should be moving forward.
2 Talrand (or something else if he's bad)
2 urban evolution (boom!) (exta sphinx against jund, killer 5 drop against esper and lets us leave up dispel)
2 dispel
3 deathrite shaman
1/2 renounce the guilds (depending on if 1 is moved md)
1/2 heroes reunion (depending on renounce the guilds)
1 progenitor mimic
2 supreme verdict
Sorry for any grammar/spelling errors, I mostly post from my tablet/smartphone.
Currently playing:
Standard:
UBRControl
Commander:
White Makes Right (Mikaeus, The Lunarch)
Izzet Fun Yet? (Jhoira of the Ghitu)
The Perfect Storm (Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge)
Dead Grave Walking (Skullbriar, the Walking Grave)
How Could You Be So Heartless? (Heartless Hidetsugu)
I'm currently testing heroes' reunion as a "fog" that we can cast on our own turn against Voice of Resurgence. Here's to hoping they reprint some timely reinforcements for the aggro MU in m14.
I'm also starting to think that Aetherling might be better than Talrand if the primary reason is for another creature against jund.
C Kozilek C
GB Gitrog GB
G Titania G
WU Brago WU
GB MerenGB
Duel Commander Decks
UR Keranos UR
BRG Jund BRG
GR Tron GR GW Tron GW
C Eldrazi Tron (SB) C
BG Lantern Control BG
UW Control (SB) UW
Sideboard options would be appreciated too.
Sideboard options are 3 SB Renounce the Guilds
For those interested my matchups were:
Round 1 vs Boros Aggro (2-0)
This deck did very poorly during our match. First game he drew 2 plains for the entire match, 2nd game he drew only 1. I wiped the floor with him. However I feel as though since I did have enough MB answers that it wouldn't have mattered with the build he was running whether he drew more land or not.
Round 2 vs American Control (1-1-0)
This was a long match and we ended up not making it to the third game due to running out of time. In the first round he either couldn't draw the answers he needed or I had an answer for them. In the 2nd round he was able to stick Curse of Echoes locking me out of counter magic and Advent of the Wurm unless I was packing an Azorius Charm which he wouldn't have been able to copy if he was attacking and I wasn't blocking. Thoughts on this as mirror/control matchup SB tech?. Pike sealed the deal during game one.
Round 3 vs Life gain version of Junk Reanimator (2-0)
This was an interesting match. He used many things that normal Junk Reanimator used except he had MB Rhox Faithmender. Packing Vault made it a very real threat, however (despite the long matches due to the life gain and deathtouch threats) I still beat him 2-0. Pike sealed the deal in game 2.
Round 4 vs Naya Midrange (2-0)
I feel as though his build was not an optimal one, however in the first match he brought me down to 6 life. In game one, after many charm answers in a row, I played Supreme Verdict. He tried to stop it with Boros Charm, but I had a Syncopate and he was tapped out. He said he made many mistakes, but that is Magic for you. Against control, you don't know what your opponent has. He did have MB Voice of Resurgence, but it didn't matter. Playing on my turn was doable until he buffed it up so much (Rancor and Unfl Cour) that I could Selesnya Charm it on my turn. Game 2 I never dropped below 18 life.
Round 5 (top 4) vs same guy as round 4
Pretty much the same conclusions as in the previous match. Afterward I helped him with deck teching. Primary tech being Armed // Dangerous. With his Advent of the Wurm (Armed) and Boros Reckoner (Dangerous) it's a great tech.
Round 6 (top 2) vs same guy as round 1 (2-1)
He still didn't draw very many land (only runs 20, I recommended 22 afterward since even blitz runs 22, he disagreed lol). He did better though and beat me game 2. However game 1 and 3 I had an answer for almost every creature he put out and overpowered him with Pike and wurm/angel in both games.
Afterward I can see Voice being very overrated and am considering removing it altogether from the 75. I'm thinking of this for my SB now:
3 Heroes' Reunion (never saw Trostani)
1 Supreme Verdict (great card all night)
2 Clone
3 Renounce the Guilds (MVP)
2 Curse of Echoes (rock star against me, highly considered for control/mirror matchup, copies counters, Revelation, Advent, etc)
2 Negate
2 Purify the Grave
C Kozilek C
GB Gitrog GB
G Titania G
WU Brago WU
GB MerenGB
Duel Commander Decks
UR Keranos UR
BRG Jund BRG
GR Tron GR GW Tron GW
C Eldrazi Tron (SB) C
BG Lantern Control BG
UW Control (SB) UW
I considered Curse of Echoes (actually ran 1 Thursday night), but I don't know that we really need it against UWR flash, since all of their "finishers" (Thundermaw, Aurelia, Etc.) have to be cast on our turn anyways. And against Esper most lists are running multiple Far/Away so I don't know if it's that useful. I feel like they will just be able to set up a turn where they will be able to sphinx revelation anyways; and whoever casts more revelations is usually what the match comes down to.
I also think that in a deck with the Runechanters pike, Deathrite Shaman is the best Graveyard Hate. I don't think Junk can beat turn 1 shaman, and they really have no way to kill it.
I actually love playing against sire. I haven't lost a game against sire yet. Unsummon + Wurm or Resto with the trigger on the stack is really hard for them to come back from.
I used Haunt instead of Ghost Quarter.
I don't understand your argument for Curse of Echoes. First, those creatures are cast on their turn not ours and they have nothing to do with Curse of Echoes. Second, I wasn't up against Esper, I was up against American Control, not flash. And if they do Revelation while I have Curse, they won't be getting more Revelations than me as I could just copy it each time.
On Deathrite Shaman, I don't see us using any more than 1 of the effects most of the time. But if its just against reanimator, maybe. However in my case the Reanimator decks weren't your typical Reanimator decks. More like Junk Lifegain plus Serenity and Rites. I might consider SBing Tormod's Crypt though because after our match the American Control guy said he also sided in Psychic Spiral.
C Kozilek C
GB Gitrog GB
G Titania G
WU Brago WU
GB MerenGB
Duel Commander Decks
UR Keranos UR
BRG Jund BRG
GR Tron GR GW Tron GW
C Eldrazi Tron (SB) C
BG Lantern Control BG
UW Control (SB) UW
My apologies, I just assumed when you said UWR control you were talking about flash. The list gets labeled as both, and not many people are playing actual control. I just don't really see
psychic spiralCurse of Echoes doing enough for us. Maybe if the mirror gets more popular, but I'd rather devote slots to cards that do something immediately or help against Jund and aggro.What does Purify do against that style of reanimator that Deathrite wouldnt?
They will see Deathrite's effect coming before activating Rites, but they won't know if I'm holding a Purify or not. Shaman also doesn't allow me to deal with Snapcaster Mage targets since I use 0 black mana.
C Kozilek C
GB Gitrog GB
G Titania G
WU Brago WU
GB MerenGB
Duel Commander Decks
UR Keranos UR
BRG Jund BRG
GR Tron GR GW Tron GW
C Eldrazi Tron (SB) C
BG Lantern Control BG
UW Control (SB) UW
Sorry, I meant curse of echoes :-/....Not Psychic Spiral, that was a typo on my part.
I don't run any black mana for deathrite either, but casting a purify on a SnapMage target still leaves you down in that trade unless you're flashing it back. There may be times when its beneficial, but I know the times I've played against other Snap decks (with this, or UWR flash, or delver) I'm not sitting there wishing I had Purify the Grave to board in.
And if a reanimator player chooses to not use Unburial Rites (assuming he didn't side all/some out) because I have a Shaman out, that seems like a better move for me than him. So it's (shaman) still doing its job. Plus at the point we get ahead, he can pick up a pike and start swinging if necessary. Purify definitely plays better with Augur and Thought Scour though. But until I get more games in against reanimator to see how Deathrite performs (or underperforms), on paper he seems better.
C Kozilek C
GB Gitrog GB
G Titania G
WU Brago WU
GB MerenGB
Duel Commander Decks
UR Keranos UR
BRG Jund BRG
GR Tron GR GW Tron GW
C Eldrazi Tron (SB) C
BG Lantern Control BG
UW Control (SB) UW