MTG Salvation

I feel like we need a discussion thread for the archetype: Spells Matter. Many cubers have decided to include cards supporting this archetype recently.
Spells Matter decks revolve around cards that does something when an instant, sorcery or sometimes noncreature spell is played. Cheap burn spells in red and cantrips in blue are often used in conjunction with these cards.
But which cards are essential and which are 2nd tier?

We had a couple of 3-0 spells matter decks and most of the work was done by Young PZ and Monastery Mentor. They were basically burn decks that had white and splashed blue.

Soulfire Grandmaster is amazing vs aggro if you have lots of burn. Talrand failed for us everytime we tried him so he's out again for now. The effect is great but just too slow.

Snapcaster, Imperial Recruiter and Geist of Saint Traft are also all amazing in the spells matter decks. Both the 3-0 decks had an Enlightened Tutor with a toolbox of Skullclamp/Opposition/O-ring and such... forget exactly. Very fun and looking to bolster it more!

Edit: Monestary Swiftspear and Shu Yun should probably be added to the list above

Our spells matter decks tend to come in a few flavors: burn, swarm, and selection.

The burn version is usually Rw with a focus on Guttersnipe and Soulfire. It certainly plays Mentor and Pyromancer but they are not needed to win. It does love Swiftspear which is a card we are currently testing with moderate success.

The swarm version is much heavier toward Mentor and Pyromancer, and really wants some anthem cards like Ajani Goldmane. In that deck, Purphoros is amazing and can easily end the game on a decent turn.

The selection version is mostly RU and uses burn but also runs a lot of cards like Ponder and a few counters. Again Guttersnipe is a must answer in this deck as it can close out a game pretty quick with enough draw and a little protection.

The cards we run for this deck are: Mentor, Pyromancer, Soulfire, Grandmaster, Guttersnipe, (Swiftspear). Many other cards for other decks also end up being very helpful as hardb0dy mentioned: Skullclamp, Snap, Opposition, Purphoros, Tempt with Vengenece.

It's a deck we really love over here!

It's been a fun archetype for us at 540. Play cards that benefit from spells, lots of spells, and profit.

I'm running a deep amount of support for it right now, given that the cube size can support some specific cards that smaller lists can't play. But we're using Seeker of the Way, Monastery Mentor, Ojutai Exemplars, Myth Realized, Delver of Secrets, Snapcaster Mage, Talrand, Sky Summoner, Monastery Swiftspear, Young Pyromancer, Guttersnipe, Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest, Soulfire Grand Master and Jeskai Ascendancy.

I've been considering Isochron Scepter as an additional support card. It's good in this deck, and it can be a reasonable card in other decks too.

Quote from wtwlf123 »

It's been a fun archetype for us at 540. Play cards that benefit from spells, lots of spells, and profit.

I'm running a deep amount of support for it right now, given that the cube size can support some specific cards that smaller lists can't play. But we're using Seeker of the Way, Monastery Mentor, Ojutai Exemplars, Myth Realized, Delver of Secrets, Snapcaster Mage, Talrand, Sky Summoner, Monastery Swiftspear, Young Pyromancer, Guttersnipe, Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest, Soulfire Grand Master and Jeskai Ascendancy.

I've been considering Isochron Scepter as an additional support card. It's good in this deck, and it can be a reasonable card in other decks too.

Awesome! I run all those cards too at 720 except Seeker of the Way, Myth Realized, Guttersnipe and Jeskai Ascendancy. These will be included aswell though (maybe not Myth Realized). I have also included Pearl Lake Ancient and Charmbreaker Devils. Devils may be cut with next update.

I love that this archetype can be played both as aggro/tempo and control. It has been fun for us so far!
Isochron Scepter is great by the way - and it has uses in other decks too. With enough low costed sorceries and instants, it's not hard to find a card to imprint.

With enough low costed sorceries and instants, it's not hard to find a card to imprint.

It only copies instants, fwiw.

Quote from wtwlf123 »

With enough low costed sorceries and instants, it's not hard to find a card to imprint.

It only copies instants, fwiw.

Oops yeah . I still think it's worth it, even for small cubes if they support these kind of decks.

This archetype is nice and can be use as second win-con in Storm strategies as well. Talrand, Sky Summoner helps you in those games where you doesn't have enough spells to storm out. I'm not running it in the moment but Guttersnipe can also do the same job in those decks.

And like others already mentionned, in the spell matter decks that produce tokens, Purphoros is a brutal beast.

I was expecting to be pretty disappointed with Talrand, but he's been surprisingly good. Granted, it's been in decks with an insane number of spells, but still.

Quote from Zetsu_Sensei »

And like others already mentionned, in the spell matter decks that produce tokens, Purphoros is a brutal beast.

He's been in and out of my cube and his best performance was when I had him out with Young PZ and Monastery Mentor at the same time.

Magic Origins spoiler:

It's funny the hate that Prowess got when spoiled (from the cube community), but I feel like it's quite a well-loved little ability now. I was surprised how many really decent cards have Prowess. I'm very glad that it's here to stay since combat tricks are always fun.

It's not Prowess that's good, it's the triggers you get from casting spells that make the cards worthwhile. The P/T boost is cute, but it's not the Prowess keyword that made the Prowess cards in the cube good.

I'm glad Prowess is becoming evergreen. Not because of the +1/+1, but because we're now more likely to get cards like Mentor, Pyromancer and Talrand in the future.

Of course Prowess isn't that good on its own, but the little combat trick is something that is a really welcome addition when the trigger also does something good. Are you running Talrand, wtwlf?

Yes. I support spells matters as its own archetype.

Prowess is great because it triggers off more than instant and sorceries, and for the same reasons the community was underwhelmed at first, wizards doesn't have to make the cards too expensive.

I will be very interested to see what is next. I had been trying out Jeskai Elder but it's been mediocre. Good thing I will get a replacement.

The one card no one seems to mention is Kiln Fiend. That card has been completely busted in some of the decks. A glass cannon, sure, but the first tine your attack with it and counter their path to exile, or mutatgenic growth in when they bolt it, you will be convinced. It's like swiftspear's pet cat.

Has this deck changed anyone feelings on pump spells? They have worked better than average in these decks, protecting the key pieces from damage removal and synergizing well with the attacking theme of most versions of the deck.

I have always had a soft spot for Berserk, Brute Force has outperformed for me. I just added Mutagenic Growth. How about vines of the vastwood or temur battle rage?

Kiln Fiend was not good for us in testing, even with a full blown spells matters support theme that goes deep. It can't attack into anything.

I added Mutagenic Growth in FRF since it works so well with these guys, and it's a quality card in general.

Gitaxian Probe is another free trigger and a good filtering and information spell that has tested well. May not be worth a slot in the long term, but it's a good spell.

Kiln Fiend was something we tested way back but it didn't work out very well. I can't complain too heavily about 2 toughness on a two drop since that is all you'd expect, but it felt super frail. Depending on the future of this archetype, it's on the maybe-revisit list alongside Delver of Secrets. After all it's a 4/2 in the right deck and potentially swinging for 7 is awesome - but we couldn't get it to stick so far.

Mental Misstep is my favourite spell for protecting these creatures. Dropping Mentor on curve or earlier with no mana up, countering the Bolt/PtE/whatever, and getting a free trigger feels really great.

We've been thinking about Isochron Scepter, but haven't taken the plunge yet.

The instants only thing really kept the scepter from being great.

And I understand the hesitancy for the fiend, but what kind of durability are you getting from your red two drops? The big fear is that you unload a bunch of spells and get blown out. In the cases my opponent has mana up for the kill spell I just pump it once. If they want to take 4 that is fine by me for a two drop. Lightning greaves is a big win in this deck to help this guy combo out.

I'll take a look at Mental Misstep again. It seems great but I am not sure if my group will love it despite their requests for force of will, daze, force spike, and mana tithe. Come to think of it maybe that is why I like this deck so much. We support all the super cheap counters for protection.

Time Spiral is another one I like for the deck. Having any of these guys on board, getting a trigger, a full grip, and untapping your lands. Yagmoth'w Will is another I have enjoyed with how quickly you fill the graveyard.

Quote from dschumm »

I understand the hesitancy for the fiend, but what kind of durability are you getting from your red two drops?

They need to be more durable than the Fiend is in the kinds of decks that would want him. It needs to be a 1/3 to reliably attack into any board presence, and the spells matters deck creatures can do this (Swiftspear, Seeker, etc). And if all I'm doing is playing him in an aggro deck with some burn spells, I'd much rather run 1 of the 3/2 1R creatures instead, because I'm not reliant on spells to have the stats be above Squire strength.

So it's not that I need durability from random red 2-drops, it's that I need durability from this red 2-drop because of the kinds of decks that would actually want to play it.

A quick comment about scepter, btw.

We run it in a 190 cube, and it's always been great for us...when it's run. It doesn't make every deck, and very rarly does one try to make an actual isochron deck. But when a deck has 3 or more good instants, we find that only a few good instants are needed to make isochron worth including to support some already stellar instants...typically Decks with blue, white or red. Our current cube (like most) have a number of great isochron targets: ancestral, brainstorm, impulse, counterspell, manadrain, mystical tutor, path, swords, lightning bolt, disenchant, enlightened tutor, incinerate/burn, go for the throat/edict/black kill spells, vampiric tutor, dark ritual (ok, not really), terminate, lightning helix, etc. I'd be happy to reuse any of those, thanks.

Perhaps a little timmy'ish, and possibly fragile in the face Of instant speed artifact removal, but an isochron that sticks and fires a few times is money IMHO.

Scepter is good in decks that have enough good targets for it. And can play very well in this archetype.

I think it's important to think of the other colors that have a small subset of cards with "spells matter", other than jeskai. Especially black, with it's suit of removal and cheap creatures.

To aid them, take note of mechanics like cascade, and flashback. For example, there're some Rakdos "speedster" strategies that has overlapping cards like swiftspear and kild fiend, to add to black's very good 1 drops. I still run Demonic Dread and Bituminous Blast.

Another card which some might have overlooked is Nivix Cyclops. This guy sometimes just kill an opponent from nowehere, with a combination of Bolt, Brainstorm and Boros Charm (for example). Another old favorite of mine is Wee Dragonauts. It hits like a Dragon.

Did I mention Kiln Fiend? Yes. I love that card. You could say it might be the genesis of this archetype.

Problem with Cyclops and Dragonauts is I wouldn't even play a 1UR 4/4 or 3/3 flying, which is what those are after one activation in every player's turn. You need to be dropping two sorceries/instants a turn just to make them somewhat above curve.

They didn't hit hard enough on average to justify the gold slot and how narrow they were in application.