Why so much ramp? Sure they come in as 3/3s late game, but I'd much rather drop something that comes out as 5/5 or 6/6. You don't need to ramp to much here, everything is pretty low cost besides Garruk and Thrag. Also I'd definitely include 2~ of Sorin, and 1x Vault. With all that ramp it seems like you should just be running Craterhoof.
OMG... can Biomancer and Craterhoof somehow be broken together... must think now lol
8 creatures that can be removed easily doesn't really mean that you're going to reliably have enough mana to cast an 8 mana triple green creature. The "ramp" works well will the Biomancer like you say, and also with Gavony Township. Playing a mana dork on turn 1 is really the best thing you could ever play in this kind of deck because you want to be aggressive and play Midnight Haunting/Lingering Souls on turn 2. Passing on turn 1, playing a 2 drop (best case scenario: intangible virtue), then Lingering Souls is too slow. On the other hand, turn 1 dork, turn 2 Lingering Souls is heaps better and allows you to put pressure on slower decks or possibly actually just not die to aggro. Small Garruk also gets a lot worse against creature decks the later the game goes. Casting it one turn earlier means a whole lot. That means an additional creature for you, and one less attacker from them.
The thing is that you don't need to play something that "comes down as a 5/5 or 6/6" because the spirit tokens are good enough, especially when doing so would severely neuter your early game plays.
This is basically Matt Nass' idea from his article talking about Master Biomancer. All I did was change the lands a little bit and removed 1 Oblivion Ring in favor of playing 1 more Intangible Virtue. I think the card is really good and just gives you wins out of nowhere. I really want to add Obzedat or Zegana, but their mana costs are rough. Probably meant for straight UG or junk only.
Not playing tokens with Biomancer seems like a huge easte of it's potential. I mean Gyre Sage, sure. But you will already have 5 mana when you untap with Biomancer most of the time. Imagine casting and flash backing Lingering Souls with Biomancer in play. They better wrath or they just lost. For 6 mana, playing the Biomancer, then flashing Lingering Souls seems really good too. The Zegana backup is obviously very good, but the other cards seem unecessary; i mean the realistic scenario is thragtusk into zegana draw 5 or draw 9 with biomancer for a win-more. Again, playing a bunch of tokens after Biomancer probabaly will end the game 2-3 turns earlier than durdling and drawing a billion cards. You can get easy wins from tokens + township/intangible virtue as well since you cant rely on the biomancer every time.
I think you have so many 3 drops. At this point id probably just choose between medic and paladin. And since you have only 6 one drops, id probably go up to 23 land because id imagine that youd want to get to 4 mana very consistently so you can play 2 2 drops. Maybe skullcrack is needed because your deck seems slow, with no ash zealots and hellriders. 4 Sspotlight seems overkill. Pilgrim/Reckoner combo is cute but maybe best kept as a sideboard secret. you might be able to steal game 2s with it, but not if theyre ready for it.
As a person who likes playing those decks, the thing I don't like seeing from a uw/esper player is Azorius Charm and any other bounce spell, especially Unsummon-Snapcaster Mage shenanigans. I think you would agree that in the humans list, CotP does a lot of the work. Bouncing it early really screws up even the most explosive of my draws. The elephant healer(?) is also annoying because it doesnt just die to searing spear.
I think you should play 4 Terminus instead of Verdict. The latter is really a non-issue for me as I can hold up Boros Charm in anticipation. I'd consider more bounce and exile effects, and possibly reducing the Tamiyo to 1 because most aggro decks are too fast for her. I'd try Obzedat and Syncopate instead of dissipate and negate so I could counter early if needed. Most aggro tap out constantly so it's good, though cavern is always an issue.
I guess it's more of a ramp strategy, but you know. You only need to untap with Crypt Ghast to cast a Revelation for 5. You can get Primal Surge, the rest of the Diabolic Revelations and maybe a couple Crypt Ghasts as insurance. This idea is mainly from Travis Woo's "Attack for a billion" deck. It uses a large Revelation into Primal Surge, but I think this is actually more resilient because you only need 1 card to ramp to 10 mana. You can Farseek into Crypt Ghast too.
The idea does indeed demand that you play a bare minimum amount of spells, probably no more than 8. Maybe 4 Farseeks, 3 Diabolic Revelation and 1 Primal Surge. But the thing is that if you manage to cast Diabolic Revelation for 5, and get the 2 other Revelations, you're probably in good shape provided you just don't die to aggro. You can even get 4 Thragtusk 1 Griselbrand instead. You can also chain Revelations to get all the spells out of your deck before playing Primal Surge. You can always just try to play mana dorks and drop the Farseeks altogether.
-1 Devour Fleshin the main. Seems out of your plans, giving them life, you know.
I was trying to concieve of an aggro deck with the same colors, but with Frontline Medic, Bloodthrone Vampireand Act of Treason. I actually think Zombies might actually be still good, maybe even better because most people are taking Pillar of Flameout of the mainboard or even the entire 75 altogether.
Spell Rupture is a conditional counter with a conditional cost. Why jump through so many hoops when there are better cards that use less effort?
You are not jumping through any hoops if you're playing a deck with a lot of creatures. Counterspells in the format are best used for the strong midgame plays like the typical 4 and 5 drops, as it is often best to do something more active rather than tyring to counter a 2 drop. Spell Rupture is perfect for this scenario and is a lot better than Syncopate in the mid game. Most main deck removal like Searing Spear and Ultimate Price are only 1 for 1, and if you are playing a deck that has a nice curve, Spell Rupture will not be a dead card most of the time. Also, in a deck that plays cheap creatures, having Spell Rupture in your hand with no creatures in play is not the end of the world. You can easily play a 1 or 2 drop and hold it in your hand to counter their play. With so many 2 power for 1s and 3 power for 2s available for deck builders, this really is Mana Leak reborn.
Don't tell me that is jumping through hoops because it's not an unbelievable sequence of events. But I think that if i'm playing this counterspell, I would use it on anything, when I do decide to leave mana up for it. Like I said, I probably wont' use it as a turn 2 counter to use on their Farseek because putting a threat down is better most of the time, but having the option is nice. Against Supreme Verdict I would side most of these out if not all of them.
Definitely not your typical counterspell. To call this ''too situational'' seems stupid. It's obviously a card you build around. It's like saying Snapcaster Mage is too situational because you need to have spells in your graveyard.
Not a control card, and not even a Delver card I would say. You really need a one drop to make it better, and having only 4 in a delver deck would not be enough. I think the best place for this card is in an aggro-tempo deck with more creatures than spells. Something like RUG where you can play threats like Gore-House Chainwalker and Flinthoof Boar, protecting them with Spell Rupture next turn. The one drop creature is very important as insurance and also the choice it provides for a turn 2 counterspell. Aggro decks wouldnt want to play something too specific like Essence Scatter because other decks where it's relevant always tap out anyway. It would just be a waste of sideboard space. Syncopate and Spell Rupture work perfectly, but the latter requires very little mana investment.
testing shows that I need some mana sinks. I would like to add stonewright as a 2-off, maybe I can cut a ranger and a rancor. in general, I'm not sure if this concept is playable with gruul and boros and mono red sligh in the format, yet I didnt met one of those to test against
This list is very close to the deck i'm testing, but mine is playing Experiment One instead of Stromkirk Noble. I think the experiment is faster in general, especially if you're playing Flinthoof Boar because that's usually the card that will evolve the card into a 3/3. With a turn 2 Burning-Tree Emissary + a 3/3 Flinthoof Boar, your turn 1 Experiment One will be attacking as a 3/3 on turn 2. Wild Nacatl? Why the hell not. I think if we would fully commit to this explosive start, Gore-House Chainwalker is available as well. Experiment is the Gruul Champion of the Parish. Boros Reckoner could be very important because he's a 3/3 that will evolve a 2/2 Experiment, and he's just insane against Aggro because there is no way that they won't be taking damage from it. So far, I can't think of a way to effectively fight against it as a red deck.
Glaring Spotlight should be in the board. It works against Geist of Saint Traft which sees play in more than one popular deck, so it's almost a no brainer. Just look at their faces when you cast that card and then Ultimate Price their enchanted stalker.
A lot of ideas here! I think you're right about Superion; I'm excited to test Talara's Battalion too. Weird Harvest looks very interesting, but I'm not sure about Signal the Clans. The idea is to grab bushwhacker, hellraiser, Urabrask?
Yeah, or Myr Superion, Burning-Tree Emissary, Priest of Urabrask. It really depends on what you have in your hand. If you have Emissary and/or Priest, you can search for Talara's Battalion, Myr Superion and any other one. You have a 2/3 chance to get something threatening. I haven't tested it here but I really like the card. Maybe 4 is too much. It could be an idea to cut a few copies of the 4-ofs to include other stuff you can try to tutor.
I think the decks could go for a more controlling approach because Duskmantle + Mill can kill really quickly anyway. Another option is to keep the Duskmantles and Jace's Phantasms in the board and put them in after all their removal have been sided out.
Just a more traditional UB control list with Duskmantle, Archive Trap and Jace M as the finisher.
8 creatures that can be removed easily doesn't really mean that you're going to reliably have enough mana to cast an 8 mana triple green creature. The "ramp" works well will the Biomancer like you say, and also with Gavony Township. Playing a mana dork on turn 1 is really the best thing you could ever play in this kind of deck because you want to be aggressive and play Midnight Haunting/Lingering Souls on turn 2. Passing on turn 1, playing a 2 drop (best case scenario: intangible virtue), then Lingering Souls is too slow. On the other hand, turn 1 dork, turn 2 Lingering Souls is heaps better and allows you to put pressure on slower decks or possibly actually just not die to aggro. Small Garruk also gets a lot worse against creature decks the later the game goes. Casting it one turn earlier means a whole lot. That means an additional creature for you, and one less attacker from them.
The thing is that you don't need to play something that "comes down as a 5/5 or 6/6" because the spirit tokens are good enough, especially when doing so would severely neuter your early game plays.
4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
4 Master Biomancer
4 Thragtusk
3 Intangible Virtue
1 Oblivion Ring
4 Lingering Souls
4 Selesnya Charm
3 Garruk Relentless
4 Breeding Pool
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Temple Garden
3 Forest
2 Hinterland Harbor
1 Woodland Cemetery
1 Godless Shrine
4 Sunpetal Grove
2 Gavony Township
I think you should play 4 Terminus instead of Verdict. The latter is really a non-issue for me as I can hold up Boros Charm in anticipation. I'd consider more bounce and exile effects, and possibly reducing the Tamiyo to 1 because most aggro decks are too fast for her. I'd try Obzedat and Syncopate instead of dissipate and negate so I could counter early if needed. Most aggro tap out constantly so it's good, though cavern is always an issue.
Diabolic Revelation
Primal Surge
I guess it's more of a ramp strategy, but you know. You only need to untap with Crypt Ghast to cast a Revelation for 5. You can get Primal Surge, the rest of the Diabolic Revelations and maybe a couple Crypt Ghasts as insurance. This idea is mainly from Travis Woo's "Attack for a billion" deck. It uses a large Revelation into Primal Surge, but I think this is actually more resilient because you only need 1 card to ramp to 10 mana. You can Farseek into Crypt Ghast too.
The idea does indeed demand that you play a bare minimum amount of spells, probably no more than 8. Maybe 4 Farseeks, 3 Diabolic Revelation and 1 Primal Surge. But the thing is that if you manage to cast Diabolic Revelation for 5, and get the 2 other Revelations, you're probably in good shape provided you just don't die to aggro. You can even get 4 Thragtusk 1 Griselbrand instead. You can also chain Revelations to get all the spells out of your deck before playing Primal Surge. You can always just try to play mana dorks and drop the Farseeks altogether.
I was trying to concieve of an aggro deck with the same colors, but with Frontline Medic, Bloodthrone Vampireand Act of Treason. I actually think Zombies might actually be still good, maybe even better because most people are taking Pillar of Flameout of the mainboard or even the entire 75 altogether.
You are not jumping through any hoops if you're playing a deck with a lot of creatures. Counterspells in the format are best used for the strong midgame plays like the typical 4 and 5 drops, as it is often best to do something more active rather than tyring to counter a 2 drop. Spell Rupture is perfect for this scenario and is a lot better than Syncopate in the mid game. Most main deck removal like Searing Spear and Ultimate Price are only 1 for 1, and if you are playing a deck that has a nice curve, Spell Rupture will not be a dead card most of the time. Also, in a deck that plays cheap creatures, having Spell Rupture in your hand with no creatures in play is not the end of the world. You can easily play a 1 or 2 drop and hold it in your hand to counter their play. With so many 2 power for 1s and 3 power for 2s available for deck builders, this really is Mana Leak reborn.
Like Mana Leak, these cards are obviously so much better on the play. You will likely get 2-3 creatures out before you even want to use this card to counter their key stabilizing play, be it a Huntmaster of the Fells, Jace, Architect of Thought, Restoration Angel, Thragtusk, etc.
Consider this line of play:
Turn 1 Dryad Militant or Experiment One.
Turn 2 Gore-House Chainwalker/Flinthoof Boar (often as a 3/3), and if you're really living the dream, add Burning-Tree Emissary in there.
Turn 3 Spell Rupture
Don't tell me that is jumping through hoops because it's not an unbelievable sequence of events. But I think that if i'm playing this counterspell, I would use it on anything, when I do decide to leave mana up for it. Like I said, I probably wont' use it as a turn 2 counter to use on their Farseek because putting a threat down is better most of the time, but having the option is nice. Against Supreme Verdict I would side most of these out if not all of them.
Not a control card, and not even a Delver card I would say. You really need a one drop to make it better, and having only 4 in a delver deck would not be enough. I think the best place for this card is in an aggro-tempo deck with more creatures than spells. Something like RUG where you can play threats like Gore-House Chainwalker and Flinthoof Boar, protecting them with Spell Rupture next turn. The one drop creature is very important as insurance and also the choice it provides for a turn 2 counterspell. Aggro decks wouldnt want to play something too specific like Essence Scatter because other decks where it's relevant always tap out anyway. It would just be a waste of sideboard space. Syncopate and Spell Rupture work perfectly, but the latter requires very little mana investment.
This list is very close to the deck i'm testing, but mine is playing Experiment One instead of Stromkirk Noble. I think the experiment is faster in general, especially if you're playing Flinthoof Boar because that's usually the card that will evolve the card into a 3/3. With a turn 2 Burning-Tree Emissary + a 3/3 Flinthoof Boar, your turn 1 Experiment One will be attacking as a 3/3 on turn 2. Wild Nacatl? Why the hell not. I think if we would fully commit to this explosive start, Gore-House Chainwalker is available as well. Experiment is the Gruul Champion of the Parish. Boros Reckoner could be very important because he's a 3/3 that will evolve a 2/2 Experiment, and he's just insane against Aggro because there is no way that they won't be taking damage from it. So far, I can't think of a way to effectively fight against it as a red deck.
4 Ash Zealot
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Experiment One
4 Flinthoof Boar
4 Hellrider
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Rancor
Instant (4)
4 Searing Spear
Land (24)
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Forest
8 Mountain
4 Rootbound Crag
4 Stomping Ground
4 Huntmaster of the Fells
1 Electrickery
2 Skullcrack
2 Thunderbolt
4 Mizzium Mortars
Yeah, or Myr Superion, Burning-Tree Emissary, Priest of Urabrask. It really depends on what you have in your hand. If you have Emissary and/or Priest, you can search for Talara's Battalion, Myr Superion and any other one. You have a 2/3 chance to get something threatening. I haven't tested it here but I really like the card. Maybe 4 is too much. It could be an idea to cut a few copies of the 4-ofs to include other stuff you can try to tutor.
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Priest of Urabrask
4 Goblin Bushwhacker
4 Myr Superion
4 Hellrider
1 Hellraiser Goblin
1 Talara's Battalion
1 Urabrask the Hidden
2 Weird Harvest
24 Lands
Just a more traditional UB control list with Duskmantle, Archive Trap and Jace M as the finisher.