This list looks terrible. I have to read the article, but this feels like a list by someone who hasn't played the deck a ton.
Edit, after seeing the videos:
Elixir is terrible, siding in remand is funny given recent discussions in this thread. The side board is a train wreck. No mikokoro is also not a good thing, it is definitly not 'win more'.
Honestly, Mikokoro is the reason I have turned many losses into a win. Even at the effective cost of 3mana per turn, when I don't have any other mines in play, Mikokoro is the only thing keeping me in the game and propelling me to the win.
The same can no longer be said for Elixir. Though 3 mana isn't too much for gaining 5 life, I think we can do better. I have no idea what's going on with the sideboard in that deck. Chalice of the Void is too damn important to leave out of the 75. It wins games by itself.
And he somehow found space for 4 Opt, 4 Serum Visions, and even a single Sleight of Hand. giving him 9 one-mana cantrips!
He should pretty much always have one on turn 1. And will be able to dig an extra couple of extra cards deeper and faster than most of us are used to (at the expense of his early interaction, mines and lands). It would seem he is leaning heavily on the turbo-xerox rule to fit them in but it looks like it works just fine.
I don't understand how a deck like this survives the early game against Aggro and Combo while relying solely on 3x total Gigadrowse and 4x Spreading Seas in the 75. This whole thing seems so top heavy I can't help but imagine that this deck will goldfish until Turn 4 when the opponent plays a win with Stubborn Denial backup. I could totally get into reserving half the sideboard for matches with red though.
Hey all! First time posting on the primer. Please give my UR Turns list a look and criticize. The mainboard is very tempo heavy and will handle tempo and aggro very well, then the side comes in for a more classic take on turns vs. Control and combo.
Playing Chandra Torch of Defiance seems like a really great Planeswalker choice for UR Turns. I think since you're already running Spell Pierce, you could stand to MD 2x Spell Snare. It will give you that flexibility to control the early game for as long as possible. I'd personally lose the Cryptics as they'd be better in the Sideboard with UR Turns. I can imagine that an opposing Blood Moon would be just as disruptive for you and make UU hard to cast, let alone UUU. 10 Islands probably isn't enough to run Cryptic Main Deck at 2x.
Exhaustion would be a lot better in your build as Counter+Bolt on opponent's turn followed by Exhaustion on yours is just gravy. Consider Thing in the Ice for your sideboard if you run into swarms in your meta.
Are the 4 gigadrows that everybody is running really necessary ?
I feel that a mix of remand and cryptic would be better
Losing Giga would probably be like stripping 1-CMC discard from BGx. It stops non-flash cards from being played and when used with Exhaustion buys the turns needed to cement advantage and pull off a combo if applicable. For combo especially, Cryptic often comes down late in the game (especially since it has no effect on Burn, Affinity, Infect, and Amulet before they kill you) so it isn't a suitable replacement for Giga. Other cheap and early interaction would be a more suitable sub
I am curious what you've played against! Without Exhaustion, Jace, or ANY other creature besides Thassa (oh I guess snappy counts) I'm curious how you've stood up to a Path to Exile once she becomes a valid target. Wikked kewl though!
So as you can see this list is a touch janky. The sideboard has obvious replacement cards. I also could not for the life of me find a 4th Boomerang. There were exactly 200 attendees, and I banked on seeing lots of Pod and URDelver. Didn't see either and out of the two dozen players I talked to, nobody had seen a Pod list when I asked.
Round 1 vs. Jeff from DC on Jeskai Ascendancy with Fatestitcher combo.
Match 1: We both played really hard. I got to turn six against him which is a lot considering Jeskai can "go off" so much easier than we can. Sadly I the only engine I drew was a Jace, which at sorcery speed couldn't take advantage of my Gigadrowse and Exhaustion assault. Loss.
Match 2: While he had two Jeskai Ascendancy up, I manage to land a Chalice on 1 and a Chalice on 2. He scoops when I play the Chalice for 2.
Match 3: Here was my misplay for the day! It was my Turn 4. I had just played a Jace, which didn't get countered, and drew off of him....then I passed turn without playing my Tolaria West. I was a bit frazzled at this point and was somehow thinking it would be smarter to Transmute it for the Tormod's Crypt. Definitely a bad play as he could play around a one-and-done grave removal. When my 5th turn came around, I could have had 5 mana, an active Jace, a Time Warp and (I checked after the match), Jeff didn't have counter magic. I would have chained walks but took the loss.
Round 2: vs. Devin from Philadelphia on RG Tron
Match 1: It was clockwork. I used Giga and Boomerang on T1 and T2. Then I landed Dictate EOT3. Exhaustion T4 followed by Time Warp Chain T5.
Match 2: I played well, and chained 7 walks, but he managed to hardcast Emrakul after I countered had everything up to then. Didn't feel bad about this one at all since he was in Magical Christmasland.
Match 3: I made it all the way until Turn 8 on only 4 lands. More manascrew :-(
Round 3: vs. Scott from Delaware on U-Affinity
Match 1: Mull to 5, only see 1 land before I die.
Match 2: Mull to 5, only see 1 land before I die.
This one sucked. That was his only win for the day I later discovered. Before he beat me, he lost to Scapeshift. In BOTH rounds. So he had terrible luck that day too! That guy fast played like woah.
Round 4: vs. Thiuduad on GW Hatebears
Match 1: I get two lands by Turn 5. He got a Dryad Militant and a Thalia.
Match 2: This time I managed to get 3 lands by Turn 6. Stopped tournament play for the day here. He got Dryad, Thalia, and Loxodon Smiter.
Unofficial G5: vs. Matt from Philly on UWR Miracles
I only got through one game with this guy. Once I died vs. Hatebears, I looked to my left and saw a guy whos opponent never showed up. I lost so quickly that we had plenty of time for a game. It was actually a really hard match because he maindecked Silence and Temporal Mastery.
If I could change anything I would add a Mouth of Ronom and switch to the Snow-Covered Islands to facilitate it. I'd also slap in that 4th Chalice of the Void. All the games I got manascrewed by stayed active past T4 was ENTIRELY due to mainboard Chalice. Nobody I played against had answers for Exhaustion or Gigadrowse. They are truly the all-stars for the deck! I don't know what I'd switch out quite yet for the new Monastery Seige, but it certainly is a pretty swell card. My best matches were Jeskai and RG Tron, both Jeff and Devin were super cool dudes!
Anyone have a decent budget build? I want to start playing this at the local modern event
I posted my decklist on the last page. It's probably $100-120 depending on what you have already. Except for lands, boomerangs, and one exhaustion I purchased my whole MD for about that much. You can check out other budget options like Mystic Speculation over Serum Visions or Early Frost/Telling Time.
There is no budget Time Attack decklist. Those cards are staples in this format. Taking Turns (as opposed to Time Attack) is more expensive than Burn or Infect but that's probably it.
I think if you just give opponents hurdles they have to jump, like Chalice of the Void, he'll have a harder time dealing. You don't want to dilute the deck with more stall. If anything do more interactions like counters and Early Frost. What's your decklist we can help you secure more wins!
Okay so I was brainstorming and gold fishing yesterday and I'm happy with how this thing looks for now.
The sideboard is mostly Janky but reasonably demonstrative
Deck: tess.dec
So it's got:
9 discard effects
16 spot removal effects
3 Ghost Quarters
1 very very complicated combo
I put in the Tutor and the Transmute to find ORing and Leonin respectively. Since the Leonin is necessary for all but one of the combo chains I think it'd be safe to include some other forms of tutor. Instead of going with Bob I've opted for Vial because if this combo is going to go off early then it needs ramp, which BW is lacking. I'm sure Jund top decks better than this thing but I still don't feel pushed into going after CA. It will probably play a lot like WWeenie when it can't find combo.
4
Honestly, Mikokoro is the reason I have turned many losses into a win. Even at the effective cost of 3mana per turn, when I don't have any other mines in play, Mikokoro is the only thing keeping me in the game and propelling me to the win.
The same can no longer be said for Elixir. Though 3 mana isn't too much for gaining 5 life, I think we can do better. I have no idea what's going on with the sideboard in that deck. Chalice of the Void is too damn important to leave out of the 75. It wins games by itself.
1
I don't understand how a deck like this survives the early game against Aggro and Combo while relying solely on 3x total Gigadrowse and 4x Spreading Seas in the 75. This whole thing seems so top heavy I can't help but imagine that this deck will goldfish until Turn 4 when the opponent plays a win with Stubborn Denial backup. I could totally get into reserving half the sideboard for matches with red though.
1
Playing Chandra Torch of Defiance seems like a really great Planeswalker choice for UR Turns. I think since you're already running Spell Pierce, you could stand to MD 2x Spell Snare. It will give you that flexibility to control the early game for as long as possible. I'd personally lose the Cryptics as they'd be better in the Sideboard with UR Turns. I can imagine that an opposing Blood Moon would be just as disruptive for you and make UU hard to cast, let alone UUU. 10 Islands probably isn't enough to run Cryptic Main Deck at 2x.
Exhaustion would be a lot better in your build as Counter+Bolt on opponent's turn followed by Exhaustion on yours is just gravy. Consider Thing in the Ice for your sideboard if you run into swarms in your meta.
1
Losing Giga would probably be like stripping 1-CMC discard from BGx. It stops non-flash cards from being played and when used with Exhaustion buys the turns needed to cement advantage and pull off a combo if applicable. For combo especially, Cryptic often comes down late in the game (especially since it has no effect on Burn, Affinity, Infect, and Amulet before they kill you) so it isn't a suitable replacement for Giga. Other cheap and early interaction would be a more suitable sub
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1
Decklist:
3x Chalice of the Void
1x Elixir of Immortality
4x Gigadrowse
3x Boomerang
4x Dictate of Kruphix
4x Exhaustion
2x Jace Beleren
4x Time Warp
4x Walk the Aeons
4x Temporal Mastery
1x Dig Through Time
1x Faerie Conclave
1x Mikokoro
1x Radiant Fountain
1x Reliquary Tower
1x Tolaria West
18x Island
1x Tormod's Crypt
2x Relic of Progenitus
1x Spell Pierce
2x Twisted Image
1x Dragon's Claw
2x Echoing Truth
2x Hurkyl's Recall
2x Steel Sabotage
1x Negate
1x Hibernation
So as you can see this list is a touch janky. The sideboard has obvious replacement cards. I also could not for the life of me find a 4th Boomerang. There were exactly 200 attendees, and I banked on seeing lots of Pod and URDelver. Didn't see either and out of the two dozen players I talked to, nobody had seen a Pod list when I asked.
Round 1 vs. Jeff from DC on Jeskai Ascendancy with Fatestitcher combo.
Match 1: We both played really hard. I got to turn six against him which is a lot considering Jeskai can "go off" so much easier than we can. Sadly I the only engine I drew was a Jace, which at sorcery speed couldn't take advantage of my Gigadrowse and Exhaustion assault. Loss.
Match 2: While he had two Jeskai Ascendancy up, I manage to land a Chalice on 1 and a Chalice on 2. He scoops when I play the Chalice for 2.
Match 3: Here was my misplay for the day! It was my Turn 4. I had just played a Jace, which didn't get countered, and drew off of him....then I passed turn without playing my Tolaria West. I was a bit frazzled at this point and was somehow thinking it would be smarter to Transmute it for the Tormod's Crypt. Definitely a bad play as he could play around a one-and-done grave removal. When my 5th turn came around, I could have had 5 mana, an active Jace, a Time Warp and (I checked after the match), Jeff didn't have counter magic. I would have chained walks but took the loss.
Round 2: vs. Devin from Philadelphia on RG Tron
Match 1: It was clockwork. I used Giga and Boomerang on T1 and T2. Then I landed Dictate EOT3. Exhaustion T4 followed by Time Warp Chain T5.
Match 2: I played well, and chained 7 walks, but he managed to hardcast Emrakul after I countered had everything up to then. Didn't feel bad about this one at all since he was in Magical Christmasland.
Match 3: I made it all the way until Turn 8 on only 4 lands. More manascrew :-(
Round 3: vs. Scott from Delaware on U-Affinity
Match 1: Mull to 5, only see 1 land before I die.
Match 2: Mull to 5, only see 1 land before I die.
This one sucked. That was his only win for the day I later discovered. Before he beat me, he lost to Scapeshift. In BOTH rounds. So he had terrible luck that day too! That guy fast played like woah.
Round 4: vs. Thiuduad on GW Hatebears
Match 1: I get two lands by Turn 5. He got a Dryad Militant and a Thalia.
Match 2: This time I managed to get 3 lands by Turn 6. Stopped tournament play for the day here. He got Dryad, Thalia, and Loxodon Smiter.
Unofficial G5: vs. Matt from Philly on UWR Miracles
I only got through one game with this guy. Once I died vs. Hatebears, I looked to my left and saw a guy whos opponent never showed up. I lost so quickly that we had plenty of time for a game. It was actually a really hard match because he maindecked Silence and Temporal Mastery.
If I could change anything I would add a Mouth of Ronom and switch to the Snow-Covered Islands to facilitate it. I'd also slap in that 4th Chalice of the Void. All the games I got manascrewed by stayed active past T4 was ENTIRELY due to mainboard Chalice. Nobody I played against had answers for Exhaustion or Gigadrowse. They are truly the all-stars for the deck! I don't know what I'd switch out quite yet for the new Monastery Seige, but it certainly is a pretty swell card. My best matches were Jeskai and RG Tron, both Jeff and Devin were super cool dudes!
Ummmmm....that's it? AMA
1
I posted my decklist on the last page. It's probably $100-120 depending on what you have already. Except for lands, boomerangs, and one exhaustion I purchased my whole MD for about that much. You can check out other budget options like Mystic Speculation over Serum Visions or Early Frost/Telling Time.
There is no budget Time Attack decklist. Those cards are staples in this format. Taking Turns (as opposed to Time Attack) is more expensive than Burn or Infect but that's probably it.
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1
2
The sideboard is mostly Janky but reasonably demonstrative
Deck: tess.dec
Counts : 60 main / 15 sideboard
2 Brain Maggot
4 Leonin Relic-Warder
4 Underworld Coinsmith
4 Fiend Hunter
4 Grim Guardian
Spells:19
2 AEther Vial
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Thoughtseize
4 Journey to Nowhere
1 Shred Memory
1 Idyllic Tutor
4 Oblivion Ring
2 Cavern of Souls
3 Fetid Heath
1 Flagstones of Trokair
3 Ghost Quarter
4 Godless Shrine
3 Plains
3 Swamp
4 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Nyx-Fleece Ram
3 Stony Silence
1 Suppression Field
2 Ghostly Prison
4 Leyline of Sanctity
4 Leyline of the Void
So it's got:
9 discard effects
16 spot removal effects
3 Ghost Quarters
1 very very complicated combo
I put in the Tutor and the Transmute to find ORing and Leonin respectively. Since the Leonin is necessary for all but one of the combo chains I think it'd be safe to include some other forms of tutor. Instead of going with Bob I've opted for Vial because if this combo is going to go off early then it needs ramp, which BW is lacking. I'm sure Jund top decks better than this thing but I still don't feel pushed into going after CA. It will probably play a lot like WWeenie when it can't find combo.