Dig Through Time is appealing; even though it's only two cards, getting to pick from the next seven means one should get good quality cards. Of course, if one just draws seven, that's going to be better. Still, if one can dredge for three or more, Dig seems like a pretty good deal.
Blue Sun's Zenith is pretty tough in a three-color deck. I've been considering dropping it, perhaps for Ancestral Vision or Jace's Ingenuity. AV is playable much earlier and it is a good investment and BSV requires more mana to get the same number of cards as Ingenuity.
Keep in mind I'm a little more casual than ISBPathfinder. I try to keep a Bant Wizards theme going in addition to the ETB theme; Ertai doesn't really fit and he will probably get the boot soon. The two Magi don't have ETB effects either but I still love both. Minamo doesn't fit the theme either but it's ability is still moderately useful and it does make U. Azami also doesn't fit the ETB theme but I still like her. Mistmeadow is probably not really good enough but she is fun. There are some other dubious cards; in general, question anything that's different from the primer. There are also a couple of budget calls; I don't get to play Commander often enough to shell-out for some of the cards in the primer.
I also try to keep a win-condition combination and I switch it out now and then. Previously, I used Biovisionary and Infinite Reflection; they never saw it coming! Now I've just got the infinite turn combination that can be effected in several ways. I plan to try Mind Over Matter and Laboratory Maniac in conjunction with Azami, Lady of Scrolls someday.
Thanks for the reply. Ixidron and Elesh Norn are tutorable, but not true board wipes, while Oblivion Stone costs 7 mana to cast and use. I will try running a Knowledge Exploitation. What additional card draw would you recommend? Something like Blue Sun's Zenith (which could be used as an infinite mana win condition, but only on one person), Intuition, or something like Rhystic Study?
I found Rhystic Study draws hate very quickly. In multi-player games I'm not sure I ever got anything out of it before giving up on it. I did play a two-player game once in which it absolutely rocked.
I also have a copy of Intuition, but I'm not convinced it's right for this sort of deck yet.
Magus of the Future or Future Sight can produce more cards than you can use; I've got Magus in the deck and he produces over-the-top turns. The UUU with these cards is an issue, but both are late-game cards that can just take over. Magus and Oracle of Mul Daya out together is kind of obscene.
^ because starting the game and having 1 land in your opener (being a tap land) is a nightmare. It gives you no turn 1 play. The tap lands are garbage for Burn. Any land that had a chance of coming into play tapped on your first 3 turns should not be used. It takes away from the philosophy of burn.
This is good advice. I don't think I would play any buddy lands in a deck like this and I never play more than one in any deck. I'd run Battlefield Forge over Clifftop Retreat in Burn any day. I probably wouldn't run either when there are four different R fetches available.
Three swamps seems like a really bad idea. I don't see any purpose for the Overgrown Tomb. I'm also not sure I get the Anthem split; what are the odds of hitting the single Honor while Mentor-guy is out and what good is it really? You'll still need to have some Prowess to save his bacon from a bolt even with one Honor.
Other than that, it looks groovy depending on how well Mentor works out for you. I'm a little skeptical, but let us hear your results.
imo thalia, brimaz, geist and maybe isamaru or 8,5-tails would be enough to trigger it consistently
I'm not convinced that it's playable tho, it slows you down, cause you have to play it before the creature (which can be your whole turn without vial) and it's a terrible topdeck lategame
One can flicker a legend in order to attach Hero's Blade upon re-entry. It's a cool combat trick but it may not be the best value in the flicker category.
Regarding the manabase, I think 12 fetches, 4 moutains, 2 Sacred Foundry and 2 Steam Vents is what is usually played.
Unfortunately, the Zendikar fetches are way out of my budget, so I can only play 8 moutain fetches (thanks Khans of Tharkir ).
Is it okay to play 4 Flooded Strand as fetches 9-12 ? It forces me to bolt myself to have an untap mana, but at least it hits all of my colours.
I also consider the idea of playing only 8 fetches, while playing the full 4 of Sacred Foundry and Steam Vents.
In short, I'd like to know how you would build your mana base, assuming you have the same 'No Zendikar fetches' constraint as me.
Fallout has advantages and is more often seen in Burn decks. It depends on what's going on in your neighborhood; Anger is spectacular against Pod in particular. With the popularity of Kitchen Finks these days, Anger might be a good call.
You need to accept that you are going to pay three life for W; if you don't in a particular game, than that's just gravy. You may find that you can often fetch the U early and let it come in tapped.
Since you're running Cruise, you probably want at least ten fetches and maybe all twelve. Flooded Strand is pretty much your only choice if you aren't going to shell out for Arid Mesa. Scalding Tarn is of course even more expensive. There's no harm in trying different combinations if you already have the cards, but I probably wouldn't go with fewer than ten fetches in a Cruise build.
A factor in favor of more removal these days is the proliferation of Siege Rhino. Trample is bad news. The only question in my mind is what's the next best removal spell. A removal spell that doubles as a protection spell is doubly appealing and can be used in more match-ups. Valorous Stance is certainly worth testing.
The first mode is also useful even if one Knight Exemplar is aboard.
Please elaborate on this. If you're going to use Valorous Stance to protect the one Knight Exemplar that isn't indestructible, I still would argue for using Brave the Elements or one of the other "protection from color" spells instead. Brave the Elements and similar spells cost 1 mana, while Valorour Stance costs 2 mana.
Did you have another reason you want to use Valorous Stance when only one Knight Exemplar is on your board?
I'm not suggesting Valorous Stance as a replacement for Brave the Elements. Someone suggested Knight Exemplar made the first mode of Valorous Stance irrelevant; that's not the case because a single Exemplar is not indestructible.
The second mode makes the thing more palatable than a generic protection spell. I'm sure I'll give it a try in the side-board at least and I may very well test a copy or two main-deck.
Brave the Elements and similar spells are also useless against things like Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle as well as any artifact or colorless creature. Apostle's Blessing works against the artifacts but none of the one-cmc spells do.
Personally, I use Brave the Elements more to get damage through than to protect creatures so these cards aren't meant to be used in exactly the same way.
Blue Sun's Zenith is pretty tough in a three-color deck. I've been considering dropping it, perhaps for Ancestral Vision or Jace's Ingenuity. AV is playable much earlier and it is a good investment and BSV requires more mana to get the same number of cards as Ingenuity.
Sure, why not?
Keep in mind I'm a little more casual than ISBPathfinder. I try to keep a Bant Wizards theme going in addition to the ETB theme; Ertai doesn't really fit and he will probably get the boot soon. The two Magi don't have ETB effects either but I still love both. Minamo doesn't fit the theme either but it's ability is still moderately useful and it does make U. Azami also doesn't fit the ETB theme but I still like her. Mistmeadow is probably not really good enough but she is fun. There are some other dubious cards; in general, question anything that's different from the primer. There are also a couple of budget calls; I don't get to play Commander often enough to shell-out for some of the cards in the primer.
I also try to keep a win-condition combination and I switch it out now and then. Previously, I used Biovisionary and Infinite Reflection; they never saw it coming! Now I've just got the infinite turn combination that can be effected in several ways. I plan to try Mind Over Matter and Laboratory Maniac in conjunction with Azami, Lady of Scrolls someday.
1 Jenara, Asura of War
Wizards
1 Mistmeadow Witch
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Ertai, Wizard Adept
1 Trinket Mage
1 Archaeomancer
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Magus of the Moat
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
1 Azami, Lady of Scrolls
1 Magus of the Future
1 Prime Speaker Zegana
Other Creatures
1 Mother of Runes
1 Coiling Oracle
1 Eternal Witness
1 Farhaven Elf
1 Thassa, God of the Sea
1 Wood Elves
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Acidic Slime
1 Karmic Guide
1 Mulldrifter
1 Reveillark
1 Deadeye Navigator
1 Sun Titan
Artifacts
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Chromatic Lantern
1 Conjurer's Closet
Enchantments
1 Darksteel Mutation
Instants
1 Pact of Negation
1 Brainstorm
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Path to Exile
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Counterspell
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Eladamri's Call
1 Unexpectedly Absent
1 Bant Charm
1 Beast Within
1 Blue Sun's Zenith
1 Chord of Calling
1 Dissipate
1 Hinder
1 Intuition
1 Krosan Grip
1 Spell Crumple
1 Sphinx's Revelation
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Venser, the Sojourner
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
Sorceries
1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Martial Coup
1 Wargate
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Wrath of God
1 Time Warp
1 Planar Cleansing
1 Terminus
1 Walk the Aeons
Lands
1 Academy Ruins
1 Alchemist's Refuge
1 Arid Mesa
1 Breeding Pool
1 Calciform Pools
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Command Tower
1 Dust Bowl
1 Eiganjo Castle
1 Flooded Grove
1 Flooded Strand
2 Forest
1 Glacial Fortress
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Hinterland Harbor
3 Island
1 Kor Haven
1 Marsh Flats
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Mystic Gate
1 Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers
2 Plains
1 Polluted Delta
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Riptide Laboratory
1 Savannah
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Sunpetal Grove
1 Temple Garden
1 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Bastion
1 Wooded Foothills
There's always Deathmark.
I found Rhystic Study draws hate very quickly. In multi-player games I'm not sure I ever got anything out of it before giving up on it. I did play a two-player game once in which it absolutely rocked.
I run a copy of Blue Sun's Zenith but the UUU is a bit of a stretch. It's actually easier for me to cast Sphinx's Revelation.
I also have a copy of Intuition, but I'm not convinced it's right for this sort of deck yet.
Magus of the Future or Future Sight can produce more cards than you can use; I've got Magus in the deck and he produces over-the-top turns. The UUU with these cards is an issue, but both are late-game cards that can just take over. Magus and Oracle of Mul Daya out together is kind of obscene.
Hey! I resemble that remark!
This is good advice. I don't think I would play any buddy lands in a deck like this and I never play more than one in any deck. I'd run Battlefield Forge over Clifftop Retreat in Burn any day. I probably wouldn't run either when there are four different R fetches available.
Yup, I guess that one got by me. There's a Temple Garden too. I can't say I like any of that business either.
Geist of Saint Traft. It might not be obvious in a Burn forum post.
Three swamps seems like a really bad idea. I don't see any purpose for the Overgrown Tomb. I'm also not sure I get the Anthem split; what are the odds of hitting the single Honor while Mentor-guy is out and what good is it really? You'll still need to have some Prowess to save his bacon from a bolt even with one Honor.
Other than that, it looks groovy depending on how well Mentor works out for you. I'm a little skeptical, but let us hear your results.
Don't count on it; Dig Through Time is a fairly adequate replacement for decks that can support UU.
One can flicker a legend in order to attach Hero's Blade upon re-entry. It's a cool combat trick but it may not be the best value in the flicker category.
Talk to the Hand seems okay in the side-board.
Fallout has advantages and is more often seen in Burn decks. It depends on what's going on in your neighborhood; Anger is spectacular against Pod in particular. With the popularity of Kitchen Finks these days, Anger might be a good call.
You need to accept that you are going to pay three life for W; if you don't in a particular game, than that's just gravy. You may find that you can often fetch the U early and let it come in tapped.
Since you're running Cruise, you probably want at least ten fetches and maybe all twelve. Flooded Strand is pretty much your only choice if you aren't going to shell out for Arid Mesa. Scalding Tarn is of course even more expensive. There's no harm in trying different combinations if you already have the cards, but I probably wouldn't go with fewer than ten fetches in a Cruise build.
I'm not suggesting Valorous Stance as a replacement for Brave the Elements. Someone suggested Knight Exemplar made the first mode of Valorous Stance irrelevant; that's not the case because a single Exemplar is not indestructible.
The second mode makes the thing more palatable than a generic protection spell. I'm sure I'll give it a try in the side-board at least and I may very well test a copy or two main-deck.
Brave the Elements and similar spells are also useless against things like Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle as well as any artifact or colorless creature. Apostle's Blessing works against the artifacts but none of the one-cmc spells do.
Personally, I use Brave the Elements more to get damage through than to protect creatures so these cards aren't meant to be used in exactly the same way.