Lower power is good. This list itself eventually evolved into Yidris, a few infinite combos, Aggravated Assault, Beacon of Tomorrows, Mind's Desire, and just a critical mass of draw, tutors, and ramp. It was a great combo deck, but it also once again reminded me that I really don't like playing combo. So, I'm gutting it and going for a rebuild into an epic burn deck with a little beneficial chaos for support, which should be a lot more fun to play and - more importantly - make casting Yidris much more relevant to the deck's operation again.
Ah, word. Shame you're abandoning the Voltron angle for burn, but understandable. I imagine broken cascades into broken effects enabling more broken cascades could be pretty demoralizing to a table. I'm hoping my build is just tuned enough to warrant eventually becoming archenemy and occasionally being able to power through the hate for a win.
I've limited my extra turns to Time Warp, extra combats to Aggravated Assault, Relentless Assault and Hellkite Charger, and tutors to Worldly/Mystical. Had Vampiric but cut it to keep the power level in check. I thought about going creatureless, but decided to run a handful of utility critters that can also carry equips if Yidris is getting axed too frequently. Settled on Maelstrom Wanderer (couldn't resist), Birds of Paradise, Thassa, Rashmi, Shriekmaw, Mulldrifter, Palinchron (on the chopping block), Hellkite Charger, and my personal favorite, Psychosis Crawler. Multiple Wheels with Crawler out has always been a fun win condition for me, except in Nekusar decks which are just too unfun for me to enjoy playing.
How's this deck doing? I built a somewhat lower-power variant with fewer extra turn/combat effects, and fewer tutors, but I just haven't had a chance to play it against people yet.
Also, that's one helluva mana base. I don't have fetches, unfortunately, and I'm missing two ABUR duals--Underground Sea and Taiga--but I am running Volcanic Island and Badlands. I'm personally a big advocate of filter lands in 3c decks, if those are more in your budget at the moment.
Yeah, I realized my error after I posted that but I never bothered to make a correction. I think I was in the process of acquiring new duals and had a brain fart while posting. I've since upgraded my manabase to include all relevant duals, but I still don't have any pre-KTK fetches.
Okay, so I thought I'd share my list (pretty stock MB) and request some feedback on changes I should make, particularly to my manabase and SB. I understand that my manabase will always be suboptimal without Tarns, but I'll have to make do with KTK fetches until I acquire a playset. Here's my current list:
My only specific questions: In regards to my manabase, should I trim an Island to make room for a Darkslick Shores or another Sulfur Falls, or should I stick with 6 basics? And is running 3 Exarchs and 2 Pestermites to make room for a MB Clique too greedy? Does it make the combo too clunky?
Other than that, just looking for some feedback on optimizing my SB for an unknown meta. Any recommendations would be appreciated!
Yep, TL is pretty much kaput in the PDX metro area. I disassembled both of my decks a long time ago to put the staples back in my EDH decks, where they belong. Kind of a shame, I guess--TL tourneys were sorta fun, as lacking in deck diversity as they ended up being.
I agree, Shadowlink, this deck is a lot of fun. I built it fairly recently from the ashes of a Grixis Delver deck I'd been messing around with, and so far I'm really glad I made the swap. I'm still short a playset of Scalding Tarns but I'm able to make do with 9 KTK fetches. I am in the process of trading for 2 more Cryptic Commands, at which point I may experiment with one the Grixis Control lists that have been making waves lately, but all in all I'm having a ton of fun with this archetype. I finally bit the bullet and installed Cockatrice to get some playtesting in, and it's provided me with some much-needed practice piloting the deck. I too enjoy the variety of angles we can attack from; it opens up many complex lines that make our games equally challenging and rewarding.
Siding out 75% of our combo pieces G2 to make room for more tempo/control while our opponent sides in a bunch of Twin hate is extremely satisfying, and the biggest lessons I've learned so far, aside from how/when to fetch correctly, are that 1) Tasigur is an absolute powerhouse (I've won so many games off of the card advantage he enables), and 2) Keranos in from the sideboard can be ridiculously powerful in grindy matchups.
Next items on my list are to pick up 2 more Cryptics, 2 Engineered Explosives for the board, a set of Tarns (should I wait for BFZ?) and perhaps to finish my playset of Fulminator Mages in case I ever decide I need them.
Well, I have a Cavern in another deck so I suppose I could proxy it. For that matter, I could easily proxy Rings and Grim Monolith until I pick them up as well, I just don't see myself springing for LED or Mana Crypt anytime soon. Thanks for the input, everyone.
Hey, Juwdah: I've been considering building your Kozilek deck for a long time now, and I wanted to ask your opinion on how much of a negative impact it would have on the deck's performance to exclude the cards I do not own or are tied up in other decks I don't particularly want to scrap for materials. Below is a list of cards from your OP that, for one reason or another, I cannot currently include in the deck if I build it. In your opinion, how badly will this hamstring the deck?
Over time, I'd more than likely accumulate everything on this list less than $50, but in the meantime how functional would I be with budget replacements for these cards?
I actually thought I cut Archaeomancer awhile back but I guess I'd left it in there as a placeholder for Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed if/when I decide to spring for a copy. Archaeomancer's getting cut for the Fulminator Mage. That's actually a pretty easy call as Archaeomancer's sole purpose is to recur Demonic Tutor, Clutch of the Undercity and Living Death, the only instants/sorceries I run. Thanks!
Hey all, I just picked up a Fulminator Mage and I'm hoping you guys can help me figure out what to cut to make room for it. My creature suite is as follows (I'm on mobile, so I'm sorry it's not sorted by CMC):
I'm thinking Grey Merchant might be on the chopping block. I know Grenzo isn't super popular with everyone, but I do like the shenanigans he enables with a solid scry engine like Thassa. Any thoughts?
How's the singleton Electrolyze mainboard going for you? I cut 'Lyze from the 75 when I switched from Grixis Delver to Twin, but I do like the card still and wonder how it has performed for you lately.
Ah, word. Shame you're abandoning the Voltron angle for burn, but understandable. I imagine broken cascades into broken effects enabling more broken cascades could be pretty demoralizing to a table. I'm hoping my build is just tuned enough to warrant eventually becoming archenemy and occasionally being able to power through the hate for a win.
I've limited my extra turns to Time Warp, extra combats to Aggravated Assault, Relentless Assault and Hellkite Charger, and tutors to Worldly/Mystical. Had Vampiric but cut it to keep the power level in check. I thought about going creatureless, but decided to run a handful of utility critters that can also carry equips if Yidris is getting axed too frequently. Settled on Maelstrom Wanderer (couldn't resist), Birds of Paradise, Thassa, Rashmi, Shriekmaw, Mulldrifter, Palinchron (on the chopping block), Hellkite Charger, and my personal favorite, Psychosis Crawler. Multiple Wheels with Crawler out has always been a fun win condition for me, except in Nekusar decks which are just too unfun for me to enjoy playing.
3 Deceiver Exarch
2 Pestermite
4 Snapcaster Mage
2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
1 Vendilion Clique
Enchantment
4 Splinter Twin
Socery
4 Serum Visions
Instant
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Terminate
1 Kolaghan's Command
1 Dismember
4 Remand
2 Spell Snare
1 Dispel
2 Cryptic Command
4 Polluted Delta
3 Flooded Strand
2 Bloodstained Mire
2 Steam Vents
1 Blood Crypt
1 Watery Grave
2 Sulfur Falls
1 Drowned Catacomb
1 Desolate Lighthouse
4 Island
1 Swamp
1 Mountain
2 Dispel
2 Negate
1 Kolaghan's Command
2 Anger of the Gods
1 Vandalblast
1 Jace, Architect of Thought
1 Keranos, God of Storms
1 Olivia Voldaren
1 Spellskite
1 Grim Lavamancer
2 Blood Moon
My only specific questions: In regards to my manabase, should I trim an Island to make room for a Darkslick Shores or another Sulfur Falls, or should I stick with 6 basics? And is running 3 Exarchs and 2 Pestermites to make room for a MB Clique too greedy? Does it make the combo too clunky?
Other than that, just looking for some feedback on optimizing my SB for an unknown meta. Any recommendations would be appreciated!
Siding out 75% of our combo pieces G2 to make room for more tempo/control while our opponent sides in a bunch of Twin hate is extremely satisfying, and the biggest lessons I've learned so far, aside from how/when to fetch correctly, are that 1) Tasigur is an absolute powerhouse (I've won so many games off of the card advantage he enables), and 2) Keranos in from the sideboard can be ridiculously powerful in grindy matchups.
Next items on my list are to pick up 2 more Cryptics, 2 Engineered Explosives for the board, a set of Tarns (should I wait for BFZ?) and perhaps to finish my playset of Fulminator Mages in case I ever decide I need them.
0 Lion's Eye Diamond
0 Mana Crypt
0 Mox Opal
2 Grim Monolith
The Beatdown:
7 Akroma's Memorial
12 Blightsteel Colossus
3 Rings of Brighthearth
Strip-Lands:
0 Wasteland
Copy Lands:
0 Vesuva
Man-Lands / Token Lands:
0 Inkmoth Nexus
0 Mutavault
0 Cavern of Souls
Utility Lands:
0 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
0 Rishadan Port
0 Winding Canyons
Over time, I'd more than likely accumulate everything on this list less than $50, but in the meantime how functional would I be with budget replacements for these cards?
1 Anger
1 Archaeomancer
1 Aura Thief
1 Baleful Strix
1 Burnished Hart
1 Carrion Feeder
1 Chasm Skulker
1 Clever Impersonator
1 Dack's Duplicate
1 Dimir House Guard
1 Disciple of Bolas
1 Dualcaster Mage
1 Falkenrath Aristocrat
1 Feldon of the Third Path
1 Filth
1 Flayer of the Hatebound
1 Fleshwrither
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Graveborn Muse
1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
1 Grenzo, Dungeon Warden
1 Grim Haruspex
1 Grimgrin, Corpse-Born
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
1 Marton Stromgald
1 Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
1 Mulldrifter
1 Necroplasm
1 Necrotic Ooze
1 Nevermaker
1 Ogre Battledriver
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Preyseizer Dragon
1 Profaner of the Dead
1 Puppeteer Clique
1 River Kelpie
1 Rune-Scarred Demon
1 Sage of Fables
1 Sage of Hours
1 Sakashima the Impostor
1 Scourge of the Throne
1 Sidisi, Undead Vizier
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Thassa, God of the Sea
1 Tuktuk Scrapper
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
I'm thinking Grey Merchant might be on the chopping block. I know Grenzo isn't super popular with everyone, but I do like the shenanigans he enables with a solid scry engine like Thassa. Any thoughts?
How's the singleton Electrolyze mainboard going for you? I cut 'Lyze from the 75 when I switched from Grixis Delver to Twin, but I do like the card still and wonder how it has performed for you lately.