I used to like Reality smasher a lot in the former Standard, but now with the blue gearhulk being 5/5 is not good enough. You just get ambushed vipered.
I need your advice guys on what to cut in the GB delirium matchup for siding in counterspell. I remove the incendiary flow but then I don't know what else to remove. What's performing badly ? I was thinkin gremoving 4 harnessed litghning and 2 flow for 4 spell srievel and 2 clip wings (keeping in 2 nature's way). But maybe I coul dkeep a few harnessed lightning and remove something else, but really I have no clue.
Planeswalker are good against control, thats for sure. But Kiora is just plain bad. Her + 1 ability is just durdly. Her card advantage ability is a minus one, which is pretty lackluster compared to Chandra.
Jace seems just must better than Kiora is you want to play blue plasneswalker.
SB
4 Spell shrievel
3 radiant flames
2 appetite for the unnatural
4 Weaver of Lightning
2 clip wings
My SB goes as follow :
For aggro matchup -4 Chandra -3 Tracker + 4 Weaver + 3 Radiant flames
If Copter : -4 Chandra -4 Tracker -1 Voltaic brawler + 4 Weaver + 3 Radiant flames +2 Apettite
For Control :
-2 Flow -2 Nature's Way +4 Spell shrievel
I have trouble finding what to SB for UW and GB matchup. For UW the matchup is favored imo, I do think that adding clip wings would be a good thing but what to remove ? I don't know what card I should cut.
It's the same for GB delirium . I want 2 clip wings and 4 spell shriver. I will remove the 2 incendiary flow for sure, but still need to find room for 4 spell shrievel. Maybe cut 2 harnessed and 2 cubs ? What's your take on it ?
I played again with Arlinn kord and she is definitely not good enough. She is clunky and fragile. It's only redeeming ability is the +1/+1 trample to the team but is usually never fires because you have to flip her first. Chandra on the other hand is excellent. She was never played competitively before, that was for a reason.
RG or RUG depends on your meta. If there are a lot of control decks or GB then the splash blue seems necessary. Otherwise don't bother. But if you can build the RUG version then it's better, you'll have the tool to modify the deck in the future, depending on what the next set will bring.
I'm a big proponent of Nature's way. I play 2 in the SB and will move them to the MB tonight replacing Incendiary flow. It's super good with the hydra and if you are careful with instant speed removals you can use it on other creatures as well. It's bad against pure control deck, but so is Incendiary flow. For 2 mana you can kill Ishkanah and then punch through the spiders.
And it grows bigger than goyf.
And since there is no lightning bolt in the format it is irrelevant to compare it to that.
I like the cub but we should just stop the circlejerking on it. I've been playing the deck, sometimes cub is good, sometimes it just dies to a galvanic blast or harnessed lightning, netting me no energy. It's a prime target for all reflector mages around there and you'll always feel sad when your 5/5 or 6/6 cub you invested so much energy in (literally) dies to some hard removal. So yes I am playing him as a 4of and yes I'm happy about it. But I also like to put things in context and not always exaggerating like we magic players like to do. So we can have an healthy and constructive debate.
Someone mentioned Arlinn kord. I am playing 3 Chandra TOD (she is great) and 1 Arlinn. I've ben disappointed with Arlinn, she feels so clunky. My rationale is that flipping here and then giving the team trample is great against clogged board. But against control matchup she does not perform well. I feel like cutting her and trying an Aetherwork Marvel instead.
As for the 3 drop slots debate, I agree with all the things AxelStollScientist said. You guys should try Pia Nalaar, she is great.
Hydra is the card I want to see the most. It's lack of evasion is certainly a problem but it can be solved by a healthy amount of removal and with cards like Nature's Way. I agree that Woodland wanderer is good against BG but it's worse against the rest of the field. I also fail to see how reflector mage is more of a blowout than spell queller on the Wanderer. Your wanderer gets spell quelled you will end up with a 2/2 vigilance trample, which is bad. The deck plays enough creatures that reflector mage is just a speed bump.
And I don't consider the cub or the harnessed lightning as payoff cards. The cub is good overall but it's not a tarmogoyf as some are saying here. Please stop comparing it to tarmogoyf . Goyf usually survive lightning bolt on turn 2, cub just dies. Harnessed is very good but you don't need to have a dedicated energy deck to play it.
If I would be playing wanderer I would want to up the count of blossoming defense. That I would get behind.
I like the blue splash for spell shrivel and for Confiscation coup. But if I would splash blue, I would avoid the guy that makes thopter for 3 energy. The power level just isn't there. It's good to generate blockers but I would rather play Pia Nalaar (which by the way is great as a 1of) than playing this.
Sort of in a weird place right now. Pretty good vs. GB as they try and turtle up and resolve an emrakul. Between tramplers, chandra, key, and rebuff, you can make their Spiders a lot less effective.
Online lists seem to be playing a lot of Confiscation Coups. I can see why. I played a singleton in the SB a while back. It's certainly good. It's better vs. cars than Gearhulk. Snagging their ship is just game over. Gearhulk is just a great game 1 card since you want to play to the board really hard and see if they can beat it. I was on Whirler for a long time but I'm finally off. The card's power level just isn't there and it's atrocious vs. GB.
SB is teched to beat UW and Vehicles with some odd Zombies tech in there. I still play two C. Rejection in the SB because nothing is worse than the combo timmy/johnny who thinks they'll take the room by storm.
Jace is good in the mirror.
I am really not convinced by the removal of Bristling Hydra from your list. If you only face GB delirium I can understand the appeal of the woodland wanderer, but against the rest of the field it's worse than the hydra. It gets killed by all the hard removal + graps of darkness and any blocking creature. Spell queller is still a card also. The hydra is the payoff card for playing an energy deck. I already don't agree with people playing only 3, I can't agree with cutting them all.
I fail to see what white would bring. There is no energy payout cards nor good energy generating cards in white and the cards you talked about don't bring anything for the bad matchups, namely G/B Delirium and Jeskai Control. Maybe selfless spirit but that's about it.
Something to consider - I've been running Hanweir Battlements as a one of in 20 lands without the Garrison. It has won me a few games by making creatures hasty, such as B Hydra or V Gearhulk. Haven't had awkward land draws because of it.
I don't know. The deck really needs a lot of colored sources first, and second I don't think this is a good utility land. It's seen on some boros lists and RG energy list though. As a one of it's difficult assess its efficiency, but it does not cost too much to try it. I'll try and see.
I don't get why you would play 4 oath of Nissa and 2 attune with aether. The correct way to play this deck is 4 Attune, 2 Oath and 21 lands. The free energy of Attune and the certainty of having a land for next turn makes it way better than Oath early. Adding 2 Oath of Nissa is a compromise between having a higher chance of hitting a T1 play while leaving room for real aggressive cards. It's also a better card late game than Attune. The deck doesn't generate so much energy that you can start shaving Energy cards.
Ultimately most of the people here all switched to the midrange list, which is good since the pummeller combo is too fragile. All the small tweaking here and there are just for your specific meta, which is fine.
Onto the Woodland wanderer debate. I wouldn't play it if your meta is full of UW flash or interactive decks with white and black removals. Even if its a big creature, it can die to a fat Harnessed lightning, murder, ruinous path, dec in stone, stasis snare and unlicensed desintegration. Hexproof on the Hydra is invaluable and that's why it makes it the best card in the deck and in most cases probably better than Wanderer. Then you could just cut the planeswalker for Wanderer but Chandra is way too good in this shell by providing card advantage and/or removal. Chandra also gives you a chance of winning against GB delirium. But probably Wanderer is okay against BG delirium since it avoids grasp of darkness
Onto this specific matchup. GB delirium (the best deck atm) is a really tough matchup. If they manage to land a few removal spell before dropping Ishkanah it's very likely the GR energy deck is going to lose. Have you guys found a way to get a better win percentage against this deck ? Is the blue splash for spell shrievel worth it ?
[quote from="ElCascador »" url="http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/standard-type-2/established-standard/757218-rgx-energy-aggro?comment=373"]Skyrider elf is a bad magic card with spell queller in the format.
well, it is, and so does any creature with no ETB effect that affects the board. the good side is, when Skyrider is bounced, it can become bigger the next time i cast it, and possibly no longer in Spell Queller's range.
but yeah, i agree it's not a good card to include in energy decks as there are better options.
If the Skyrider elf is quelled, then killing the Spell Queller will bring back a 0/0 creature, making it effectively a 2/3 flying flash counterspell. All converge spells look bad with spell queller. That's why you don't see so many Woodland wanderer nor painful truth.
I did the math ( I can post later my computation) but what I got is that with 20 lands + attune it's still around 18-19% of mulligan. Which is pretty high.The decks mull a lot, so I prefer going the Shaun Mc Laren way and go for 21 lands, 4 attune and 2 Oath. We don't have a T1 play except Attune so that's why I like Oath of Nissa there.
I consider Hellion being a very good sideboard card. Against the 3 top decks : UW, BG and vehicules hellion is sub par, especially on the draw. It gets chump-blocked against BG, don't much for your own defense against aggro. Against UW it's okay, it puts a lot of pressure on them.
I have 4 in the SB against control matchups where it really shines. It avoids radiant flames and hits hard after a board wipe. I wouldn't be afraid of aetherworks marvel, it's a really small part of the meta game atm. It just looses so bad to UW it's not even funny.
I'm a big proponent of Pia Nalaar especially paired with smuggler's copter. But she competes with tireless tracker while being synergistic with it (you can sac the clue tokens.) It's an overall good card.
Nice write up, very useful. I am also considering going the midrange route and letting go of the combo version. The combo decks still wins sometimes out of the blue and punishes mistakes from opponents, but against better players and better decks I start feeling the limit of the deck. Running out of threats with a grip full of pump spell feels bad. I will start with that :
Sb is not fully fledged now. Weaver and galvanic are in against all aggro decks replacing the 4 planeswalkers, the 2 5 drops and one tracker and one hydra . Against dredge just the 4 weaver are in, replacing the planeswalkers.
Against control the 4 hellions are in, replacing 3 flow and 1 harnessed.
I don't know yet what I should sb against UW and GB. Key to the city are there for the GB matchup, to avoid the spider queen. UW seems an okay matchup, but I have no reps against it.
Interested in having feedback on matchups against the 2 top decks of the format.
I need your advice guys on what to cut in the GB delirium matchup for siding in counterspell. I remove the incendiary flow but then I don't know what else to remove. What's performing badly ? I was thinkin gremoving 4 harnessed litghning and 2 flow for 4 spell srievel and 2 clip wings (keeping in 2 nature's way). But maybe I coul dkeep a few harnessed lightning and remove something else, but really I have no clue.
Jace seems just must better than Kiora is you want to play blue plasneswalker.
I am tweaking my list a little, and I have trouble with the SB for delirium and UW matchups .
4x Voltaic Brawler
4x Longtusk Cub
4x Servant of the Conduit
4x Tireless Tracker
4x Bristling Hydra
4x Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1x Skysovereign, Consul Flagship
4x Attune with Aether
4x Harnessed Lightning
2x Incendiary Flow
2x Nature's Way
4x Botanical Sanctum
2x Spirebluff Canal
2x Cinder glade
6x Forest
4x Mountain
1x island
SB
4 Spell shrievel
3 radiant flames
2 appetite for the unnatural
4 Weaver of Lightning
2 clip wings
My SB goes as follow :
For aggro matchup -4 Chandra -3 Tracker + 4 Weaver + 3 Radiant flames
If Copter : -4 Chandra -4 Tracker -1 Voltaic brawler + 4 Weaver + 3 Radiant flames +2 Apettite
For Control :
-2 Flow -2 Nature's Way +4 Spell shrievel
I have trouble finding what to SB for UW and GB matchup. For UW the matchup is favored imo, I do think that adding clip wings would be a good thing but what to remove ? I don't know what card I should cut.
It's the same for GB delirium . I want 2 clip wings and 4 spell shriver. I will remove the 2 incendiary flow for sure, but still need to find room for 4 spell shrievel. Maybe cut 2 harnessed and 2 cubs ? What's your take on it ?
I played again with Arlinn kord and she is definitely not good enough. She is clunky and fragile. It's only redeeming ability is the +1/+1 trample to the team but is usually never fires because you have to flip her first. Chandra on the other hand is excellent. She was never played competitively before, that was for a reason.
RG or RUG depends on your meta. If there are a lot of control decks or GB then the splash blue seems necessary. Otherwise don't bother. But if you can build the RUG version then it's better, you'll have the tool to modify the deck in the future, depending on what the next set will bring.
I like the cub but we should just stop the circlejerking on it. I've been playing the deck, sometimes cub is good, sometimes it just dies to a galvanic blast or harnessed lightning, netting me no energy. It's a prime target for all reflector mages around there and you'll always feel sad when your 5/5 or 6/6 cub you invested so much energy in (literally) dies to some hard removal. So yes I am playing him as a 4of and yes I'm happy about it. But I also like to put things in context and not always exaggerating like we magic players like to do. So we can have an healthy and constructive debate.
Someone mentioned Arlinn kord. I am playing 3 Chandra TOD (she is great) and 1 Arlinn. I've ben disappointed with Arlinn, she feels so clunky. My rationale is that flipping here and then giving the team trample is great against clogged board. But against control matchup she does not perform well. I feel like cutting her and trying an Aetherwork Marvel instead.
As for the 3 drop slots debate, I agree with all the things AxelStollScientist said. You guys should try Pia Nalaar, she is great.
And I don't consider the cub or the harnessed lightning as payoff cards. The cub is good overall but it's not a tarmogoyf as some are saying here. Please stop comparing it to tarmogoyf
If I would be playing wanderer I would want to up the count of blossoming defense. That I would get behind.
I like the blue splash for spell shrivel and for Confiscation coup. But if I would splash blue, I would avoid the guy that makes thopter for 3 energy. The power level just isn't there. It's good to generate blockers but I would rather play Pia Nalaar (which by the way is great as a 1of) than playing this.
I am really not convinced by the removal of Bristling Hydra from your list. If you only face GB delirium I can understand the appeal of the woodland wanderer, but against the rest of the field it's worse than the hydra. It gets killed by all the hard removal + graps of darkness and any blocking creature. Spell queller is still a card also. The hydra is the payoff card for playing an energy deck. I already don't agree with people playing only 3, I can't agree with cutting them all.
I don't know. The deck really needs a lot of colored sources first, and second I don't think this is a good utility land. It's seen on some boros lists and RG energy list though. As a one of it's difficult assess its efficiency, but it does not cost too much to try it. I'll try and see.
Ultimately most of the people here all switched to the midrange list, which is good since the pummeller combo is too fragile. All the small tweaking here and there are just for your specific meta, which is fine.
Onto the Woodland wanderer debate. I wouldn't play it if your meta is full of UW flash or interactive decks with white and black removals. Even if its a big creature, it can die to a fat Harnessed lightning, murder, ruinous path, dec in stone, stasis snare and unlicensed desintegration. Hexproof on the Hydra is invaluable and that's why it makes it the best card in the deck and in most cases probably better than Wanderer. Then you could just cut the planeswalker for Wanderer but Chandra is way too good in this shell by providing card advantage and/or removal. Chandra also gives you a chance of winning against GB delirium. But probably Wanderer is okay against BG delirium since it avoids grasp of darkness
Onto this specific matchup. GB delirium (the best deck atm) is a really tough matchup. If they manage to land a few removal spell before dropping Ishkanah it's very likely the GR energy deck is going to lose. Have you guys found a way to get a better win percentage against this deck ? Is the blue splash for spell shrievel worth it ?
If the Skyrider elf is quelled, then killing the Spell Queller will bring back a 0/0 creature, making it effectively a 2/3 flying flash counterspell. All converge spells look bad with spell queller. That's why you don't see so many Woodland wanderer nor painful truth.
I have 4 in the SB against control matchups where it really shines. It avoids radiant flames and hits hard after a board wipe. I wouldn't be afraid of aetherworks marvel, it's a really small part of the meta game atm. It just looses so bad to UW it's not even funny.
I'm a big proponent of Pia Nalaar especially paired with smuggler's copter. But she competes with tireless tracker while being synergistic with it (you can sac the clue tokens.) It's an overall good card.
4 Servant of the Conduit
4 Longtusk Cub
4 Voltaic Brawler
4 Tireless Tracker
4 Bristling Hydra
3 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1 Arlinn Kord
1 Verdurous Gearhulk
1 Skysovereign, Consul Flagship
4 Attune with Aether
2 Oath of Nissa
4 Harnessed Lightning
3 Incendiary Flow
Lands
4 Aether Hub
4 game trail
1 cinder glade
5 Mountain
7 Forest
4 Lathnu hellion
4 Weaver of Lightning
2 Key to the city
1 Nature's way
4 galvanic bombardments
Sb is not fully fledged now. Weaver and galvanic are in against all aggro decks replacing the 4 planeswalkers, the 2 5 drops and one tracker and one hydra . Against dredge just the 4 weaver are in, replacing the planeswalkers.
Against control the 4 hellions are in, replacing 3 flow and 1 harnessed.
I don't know yet what I should sb against UW and GB. Key to the city are there for the GB matchup, to avoid the spider queen. UW seems an okay matchup, but I have no reps against it.
Interested in having feedback on matchups against the 2 top decks of the format.