One of the reason why I use Naturalize, it's a "decent" replacement. I can see Nature's Claim in TitanShift tho. How many Bolts are you guys running? I used to run 4, but thinking of cutting 1/2. I mean, it's bolt, its great. But it hasn't really been that impressive, except for killing cats. And ideas for replacements? Upping Electrolyze to 2 seems good. (running 3 firesprout maindeck due to meta). For reference:
I'm personally in the anti Nature's Claim camp as well, because the life gain is sometimes super relevant against our combo. Only costing G is definitely a big upside though, so I can understand the argument for running it.
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Pod is heavily played right now and this match up is very positive in scapeshift favor.
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I've found that post board the Melira Pod MU can be pretty rough. Some lists load up on disruption post board with Thoughtseize, Entomber Exarch, and Sin Collector, which can be really good against us.
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Other cards i though about for sideboard material :
Back to Nature, I prefer Nature's Claim for it's versatility though.
Fracturing Gust over Shatterstorm and Creeping Corrosion because it is very alive against boggles.
Anger of the Gods, I put it aside because of it's cost being to red intensive.
Counterflux, I'm doubtful about this one. I can see it being good againt scapeshift but not that good if you are the scapeshift player. This card won't save you against storm and you are most likely already favored in "counter war" because of the mana advantage.
Vendilion Clique, this one is very interesting. I always found this card insane in every angle and I would be happy to found room for 2 copies in my sideboard or MD (I'm watching at you Electrolyze). The card is bonker in combo match up and very good against control.
I don't know if Inferno Titan is better than Wurmcoil Engine, thereforI don't know if I should have 2 copies of titan and 0 of Wurmcoil in my sideboard.
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I'm playing 2 Firespout main and 1 Anger of the Gods side. It just feels too good against Pod to not play. I have Cascade Bluffs main to enable RR without searching up Mountains.
On counterspells, an option you overlooked is Pact of Negation. I haven't actually played it so might be bad, but I plan on trying it out.
Just played this for the first time in a 4 round tournament at my LGS last night. I went 3-1, beating Esper Control, RW Devotion, and Jund Dredge and losing to BW Midrange.
I was short a Precinct Captain and a Brave the Elements in the main so I just substituted a Guildmage and God's Willing respectively.
In future I might try moving Banisher Priest to the side in favor of Eidolon of Countless Battles. I think I want to drop New Prahv Guildmage (maybe for a second Spear) and Revoke Existence, which felt redundant with both D-Sphere and Glare in the 75.
Hi all,
I'm honestly not sure exactly when I started playing Magic, but it was around 1999 or 2000. I think it was mainly because I found the pictures cool. Kavus in particular. The 3rd grade me loved Kavus. I played very casually at summer camp and with my brother's friends until about 2005. Didn't really get back into Magic again until 2011 when I found friends at college to play with.
We played pretty casually until my friends started getting into Standard when Innistrad was released. After that it became increasingly hard to play with them as I was still playing almost entirely with cheap cards from 7th Edition to Onslaught block. Furthermore, they were becoming better players from playing at FNM. I finally followed suit and started playing Standard with them early in 2012. My first Standard deck was a Birthing Pod deck I have very fond memories of.
Magic has become a pretty significant part of my life since then. I currently play Standard, Modern, and EDH. While I don't play Legacy yet due to cost and skill barriers, I think it is the best format and will play it someday. Limited isn't really my thing, so I rarely draft or play sealed. I spend a lot of time (and money) at my LGS, and when I'm not there I'm brewing decks or reading about Magic online. I also try to go to bigger tournaments whenever there is one nearby.
My favorite color has always unquestionably remained G. After that it's hard to say if I prefer U or W. Not a huge fan of B so you'll rarely find me playing Swamps. My favorite color combinations are GWU, RUG, GW, and UR. I like playing ramp spells, drawing cards, and turning dudes sideways.
I've been playing Vials for a few months now and am beginning to experiment with non-Vial builds to see how the other half lives.
I had the idea of dropping Arbiter + GQ and splashing red to basically make Naya hatebears. I realize Arbiter is kind of the point of this deck, but is often an embarrassing topdeck, and even in matchups where its good the texture of the game still sometimes means you might have just as well cast Grizzly Bears.
The changes to make once adding Red to the manabase seem pretty straightforward, finding 4x 2 drops, changing Swords for Domri (who seems really good in this deck), Baneslayers for Thundermaw, GQ/Township for Wolf Run, and throwing some Blood Moon in the sideboard. Is this idea worth exploring or is it just a bad zoo deck?
Destructive Revelry is strictly better than Naturalize, unless you're worried about having to pay R mana.
I'm personally in the anti Nature's Claim camp as well, because the life gain is sometimes super relevant against our combo. Only costing G is definitely a big upside though, so I can understand the argument for running it.
To be honest I'm only playing it because I don't have Mutavaults, which is probably just better on average.
However, I will say that I've played with Rogue's Passage a decent amount and I can't count how many games its won me.
I've found that post board the Melira Pod MU can be pretty rough. Some lists load up on disruption post board with Thoughtseize, Entomber Exarch, and Sin Collector, which can be really good against us.
I'm playing 2 Firespout main and 1 Anger of the Gods side. It just feels too good against Pod to not play. I have Cascade Bluffs main to enable RR without searching up Mountains.
On counterspells, an option you overlooked is Pact of Negation. I haven't actually played it so might be bad, but I plan on trying it out.
I take it the inclusion of both Okina and Eiganjo means you aren't worried about Blood Moon?
4 Temple of Enlightenment
4 Hallowed Fountain
3 Island
10 Plains
1 Rogue's Passage
1 Azorius Guildgate
Creature: 21
4 Soldier of the Pantheon
3 Precinct Captain
3 Imposing Sovereign
2 New Prahv Guildmage
4 Lyev Skyknight
2 Banisher Priest
3 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
3 Ephara, God of the Polis
1 Heliod, God of the Sun
Planeswalker: 1
1 Ajani, Caller of the Pride
Enchantment: 5
4 Detention Sphere
1 Spear of Heliod
Instant: 6
2 Rapid Hybridization
1 God's Willing
1 Brave the Elements
2 Azorius Charm
2 Gainsay
1 Negate
2 Deputy of Acquittals
2 Glare of Heresy
2 Revoke Existence
2 Celestial Flare
1 Bident of Thassa
2 Domestication
1 Cyclonic Rift
I was short a Precinct Captain and a Brave the Elements in the main so I just substituted a Guildmage and God's Willing respectively.
In future I might try moving Banisher Priest to the side in favor of Eidolon of Countless Battles. I think I want to drop New Prahv Guildmage (maybe for a second Spear) and Revoke Existence, which felt redundant with both D-Sphere and Glare in the 75.
I'm honestly not sure exactly when I started playing Magic, but it was around 1999 or 2000. I think it was mainly because I found the pictures cool. Kavus in particular. The 3rd grade me loved Kavus. I played very casually at summer camp and with my brother's friends until about 2005. Didn't really get back into Magic again until 2011 when I found friends at college to play with.
We played pretty casually until my friends started getting into Standard when Innistrad was released. After that it became increasingly hard to play with them as I was still playing almost entirely with cheap cards from 7th Edition to Onslaught block. Furthermore, they were becoming better players from playing at FNM. I finally followed suit and started playing Standard with them early in 2012. My first Standard deck was a Birthing Pod deck I have very fond memories of.
Magic has become a pretty significant part of my life since then. I currently play Standard, Modern, and EDH. While I don't play Legacy yet due to cost and skill barriers, I think it is the best format and will play it someday. Limited isn't really my thing, so I rarely draft or play sealed. I spend a lot of time (and money) at my LGS, and when I'm not there I'm brewing decks or reading about Magic online. I also try to go to bigger tournaments whenever there is one nearby.
My favorite color has always unquestionably remained G. After that it's hard to say if I prefer U or W. Not a huge fan of B so you'll rarely find me playing Swamps. My favorite color combinations are GWU, RUG, GW, and UR. I like playing ramp spells, drawing cards, and turning dudes sideways.
tl;dr version: Hi, I like Magic.
I've been playing Vials for a few months now and am beginning to experiment with non-Vial builds to see how the other half lives.
I had the idea of dropping Arbiter + GQ and splashing red to basically make Naya hatebears. I realize Arbiter is kind of the point of this deck, but is often an embarrassing topdeck, and even in matchups where its good the texture of the game still sometimes means you might have just as well cast Grizzly Bears.
The changes to make once adding Red to the manabase seem pretty straightforward, finding 4x 2 drops, changing Swords for Domri (who seems really good in this deck), Baneslayers for Thundermaw, GQ/Township for Wolf Run, and throwing some Blood Moon in the sideboard. Is this idea worth exploring or is it just a bad zoo deck?