Hi, going to be playing this list in the SCG Worcester Classic today. Need suggestions for adding 1 Colonnade and cutting one land, as well as sideboard help. Thanks.
I never really had trouble closing out the game, because after a Sphinx's Revelation or enough Cryptic/Snaps the deck is so far ahead that anything will likely win me the game. As long as they're not winning, you're not losing.
The single Spell Snare I honestly threw in because I didn't want to run 4 Cryptic and it is a good answer to Jund and Affinty's threats. It could be changed but I haven't had a problem with it yet.
Negates were for matchups like Tron and Nahiri where Verdicts were terrible. They were not good vs Eldrazi or Dredge but the maindeck is already well suited to beat Eldrazi (Dredge is unwinnable for this deck). Against Jund it's reasonable to deal with Kommand and especially Liliana on the draw.
My sideboard was thrown together 5 minutes before the tournament started. Next time I would cut the Rest in Peaces because the Dredge matchup is so unreasonable that it won't really help. I'm considering adding another Ajani Vengeant because it was good every time I drew it.
I considered Wear//Tear but ultimately played R.I.P. If I played the deck again I would cut the rips and maybe add 1 Wear. Engineered Explosives is also good at dealing with what Wear//Tear was going to hit.
Helix was worthwhile in the GW matchup, I mostly just wanted another Burn hate card that was also good vs Aggro. Crumble was for Tron, never drew it. Stony for Affinity and Tron. Round 1 Stony Silence was great vs Mono U Tron.
Blessed Alliance is a worse Lightning Helix most of the time imo. You could try it but I'm not sure it's very good.
I've seen some players talking about the Jeskai Draw-Go list, and if anyone is interested I went 7-1 in rounds and 14-2 in games this last weekend at a 40 man PPTQ, winning the whole thing. Electrolyze is a very good reason to be running red, as the removal aspect I find to be more relevant than Esper Charm. Red also gives Jeskai better early game removal and cheaper Snapcaster spells. Secure the Wastes was very powerful throughout the day.
Matches-
U Tron - 2-0
Mardu Nahiri - 2-0
Dredge - 0-2
Bant Eldrazi - 2-0
Bant Eldrazi - 2-0
ID
Top 8- GW CoCo Hatebears - 2-0
Top 4- Jund - 2-0
Finals- Jund - 2-0
I haven't tried it nor do I think I want to. We don't play enough cheap spells and it doesn't really do anything. If I wanted a 0/4 I'd probably go with Spellskite.
'
@TheAnnihilator0798
The list felt very tight, but I felt like I wanted another threat that could be good in both the tempo/bluemoon sideboard plan. Pia and Kiran is actually amazing in this deck and helps grind in slow matchup and control the board against Aggro decks. In order to make room I had cut Cryptic Commands. I love Cryptic, but it is far too slow right now to be relevant most games.
@jlm_0726
I'm not sure if I'd change the maindeck around too much. It's quite possible that it needs one more land, but it runs many incidental card draw. Another thing could be adding Blood Moons maindeck because they come in after most game 1s. That draws the deck away from the tempo/combo plan though. If there was a tournament soon I'd probably just run the same list or something very close. Good luck!
If anyone's interested, I top 8'd a 45 person IQ. I went 5-1 in swiss and lost in quarters to the guy who eventually won on Infect. My list is down below.
If you're on a grind plan post sideboard, Ancestral Visions is pretty good at doing that. However I'm not sure if you want to sideboard a bunch of lands when you can just tweak your deck a little according to the matchup. Vision lets you go long for only one mana, as well as comboing with Shoal to counter opposing Vision. Side boarding some number of hand disruption spells goes a long way in the combo matchups and when you want to ride a Bob/Goyf to victory. If you thought Shoaling their first removal spell was good, how about taking it and countering their second spell?
Depends on how much money you're willing to spend. Some decent control cards for very cheap include Mana Leak, Think Twice, Logic Knot, Day of Judgment, Condemn, and Negate. Obviously there are more optimal cards than some of those but they are quite expensive. Also considering upgrading your landbase.
Some cards you may want to consider running 4 of. For example, Lightning Bolt and Serum Visions are cards you want to see every game, so 4 would be optimal. With this in mind, 3 Keranos is simply too much as it is far too slow to reliably cast on turn 5 every game and should therefore be in the sideboard as a 1-of against slow decks or MAYBE one in the maindeck. It looks like you're willing to spend some money on this deck. If so, then cards like Steam Vents and Sulfur Falls are much better than Temple of Epiphany and Izzet Boilerworks. Your sideboard seems to contain many cards that should be in your maindeck, such as the Serum Visions, Remands, and Snapcaster Mage. You might want to try looking at the Blue Moon thread in the Developing Competitive section.
If advise a fourth Lingering Souls as it gives your deck a better chance against decks like Infect and Affinity as the Souls block repeatedly. I'm also convinced that Remand is terrible right now and that Mana Leak might be better. You have way to many lands for your low curve, I'd cut three Tar Pit as they don't enable turn one Delver. You can also trim on some shocks to play Darkslick Shores as a hedge against aggro. My consideration is doing
-1Ghost quarter
-1 of each shock
-4 Remand
-3 Creeping Tar Pit
-2 Thoughtseize
+3 Mana Leak
+2 Painful Truths
+1 Lingering Souls
+3 Inquisition of Kozilek
+3 Darkslick shores
+1 island
Counts : 60 main / 15 sideboard
Creatures:3
3 Snapcaster Mage
Spells:32
2 Fatal Push
4 Path to Exile
1 Secure the Wastes
4 Serum Visions
2 Logic Knot
1 Negate
3 Think Twice
4 Esper Charm
2 Sphinx's Revelation
4 Cryptic Command
4 Supreme Verdict
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
Lands:25
2 Celestial Colonnade
3 Drowned Catacomb
4 Flooded Strand
1 Ghost Quarter
2 Glacial Fortress
1 Godless Shrine
2 Hallowed Fountain
3 Island
1 Plains
4 Polluted Delta
1 Swamp
1 Watery Grave
Sideboard:15
3 Geist of Saint Traft
2 Vendilion Clique
1 Condemn
1 Dispel
2 Duress
1 Fatal Push
1 Thoughtseize
1 Celestial Purge
1 Negate
1 Jace, Architect of Thought
1 Gideon Jura
The single Spell Snare I honestly threw in because I didn't want to run 4 Cryptic and it is a good answer to Jund and Affinty's threats. It could be changed but I haven't had a problem with it yet.
Negates were for matchups like Tron and Nahiri where Verdicts were terrible. They were not good vs Eldrazi or Dredge but the maindeck is already well suited to beat Eldrazi (Dredge is unwinnable for this deck). Against Jund it's reasonable to deal with Kommand and especially Liliana on the draw.
My sideboard was thrown together 5 minutes before the tournament started. Next time I would cut the Rest in Peaces because the Dredge matchup is so unreasonable that it won't really help. I'm considering adding another Ajani Vengeant because it was good every time I drew it.
I considered Wear//Tear but ultimately played R.I.P. If I played the deck again I would cut the rips and maybe add 1 Wear. Engineered Explosives is also good at dealing with what Wear//Tear was going to hit.
Helix was worthwhile in the GW matchup, I mostly just wanted another Burn hate card that was also good vs Aggro. Crumble was for Tron, never drew it. Stony for Affinity and Tron. Round 1 Stony Silence was great vs Mono U Tron.
Blessed Alliance is a worse Lightning Helix most of the time imo. You could try it but I'm not sure it's very good.
I've seen some players talking about the Jeskai Draw-Go list, and if anyone is interested I went 7-1 in rounds and 14-2 in games this last weekend at a 40 man PPTQ, winning the whole thing. Electrolyze is a very good reason to be running red, as the removal aspect I find to be more relevant than Esper Charm. Red also gives Jeskai better early game removal and cheaper Snapcaster spells. Secure the Wastes was very powerful throughout the day.
Matches-
U Tron - 2-0
Mardu Nahiri - 2-0
Dredge - 0-2
Bant Eldrazi - 2-0
Bant Eldrazi - 2-0
ID
Top 8- GW CoCo Hatebears - 2-0
Top 4- Jund - 2-0
Finals- Jund - 2-0
1 Secure the Wastes
1 Spell Snare
2 Lightning Bolt
4 Path to Exile
4 Serum Visions
2 Negate
3 Logic Knot
3 Think Twice
2 Sphinx's Revelation
3 Electrolyze
1 Ajani Vengeant
3 Cryptic Command
3 Supreme Verdict
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Steam Vents
2 Celestial Colonnade
2 Glacial Fortress
2 Hallowed Fountain
2 Island
3 Sulfur Falls
4 Flooded Strand
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Dispel
1 Celestial Purge
1 Lightning Helix
1 Stony Silence
2 Rest in Peace
1 Izzet Staticaster
2 Timely Reinforcements
2 Vendilion Clique
1 Crumble to Dust
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
'
The list felt very tight, but I felt like I wanted another threat that could be good in both the tempo/bluemoon sideboard plan. Pia and Kiran is actually amazing in this deck and helps grind in slow matchup and control the board against Aggro decks. In order to make room I had cut Cryptic Commands. I love Cryptic, but it is far too slow right now to be relevant most games.
@jlm_0726
I'm not sure if I'd change the maindeck around too much. It's quite possible that it needs one more land, but it runs many incidental card draw. Another thing could be adding Blood Moons maindeck because they come in after most game 1s. That draws the deck away from the tempo/combo plan though. If there was a tournament soon I'd probably just run the same list or something very close. Good luck!
http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=106993
Good luck!
Good luck!
Chain Lightning
Jace, the Mindsculptor
Grim Lavamancer
Goblin Guide
Inquisition of Kozilek
No:
Misdirection
Stoneforge Mystic
Snapcaster Mage
Thoughtseize
Stifle
-1Ghost quarter
-1 of each shock
-4 Remand
-3 Creeping Tar Pit
-2 Thoughtseize
+3 Mana Leak
+2 Painful Truths
+1 Lingering Souls
+3 Inquisition of Kozilek
+3 Darkslick shores
+1 island