I had a very enjoyable time playing 8-Rack at the recent GP Denver side events. I am still really new to the deck, and quite unfamiliar with how other decks in the format function overall, yet I had a blast playing. I went 2-2 in both events, and learned a lot about playing 8-Rack, as well as how other decks function. I lost 2 games to Tron, 1 game to Scapeshift (I still dont really understand how that deck works or how I am suppose to handle it) and 1 game to mono white Hate Bears (I think I had the win in hand, but my deck was playing better than its pilot, lol). I am appreciative of this forum, and to have the chance to become acquainted with a deck that I really enjoy playing.
One thing that I learned was that its very awkward for other players to have me interrupt them between their untap and draw steps when I have a Rack or Shrieking Affliction on the board. It was a constant effort of having to stop their automatic process of untapping then instantly drawing a card. How do you experienced 8-Rack players usually handle this upkeep trigger? Most players were frustrated each time I stopped them, and asked how many cards they had in hand, especially when they seemed to have a solid plan for what they were going to do on their turn. It was most difficult to do when the opponent had nothing to untap (yep, smallpox did some work, ha ha ha).
I will work on making some adjustments this weekend, and then stop by my local shop to snag some cards. I think getting the deck to do what I think it should do in a very consistent manner will make it more fun and enjoyable to play when I bust it out. I totally agree with replacing stand alone cards with creatures who have the similar effect. I appreciate the recommendations!
I have read through this post, and would like to weigh in on the matter.
I have been playing since Theros, and I mostly play Commander. I get to play once every month or every other month on average due to my work schedule. I have 7 Commander decks, and it typically takes me about 2 months to think of an idea, put the cards together, then goldfish it to get an idea of how it works. I also like to get a nice deck box, matching color sleeves, and a playmat that reflects the commander or colors I am using, as well as a dice set. I think my decks usually cost around $400 on average.
So I put this time and effort into building a deck, learning how it works, and then show up at my local shop to play. Its a 20 minute drive for me, and I arrive on time to sign up and get into a pod. Last time I went to play, I ended up with this guy who did an Infinite Combo on turn 5. To that point, it was mostly a game of untap, draw a card, play a land for turn, cast a spell, and say go. Then, he takes like 25 minutes to work out this combo on his 5th turn, and then apologizes for it at the end of the game. He then admits that it was something that he always wanted to do, and he took the opportunity to do this on us, and that was after we all checked in with one another prior to the start of the game to make sure we were all there to have fun, and that the decks we were choosing were on a casual power level.
So if thats my experience for my time, money, and investment, and then I get to drive home after that and wait another month before I get to do it again, why play at all?
Now, if you are upfront about disclosing that you have crazy infinite combos in your deck, and you plan on going off early in the game with a 25 minute turn, then I can either choose to not play with you, or I can prepare a land / hand destruction deck, and never let your deck do anything that its built to do. How fun would that be for you?
With so many options in our format, people can do all kinds of crazy things. However, just because you can, doesnt always mean you should. If you disclose to other players that your deck has stuff like infinite combos and you plan on running them as soon as possible, then you give them the option to play with you or not, which I think is respectful. Each deck most likely has the ability to do something broken, however, when your deck puts you so far out of reach of your opponents, then the game drags on while people just sit there and watch you play, I know I dont appreciate those strategies, and I choose not to employ them against other players myself.
I have been running a Sidisi, Brood Tyrant EDH deck for about a year now. I really like her as a commander, and making use of the graveyard is the mechanic that makes this deck unique for me (I have 7 EDH decks at this point).
I have struggled with Sidisi though in my deck building. My first attempt had very few ways of managing graveyard recursion. My next iteration struggled with mana ramp. My next revision went for big effects like Zombie Apocalypse, but you work towards doing big broken stuff, only to get it countered, then you have no game. All of my builds to this point had no protection for Sidisi, and while its fine to cast her a 2nd time, I found myself casting her up to 3 times or more in a game, which eats all of your mana. So, my current build has incorporated some ramp and protection for Sidisi, but its now feeling less focused. I have a lot of great individual cards, but I appear to be lacking synergy. I also have always experienced a weak late game, and on turn 10 or so, people are expecting me to "go off" or something, and all I got is recur a single creature or something weak.
I am not interested in "solo play" strategies, nor am I interested in infinite combos at all. I think I want to focus on zombie horde, then having ways to add pump, evade, and most of all, protection, or to use them in some way to gain value. It seems as though each time I get 6 or more zombie tokens, here comes a board wipe, and everything I have done in the game was to get there, and then my deck never recovers, while others are doing crazy broken stuff.
Any advice or suggestions would be terrific.
Most of the cards in my "MaybeBoard" are cards I have pulled from the deck at some point.
While I have enjoyed playing Infect in the past, I have struggled with the deck lately, which is unfortunate. With so much Thoughseize and Inquisition, you may not even have access to an infect creature by the time you get to cast one. Then, Liliana makes you get rid of your single infect creature after you actually come across another one. Without Gitaxian Probe (I even had the special art foil ones), it becomes more difficult to see if the way is clear before you go all in on pumping a creature, and its harder to fuel Become Immense. Fatal Push is a huge threat. Now with Solemnity, it seems as though we have to entirely change the Infect package in order to actually have a viable win condition. Is it insurmountable? Not sure, but it seems like the necessary adjustments to deal with all of these conditions forces us to either abandon the deck, or change it significantly in order to keep it viable. That might not be such a bad thing, but then again, the cards might not be there to support it. Each pump spell you remove to actually deal with the variety of new conditions weakens the ability to win with our 1/1 creatures. Maybe in the next set, there will be a card that enables "Proliferate x9" and then we are back in action!
I feel playing against bant spirits, casting a thing in the ice is crucial!
Casting a Thing in the Ice, and then being able to actually flip it, are two different things.
You have to make sure you have enough low cost instants and sorceries that you can flip Thing in the Ice when you need to. You cannot rely upon casting it, and hoping that in the next 3 or 4 turns you get a chance to flip it. You really have to make sure you are building around using it as a board wipe if you are going to include it in your deck. If you do, it can be really strong, and coupled with additional turns after that, it could produce the condition for a game win at that point.
I havent playtested any of the changes so far, so not really sure how its all going to work out yet. I am a little concerned about making the player decks too powerful. Nicol Bolas should feel like a challenge, but a manageable challenge I also want to make the player decks fun, and have some flexibility.
I will play it again in August, then evaluate how the decks are performing, and make alterations at that point.
Gideon - I think he will become impossible to handle if I ramped up indestructibility. I would need to then edit Nicol Bolas deck in order to deal with that mechanic, which I dont think he can right now.
Nissa - It seems as though her lands and ramp are pretty solid, but I think my build might be a little slow with the larger creatures. I was thinking she can be support until she has the lands to conjure the, big fatties.
Chandra - I like the combination of burn and creatures, Honestly, going all out burn isnt something that Nicol Bolas can handle, and I bet Chandra would be able to do about 30 damage too quickly. Some turns, Nicol Bolas isnt doing much, and to have Chandra casting 1-3 cmc cards, she would put a huge dent in his life total by turn 5, which is when Nicol Bolas really starts upping his game.
This is fun to tweak, and I think making initial changes improves the default setup in the box.
Let me know how your deck comes along (I have made a couple of tweaks since the last update, lol).
Now that I added my decks to tappedout.net, I see some areas that I still need to tweak. This is the first iteration, and I have some plans for adjusting things in the next week or two. However, this is what I am working with right now.
Nicol Bolas (not sure about Thing In The Ice, and need to tweak the lands just a bit more)
Yeah, I am playing Smallpox.
Esperino, are you recommending that I drop a swamp and go to 23 lands and include the 4th Thoughtseize?
Here is my current build:
Thanks for the great post. Its off to a solid start.
I played the original box set twice now. My first play was as Nicol Bolas, and I kept a hand with 3 lands and 5 cards. I never found a red mana source until about turn 7, which was enough to trip me up and the Gatewatch players got me. In my 2nd play, I took the role of Nissa, and the Nicol Bolas player had all their land colors on turn 2, and entirely wrecked us.
When I laid the decks out, I decided that I didnt want to have the Gatewatch rely on Nicolas Bolas stumble on lands in order to have a shot at winning. So I did make a couple of changes to the Nicol Bolas deck (swapped out the dual tapped lands for dual tapped lands +1 life, and added Desecration Demon, which I think is a cool theme and challenge for the Gatewatch), but I swapped out about 12 cards for all 3 Gatewatch decks. I didnt necessarily make them "more powerful" but I made an attempt to make the decks perform more in agreement with what they are trying to do, and what their colors typically lend themselves to. I wanted to add enchantment based control to white (Banishing Light and Faiths Fetters), but Nicol Bolas doesnt really have a way to deal with that, and I didnt want to add enchantment destruction effects to his deck.
I will develop those deck lists, and then post my revisions. My Chandra deck is SOOOOO much better than the stock one, as she now has fast creatures with more low cost burn.
If you divide damage evenly, each deck needs to be able to contribute to about 14 damage to Nicol Bolas each game. Nissa has some big fatties with trample stuff, so with her ramp, thats possible. If you get Gideon, then he can help, but doesnt have a whole lot of other solid options to get him there. The Chandra deck was just too slow in my opinion to get there.
Now I have to playtest the modifications to see how it performs. I kept all of the original cards in their respective boxes (unsleeved) just in case people want to play the original product.
Fun concept, I just dont think it was playtested well enough, and they could have went with more color representative selections, and synergistic cards for the Gatewatch players.
I just played a typical mono black 8-Rack build for the first time last night, and it did great. I really like this deck.
Quick question.
I am running 24 lands (4 Mutavaults, 3 Urborgs, and 17 Swamps).
How should I be thinking about the decision to run 4 Raven's Crime and 3 Thoughtseize, or 3 Raven's Crime and 4 Thoughtseize? It seems as though I only need 1 Raven's Crime in the graveyard at any given time. Going to 23 lands would let me run 4 of each, but that's working against the ability to Retrace with Raven's Crime.
I recently built a Tom Ross 8-rack deck, and played it for the first time against a few opponents. I think this deck is really fun to play.
I ran into the situation a couple of times where I had 1 Urborg on the table, and two in hand, like on turn 2. I could Ravens Crime or Smallpox one of the Urborgs in my hand, but when I needed 3 lands on turn 3 for a Liliana, the Urborg in my hand was a dead card.
What do you recommend in those situations? Is running 4 Urborgs too much, or was it very uncommon that I ended up in this situation twice in 3 matches? Almost makes me want to replace 1 or 2 Urborgs with Dakmore Salvage, but because they come into play tapped, it could still mess me up if I want to cast a B on turn one, a BB on turn 2, and then a Lilian on turn 3.
What I have found is that Goblins do really well for the first 2/3 of killing your opponent, but the real challenge happens the last 1/3 of their life. All too often, I end up facing a board state that I don't want to attack into, and if I pass the turn it just gives my opponent time to build up their midrange and late game strategy.
For me, I have found Fog and Magmatic Chaism to be excellent ways to play around the problem of attacking into less than ideal board states.
Goblins can feel very much like a glass cannon, and when it goes off on a turn 3 kill, it's awesome, but when it shatters on turn 3 or 4, it sucks to watch your opponent play out their deck with little that you can do about it from there.
After playing a Fog and then winning the next turn, and playing a magmatic Chaism to launch an undefended assault, I'm trying to see where I can squeeze more of these into my deck, especially since I am already running lean on creatures to begin with.
I know how frustrating it is when people aren't on the same page when a game begins/gets into full swing, but did you happen to talk to the player after the game? I've always felt that with random groups discussion after a game is just as important as discussion before a game. It helps build social bonds and communicates feedback that might be helpful in the event that you all paired up in a pod at some point in the future.
I didn't really talk to him after the game, other than congratulating him on my way out.
Although I have played magic for 2 years now, I play so infrequently, I am still hesitant to determine what I should be OK with and what I shouldn't be OK with. That's pretty much the reason for my post.
While I think games are normally more enjoyable when players have decks at similar power level I have to ask, why didn't you concede? And how did that game last so long when your post states the crazy advantage of the Meren player?
That's a fair question.
I didn't concede because I thought I might draw into another land and could get my commander in play. Also, I didn't think he would recur the creature to make us discard our hands again, however, I was wrong, lol.
He passed the turn multiple times when he could have attacked with multiple creatures on the battlefield. None of us had creatures to block with, or spells in hand to play combat tricks. One turn I asked him if he was going to attack me (assuming he could put me out of my misery so I could respectfully leave and do other things with my time) and he said I wasn't a threat. I asked him which player was, because we were all in the same situation. I think he had about 6 creatures in play before he started attacking.
One thing that I learned was that its very awkward for other players to have me interrupt them between their untap and draw steps when I have a Rack or Shrieking Affliction on the board. It was a constant effort of having to stop their automatic process of untapping then instantly drawing a card. How do you experienced 8-Rack players usually handle this upkeep trigger? Most players were frustrated each time I stopped them, and asked how many cards they had in hand, especially when they seemed to have a solid plan for what they were going to do on their turn. It was most difficult to do when the opponent had nothing to untap (yep, smallpox did some work, ha ha ha).
I will work on making some adjustments this weekend, and then stop by my local shop to snag some cards. I think getting the deck to do what I think it should do in a very consistent manner will make it more fun and enjoyable to play when I bust it out. I totally agree with replacing stand alone cards with creatures who have the similar effect. I appreciate the recommendations!
I have been playing since Theros, and I mostly play Commander. I get to play once every month or every other month on average due to my work schedule. I have 7 Commander decks, and it typically takes me about 2 months to think of an idea, put the cards together, then goldfish it to get an idea of how it works. I also like to get a nice deck box, matching color sleeves, and a playmat that reflects the commander or colors I am using, as well as a dice set. I think my decks usually cost around $400 on average.
So I put this time and effort into building a deck, learning how it works, and then show up at my local shop to play. Its a 20 minute drive for me, and I arrive on time to sign up and get into a pod. Last time I went to play, I ended up with this guy who did an Infinite Combo on turn 5. To that point, it was mostly a game of untap, draw a card, play a land for turn, cast a spell, and say go. Then, he takes like 25 minutes to work out this combo on his 5th turn, and then apologizes for it at the end of the game. He then admits that it was something that he always wanted to do, and he took the opportunity to do this on us, and that was after we all checked in with one another prior to the start of the game to make sure we were all there to have fun, and that the decks we were choosing were on a casual power level.
So if thats my experience for my time, money, and investment, and then I get to drive home after that and wait another month before I get to do it again, why play at all?
Now, if you are upfront about disclosing that you have crazy infinite combos in your deck, and you plan on going off early in the game with a 25 minute turn, then I can either choose to not play with you, or I can prepare a land / hand destruction deck, and never let your deck do anything that its built to do. How fun would that be for you?
With so many options in our format, people can do all kinds of crazy things. However, just because you can, doesnt always mean you should. If you disclose to other players that your deck has stuff like infinite combos and you plan on running them as soon as possible, then you give them the option to play with you or not, which I think is respectful. Each deck most likely has the ability to do something broken, however, when your deck puts you so far out of reach of your opponents, then the game drags on while people just sit there and watch you play, I know I dont appreciate those strategies, and I choose not to employ them against other players myself.
I have struggled with Sidisi though in my deck building. My first attempt had very few ways of managing graveyard recursion. My next iteration struggled with mana ramp. My next revision went for big effects like Zombie Apocalypse, but you work towards doing big broken stuff, only to get it countered, then you have no game. All of my builds to this point had no protection for Sidisi, and while its fine to cast her a 2nd time, I found myself casting her up to 3 times or more in a game, which eats all of your mana. So, my current build has incorporated some ramp and protection for Sidisi, but its now feeling less focused. I have a lot of great individual cards, but I appear to be lacking synergy. I also have always experienced a weak late game, and on turn 10 or so, people are expecting me to "go off" or something, and all I got is recur a single creature or something weak.
I am not interested in "solo play" strategies, nor am I interested in infinite combos at all. I think I want to focus on zombie horde, then having ways to add pump, evade, and most of all, protection, or to use them in some way to gain value. It seems as though each time I get 6 or more zombie tokens, here comes a board wipe, and everything I have done in the game was to get there, and then my deck never recovers, while others are doing crazy broken stuff.
Any advice or suggestions would be terrific.
Most of the cards in my "MaybeBoard" are cards I have pulled from the deck at some point.
1x Sidisi, Brood Tyrant
Creature (31)
1x Cemetery Reaper
1x Corpse Connoisseur
1x Death Baron
1x Diregraf Captain
1x Diregraf Colossus
1x Eternal Witness
1x Filth
1x Genesis
1x Grave Titan
1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
1x Grimgrin, Corpse-Born
1x Havengul Lich
1x Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
1x Kessig Cagebreakers
1x Lich Lord of Unx
1x Lord of the Accursed
1x Lord of the Undead
1x Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
1x Nyx Weaver
1x Reclamation Sage
1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
1x Sewer Nemesis
1x Sheoldred, Whispering One
1x Sidisi, Undead Vizier
1x Splinterfright
1x Stinkweed Imp
1x Torrent Elemental
1x Unbreathing Horde
1x Undead Warchief
1x Vengeful Pharaoh
1x Vulturous Zombie
Sorcery (9)
1x Black Sun's Zenith
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Grim Discovery
1x Jarad's Orders
1x Life from the Loam
1x Living Death
1x Regrowth
1x Spider Spawning
1x Splendid Reclamation
1x Dictate of Erebos
1x Mana Reflection
1x Parallel Lives
1x Rooftop Storm
1x Sultai Ascendancy
Land (36)
1x Bojuka Bog
1x Command Beacon
1x Command Tower
1x Crypt of Agadeem
1x Dakmor Salvage
1x Dimir Aqueduct
1x Dismal Backwater
1x Evolving Wilds
4x Forest
1x Golgari Rot Farm
1x High Market
2x Island
1x Jungle Hollow
1x Llanowar Wastes
1x Nephalia Drownyard
1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1x Opulent Palace
1x Overgrown Tomb
1x Rupture Spire
1x Simic Growth Chamber
4x Swamp
1x Temple of Deceit
1x Temple of Malady
1x Temple of Mystery
1x Temple of the False God
1x Terramorphic Expanse
1x Thornwood Falls
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1x Yavimaya Coast
Artifact (13)
1x Akroma's Memorial
1x Altar of Dementia
1x Caged Sun
1x Chromatic Lantern
1x Darksteel Plate
1x Dimir Signet
1x Expedition Map
1x Golgari Signet
1x Mesmeric Orb
1x Simic Signet
1x Sol Ring
1x Swiftfoot Boots
1x Whispersilk Cloak
Instant (4)
1x Forbidden Alchemy
1x Putrefy
1x Sultai Charm
1x Unravel the Aether
Maybeboard (32)
1x All Suns' Dawn
1x Arachnogenesis
1x Brawn
1x Call to the Grave
1x Dread Return
1x Dread Summons
1x Eldrazi Monument
1x Empty the Pits
1x Ever After
1x Gilded Lotus
1x Grapple with the Past
1x Hedron Crab
1x Laboratory Maniac
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Loaming Shaman
1x Mulch
1x Oversold Cemetery
1x Profane Command
1x Reliquary Tower
1x Rise from the Tides
1x Rise of the Dark Realms
1x Seasons Past
1x Second Harvest
1x Stitcher Geralf
1x Sudden Reclamation
1x Sultai Soothsayer
1x Swiftfoot Boots
1x Taigam's Scheming
1x Undead Alchemist
1x Victimize
1x Whip of Erebos
1x Zombie Apocalypse
Casting a Thing in the Ice, and then being able to actually flip it, are two different things.
You have to make sure you have enough low cost instants and sorceries that you can flip Thing in the Ice when you need to. You cannot rely upon casting it, and hoping that in the next 3 or 4 turns you get a chance to flip it. You really have to make sure you are building around using it as a board wipe if you are going to include it in your deck. If you do, it can be really strong, and coupled with additional turns after that, it could produce the condition for a game win at that point.
I havent playtested any of the changes so far, so not really sure how its all going to work out yet. I am a little concerned about making the player decks too powerful. Nicol Bolas should feel like a challenge, but a manageable challenge I also want to make the player decks fun, and have some flexibility.
I will play it again in August, then evaluate how the decks are performing, and make alterations at that point.
Gideon - I think he will become impossible to handle if I ramped up indestructibility. I would need to then edit Nicol Bolas deck in order to deal with that mechanic, which I dont think he can right now.
Nissa - It seems as though her lands and ramp are pretty solid, but I think my build might be a little slow with the larger creatures. I was thinking she can be support until she has the lands to conjure the, big fatties.
Chandra - I like the combination of burn and creatures, Honestly, going all out burn isnt something that Nicol Bolas can handle, and I bet Chandra would be able to do about 30 damage too quickly. Some turns, Nicol Bolas isnt doing much, and to have Chandra casting 1-3 cmc cards, she would put a huge dent in his life total by turn 5, which is when Nicol Bolas really starts upping his game.
This is fun to tweak, and I think making initial changes improves the default setup in the box.
Let me know how your deck comes along (I have made a couple of tweaks since the last update, lol).
Now that I added my decks to tappedout.net, I see some areas that I still need to tweak. This is the first iteration, and I have some plans for adjusting things in the next week or two. However, this is what I am working with right now.
Nicol Bolas (not sure about Thing In The Ice, and need to tweak the lands just a bit more)
1x Archfiend of Depravity
1x Baleful Strix
1x Blood Tyrant
2x Bone Picker
1x Deathbringer Regent
1x Desecration Demon
1x Icefall Regent
1x Indulgent Tormentor
1x Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge
1x Keranos, God of Storms
1x Nekusar, the Mindrazer
2x Nightscape Familiar
1x Prognostic Sphinx
1x Scuttling Doom Engine
2x Vampire Nighthawk
1x Bloodfell Caves
4x Crumbling Necropolis
1x Dismal Backwater
1x Dragonskull Summit
1x Drowned Catacomb
1x Evolving Wilds
5x Island
2x Mortuary Mire
3x Mountain
1x Sulfur Falls
5x Swamp
1x Swiftwater Cliffs
Sorcery (6)
1x Cruel Ultimatum
1x Dreadbore
1x Ever After
1x Extract from Darkness
1x Slave of Bolas
1x Sudden Demise
2x Doom Blade
1x Kolaghan's Command
2x Lightning Bolt
2x Reckless Spite
Artifact (2)
2x Obelisk of Grixis
Planeswalker (1)
1x Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
Gideon Jura(This deck is coming together. Not sure if Banishing Priest is going to be too good, and I might have one too many 6 drops).
1x Aegis Angel
2x Aerial Responder
2x Banisher Priest
1x Brimaz, King of Oreskos
1x Fiendslayer Paladin
1x Flickerwisp
2x Gideon's Lawkeeper
1x Grand Abolisher
1x Guardian of the Gateless
1x Imposing Sovereign
1x Jareth, Leonine Titan
1x Lightwielder Paladin
1x Mother of Runes
1x Odric, Master Tactician
1x Precinct Captain
1x Relief Captain
2x Seeker of the Way
1x Sun Titan
1x Suture Priest
1x Vizier of Deferment
1x Brave the Elements
1x Emerge Unscathed
2x Gods Willing
2x Kill Shot
2x Moment of Heroism
Enchantment (2)
1x Grasp of the Hieromancer
1x Honor of the Pure
Planeswalker (1)
1x Gideon Jura
Land (25)
25x Plains
Nissa Revane(Her lands are better now, as well as her ramp, and a few creatures)
1x Forgotten Ancient
1x Greater Sandwurm
1x Horizon Chimera
1x Initiate's Companion
1x Rampaging Baloths
1x Scaled Behemoth
1x Scute Mob
1x Stingerfling Spider
2x Strangleroot Geist
1x Thragtusk
2x Turntimber Basilisk
2x Windrider Eel
1x Woodborn Behemoth
1x Dissolve
1x Press the Advantage
1x Snakeform
2x Sylvan Bounty
1x Vines of the Recluse
2x Vision Skeins
1x Whisk Away
Land (24)
13x Forest
4x Hinterland Harbor
7x Island
Planeswalker (1)
1x Nissa, Worldwaker
1x Cultivate
1x Distortion Strike
1x Explore
1x Hunter's Prowess
1x Kodama's Reach
Enchantment (4)
1x Aqueous Form
1x Burgeoning
1x Dictate of Kruphix
1x Vastwood Zendikon
Artifact (1)
1x Sword of the Animist
Chandra Nalaar(I like where this deck is going. Its designed with a few less lands, a lower mana curve for sure, and more of what red wants to do.)
2x Altac Bloodseeker
1x Avatar of Fury
3x Chandra's Phoenix
1x Dualcaster Mage
1x Grim Lavamancer
2x Guttersnipe
1x Inferno Titan
1x Paragon of Fierce Defiance
2x Pathmaker Initiate
2x Prophetic Flamespeaker
1x Spikeshot Elder
2x Vexing Devil
1x Brute Strength
2x Chandra's Outrage
2x Coordinated Assault
1x Fated Conflagration
2x Magma Jet
1x Searing Blood
2x Searing Spear
Planeswalker (1)
1x Chandra, Pyromaster
Sorcery (3)
1x Crater's Claws
1x Harness by Force
1x Tormenting Voice
21x Mountain
2x Smoldering Spires
Enchantment (2)
2x Hammerhand
Artifact (1)
1x Dragon's Claw
Esperino, are you recommending that I drop a swamp and go to 23 lands and include the 4th Thoughtseize?
Here is my current build:
2x Funeral Charm (VIS)
4x Inquisition of Kozilek (CN2)
4x Liliana of the Veil (ISD)
4x Raven's Crime (MMA)
4x Shrieking Affliction (RTR)
4x Smallpox (TSP)
4x The Rack (DPA)
3x Thoughtseize (THS)
3x Wrench Mind (MRD)
4x Mutavault
3x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
17x Swamp (AKH)
2x Death's Shadow (MM3)
2x Dismember
1x Flaying Tendrils (000)
1x Leyline of the Void (M11)
1x Night of Souls' Betrayal (CHK)
2x Ratchet Bomb (000)
2x Relic of Progenitus (EMA)
4x Surgical Extraction (NPH)
I played the original box set twice now. My first play was as Nicol Bolas, and I kept a hand with 3 lands and 5 cards. I never found a red mana source until about turn 7, which was enough to trip me up and the Gatewatch players got me. In my 2nd play, I took the role of Nissa, and the Nicol Bolas player had all their land colors on turn 2, and entirely wrecked us.
When I laid the decks out, I decided that I didnt want to have the Gatewatch rely on Nicolas Bolas stumble on lands in order to have a shot at winning. So I did make a couple of changes to the Nicol Bolas deck (swapped out the dual tapped lands for dual tapped lands +1 life, and added Desecration Demon, which I think is a cool theme and challenge for the Gatewatch), but I swapped out about 12 cards for all 3 Gatewatch decks. I didnt necessarily make them "more powerful" but I made an attempt to make the decks perform more in agreement with what they are trying to do, and what their colors typically lend themselves to. I wanted to add enchantment based control to white (Banishing Light and Faiths Fetters), but Nicol Bolas doesnt really have a way to deal with that, and I didnt want to add enchantment destruction effects to his deck.
I will develop those deck lists, and then post my revisions. My Chandra deck is SOOOOO much better than the stock one, as she now has fast creatures with more low cost burn.
If you divide damage evenly, each deck needs to be able to contribute to about 14 damage to Nicol Bolas each game. Nissa has some big fatties with trample stuff, so with her ramp, thats possible. If you get Gideon, then he can help, but doesnt have a whole lot of other solid options to get him there. The Chandra deck was just too slow in my opinion to get there.
Now I have to playtest the modifications to see how it performs. I kept all of the original cards in their respective boxes (unsleeved) just in case people want to play the original product.
Fun concept, I just dont think it was playtested well enough, and they could have went with more color representative selections, and synergistic cards for the Gatewatch players.
Quick question.
I am running 24 lands (4 Mutavaults, 3 Urborgs, and 17 Swamps).
How should I be thinking about the decision to run 4 Raven's Crime and 3 Thoughtseize, or 3 Raven's Crime and 4 Thoughtseize? It seems as though I only need 1 Raven's Crime in the graveyard at any given time. Going to 23 lands would let me run 4 of each, but that's working against the ability to Retrace with Raven's Crime.
I ran into the situation a couple of times where I had 1 Urborg on the table, and two in hand, like on turn 2. I could Ravens Crime or Smallpox one of the Urborgs in my hand, but when I needed 3 lands on turn 3 for a Liliana, the Urborg in my hand was a dead card.
What do you recommend in those situations? Is running 4 Urborgs too much, or was it very uncommon that I ended up in this situation twice in 3 matches? Almost makes me want to replace 1 or 2 Urborgs with Dakmore Salvage, but because they come into play tapped, it could still mess me up if I want to cast a B on turn one, a BB on turn 2, and then a Lilian on turn 3.
What I have found is that Goblins do really well for the first 2/3 of killing your opponent, but the real challenge happens the last 1/3 of their life. All too often, I end up facing a board state that I don't want to attack into, and if I pass the turn it just gives my opponent time to build up their midrange and late game strategy.
For me, I have found Fog and Magmatic Chaism to be excellent ways to play around the problem of attacking into less than ideal board states.
Goblins can feel very much like a glass cannon, and when it goes off on a turn 3 kill, it's awesome, but when it shatters on turn 3 or 4, it sucks to watch your opponent play out their deck with little that you can do about it from there.
After playing a Fog and then winning the next turn, and playing a magmatic Chaism to launch an undefended assault, I'm trying to see where I can squeeze more of these into my deck, especially since I am already running lean on creatures to begin with.
I didn't really talk to him after the game, other than congratulating him on my way out.
Although I have played magic for 2 years now, I play so infrequently, I am still hesitant to determine what I should be OK with and what I shouldn't be OK with. That's pretty much the reason for my post.
That's a fair question.
I didn't concede because I thought I might draw into another land and could get my commander in play. Also, I didn't think he would recur the creature to make us discard our hands again, however, I was wrong, lol.
He passed the turn multiple times when he could have attacked with multiple creatures on the battlefield. None of us had creatures to block with, or spells in hand to play combat tricks. One turn I asked him if he was going to attack me (assuming he could put me out of my misery so I could respectfully leave and do other things with my time) and he said I wasn't a threat. I asked him which player was, because we were all in the same situation. I think he had about 6 creatures in play before he started attacking.