- crexalbo
- Registered User
-
Member for 9 years, 9 months, and 28 days
Last active Sun, Mar, 25 2018 13:15:50
- 0 Followers
- 629 Total Posts
- 126 Thanks
-
8
compucrazy posted a message on Tezzeret the SchemerWow, am I the only one who'd rather see planeswalker like Tez be a niche, build-around-me card as opposed to a Gideon, where you slap it in any deck that can produce white mana?Posted in: Tezzeret the Schemer -
8
zerodown posted a message on [Primer] Lantern ControlOP:Posted in: Control
"There are harsher ways to learn the meaning of the word ‘no.'"
—Rashida Scalebane(Mirage set: Disenchant)
A.K.A: Barber's Chop, Barber Deck, Trinket's Barber Shop, Trinket's Factory
(Banner by: DNC @ Heroes of the Plane Studios)
Notes: First time readers are recommended to start reading from page 7, that is when the deck took a competitive twist. For a full comprehension of the variety of decks evolution take your time and read it all.
What is Top Control?
Top Control is a cheap artifact tool box that aims at preventing opponents from drawing threats by locking them into drawing lands or dead cards a la fateseal, turn after turn, until either you mill them, deal lethal damage or theyrage quit... concede unable to break the lock.
Why play Top Control?
Some decks control by countering the opponent's threats, some decks control by making opponents discard threats, some others destroy lands to prevent them from playing threats, others use planeswalkers, some just pack a lot of hate and so on. Top control is all about draw control and it is godly fun to play with (not necessarily fun if playing against it). You want to be preventing threats from ever reaching the opponent's hand. If you are a control player at heart, there is no better feeling than having control over what your opponent can and cannot draw from their library. As a bonus, you get to control what you draw as well. You can use the combo to dig for answers out of your deck, to prevent land floods, to prevent drawing dead cards. Fixing draws is godly fun.
If you like having huge decision trees, this is the deck for you.
Why not play Top Control?
This is a late game win deck, if you like winning by turns 3-to-5, this is not the deck for you.
If you like playing decks on auto-run this deck is not for you, this deck will make you think, a lot. There is a lot of stuff that you can do with this deck like getting rid of an opponent's threat, digging through your deck, card filtering, graveyard recursion, card drawing, card fetching, etc. You must think twice about every decision you make.
If you like attacking your opponent, this is not for you as some variations don't even have creatures and the ones that do you will not be able to attack until you got a tight lock on the opponent.
A rough categorized list including sideboard cards of the most common cards being talked about through this thread:
LANDS
Glimmervoid – Due to the combo being cheap and colorless, the variety of builds is virtually infinite. The deck can support spells on all 5 colors but it is critial that you guarantee those colors on turn 1. This card allows us to play all our spells on turn 1. The downside is nearly irrelevant, very rarely will you have an opening hand with just glimmervoid as a land and no artifacts and an even rarer sight is to play a glimmervoid + artifact turn 1 and the opponent blowing that artifact on their turn 1.
Tendo Ice Bridge – Read Glimmervoid. The downside here is the lost counter which is bearable. You really should only need to guarantee colors on turn 1 or 2 to kickstart the deck. It is hardly ever a problem to live without the counter if it was put to good use and there even are games where you play Tendo and never use the counter.
Academy Ruins - Essential in any artifact deck and most lists are up in the 18-26 artifacts range. So many cheap artifacts to get back after being milled, destroyed, discarded, countered, dumped or sacrificed. Specially good on game 2 where artifact hate comes into the picture. It also keeps you from losing to mill or milling yourself while digging. New legend rule allows to run 2 with little to no issues.
Darksteel Citadel - An artifact land to increase the chances of activating Mox Opal turn 1. It's indestructible, it gives some assurance to Glimmervoid in case an artifact sweeper is played.
Due to the nature of the deck allowing up to 5 colored decks, there isn't a core manabase outside Glimmervoid and newly found Tendo Ice Bridge. This is a rough list of some of the utility lands being tested, used or at least mentioned in the thread as good picks.
Fetchlands/Shocklands – All useful, it depends on the colors you want to focus on.
Buried Ruins - Get back a blown up lantern, needle, mill piece, tormod or bridge.
Mikokoro, Center of The Sea – Card draw mid game. Serves as a pseudo mill piece since the drawn card for the opponent should be a dead card.
Gemstone Mine – Any color turn 1. Only 3 uses.
Duskmantle, House of Shadows – Added milling control.
Nephalia Drownyard – Added milling speed. Control might be lost by milling unkown cards with flashback, dredge, etc.
Keldon Megaliths – Deals damage. Comes in tapped.
Ghost Quarter – Land control. It serves to make the opponent shuffle a threat away from the top or lose a land.
Grove of The Burnwillows – Awesome in RG heavy lists.
Sulfurous Springs & Friends – Generally good to replace fetchalnds/shocklands and reduce the lifeloss.
ARTIFACTS
Lantern of Insight - Main combo piece. This 1cmc card lets you look at both player's top card of their libraries at all times. Its shuffling ability is never used unless you absolutely need to. Read the next three cards to understand why looking at the top cards is awesome.
Codex Shredder - Main combo piece. Once you know what the top card of your opponent is you can then decide whether to let the opponent draw it or make them mill it. If the top card of your opponent is not a threat to you, you can use untapped codices to mill off the top of your own deck to set up good draws for yourself. As a bonus, this card has a second ability that lets you recur any card from the graveyard in the late game, so you can get back late game Ensnaring Bridge answers or wincons.
Ghoulcaller's Bell - Combo piece. Same effect as Codex Shredder, but it makes both players mill off the top. That is good at times and bad some times. Because some times you tap it to get rid of an opponent's card, but you also get rid of an important card and vice versa. On the other hand, some times you do want to mill both tops to mill an opponent's card while digging through your deck. It is a very tricky card, but nothing that can't be played around. It is optimal to have both bells and codices on the field. A special advantage on codex, if your opponent plays Leyline of Sanctity this card can still make them mill off the top.
Pyxis of Pandemonium – Read Ghoulcaller's Bell. This one exiles the card. Specially good to combat recursion on certain cards, flashback, dredge, Emrakul and so many other things you simply don't want near the opponent's graveyard.
Ensnaring Bridge - The nail on the coffin. Once you lock your opponent from drawing threats, you still have to deal with the threats they had on the opening hand and the ones drawn before the lock. The deck tends to play off an empty hand pretty efficiently and beautifully. Bridge then makes sure no attacks get through and the lock makes sure the bridge doesn't get destroyed. Bridge turns most of their creatures into dead beaters so you can let them draw most creatures, which makes it easier to keep control by easing the burden on the combo.
Mox Opal - Its modern, you need some ramp and this one costs 0 mana and gives you any color mana in an artifact deck with lots of colored spells. It usually attains metalcraft on turn 2 and on turn 1 with some opening hands. Copies can be dumped to Faithless Looting or milled with the lantern combo. New legend rule allows copies to be chained as an extra ramp tool, it is possible (not likely) to play a bridge on turn 1 with certain opening hands.
Pithing Needle - Answers a lot of weird stuff like Planeswalkers, Birthing Pod, manlands, fetchlandsDeathrite Shaman, Grim Lavamancer, Oblivion Stone, Mindslaver, Arcbound Ravager, Cranial Plating, the Swords of "A" and "B" and a lot more. It also pumps Mox Opal in a pinch. If not needed it can be dumped to Faihless Looting, or it can be recurred with Ancient Ruins if it was discarded, destroyed, milled, etc.
Tormod's Crypt – A 0cc artifact that helps in metalcraft for mox on turn 1. Its activation is also free. This card hoses most anything that uses the graveyard, it can respond to Emrakul, responds to Living End, shuts down Loam, Snapcaster Mage and so many other things. An alternative is nihil spellbomb, though it costs 1 and has a 1 cost activation, its only benefit is the potential draw advantage. This card is easily recurrable with ruins to keep a lock on the grave, unlike Relic of Progenitus.
Mishra's Bauble - Mox's Partner in crime. This card along with another 0 or 1cc artifact allows to tap mox opal turn 1, which means its not rare to have a lock online by turn 1. That means your opponent needs to win, in theory, with their opening hand since everything they draw beyond that has to be approved by you. This card has another benefit, it acts as a pseudo-lantern, if you got codex on turn 1 but no lantern, you can still peek at the top card of your opponent with this. Also it draws a card when you crack it so its never a dead card. Finally, with 2 mana and Academy Ruins on the field, you can recur bauble from the graveyard every turn to act as a momentary lantern, giving you limited control over their draws until you find your lantern. The drawback is that your draws will be one turn late since bauble draws you a card during the next upkeep so its best used at the ooponent's EOT.
SPELLS
Digging/Fetching
Ancient Stirrings - Getting lantern out is the top priority, this is one of the most used spells to find the locking pieces, but since it is an artifact deck, it can also find moxes, bridges, needles or spellbombs when you most need them. The best thing about this card is that it will always find something in such an artifact heavy deck, worst case scenario you find a land. The other good thing about this is that if you are trying to find a lantern on turn 1 and its not in the first 5, you just dug 5 cards closer to that lantern or whatever you were trying to find (bridge, needle, spellbomb...).
Faithless Looting - Digs for your combo while filtering your hand to find the best answers for the current match. Its got flashback in case you run out of gas. Discarding is a plus here since the deck tends to recur cards from the graveyard. The flashback on this card is something that will save you many times, always keep an eye out for any lootings in your grave and plan accordingly.
Infernal Tutor – Due to the deck evolving into a no hand playstyle to feed Bridge, Infernal Tutor became a thing in some lists. Its really good at being able to find exactly what you're thinking off. With a good lock this is mainly used to tutor the preferred wincon to wrap up the game.
Trinket Mage – A body that fetches your 0 and 1cc artifact tools. Very rarely used as wincon. (Fabricate might be better, you lose the body but can fetch Ensnaring Bridge or other artifacts sided in like Torpor Orb.
Reshape - Can turn any artifact into a lantern on the spot, it can find a bridge or needle for locking purposes. You can sac useless needles, baubles or mox.
Thoughtcast - The deck attains metalcraft on turns 1 and 2 usually.
Serum Visions/Sleight of Hand - One draws then fixes, the other fixes then draws.
Trash for Treasure - Gets any artifact back. You can dump or mill something big and trash for it.
Glittering Wish – Plenty of multicolored cards to build a solid wishboard. Only a sorcery though.
Removal
Dispatch - Artifact decks have THE best removal spell ever printed.
Galvanic Blast – Another awesome removal spell for artifact decks, bolt on steroids. Usually hits for 4 on turn 2, though 2 damage should do the trick with most of the stuff that really bother u early on. Its benefit over dispatch is being able to hit planeswalkers and players and if for some reason you lack metalcraft it still hits for 2 while dispatch only taps the creature.
Abrupt Decay – The most commonly used removal spell can surely fit into a cheap deck that supports all 5 colors.
Beast Within – This beauty targets everything from lands to planeswalkers. The token should be of no trouble with so much removal or with a bridge out. If you got a tight lock you can use it on a permanent of your own to start attacking or if you need an emergency blocker to stop things like Geist of Saint Thraft. (Some prefer Maelstrom Pulse)
Pyroclasm - Hates out early utility creatures, weenies and creature rushes like affinity, waves of tokens and more. (Some prefer Firespout).
Pyrite Spellbomb - It pumps up Mox Opal, it can cycle itself and it can target creatures, players or planeswalkers. It is good vs affinity as it can target all their creatures including bl/inkmoth and even Etched Champion before you set up a bridge. Its also good vs flashed in creatures like Snapcaster Mage, Pestermite or vialed in creatures. It can also be recurred with Academy Ruins to have it loaded on the field in case of emergency. An all around good card. With 4 mana and Academy Ruins on the field you can recur this every turn for 2 damage a turn, thats useful in matchups like Tron where you can't mill them and its near impossible to attack through Emrakul.
Engineered Explosives - The deck can support up to 5 colors without much trouble and our permanents are mostly at 0 and 1 with the exception of bridge at 3, this shines at 2.
Oust - Works with codex/bell on pre-lantern turns.
Hand Disruption
Thougthseize - Opponents usually just have one "get out of jail free" card in their opening hand, this deals with it pretty effectively and fast. A well placed thoughtseize right before or right after the lock tends to seal the deal. Can be used as anti-counter if used to clear the way for the combo. The lifeloss is the price payed over Duress to be able to target creatures like Snapcaster Mage, Eternal witness, a combo creature or anything that can hurt you even after you lockdown.
Inquisition of Kozilek/Duress – A complement to Thoughtseize.
PLANESWALKERS
Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas - The preferred pet wincon. The deck needs no alternative wincon since the lantern combo IS your wincon and you can usually recur burn spells as an alt. wincon. However, Tezz has a lot of synergy with the deck, it can dig for combo pieces, it can turn your artifacts into 5/5 creatures or it can simply deal lethal damage to the opponent through its ultimate with all the artifacts you will have lying on the field. It can be recurred from the grave with codex or you can dig for it or tutor it out of the library. The opponent needs to deal with it so it becomes a lightning rod for damage. (Some preffer Tezzeret the Seeker
Liliana of the Veil - Hand & creature control. She can survive the same way tezz does, protected by the bridge. Lightning rod for damage. It has no wincon built in, just added control.
Ashiok, Nightmare WeaverJace Beleren – Added milling control.
SIDEBOARD
Graffdigger's Cage - Your best defense vs Ancient Grudge and Snapcaster Mage's flashbacked spells. Those are the 2 cards that most threaten the locks. Cage also nullifies Birthing Pod.
Sunbeam SPellbomb – For your opponent, every lifegain point they can take from you matters. We usually get low on lifepoints during the first few turns until we can lock the opponent, after this the opponent either concedes or tries to grind you down with burn spells, lifeloss (Deathrite) or 0/1 exalted attacks. Sunbeam sets the opponent back a lot at this stage because it is extremely hard for them to draw into a bolt for example. If they have you at 3 life and just need to get one last bolt in, after a sunbeam suddenly the opponent needs to find 3 bolts. This card is really good at keeping you alive vs opponents that can grind out the game since you can be gaining the 5 life over and over with Academy Ruins.
Surgical Extraction - Good in any mill deck. Some people love it, others don’t.
Welding Jar - Good off the SB for protection. It also aids in metalcraft for mox.
Spellskite – Hoser vs certain decks, pretty good against a wide range of decks. Mainly good off the SB.
Torpor Orb – Good vs certain decks.
Elixir of Immortality - A 1cc that nets you life and protects you from losing to mill.
Leyline of Sanctity – A must on the sideboard. A singleton main couldn't hurt.
Ancient Grudge/Ray of Revelation – 2 for 1. You could dump it to Faithless Looting or mill it and play it from the graveyard.
Wear/Tear - Versatile SB card vs the usual hate. Ancient Grudge might prove more useful if the deck becomes popular and mirror matches become a problem.
Nature’s Claim – Another option to take out the usual hate, this one has the added bonus that you can target something of your own for the lifegain. The drawback is that it costs 1, and could end up being locked out with the rest of the deck by a halice of the void set at 1.
NOTE: If anyone thinks of a card that belongs here please submit the name of the card and brief notes on its pros and cons. I'd also post revised comments for cards already added. Basically just help me expand the primer.
How the deck plays:
The top priority is getting Lantern of Insight out on the field ASAP. With one of the mill pieces. The best possible play allows for a turn 1 Lantern of Insight and Codex Shredder and a turn 2 Ensnaring Bridge. If you don't have a lantern on the opening hand there are options to find it, Faithless Looting lets you dig for the lantern while filtering your hand, Ancient Stirrings lets you grab an artifact from the first 5 cards of the top of the library and if you got UU1 Reshape turns any artifact into the lantern on the spot. There are also U spells like Serum Visions or Sleight of Hand to draw into the lantern while filtering draws. Trinket Mage works as well. Mishra's Bauble has a limited lantern effect and is recurrable with Academy Ruins.
Other than getting your lantern combo out to control draws, your priority should be on keeping control via removal and discard while you seal the game with Ensnaring Bridge.
Versus combo decks you need to make them discard their combo card and prevent them from drawing it again or flashbacking it with snapcaster. You could also just needle a combo piece or destroy it.
How to use the combo:
Basically unless the opponent is trying to draw cards from their deck you should just let them play their turn and at their EOT use the combo to set up their next draw. After setting up their draw, use untapped combo pieces to set up your own draw, then untap your cards, go to your upkeep and use more combo pieces to further set up your draw if needed. That way each combo piece's usefulness is doubled, if you have 2 codex you can use them at their EOT and then again on your upkeep, giving you 4 uses out of 2 pieces.
Early game you use the combo to make them discard off the top of their deck until a land or a dead card is on top, then you let them draw that. With a bridge out you can let them draw creatures, just don't let them draw creatures with abilities like Grim Lavamancer who can deal damage without attacking, or creatures that let them draw cards, etc.
Vs decks with drawing spells, you need to play counter style, let them play their spells then respond with the combo pieces to make them mill the top card they wanted to draw.
Shuffle effects - Beware you should never tap out your combo pieces in your turn if your opponent has a way to shuffle their library. Fetchlands, the opponent can use them to shuffle their deck at your EOT changing the card you wanted them to draw. You can respond to this after they search or during their upkeep before they draw. The opponent can also use Path to Exile on a creature of their own to shuffle. If you believe the opponent can somehow shuffle their library, just don't tap out your codices or bells.
Main wincon - The main goal of the deck is to progressively mill your opponent, early game you mill them 1-3 cards a turn, late game you can make them discard up to 8 cards a turn with the full set of bells and codexes on field. You can run the deck with mill as your only wincon for absolute consistency, however some decks are more mill resistant than others so alternate wincons are welcomed.
- Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas seems to be the most commonly used planeswalker as an alt. Wincon for its synergy with the deck.
- Galvanic Blast is recurrable with Codex Shredder and Shredder with Academy Ruins.
- You could also use Pyrite Spellbombs to deal damage to your opponent. Next turn recur it back with Academy Ruins for a repeat. Due to Pyrite dealing only 2 damage its clock is as good as recurring back Galvanic Blast.
- If you got a lock and your opponent has no creatures left, you can use Beast Within on a permanent of your own (mainly the bridge) to produce a 3/3 token with which to deal damage. Or create a token with Tezzeret or something else. Winning by creature damage is an extremely rare sight with this deck.
- Thopter Foundry Provides a way to gain life in the process of popping out flying 1/1s while recurring the sacced artifacts with Academy Ruins.
Once you manage to lock the opponent any wincon works, running a 1-off wincon is enough since you can dig through the deck to find it, tutor it or recur it back from the graveyard. Since almost any wincon works after you lock the opponent, alternate wincons are not limited to these few. Let your creativity decide and have fun.
Wishboard options
Glittering Wish
Wincons
Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas: Best to close out games quickly, or dig for combo pieces. Also good against Affinity for turning Ornithopter or Cranial Plating in to a 5/5. Just remember you might not be able play him the turn you 'wish' for him due to a total cost of 2WUBG
Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver: Good for the mill route, and can pump out blockers if needed. It's ultimate can eventually deal with any threatening cards left in their hand from before the lock.
Thopter Foundry: The minor life gain can be important, and blockers can also be useful. Academy Ruins with Darksteel Citadel (or any other cheap artifact) will let you spit out a token every turn. Draw a card, swing with tokens, then play your card.
Boros Charm: A 5th Galvanic Blast if you need to push through damage. The Indestructible can also be useful, but more so post-sideboard. Lightning Helix can also go here; can be used as removal, and some small lifegain could be important.
Board filled up with artifacts and lock established? Tezzeret if they are still at high life, Boros Charm if you've already Galvanic Blast'd a few times.
Missing a part of the lock? Tezzeret to find general pieces, Ashiok for another mill rock
Graveyard shenanigans? Ashiok
Feeling a little behind on your board state? Thopter Foundry to spit out blockers and gain life, Tezzeret to grab more artifacts (or make big blockers), Ashiok can generate blockers.
Ashiok can also really help pad your life total, climbing by 2 a turn.
Utility
Abrupt Decay: Destroy most things in Modern.
Maelstrom Pulse: Destroy everything else. With a clogged board state, this will often 2-for-1, although with a Bridge out that doesn't mean much if it is destroying creatures. Can be useful for destroying multiple hate cards. Scavenging Ooze, or any number of sideboard hate cards. I find some people playing a replicate of something like Stony Silence for redundancy in case of destruction, rather than saving it.
Wheel of Sun and Moon: shuts down graveyard decks, and makes us rely on damage for a wincon. Can also be used against mill decks.
Firespout: 3 damage pyroclasm for an extra board wipe
Supreme Verdict: A real board wipe. Sometimes it feels nice to wipe the board, even with 1-2 Bridges out. Especially post-sideboard against something with green or white. Might not be able to cast it the turn you wish for it.
Wear // Tear: Already one of our sideboard cards. Yes, this is multicolored when it is not on the stack.
Rakdos Charm: Artifact hate, Graveyard hate, Splinter Twin combo hate.
Hide // Seek: Might try this out in place of a Wear // Tear. Tuck an artifact or enchantment, or go remove their wincon. As a last resort, you should always be able to get at least 3-4 life. Against tron, it's a solid 7 or 15 life. Also gets you a shuffle and increases the land ratio to make your job a little easier. Too bad these old split cards didn't have fuse.
Castigate: An extra thoughtseize that exiles.
Dreadbore: Not to great, as the only walkers that see some level of play are really just Liliana and Ajani.
Current decklist updated: 4/20/14
Affinity:
Priority – Dispatch, Pyroclasm, Pyrite Spellbomb until you can play Ensnaring Bridge
Key cards - Pithing Needle, Pyroclasm, Ensnaring Bridge, Abrupt Decay, Beast Within, Dispatch, Pyrite Spellbomb.
SB: Abrupt Decay, Pithing Needle
Birthing Pod:
Priority – Landing Pithing Needle on B.Pod followed by Ensnaring Bridge
Key cards - Ensnaring Bridge, Beast Within, Dispatch, Pyrite Spellbomb, Pithing Needle, Pyroclasm, Thoughtseize, Tormod's Crypt, Abrupt Decay.
SB: Abrupt Decay, Pithing Needle
Infect:
Priority – Dispatch, Pyroclasm, Thoughtseize until you can play Ensnaring Bridge
Key cards - Ensnaring Bridge, Beast Within, Dispatch, Pyrite Spellbomb, Pyroclasm.
SB: Abrupt Decay, Pithing Needle
Jund – Duress to take out Abrupt Decay or Maelstrom Pulse, the concentrate on keeping Dark Confidant off the field until you play a Bridge. After Bridge you can let them play Dark Confidant and use it against them by letting it deal damage while controlling the draws.
Key cards - Ensnaring Bridge, Duress, Beast Within, Dispatch, Pyrite Spellbomb, Pyroclasm, Pithing Needle.
SB: Abrupt Decay, Pyroclasm, Surgical Extraction (Ancient Grudge)
RDW:
Priority – Gas them out by using Duress on their burn spells then lock them out of more burn spells followed by Ensnaring Bridge.
Key Cards - Ensnaring Bridge, Duress, Dispatch, Pyrite Spellbomb, Pyroclasm.
SB: Abrupt Decay, Leyline of Sanctity
Scapeshift:
Priority – Duress on Scapeshift and try to prevent them from drawing Snapcaster Mage. Also try to mill their Valakut before they can play scapeshift or use Beast Within on it if they play it before scapeshift.
Key cards – Duress, Beast Within
SB: Leyline of Sanctity, Surgical Extraction, Relic of Progenitus
Tron:
Priority – Duress or Pithing Needle on Oblivion Stone, the needle must be set pre-emptively or they will play it and activate it at the same time. Then fetch the second Pithing Needle for Karn if you can’t mill it either pre-emtively or after they drop it. Follow with Ensnaring Bridge to neutralize Emrakul, The Eons Thorn. Beast Within is good if you can’t needle Karn.
Key Cards – Duress, Pithing Needle, Ensnaring Bridge, Beast Within,
SB: Abrupt Decay, Surgical Extraction, Pithing Needle
Twin:
Priority – Duress on Twin if you can, play Ensnaring Bridge. For safety always keep W mana open and a Dispatch on hand for when they try to go off.
Key Cards - Ensnaring Bridge, Duress, Dispatch, Beast Within, Pyrite Spellbomb, Pithing Needle
SB: Abrupt Decay, Pithing Needle, Surgical Extraction
Ux Tempo:
Priority – Just land the lantern combo to keep them off more counters and draw spells and find an Ancient Ruins for anything you lose to counters. Land an Ensnaring Bridge when its safe. Use your needles on Celestial Colonnade or other manlands. Duress on their counters.
Key cards – Duress, Ancient Ruins, Ensnaring Bridge, Beast Within, Dispatch, Pyrite Spellbomb, Pithing Needle,
SB: Abrupt Decay, Surgical Extraction
Uxx Control:
Priority – Read Ux Tempo
Key cards – read Ux Tempo
White Lifegain/Death&Taxes:
Priority – Ensnaring Bridge should do all the work, find one and play it ASAP.
Ensnaring Bridge, Beast Within, Dispatch, Pyrite Spellbomb, Pyroclasm, Duress
SB: Abrupt Decay
Wx Token:
Priority – Read White lifegain.
Ensnaring Bridge, Duress, Beast Within, Dispatch, Pyrite Spellbomb, Pyroclasm.
SB: Abrupt Decay
Top Control (By: Spage)Magic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards Lands - 17
1 Stomping Ground
1 Overgrown Tomb
4 Glimmervoid
3 Darksteel Citadel
2 Academy Ruins
1 Temple Garden
1 Breeding Pool
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Forest
1 IslandLock
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Ghoulcaller's Bell
4 Codex Shredder
4 Lantern of Insight
4 Mox Opal
3 Ancient Stirrings
3 Duress
4 Mishra's Bauble
2 Faithless Looting
Alternate Win Con
1 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
Main Board Hate Cards
2 Beast Within
1 Surgical Extraction
1 Pithing Needle
2 Infernal Tutor
4 Pyroclasm1 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
2 Beast Within
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Pithing Needle
1 Leyline of the Void
3 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Welding Jar
2 Blind Obedience
Event Results: http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showpost.php?p=10437579&postcount=470
event reports:
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showpost.php?p=10560945&postcount=530
DeckMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards Artifact (21)
4x Codex Shredder
4x Ensnaring Bridge
4x Ghoulcaller's Bell
4x Lantern of Insight
4x Mishra's Bauble
1x Pithing NeedleSpells (13)
3x Fabricate
4x Thoughtcast
2x Inquisition of Kozilek
4x Duress
4x Surgical Extraction
2x Tezzeret, Agent of BolasLand (20)
1x Academy Ruins
1x Buried Ruin
2x Island
3x Nephalia Drownyard
3x Swamp
2x Tendo Ice Bridge
4x Underground River
4x Waterveil Cavern
Event Reports:
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showpost.php?p=10591556&postcount=552
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showpost.php?p=10696337&postcount=617
event reports:
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showpost.php?p=10512598&postcount=509
Original Idea & Primer
Would it be evil to land flood your opponent? Every turn? for the rest of his turns? until he mills out? yeap!
That is the aim of:
The combo: Lantern of Insight + Codex Shredder and/or Ghoulcaller's Bell.
The idea: Basically the idea is to take out creatures fast while setting up a Lantern and some Shredders/Bells so that I can lock my opponent into drawing lands or dead cards. Every turn. Until he mills out or rage quits as it happened on the first game test against a Kiki Jiki deck, at about turn 28 of the game, having drawn a land for the past 8 turns he just took over all my cards to his side and quit. A pic of it is attached, had to rearrange my cards before taking the pic since he had taken them over.
The problem: Getting Lantern out FAST. I got a lot of drawing cards, lots of scry and many forms of removal. Yet it still a bit slow, but hey it was born yesterday, I think it has potential, at least it feels and plays like it could do great things. The other problem is loss of life through fetchlands and Gitaxians, if I could lessen that it would be much stronger.
The creatureless thing: Not only does it disable removal from the opponent, but I can LET THEM draw removal from the top deck since its a dead card.
The cards:
Glacial Fortress - Color fix
Arid Mesa - Deck thining. Makes sure glacial never enters untapped.
Marsh Flats - Same.
Hallowed Fountain - Color fix
Academy Ruins - To recur combo pieces. Keeps me from milling myself.
Phyrexia's Core - A bit of lifegain. Past mid game with a few lands out I can use shredder, sac it and redraw it with Academy. That way I can never mill myself out.
Plains - Obvious
Path to Exile - Early removal is essential.
Serum Visions - Lantern digging.
Oust - Perfect for pre-lantern turns, putting the creature second from the top allows me to let my opponent draw the first and then I can shred the creature which was second.
Gitaxian Probe - Lantern digging, plus it is extremely useful in this deck to know the contents of my opponent's hand so I can decide which cards to let him draw.
Terminus - Playing with the top revealed makes this deadly.
Lantern of Insight The main combo piece. Lets me look at my oppnent's top card to manipulate it.
Codex Shredder - Main combo piece. Lets me discard my opponent's top card. The good thing is, if I wish to let the top of my opponent stay as is, I can use this to manipulate MY top to draw into removal or more shredders/bells.
Ghoulcaller's Bell - same as shredder, but we both discard the top. Its good having one of each (shredder and bell) out because some times you want to make your opponent discard as well as you. Could also make you discard something you didn't want to, but thats why academy is there for.
Mishra's Bauble - A pseudo-lantern for early turns, it lets me look at the top of my opponents deck before I put a lantern out so I can start using my shredders/bells. And it draws me a card to boot. Ifor 0.
Mox Opal - color fix. phyrexia's target, might change it for Relic of Progenitus since I'm having problems with things abilities like Unearth.
Porphyry Nodes - The perfect removal for a creatureless deck.
What I need is ways to get the lantern out fast. Reshape and Artificer's Intuition seem slow and clunky with their cmc and I need to sac/discard an artifact.
I tried implementing counters like Condescend to slow the opponent while scrying, but counters get in the way of the combo in the first few turns which is where I need to set it up or else my opponent might draw too many nasties.
Also thought of adding a 1-off win card, but then I thought that nothing was as frustrating as watching your opponent mill out helplessly.
Anyways, this is just something I came up with yesterday, I'd like to hear opinions on it. -
1
thnkr posted a message on [Primer] Lantern ControlSo XMage is a no-go on my laptop, super unstable After trying that I went and played on Cockatrice and got a fun game in, recorded and uploaded it.Posted in: Control
I currently run seven colorless lands:
Haven't really run into too much of a problem yet. There was a small issue in the game I uploaded last night, where I couldn't play colored spells before my opp dropped Magus of the Moon, but in an interesting twist I was able to use Ghirapur AEther Grid to start killing off opp's Magus. My three lands were 2 Ghost Quarter and 1 Darksteel Citadel, meaning that as soon as Magus was gone I was going to be able to fetch out both of my basic lands using my Ghost Quarters, rendering any future Moon effects useless against my manabase. -
1
artfranc007 posted a message on [Primer] Lantern Controlprob shouldn't be discussing bans on this forum. let's enjoy the time we have with this deck and hope that we get more cards to put in it not less.Posted in: Control -
1
Kruphyx posted a message on [Primer] Lantern ControlPosted in: ControlQuote from artfranc007 »
well the discussion was to refute the noober that brought it up. I put ghirapur in the same camp. Bad in the opener and comes down too late to be effective.Quote from naturalismo »@Pzychout
How does this deck deal with a turn two Stony Silence? You have 4 Inquisitions and 1 Quiet Disrepair. This deck desperately needs Abrupt Decay.
And as far as this alternate win condition thing is concerned, we had a really good one in Ghirapur Aether Grid. Turns out it's too slow for what it does most of the time. So now we're considering a do-nothing enchantment that requires a serious amount of build-around? Bloodchief Ascension doesn't even help us stabilize! IMHO, this doesn't speed up our clock, it slows down our ability to setup the lock. Which in turn gives our opponents another few draw steps to kill us.
All this being said, can we put a stop to this nonsense? It's okay that it was brought up, but I think nearly two pages of discussion is enough.
Well well, your advice is very welcome, both of you. And as far as the noober bringing it up is concerned, I was trying to come up with ideas that could possibly improve the deck you all play. It's a bad idea? Don't play it. The points been made several times. The alternate win condition idea served a different purpose, and not helping with the clock of the deck certainly does hurt it. I don't think a couple pages entertaining a potentially good idea hurts. I guess all of those other pages of ideas were not at all constructive either? Sorry that it's paining you to read though -
1
Pzychout posted a message on [Primer] Lantern ControlThis is the list I will be toying with for a few days/ever...Posted in: Control
-
1
artfranc007 posted a message on [Primer] Lantern ControlDef excited for inventor's fair...might start running 2 and go up to 18 lands, with no infernal tutor. I will have to test this. Saheeli doesn't impress me. She fails the opening hand test and we would better running ashiok cuz she gets around stony. So but already hitting on a card for the deck and preview week hasn't even started bodes well.Posted in: Control - To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
2
1st Place at the Tacoma City Champs
The City Champs is a quarterly tournament held at the LGS that's a five-minute walk from my house. I didn't even know about it until yesterday, when I went in to get a card and they said the tournament was replacing the normal Wednesday tournament. Entry fee was $10, and prizes were exclusive playmats for the Top 8 and four AER booster boxes split between the top four. It was a sizable event, gathering 38 players from around the SeaTac area. It comprised of six rounds of swiss, followed by a cut to top four.
I'm in contact with my fiancé for the first half of the night, which helps to break up the tournament's grindy monotomy. She's seriously amazing, y'all. Even though she doesn't fully understand the game, she's still extremely supportive and is constantly giving me encouragement, which I feel directly contributed toward my success tonight. I'm glad that she's coming with me to GP Vegas. I get nervous at these big events quite easily, and she really knows how to calm me down and get me back in the game. I make sure to keep hydrated throughout the tournament, and walk around / exercise a bit between rounds. I've noticed that taking care of my body and breaking up the tournament by doing other things helps me to retain high performance and focus in my games by not "overloading" myself with Magic.
4 Lantern of Insight
4 Codex Shredder
2 Ghoulcaller's Bell
2 Pyxis of Pandemonium
Hand Control (9)
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Thoughtseize
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Collective Brutality
Board Control (10)
2 Abrupt Decay
4 Ensnaring Bridge
3 Pithing Needle
1 Pyrite Spellbomb
4 Ancient Stirrings
2 Mishra's Bauble
1 Infernal Tutor
1 Life from the Loam
Mana Sources (21)
4 Mox Opal
3 Glimmervoid
1 Spire of Industry
4 Blooming Marsh
1 Swamp
1 Forest
2 Inventors' Fair
2 Academy Ruins
3 Ghost Quarter
4 Welding Jar
2 Spellskite
2 Padeem, Consul of Innovation
1 Thoughtseize
1 Duress
1 Extirpate
1 Lost Legacy
1 Nature's Claim
1 Quiet Disrepair
1 Mechanized Production
I'm so glad I decided to swap out Leylines. I made a more detailed spreadsheet earlier today listing the possible uses of all potential sideboard cards I would reasonably use, and realized that compared to Spellskite, Leyline just wasn't good enough. So I cut them, and freed up some room for the last Jar and an Extirpate in my sideboard. I also swapped out Slaughter Games for Lost Legacy, since after a small amount of reviewing, I realized that there's little risk for Legacy being countered in the matchups I'd play it for anyway, and Legacy is just better because it's cheaper.
Match 1
2-0
Grixis Delver
On the Play
My opponent is clearly inexperienced against me, as they need to read every single card I play. They don't concede until well after I have total control over each game. This was the perfect starter match for me, since I was quite nervous going into the tournament.
Game 1 & 2 – Honestly, I don't remember much other than I just land bridge whenever my opponent taps out to play threats. It's a classic move. A lot of this match bleeds into the next.
Match 2
2-1
Esper Shadow
On the Play
I'm not quite familiar with this archetype. They ran Shadow, Tasigur, and Delver, along with Snapcaster and a bunch of Esper goodness. I've played against them before, at a GPT that I ended up 2-2 dropping. They know their deck well, but it does have its weaknesses.
Game 1 – I quickly land Bridge after Inquisition-Surgical on Death's Shadow to slow my opponent down. My opponent has no outs for a resolved Bridge and scoops a few turns later.
Game 2 – I sideboarded out Needles and Brutalities for more discard and Stony removal. My opponent lands three Delvers while I dig for a Bridge, and it's too much for my small lock to handle both finding Bridge and not letting the Delvers flip.
Game 3 – We both keep discard-heavy hands and are soon both left in topdeck mode. I naturally draw into a two-rock lock, and my opponent lands Liliana, the Last Hope at the same time. They're able to -2 Lili into a Tasigur, but I mill myself into a Bridge when he taps out to play it and Delver. My opponent concedes again, having no outs to a resolved Bridge in their sideboard either.
I take some time here to recharge by going outside for a quick walk, refilling my water bottle, and sharing my progress with my fiancé, who's at home.
Match 3
2-0
Bogles
On the Play
Yes! This matchup is practically a bye.
Game 1 – I Inquisition their Scout, and land turn 3 Bridge after taking a small amount of damage from a topdecked Bogle.
Game 2 – I keep a lucky hand with a Jar, Opal, and Stirrings, which I use to find Bridge. My opponent plays a Dryad Arbor as their first land, and lose the Stony Silence that led them to keep their hand when i Thoughtseize them. I then hold cards in my hand, and wait for them to land two Umbras and Ethereal Armor on their Arbor, before playing land, Opal, Jar, and Bridge all in the same turn to drastically lower my hand size. From there, I eventually draw into the lock.
With thirty minutes left in the round, I check my phone and see my fiancé has texted me, semi-jokingly asking me to bring home some tortilla chips so she can have some salsa. I suprise her by walking home with chips in tow. We share a snack together, and talk about my progress. I walk back and arrive just as the fourth round begins.
Match 4
2-1
Affinity
On the Draw
I know this player, he comes around WNM fairly often and uses Ensoul Artifact in lieu of Steel Overseer. Of course, with my terrible memory, I forget this until he smashes me for five on turn 2.
Game 1 – I land a Bridge pretty early on, but not before taking a couple hits from a huge Springleaf Drum. I naturally draw into other lock pieces, and my opponent scoops pretty early on.
Game 2 – I kept a hand with three lands, a Shredder, and three Bridges (cause why not). This bites me in the butt later, since I die to instant-speed-equip Plating on Vault Skirge with two Bridges in play and the third as my only card in hand. I could have played this a little tighter, now that I think about it. I think I could have used an Inquisition on myself at some point, and could have Ghost Quartered his Glimmervoid to keep him off double black.
Game 3 – This was pretty miserable. Again, I land Bridge after being hit a couple times with Ensoul on Drum. I have to resort to the Lantern + Ruins lock several times to make him shuffle away threats before I draw into Infernal Tutor for a mill rock, prompting a concession.
I talk for a while with my opponent after the match, in a group with the resident Living End player (who is also 4-0) and a couple other regulars. I joke that I'll be seeing the Living End player at the top tables. We discuss strategies for beating Lantern with Affinity, and settle on suggesting Pithing Needle. Now that I think about it, I should have recommended Spell Pierce.
Match 5
0-2
Jeskai Geist
On the Play
This deck seems like a pretty tough matchup for us. They have all the power of Jeskai Control, but with the added clock of Restoration Angel and Geist of Saint Traft. It was pretty brutal.
Game 1 – I kept a hand with a lock and disruption, but just never found a Bridge all game, even after buying myself a turn with Decay on Geist's angel token.
Game 2 – Turn 2 Bridge ate Ceremonius Rejection, then Mana Leak, and finally Spell Queller after being Ruins'd back a couple times. I could have cast Thoughtseize on Turn 2 instead, but wasn't expecting Rejection at all, so I kind of punted that game.
Match 6
2-1
Living End
On the Play
Heh, that same Living End player from earlier, the only undefeated player. He's a regular at my LGS and, among a few other people, is probably the closest thing to a friend that I have there. (I'm not good at making/keeping friends.) He comes prepared for Lantern, with some Faerie Macabre and four Beast Within mainboard, and four Ingot Chewer sideboard.
Game 1 – The first game versus Living End is typically pretty easy. Just land Bridge, and then focus on denying them cyclers so they can't defeat your lock to draw Beast Within. He waits for me to mill him out, which doesn't take long.
Game 2 – Inquisition reveals a hand with a Beast Within and Ingot Chewer. He later topdecks another Chewer, which I see with Lantern, and also lands an on-time cascade into Living End with nine power on the board. The Bridge in my hand did no good without Jar backup.
Game 3 – He offers the draw, saying that winning or losing doesn't affect him in any way (true, considering he's the only undefeated player). I elect to play it out instead, knowing that my sideboard tech will pull some real weight. And it sure did! He practically lost the game when I blind milled a Living End. I attempted Extraction, he responded with Outburst, and I responded to the cascade trigger with another Extraction. I then used Extirpate on Beast Within, and Lost Legacy on Ingot Chewer and Fulminator Mage (brought it back with Shredder). I continually blind milled him throughout the game, and hit zero cards in deck a couple minutes before time was called.
This left me with a 5-1 record. I had pretty awesome tiebreakers, and placed 2nd in the swiss. But it was getting late, so the top 4 convened to discuss what we wanted to do. We agreed to split prizes four ways. Third and fourth agreed to concede their matches, and the same Living End player and I decided to play a final game for standings purposes and for the custom championship playmat with a painting of the Tacoma skyline.
FINALS
2-0
Living End
On the Draw
Game 1 – He resolved Living End, I resolved Bridge. That's basically all that happened. According to the TO, we were playing like "sloppy five-year-olds" at this point, but neither of us really cared since Bridge was the only relevant card on board.
Game 2 – Now this game was awesome, and was made even more awesome because my opponent didn't concede just so we could properly play the game out. I had Lantern with Jar/Jar/Skite backup (felt so good), but was bricked with a Padeem in hand and no Bridge. My opponent hard-cast Fulminator Mage to compliment his previously-hardcast Faerie Macabre, but declined to take any of my three mana sources. I drew a Stirrings, revealing Blooming Marsh, and decided to play a bit of a mind game. This Stirrings revealed another Lantern and a Bridge, but I decided to keep that information hidden and complain about "whiffing" while putting Blooming Marsh into play. (My reasoning: Living End can wreck Lantern by evoking Chewers, LE'ing them back into play, then killing them and reanimating them with another LE. Jar/Jar/Skite is not enough to protect from this, at least not permanently. My opponent has a slow enough clock to where I can use Skite and Padeem to block his ground assault and draw into more action, and Padeem will completely blank his Ingot Chewers too.) So he hardcasts Deadshot Minotaur, and I casually untap my now four lands and play Padeem and Mishra's Bauble. I use Bauble and Padeem to get a free Ancestral Recall on my next turn (OP, the TO notes), and draw into Inventors' Fair. The game played itself at that point.
So I won a championship playmat, and an AER booster box that I immediately redeemed for store credit. (Get that Masterpiece Crucible of Worlds, yo!) I had a conversation with the TO after everyone went home, too. Apparently, this tournament is a pretty big deal (locally), and we had a few GP grinders here as well. He said that a GP itself isn't too much different, you just have to treat it like a local event and don't let its size make you nervous. That made me feel a bit better. I know I've got most of the cards and skill I need to be good, and at this point me being nervous/flustered gets in my way more than anything else. If I can pace myself properly, retain my calm and focus, and keep my body in good shape with proper meals and rest, I'll do a lot better, as this tournament showed me.
2
2
Also, this feel-good moment is brought to you by Padeem, Consul of Innovation and Mechanized Production.
1
3
4 Lantern of Insight
4 Codex Shredder
2 Ghoulcaller's Bell
2 Pyxis of Pandemonium
Hand Control (10)
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Thoughtseize
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Collective Brutality
Board Control (9)
2 Abrupt Decay
4 Ensnaring Bridge
3 Pithing Needle
Consistency & Utility (8)
4 Ancient Stirrings
2 Mishra's Bauble
1 Infernal Tutor
1 Life from the Loam (Budget Crucible)
4 Mox Opal
3 Glimmervoid
1 Spire of Industry
4 Blooming Marsh
1 Swamp
1 Forest
2 Inventors' Fair
2 Academy Ruins
3 Ghost Quarter
3 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Padeem, Consul of Innovation
3 Welding Jar
1 Fatal Push
1 Thoughtseize
1 Slaughter Games
1 Quiet Disrepair
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Nature's Claim
1 Mechanized Production
Match #1 – Red Deck Wins
On the Draw
2 – 1
My opponent was a child attending the WNM with her father. They recently started coming to the shop, and she's done quite well in these WNMs. She's respectful and enjoys the match, and we have a friendly banter going back and forth throughout all three games. Neither her nor her father had ever seen Lantern before, and they were constantly reading all of my cards. Given her placement in WNMs past, I know she's a skilled player, so I don't go lightly on her. Her deck was comprised of such all-stars as Vexing Devil, Ash Zealot, Staggershock, and Magma Jet, which albeit slower than the traditional Burn deck, are significantly stronger against Lantern due to the increased value of each individual card.
Game #1 – I stabilize at a very low life total after taking some hits from Swifty and Zealot and win with mill. Loam dredged me into additional mill rocks.
Game #2 – I had no Lantern, two Jars, and a Bridge. She had a Zealot in play, and surprise-slammed a Blood Moon out of nowhere. The next two cards I draw are Decay and Brutality.
Game #3 – I handily set up the lock, using discard to take Smash from her opening hand. I win with mill, forcing her to draw from an empty deck after we go to time, on the fifth turn.
Match #2 – Bant Eldrazi
On the Draw
2 – 1
A traditional build, featuring Boreal Druid and 3x Engineered Explosives mainboard, which he sided out both games as it turns out, due to me having Needle. My opponent is highly skilled and travels to several weeklies throughout the Tacoma area.
Game #1 – I frantically dig for a Bridge, and land it with one card in hand and at two life after digging through 25 or so cards. I see a Lantern on top of my deck and a Noble on top of his, and he has Boreal Druid in play which can kill me if I let him draw Noble. He thinks I have no outs, but I end up sacrificing Lantern to shuffle his deck, and he scoops after his draw.
Game #2 – He lands Stony Silence and I die to Noble while waiting to draw an out. I had an Abrupt Decay earlier in the game that I used on Displacer instead, fearing the TKS-Displacer combo.
Game #3 – I establish the lock quickly, through light disruption from TKS. My opponent doesn't concede here, preferring instead to wait until I have milled his every last out.
Match #3 – Jeskai Geist
On the Draw
2 – 0
An aggressive Jeskai variant using lots of burn and counterspells. No Cryptic Commands anywhere in the 75 makes me very happy.
Game #1 – He lands Geist of Saint Traft, I land Bridge. I keep him off burn for the rest of the game.
Game #2 – This was an extremely intensive game featuring lots of complex plays from both sides due to my opponent landing Keranos, God of Storms from out of nowhere. I tried keeping him off burn as much as possible, and carefully used Inventors' Fair to manage my life total as I precariously milled him out, one card at a time. This game was exhausting and was seconds short of going to time.
Match #4 – Abzan
On the Play
0 – 2
Siege Rhino to the max! Minimal disruption mainboard, but loads of it in the sideboard. Now I hadn't had a chance to fully recover from the grueling game that I had just completed, and the rest of the night hadn't given me much (if any) chance to relax between games, so by this point my decision-making skills had become severely impaired.
Game #1 – I surgical his Liliana of the Veil, and begin counting the number of outs in his deck. My opponent calls a judge citing slow play, right as I finish tallying up his 2x Decay and 1x Pulse mainboard. (What is the ruling on this? Can I can write notes on my opponent's deck composition, as long as I keep my notes public? Are there time restrictions?) I saw Siege Rhino in my opponent's hand, but foolishly let him draw a second after I stabilized at six life. In retrospect, I shouldn't have conceded so soon; I could have dug myself into Thoughtseize or Collective Brutality to save myself.
Game #2 – My opponent keeps a hand full of disruption and discard, but no threats. I keep a natural lock and double Leyline. My opponent lures me into a false sense of security by not playing Stony when he had a clear opening on his second turn, only to land it on his third. I naturally draw a Bridge right before I'm about to die, but he uses one of his Decays on it, and I'm unable to save it with Jar.
Conclusion (may be TMI)
My biggest problem right now is keeping my cool while playing extensively. I have the skill and card quality needed to do extremely well; I just tend to become over-exerted when playing Magic for too long at once. I need time in between matches to unwind, grab myself some water or a snack, take a short walk, and talk with my fiancé to take my mind off the game. When I become hyperfocused, I burn myself out easily and my performance plummets. I need to watch out for these situations, and probably learn some relaxation techniques to quickly calm my nerves and regain my focus/composure.
To that end, I need need need need need a wincon in my deck. I had a sideboard slot that I filled with Fatal Push cause why not, but in retrospect I should have put Pyrite Spellbomb in the main and moved something from my main into my side (maybe the third Brutality). My fiancé always tells me that I need a wincon in my mainboard, and every time I take it out, I immediately regret it. The wife is always right, folks!
I also discovered last night that it helps me out a ton to travel light. The fewer things I need to keep track of, the less likely I am to lose them, and the less I need to worry about bringing with me from table to table. I've learned that I only need a small handful of things in order to really play:
I'm going to a Vegas GPT at another LGS this upcoming Thursday, in preparation for my GP trip in June. I'm really hoping that the things I've learned from here on out are going to serve me well in this GPT. I could use the bye!
tl;dr: I've got the skills and the good cards. I just need to learn to focus and play to the best of my ability. I am the only one holding myself back now.
1
1
Continued playtesting with Padeem is proving extremely promising. She's provided a lot of value and pulled me out of sticky situations that Spellskite would have just stared at dumbly. It seems like she is really going to assist in a lot of our bad matchups. She's currently at bulk rare status, and is easily splashable with her 3U cost, so try her out if you're interested!
Gx Tron: When combined with three Needles (Karn, Ugin, O-stone) and Bridge, she turns off literally every threat and answer that Tron can throw at us, except Ulamog's cast trigger, and even then, they can only deal with Padeem alone; the rest of the lock stays in place. She also draws us into answers when we need to race Tron by answering all their threats.
Grixis Control: She blanks every copy of Kolaghan's Command and Cryptic Command, something that Lantern has never really been able to do before. She also draws us into more answers with only so much as a Mox Opal in play. Earlier today, I used her additional draws to quickly rebuild my board after EE took out my entire lock, leaving just a couple Bridges and a Jar in play.
Jund/Abzan: I haven't been able to playtest these matchups with her in my deck yet, but when I do, I will make a write up.
It seems like before, Lantern hadn't reached its final form yet. But Padeem really enables the deck to go into "full prison" mode by blanking nearly every remaining relevant card our opponents could have. When every single card in our opponent's deck is dead, the Lantern lock is no longer required, and we can win at our leisure. Food for thought...
1
Brutality is fantastic in the matchup. It kills 0/X creatures and strips hate from their hand.
1
2
Just had to put this here. lol