- darktutor
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Member for 9 years, 7 months, and 24 days
Last active Sun, Jan, 26 2020 11:47:54
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Twanicus posted a message on Sultai MidrangeThis forum seems to be the catch all for Sultai strategies, so until one of them gets the tier rating necessary to warrant it's own forum I am in favor of updating the title to include all sub archetypes.Posted in: Midrange -
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CharonsObol posted a message on Death And TaxesPosted in: Aggro & Tempo
I'm deeply saddened that you thought I was being serious. The oddball suggestions in this thread just got slightly too real.Quote from darktutor »Quote from CharonsObol »We don't auto-lose G2 to Affinity running Whipflare.
I mean, that's gotta be worth changing the whole deck, right?
While that is helpful, it's kind of the most niche scenario you could possibly wish for against affinity. Burrenton Forge-Tender covers this problem without making the deck weaker to the rest of the field's sideboard, while also providing an edge against a lethal Galvanic Blast or a removal aimed at your best dude. -
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LtGlitter posted a message on Death And TaxesWhile people are bringing up playing red in the deck I finally did it!Posted in: Aggro & Tempo -
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deathandcatmix posted a message on Death And TaxesStarting up a twitch series soon...Posted in: Aggro & Tempo
I don't have a ton of info to share but know this...
It's going to be fun and enlightening. As I get closer to launching the series, I'll fill you all in on the plan. Hope you are excited about this!
-catmix -
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LtGlitter posted a message on Death And Taxesmy opponent ran away before I could find out if this game was winnable :cPosted in: Aggro & Tempo -
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x1uo3yd posted a message on Death And TaxesDeath&Taxes: mtgTop8 QuicklinksPosted in: Aggro & Tempo
What is this post about?
Despite the recent meta-wide popularity of Death&Taxes (and the BW-Eldrazi variant in particular) the posted results still seem to be sorted under a number of crazy titles. Searching through Hatebear, Flicker, Eldrazi, etc. results to find actual Death&Taxes listings can often be a pain, especially when you just want to compare the top few recent decks in your splash color.
This list uses google-fu and short-links to type the "Decks must contain following cards"-entries into mtgTop8 so you don't have to.
Search Posted Wins
The links below are sorted from top-to-bottom following wide-to-narrow applicability. You can hover-over the links here and bookmark them to your browser. Favorite and forget it.
- Death&Taxes / / Hatebears (Searches for: GQ, Vial, and ThaliaGT.) These results are super general and not necessarily D&T. Though, sometimes it's useful for comparing Death&Taxes vs. Hatebears.
- WX-Death&Taxes (Searches for: Wisp, Vial, and ThaliaGT.) Finds >95% of all D&T decks (all color variants) while excluding Hatebears decks with decent accuracy (Hatebears tends to not run Wisp).
- WGX-Death&Taxes (Searches for: Forest, Wisp, Vial, and ThaliaGT.) Finds white-green D&T lists as long as the pilots packed at least one basic Forest.
- WBX-Death&Taxes (Searches for: Swamp, Wisp, Vial, and ThaliaGT.) Finds white-black D&T lists as long as the pilots packed at least one basic Swamp.
- WRX-Death&Taxes (Searches for: Red, Wisp, Vial, and ThaliaGT.) Finds white-red D&T lists as long as the pilots packed at least one basic Mountain.
- WUX-Death&Taxes (Searches for: Island, Wisp, Vial, and ThaliaGT.) Finds white-blue D&T lists as long as the pilots packed at least one basic Island.
- WXC-Death&Taxes (Searches for: TKS, Wisp, Vial, and ThaliaGT.) Finds most Eldrazi D&T lists, even most micro-splashes, since TKS is often the biggest reason to dabble in Eldrazi.
- WCX-Death&Taxes (Searches for: EzTemple, Wisp, Vial, and ThaliaGT.) Finds heavily-splashed Eldrazi D&T lists by searching for maindeck Eldrazi Temple; this will often miss Eldrazi micro-splashes.
Why?
I mostly made this post because I got annoyed manually typing entries into mtgTop8 and figured others might be in the same boat. Some of you may already have your own work-arounds but for everyone else, here it is. The formatting is a little over the top but I wanted to grab everyone's attention to gauge interest. (And maybe selfishly snag some likes in the process; Muwahahaha! <--evil laugh)
Suggestions
If there are some important searches that you feel I missed (or better search cards for a given splash/variant) feel free to PM me a suggestion. -
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HomelandZecurity posted a message on Grixis/Tasigur (URB) Twin (2/2015 - 1/2016)Posted in: Modern Archives - EstablishedQuote from Gul_Dukat »you just said you commonly go for the combo and get path'd.
you should never combo unless your about to die, or you can protect it or they don't have ways to interact with it. like if their playing mono green ramp
your playing the deck wrong.
Ok, easy there.
First, @PraiseTheKappa, I will say that I do agree with Gul_Dukat that Pact of Negation is not ideal. I'd almost call it unplayable in this deck at the moment. There are just too many cases where you need your protection spell for other purposes. We aren't hyper focused on the combo, but even if you are trying to jam it on turn 4/5, more often than not, cards like Inquisition and Dispel will do almost the same job as Pact (if not better sometimes), while being much better in any noncombo situation. Especially with all the burn decks and blue mirrors running around, I'd highly recommend those two over Pact. Straight U/R Twin would be more likely to play Pact, given their reliance on the combo and ability to support it a little better, but even they are more likely to play stuff like Spellskite and Dispel instead. That said, if you still want to test it for yourself, you absolutely should.
@Gul_Dukat, chill out dude. He's new to the deck, and is simply asking for advice. No need to berate him and tell him he's playing the deck wrong. I wouldn't exactly call this sound advice either:
you should never combo unless your about to die, or you can protect it or they don't have ways to interact with it
When to combo is a very sensitive choice, yes, but you can't limit yourself to restrictions like this, just as you can't always jam the combo on turn 4. Sometimes you try and jam the combo even if you aren't about to die, or you aren't sure they have interaction. Usually, yes you wait until the coast is clear or you are forced to combo under pressure, but sometimes those things are unknown and you still have to go for it. There is no "wrong" way to play the deck, it's personal preference.
At the very least though, have some respect. Don't just yell at a fellow poster for not knowing the optimal way to play this strategy. Be helpful. That's what the threads are for. Saying something like this would be much more preferable:
"In general, it's better to wait for the combo until you have a good opening, or you are forced to try and win before your opponent kills you. Sometimes you jam it on turn 4, but usually you are better off waiting until you can protect the combo, or when your opponent taps out foolishly. Running into removal every time is a sure sign you are being too hasty with the combo. Just take your time, and remember to do everything at their EOT whenever possible to give you maximum control over the game."
That's much more constructive advice for Kappa than, "you're doing it wrong." -
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Metillon posted a message on [Primer] UB/x FaeriesPosted in: Aggro & TempoQuote from Mitorah »Quote from cwalumd »If you have guides for different common matchups, I think that would be very helpful to the community. I would certainly love to read them.
Indeed. I have FNM this friday, and I was thinking of bringing faeries to the table and I could use all information I need.
I have a lot of personal notes. I will give the infect guide first. Afterwards, we will see how it goes . -
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Metillon posted a message on [Primer] UB/x FaeriesPosted in: Aggro & TempoQuote from Cikan »(See page 169 taking out the Go for the Throat for a H. Recall in the board for deck list. Very much like the Metillion list).
Bladiebla. Tournament succes!
Well done! Always those stupid semifinales >.< . I don't think that dropping Tect Edge is a real deal. Scapeshift and Tron are still not your friends and I found it overperforming in the Jund matchup, were every removal spell counts. That said, new builds of jund are favourable for us (unlike unfavourable junk lists). Bitterblossom is a house now they run 2 Abrupt Decay. My thoughts about all the matches is pretty much the same. It's great to have another sample going on with the list I have been developing for months now.
I only scored very humble results during the last FNM. Being very tired left my play a lot to desire for.
1-1 draw against RG tron
2-1 win against RG tron
0-2 loss against Zoo Company
2-0 win against 8-rack. I have no idea how 8-rack is supposed to win once the opponent gets acquantained with it. It realy is a one-trick pony.
Also, Darktutor, I love you your results and your considerations about anticipate et al. A faeriedeck should have powerful draws, not such cards. I like your experimental, but competitively orientated mind. Really helps us to beat the meta . Grats! Also love the 4 Lilianas.
I still feel that UB Faeries are reasonably well-positioned in the meta. However, the upsurge of Company decks might really shrink our chances.
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No one else in my meta plays Faeries, so it was a ton of fun Friday to be that guy.
As long as you win you should feel proud . I also have no one else to play and test faeries with. In my country (Holland) Faeries has the highest top8/attendence conversion rate of all decks, guess who played faeries solo .
What are thoughts on Extirpate or Surgical Extraction as a side option? Let's you see hand, can mess with graveyard stuff, can potentially pull cards out of their hand (and library), can kill a combo deck (not that faeries needs help there) - can depower a goyf at instant speed and I really like the phyrexian mana cost aspect. I suppose the question would become, what do you take out that does less work? I guess really, these cards don't effect the game enough to take a slot or two when we already have such good disruption.
Actually, against Tron the cards are nice. A one-off is perfectly justifiable, I would not get anywhere beyond that though. We don't need more than 3-5 slots against combo decks, however, these slots need to be general and good.
Has Sage's Dousing been tested? It seems we run a lot of wizards..
No, did you?
How about Condescend ?
Did you?
Delay?
Good against counter mirrors. However, we already beat counter mirrors so hard that we don't usually care.
Dimur Charm?
Has some sidedeck merits. Can remember some suggested it during the Cruise-Delver Era.
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Posted in: Deck Creation (Modern)Quote from Gregaries »I believe might have mistaken Sakura Tribe Elder and Veteran Explorer.
Haven't even finished the primer and I'm already getting trolled by someone's troll account. - To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
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I've been able to cast Sculler more often than not by T2/T3. It is a liability sometimes and it makes you vial it. But the upside of playing tidehollow sculler is a tax on both tempo and resources, as you are most likely choosing a card that forces certain line of play. If they chose to follow the path you've chosen for them, they fall behind on resources (most times in quality) and if they don't then they fall behind on tempo. Also, vialing a Sculler in draw step, again, forces a lot of awkward interactions in an inconvenient timing.
I think the cards individually don't do much, but the sum of all parts make the deck a huge monster to be dealt with properly.
Lingering souls is a trap. The card is good, but not as good as it seems for us. You can't vial it in and it's very awkward with thalia and wingmare. Especially if you have sacced a couple ghost quarters. It ends up taxing you (falling out of tempo to cast the spell, providing a less hostile environment to your opponent to develop their boardstate/deal with yours).
Sea Gate Wreckage is the best card after trading all your cards with your opponent's in Jund and Control MUs. It's one of the best cards EVER.
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I didn't make it personal, but you said it's a nonbo and it's not. It can be a combo if you have enought information and resources available. But the fact that you can't always use as a combo doesn't make it a nonbo, you still don't even know what it means. I won't comment on this subdiscussion anymore, because you just keep changing the focus of it, you can't keep up to your own words and you made it personal. You really seem like a kid (as your name implies), so no point in trying to make you understand, moving on.
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Let me put it this way: You played the card in a different deck that happens to be in the same colors.
Do you think that what test bad for Grixis control is also bad for Grixis Delver? How about Naya Zoo and Naya burn? Junk Midrange and Junk Little Kid? Jund Midrange and Jund Goblins?
The fact that 2 decks share the same colors doesn't imply the card problems/rewards will be similar between them. If you don't understand that, I don't expect you to understand why a heavy discard build that works mainly at sorcery speed prefers Painful Truths over Esper Charm.
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How many discard spells do you play? I bet you play somewhere around 5/6 between discard + Cliques. Can you share the list you used when you saw those problems?
This are my general thoughts on Faeries, maybe you can find some of them helpful:
We play a deck that interacts better with threats in hand and stack rather than on the battlefield. You can't profitably run more than 8 removal spells in the deck, because you will fold often to good MUs like Combo and Control. This is the reason why Discard slots can't be trimmed, because they are also better removal or better counterspells (they kill hexproof and 'counter' the uncounterable), they are the best answer to a not-yet-asked question. Discard spells impact the development of the game so much better than counters and removals, because they take out the ability of an answer. Once the spell is on the stack it can be affected by 'can't be countered' clauses or opposing and more effective counters (Dispel/Spell Snare/Spell Pierce), once they are on the battlefield you have less cards to interact with them (as only removal takes them out). This is what concerns me the most when I see people posting lists trimmed on discard in favor of Ancestral Vision. This may not be your case though.
The way I see it in the early turns discard is great because it takes out the threatening spells or the answers to our counters/removal. But later in the game they become even better because, unlike jund, we don't aim to get people hellbent with lili and kill them with a goyf. People usually rebuilds their hands and try to go again, so that's when drawing more hand disruption becomes better, you force them to play their counters to 'protect' the threat (but leave the window open for you to counter in their turn) or you can take their pump spell, combo piece, wrath effect, whatever would blow you out at sorcery speed or that would work better in their turn. Basically, late game discard can force a resource exchange that is more profitable for you even it being 1 for 1. Especially against decks like Zooicide, which need some specific cards to win through your permission/BB tokens/removal. Discard outplays the 'rebuild' plan.
In my list my breakdown goes: 9 Cards are hand dirsuption (6 discard + 3 V Cliques), 11 are permisson (7 counterspells +4 Stutters) and 7 are removal spells. So I got 20 cards that work better with cards in Hand/Stack (7 of which come with a body) and 7 cards that fight resolved threats. This is what you have to keep in mind when choosing what to discard from your opponent, which spells to counter and which to let resolve. I consider more valuable to take your threats from your hand than take your outs to removal/counters. Counterspells are better to fight things you can't kill, or to fight bomb spells. If you have the kill spell, then take the 'comeback' card and let the threat resolve, then kill it EoT and kinda timewalk them. You can stonewall any Zooicide threat with Bitterblossom until you find your out to the situation.
Attacking the hand gives you the information you need to make your game plan, what to counter, what to kill, how to handle each situation.
Anyway, that experience is a sample of 4 matches agaisnt Zooicide, it's not enough to get a proper determination of the MU and it's not a deck that currently is considered a contender, I don't think you should add any cards for that MU in particular, but any card that plays well against aggro should suffice your sideboard plan. My advice is to get better at playing the discard game and to tune the discard/counter/removal trifecta that defines this deck. Find your metagame angles of attack, look for your best options to fight it and adjust the amount of spells to do so (MB and SB).
EDIT: As a reference, here's my list:
4x Thoughtseize
2x Inquisition of Kozilek
2x Disfigure
3x Ancestral Vision
2x Spell Snare
4x Bitterblossom
2x Doom Blade
1x Go for the Throat
4x Spellstutter Sprite
3x Remand
1x Dismember
3x Vendilion Clique
2x Mistbind Clique
1x Murderous Cut
Lands:
4x Mutavault
3x Creeping Tar Pit
4x Darkslick Shores
4x Polluted Delta
3x Secluded Glen
1x Cavern of Souls
4x Island
1x Swamp
2x Engineered Explosives
2x Relic of Progenitus
1x Duress
2x Dispel
2x Hurkyl's Recall
2x Countersquall
1x Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
2x Damnation
1x Batterskull
I'm toying with Liliana of the Veil (1 MB and 2/3 SB), bounce cards (Wipe Away/Repeal/Echoing Truth) SB and Mindbreak Trap SB as well.
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I disagree on these MUs. Maybe because we play different builds though. Would you mind sharing your latest decklist? I am always interested to see what you are playing.
I played a few matches against storm and I never felt they stood a chance, unless some crazy T2 8 goblins or something along those lines, I don't believe the MU is problematic at all.
Burn seems still a possitive MU for us, even the nacatl version. I haven't really played that much against Burn though, and I know that my list has more bad cards mainboard than replacements from the sideboard (4TS 4 BB 3AV - 1Duress 2Countersquall 2Dispel 1Kalitas 1Bskull), so I usually leave 1 TS and the Visions in anyway, and the weird thing is that it has paid off everytime, as against Burn you get to the point where they are hellbenet and every top deck can kill you, so you need to draw an answer every turn, getting to draw 3 at some point puts you in the sweet spot of being able to timewalk them all their hellbent turns. Against more zoolike Versions I think I'd leave BB rather than TS in.
Ad Nauseam is a MU where you feel safe all the time, and the best cards against it are Cavern of Souls and Spellstutter Sprite. After sideboarding you have to expect Leyline, but even if they start with it, you can easily beat them without discard. Games against Ad Nauseam are long cause they have to cantrip for combo pieces + protection for it, otherwise they lose, and it's not like they play 8 Pact of Negation. They also beat you by discarding lands, and they need such lands in play as well because they have to bottleneck you to resolve their threats. The best way to beat them is dropping a BB T4+ and slowly killng them while they try to find an out. Something to keep in mind is that Boseiju doesn't save them if you have a Cavern of Souls in play and save your Stutter for that, as they can only use it for Ad Nauseam, they can't protect their kill spell, and if they don't use it for AN you just counter it. It's a corner case, but it will save you games as it does happen.
I think AV put the deck into a new level, I don't mean we're the best deck for the card, but it certainly does the job we need to be done in our deck. I am happy to be playing this deck in a level I haven't felt before, I'm in love again with Faeries.
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So you never played ancestral faeries, have no experience with it, but know how it works out for the deck. Now that's some talent.
You need to define your playstyle (discard/counters/removal package) and see how vision fits your plan to make it work. Taking out random cards will give you a bad result sample.
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I forgot the 'If a creature would die this turn, exile it instead.' bit. Definitely better than Drown in an open meta. In a local meta where melira is small/absent, Drown would be better because of the scry.
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What you find acceptable and what proves practical are two different things. Theoretically you want to suspend Visions on T1, but that's not practical in most cases as Thoughtseize/Iok or a timely disfigure/dismember/spell snare is so much better against decks that will corner you to a losing spot before visions resolve. What you're saying is just too cute. Sure it's nice to suspend it T1, but 90% of the times it's just not necessary or harmful to your plan not to do so (even having it in the opening 7 with an untapped blue source).
EDIT: Think of it this way: If you can cast something other than AV that interacts with the boardstate or the stack in your T1 or your opponent's T1/T2 but you cast AV instead, your opponent just timewalked you with no effort or resources spent. Resolved their 2drop, kept alive their birds, or whatever. Then T2 if you interact with that, your opponent timewalked you again at no cost, as you have less resources to keep up with interaction. And this deck is all about interaction.
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Just some thoughts on this Kalitas vs Batterskull:
Against CoCo Kalitas is better than batterskull by far, especially Melira. You ruin their Eternal Witness and also the Reveillark plan as well.
Against combo decks, Kalitas is not bad.
Overall Kalitas is stronger (in my eyes) than Batterskull against combo. I still run both on the SB, wouldn't change one for the other, and don't really care about Kolaghan's commmand, that's the kind of card thtat we want to counter or discard. If a K command resolves, we're in a bad spot already and it's not related to playing or not playing batterskull.
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How many matches did you actually play since unbans on monday?? How many real competitive matches? Don't fool yourself. AV is a great card.