Why do you want both Fallout and Punishing Fire main? The Grove/Fire combo is good enough to keep Faeries off balance before until you can establish control. The combo also helps you beat Goyf standoffs. I'm pretty sure both Goyf and Punishing Fire will be important for the month and a half they are in the format.
Moat doesn't kill dredge preboard if they run Iona as a DR target mainboard. Onto dark tutelage. I feel that 3 mana might be too much in this deck at least in the early game against aggro. And you want to keep counterspell mana up or spell snare mana up in case they drop goyf or KotR or any other annoying fat creature.
Iona on White is fine. Just play Jace and bounce it. Good luck getting that thing in the bin again.
Dark Tutelage, if played at all, should be a tutor/toolbox target in the side for control matchups.
What are good alternative win-cons to this deck outside of Jace 2.0 and Elspeth?
I am afraid to buy Jace right now because of its $80 price tag. Maybe in the near future when its price goes down but for now, I'll use a cheaper alternative. Preferably a 4CC card.
Would Goblin Charbelcher be a good alternative win con? My version runs 9 fetchlands in a 21-land manabase (1x Academy Ruins)
Right now I own one Charbelcher, so I getting that should hurt my pocket. Although another win condition would be really good (so far, my non-planeswalker version has Thopter combo and Charbelcher win con)
What about Conundrum Sphinx on that spot? Would that work as well?
Ajani Vengeant seems reasonable for what appears to be budget constraints.
He meets your 4cc cost, but you have to understand that locking the opponent's plan out with a Moat and Jace-ing them out of the game are how many games are won - simply put, Ajani's tap stuff into Armageddon plan is nowhere near as backbreaking as Jace's fateseal into ultimate.
He might be playable if you expect a lot of Counterbalance mirrors, but I don't think he fares as well against the storm/combo decks or Aether Vial decks.
Given how the current meta is shaping up, I don't think Bobs (Dark Confidants) or Dark Tutelage will be strong maindeck cards. It's basically a great way to die faster against what seems to be an aggro heavy meta. It could see action in the sideboard as a strong card against control mirrors, however.
One card I have been extremely pleased with in the main is a 2-of Spell Snare.
It hits so many relevant cards in this format, I don't see it being less than a 2 or 3-of.
If you liked Xenosaga, play Xenogears for the original Playstation. It's pretty obvious where the development team had their budget cut (you can see it as the game progresses), but the overall story is pretty freaking awesome.
The strength of CB/Top is that you can respond to the casted spell, stack the top card to hopefully match the cc of the spell, and let CB trigger -- thus countering the spell. You have the "soft lock" of CB/Top in a nutshell.
***
In other news, has anyone considered snuff out in CB/Top.dec? 4cc to get the higher end of legacy spells + it's "free" removal if necessary. Obviously intended for non-BANT color cb lists. I'm thinking possibly UBr/UBw
I misplayed my way out of an FNM. The reward for being in the bottom tier of FNM at our store is a free pack. So after the tourney, the guy asks me what pack I want.
I decide (out loud to my friends) that I'm going to crack a Jace and go for Worldwake.
Maelstrom Pulse is not the best answer for Bitterblossom, as it is sorcery speed and 3cc.
IMO the best answers posted in this thread so far were Great Sable Stag, Volcanic Fallout, and Wispmare (the last is good in that it can be used on the play or draw).
Another strong answer is the Punishing Fire/Grove of the Burnwillows combo. Yes, they keep gaining 1 life for every faerie token you kill, but this card makes it very difficult for the Faerie deck to establish tempo, which they are very reliant upon.
I have a pair that I got in 2007 that are still great today. I wear them virtually every day when its >70 degrees outside. When I got them, they were $20-$25 at PacSun at my local mall. It seems their prices have gone up, but hopefully you can still find them for <$30 in stores.
I'll second this. Rainbows are a pain to break in but they are the best when they are. Plus, they have a really good warranty program (when the sole wears out, you can ship them out to have a new one put in)
The random Extirpate maindeck is a holdover from the Teachings deck in last Extended season. It can rip out Anathemancers, help shut down combo decks, or just give you a quick look at the opponent's hand against other Cryptic Command decks to see if you can resolve a Cruel or a fatty creature next turn.
Broken Ambitions gets the nod over Mana Leak as it helps dig for land early game, or ship land to the bottom in the lategame. Speaking of which, while it is poor late game (setting Broken on 7 = eww), it's still better than topdecking a Mana Leak late. I mean, the Extended format of last year was a lot faster and Mana Leak was fading into obscurity at the end of the season. With so many more slower decks now, I don't think it's the best card to be running right now or when the coming season rolls around.
It's safe to say that as far as speculation goes, Faeries is public enemy #1 in this speculated metagame right now. In that regard, Mystical Teachings into a Volcanic Fallout is pretty awesome vs. Faeries. Seeing as how I have 4 Fallouts and a Cloudthresher, I may cut one Fallout or the Thresher entirely for something else. If they are countering your Teachings, you get a window to resolve other big spells.
Why do you want both Fallout and Punishing Fire main? The Grove/Fire combo is good enough to keep Faeries off balance before until you can establish control. The combo also helps you beat Goyf standoffs. I'm pretty sure both Goyf and Punishing Fire will be important for the month and a half they are in the format.
Iona on White is fine. Just play Jace and bounce it. Good luck getting that thing in the bin again.
Dark Tutelage, if played at all, should be a tutor/toolbox target in the side for control matchups.
Ajani Vengeant seems reasonable for what appears to be budget constraints.
He meets your 4cc cost, but you have to understand that locking the opponent's plan out with a Moat and Jace-ing them out of the game are how many games are won - simply put, Ajani's tap stuff into Armageddon plan is nowhere near as backbreaking as Jace's fateseal into ultimate.
He might be playable if you expect a lot of Counterbalance mirrors, but I don't think he fares as well against the storm/combo decks or Aether Vial decks.
One card I have been extremely pleased with in the main is a 2-of Spell Snare.
It hits so many relevant cards in this format, I don't see it being less than a 2 or 3-of.
Aren't Moat or Humility considered better creature answers at 4cc than Snuff Out?
I decide (out loud to my friends) that I'm going to crack a Jace and go for Worldwake.
Well, guess what...I got the Jace
IMO the best answers posted in this thread so far were Great Sable Stag, Volcanic Fallout, and Wispmare (the last is good in that it can be used on the play or draw).
Another strong answer is the Punishing Fire/Grove of the Burnwillows combo. Yes, they keep gaining 1 life for every faerie token you kill, but this card makes it very difficult for the Faerie deck to establish tempo, which they are very reliant upon.
I'll second this. Rainbows are a pain to break in but they are the best when they are. Plus, they have a really good warranty program (when the sole wears out, you can ship them out to have a new one put in)
And yes, I gave him an opportunity to respond to the trigger, but he played the Clique after the flip anyway...
You are correct.
4x Reflecting Pool
4x Vivid Creek
3x Vivid Marsh
2x Vivid Crag
2x Vivid Meadow
2x Sunken Ruins
2x Cascade Bluffs
2x Mystic Gate
3x Island
1x Exotic Orchard
Creature-10
1x Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
1x Cloudthresher
2x Baneslayer Angel
1x Broodmate Dragon
2x Mulldrifter
3x Plumeveil
4x Cryptic Command
4x Broken Ambitions
2x Mystical Teachings
4x Volcanic Fallout
4x Esper Charm
2x Path to Exile
1x Doom Blade
1x Extirpate
Sorcery-2
2x Cruel Ultimatum
Artifact-1
1x Pithing Needle
3x Great Sable Stag
3x Kitchen Finks
2x Runed Halo
3x Hallowed Burial
1x Negate
1x Essence Scatter
1x Dralnu, Lich Lord
1x Bant Charm
The random Extirpate maindeck is a holdover from the Teachings deck in last Extended season. It can rip out Anathemancers, help shut down combo decks, or just give you a quick look at the opponent's hand against other Cryptic Command decks to see if you can resolve a Cruel or a fatty creature next turn.
Broken Ambitions gets the nod over Mana Leak as it helps dig for land early game, or ship land to the bottom in the lategame. Speaking of which, while it is poor late game (setting Broken on 7 = eww), it's still better than topdecking a Mana Leak late. I mean, the Extended format of last year was a lot faster and Mana Leak was fading into obscurity at the end of the season. With so many more slower decks now, I don't think it's the best card to be running right now or when the coming season rolls around.
It's safe to say that as far as speculation goes, Faeries is public enemy #1 in this speculated metagame right now. In that regard, Mystical Teachings into a Volcanic Fallout is pretty awesome vs. Faeries. Seeing as how I have 4 Fallouts and a Cloudthresher, I may cut one Fallout or the Thresher entirely for something else. If they are countering your Teachings, you get a window to resolve other big spells.