The thing is, this deck is appealing mostly because it ‘cheats’ on mana almost always with 8 dorks. Clique, Queller and Knight constantly casted on turn two is what makes it somehow competitive.
I love it, but I do think that if you want to be ‘cute’ with Planeswalkers, you may as well just go for Jeskai Saheeli, in a shell that supports them way better than this. I don’t see the actual space in the maindeck (unless you decide to be slower and cut some mana ramp).
I do think that Deputy is a strong choice, on the other hand.
Looking at the sideboard, I guess that with the amount of interaction it plays in the maindeck (4 Force, 4 Queller, 3 Clique), I would probably cut the Eidolons for another Knight of Autumn and another grindy card (which could be Teferi, Hero of Dominaria?)
has spell snare been useful? it feels too narrow. What cards are you countering with it?
Mono Blue has to play with it, or it will fold to Affinity, Eidolon and similar threats. It’s a very narrow card, but extra useful when used at the right time (Thing, Manamorphose, Snapcaster, Altar etc). You can pitch it to Force of Negation when it’s unnecessary.
instead of the djinn he plays Pteramander
We need to play Though Scour (terrible card on its own) to fuel Pteramander. Djinn doesn’t care about Grave hate, and it’s always a 3/4 flying on turn three (which stonewalls lots of stuff the opponent does).
Field of Ruin hasn’t really impressed me, as we want to operate on blue sources all the time. Force of Negation has been a great addiction, that in Mono Blue you’ll never have trouble casting, and it permits you to cast Djinn with active protection for the opponent’s bomb.
I considered a split of Archmage’s Charm and Cryptic Command, but the latter is truly too versatile for a decklist which doesn’t pack many removals.
Running CoCo with just 22 creatures is way too greedy, imho.
The reason why I would choose to play this deck over something like, let’s say, Abzan Finale, is having access to Force of Negation. My take would be something of the sort:
There’s nothing wrong with it. But I believe that making this deck even less resilient to Leyline of the Void and Rest In Peace isn’t exactly where you want to be at.
IMHO Golgari Grave-Troll was never oppressive, indeed. I have a Vintage background, and as I see the game it’s definitely normal conceding 6-7 slots in the board to graveyard decks. It also benefits the maindeck building for a large part of the format, knowing that you can’t just sideboard tons of cards in every matchup, so you have to think about every single card you’re playing.
Dread Return is another story, cause it was simply too broken alongside Bridge from Below. I don’t know about now. The format is overpowered compared to those days.
IMHO ‘sideboard wars’ are a constant of every format. Grave hate is only a part of it. In the same way as Midrange decks usually pack 7-8 cards against a Tron to have a chance vs it.
By the way, I’m also interested in trying a shell that doesn’t fold against grave hate AND it has legs for grindy games. The idea was something of the sort:
The single SV in the maindeck is the ‘free slot’ that would be reserved to another removal spell. But I want to keep he Blue Count at 25, so it could be replaced either by Izzet Charm, Simic Charm, Echoing Truth or something else I’m missing at the moment.
Depends on your hand. If you lose to Wurmcoil Engine, you act as the Force would be a Shoal. Otherwise, you do your stuff I’m the early turns (deploying threats) and then you counter the pay-off cards.
4 Marsh Flats
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
2 Blood Crypt
1 Godless Shrine
1 Sacred Foundry
2 Swamp
1 Mountain
1 Plains
4 Seasoned Pyromancer
1 Monastery Mentor
4 Lingering Souls
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Thoughtseize
4 Faithless Looting
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Fatal Push
2 Terminate
1 Dreadbore
3 Kaya’s Guile
3 Blood Moon
2 Abrade
1 Dreadbore
2 Kambal, Consul of Allocation
2 Wear / Tear
2 Plague Engineer
2 Collective Brutality
3 Nihil Spellbomb
I do think that Deputy is a strong choice, on the other hand.
Mono Blue has to play with it, or it will fold to Affinity, Eidolon and similar threats. It’s a very narrow card, but extra useful when used at the right time (Thing, Manamorphose, Snapcaster, Altar etc). You can pitch it to Force of Negation when it’s unnecessary.
We need to play Though Scour (terrible card on its own) to fuel Pteramander. Djinn doesn’t care about Grave hate, and it’s always a 3/4 flying on turn three (which stonewalls lots of stuff the opponent does).
17x Island
Creatures (12):
4x Thing in the Ice
4x Snapcaster Mage
4x Tempest Djinn
Cantrips (12):
4x Serum Visions
4x Opt
4x Sleight of Hand
3x Spell Snare
4x Remand
4x Force of Negation
Others (8):
4x Cryptic Command
2x Vapor Snag
2x Dismember
4x Relic of Progenitus
2x Ravenous Trap
1x Dismember
2x Ratchet Bomb
2x Dispel
3x Ceremonious Rejection
1x Unsummon
Field of Ruin hasn’t really impressed me, as we want to operate on blue sources all the time. Force of Negation has been a great addiction, that in Mono Blue you’ll never have trouble casting, and it permits you to cast Djinn with active protection for the opponent’s bomb.
I considered a split of Archmage’s Charm and Cryptic Command, but the latter is truly too versatile for a decklist which doesn’t pack many removals.
The reason why I would choose to play this deck over something like, let’s say, Abzan Finale, is having access to Force of Negation. My take would be something of the sort:
4 Windswept Heath
3 Misty Rainforest
1 Flooded Strand
3 Snow-Covered Forest
1 Snow-Covered Plains
1 Snow-Covered Island
2 Temple Garden
1 Breeding Pool
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Stomping Ground
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Waterlogged Grove
1 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Ghost Quarter
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Ice-Fang Coatl
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Spell Queller
3 Vendilion Clique
//Spells
4 Path to Exile
4 Jace, the Mindsculptor
4 Force of Negation
3 Retreat to Coralhelm
4 Rest In Peace
3 Geist of Saint Traft
2 Damping Sphere
2 Tireless Tracker
2 Eidolon of Rhetoric
2 Knight of Autumn
Dread Return is another story, cause it was simply too broken alongside Bridge from Below. I don’t know about now. The format is overpowered compared to those days.
Let’s see what it happens at GP/PT, anyway.
3 Spirebluff Canal
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Breeding Pool
2 Steam Vents
2 Island
1 Forest
Creatures (15)
4 Delver of Secrets
3 Hexdrinker
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Young Pyromancer
4 Sleight of Hand
4 Opt
1 Serum Visions
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Magmatic Shinkole
3 Vapor Snag
4 Force of Negation
2 Spell Pierce
3 Deprive
2 Abrade
3 Ceremonious Rejection
4 Ravenous Trap
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Entrancing Melody
2 Engineered Explosives
The single SV in the maindeck is the ‘free slot’ that would be reserved to another removal spell. But I want to keep he Blue Count at 25, so it could be replaced either by Izzet Charm, Simic Charm, Echoing Truth or something else I’m missing at the moment.
Magmatic Shinkole is something we can’t make coexist with Hooting Mandrills, and in testing it was extremely versatile.
Sideboard pretty stacked for the current meta.
3 Darkslick Shores
4 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Watery Grave
1 Godless Shrine
1 Swamp
1 Plains
2 Island
Creatures (12)
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Monastery Mentor
4 Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Force of Negation
3 Thoughtseize
Other Spells (18)
4 Opt
4 Sleight of Hand
4 Fatal Push
3 Path to Exile
3 Teferi, Time Raveler
2 Celestial Purge
2 Collective Brutality
2 Dovin’s Veto
2 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Path to Exile
3 Surgical Extraction
3 Ravenous Trap