With the rise of jeskai controls, and given the importance of TKS in this match, should we be playing cavern of souls instead of other utility lands like sea gate and vault of archangel?
And Jared Hall took a BW Eldrazi and Taxis list to top 8 in SCG open with 4 f****** reality smashers in the 75. This is absolutely beautiful! The card feels so strong with your opponents having to spend removal early on your taxers... Really want to sleeve it up to play it, however what annoys me most is the set of 4 concealed courtyards. I still play with 3 godless shrines in my list, because I have nightmares with ETB Tapped lands, especially running 5 CmC cards... What do you think? Is the burn matchup so unbalanced that we have to play the courtyards instead of shrines?
Unfortunately, taxes decks already doesn't play fetches because of arbiter. This card can be a veeery good ghost stripmine+evolving wilds for 4 Mana, or a really bad 2 Mana ghost quarter. It is better than tec edge in either occasion, though. Don't think eldrazi builds (like mine) will use it because we play 3-4 basics... Also, turn 3 is critical when it comes to start landing several threats, we often don't have spare Mana to spend on ramp/quarter... Nd if you're in mindcensor plan, it is turn 4 already and it may not be that great anymore
I think Vial, Ghost Quarters and Paths give you some ways to get around Blood Moon. It's still an annoying card to play against for sure, but I wouldn't classify it as stone cold beater. Still figuring out the correct number of basics for this. I like 2 Plains and a Wastes, but sometimes I miss the swamp, mainly to GQ myself to activate Shambling Vent
cut a courtyard for the swamp if you really wants the wastes. I play with 0 courtyards and 3 godless and am fine with it. 20 lands
I love the tech. I'm sick and tired of suffering them in Pauper but it's so cruel that I highly approve it. I would like to be informed about your progress with them.
Could you show your list?
I am playing a rather risky land base, with only 20 lands in a tricolor deck. I found myself often ghost quartering myself to fix colors (a tech I often used in BW Processors, with 24 lands). So, you can see I am rellying a lot on vial. However, with 20 lands I have more value out of my greater selection of creatures, and so I don't miss too much the lack of card draw. I try to go as fast as possible, protecting my 1st turn from discard with the Familiar, and landing the thalias/leonins safely. Death shadows, valakut, burn, HATE the owl paired with Thalia! However I feel more exposed to non-chord creature decks, and maybe big Thalia could have a spot in the sideboard to fight eldrazis and emrakul decks. So far I am liking it a lot! If my opponent doesn't know I am playing the rats, I can steal wins. If they know, they tend to play less spells to keep hand with answers and save removal for displacer... So it is a win/win scenario
Hi guys. I am a former bw eldrazis processor player and have recently switched to eldrazis and taxes. I am loving it. I have played with two confidants and didn't like it. It is too slow to the actual meta, and you want him down on turn 2, and turn two you need Thalia or leonin down.. However, reality smashers are very powerful in this slot, albeit costing 4 Mana. Went to a 5-2 at a potato last month. But right now I am playing with two chittering rats and it is a great card! It is a beast when we are in top deck mode! Displacing it with vial grants an instant win if our opponents can't answer it. Have played 8 games on the last two FNM and am 7-1. 3 matches won with rats.
He would get the card from Cryptic and the Thought-Knot Seer, but since putting the card from exile into an opponents graveyard is the way to activate the 2nd condition of the trigger, his Ancestral Vision would still be in his graveyard.
Not sure what the official rules lingo is on that, but that's how it works.
But the second hability have a target upon trigger. I have to choose the target before starting the resolution. When the TKS is bounced, the entire hability is countered. Had a lvl2 judge at the time watching the match... But it sure is a strange situation.
Guys, if the deck is going a more aggressive path with mutavaults and increased creature density, why not running 4 of eldrazi mimic? I know he is a lightning rod, but i'd rather have a push or path aimed at him than my opponent saving it for TKS/smasher. What do you think?
I am playing the smasher version with 2/2/2 scullers, reshapers, eternal scourge. Liking it overall, sculler Is a great card against all combos we have around. Although you can side him out on the draw.
Yesterday I lost to a taking turns deck where I was processing an ancestrall vision to -3-3 my TKS, and he just bounced the TKS with cryptic, drew a card from TKS, a card from cryptic, a card on the draw and 3 from vision by fizzling the strangler... Felt awkward... U.u
I don't think scullers need to be cast on curve... Generally you play discard/relic turn 1, and turn 2 reshapers, brutality, mind stone... I like sometimes to hold my scullers to be played after the TKS and obliterate their chances to comeback to the game...
My thoughts after the matches:
- I need a better sideboard against fast creature aggro. Are there any better board wipes in white/black than Drown in Sorrow / Toxic Deluge / Flaying Tendrils for 3 mana or less? I want to have one for the sideboard. Wrath of God would probably have been a turn too late even had I drawn it
What do you think of the new board wipe that was spoiled today? 3 Mana damnation and a turn offline... Seems a fair drawback if we can follow with a land for path/push/IoK
Also switching from thoughtseize to IoK. Metagame is flooding with burn decks!
I REALLY don't like his build... With 4 scullers, ghost quarter is also a mana fix. No fetches mean he will often draw the wrong basic land, and mutavault does eat resources to be useful in a deck that is extremely Mana hungry.
I myself turned back from herders to smashers, but kept 2-3 tidehollows and feel they are extremely strong, even outside of curve. Death shadow, breach and Tron hate to see this guy, knowing he will be followed by TKS and smasher and they NEED the removals for them. He is a tempo play, but a strong one.
I can't see me playing 4 stranglers also, and 3 smashers. Last, but no less important... Shriekmaw? Why not just play go for the throat or doom blade or a third push?
I think he got really lucky instead of having a goood build, and will wait if anyone here can test further his choices to see if it is really that powerful.
What do you guys think about Angel of Sanctions? Seems powerful to me as a 1 off in versions that run Blight Herder over Reality Smasher as we aim more for control and processing. Maybe a 2-2 or a 3-1 Herder/Angel split could be good.
I am playing a 1-of smasher in my herder version and considering 1 more on the SB. He is just too good to pass. The angel seems good too, but double white hurts a little when you are prepared for double black Mana, or holding a path. Dunno, it dodges push and decay and bolt, can be a nice trick!
Regarding enchantments, I play a 1/1 split of mb/SB anguished unmaking and 2 ratchet bombs to deal with them. Blood moon, bitterblossom and mainly Intangible virtue (can't win with that card on the table, ever!) All fold to the bomb with a little setup.
Last two tournaments lost all matches, although were about to win when they topdecked a kill. Sad but I will tweak my sideboard to better answer my metagame. Tomorrow I will switch from smashers to Herders and let you know how it goes.
Topdeck's happen. That is one of the main problems with discard spells when compared to counter-magic --- you cannot stop a top-deck. With all the affinity, merfolk, junk running around your meta game you might want to up the sweepers to 2. Maybe try an engineered explosives if you have it. Or just put in an additional damnation, wrath of god, or day of judgment.
You could put a sweeper mainboard to have better game 1 matchups. I wouldn't recommend this for an unknown meta though.
I don't know if sweepers are the thing I am missing. I am more inclined to drop something for another fatal push (I play with a wrath, an expertise and two ratchet bombs already at SB, and 4/1/1 split on path, push, anguished).
Today I played the sculler/herder and LOVED it! Herder is not as explosive as smasher, but while smashers give opponents hand trouble, herder gives then battlefield trouble and is hard to deal with his mess. This is really interesting, as it changes the deck lines of play (although I played with 3 Herders and a single smasher, which won me a game against Naya zoo). Scullers however are really, really strong, and even if they get killed, they already generated value (I like to take strong cards, leaving then with removal in hand, so they spend the removal on him). Got a draw with valakut after surgical on valakut and won against burn to 3-0-1. Will keep the Herders for a while and see where it goes!
Last two tournaments lost all matches, although were about to win when they topdecked a kill. Sad but I will tweak my sideboard to better answer my metagame. Tomorrow I will switch from smashers to Herders and let you know how it goes.
Glad to hear you are liking it and starting to get results!
Valakut decks are a nightmare - it is our worst matchup if we don't draw very good. However, I have lost several valakut matches to a top decked scapeshift or Bring to Light. My meta is already aware of my surgical extraction maindecks and they are cautious on dropping a valakut early. Fulminator helps to destroy their shocks and with Liliana we can land lock them. Even though, simian Spirit guide into through the breach is real and can finish games as well...
Don't be shy int bringing out your results and what you feel about the cards. I am also playing this deck for only five months and it is always good to see this thread movimented!
Sure, here it is:
1 Vault of the Archangel
4 Caves of Koilos
1 Shambling Vent
1 Swamp
2 Plains
4 Ghost Quarter
3 Godless Shrine
4 Eldrazi Temple
Creatures:
4 Leonin Arbiter
4 Flickerwisp
4 Eldrazi Displacer
3 Wasteland Strangler
2 Judge's Familiar
1 Blade Splicer
2 Chittering Rats
4 Tidehollow Sculler
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Thought-Knot Seer
4 Path to Exile
4 AEther Vial
2 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Ratchet Bomb
1 Wrath of God (should be dusk/Dawn)
2 Thoughtseize
1 Rest in Peace
1 Fatal Push
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Relic of Progenitus (should be the second RiP)
2 Stony Silence
I am playing a rather risky land base, with only 20 lands in a tricolor deck. I found myself often ghost quartering myself to fix colors (a tech I often used in BW Processors, with 24 lands). So, you can see I am rellying a lot on vial. However, with 20 lands I have more value out of my greater selection of creatures, and so I don't miss too much the lack of card draw. I try to go as fast as possible, protecting my 1st turn from discard with the Familiar, and landing the thalias/leonins safely. Death shadows, valakut, burn, HATE the owl paired with Thalia! However I feel more exposed to non-chord creature decks, and maybe big Thalia could have a spot in the sideboard to fight eldrazis and emrakul decks. So far I am liking it a lot! If my opponent doesn't know I am playing the rats, I can steal wins. If they know, they tend to play less spells to keep hand with answers and save removal for displacer... So it is a win/win scenario
But the second hability have a target upon trigger. I have to choose the target before starting the resolution. When the TKS is bounced, the entire hability is countered. Had a lvl2 judge at the time watching the match... But it sure is a strange situation.
Guys, if the deck is going a more aggressive path with mutavaults and increased creature density, why not running 4 of eldrazi mimic? I know he is a lightning rod, but i'd rather have a push or path aimed at him than my opponent saving it for TKS/smasher. What do you think?
Yesterday I lost to a taking turns deck where I was processing an ancestrall vision to -3-3 my TKS, and he just bounced the TKS with cryptic, drew a card from TKS, a card from cryptic, a card on the draw and 3 from vision by fizzling the strangler... Felt awkward... U.u
What do you think of the new board wipe that was spoiled today? 3 Mana damnation and a turn offline... Seems a fair drawback if we can follow with a land for path/push/IoK
Also switching from thoughtseize to IoK. Metagame is flooding with burn decks!
I myself turned back from herders to smashers, but kept 2-3 tidehollows and feel they are extremely strong, even outside of curve. Death shadow, breach and Tron hate to see this guy, knowing he will be followed by TKS and smasher and they NEED the removals for them. He is a tempo play, but a strong one.
I can't see me playing 4 stranglers also, and 3 smashers. Last, but no less important... Shriekmaw? Why not just play go for the throat or doom blade or a third push?
I think he got really lucky instead of having a goood build, and will wait if anyone here can test further his choices to see if it is really that powerful.
I am playing a 1-of smasher in my herder version and considering 1 more on the SB. He is just too good to pass. The angel seems good too, but double white hurts a little when you are prepared for double black Mana, or holding a path. Dunno, it dodges push and decay and bolt, can be a nice trick!
Regarding enchantments, I play a 1/1 split of mb/SB anguished unmaking and 2 ratchet bombs to deal with them. Blood moon, bitterblossom and mainly Intangible virtue (can't win with that card on the table, ever!) All fold to the bomb with a little setup.
I don't know if sweepers are the thing I am missing. I am more inclined to drop something for another fatal push (I play with a wrath, an expertise and two ratchet bombs already at SB, and 4/1/1 split on path, push, anguished).
Today I played the sculler/herder and LOVED it! Herder is not as explosive as smasher, but while smashers give opponents hand trouble, herder gives then battlefield trouble and is hard to deal with his mess. This is really interesting, as it changes the deck lines of play (although I played with 3 Herders and a single smasher, which won me a game against Naya zoo). Scullers however are really, really strong, and even if they get killed, they already generated value (I like to take strong cards, leaving then with removal in hand, so they spend the removal on him). Got a draw with valakut after surgical on valakut and won against burn to 3-0-1. Will keep the Herders for a while and see where it goes!
Valakut decks are a nightmare - it is our worst matchup if we don't draw very good. However, I have lost several valakut matches to a top decked scapeshift or Bring to Light. My meta is already aware of my surgical extraction maindecks and they are cautious on dropping a valakut early. Fulminator helps to destroy their shocks and with Liliana we can land lock them. Even though, simian Spirit guide into through the breach is real and can finish games as well...
Don't be shy int bringing out your results and what you feel about the cards. I am also playing this deck for only five months and it is always good to see this thread movimented!