I played a similar deck to the black-red deck posted at my local FNM this past week. It lost to jund, badly, but I feel like its other matchups are really solid. Thought Hemorrage in the side is great against Identity Crisis, and I'm sure it'll be good against any number of other hosers.
Bituminous Blast, while it should be an MVP, tends to cascade into spells you don't quite need. Flipping over a pyroclasm is a heartbreaker when your blast was enough to kill their creature. I also think fireball is a great SB card, but it's obviously less than ideal with bit blast.
Terminate is good, though. Really, really, really good.
question: Can swerve redirect cruel ultimatum? I don't know how it interacts with the 'opponent' wording.
It can certainly turn the tables of a turn 6 identity crisis, or lessen the impact of a bloodbraid elf into a blightning, which is oh-so-pretty a play otherwise.
It's probably not ideal to replace the white maindeck with blue, but an island and 4 swerve in the sideboard isn't an awful precaution since the meta hasn't gotten to the point where we know which decks to hate yet. (aside from the generic 'aggro' and 'control' matchups). If you ran the panorama AND terramorphic main deck you could reliably find it by turn 3 to hit their blightning, but admittedly that slows you down a turn.
I was playing a game on MWS and played a meddling mage naming fulminator mage.
My meddling mage was bituminous blasted, with the cascade revealing fulminator mage.
My interpretation of the rules was that the cascaded spell was always played first, and the player of the spell didn't get to pick which one went on the stack first, so therefore the fulminator mage could not be played, as bituminous would not have resolved yet.
The thing is, just printing powerful counterspells doesn't mean draw-go is automatically a broken deck. The thing I'd be worried about is other decks that play blue. Man lands, instant speed threats, and the unearth mechanic keep draw-go in check, even if they had a better set of counterspells to choose from. But if faeries had a pure counterspell at 2cc? That would just be obnoxious.
I feel like in Lorwyn block it's completely fine to just cram as many good cards as you can into one deck, and often you can walk away with a really solid deck. 5 color elementals plays insane cards, but has an elementals engine with smokebraider and the harbingers to tie it all together. That 5 color control deck plays like a control deck, with it's creatures that don't win the game stalling until you find a guy who can.
In creating this deck, however, I was looking for a tempo-oriented mannequin deck. Kitchen finks is good, but against a lot of decks I would prefer the 3-for-1 of sower. Redcap is good and the shenanigans with mannequin and lark are great but on turn 4 a 2/2 on the ground can be irrelevant, and the 2 dmg comes-into-play might not be enough kill anything significant.
I don't like turn into mist. Blink is insane because of the flashback. I could live with a worse blink with flashback, and I could live with a better blink without flashback, but not the combination of both.
The deck is really only weak in the early game, and if you're dry on removal early it can cost you. I can believe firespout in the SB to help against aggro, but this deck really isn't a control deck.
I can also go for a few primal beyonds. I don't really usually have trouble with the mana base, but there's really no disadvantage to non-basics in this format, Fulminator Mage aside.
I've heard "How do you answer Dread, Nath of the Gilt-Leaf, etc" and the only card that can really deal with a big black creature is the Sower, which I know doesn't really count.
The deck has 1 for 1 removal turns 2-4 and mad CA turns 5-end game. Kithkin has NO card advantage. Faeries has bitterblossom, but nothing to draw them cards. Mannequin decks are at a disadvantage because Reveillark is my top of the curve while theirs is Mulldrifter.
Raphael Levy's 5 color elemental deck is really good, though.
Firespout is going to be rampant at block PTQ's because it's an amazing card for the format, and I respect that, but Faeries isn't really very fast (and therefore not very good) and Kithkin aren't really a bad matchup.
-4 Urchins
-1 Ending
+4 Bitterblossom
+1 Island
With tribal aggro decks running rampant throughout the meta, the "sliver" effect takes place where if one creature resolves, you're okay, but as lord after lord resolves things get tricky.
In type 2, spot removal is reserved for keeping yourself ahead in the race. In block, I feel it's a little different.
I'm fine with maindecking 14 1-for-1 removal spells that net me no card advantage whatsoever, as all it takes is a reveillark or a mannequin turn 4-6 to fill my hand back up. Live long enough by killing their tempo early, then let the kings of CA that are Reveillark, Mulldrifter, Shriekmaw, Sower, and any shenanigans that ensue with Makeshift Mannequin to take control of the game late.
In this format, the only playable cards that cost 2 or less are the efficient tribal creatures and kill spells. Pick one and make a deck out of it, that's what this block looks like to me.
I love disintegrate as well, unfortunately the format has changed a lot since the days of topdecking Demonfire post wrath to end the game. Hell, wrath is even borderline irrelevant these days.
Still, especially in my meta, popping a 3-toughness creature while it's still got summoning sickness (Keldon Marauders,Wren's Run Vanquisher are the two that come to mind) is extremely important. Almost as important as both winning the dice roll and holding a Rune Snag against faeries' turn two Bitterblossom =P
We won't be opening Lorwyn draft packs any time soon, so we probably won't be seeing Lash Out much anymore. Or will we?
Though Incinerate will get the nod from burn decks, where burn is at least 1/3 of the time aimed toward the opponents life total, and Puncture Bolt is probably at least a sideboard choice if you see a lot of Kitchen Finks, in testing Lash Out, a card I dismissed as draft fodder, has really impressed me.
3 damage can save you from a turn 3 Keldon Marauders bash, kill a Boggart Ram-Gang before it enters the red zone, and depending on if the card sees any play, zap a Dusk Urchins before they draw themselves to death.
But of course, Incinerate does all those things, and if need be, do a relevant 3 damage to the dome.
The second dimension to lash out is the one I like. Clashing (Aka 'You and your opponent Scry 1') is almost always an upside. Sure an opponent's mono red deck can put their 4th land on the bottom of their library, so giving the opponent the advantage is relevant as well, but card filtering is a hard to come by effect in R/x decks. Countryside Crusher aside, of course.
In a deck utilizing burn strictly as creature removal(thought I appreciate topdecking burn when the opponent is at 2 is a good thing ), is lash out better than incinerate? Is allowing your opponent to filter their deck a fair exchange for a shot at 3 life and filtering your own deck?
I feel lash out is a competitive card, and am curious to see if it makes its way into some more Hollywood decklists.
Untap and wither are limited and casual deck mechanics, and they'll both be a blast to play with. Just as radiance was in RAV, a good portion of suspend cards in TSP, kinship in MOR, to name a few, they aren't really meant for competitive decks.
My only real complaint is about color balance, as many people have already stated. It's odd to me they would continue to throw awesome cards at green. Red isn't quite as out of control, but take note that when we discuss the powerful cards in white, we really ARE reaching. What they did with black made a lot of sense to me. It's probably the second strongest color in todays meta, and it got a few really solid cards in this set.
Blue is a complex situation, really. Cryptic Command is without a doubt one of the strongest blue spells ever printed. I understand wizards' reluctance to overwhelm the format with powerful blue, but it's tough to not feel shorted. It's going to be very interesting to see if a powerful blue-based control deck can emerge in this meta, as it just gets faster and faster.
I just realized how much better limited is going to be now that everyone isn't going to have to rare draft. Huzzah for reasonably powerful rares!
Bituminous Blast, while it should be an MVP, tends to cascade into spells you don't quite need. Flipping over a pyroclasm is a heartbreaker when your blast was enough to kill their creature. I also think fireball is a great SB card, but it's obviously less than ideal with bit blast.
Terminate is good, though. Really, really, really good.
It can certainly turn the tables of a turn 6 identity crisis, or lessen the impact of a bloodbraid elf into a blightning, which is oh-so-pretty a play otherwise.
It's probably not ideal to replace the white maindeck with blue, but an island and 4 swerve in the sideboard isn't an awful precaution since the meta hasn't gotten to the point where we know which decks to hate yet. (aside from the generic 'aggro' and 'control' matchups). If you ran the panorama AND terramorphic main deck you could reliably find it by turn 3 to hit their blightning, but admittedly that slows you down a turn.
To the victor go the spoils.
My meddling mage was bituminous blasted, with the cascade revealing fulminator mage.
My interpretation of the rules was that the cascaded spell was always played first, and the player of the spell didn't get to pick which one went on the stack first, so therefore the fulminator mage could not be played, as bituminous would not have resolved yet.
Arbitrary comment on how it would make sense at 1RB
Arbitrary comment on how this card should not have won, even though I don't understand the requirements it was judged by.
Do I fit in yet? I like the card.
The only proper description of this card. In some cases infinitely worse than Plumeveil, but blocks Cloudthresher. Cloudthresher.
Let the haters hate.
congrats!
In creating this deck, however, I was looking for a tempo-oriented mannequin deck. Kitchen finks is good, but against a lot of decks I would prefer the 3-for-1 of sower. Redcap is good and the shenanigans with mannequin and lark are great but on turn 4 a 2/2 on the ground can be irrelevant, and the 2 dmg comes-into-play might not be enough kill anything significant.
I don't like turn into mist. Blink is insane because of the flashback. I could live with a worse blink with flashback, and I could live with a better blink without flashback, but not the combination of both.
The deck is really only weak in the early game, and if you're dry on removal early it can cost you. I can believe firespout in the SB to help against aggro, but this deck really isn't a control deck.
I can also go for a few primal beyonds. I don't really usually have trouble with the mana base, but there's really no disadvantage to non-basics in this format, Fulminator Mage aside.
The deck has 1 for 1 removal turns 2-4 and mad CA turns 5-end game. Kithkin has NO card advantage. Faeries has bitterblossom, but nothing to draw them cards. Mannequin decks are at a disadvantage because Reveillark is my top of the curve while theirs is Mulldrifter.
Raphael Levy's 5 color elemental deck is really good, though.
Firespout is going to be rampant at block PTQ's because it's an amazing card for the format, and I respect that, but Faeries isn't really very fast (and therefore not very good) and Kithkin aren't really a bad matchup.
Austere will find a home in the sideboard, sure.
-4 Urchins
-1 Ending
+4 Bitterblossom
+1 Island
With tribal aggro decks running rampant throughout the meta, the "sliver" effect takes place where if one creature resolves, you're okay, but as lord after lord resolves things get tricky.
In type 2, spot removal is reserved for keeping yourself ahead in the race. In block, I feel it's a little different.
I'm fine with maindecking 14 1-for-1 removal spells that net me no card advantage whatsoever, as all it takes is a reveillark or a mannequin turn 4-6 to fill my hand back up. Live long enough by killing their tempo early, then let the kings of CA that are Reveillark, Mulldrifter, Shriekmaw, Sower, and any shenanigans that ensue with Makeshift Mannequin to take control of the game late.
In this format, the only playable cards that cost 2 or less are the efficient tribal creatures and kill spells. Pick one and make a deck out of it, that's what this block looks like to me.
Land x24
4x Vivid Marsh
4x Reflecting Pool
4x Sunken Ruins
3x Mystic Gate
2x Island
4x Vivid Creek
3x Swamp
Creatures x23
4x Shriekmaw
4x Mulldrifter
4x Sower of Temptation
4x Dusk Urchins
4x Reveillark
2x Nevermaker
1x Oona, Queen of the Fae
Spells x13
4x Nameless Inversion
3x Makeshift Mannequin
2x Eyeblight's Ending
4x Last Breath
Dusk Urchins is borderline awful, ideas for a better 3 drop spot are welcome.
I don't think I like bitterblossom here, but there's a reason they're calling it the new tarmogoyf..
Ideas?
Still, especially in my meta, popping a 3-toughness creature while it's still got summoning sickness (Keldon Marauders,Wren's Run Vanquisher are the two that come to mind) is extremely important. Almost as important as both winning the dice roll and holding a Rune Snag against faeries' turn two Bitterblossom =P
Though Incinerate will get the nod from burn decks, where burn is at least 1/3 of the time aimed toward the opponents life total, and Puncture Bolt is probably at least a sideboard choice if you see a lot of Kitchen Finks, in testing Lash Out, a card I dismissed as draft fodder, has really impressed me.
3 damage can save you from a turn 3 Keldon Marauders bash, kill a Boggart Ram-Gang before it enters the red zone, and depending on if the card sees any play, zap a Dusk Urchins before they draw themselves to death.
But of course, Incinerate does all those things, and if need be, do a relevant 3 damage to the dome.
The second dimension to lash out is the one I like. Clashing (Aka 'You and your opponent Scry 1') is almost always an upside. Sure an opponent's mono red deck can put their 4th land on the bottom of their library, so giving the opponent the advantage is relevant as well, but card filtering is a hard to come by effect in R/x decks. Countryside Crusher aside, of course.
In a deck utilizing burn strictly as creature removal(thought I appreciate topdecking burn when the opponent is at 2 is a good thing ), is lash out better than incinerate? Is allowing your opponent to filter their deck a fair exchange for a shot at 3 life and filtering your own deck?
I feel lash out is a competitive card, and am curious to see if it makes its way into some more Hollywood decklists.
My only real complaint is about color balance, as many people have already stated. It's odd to me they would continue to throw awesome cards at green. Red isn't quite as out of control, but take note that when we discuss the powerful cards in white, we really ARE reaching. What they did with black made a lot of sense to me. It's probably the second strongest color in todays meta, and it got a few really solid cards in this set.
Blue is a complex situation, really. Cryptic Command is without a doubt one of the strongest blue spells ever printed. I understand wizards' reluctance to overwhelm the format with powerful blue, but it's tough to not feel shorted. It's going to be very interesting to see if a powerful blue-based control deck can emerge in this meta, as it just gets faster and faster.
I just realized how much better limited is going to be now that everyone isn't going to have to rare draft. Huzzah for reasonably powerful rares!