Totally agree on prioritizing pool charging, but if your opponent doesn't have some kind of graveyard hate going I think it's actually ok to freely cycle manamorphose (assuming you have at least one blue source in play, which you really should).
If you combo off on the standard "past in flame + 6 mana" timetable, you aren't going to be able to keep a blue floating when you hit the graveyard rituals anyway (and if you get to the six mana while leaving only blue sources untapped, manamorphose becomes irrelevant), and you should ultimately need only two more blue to flashback gifts and maybe remand your storm spell.
Maybe you need more if you want to use Noxious Revival and you're really worried about your life total or something, but that seems rare enough that you don't need to plan around it.
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- jacobk
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Member for 16 years, 2 months, and 24 days
Last active Sat, Dec, 1 2018 11:20:55
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First, my deck:
4 Inkmoth Nexus
2 Tezzeret's Gambit
2 Despise
4 Distress
4 Lashwrithe
2 Trigon of Rage
2 Geth's Verdict
2 Doom Blade
2 Go for the Throat
2 Virulent Wound
1 Black Sun's Zenith
2 Phyrexian Crusader
2 Whispering Specter
2 Phyrexian Vatmother
2 Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
3 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Virulent Wound
1 Black Sun's Zenith
2 Victim of Night
2 Phyrexian Crusader
1 Phyrexian Vatmother
3 Spellskite
2 Victim of Night
2 Phyrexian Metamorph
I generally play this as an aggro-control deck that has the option to go for a quick kill, rather than a straight beatdown deck. I like the vatmothers mainboard over a full playset of crusaders because they put the opponent on such a fast clock by themselves, the drawback is rarely relevant, and it's just nice to have a big fat creature on your side of the board sometimes. That said, it's not so hot when you're staring across the board at a Mirran Crusader.
The sideboard is in flux. My basic moves are to bring in the brute squad (+2 Crusader, +1 Vatmother, -2 Specter, -1 Stinger) against black or red to neutralize gut shot/wring flesh/geistflame/curse of death's hold, and to bring in Victim of Night for whichever of Doom Blade and Go for the Throat looks weakest. Spellbomb comes in against anybody running snapcasters, and obviously Solar Flare.
I'm trying to incorporate the basic tricks against u/w (metamorph to pop Geist, Spellskite to steal Angelic Destiny, sac effects to hit Geist and Crusader). I have a hard time sideboarding because it seems like our good choices against them are highly situational. For example, Spellskite is terrific against Angelic Destiny, but not so hot when they drop a crusader or geist on turn three. Conversely, the metamorph deals nicely with geist, but is not so great against a destined crusader beating in for 12, or even just the turn four Hero + Honor of the Pure.
This situational problem hits the maindeck cards as well--Geth's Verdict is great if all they have is one of their bombs, but it turns worthless as soon as they drop a Doomed Traveler. Similarly, I'll sideboard out virulent wounds due to the lack of targets, and then get walloped with a turn one Elite Vanguard. It doesn't help that Moorland Haunt turns all of their dead dudes into spirit tokens that hold off our air force while their big guys are beating us to death.
I think I've been a little unlucky--logically, it can't be the case that these decks always curve out with grand abolisher, geist, destiny--but I'm pretty sure I'm not making the optimal sideboard moves against this deck. Does anybody have any thoughts on how to consistently do well in this matchup?
I like MBI as a disruptive deck that matches up well against the known tier 1 decks, but it doesn't do us much good if we get destroyed by the "fun" competitive deck that half the field is running.
4 Seachrome Coast
3 Contested War Zone
3 Mox Opal
4 Memnite
4 Signal Pest
4 Vault Skirge
4 Glint Hawk Idol
2 Spellskite
3 Porcelain Legionnaire
2 Etched Champion
2 Shrine of Loyal Legions
4 Dispatch
2 Mana Leak
4 Gitaxian Probe
3 Act of Aggression
2 Mana Leak
2 Negate
3 Dismember
3 Phyrexian Revoker
2 ?
I generally favor the Cobra Kai approach when playing an aggro deck like this: Strike first, strike hard, show no mercy. The idea is to put them on a fast clock early, then use dispatch/mana leak as needed to keep them off balance until they're dead. The shrine and idol give some wrath resilience, which is nice.
Specific card choice comments:
Mana Leak: This is almost a hard counter early, and this deck isn't really built to go late. I didn't want to dilute the deck too much with permission (thus the 2-of), but it can win games.
Gitaxian Probe: Shrinks the deck, and allows for a little advance planning when you see the bombs in your opponent's hand.
Spellskite: When he's good, he's really good. However, he can't beat down on his own, so I only went 2-of.
Porcelain Legionnaire: He doesn't fly, which is too bad, and he dies to a gut shot. But he's effective at scaring off opposing attacks and puts them on a fast clock if they don't clog the board or zap him quickly.
Shrine of Loyal Legions: Wrath insurance. I'm not totally convinced this is worthwhile in the main deck, but it really seems like it should be. If somebody has a suggestion for a better main board card, I suspect this is the first one to cut.
Glint Hawk: Out. Not an artifact, and a little too combo-ish for my tastes (it's kind of lame if you get the hawk and no 0-cmc guys). Also, I was a little surprised in playtesting how many decks can deal with a turn 1 2/2 flyer without much problem.
Contested War Zone: Speeds up the game. I don't own any Inkmoth Nexus, and I don't want to drop the coin on it unless somebody can explain to me why it's better in this deck. Does anybody ever really win with poison counters with Tempered Steel?
Post board the deck can get a lot more control-ish, with the counter suite coming in and the Revoker replacing the Legionnaire. Alternatively, you can add more critter control with dismember. It's a little tricky to sideboard in good matchup cards without diluting the general idea of the deck, I'm still trying to get a feel for it.
Any suggestions?