Been seeing a lot of lists pop up, and I have to say they're reminiscent of the Jund decks that dominated standard during Alara/Zendikar rotation. You just have a really sweet spell at every single spot in the curve. Unfortunately, instead of a Putrid Leech at the 2-drop slot to stonewall other aggressive creatures in combat, or to eat a removal spell like a vitamin after blocks + pumps, you have Glint-Sleeve Siphoner, who is actually at its best against control and other midrange strategies.
I feel that by default, Whirler Virtuoso is just a necessary evil for game one scenarios. Because your early threats are rather squishy, you need some extra padding to make it through to the later turns in the game. I just finished a MTG Arena queue in which I took a game white Virtuoso + Siphoner triggers to help me tempo a Heart of Kiran. It really shouldn't get blown out by Chainwhirler enough for that to be a pressing concern... but it does shine in a lot of situations where other cards might not give you enough coverage.
(Update: -1 Negate/-1 The Eldest Reborn in SB for +2 By Force
Making hedges in concession to the Mono-U Outcome combo archetype. Need extra gas for their midgame)
The entire deckbuilding philosophy is to have every spell affect the board state in game one to avoid losses to any aggressive strategies. This is also why I have the legendary spells at a 3-3-1 split between Nicol Bolas/Scarab God/Liliana. I sprinkled in the Noxious Gearhulk to make for a quasi midrange-breaker and so far it has been putting in work. You need some kind of value to have your Scarab God activations and Liliana -3 pay off in the end
What I need more data against is G/b Midrange. They're why I stuck with Hour of Devastation in the board. Hard to really tell whether it is going to cut it against what they bring to the table, especially since they can sometimes grow their threats out of Hour range by means of pump spell
I don't think you should try to evaluate what their best 'cards' are, but rather their best lines. Certain cards are worse than others, sure, but everything shines in a given context. Bomat Courier getting some steam going into the midgame only for the opponent to re-up on cards is annoying. You being forced to interact mid-combat only to have a Chandra hit the board Main 2 where it dodges cast out for a turn is annoying. Having to cast Fumigate into a hasty threat or two, especially with Phoenix already out, is annoying. Put yourself in the position to not have to fight from behind against these types of situations, and expend your life total as a resource until you have the luxury of casting whichever two or three spells a turn you would like to after you assess your priorities.
The best EV is to answer their threats, stick a Gideon and Dovin with counterspell backup, then watch as they are forced to lose massive tempo either way they cut it. Having one of those survive into a Teferi is almost a done deal.
Many of my matches against R and Rb I'd have to dip under 5 life consistently during at least one of the games. Despite this, it's what I have the highest win% against. Playing the matchup feels like having a plane nosedive in a storm, only to level itself and pull back up with a few seconds to spare before impact. Always equal parts nerve-wracking and satisfying lol
What’s the strategy to fight against RB? I’ve had trouble against it but teammates of mine find the matchup fine. What am I doing wrong? Lol.
I've only tested a little over ten matches with it in total IRL practice... I think the way you play the match best is to avoid overextending over problematic and life-threatening early plays in order to stifle what's next to come. Hold up Essence Scatter for Phoenix and take an extra 3 points of damage for it. Hold up Cast Out for Chandra before you Commit their scariest threat away. Getting information is so much more valuable than trying to stop an active crime scene on the board only to let more pain roll in after you tap out
Facing Bomat Courier into a 2 drop into a Chainwhirler or the 3/2 haste guy... sometimes you are tasked with a lot more than just "Get information and pray to not end up dead in the process" But then again those situations are only scary if the opponent plays right into Settle the Wreckage, so... I digress
I will say that I'm inclined to agree with your teammates. I actually PREFER to fight Mono-R and Rb to some of these Heroic Intervention/Blossoming Defense strats. The only thing that will change that is trying to steer away from facing lethal and then not being able to do much of anything about their lategame Banefire
I like skimming on Settle the Wreckage and skimming on Fumigate in different matchups. I actually just take Fumigate out vs Mono-R and Rb, as they usually play around it every single time. It is also counter-productive alongside your lifelink creature of choice (I like Regal Caracal over Lyra because if they have removal for it, you can still survive with chump blockers. That, and between Cast Out/Blink of an Eye/Teferi, there are plenty of lines to completely gum up the board if you have no other action) I am still trying to come up with an ideal number, but I am erring on 3/1 Settle/Fumigate with another 2 Fumigate in the board. It's dicey because I don't have too much data
I like 2 Memorial for all the control mirrors. It makes your low-impact keeps at least somewhat manageable in the late game
Nezahal vs the slower attrition decks and control mirrors is filthy
Have Karns but I just don't see it being a great help? At least if this was an artifact-centric plan it would make sense. As it stands, just a dash less important than Dovin Baan, who has actually overperformed against aggro every time I've used him
I like the 3/2 split of Illumination/Glimmer but I have been thinking about dropping an Illumination for something like 1x Gideon's Reproach MD
Any thoughts or data to compare would be appreciated
As an aside, the prize support on MTGA can be total dogmeat... just give me a rare voucher and let me be on my way lol
Thoughts on Karn, Scion of Urza?
His -2 has some synergy with our deck...
Thinking more for the control matchups in place of Lodestone Golem.
I would snap build around it if he were an artifact. Sadly, he isn't. The steep cost makes it far less reliable as a finisher than it's worth. We want our non-attacking spells to either push control out of their options, or be able to assist in damage somehow, if not both. Four mana Master token that gets taxed by both Lodestone and Thorn doesn't help our control plan chug along.
Hello all. I have benefited from the discussion here so I've happily created an account to contribute. Grand Architect has been my favorite deck in cardboard since it was called 'Blue Man Group' and played Master of Waves. I recently installed MTGO and so created this on a budget, but I was surprised at its power, often 'going off' storm style. It performs well against heavy removal and discard where Blue Steel often struggles. Anyway here is Ninja Jellyfish:
Welcome aboard. I thought I was clever for coming up with the name Blue Man Group once I realized Chief Engineer was a card some years ago, and tried to brew with Architect and Sculptor as well. I'm sure I might not have been one of the first to do it lol
As far as your shell goes, you have some interesting things going on. I like the Esperzoa + Vial plan in some places, as it can really pack a punch in the air without coughing up too much of a disadvantage. If you wanted to go this route, I would suggest Aether Spellbomb over Snags, as you will need a critical mass of non-creature artifacts to maintain a healthy tempo for the Esperzoa triggers. It's very important that you're not just holding back a few points of damage a turn due mostly in part to your deck's design (when I tried to brew with Lupine Prototype, this is what I was faced with trying to solve, and it's just a nasty wrench in any plan when your deck can often lose to itself)
All around, the variant shows promise, but there are a few principles to build around when considering a Grand Architect shell. For one, you need a payoff for its ability to turn blue critters into Sol Ring. If you aren't playing some dumb 6 or 7 drop early on, or running Ballista as an endgame, then you might as well be playing Elves since you're on the dudes + lord plan, essentially.
One archetype that I feel warps the format in a way is Lantern, as you need to be considerate of your outs to the lock. I went as far as playing 3 Aether Spellbomb, 3 Phyrexian Revoker, and a playset of Drowned Rusalka and Signal Pests just to be able to interact with them more feasibly in game ones. Here you have literally no outs to Lantern + Mill rock(s) + Bridge, and that's worrisome.
Without Lodestone, your matches against removal heavy decks become much, much worse. I know you have ways to attrition, but you can't just keep drawing cards and letting creatures fall to the wayside in combat, even if you have multiple fliers. Pushing people out from interacting is one of the premier strategies for this archetype.
If you are just trying to apply this gritty cantrip aggressive strategy but are particular about using artifacts, I would spitball something like this:
If we are trying to make the deck synergistic and whole in its usage then I like Relic as an Esperzoa enabler for when Vials don't roll around. You can still garner some use from its tap ability as you bounce it every turn, plus it's just a free cantrip for any situation where you have multiples. Most importantly, it gives us percentage points against Mardu Pyromancer, Dredge, and other popular graveyard strategies
As you aren't overloaded on taxing effects, you will need to deal with more spells 1-for-1, which is why I would go with an extra Stormtamer and 3 Spell Queller as it can prevent a game-ending play outright. 3 is in consideration for the curve and land count.
If we aren't playing Lodestone or Ballista anyway, then Architect almost becomes moot, because we can just shave it and a few lands to play plenty more one drops to help keep our card supply moving.
If you are trying to have a deck that frequently cantrips while also playing lords and can counter individual spells, UW Spirits is probably your best bet
We have many options for improving our hand: Chart the Course, Military Intelligence, S. Copter, Bident of Thassa, Glint-Nest Crane, Sword of Fire&Ice...
Altar and Staff are not it.
Yeah a big proponent of game one victories is to have most of the cards "just win" rather than net value. I guess since we are primarily an aggressive shell, if we net value it has to either be game-winning outright or part of (or a reinforcement of) the aggro plan to actually 'net value'.
I've happened across some strange and peculiar lists and one was constantly being tweaked with some strong magic-league performances. It used Ongoing Investigation, which is interesting because it's not just outright dead against other aggro decks when you can gain 2 life spurts.
Have been undefeated with it so far in matches. You can get some clues to go under your own Bridge and then represent the Mindshrieker infinite. That or play a turn 1 dude, turn 2 Pili-Pala, turn 3 swing with Pili-Pala, play Architect, tap Architect to activate Pili-Pala to turn itself blue, use the 1-drop to untap it to go infinite, Trophy Mage for Staff to draw the deck or just Ballista to the dome if you already have it.
It fits into the same niche of your GW Value Town decks and still fulfills on the promise of sometimes just beating face game 1 without a combo kill, but in this case it can mulligan better against other combo decks due to its wide array of three card combos
I think the OP version is just being cute. Too many bullets and not enough practicality. There was a UW Spirits shell that broke a 5-0 recently with a playset of Curious Obsession. It actually does everything this deck wants to do, granted you have enough creature protection. I wouldn't really center my plan around Geist as it blocks poorly and the deck already gets ahead of control as it is. The 4/3 split of Drogskol Captain and Phantasmal Image works wonders to lock out spot removal, and in terms of dealing with other creature strategies, you just have to have one or two good trump cards in the deck.
This is a spitball draft inspired by the 5-0 shell, in which I think the best toolbox to use Tallowisp for is nabbing your removal package in a pinch. While usually Path is reasonable because you can target your own guys to ramp, or manlands, having Chained to the Rocks can keep the opponent from getting ramp to benefit them (Counters Company) in situations where using Path is a toss-up but good enough to get the job done. Going into Jeskai also lets us push into playing Figure, which might not be as good in practice as I think it is, but in theory helps us get under the control/midrange strategies that tend to weigh down on us in the mid-late game. It's also a one man wrecking crew along with your Invocation of Saint Traft. The splash also gives us Wear // Tear out of the board, Blood Moon (seems rough) if we so choose, Izzet Staticaster, Harsh Mentor, Boros Charm, and Deflecting Palm.
I like Boros Charm especially, as another Selfless Spirit ability that can double strike a guy with Curious Obsession to net an extra draw while still damaging the opponent. Checks all the boxes we need against control decks. Another trick is to Temporal Isolation our guy and cast Tear after passing through blockers step to get unblockable damage in.
I really like the ability to craft the sort of end-game we so choose, but I think Tallowisp not flying and not really netting immediate value means we can still build around it and yet have contingencies for when it doesn't go off successfully. I think trying to play too many bullets increases variance, which is not what you want to be doing in a very straight-forward strategy.
EDIT: Uuuuuurgh, just realized Tallowisp doesn't tutor for Chained to the rocks. Back to the drawing board
EDIT 2: I'm not saying any of these cards are necessarily breaking the deck, but a quick magiccards.info query makes it seem like they're some interesting endgame bullets -
Spirit Link + Spirit Loop = double-stacked Lifelink trigger
Protection creature + Pariah = lock against mono-color. BFT and Kor Firewalker come to mind, also Voice of All and/or a creature with Spectra Ward, albeit very clunky.
Gift of Immortality + Alpha Authority/Aspect of Mongoose = lock against conventional control removal, albeit clunky
Yeah it was putting in work last night. Made some deck design mistakes... I think Gift needs to be a singleton and maaaaybe only fits in with a 23 land deck, that features an Inventors' Fair as the 'second copy'.
Planning for my LGS. The meta is:
2-3x Lantern Prison
1-2x RG Titanshift
1-?x Burn
1-?x UR Gifts Storm
2-?x URx Control
1-?x Elves
1-?x Martyr Proc
1x Scrap Trawler Eggs
1-3 Tempo (Ug Fish, Uw Spirits, etc)
1-?x Jund
1-?x BR Hollow One
5+ Tier 3 lists, inefficiently racing or controlling
In a rush for work but will get to writing out an ideal shell matrix for each problem matchup and which Maybeboard cards to keep in the rotation of the 75 depending on what the room will look like. Worst beating is the KComm + Snapcaster matchup (duh) but other than that there are ways to hedge that I think are reasonable. As it stands I wish I had the Revokers last night but I'll stay posted with more findings and data as I try to break the Gift without going overboard.
As an aside, I think Negate is going to move into the board instead of Thorn for some matchups, because I would rather not tax either player in certain midrange matchups where Lodestone + Thorn is too unreliable, or we can't race them fast enough to get those online.
I have done more testing and replaced Kira with a Grafted Wargear. It can keep Ballista alive for those times when you need to disperse all its counters into your opponent's creatures. It gives you more range in game ones because your topdecks actually cut into the opponent's life total. And most importantly, it is an additional way to meaningfully interact with GPG.
Topdeck a dinky creature, slide wargear on it, slide it off and back onto something without summoning sickness, BOOM dinky creature is now a 4/4 Zombie token. Been loving this change!
Just from solitaire reps the deck performs better in the mid to late game scenarios with much smoother draws. Rusalka is the natural response to spot removal decks. It makes it easier not only to get to your Gift copies but pays off with the resources you traded in on your way there. Also solves my problem with the deck, which is flooding with low-impact spells and lands, usually in equal number. It provides a much less redundant curve if your tempo is lacking, which helps when we have to hunker down and play for the late game.
Currently too busy for additional writing but very much welcome to any C&C
I don't get why people get riled up over sets dropping cards that could turn a deck into a pile... Shamans has play because of staying power and explosiveness. It's the ultimate turn-the-table aggro deck that treads a beat slower than the viable aggro shells. Forcing 1CC guys and pointless midgame spells into the archetype because '1-drops are good' might seem like the right idea until you realize if you want to get off to a fast start just play a deck where you can go turn 1 Memnite x2, Ornithopter, land, Mox Opal -> Steel Overseer. This is not that deck, so messing with it in a way that doesn't help its strategy is just changing for the sake of change to try to delude yourself into thinking youre next level
As such it's criminal to leave out Wolf-Skull Shaman. The card helps to get over the hump when board states get murky, and Leaf-Crowned Elder can come in as a silver bullet to play double duty in the battle for board supremacy.
Lastly, your plan is to go wide and punch in the mouth with a Rage Forger or two. In doing so, playing a Chord of Calling/CoCo is much more valuable than an Aether Vial. Trading your card in for a creature rather than an artifact helps with the extra Rage Forger triggers, and most of the deck is already predicated on tempo rather than bulk. Merfolk can Vial to a benefit because the deck can clock the opponent with just a few lords. There's no such play with Shamans, so most successful archetypes are seen to be playing Bosk Banneret/Beastcaller Savant/BTE to help get on the ground running, eliminating the need to use any other resources to go wide.
I will say, using Chord to turn your Wolf tokens and non-threatening dorks into an anthem or a game-changing bullet is a much more reliable way to shift into the midgame than just a CoCo. The average CMC of our guys being paltry doesn't help to cash in value off of it, unlike dedicated CoCo builds where you can easily grab 5-6 CMC of sheer value critters for your money's worth.
The ceiling is already pretty much decided for Shamans, and there's no proof to suggest that it hasn't been broken if there was any potential. Splashing a third color is silly in a deck that is low to the ground, unless you're on the 12+ fetch/5+ shock plan. And in that case, a card like Nacatl would come to mind, and then you'd realize that you're just playing a worse Nacatl deck than a dedicated zoo plan, because you can't cash in as much with your Rage Forgers. I digress...
Will follow up with a report later, let's hope to run hot :x
EDIT:
Beat burn round 1, drew no gas against UW control at the back end of a game 3, lost to blood moon game 1 round 3 and game 2 started off with 5/6 draws yielding lands. my one discard spell i drew was inquisition and opponent had wrath/nahiri (i sided out 1 c. brutality/1 inquisition) if it were my thoughtseize, would have just bought it back with snapcaster to run the guy over but nahiri + double cast out helped him hunker down. Played until i went x-3 just to humor what the loser's bracket was like, ended up beating BW eldrazi taxes convincingly then lost a game 3 to jund midrange where their fatal pushes were useless against my double delve creature draw so they topdecked not one but two lilianas back to back to stay alive and a dark confidant to pull ahead on cards.
Based on results from yesterday can seriously say I feel like I'm cursed after having drawn 19/19 lands with RG vengevine last week, mulligan into oblivion two PPTQs in a row the weekend prior, after mulliganing into oblivion in the top 8 of the PPTQ the week prior to those. But the great ones say you have to make your own luck so here's what I'll be testing and bringing to the table next week:
At this point I am just metagaming, need outs to control opponents and I feel like the Plains to fight Blood Moon and the D-Sphere to hit mostly everything (especially planeswalkers) will be a good option
As an aside, Curiosity was a m**f***ing stud every time I had it. So much better value against the opponents you would want Lilianas for. Plus, against burn, you can play it for much cheaper to have your creatures absorb damage like a vitamin, while drawing into outs to let you better shield your face. The 1cc is key. I can definitely say that the Flashfreeze, while not hitting E-Tron's big threats, or planeswalkers out of UW control, was key in beating burn while also being relevant against RG Titanshift. If I had to swap it for anything it'd be a disdainful stroke, but i feel Flashfreeze is the much better hedge right now.
Sorry if it's been mentioned, why splash white but not include nacatl?
It hasn't been brought up. I thought of it, but dont know what I'd cut to jam her. Having to dip into green on turn one could be worth the extra life loss. I need a few more runs with this iteration to really weigh in on which option it is simply better than.
As an aside, I realized at work today that I can just jam the red Eidolon instead of the white one if I want to beat Storm/combo. Makes my time getting value off Vengevine or chaining spells to boost Hollow One/Adept that much simpler.
When we are jamming Eidolon, it is against matchups who can't keep up with our creatures playing one spell at a time (Elves, Storm, Living End, etc) and since some of those matchups are very non-interactive, the opponent is doing things that can easily get around only one or two hand disruption spells in a game. Sure, playing Vengevines in a fair way hurts us, but not as much as them.
Aven Mindcensor reads such that only opponents are stopped from searching libraries, look at it again.
If we are fighting Affinity by tapping one or two mana to keep 4-8 power on board I'm all for it, it's a much better strategy for us than for them, when they have to basically dump all their hand into an Arcbound Ravager just to stay in the fight, hoping we don't have removal or ways to trade with it.
Also, the problem with blue or black splashes is that they don't hurt the opponent, they just protect us. We're an aggro deck. Our purpose is to hurt the opponent as much as possible. A counterspell that doesn't kill them if they don't walk into our action is an awkward draw when we have no other action. For the longest time, I was getting data from testing Heroic Intervention, playing redundant copies only to find it wasn't closing the gap all too often when fighting against board wipes. That and the natural problem of drawing it after it's too late to be practical. Boros Charm is the difference maker here, as it is much better rounded regardless of whether you draw it before or after the wheels start to fall off. I'll show an example build:
It's late so I have to crash, but I will say that the white splash gives us a lot of game against decks that previously might have simply run us over. Hallowed Moonlight helps with Dredge, Company, Griselbrand Reanimator, and Living End. Blessed Alliance comes in handy against Burn, Bogles, and tempo strategies that go tall instead of wide. Playing a 2-1 split of Boros Charm to Heroic ensures that we usually have anti board wipe tech, but also that we can just randomly burn the opponent for 4-6+ with Charm for when they don't draw their sweepers. Being less volatile and more gritty never hurt an aggro deck where almost everything goes to s**t once someone drops a Rest in Peace. I'm not saying it's the perfect plan, but it's definitely got its merits and you should try to consider that.
EDIT: I don't have an abundance of experience with this particular configuration. I merely playtest to get data. When I continuously had 8-15 damage on board, and had to use my Greater Gargadon to keep my Vengevines from getting exiled to Anger of the Gods. After so many games you stop to think "hmm, what is a solid way to keep my 10-15 points of damage on the board for the next turn so I can win, instead of cashing it in for 9 damage later on so I can probably lose to removal?" and thus the idea of BFT came about, which is a 1cc creature making it easy to recur Vengevine.
As a deckbuilder, I always look to check multiple boxes with the cards I choose, and have all of them point in the same direction when it comes to the focus of the strategy.
As of now I am trying to shave away any loose cards that make dead spots in the 75. For example, against Affinity, here is our board plan:
+1 Kataki, War's Wage
+1 Ingot Chewer
+1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
+1 Deglamer
+1 Unravel the Aether
As you can tell, after this switch there isn't a single card you would consider having better application than what remains in the main 60. This is the part of Magic I work on in my spare time, then I come home or find a resting place to practice. So far with the white splash I'm over 80%, only losing to nut draws and decks with several copies of Path + Snapcaster, as well as unfortunate mulligans
I feel that by default, Whirler Virtuoso is just a necessary evil for game one scenarios. Because your early threats are rather squishy, you need some extra padding to make it through to the later turns in the game. I just finished a MTG Arena queue in which I took a game white Virtuoso + Siphoner triggers to help me tempo a Heart of Kiran. It really shouldn't get blown out by Chainwhirler enough for that to be a pressing concern... but it does shine in a lot of situations where other cards might not give you enough coverage.
My current list in testing:
3 Champion of Wits
3 Whirler Virtuoso
3 Nicol Bolas, the Ravager
3 The Scarab God
1 Torrential Gearhulk
1 Noxious Gearhulk
1 Liliana, Death's Majesty
3 Magma Spray
3 Abrade
1 Harnessed Lightning
1 Unlicensed Disintegration
4 Vraska's Contempt
2 Doomfall
1 Commit // Memory
4 Aether Hub
4 Canyon Slough
4 Fetid Pools
3 Dragonskull Summit
3 Drowned Catacomb
2 Mountain
2 Swamp
2 Island
2 Sulfur Falls
1 Torrential Gearhulk
2 Hour of Devastation
2 By Force
2 Chandra's Defeat
3 Duress
2 Negate
1 Jace's Defeat
1 Essence Extraction
(Update: -1 Negate/-1 The Eldest Reborn in SB for +2 By Force
Making hedges in concession to the Mono-U Outcome combo archetype. Need extra gas for their midgame)
The entire deckbuilding philosophy is to have every spell affect the board state in game one to avoid losses to any aggressive strategies. This is also why I have the legendary spells at a 3-3-1 split between Nicol Bolas/Scarab God/Liliana. I sprinkled in the Noxious Gearhulk to make for a quasi midrange-breaker and so far it has been putting in work. You need some kind of value to have your Scarab God activations and Liliana -3 pay off in the end
What I need more data against is G/b Midrange. They're why I stuck with Hour of Devastation in the board. Hard to really tell whether it is going to cut it against what they bring to the table, especially since they can sometimes grow their threats out of Hour range by means of pump spell
The best EV is to answer their threats, stick a Gideon and Dovin with counterspell backup, then watch as they are forced to lose massive tempo either way they cut it. Having one of those survive into a Teferi is almost a done deal.
Many of my matches against R and Rb I'd have to dip under 5 life consistently during at least one of the games. Despite this, it's what I have the highest win% against. Playing the matchup feels like having a plane nosedive in a storm, only to level itself and pull back up with a few seconds to spare before impact. Always equal parts nerve-wracking and satisfying lol
I've only tested a little over ten matches with it in total IRL practice... I think the way you play the match best is to avoid overextending over problematic and life-threatening early plays in order to stifle what's next to come. Hold up Essence Scatter for Phoenix and take an extra 3 points of damage for it. Hold up Cast Out for Chandra before you Commit their scariest threat away. Getting information is so much more valuable than trying to stop an active crime scene on the board only to let more pain roll in after you tap out
Facing Bomat Courier into a 2 drop into a Chainwhirler or the 3/2 haste guy... sometimes you are tasked with a lot more than just "Get information and pray to not end up dead in the process" But then again those situations are only scary if the opponent plays right into Settle the Wreckage, so... I digress
I will say that I'm inclined to agree with your teammates. I actually PREFER to fight Mono-R and Rb to some of these Heroic Intervention/Blossoming Defense strats. The only thing that will change that is trying to steer away from facing lethal and then not being able to do much of anything about their lategame Banefire
3 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
3 Seal Away
3 Cast Out
2 Search for Azcanta
2 Blink of an Eye
2 Essence Scatter
1 Negate
4 Disallow
2 Syncopate
1 Commit // Memory
2 Settle the Wreckage
2 Fumigate
3 Hieroglyphic Illumination
2 Glimmer of Genius
1 Arch of Orazca
2 Field of Ruin
4 Irrigated Farmland
4 Glacial Fortress
1 Ipnu Rivulet
2 Memorial to Genius
6 Plains
6 Island
3 Negate
2 Forsake the Worldly
1 Gideon of the Trials
1 Dovin Baan
1 Fumigate
1 Settle the Wreckage
3 Regal Caracal
1 Nezahal, Primal Tide
A few takeaways on card choices:
I like skimming on Settle the Wreckage and skimming on Fumigate in different matchups. I actually just take Fumigate out vs Mono-R and Rb, as they usually play around it every single time. It is also counter-productive alongside your lifelink creature of choice (I like Regal Caracal over Lyra because if they have removal for it, you can still survive with chump blockers. That, and between Cast Out/Blink of an Eye/Teferi, there are plenty of lines to completely gum up the board if you have no other action) I am still trying to come up with an ideal number, but I am erring on 3/1 Settle/Fumigate with another 2 Fumigate in the board. It's dicey because I don't have too much data
I like 2 Memorial for all the control mirrors. It makes your low-impact keeps at least somewhat manageable in the late game
Nezahal vs the slower attrition decks and control mirrors is filthy
Have Karns but I just don't see it being a great help? At least if this was an artifact-centric plan it would make sense. As it stands, just a dash less important than Dovin Baan, who has actually overperformed against aggro every time I've used him
I like the 3/2 split of Illumination/Glimmer but I have been thinking about dropping an Illumination for something like 1x Gideon's Reproach MD
Any thoughts or data to compare would be appreciated
As an aside, the prize support on MTGA can be total dogmeat... just give me a rare voucher and let me be on my way lol
I would snap build around it if he were an artifact. Sadly, he isn't. The steep cost makes it far less reliable as a finisher than it's worth. We want our non-attacking spells to either push control out of their options, or be able to assist in damage somehow, if not both. Four mana Master token that gets taxed by both Lodestone and Thorn doesn't help our control plan chug along.
Welcome aboard. I thought I was clever for coming up with the name Blue Man Group once I realized Chief Engineer was a card some years ago, and tried to brew with Architect and Sculptor as well. I'm sure I might not have been one of the first to do it lol
As far as your shell goes, you have some interesting things going on. I like the Esperzoa + Vial plan in some places, as it can really pack a punch in the air without coughing up too much of a disadvantage. If you wanted to go this route, I would suggest Aether Spellbomb over Snags, as you will need a critical mass of non-creature artifacts to maintain a healthy tempo for the Esperzoa triggers. It's very important that you're not just holding back a few points of damage a turn due mostly in part to your deck's design (when I tried to brew with Lupine Prototype, this is what I was faced with trying to solve, and it's just a nasty wrench in any plan when your deck can often lose to itself)
All around, the variant shows promise, but there are a few principles to build around when considering a Grand Architect shell. For one, you need a payoff for its ability to turn blue critters into Sol Ring. If you aren't playing some dumb 6 or 7 drop early on, or running Ballista as an endgame, then you might as well be playing Elves since you're on the dudes + lord plan, essentially.
One archetype that I feel warps the format in a way is Lantern, as you need to be considerate of your outs to the lock. I went as far as playing 3 Aether Spellbomb, 3 Phyrexian Revoker, and a playset of Drowned Rusalka and Signal Pests just to be able to interact with them more feasibly in game ones. Here you have literally no outs to Lantern + Mill rock(s) + Bridge, and that's worrisome.
Without Lodestone, your matches against removal heavy decks become much, much worse. I know you have ways to attrition, but you can't just keep drawing cards and letting creatures fall to the wayside in combat, even if you have multiple fliers. Pushing people out from interacting is one of the premier strategies for this archetype.
If you are just trying to apply this gritty cantrip aggressive strategy but are particular about using artifacts, I would spitball something like this:
4 Chief Engineer
3 Siren Stormtamer
4 Mausoleum Wanderer
4 Signal Pest
4 Esperzoa
3 Spell Queller
4 Alchemist's Vial
4 Smuggler's Copter
2 Throne of the God-Pharaoh
3 Relic of Progenitus
1 Aether Spellbomb
4 Flooded Strand
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
5 Island
2 Hallowed Fountain
2 Dismember
2 Ethersworn Canonist
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Kira, Great Glass Spinner
1 Bident of Thassa
3 Stony Silence
2 Disenchant
If we are trying to make the deck synergistic and whole in its usage then I like Relic as an Esperzoa enabler for when Vials don't roll around. You can still garner some use from its tap ability as you bounce it every turn, plus it's just a free cantrip for any situation where you have multiples. Most importantly, it gives us percentage points against Mardu Pyromancer, Dredge, and other popular graveyard strategies
As you aren't overloaded on taxing effects, you will need to deal with more spells 1-for-1, which is why I would go with an extra Stormtamer and 3 Spell Queller as it can prevent a game-ending play outright. 3 is in consideration for the curve and land count.
If we aren't playing Lodestone or Ballista anyway, then Architect almost becomes moot, because we can just shave it and a few lands to play plenty more one drops to help keep our card supply moving.
If you are trying to have a deck that frequently cantrips while also playing lords and can counter individual spells, UW Spirits is probably your best bet
Yeah a big proponent of game one victories is to have most of the cards "just win" rather than net value. I guess since we are primarily an aggressive shell, if we net value it has to either be game-winning outright or part of (or a reinforcement of) the aggro plan to actually 'net value'.
I've happened across some strange and peculiar lists and one was constantly being tweaked with some strong magic-league performances. It used Ongoing Investigation, which is interesting because it's not just outright dead against other aggro decks when you can gain 2 life spurts.
4 Siren Stormtamer
4 Pili-Pala
4 Mindshrieker
1 Spellskite
3 Trophy Mage
4 Grand Architect
4 Ensnaring Bridge
3 Ongoing Investigation
2 Smuggler's Copter
1 Staff of Domination
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
2 Breeding Pool
14 Island
3 Master of Waves
2 Spellskite
1 Basilisk Collar
2 Pithing Needle
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Vedalken Shackles
2 Witchbane Orb
1 Unified Will
Have been undefeated with it so far in matches. You can get some clues to go under your own Bridge and then represent the Mindshrieker infinite. That or play a turn 1 dude, turn 2 Pili-Pala, turn 3 swing with Pili-Pala, play Architect, tap Architect to activate Pili-Pala to turn itself blue, use the 1-drop to untap it to go infinite, Trophy Mage for Staff to draw the deck or just Ballista to the dome if you already have it.
It fits into the same niche of your GW Value Town decks and still fulfills on the promise of sometimes just beating face game 1 without a combo kill, but in this case it can mulligan better against other combo decks due to its wide array of three card combos
3 Figure of Destiny
4 Rattlechains
3 Phantasmal Image
2 Selfless Spirit
2 Tallowisp
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Drogskol Captain
4 Spell Queller
4 Curious Obsession
1 Temporal Isolation
1 Invocation of Saint Traft
1 Moorland Haunt
4 Flooded Strand
3 Scalding Tarn
2 Steam Vents
2 Sacred Foundry
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Island
3 Plains
4 Seachrome Coast
This is a spitball draft inspired by the 5-0 shell, in which I think the best toolbox to use Tallowisp for is nabbing your removal package in a pinch. While usually Path is reasonable because you can target your own guys to ramp, or manlands, having Chained to the Rocks can keep the opponent from getting ramp to benefit them (Counters Company) in situations where using Path is a toss-up but good enough to get the job done. Going into Jeskai also lets us push into playing Figure, which might not be as good in practice as I think it is, but in theory helps us get under the control/midrange strategies that tend to weigh down on us in the mid-late game. It's also a one man wrecking crew along with your Invocation of Saint Traft. The splash also gives us Wear // Tear out of the board, Blood Moon (seems rough) if we so choose, Izzet Staticaster, Harsh Mentor, Boros Charm, and Deflecting Palm.
I like Boros Charm especially, as another Selfless Spirit ability that can double strike a guy with Curious Obsession to net an extra draw while still damaging the opponent. Checks all the boxes we need against control decks. Another trick is to Temporal Isolation our guy and cast Tear after passing through blockers step to get unblockable damage in.
I really like the ability to craft the sort of end-game we so choose, but I think Tallowisp not flying and not really netting immediate value means we can still build around it and yet have contingencies for when it doesn't go off successfully. I think trying to play too many bullets increases variance, which is not what you want to be doing in a very straight-forward strategy.
EDIT: Uuuuuurgh, just realized Tallowisp doesn't tutor for Chained to the rocks. Back to the drawing board
EDIT 2: I'm not saying any of these cards are necessarily breaking the deck, but a quick magiccards.info query makes it seem like they're some interesting endgame bullets -
A few combos worth mentioning:
Spirit Link + Spirit Loop = double-stacked Lifelink trigger
Protection creature + Pariah = lock against mono-color. BFT and Kor Firewalker come to mind, also Voice of All and/or a creature with Spectra Ward, albeit very clunky.
Gift of Immortality + Alpha Authority/Aspect of Mongoose = lock against conventional control removal, albeit clunky
Planning for my LGS. The meta is:
2-3x Lantern Prison
1-2x RG Titanshift
1-?x Burn
1-?x UR Gifts Storm
2-?x URx Control
1-?x Elves
1-?x Martyr Proc
1x Scrap Trawler Eggs
1-3 Tempo (Ug Fish, Uw Spirits, etc)
1-?x Jund
1-?x BR Hollow One
5+ Tier 3 lists, inefficiently racing or controlling
My new 75 to accommodate for the new intel
4x Signal Pest
3x Drowned Rusalka
4x Etherium Sculptor
4x Chief Engineer
4x Grand Architect
4x Lodestone Golem
4x Walking Ballista
2x Throne of the God-Pharaoh
1x Grafted Wargear
1x God-Pharaoh's Gift
4x Blinkmoth Nexus
1x Academy Ruins
1x Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
15x Island
2x Trinket Mage
2x Thorn of Amethyst
2x Dismember
2x Ratchet Bomb
1x Relic of Progenitus
1x Basilisk Collar
1x Grafdigger's Cage
1x Pithing Needle
3x Phyrexian Revoker
In a rush for work but will get to writing out an ideal shell matrix for each problem matchup and which Maybeboard cards to keep in the rotation of the 75 depending on what the room will look like. Worst beating is the KComm + Snapcaster matchup (duh) but other than that there are ways to hedge that I think are reasonable. As it stands I wish I had the Revokers last night but I'll stay posted with more findings and data as I try to break the Gift without going overboard.
As an aside, I think Negate is going to move into the board instead of Thorn for some matchups, because I would rather not tax either player in certain midrange matchups where Lodestone + Thorn is too unreliable, or we can't race them fast enough to get those online.
Topdeck a dinky creature, slide wargear on it, slide it off and back onto something without summoning sickness, BOOM dinky creature is now a 4/4 Zombie token. Been loving this change!
2 Judge's Familiar
3 Drowned Rusalka
4 Etherium Sculptor
4 Chief Engineer
4 Grand Architect
4 Walking Ballista
4 Lodestone Golem
1 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
4 Smuggler's Copter
2 God-Pharaoh's Gift
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
1 Academy Ruins
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
16 Island
1 Pithing Needle
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Basilisk Collar
2 Trinket Mage
2 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Dismember
2 Thorn of Amethyst
2 Echoing Truth
Just from solitaire reps the deck performs better in the mid to late game scenarios with much smoother draws. Rusalka is the natural response to spot removal decks. It makes it easier not only to get to your Gift copies but pays off with the resources you traded in on your way there. Also solves my problem with the deck, which is flooding with low-impact spells and lands, usually in equal number. It provides a much less redundant curve if your tempo is lacking, which helps when we have to hunker down and play for the late game.
Currently too busy for additional writing but very much welcome to any C&C
As such it's criminal to leave out Wolf-Skull Shaman. The card helps to get over the hump when board states get murky, and Leaf-Crowned Elder can come in as a silver bullet to play double duty in the battle for board supremacy.
Lastly, your plan is to go wide and punch in the mouth with a Rage Forger or two. In doing so, playing a Chord of Calling/CoCo is much more valuable than an Aether Vial. Trading your card in for a creature rather than an artifact helps with the extra Rage Forger triggers, and most of the deck is already predicated on tempo rather than bulk. Merfolk can Vial to a benefit because the deck can clock the opponent with just a few lords. There's no such play with Shamans, so most successful archetypes are seen to be playing Bosk Banneret/Beastcaller Savant/BTE to help get on the ground running, eliminating the need to use any other resources to go wide.
I will say, using Chord to turn your Wolf tokens and non-threatening dorks into an anthem or a game-changing bullet is a much more reliable way to shift into the midgame than just a CoCo. The average CMC of our guys being paltry doesn't help to cash in value off of it, unlike dedicated CoCo builds where you can easily grab 5-6 CMC of sheer value critters for your money's worth.
The ceiling is already pretty much decided for Shamans, and there's no proof to suggest that it hasn't been broken if there was any potential. Splashing a third color is silly in a deck that is low to the ground, unless you're on the 12+ fetch/5+ shock plan. And in that case, a card like Nacatl would come to mind, and then you'd realize that you're just playing a worse Nacatl deck than a dedicated zoo plan, because you can't cash in as much with your Rage Forgers. I digress...
4x Snapcaster Mage
2x Tasigur, the Golden Fang
2x Gurmag Angler
3x Street Wraith
4x Thought Scour
4x Serum Visions
4x Thoughtseize
2x Inquisition of Kozilek
3x Lingering Souls
3x Stubborn Denial
3x Fatal Push
3x Path to Exile
1x Collective Brutality
4x Flooded Strand
4x Polluted Delta
1x Swamp
1x Island
2x Watery Grave
1x Godless Shrine
1x Hallowed Fountain
1x Flashfreeze
4x Ceremonious Rejection
2x Nihil Spellbomb
1x Stubborn Denial
1x Path to Exile
1x Collective Brutality
2x Flaying Tendrils
1x Disenchant
2x Curiosity
Will follow up with a report later, let's hope to run hot :x
EDIT:
Beat burn round 1, drew no gas against UW control at the back end of a game 3, lost to blood moon game 1 round 3 and game 2 started off with 5/6 draws yielding lands. my one discard spell i drew was inquisition and opponent had wrath/nahiri (i sided out 1 c. brutality/1 inquisition) if it were my thoughtseize, would have just bought it back with snapcaster to run the guy over but nahiri + double cast out helped him hunker down. Played until i went x-3 just to humor what the loser's bracket was like, ended up beating BW eldrazi taxes convincingly then lost a game 3 to jund midrange where their fatal pushes were useless against my double delve creature draw so they topdecked not one but two lilianas back to back to stay alive and a dark confidant to pull ahead on cards.
Based on results from yesterday can seriously say I feel like I'm cursed after having drawn 19/19 lands with RG vengevine last week, mulligan into oblivion two PPTQs in a row the weekend prior, after mulliganing into oblivion in the top 8 of the PPTQ the week prior to those. But the great ones say you have to make your own luck so here's what I'll be testing and bringing to the table next week:
4x Snapcaster Mage
2x Tasigur, the Golden Fang
2x Gurmag Angler
4x Street Wraith
4x Thought Scour
4x Serum Visions
4x Thoughtseize
2x Inquisition of Kozilek
3x Lingering Souls
3x Stubborn Denial
3x Fatal Push
3x Path to Exile
4x Flooded Strand
4x Polluted Delta
1x Swamp
1x Island
2x Watery Grave
1x Godless Shrine
1x Hallowed Fountain
1x Flashfreeze
1x Detention Sphere
1x Plains
2x Ceremonious Rejection
2x Nihil Spellbomb
1x Stubborn Denial
2x Collective Brutality
2x Flaying Tendrils
1x Disenchant
2x Curiosity
At this point I am just metagaming, need outs to control opponents and I feel like the Plains to fight Blood Moon and the D-Sphere to hit mostly everything (especially planeswalkers) will be a good option
As an aside, Curiosity was a m**f***ing stud every time I had it. So much better value against the opponents you would want Lilianas for. Plus, against burn, you can play it for much cheaper to have your creatures absorb damage like a vitamin, while drawing into outs to let you better shield your face. The 1cc is key. I can definitely say that the Flashfreeze, while not hitting E-Tron's big threats, or planeswalkers out of UW control, was key in beating burn while also being relevant against RG Titanshift. If I had to swap it for anything it'd be a disdainful stroke, but i feel Flashfreeze is the much better hedge right now.
It hasn't been brought up. I thought of it, but dont know what I'd cut to jam her. Having to dip into green on turn one could be worth the extra life loss. I need a few more runs with this iteration to really weigh in on which option it is simply better than.
As an aside, I realized at work today that I can just jam the red Eidolon instead of the white one if I want to beat Storm/combo. Makes my time getting value off Vengevine or chaining spells to boost Hollow One/Adept that much simpler.
Aven Mindcensor reads such that only opponents are stopped from searching libraries, look at it again.
If we are fighting Affinity by tapping one or two mana to keep 4-8 power on board I'm all for it, it's a much better strategy for us than for them, when they have to basically dump all their hand into an Arcbound Ravager just to stay in the fight, hoping we don't have removal or ways to trade with it.
Also, the problem with blue or black splashes is that they don't hurt the opponent, they just protect us. We're an aggro deck. Our purpose is to hurt the opponent as much as possible. A counterspell that doesn't kill them if they don't walk into our action is an awkward draw when we have no other action. For the longest time, I was getting data from testing Heroic Intervention, playing redundant copies only to find it wasn't closing the gap all too often when fighting against board wipes. That and the natural problem of drawing it after it's too late to be practical. Boros Charm is the difference maker here, as it is much better rounded regardless of whether you draw it before or after the wheels start to fall off. I'll show an example build:
4 Insolent Neonate
4 Flameblade Adept
4 Street Wraith
4 Hollow One
4 Vengevine
3 Fauna Shaman
1 Faerie Macabre
2 Ghor-Clan Rampager
1 Grim Lavamancer
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Faithless Looting
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Arid Mesa
3 Bloodstained Mire
3 Mountain
3 Sacred Foundry
3 Stomping Ground
2 Hallowed Moonlight
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1 Burrenton Forge-Tender
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Kataki, War's Wage
1 Ingot Chewer
1 Faerie Macabre
1 Domri Rade
1 Deglamer
1 Unravel the Aether
1 Heroic Intervention
2 Blessed Alliance
It's late so I have to crash, but I will say that the white splash gives us a lot of game against decks that previously might have simply run us over. Hallowed Moonlight helps with Dredge, Company, Griselbrand Reanimator, and Living End. Blessed Alliance comes in handy against Burn, Bogles, and tempo strategies that go tall instead of wide. Playing a 2-1 split of Boros Charm to Heroic ensures that we usually have anti board wipe tech, but also that we can just randomly burn the opponent for 4-6+ with Charm for when they don't draw their sweepers. Being less volatile and more gritty never hurt an aggro deck where almost everything goes to s**t once someone drops a Rest in Peace. I'm not saying it's the perfect plan, but it's definitely got its merits and you should try to consider that.
EDIT: I don't have an abundance of experience with this particular configuration. I merely playtest to get data. When I continuously had 8-15 damage on board, and had to use my Greater Gargadon to keep my Vengevines from getting exiled to Anger of the Gods. After so many games you stop to think "hmm, what is a solid way to keep my 10-15 points of damage on the board for the next turn so I can win, instead of cashing it in for 9 damage later on so I can probably lose to removal?" and thus the idea of BFT came about, which is a 1cc creature making it easy to recur Vengevine.
As a deckbuilder, I always look to check multiple boxes with the cards I choose, and have all of them point in the same direction when it comes to the focus of the strategy.
As of now I am trying to shave away any loose cards that make dead spots in the 75. For example, against Affinity, here is our board plan:
-2 Ghor-Clan Rampager
-1 Faerie Macabre
-2 Boros Charm
+1 Kataki, War's Wage
+1 Ingot Chewer
+1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
+1 Deglamer
+1 Unravel the Aether
As you can tell, after this switch there isn't a single card you would consider having better application than what remains in the main 60. This is the part of Magic I work on in my spare time, then I come home or find a resting place to practice. So far with the white splash I'm over 80%, only losing to nut draws and decks with several copies of Path + Snapcaster, as well as unfortunate mulligans