The inclusion of score pads indicates to me that Wizards recieved quite a few complaints from players about having to bring in their own paper and pen to track life totals. Cue complaints about bringing in a pen.
The store that runs the major prerelease events in my area always supplied those bulk bic pens. You're supposed to leave them there but 90% of them walk out the door.
I have won turn 1 in tests against this deck with Inquisition->deciever-> surgical extraction.
If by "win" you mean "they gave up because their badly built deck didn't have more then one way of winning and no mental misstep " then yes, good for you.
You have to remember: This combo is 8 cards in a 60 card deck. Cards that are decent/good on their own. Yeah, if you build your deck so that the only way you can win is with the combo, then you'll lose to dedicated hate. However, if you build an actually good deck, you'll be hurt but not crippled.
I've been playing AS this deck for a few weeks now so here are my observations on what works against it well.
Pro-active answers work the best. Duress type effects and cards like Memoricide are your best bet. They require an answer NOW and give you tactical information about how close they are to getting the combo (and protecting it). If you have to decide between removing Splinter Twin or the Exarch, go for the enchantment. A number of the variants I've seen/played can make MUCH better use of the Splinter Twin without the Exarch then it can the other way round.
Of the reactive answers, counterspells are your best bet. Removal isn't ideal but does work for two reasons: This deck SHOULD be running a couple Spellskites and they can soak up a large variety of removal (including some enchantment removal since a lot of them hit artifacts too) and can be activated even while tapped out. Ironically, spellskite is also a great tool AGAINST this deck since you can steal the Splinter Twin with it when they cast it. The other reason is that removal effectively costs +1 mana since the Exarch can tap a permanent when it comes into play (including land).
Passive answers work but you should not rely on them. Torpor Orb and Norn's Annex are equally effective. Into the Roil (which the deck should be running) can pop both of them back to your hand right before the combo goes off and can be done any time before you activate the combo.
General tactics for fighting this deck:
- Avoid tapping out if they have 2U open. Even if you don't have an answer for the combo in your hand, the mere threat of it will delay the combo until they have counters or something to protect it or a better opportunity. Of course, if your opponent knows you don't have an answer (due to deck type or something), this doesn't work.
- Early aggression is very effective against this deck. The deck is generally faster then Cawblade or Valakut, but it isn't THAT fast. The deck tends to run pyroclasm or similar spells (MD or SB) so keep that mind. Get them to expend as many of their answers as they can so they can't protect the combo.
- The deck's biggest strength is surprise. Depending on what shell it's using (if any), it can seem like another deck right up until it pulls the combo out. The combo is only two cards and can be fairly easily fit into other decks. Additionally, that means it can be sideboarded out to convert the deck into some other deck (pyromancer's ascension is relatively trivial to do for some versions).
- Don't relax just because you crippled the combo. I've had opponents burn a ton of spells/mana to cripple the combo only to GG next turn when I pull out my alternate win condition they weren't prepared for at all.
- The deck can and does get goldfish hands occasionally. There often isn't a whole lot you can do about it when it happens.
The only problem I see with giving yourself poison counters to cast a really nice spell would be Legacy. If they make them too good, they will run rampant in legacy without any drawback. They need to tread carefully if they do this.
Maybe instead of being a cost, we could see "Scarred" or "Tainted" cards that have an upkeep cost of giving you a poison counter.
I think there's a mistake with the Crusher. It seems unthinkable for a red 3 for 3/3 with a decent ability on top.
The reason it is that cheap is because it is a double edged sword: Yes, it thins your deck out of probably useless land but the creature itself is easy to respond to. It doesn't have trample, it has no protection, it doesn't have haste, etc. Here is the worse case situation:
You play the Crusher, then your opponent casts pacify (or equivalent). Gratz, you'll never get another land ever again.
Every color has an easy method of dealing with this card in a way that hurts you far more then losing a creature would normally be: Pacify, Lignify, Tap Effects (blue has a ton), Lots of tiny throw-away creatures, regeneration (blockers that never go away and effectively neutralize it).
This card encourages (and in ways requires) heavily aggressive play. It is like running along an edge of a cliff: One rock at the wrong time will tip you up and send you off the cliff.
You are correct in that if something says "Champion an Elemental" you can champion an elemental creature, an elemental enchantment, or even an elemental land (if there were such a thing). The only exception to this is the few Changeling champions since they specifically say "Champion a Creature."
However, no matter what you champion it has to be a permanent and in play.
Lastly, except with CITP abiltiies I don't really see how it is now "broken."
1.a girl or young unmarried woman; maid.
2.a horse that has never won a race.
3.a race open only to maiden horses.
4.an instrument resembling the guillotine, formerly used in Scotland for beheading criminals.
1 out of 4 says she is a human, 2 out of 4 says she is a horse, and 1 out of 4 says she is an execution device.
You don't want to champion a token if you can avoid it, it won't come back if your creature is dealt with. Ideally, you want to champion something cheap with a decent CITP or leaves-play ability.
Actually, here is a thought:
Run a tribal deck with lots of creatures with the champion ability and wrath effects. That way when you are forced to wrath, you still end up with a few creatures surviving.
My first look at hostility almost gave me a heart attack. For a second, i thought it triggered off of ANY damage to your opponent and not just spells. As it stands now, I could see it being used in a constructed deck along with those hideaway lands but other then that.... too expensive for most decks =\
Agreed. The perfect Timmy card, large and nearly unplayable.
So I'm wondering this. With Favor of the Mighty, this guy will always have protection from all colors. I mean, if a bigger creature comes into play Mr. Hamletback jumps up even bigger than that. With Grinning Ignus he can actually come out reasonably early. That makes it possible, if not likely, to do some real damage with him. Suppose
Turn 1: Forest, Birds of Paradise/Llanowar Elves
Turn 2: Mountain,Grinning Iguns
Turn 3: Land, Favor of the Mighty. You have two mana to spend as you wish.
Turn 4: Land, use Ignus, drop Hamletback. He's protection from everything that matters (What are the odds of double Ghostfire anyway?) and you can do the Ignus Yo-Yo next turn and easily swing for 10.
Quick Comment: Favor of the Mighty works off of CMC not power or toughness. However, he DOES cost a ton of mana so there will be very little that will cost more then him.
I need help with a casual deck I am modifying to run in a Legacy Peasant Magic tournament. Although the play is fairly competitive at the shop I will be playing at, the decks are fairly casual. Hence, my weird deck
The deck was originally a draft deck but it has since mutated in to an amusing casual deck. When I converted it to Peasant, I had to take out 3 Long-Forgotten Gohei. The runs like a strange aggro deck. Generally once I get Sire of the Storm out, I can burn though large portions of my deck each turn which in turn allows me to pump up my Kami of the Hunt. If that doesn't work for some reason, I often end up finishing off my opponent with Strength of Cedars.
Any suggestions on what to modify the deck with? I'll probably be rummaging through my card shops $0.10 card bin this weekend looking for stuff to modify the deck with.
Hmm... here is a thought: That green shapechanger that is every creature type even if not in play works really well with these new dual lands (assuming they are a cycle).
its a lot of cards but if you get Liliana out with solitary confinement, mycosynth lattice, darksteel forge, and any type of recurring card draw ie. necropotence you could add any win condition you want and watch as your opponent tries to stop you with anything short of upheaval, apocalypse, warp world. It would be a fun deck to make in casual. Go power of re-usable tutor or any other planeswalker ftw. oops forgot to add privileged position's
Privileged Position will protect your planeswalker from spells like Boomerang but not from spells like Shock since the latter never actually targets the planeswalker.
Also that is a lot of mana being put down that doesn't actually win you the game.
The store that runs the major prerelease events in my area always supplied those bulk bic pens. You're supposed to leave them there but 90% of them walk out the door.
If by "win" you mean "they gave up because their badly built deck didn't have more then one way of winning and no mental misstep " then yes, good for you.
You have to remember: This combo is 8 cards in a 60 card deck. Cards that are decent/good on their own. Yeah, if you build your deck so that the only way you can win is with the combo, then you'll lose to dedicated hate. However, if you build an actually good deck, you'll be hurt but not crippled.
I have to agree with that list. I'd put Combust a bit lower due to the effective 1 mana tax on removal but otherwise it's dead on.
Pro-active answers work the best. Duress type effects and cards like Memoricide are your best bet. They require an answer NOW and give you tactical information about how close they are to getting the combo (and protecting it). If you have to decide between removing Splinter Twin or the Exarch, go for the enchantment. A number of the variants I've seen/played can make MUCH better use of the Splinter Twin without the Exarch then it can the other way round.
Of the reactive answers, counterspells are your best bet. Removal isn't ideal but does work for two reasons: This deck SHOULD be running a couple Spellskites and they can soak up a large variety of removal (including some enchantment removal since a lot of them hit artifacts too) and can be activated even while tapped out. Ironically, spellskite is also a great tool AGAINST this deck since you can steal the Splinter Twin with it when they cast it. The other reason is that removal effectively costs +1 mana since the Exarch can tap a permanent when it comes into play (including land).
Passive answers work but you should not rely on them. Torpor Orb and Norn's Annex are equally effective. Into the Roil (which the deck should be running) can pop both of them back to your hand right before the combo goes off and can be done any time before you activate the combo.
General tactics for fighting this deck:
- Avoid tapping out if they have 2U open. Even if you don't have an answer for the combo in your hand, the mere threat of it will delay the combo until they have counters or something to protect it or a better opportunity. Of course, if your opponent knows you don't have an answer (due to deck type or something), this doesn't work.
- Early aggression is very effective against this deck. The deck is generally faster then Cawblade or Valakut, but it isn't THAT fast. The deck tends to run pyroclasm or similar spells (MD or SB) so keep that mind. Get them to expend as many of their answers as they can so they can't protect the combo.
- The deck's biggest strength is surprise. Depending on what shell it's using (if any), it can seem like another deck right up until it pulls the combo out. The combo is only two cards and can be fairly easily fit into other decks. Additionally, that means it can be sideboarded out to convert the deck into some other deck (pyromancer's ascension is relatively trivial to do for some versions).
- Don't relax just because you crippled the combo. I've had opponents burn a ton of spells/mana to cripple the combo only to GG next turn when I pull out my alternate win condition they weren't prepared for at all.
- The deck can and does get goldfish hands occasionally. There often isn't a whole lot you can do about it when it happens.
Maybe instead of being a cost, we could see "Scarred" or "Tainted" cards that have an upkeep cost of giving you a poison counter.
The reason it is that cheap is because it is a double edged sword: Yes, it thins your deck out of probably useless land but the creature itself is easy to respond to. It doesn't have trample, it has no protection, it doesn't have haste, etc. Here is the worse case situation:
You play the Crusher, then your opponent casts pacify (or equivalent). Gratz, you'll never get another land ever again.
Every color has an easy method of dealing with this card in a way that hurts you far more then losing a creature would normally be: Pacify, Lignify, Tap Effects (blue has a ton), Lots of tiny throw-away creatures, regeneration (blockers that never go away and effectively neutralize it).
This card encourages (and in ways requires) heavily aggressive play. It is like running along an edge of a cliff: One rock at the wrong time will tip you up and send you off the cliff.
However, no matter what you champion it has to be a permanent and in play.
Lastly, except with CITP abiltiies I don't really see how it is now "broken."
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/maiden
1 out of 4 says she is a human, 2 out of 4 says she is a horse, and 1 out of 4 says she is an execution device.
Take your pick =p
Actually, here is a thought:
Run a tribal deck with lots of creatures with the champion ability and wrath effects. That way when you are forced to wrath, you still end up with a few creatures surviving.
Quick Comment: Favor of the Mighty works off of CMC not power or toughness. However, he DOES cost a ton of mana so there will be very little that will cost more then him.
Without further ado:
12 Forest
2 Elder Pine of Jukai
1 Shinen of Life's Roar
4 Floating-Dream Zubera
2 River Kaijin
3 Kami of the Hunt
1 Dream Catcher
1 Surveiling Sprite
2 Sire of the Storm
3 Kami of the Twisted Reflection
1 Dripping-Tongue Zubera
2 Reach Through the Mists
3 Psychic Puppetry
3 Flight of Fancy
2 Strength of Cedars
2 Kodama's Might
Any suggestions on what to modify the deck with? I'll probably be rummaging through my card shops $0.10 card bin this weekend looking for stuff to modify the deck with.
Thanks in advance.
Privileged Position will protect your planeswalker from spells like Boomerang but not from spells like Shock since the latter never actually targets the planeswalker.
Also that is a lot of mana being put down that doesn't actually win you the game.