i think U/B is the way to go (red can be thrown in too for burn)
my reasoning is that we need the filter of preordain as well as cards like mental misstep, gitaxian probe, and tezzerets gamble (i know these three are all phybrids but blue opens up preordain, jaces, and helps lift off the dependency on paying life)
Most cawblade lists run two swords, though there are a good number that run one. As for memoricide targets...jace is a pretty strong choice.
against caw blade i take out gideon first. jace is easier to kill and slightly less of a board problem than gideon. but jace is right next to him in terms of targets. depends on the hand
I am going to pull the hammer out more than likely but I am wondering the reasoning behind waiting for them to tutor the sword then IoK it away.
I assume it is because u just got rid of the assumed 1 of sword in the deck and a 1/2 is not threatening...I agree. But on the other hand I think it could be advantageous to pull the mystic as they won't tutor the sword and won't (considering a hawk-less hand) have a threat to use it on if they draw it or another Mystic until turn 7 or so with Gideon or Connolade? What has been your experiences?
id rather them have a 1/2 on the board and a sword in their graveyard than just wait for them to run into another. They have 4 mystics and multiple draw effects, only a matter of time before they hit a sword or tutor. ive never seen a caw blade list that runs more than 2 swords, most run 2 MB and some run 1(i dont play caw blade so correct me if im wrong on the numbers). Ive never run into another sword after Iok'ing away the first one. At that point you only have to worry about walkers and collonades (maybe the occasional sun titan). its good to eliminate the threat rather than just hope they dont draw another mystic
hammer of ruin is a def no-go. yeah it kills swords. only when it hits. thats it. outside of that its kinda useless. i feel like if it did more beyond that one hit itd be on par with the rest of the deck. we dont have tramplers and our evasion isnt usually common in most builds (inkmoth aside) so unless we wipe and hit with something that didnt die we usually wont be able to get that hit in. unless im missing something completely; if i am please explain it.
yaliu is right magnets are great for stopping swords that are already on the board and just wait for the tutor and IoK it away.
i think you guys are missing the power of jaces +2 when thrown at you opponent. even against aggro controlling their top card is game winning. does that mean you play him T4? no way. just wait till they go down to 2 cards in hand or topdeck mode and 9 times out of 10 the game is yours
This deck is untested but I feel like it could have potential just looking at the list and thinking of all the card interactions. The meta that I play in is packed full of caw-blade and my hope is this deck can lay down the law.
--Explanations--
Chalice- Accel
Sphere- Accel/Mana Fixing
Prism- Fixing/Cantrip
Preordain- Digging
IoK- Pulls the obvious cards out of caw-blades hands
Tumble Magnet- Awesome creature control
Revoker- Locks down swords, and walkers
Tezzeret- Obv.
Thrun- An uncounterable, untargetable threat that can get nasty with a sword.
Awakening Zone- Dudes, semi-accel
SoFaF- Obv.
Hammer- Smashes opposing swords
Mana Leak- control
Spell Pierce- control
without a way to tutor these up you have no way of consistently getting your equipments aside from hoping to +1 tezz into the two pieces you have. maybe up the count, it seems like a great strategy but im eager to hear how often you get the equips going. also looks like the 2 awakening zones are just there and wont show up terribly much so either up them or put something better in its place. just a thought
@Bankai: I think skittles and the crusader work better in regular U/B control. Ive been using the cheap artifact infectors (inkmoths and plague myr MB and Necropede SB) plus Tezz's -1 to go for the two turn clock. Much more explosive than the non-artifact package
I played against elves with it and it started out as a 6/6, then i switched it over to a crusader to close out the game. def good against creature heavy decks (sweepers do wonders here)
-Bonehoard: It feeds off the amount of creature removal in this deck and grows as the game progresses thus feeding the infectors. Also is a body once it hits the field
-I havent had a lot of time to playtest this build (im isolated from other players with the exception of fnms here and there) so i dont know if my numbers and card choices are the best, on paper they should work but again only time can tell. Any thought/suggestions?
so heres the list ive come up with; i sadly abandoned the lock aspect after playtesting a bunch including against run of the mill boros and caw blade. the portal is just too slow and inconsistent to play (at one point i put a portal on a portal to just keep imprinting whatever i drew). when this was just a casual deck for me i threw in a one of keening stone for shiggles and had some fun with it but took it out later.
I dont have inkmoths in here mainly because i dont own them and i dont know how many i should run
I have the tricksters in there as one drops that work against some of the big match ups (boros, valakut, caw blade) from the amount they search. even if they remove them early i dont have to sink any mana into them (unlike the cryptologists) and they can get bigger as the game progresses (unlike the hatchlings). They do get sided out game 2 if the opponent doesnt search too much.
i havent had the chance to do much testing with this list and am a bit out of touch with standard builds (i stopped keeping up with stuff when alara rotated out) but i know the basics so forgive me if ive screwed up horribly here. what do you guys think?
my reasoning is that we need the filter of preordain as well as cards like mental misstep, gitaxian probe, and tezzerets gamble (i know these three are all phybrids but blue opens up preordain, jaces, and helps lift off the dependency on paying life)
in a U/B infect crusader is the best threat but in tezz it seems a bit sub par. it doesnt take advantage of tezz's abilities and gets passed by his +1
against caw blade i take out gideon first. jace is easier to kill and slightly less of a board problem than gideon. but jace is right next to him in terms of targets. depends on the hand
id rather them have a 1/2 on the board and a sword in their graveyard than just wait for them to run into another. They have 4 mystics and multiple draw effects, only a matter of time before they hit a sword or tutor. ive never seen a caw blade list that runs more than 2 swords, most run 2 MB and some run 1(i dont play caw blade so correct me if im wrong on the numbers). Ive never run into another sword after Iok'ing away the first one. At that point you only have to worry about walkers and collonades (maybe the occasional sun titan). its good to eliminate the threat rather than just hope they dont draw another mystic
yaliu is right magnets are great for stopping swords that are already on the board and just wait for the tutor and IoK it away.
without a way to tutor these up you have no way of consistently getting your equipments aside from hoping to +1 tezz into the two pieces you have. maybe up the count, it seems like a great strategy but im eager to hear how often you get the equips going. also looks like the 2 awakening zones are just there and wont show up terribly much so either up them or put something better in its place. just a thought
4x Phyrexian Crusader
2x Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
Artifacts
3x Contagion Clasp
1x Bonehoard
4x Tumble Magnet
2x Ratchet Bomb
Instants
2x Go for the Throat
3x Disfigure
3x Spell Pierce
1x Into the Roil
2x Mana Leak
4x Inquisition of Kozilek
4x Preordain
1x Black Sun's Zenith
Lands
4x Darkslick Shores
4x Drowned Catacombs
3x Tectonic Edge
2x Inkmoth Nexus
7x Swamp
4x Island
1x Black Sun's Zenith
1x Go for the Throat
4x Memoricide
2x Into the Roil
1x Mana Leak
1x Contagion Clasp
2x Duress
2x Doom Blade
1x Spell Pierce
Some quick explanations
-Bonehoard: It feeds off the amount of creature removal in this deck and grows as the game progresses thus feeding the infectors. Also is a body once it hits the field
-I havent had a lot of time to playtest this build (im isolated from other players with the exception of fnms here and there) so i dont know if my numbers and card choices are the best, on paper they should work but again only time can tell. Any thought/suggestions?
4x Grand Architect
4x Thrummingbird
4x Cosi's Trickster
3x Treasure Mage
1x Triskelion
1x Wurmcoil Engine
1x Steel Hellkite
Artifacts
4x Everflowing Chalice
3x Tumble Magnet
2x Contagion Clasp
2x Ratchet Bomb
2x Mindslaver
1x Contagion Engine
2x Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Sorceries
4x Preordain
Lands
2x Tectonic Edge
3x Halimar Depths
1x Mystifying Maze
2x Negate
4x Flashfreeze
1x Contagion Clasp
1x Wurmcoil Engine
1x Tumble Magnet
1x Platinum Emperion
4x Necropede
1x Ratchet Bomb
I dont have inkmoths in here mainly because i dont own them and i dont know how many i should run
I have the tricksters in there as one drops that work against some of the big match ups (boros, valakut, caw blade) from the amount they search. even if they remove them early i dont have to sink any mana into them (unlike the cryptologists) and they can get bigger as the game progresses (unlike the hatchlings). They do get sided out game 2 if the opponent doesnt search too much.
i havent had the chance to do much testing with this list and am a bit out of touch with standard builds (i stopped keeping up with stuff when alara rotated out) but i know the basics so forgive me if ive screwed up horribly here. what do you guys think?