Cathartic Reunion is not a bad card but in my experience is way worse than Goblin Lore in this deck for these reasons:
1-You have to discard before drawing so if you don't have anything you'd really like in the graveyard, it's not going to shine too much
2-You can't cast it unless you have another 2 cards in hand (and you must discard them no matter what), this is the main reason why I don't think it's good in the deck, you sometimes have a land and draw Goblin Lore, you can cast it and in the worst case scenario you are with something bad as two lands but you might be able to put a Faithless Looting, Vengevine or Flamewake Phoenix in the graveyard while doing so which makes the next turns better overall. If you have a land and draw Cathartic Reunion you mast pass the turn and you will face problem 1 next turn
3-You can get Cathartic Reunion countered by something like Remand and if that happens it's probably GG
Hi, I am glad you are trying this deck concept, I hope you like it, here are my answers to your questions:
1-Goblin Lore & Burning Inquiry: I've tried both and I have to say that although both are random and it hurts when you discard Hollow One, Goblin Lore is much better for many reasons and that's why it's the only of the two I am playing:
-It isn't card disadvantage as you draw 1 more than you discard
-Is a great follow-up after a T1 Flameblade Adept
-You are the only one discarding (it sounds cool to mana screw your opponent with Burning Inquiry but you are most likely helping them deploy their Gurmag Angler or combo with their Storm or Dredge deck or it is just irrelevant agains't other decks)
-As a 2-cost it makes the deck more resilient to Chalice of the Void on 1
2-Usually hands with Faithless Looting or Insolent Neonate are good keepers as your deck becomes stronger the more you dig through your library, there are some crazy hands you have to keep for their potential, in the report I made this happened 2 times with different results: R3 on the draw I kept a no-lander containing Street WraithFaithless LootingFaithless LootingHollow OneHollow OneVengevineInsolent Neonate and I found the Mountain to go off but in QF in the same spot I was unable to find it and I lost that game, I believe hands with potentital of T1 attack with Vengevine should not be mulliganed if you can draw at least 2 cards before playing your first land, but that's just my approach.
3-There are many small details on how you play the deck that can definitely give an edge, I usually end up going 4-1 in Competitive Leagues as there is always this 1 round that something doesn't go your way but I don't feel like it's because of the deck, I mean, that happened before with many other decks, sometimes you get mana screwed or flooded or your opponent seems to always have the best counters for your plays, what I mean is that the deck is able to do very unfair things without being too much of a glass-cannon and that's something I love about this deck.
I like 1 Forest in my build, not just for Blood Moon purposes but to keep a healthy life total when facing burn strategies, 1 lander with Forest is bad but I didn't find it to happen that often to worry too much about it.
Noose Constrictor was the MVP of the tournament, sometimes you just play it on turn 2, discard 3 cards and cast a Hollow One bringing 1 or more Vengevine in the process, it is also useful as a defender in the late game and can deal a lot of damage when combined with Flameblade Adept and since it's a two drop makes the deck less vulnerable to Chalice of the Void on 1.
These were the pairings I faced: R1 - UR Storm 2-0 (G1 My opponent tried to combo on turn 3 but I was able to kill his Goblin Electromancer with Fiery Temper in response to his ritual so he was unable to finish me, G2 he gets caught by Ravenous Trap) R2 - UW Control with Sword of the Meek + Thopter Foundry Combo 2-0 (Easy matchup if you are able to put some early pressure) R3 - Mardu aggro (the list with so many trophies from competitive leagues) 2-0 (G1 is grindy and I am able to take it, G2 I am able to go 2x Hollow One + 1 Vengevine on T1 so he conceded on T2) R4 - Vizier Combo 2-1 (Very grindy matchup, I was lucky to have a Grim Lavamancer in my openers and control the board to finish G3 with a Become Immense R5 - Eldrazi Tron 2-0 (Not very difficult matchup, I did the Noose Constrictor + 2 Flamewake Phoenix play in this round) R6 - UR Kiki Moon ID (A friend and we ensured top by ID and went to have lunch) R7 - UR Storm ID (Another friend, I could play without risk but he would be out if I win, so we ID)
I managed to top8 in 2nd position and play first every round since I didn't get to play against the player in 1st position in the top8
QF - Eldrazi Tron 2-1 (Easy round, I was greedy on G2 and kept a no-lander with 2 Street Wraith on the draw but couldn't find the land, G3 got a decent hand and the opponent was unable to do much about it) SF - UR-Kiki Moon 2-0 (My friend from R6, we already discussed the matchup while having lunch and agreed that it was a good matchup for me so I was glad to perform as expected) F - Eldrazi Tron 2-1 (The same guy from R5, he wins game 1 with 2 quick Reality Smasher and I feel under pressure but G2 and G3 the deck delivers and I end up winning with Flameblade Adept + Noose Constrictor discarding my hand for lethal damage.
Has anyone tried Legion Loyalist out? Seems like a 1-drop that does pretty much everything: gives trample, first strike, jumps over tokens, helps trigger Vengevine and is a great finisher with Become Immense after a board sweeper due to haste, I am going to test it but it seems very good:
I like that it's quite easy to activate Vengevine's ability thanks to the large amount of 1-drops and if you get hated with Grafdigger's Cage you can still beat them with Become Immense, you usually don't even need Temur Battle Rage
Let's see how this build works and I will let you know but it looks promising, Sage of Epityr is quite weak as an attacker but it helps goldfishing as it helps you find that card you want on T2 (most probably Chief Engineer)
Has anyone tried Spellskite in the main? Seems like an easy choice to protect our enablers from spot removal while it's our best card against auras and it also helps a lot against affinity since it can redirect modular from Arcbound Ravager.
This is the list I want to test this week before GP Birmingham, I can't drop Master of Etherium as easily as Xaanto since I think it's key to the deck, yeah, sometimes you will play him as a 1/1 for 3 but being a blue artifact that pumps other artifacts is extremely useful even if he is not hitting, I prefer it over Myr Superion which in the end suffers the same problem Tarmogoyf does, it's too easy to kill with Fatal Push.
Hi, I have been testing the deck for a while on modo and it's really enjoyable, I found Signal Pest to be very weak compared to the rest of the cards in the build so I will try Zac's split as I believe we need more 1 drops that are blue, with at least 1 power and a useful ability.
In a deck that needs protection for the enablers in the early game and is able to get value from disrupting our opponent's spells when we have our Lodestone Golem in play, Judge's Familiar seems like an excellent choice. Signal Pest have won me a couple of games thanks to the battle cry but I feel like it's usually not that relevant as those extra points of damage are easy to obtain with Throne of the God-Pharaoh and Walking Ballista. Maybe in the future I will cut the whole Signal Pest package and run a playset of Judge's Familiar, the only reason I haven't yet is that Master of Etherium might be weaker taking those 4 artifacts out.
So, besides that, this card has been spoiled today:
Do you think it's worth a slot in the build? I have been thinking about Phyrexian Metamorph for this kind of effect but I think this new card has the potential to be useful no matter when you cast is where Phyrexian Metamorph must be cast while there is a threat to copy, what do you think?
Jitte is still very mana intensive, you can just get tempo'd for days if you're trying to equip Jitte and you get your creatures removed. Jitte is powerful but I don't think its overwhelmingly so. I still don't think it should be unbanned right now but I think its a much more reasonable unban than other things in the list.
Chrome Mox does have the potential to make the format faster but I actually don't think the card is very good except for very All-In strategies or decks with a lot of CA that can undo the CD from Chrome Mox. Having to exile a card to turn it on is huge in a lot of decks as they often can't afford it, plus it makes mulligans much much worse as it essentially mulligans you again, in addition its a bad top deck in the mid-late game as it pretty much does nothing. Again I don't think its unbannable right now but I think its much less scary than a lot of the stuff on your possible list.
Well this post makes it pretty clear you have no idea what a Hypergenesis deck looks like, you can cascade into Hypergenesis on turn 1 off of SSG and Violent Outburst and then put your Emrakuls, Grislebrands, etc. into play. The deck is hilariously more powerful than anything thats legal and most things that banned as well.
Well, I admit I haven't faced it as I've always found it banned but that turn 1 hypergenesis seems as possible as killing on turn 2 with Kiln Fiend, you mean, opponent plays first, upkeep play gemstone caverns exiling a random card, exile 2 simian spirit guides and play violent outburst into hypergenesis, so you used 5 cards of your hand and on top of that you need to have a huge threat like an emrakul for that to be worth it.
Maybe I am missing something but that doesn't sound like a reliable combo at all, I guess you would also play cards like through the breach but it doesn't sound too overpowered to me and you would be playing cards like violent outburst that are useless until you have a big threat in your hand to put into play. A jitte activation is enough for a creature match-up to be over, of course removal can fight it but if you don't have it in every activation you probably lost. Maybe you are right about Chrome Mox but to me it seems like that acceleration could be deadlier than the card disadvantage it costs.
Hypergenesis is A OK but Jitte and Mox don't have a chance of being unbanned? Yea ok buddy.
Yeah, Jitte is way overpowered agains't any creature deck, specially in a format where you can fetch it with Stoneforge Mystic. Chrome Mox provides turn 1 acceleration that would make the format too fast. What's the problem with Hypergenesis? Cascading it off a Bloodbraid Elf on turn 4? Turn 3 if you exile a simian spirit guide? Doesn't seem that dangerous
1-You have to discard before drawing so if you don't have anything you'd really like in the graveyard, it's not going to shine too much
2-You can't cast it unless you have another 2 cards in hand (and you must discard them no matter what), this is the main reason why I don't think it's good in the deck, you sometimes have a land and draw Goblin Lore, you can cast it and in the worst case scenario you are with something bad as two lands but you might be able to put a Faithless Looting, Vengevine or Flamewake Phoenix in the graveyard while doing so which makes the next turns better overall. If you have a land and draw Cathartic Reunion you mast pass the turn and you will face problem 1 next turn
3-You can get Cathartic Reunion countered by something like Remand and if that happens it's probably GG
1-Goblin Lore & Burning Inquiry: I've tried both and I have to say that although both are random and it hurts when you discard Hollow One, Goblin Lore is much better for many reasons and that's why it's the only of the two I am playing:
-It isn't card disadvantage as you draw 1 more than you discard
-Is a great follow-up after a T1 Flameblade Adept
-You are the only one discarding (it sounds cool to mana screw your opponent with Burning Inquiry but you are most likely helping them deploy their Gurmag Angler or combo with their Storm or Dredge deck or it is just irrelevant agains't other decks)
-As a 2-cost it makes the deck more resilient to Chalice of the Void on 1
2-Usually hands with Faithless Looting or Insolent Neonate are good keepers as your deck becomes stronger the more you dig through your library, there are some crazy hands you have to keep for their potential, in the report I made this happened 2 times with different results: R3 on the draw I kept a no-lander containing Street Wraith Faithless Looting Faithless Looting Hollow One Hollow One Vengevine Insolent Neonate and I found the Mountain to go off but in QF in the same spot I was unable to find it and I lost that game, I believe hands with potentital of T1 attack with Vengevine should not be mulliganed if you can draw at least 2 cards before playing your first land, but that's just my approach.
3-There are many small details on how you play the deck that can definitely give an edge, I usually end up going 4-1 in Competitive Leagues as there is always this 1 round that something doesn't go your way but I don't feel like it's because of the deck, I mean, that happened before with many other decks, sometimes you get mana screwed or flooded or your opponent seems to always have the best counters for your plays, what I mean is that the deck is able to do very unfair things without being too much of a glass-cannon and that's something I love about this deck.
Noose Constrictor was the MVP of the tournament, sometimes you just play it on turn 2, discard 3 cards and cast a Hollow One bringing 1 or more Vengevine in the process, it is also useful as a defender in the late game and can deal a lot of damage when combined with Flameblade Adept and since it's a two drop makes the deck less vulnerable to Chalice of the Void on 1.
4 Flameblade Adept
4 Insolent Neonate
3 Grim Lavamancer
4 Noose Constrictor
2 Flamewake Phoenix
4 Vengevine
4 Hollow One
2 Hooting Mandrills
4 Street Wraith
4 Faithless Looting
4 Goblin Lore
2 Fiery Temper
2 Become Immense
Lands
1 Forest
3 Mountain
3 Stomping Ground
2 Copperline Gorge
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Ravenous Trap
2 Dismember
3 Ancient Grudge
2 Destructive Revelry
2 Heroic Intervention
2 Blood Moon
2 Gnaw to the Bone
I liked Noose Constrictor a lot and it allowed some crazy plays such as Turn 1 Flameblade Adept Turn 2 Noose Constrictor, attack for 1, opponent casts Chalice of the Void for X=1, Turn 3 discard 2 Flamewake Phoenix with Noose Constrictor, pay RR to bring them back and attack for 11
These were the pairings I faced:
R1 - UR Storm 2-0 (G1 My opponent tried to combo on turn 3 but I was able to kill his Goblin Electromancer with Fiery Temper in response to his ritual so he was unable to finish me, G2 he gets caught by Ravenous Trap)
R2 - UW Control with Sword of the Meek + Thopter Foundry Combo 2-0 (Easy matchup if you are able to put some early pressure)
R3 - Mardu aggro (the list with so many trophies from competitive leagues) 2-0 (G1 is grindy and I am able to take it, G2 I am able to go 2x Hollow One + 1 Vengevine on T1 so he conceded on T2)
R4 - Vizier Combo 2-1 (Very grindy matchup, I was lucky to have a Grim Lavamancer in my openers and control the board to finish G3 with a Become Immense
R5 - Eldrazi Tron 2-0 (Not very difficult matchup, I did the Noose Constrictor + 2 Flamewake Phoenix play in this round)
R6 - UR Kiki Moon ID (A friend and we ensured top by ID and went to have lunch)
R7 - UR Storm ID (Another friend, I could play without risk but he would be out if I win, so we ID)
I managed to top8 in 2nd position and play first every round since I didn't get to play against the player in 1st position in the top8
QF - Eldrazi Tron 2-1 (Easy round, I was greedy on G2 and kept a no-lander with 2 Street Wraith on the draw but couldn't find the land, G3 got a decent hand and the opponent was unable to do much about it)
SF - UR-Kiki Moon 2-0 (My friend from R6, we already discussed the matchup while having lunch and agreed that it was a good matchup for me so I was glad to perform as expected)
F - Eldrazi Tron 2-1 (The same guy from R5, he wins game 1 with 2 quick Reality Smasher and I feel under pressure but G2 and G3 the deck delivers and I end up winning with Flameblade Adept + Noose Constrictor discarding my hand for lethal damage.
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Copperline Gorge
1 Forest
3 Mountain
3 Stomping Ground
Creatures (30)
4 Goblin Guide
4 Monastery Swiftspear
4 Insolent Neonate
4 Bomat Courier
4 Vengevine
4 Hollow One
4 Street Wraith
1 Hooting Mandrills
2 Legion Loyalist
4 Faithless Looting
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Temur Battle Rage
3 Become Immense
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Feed the Clan
2 Heroic Intervention
2 Destructive Revelry
3 Blood Moon
2 Ravenous Trap
2 Dismember
Having access to another 1-mana creature with haste is huge to finish games with Become Immense
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Copperline Gorge
1 Forest
3 Mountain
3 Stomping Ground
Creatures (30)
4 Goblin Guide
4 Monastery Swiftspear
4 Insolent Neonate
4 Bomat Courier
4 Vengevine
4 Hollow One
4 Street Wraith
2 Hooting Mandrills
4 Faithless Looting
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Temur Battle Rage
3 Become Immense
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Feed the Clan
2 Heroic Intervention
2 Destructive Revelry
3 Blood Moon
4 Leyline of the Void
I like that it's quite easy to activate Vengevine's ability thanks to the large amount of 1-drops and if you get hated with Grafdigger's Cage you can still beat them with Become Immense, you usually don't even need Temur Battle Rage
So I replaced Master of Etherium with Etherium Sculptor and the deck looks like this now:
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Flooded Strand
8 Snow-Covered Island
1 Spellskite
4 Mausoleum Wanderer
4 Sage of Epityr
4 Chief Engineer
4 Grand Architect
4 Walking Ballista
4 Etherium Sculptor
4 Lodestone Golem
2 Throne of the God-Pharaoh
4 Smuggler's Copter
2 Wurmcoil Engine
1 God-Pharaoh's Gift
1 Basilisk Collar
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Hangarback Walker
2 Trinket Mage
1 Thorn of Amethyst
2 Quicksilver Fountain
2 Echoing Truth
2 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Spellskite
1 Pithing Needle
Let's see how this build works and I will let you know but it looks promising, Sage of Epityr is quite weak as an attacker but it helps goldfishing as it helps you find that card you want on T2 (most probably Chief Engineer)
This is the list I want to test this week before GP Birmingham, I can't drop Master of Etherium as easily as Xaanto since I think it's key to the deck, yeah, sometimes you will play him as a 1/1 for 3 but being a blue artifact that pumps other artifacts is extremely useful even if he is not hitting, I prefer it over Myr Superion which in the end suffers the same problem Tarmogoyf does, it's too easy to kill with Fatal Push.
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Flooded Strand
8 Snow-Covered Island
1 Spellskite
4 Mausoleum Wanderer
4 Sage of Epityr
4 Chief Engineer
4 Grand Architect
4 Walking Ballista
4 Master of Etherium
4 Lodestone Golem
2 Throne of the God-Pharaoh
4 Smuggler's Copter
2 Wurmcoil Engine
1 God-Pharaoh's Gift
1 Basilisk Collar
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Hangarback Walker
2 Trinket Mage
1 Thorn of Amethyst
2 Quicksilver Fountain
2 Echoing Truth
2 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Spellskite
1 Wurmcoil Engine
4 Etherium Sculptor
4 Chief Engineer
4 Walking Ballista
4 Grand Architect
4 Master of Etherium
4 Lodestone Golem
4 Smuggler's Copter
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
15 Island
1 Pili-Pala
1 Wurmcoil Engine
2 Throne of the God-Pharaoh
2 Judge's Familiar
1 Academy Ruins
1 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Quicksilver Fountain
2 Trinket Mage
2 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Pithing Needle
1 Basilisk Collar
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Thorn of Amethyst
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Chalice of the Void
I never missed the Signal Pest and was happy to combo one game on turn 4 with Pili-Pala, Grand Architect and Walking Ballista.
I know Engineered Explosives seems weird in the sideboard when playing only one color but its purpose is take away Death's Shadow and auras, it's also useful agains't elves.
I didn't have the chance to get value from Academy Ruins but I can see it being a game-winner in top-deck wars where you can recycle Walking Ballista.
In a deck that needs protection for the enablers in the early game and is able to get value from disrupting our opponent's spells when we have our Lodestone Golem in play, Judge's Familiar seems like an excellent choice. Signal Pest have won me a couple of games thanks to the battle cry but I feel like it's usually not that relevant as those extra points of damage are easy to obtain with Throne of the God-Pharaoh and Walking Ballista. Maybe in the future I will cut the whole Signal Pest package and run a playset of Judge's Familiar, the only reason I haven't yet is that Master of Etherium might be weaker taking those 4 artifacts out.
So, besides that, this card has been spoiled today:
Do you think it's worth a slot in the build? I have been thinking about Phyrexian Metamorph for this kind of effect but I think this new card has the potential to be useful no matter when you cast is where Phyrexian Metamorph must be cast while there is a threat to copy, what do you think?
I want to try something like this but I think there are some cards that could be replaced, mostly Gitaxian Probe or Thirst for Knowledge:
4 Polluted Delta
4 Flooded Strand
1 Watery Grave
1 Hallowed Fountain
5 Island
1 Plains
4 Seachrome Coast
4 Pact of Negation
1 Slaughter Pact
4 Angel's Grace
4 Pili-Pala
4 Grand Architect
4 Muddle the Mixture
4 Thopter Foundry
3 Sword of the Meek
1 Blue Sun's Zenith
1 Laboratory Maniac
1 Train of Thought
1 Cyclonic Rift
4 Thirst for Knowledge
4 Gitaxian Probe
3 Gigadrowse
2 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Ravenous Trap
2 Echoing Truth
2 Disenchant
4 Leyline of Sanctity
Well, I admit I haven't faced it as I've always found it banned but that turn 1 hypergenesis seems as possible as killing on turn 2 with Kiln Fiend, you mean, opponent plays first, upkeep play gemstone caverns exiling a random card, exile 2 simian spirit guides and play violent outburst into hypergenesis, so you used 5 cards of your hand and on top of that you need to have a huge threat like an emrakul for that to be worth it.
Maybe I am missing something but that doesn't sound like a reliable combo at all, I guess you would also play cards like through the breach but it doesn't sound too overpowered to me and you would be playing cards like violent outburst that are useless until you have a big threat in your hand to put into play. A jitte activation is enough for a creature match-up to be over, of course removal can fight it but if you don't have it in every activation you probably lost. Maybe you are right about Chrome Mox but to me it seems like that acceleration could be deadlier than the card disadvantage it costs.
Yeah, Jitte is way overpowered agains't any creature deck, specially in a format where you can fetch it with Stoneforge Mystic. Chrome Mox provides turn 1 acceleration that would make the format too fast. What's the problem with Hypergenesis? Cascading it off a Bloodbraid Elf on turn 4? Turn 3 if you exile a simian spirit guide? Doesn't seem that dangerous