Modern's way of pushing mana base boundaries is 4+ colour decks and putting in three-colour cards in the same deck as very mono-coloured cards. Teachings somehow manages to fit both Esper Charm and Cryptic Command in the same deck. Tribal Blue Zoo does decently well in four colours (and even stuffs in a Swamp for the heck of itTribal Flames).
Fetches and shocks allow decks to push mana boundaries very far. (Then again, the deck loses consistency and/or speed once it tries to use 4 colours or more--I have sometimes cursed Tribal Blue Zoo's trim mana base that demands I can cast Lightning Helix, Knight of the Reliquary, and Snapcaster Mage by Turn 3.)
...As for ingenuity outside of mana bases, people have managed to figure out that tutoring for equipmentwithout getting a body attached is still pretty good, especially in decks like Affinity (which wants Cranial Plating bad) and Caw-Blade (which would rather have versatility, so it has an equipment toolbox). Someone was also ingenious enough to stick Isochron Scepter in a deck where its main targets are probably Lightning Helix and Path to Exile and therefore support it with a hard tempo core--thus Isochron Delver, or Next Level UWR Patriot Thresh. In that deck, Isochron Scepter probably plays the part of Grim Lavamancer.
Martyr Proc basically grew from a deck that got at least 4-2 at Worlds. I don't think people previously put Serra Ascendant in a deck without SoulSisters before. Now they did--and they have the Martyr of Sands, Ranger of Eos, Squadron Hawk, and sick recursion engine and tendency to grind out games to back it up.
I actually have a soft spot for W/x Tokens. As far as I can tell, it grew from UW Polymorph Tokens--first, someone wanted to abuse Polymorph, then s/he found that tokens were the best way to get creatures without playing creature cards, then people found that they tended to win with the tokens instead of Emrakul, then all the W/x Tokens variants sprang up (Mono-White and GW are the most common, but I predict BW will see play when Dark Ascension comes out).
Actually, I've tested the Caw-Go match-up versus UR Storm a little (no Ascension main), and if Caw-Go starts with one counterspell in hand, Caw-Go pastes Storm Game 1. Team Caw-Go basically always leaves counterspell mana up while developing the board. Time that counterspell well (try countering Past in Flames if you're holding Remand) and Storm usually can't recover before Hawks beat it up.
I haven't tested versus zero counterspells in the opening hand, though.
If I want a beater that outclasses most bodies, yes this is true, however if my aim is to simply get into the red zone and deal as much damage as possible, I'd probably be on the Geist over 'goyf...more damage, faster and built in resilience to removal which ruins your day if you extend heavy early on.
In practice: a lot of Bant builds have run 0 goyfs...he's seen as too slow for the deck by some pilots. Geist might just tempt them as insurance against those games where you can't Hierarch > Geist > Elspeth and T4 them.
Likewise, some of the cards are clearly powerful...they're just waiting for a home (Thought Scour) or a meta shift (Ray of Revalation)
I'm confused about which Geist you're referring to at what time. With the Hierarch-Geist-Elspeth-T4 kill, you probably mean Geist of Saint Traft, right? That guy definitely deals more damage faster than Goyf and has built-in resilience to targeted removal.
Strangleroot Geist has more resilience to board wipes, but it's no Goblin Guide (same power, same Haste, same uselessness once your opponent thumps down a Goyf, but Guide comes down on Turn 1 instead of Strangleroot's Turn 2 and therefore deals more damage than a 3/4 Goyf by Turn 4 while Goyf catches up to Strangleroot by then).
Granted, Traft is one of those rare guys that commands a Wrath of God by himself (the other guy being Thrun, the Last Troll). Since opponents are that afraid of him, that should help you not overextend into sweepers.
I thought about throwing the nameless hakkon thing in a gifts rock. FWIW, I am not quite sure it is worth it as inversion is worthless against twin and sometimes goyf/kotr.
However, saying NI is worthless against Exarch Twin is like saying Lightning Helix is worthless against Exarch Twin--it hits at least 2/5's of the combo (Pestermite and Kiki-Jiki), so it can't be worthless.
I've actually been even against Jund in testing. They have the card advantage, but you have the bigger beats. They get annoyed by Traft and very annoyed by Elspeth 1.0. Their biggest guy is a Goyf (or maybe Thrun), and you have at least twice the big men (Goyf, KotR, Traft). You sometimes get ground out when they IoK your Turn 2 play, Terminate your other big creature, Blightning your hand away, and beat face, though.
Moorland Haunt has been awesome against Jund, chump-blocking their attackers to kingdom come while you stall for/with Elspeth or swing yourself.
One complication--how does summoning multiples of the same legend and therefore triggering "dies" effects work?
Three examples:
With a Flagstones of Trokair out, you proceed to mana-bond with another Flagstones. The two miraculously blow up and transform into tapped Plains.
You have Keiga, the Tide Star under your control. Your opponent then attempts to summon Keiga. Keiga somehow suffers so metaphysically much that both versions die, and you gain control of your opponent's Sundering Titan while your opponent takes control of your Consecrated Sphinx.
Your version of the Helvault has socked away a lot of your opponent's creatures. Your opponent attempts to summon the Helvault again. Both Helvaults blow up and your opponent gets his/her creatures back.
Clinging Mists is no good against Boros. 3-mana Fogs are bad, and Fateful Hour isn't stopping topdecked Bolts and Lightning Helixes. I'd say Hurkyl's Recall is the better Fog against Affinity, as they can't replay every artifact you bounced that turn (this is especially mean if you also bounce Darksteel Citadels, Springleaf Drums, Cranial Platings equipped to guys, and fat Arcbound Ravagers). I don't think Clinging Mists stops both decks enough to warrant a sideboard slot.
I like Deprive. As a mid- to late-game hard counter for a tempo deck, it almost can't be beat. I tend to use Mana Leaks first and Deprives afterwards.
Im just thinking of trying to build this deck cause i think its pretty neat but wouldnt this deck have a problem with keeping cards in hand for proc to gain life with? How does this deck get around that problem?
Would you let your opponent gain 2 life from an exiled Bob after they lost about 6 life drawing 3 cards from him? Absolutely.
Would you let your opponent gain a measly 1 life from Stoneforge Mystic just so she doesn't Batterskull all over your board? Definitely yes.
Would you let your opponent gain 7 life from Iona after he or she Reanimated her and mistakenly named blue or black? Of course; Reanimator plays very few threats. (They should have gone for Jin-Gitaxias just so they could draw and discard into another threat.)
Would you let your opponent gain 5 life from an exiled Goyf? If he or she is playing the relatively threat-light Tempo Thresh, why not? They aren't getting anything else down for a little while.
Honestly i dont think Pod decks care so much about Cage. They have answers for it. It may slow them down but i dont think it'll discourage them from playing it. Tormod's Crypt exists in the format but yet it doesnt scare off decks. As for Unmake, it's too slow for a significant impact
It's true that Pod players have answers for it. However, Melira Pod curses Cage's name because they are reduced to lucking into their 1-3 answers and they cannot combo off with the artifact out. Turning Chord of Calling and Birthing Pod into card disadvantage instead of answer tutors is just horrible.
Twin Pod can luck into its combo pieces and still have them work, so it's more resilient.
I think the most viable reason to run Spirits besides Drogskol Captain is Tallowisp. Cast Geist of Saint Traft and search for Steel of the Godhead (4 hexproof unblockable lifelinking power with an accompanying 4/4 flying Angel is pretty hard to handle, and Steel is a 3-drop). If you're having trouble against aggro, search for Temporal Isolation and watch Grim Lavamancer exile his pants as you slap this on in response to him activating his ability.
Shame you can't search for Threads of Disloyalty (curse you, Enchant creature with cmc 2 or less) with Tallowisp.
It's the Leyline of the Void-Helm of Obedience combo. Assemble it and your opponent's entire library is gone (exiled) in one shot, rather like Painter-Stone. The pieces also hose graveyards and steal creatures on their own.
I could test in the Lightning Bolt slot. I like card selection with my cantrips, though, and in such a land-lean deck, being forced to pay 1 more mana to flashback Past in Flames can be everything.
the heck of itTribal Flames).Fetches and shocks allow decks to push mana boundaries very far. (Then again, the deck loses consistency and/or speed once it tries to use 4 colours or more--I have sometimes cursed Tribal Blue Zoo's trim mana base that demands I can cast Lightning Helix, Knight of the Reliquary, and Snapcaster Mage by Turn 3.)
...As for ingenuity outside of mana bases, people have managed to figure out that tutoring for equipment without getting a body attached is still pretty good, especially in decks like Affinity (which wants Cranial Plating bad) and Caw-Blade (which would rather have versatility, so it has an equipment toolbox). Someone was also ingenious enough to stick Isochron Scepter in a deck where its main targets are probably Lightning Helix and Path to Exile and therefore support it with a hard tempo core--thus Isochron Delver, or Next Level UWR Patriot Thresh. In that deck, Isochron Scepter probably plays the part of Grim Lavamancer.
Martyr Proc basically grew from a deck that got at least 4-2 at Worlds. I don't think people previously put Serra Ascendant in a deck without Soul Sisters before. Now they did--and they have the Martyr of Sands, Ranger of Eos, Squadron Hawk, and sick recursion engine and tendency to grind out games to back it up.
I actually have a soft spot for W/x Tokens. As far as I can tell, it grew from UW Polymorph Tokens--first, someone wanted to abuse Polymorph, then s/he found that tokens were the best way to get creatures without playing creature cards, then people found that they tended to win with the tokens instead of Emrakul, then all the W/x Tokens variants sprang up (Mono-White and GW are the most common, but I predict BW will see play when Dark Ascension comes out).
I haven't tested versus zero counterspells in the opening hand, though.
...Unless you're talking about another Desperate card, but I'd have no idea what...
I'm confused about which Geist you're referring to at what time. With the Hierarch-Geist-Elspeth-T4 kill, you probably mean Geist of Saint Traft, right? That guy definitely deals more damage faster than Goyf and has built-in resilience to targeted removal.
Strangleroot Geist has more resilience to board wipes, but it's no Goblin Guide (same power, same Haste, same uselessness once your opponent thumps down a Goyf, but Guide comes down on Turn 1 instead of Strangleroot's Turn 2 and therefore deals more damage than a 3/4 Goyf by Turn 4 while Goyf catches up to Strangleroot by then).
Granted, Traft is one of those rare guys that commands a Wrath of God by himself (the other guy being Thrun, the Last Troll). Since opponents are that afraid of him, that should help you not overextend into sweepers.
Yeah, Nameless Inversion just won't kill Goyfs and KotRs (or Dorans, Sun Titans, late Serra Ascendants, etc.).
However, saying NI is worthless against Exarch Twin is like saying Lightning Helix is worthless against Exarch Twin--it hits at least 2/5's of the combo (Pestermite and Kiki-Jiki), so it can't be worthless.
Moorland Haunt has been awesome against Jund, chump-blocking their attackers to kingdom come while you stall for/with Elspeth or swing yourself.
Three examples:
I guess mana constructs can die, too, eh?
I like Deprive. As a mid- to late-game hard counter for a tempo deck, it almost can't be beat. I tend to use Mana Leaks first and Deprives afterwards.
Alongside Squadron Hawk, Ranger of Eos also fills hands like a pro. Then again, he often fills hands with Martyr of Sands.
There's also the mean Mistveil Plains trick to endlessly recur Squadron Hawks (and therefore always sandbag one in your hand).
Would you let your opponent gain 2 life from an exiled Bob after they lost about 6 life drawing 3 cards from him? Absolutely.
Would you let your opponent gain a measly 1 life from Stoneforge Mystic just so she doesn't Batterskull all over your board? Definitely yes.
Would you let your opponent gain 7 life from Iona after he or she Reanimated her and mistakenly named blue or black? Of course; Reanimator plays very few threats. (They should have gone for Jin-Gitaxias just so they could draw and discard into another threat.)
Would you let your opponent gain 5 life from an exiled Goyf? If he or she is playing the relatively threat-light Tempo Thresh, why not? They aren't getting anything else down for a little while.
It's true that Pod players have answers for it. However, Melira Pod curses Cage's name because they are reduced to lucking into their 1-3 answers and they cannot combo off with the artifact out. Turning Chord of Calling and Birthing Pod into card disadvantage instead of answer tutors is just horrible.
Twin Pod can luck into its combo pieces and still have them work, so it's more resilient.
Shame you can't search for Threads of Disloyalty (curse you, Enchant creature with cmc 2 or less) with Tallowisp.