. Akki Blizzard-Herder, I think we must, at least, playtest several times with it. Worst case, it will hit for one or prevent opponent to attack. That plus : Crack the Earth and Smallpox.
I proxied Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, didn't have the time to test it. It should be good, I'm eager to test it.
1) Koth is a powerhouse. I use the +1 all the time, if not to attack but to activate Myth Realize to untap a Sacred Foundry or cast a 1 CC spell. Against an opponent who I know who is not able to put down a threat or have no direct damage, I use his -2 to cast bigger spells to control the board. Blood Crypt and Godless Shrine are shocks I always keep in play, Sacred Foundry is 2nd choice. All the other lands I will sacrifice to Pox / Crack the Earth so keeping them in play is no problem. If I already have 3 lands in play, i have no qualms of sacrificing whatever 4th land it is.
2) Chandra is important for this deck. She is able to control the board with her +1 or give you another chance to press your board when you draw a land instead of a spell. I have ultimated her in stalemate games and finished off the opponent with Bolt / Molten Rain or Lingering Souls.
Ideally, my choice of Planewalkers for this deck is:
1) Elspeth, Knight Errant or Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2) Ajani Vengeant
3) Chandra, Pyromaster
4) Koth of the Hammer
5) Sorin, Solemn Visitor
i have yet to acquire Elspeth or Gideon (modern pro tour spiked the cards quite a bit) and have tested them as proxies and they are the key Planewalkers to have. Ajani and Chandra are next. So the ideal set up is:
Elespeth + Gideon + Ajani + Chandra, one of each with Sorin in the sideboard. Against burn / swarm based decks, I side in Pyroclasm and Sorin.
my current set up is Koth, Ajani, Chandra and Sorin. this by all means is NOT optimum but already very powerful and i never lost a game when i resolved a PW. Majority of the times, when any of the Planewalkers hit the board, you almost have the game because of the state of the board after 4-5 turns of control, if you ever resolve a 2nd PW, its almost impossible to lose unless its some situation when by you were already losing before the 1st one hit.
As a disclaimer, this deck is not easy to pilot. You need to know when to mulligan and what type of opening hand to play. This deck requires you to be very aggressive on the first 3 turns. This deck doesn't really like it when your opponent floods out but you can wait for them to play a creature before Small Poxing them. If you have Chromatic Star or Nihil Spellbomb in play, just Crack the Earth anyways to draw the card to keep their land count low so they cannot play more than 1 spell a turn.
Thanks! I will proxy 1 x Chandra, Pyromaster, 1 x Gideon, Ally of Zendikar and 1 x Koth of the Hammer. I would like to keep 2 Ajani Vengeant, but I will try this before. Who knows...
Finally, Koth seems good. Like I never played with it before, I totally miss the fact that you can use your mountain to cast another spell or to activate Myth. This is certainly good.
I'm agree that the deck is not easy to pilot. Playing BW Smallpox since a while helps me to pilot Mardu Myth.
I have two question for you:
1- How is Koth of the Hammer? Which ability do you use more often? I'm skeptical about it. The deck has a low count of Mountain.
2- How is Chandra, Pyromaster? I'm planning to playtest with her and Gideon, Ally of Zendikar. Bringing my planeswalker and 4 CMC drop to a total of 4 (2 x Ajani, 1 x Chandra, 1 x Gideon)
I'm also nervous about running Chandra and Gideon in the same deck, RR and WW... that can be adjust easily by reviewing the manabase...
I'm playing with 2 Ajani Vengeant and, so far, it is really good. I highly recommend it. Great synergy with land destruction (keeping 1 of your opponent land tapped is great addition to Mardu Myth) and it also help against aggro deck, it adds other Lightning Helix to your deck.
Hey all, this is a cool list that has me interested for several reasons:
[1] Neat microsynergies
[2] Finally a home for Myth Realized
[3] Competitive potential in the elusive Mardu colors
[4] The relevance of mana denial in the current meta against Tron & Eldrazi
I've been looking over recent builds here and I see the return of Boom // Bust and Fulminator Mage after they'd been cut from Kanaoka Yoshihiko's early lists. My guess is that there weren't enough fetches to consistently pull off the Boom // Bust asymmetry trick and that he valued Basic Land destruction over the extra body that Fulminator Mage provided.. but that's just conjecture. Still, I can't help but wonder if we're back-peddling by trying to work those back in? Thoughts? Data?
I've seen a few people mention Young Pyromancer here or in other convos. I'm not sold on this, though, as I'm often underwhelmed at Peezy w/o cheap cantrips, he doesn't trigger off of our artifacts/enchantments, he activates sorcery speed removal, and gets eaten by the sweepers most people want to use here.
However, 1-2x Hangarback Walker per Need_More_DPS's suggestion does sound intriguing. It's sac'able, keeps removal relatively inactive, presents another growing clock while the game is stalled, and scales into the late game.
I don't know about Young Pyromancer, it can be a bad top deck. Myth Realized can also be, but at lest it can add a lore counter to another myth in play... I would need to playtest Young Pyromancer to further comment.
I would be interested to read about Hangarback Walker. Some people proposed it in BW Smallpox's primer thread... Have you tried it? Is good? On paper it should be: mana sink, great synergy with Smallpox and Crack the Earth...
How is Crack the Earth good with fetches or Chromatic Star?? I can see Boom//Bust working well with fetches.
Crack the Earth isn't so good with fetches--you lose a fetch no matter what. I suppose it's a decent use for late-game fetches?
Crack the Earth is great with Chromatic Star because whenever Chromatic Star gets put in the graveyard (such as when you sacrifice it to Crack the Earth), you draw a card.
I edited my post. I was confused with Boom // Bust. However, it is also true that fetches and any extra-lands late game are good permanent to sacrifice to Crack the Earth.
Q: What is the worst matchup you had? I would like to playtest against it to see how well the deck is oiled.
pre-sideboard, my deck (creatureless version), is not very good against swarm lists like merfolk, elves or affinity who are able to almost empty their hand by turn 3. i usually won't be able to pull the game off even if both of us get our mad hands. post sideboard, i usually won't have any issues with pyroclasm, drown in sorrows or anger of the gods (depends what i feel like packing that day).
I will try both; Anger of the Gods and Drown in Sorrow. I like the scry 1 of Drown, it surely helps sometime. However, I'm keeping Pyroclasm in head, like 2 CMC can hit a turn sooner. Thank for the advices.
Wort is great against mirror matchup. You can trade creatures and take them back at your upkeep. Fear is also a good way to deal extra damage, considering you're running some Goblin Chieftain.
Grenzo, Dungeon Warden is good against Terminus, Vendilion Clique. However, remember that it is useless to use its ability after playing a Goblin Ringleader without shuffling effect in between both. For shuffling, you can either use Goblin Matron or fetches. Moreover, you can pay X when you cast it to have a bigger body. It is rare but can be usefull.
I like to play RB Goblin. The meta at my LGS is full of combo deck. Earwig Squad, Cabal Therapy, Surgical Extraction, Toughtseize are great card to have against those kind of decks.
I playtested several times against Naya Burn. I wasn't sure it would be a good match up. Finally, is wasn’t that bad. He couldn’t recover from Boom // Bust, Crack the Earth and Smallpox + spot removal for creatures.
What I’m not sure and didn’t draw to test out: -Flame Jab: I often flood, so I think it is a good idea to use extra land to deal damage… Maybe it should be a Raven's Crime… or something else?
Q: What is the worst matchup you had? I would like to playtest against it to see how well the deck is oiled.
EDIT: I wrote fetches beside Crack the Earth, but it's only Boom // Bust that works with fetches. Sorry for that.
I haven't played or tested this brew, but could Dark Confidant find a home in a build like this?
I see some peoples talking about Dark Confidant for cards advantage. Beware, the CMC of Boom // Bust is 8 (2 + 6). Lossing 8 lifes at the upkeep isn't a good way to win games.
I play a similar list, but I have Wort, Boggart Auntie replacing Krenko, Mob Boss. Make more sense for me: can return what you need to your hand. Don't forget about Tarfire and Warren Weirding which are goblin card. Also, I found it to be great against mirror matchup and creatures deck.
Simple question - which is better in tokens and why. Elspeth, Knight-Errant or Sorin, Lord of Innistrad? Assuming we are playing one planeswalker in deck. I like Elspeth all abilities + and giving +3/+3 and evasion (to soldiers or bladehold), but sorin have token with lifelink and indesttructible anthem (but anthem for 4cmc is expensive imo). I just don't know.
I think that depends of your deck. For example, if you're playing with 4 xHonor of the Pure, you should play with Elspeth like the 1/1 token are white. Sorin produces black tokens...
(..)
With what I remember running we had cut spectral procession and honor of the pure as I didn't want the deck to flood at 3cmc and honor is a nonbo with rat. It sucked though running Arid Mesa in stead ofMarsh flats(lack of ownership). Awkward Fetching and Thoughtseize ended usually being the undoing in some losses.
So how do we address the issues with life loss and topdeck mode? Some options I have thought of are: Dark Confidant, Some type of Arena effect ( this does clog the 3cmc slot though)
Life gain: Elspeth TirelSorin, Lone Wanderer
Have you tried Timely Reinforcements? For 3 cmc, you can gain 6 life and/or put three 1/1 white soldier onto the battlefield. I think that in a more-midrange-black-oriented-token-deck it is good. It only costs one white mana (vs Spectral Procession).It helps to recover from Marsh Flats and Thoughtseize.
So I've actually wondered this for a while. I noticed some of you guys layer the layers with the same shape repeating underneath, vs. having a single layer pop out by using a foot. Is that just a personal preference?
It is only a preference. I prefer more layers with repeating shape- to me it looks more like real 3D and you can look a it from different angle. I like to color the edge of the card/cut the same color of the drawing. The problem is that you need more cards and time to do so.
Akki Blizzard-Herder, I think we must, at least, playtest several times with it. Worst case, it will hit for one or prevent opponent to attack. That plus : Crack the Earth and Smallpox.
I proxied Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, didn't have the time to test it. It should be good, I'm eager to test it.
Thanks! I will proxy 1 x Chandra, Pyromaster, 1 x Gideon, Ally of Zendikar and 1 x Koth of the Hammer. I would like to keep 2 Ajani Vengeant, but I will try this before. Who knows...
Finally, Koth seems good. Like I never played with it before, I totally miss the fact that you can use your mountain to cast another spell or to activate Myth. This is certainly good.
I'm agree that the deck is not easy to pilot. Playing BW Smallpox since a while helps me to pilot Mardu Myth.
I have two question for you:
1- How is Koth of the Hammer? Which ability do you use more often? I'm skeptical about it. The deck has a low count of Mountain.
2- How is Chandra, Pyromaster? I'm planning to playtest with her and Gideon, Ally of Zendikar. Bringing my planeswalker and 4 CMC drop to a total of 4 (2 x Ajani, 1 x Chandra, 1 x Gideon)
I'm also nervous about running Chandra and Gideon in the same deck, RR and WW... that can be adjust easily by reviewing the manabase...
I'm playing with 2 Ajani Vengeant and, so far, it is really good. I highly recommend it. Great synergy with land destruction (keeping 1 of your opponent land tapped is great addition to Mardu Myth) and it also help against aggro deck, it adds other Lightning Helix to your deck.
You can find the top 16 here.
The decklist:
1 Earwig Squad
1 Gempalm Incinerator
1 Goblin Chieftain
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Goblin Matron
3 Goblin Piledriver
4 Goblin Ringleader
1 Goblin Sharpshooter
4 Goblin Warchief
1 Siege-Gang Commander
1 Skirk Prospector
1 Stingscourger
1 Tuktuk Scrapper
1 Grenzo, Dungeon Warden
2 Krenko, Mob Boss
3 Mountain
4 Arid Mesa
1 Badlands
1 Bloodstained Mire
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Rishadan Port
1 Taiga
4 Wasteland
1 Wooded Foothills
Spells (7):
4 Aether Vial
1 Warping Wail
2 Tarfire
3 Chalice of the Void
3 Relic of Progenitus
1 Goblin Sharpshooter
1 Tin Street Hooligan
1 Ancient Grudge
2 Krosan Grip
3 Pyrokinesis
1 Warren Weirding
I don't know about Young Pyromancer, it can be a bad top deck. Myth Realized can also be, but at lest it can add a lore counter to another myth in play... I would need to playtest Young Pyromancer to further comment.
I would be interested to read about Hangarback Walker. Some people proposed it in BW Smallpox's primer thread... Have you tried it? Is good? On paper it should be: mana sink, great synergy with Smallpox and Crack the Earth...
I edited my post. I was confused with Boom // Bust. However, it is also true that fetches and any extra-lands late game are good permanent to sacrifice to Crack the Earth.
I will try both; Anger of the Gods and Drown in Sorrow. I like the scry 1 of Drown, it surely helps sometime. However, I'm keeping Pyroclasm in head, like 2 CMC can hit a turn sooner. Thank for the advices.
Rb Goblin is good. It depends on what you like. It is slightly different. The black gives you access to MD cards like: Grenzo, Dungeon Warden, Earwig Squad (a 5/3), Wort, Boggart Auntie, Warren Weirding and Cabal Therapy. And SB cards such as: Cabal Therapy, Surgical Extraction, Perish and Thoughtseize. Playing with Cavern of Souls make the splash quite easy for goblin casting.
Wort is great against mirror matchup. You can trade creatures and take them back at your upkeep. Fear is also a good way to deal extra damage, considering you're running some Goblin Chieftain.
Grenzo, Dungeon Warden is good against Terminus, Vendilion Clique. However, remember that it is useless to use its ability after playing a Goblin Ringleader without shuffling effect in between both. For shuffling, you can either use Goblin Matron or fetches. Moreover, you can pay X when you cast it to have a bigger body. It is rare but can be usefull.
I like to play RB Goblin. The meta at my LGS is full of combo deck. Earwig Squad, Cabal Therapy, Surgical Extraction, Toughtseize are great card to have against those kind of decks.
2 Fulminator Mage
Instant (10):
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Lightning Helix
1 Go for the Throat
1 Murderous Cut
2 Kolaghan's Command
Sorcery (17):
3 Smallpox
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Boom // Bust
4 Lingering Souls
1 Flame Jab
3 Crack the Earth
2 Ajani Vengeant
Artifact/Enchantment (7):
4 Chromatic Star
3 Myth Realized
Land (22)
2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Sacred Foundry
2 Godless Shrine
2 Blood Crypt
2 Marsh Flats
3 Bloodstained Mire
1 Arid Mesa
2 Mutavault
4 Flagstones of Trokair
1 Swamp
1 Plains
1 Mountain
All-stars:
- Ajani Vengeant: it kept the Monastery Swiftspear, Goblin Guide or land tapped. It gave me enough time to dig through the deck for spot removal, damage and creatures.
- Crack the Earth: I wasn't sure about Crack the Earth,but like everyone run 4... I tried. Super card. Great synergy with Flagstones of Trokair
, fetchesand Chromatic Star.- Chromatic Star: mana fixing, synergy with Crack the Earth and draw you card.
- Lingering Souls: so good!
- Mutavault: extra damage, mana is fix via Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth or Chromatic Star.
What I’m not sure and didn’t draw to test out:
-Flame Jab: I often flood, so I think it is a good idea to use extra land to deal damage… Maybe it should be a Raven's Crime… or something else?
Q: What is the worst matchup you had? I would like to playtest against it to see how well the deck is oiled.
EDIT: I wrote fetches beside Crack the Earth, but it's only Boom // Bust that works with fetches. Sorry for that.
I see some peoples talking about Dark Confidant for cards advantage. Beware, the CMC of Boom // Bust is 8 (2 + 6). Lossing 8 lifes at the upkeep isn't a good way to win games.
EDIT: Here is some reading about split cards.
Explanations here.
I play a similar list, but I have Wort, Boggart Auntie replacing Krenko, Mob Boss. Make more sense for me: can return what you need to your hand. Don't forget about Tarfire and Warren Weirding which are goblin card. Also, I found it to be great against mirror matchup and creatures deck.
I think that depends of your deck. For example, if you're playing with 4 xHonor of the Pure, you should play with Elspeth like the 1/1 token are white. Sorin produces black tokens...
Have you tried Timely Reinforcements? For 3 cmc, you can gain 6 life and/or put three 1/1 white soldier onto the battlefield. I think that in a more-midrange-black-oriented-token-deck it is good. It only costs one white mana (vs Spectral Procession).It helps to recover from Marsh Flats and Thoughtseize.
It is only a preference. I prefer more layers with repeating shape- to me it looks more like real 3D and you can look a it from different angle. I like to color the edge of the card/cut the same color of the drawing. The problem is that you need more cards and time to do so.