Quote from mafteechrJust a note:
The list for Michael Bernat at GP Indianapolis was part of a grinder, not the main event (should read 32 players, then).
http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/eventcoverage/gpind12/day1#0
Oh I didn't know that, thank you
-edit- Ok, I checked that over and it still says it's from the Indianapolis Legacy open.
-edit #2- ok I see now, he has more than one placing on the list and I looked at / checked the wrong one, ty, sorry for the confusion, & fixed.
4 Windswept heath
4 Arid mesa
4 Wooded foothills
1 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Forest
1 Savannah
1 Taiga
1 Plateau
4 Lightning bolt
4 Chain lightning
4 Lightning helix
2 Qasali Pridemage
2 Gaddock Teeg
3 Grim Lavamancer
4 Wild nacatl
4 Kird ape
4 Loam lion
4 Goblin guide
3 Mindbreak trap (awesome against storm)
3 Tormod's crypt (awesome against Graveyard Strageties)
3 Pithing needle (awesome against multiple cards that is the huge card pool of legacy)
3 Vexing shusher (My local metagame has more counterspells than anything else on average, this card is good against such environments)
2 Qasali pridemage (2 main, 2 side)
1 Gaddock teeg (2 main, 1 side)
As for anyone, a local metagame steer's me to using or not using certain cards, the main setup as a base here, is to keep everything in the deck at 2 casting cost or less, the only reason i don't run Steppe Lynx, is that I don't like how its just a 0/1 on its own.
Post #4/199/230: Retraced Image ~Arguments for it: Allows you to put more & more lands into play the turn you're combo'ing off, & allows you to possibly combo off on your turn 2, giving you a speed increase. Also useful if you can't get ahold of those expensive candels.
~Arguments against it: You have Force of Will for decks faster than you, & you have Turnabout / Candelabra of Tawnos / more Time Spiral's, etc, which should be enough for when you're combo'ing off.
Post #14: ~They said: However, if you are running 4 Brainstorm 4 Ponder 4 Pre-ordain instead of traditional 4/4/2, one could argue that you can safely have 1 less land in place for more of those 1 cast turn 1 "fixer's"
Post #17: Flusterstorm ~Arguments for it: At a minimum, it can counter 1 instant/sorcery spell, At best, it nails storm hardcore, or anything in between.
~Arguments against it: Cunning wish already costs 3, & it costs 1, where Mindbreak trap costs 0 against storm, allowing you to defend yourself against those usually storm combo's a full turn sooner.
Post #22/23: Against Dredge decks, I have both Dredge (Led'less) & Spiral High Tide, So I know personally in playtesting that Dredge is one of the toughest match-up's for the Tide player. When you can, slow down their turn 1 discard outlets with Force of Will If you make it to your turn 3 & can't combo off yet, you can Cunning Wish for Ravenous trap & Surgical Extraction & buy yourself more time.
Post #26: ~They said: From May-2011 to Mental Misstep being banned in Type 1.5/Legacy, High-Tide had no top-8's at any of the big Starcity Sunday Open-series events. While misstep is probably not the only factor, it is definitely one factor, I am very okay with it remaining on the banned list >^,^<
Post #30: ~They said: There are many routes one could go with the massive card pool that is Magic the Gathering, for those other cards.
Candelabra of Tawnos for Retraced Image
Intuition for stuff like Long-Term plans or Peer through Depths
Meditate for Ideas Unbound / Three Wishes
Force of Will / Pact of Negation for Counterspell / Misdirection & Daze (However, a free daze is counter productive if you are waiting for more island's in play)
Probably most obvious for budget setups is Cloud of Faeries & Snap setup.
Replace Fetchlands with more Island
You could also add Mystical tutor & Frantic Search but ONLY, if you are not playing sanctioned/type 1.5/Legacy rules.
Cards that are almost irreplaceable I feel are Time Spiral High Tide Cunning Wish Merchant Scroll Turnabout Brainstorm Ponder Pre-ordain & of course, Island >^,^<
Post #36: Emrakul, the Aeons Torn ~Argument for this card: It's uncounterable, is a defense against mill decks, almost always wins when casted, & almost impossible to stop (aside from things like Diabolic Edict etc)
~Argument against it: As cool &, as ridiculous as this thing is, it is counter-productive to Meditate, you'd have to play around yourself, or even cut Meditate out of your deck.
Post #42: Yes, Goldfish the crap out of it, both because its fun, & you will get used to all the "how to" parts & "tricks" it has, then, playtest it against whatever you can, especially your harder match up's, to get experience with as many interactions vs counterspells, discards, faster clocks, & everything else, etc.
Post #57/101: Palinchron ~This thing is neat, but I just don't feel it's necessary. I once tested out how many people I could deck out in a chaos game enviornment (everyone vs everyone) & because of Blue sun's Zenith I was able to force an opponent to draw for 50 cards, then do it 12 more times, it just took forever to keep "combo'ing off" for the mana, re-draw the Blue Sun's Zenith, then do it again & again & again.
Post #61/230: Some of the many Cunning Wish target ideas: (mostly 1 of's)
Targets that cost mana:
Blue sun's Zenith (Kill condition/more card draw for self)
Turnabout (3 main, 4th sideboard)
Meditate (3 main, 4th sideboard)
Intuition (a way to get to Time Spiral, or whatever you need)
Wipe away (Split Second bounce)
Brain Freeze (secondary kill condition)
Rebuild (mass artifact bounce)
Echoing truth (possibly multi bounce)
Repeal (bounce w/ cantrip)
snap (bounce w/ untap effect)
Rewind (Counterspell w/ untap effect)
Flusterstorm (can counter instant/sorceries, anti storm)
Evacuation (costs 5, but can buy you time against an army of creatures, or untargetable ones that are stopping you)
Targets that are essentially free:
Mindbreak trap (anti storm)
Ravenous trap (anti Graveyard)
Surgical extraction (anti Graveyard)
Marrow shards (anti empty-the-warrens & other 1/1 armies attacking)
Submerge (Free bounce against 'some' aggro decks)
Pact of Negation (Free counterspell, sorta >^,^<)
Misdirection (another counterspell like freebie, with conditions)
Daze (However, free = bouncing one of your own islands)
Post #68: Trade Routes ~Argument for it: Turns your lands in hand into card draw, & you still have access to it after a Time Spiral since its a permanent.
~Argument against it: Between 4 Brainstorm, 4 Ponder, 2-4 Pre-ordain, 4 Time Spiral, 4 Merchant scroll, 3 Cunning wish, 3 Meditate, 1 Blue Sun's Zenith and/or 1 Intuition, you will rarely run out of card draw. (Though play enough games & sometimes, it does happen >^,^<)
Post #71/152.212: Snapcaster Mage This card is an obvious piece of awesomeness, I tried out 3 for a while before I got candels. ~Argument for it, it turns any instant/sorcery in your graveyard to "Cast me again for an additional 2 mana" & can buy you time against creature based strategies, taking down another creature or chump blocking bigger stuff. Also it has synergy with snap & intuition & technically, can even be argued as secondary kill condition.
~Argument against it. It just doesn't do enough by itself, & what you really want to cast it for is for the flashback it gives, which means whatever you're going for has the requirement of having to in your graveyard, & how does most stuff here get to the graveyard? By casting it from your hand. Also, exiling cards from your deck, is anti synergetic with Time Spiral
Post #83: Mind over Matter ~Argument for it: Ridiculous with candelabra of tawnos -Even without candels, it turns cards in hand into "Untap one land" which is nice after a Resolved Time Spiral, or casting Meditate for the 3rd/4th time & having so many cards in your hand.
~Argument against it: It's one of those "win more" cards, meaning that as awesome as it is, it's not essential, for as many lists as I've seen run it, I've seen just as many run without it.
Post #113: Rewind With one in the sideboard, when you're combo'ing off, it doubles as both protection, & an untap effect. Main decking a set of them however, they are just not fast enough, in going for more counterspells, counterspell spell snare etc are more optimal.
Post #117: This is probably one of the most insightful things I have come across, while the main deck has more "set in stone" cards, the side-board is more flexible. Taking full advantage of Cunning wish you can adjust to your local metagame accordingly, choosing from the huge card pool of blue instants available in all of magic. Just be sure to always keep in the essentials, that 4th Turnabout, 4th meditate, an Intuition, Blue Sun's Zenith, Wipe away & at least 1 Pact of Negation >^,^<
Post #132: As much as I love this card, I can not say it is one of those required ones, which is good since it's the most expensive card by far in all the decklists out there. So don't feel "less than optimal" if you don't have them. Between 4 Merchant Scroll 3 Cunning wish & all the card draw/digging, you'll usually get to a Turnabout when needed.
Post #155/252: When I first looked at High Tide / Solidarity / Spiral Tide / & everything in between, I asked the same thing, if someone is reading over this and still wondering what is the difference:
High tide is more consistent / more played & can go off faster, with a bigger card pool for what to use, where as Solidarity is confined to instants because of Reset Solidarity however, doesn't typically use candels so it's cheaper, & is harder to stop the more it "combo's off" because everything you do in attempt to stop them, they can essentially go "in response, I kill you"
Post #185: Splashing green: ~Argument for it: Access to things like Tangle & Explore & Krosan Grip
~Argument against it: Opens you up to Wasteland or other anti non basic land stuff like Price of Progress / Also dual lands increase the deck price.
Post #328: Past in Flames As nuts as this card is, it is anti synergetic with Time Spiral and requires adding another color. It is also a sorcery, meaning it's not useable as a 1'of wish target, in the end, Past in flames would change enough at the base/core that, while it could be quite a similar deck, it'd no longer be the same deck as Spiral Tide. Unfortunately for fans of this card, I cannot come up with enough to make an argument for it here. Post #332 however, did provide a link to a deck called "Fire Tide" if one would want to explore such avenues.
And finally, it would only be fair for me to take my turn & to expose myself to the constructive criticism / enlightenment that comes with sharing a decklist >^,^< be gentle, I very much enjoyed reading over this whole thing even though it consumed hours of time, this deck is awesome!
10 Island
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Misty Rainforest
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
4 Pre-ordain
3 Meditate
4 Time Spiral
4 High Tide
3 Turnabout
3 Candelabra of Tawnos
2 Mind over Matter
3 Cunning Wish
4 Merchant Scroll
4 Force of Will
1 Blue Sun's Zenith
1 Turnabout
1 Meditate
1 Intuition
1 Wipe away
1 Rebuild (Flexible slot)
1 Brain Freeze (Flexible slot)
1 Echoing truth (Flexible slot)
1 Pact of negation
1 Mindbreak trap
1 Ravenous trap
1 Surgical Extraction
1 Marrow shards
1 Submerge
For the maindeck, I don't have a main deck Blue Sun's Zenith because I've yet to run into a situation where I couldn't cunning wish, and force of will means I have the option of countering things like Meddling mage / Ethersworn Canonist / Surgical extraction etc.
I have 17 lands instead of 18 because I am 4/4/4 with Brainstorm Ponder & Pre-ordain, increasing those turn 1 "fixers" and giving me more cards that draw/dig after a resolved Time Spiral.
For the sideboard, I play at 2 places regularly weekly, so the sideboard adjusts accordingly to where I play and the environment, so it is ever changing.
~Dredge is fast & cabal therapy hurts, and a turn 2 Iona, Shield of Emira is even worse, when there is alot of dredge / reanimator, I take out some of the flexible slot 1'of's and bring in a set of Tormod's crypt.
~Counterbalance is annoying, Cunning wishing for a Wipe away at the end of their turn is helpful, but I also have a set of Repeal's I'll bring in in place of the flexible slot 1'of's if I expect alot of Counterbalance.
~Echoing truth is a "flexible slot" because if its 1 target, wipe away is usually better, the only time I really want it for multiple targets is against a resolved empty the warrens, & I have Marrow shards for that, since I can do it from my turn 3 with the "free / pay 2 life" cost, where'as with echoing truth, I can cunning wish for it on my turn three, but that means I'm tapped out. Even against multiple trinisphere's, I can just rebuild.
~Rebuild is a "flexible slot" because when I want to reuse candels, I can go for turnabout main -or- wish target.
~Brain Freeze is a "flexible slot" in the Side board because Blue Sun's Zenith is usually enough, and in a situation where they could counter it, If I've gotten to the point to where I can cast a lethal Blue Suns Zenith, I can easily grab a Force of will with a merchant scroll before hand, or use a second cunning wish to grab a pact of negation after drawing so many cards & producing so much mana. Plus brain freeze doesn't work against Eldrazi shuffle-your-graveyard-back-into-your-library effects. Also having to keep track of mana in pool and how much U mana your islands are tapping for is already time consuming enough lol ^,^
~Blue Sun's Zenith is both a kill condition & card draw option
~Turnabout is a 4th after 3 maindeck
~Meditate is a 4th after 3 maindeck
~Intuition is a way to get to what you're missing, I get Time Spiral the most with it
~Wipe away is probably obvious, awesome bounce w/ split second!
The remaining cards not only help, but are also all basically, "free" to cast, allowing you to use them as soon as you Cunning wish for them, as early as your turn 3:
~Misdirection is a free way that can protect against spells that target a single target, being you, or even your permanents.
~Pact of negation is a free counterspell, especially if you don't need another turn >^,^<
~Mindbreak trap is free anti storm
~Ravenous trap is free anti graveyard strageties
~Surgical Extraction is another free anti something in your opponents graveyard card
~Marrow shards is awesome against empty-the-warrens, or anything armies with toughness of 1, sometimes even goblins/elves without the "champions"
~Submerge is very narrow, but is free against some creature based decks, and sometimes that's all you need to get from turn 3 to turn 4