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Sampatrick posted:Can anyone explain the logic behind not playing the full playset of Jeskai Charms in Jeskai Tokens? There's got to be some way to fit it into the deck, and it improves your draws that don't have ascendancy by so, so much. There just aren't enough slots. Its a good card, but it is also three mana in a deck that already had a butt load of other 3 CMC spells they want to cast instead. Two is a good number because not drawing it doesn't kill you, and it can be a great finisher if you have the mana available/are already set up.
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Dec 15, 2014 17:43
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With whip decks being everywhere these days, what are the best sideboard options against them in mardu? I'm leaning hard on erase in the sideboard, along with thoughtseize in the main. I'm wondering if Tormod's crypt or even Underworld Cerberus would be worth adding to the sideboard. Here's the list I'm currently running, thinking of going up to 3 Erases and finding room for crypt.
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Dec 15, 2014 18:04
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Cactrot posted:With whip decks being everywhere these days, what are the best sideboard options against them in mardu? I'm leaning hard on erase in the sideboard, along with thoughtseize in the main. I'm wondering if Tormod's crypt or even Underworld Cerberus would be worth adding to the sideboard. A couple Banishing Light and/or Utter End mainboarded w/ Erase back-up sideboarded.
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Dec 15, 2014 18:08
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I had Burn Away suggested to me, 5cmc by the time they have a whip out is achievable. Should kill most targets, plus you can get their Courser in response to the whip activation.
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Dec 15, 2014 18:11
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Caleb Durward was playing this on his stream last night and it looks pretty cool. Deck: Caleb's 4-Color Pancakes     //Land 1 Caves of Koilos 2 Forest 1 Llanowar Wastes 3 Mana Confluence 4 Opulent Palace 2 Plains 4 Sandsteppe Citadel 3 Windswept Heath 2 Yavimaya Coast //Dudes 4 Elvish Mystic 3 Commune with the Gods 4 Satyr Wayfinder 4 Sylvan Caryatid 4 Courser of Kruphix 2 Anafenza, the Foremost 4 Siege Rhino 4 Sidisi, Brood Tyrant 4 Soul of Theros //Spells 4 Murderous Cut 1 Treasure Cruise //Sideboard 1 Suspension Field 2 Banishing Light 1 Anafenza, the Foremost 3 Thoughtseize 2 Dead Drop 2 Disdainful Stroke 2 Treasure Cruise  Display deck statistics
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Dec 15, 2014 18:43
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^Caleb Durward has the best decks. I've been running a slightly modified version of his RG Chord deck for the past month with Purphoros in the main and it's been pretty successful for me (several FNM wins, 3rd at an IQ) on top of just being super fun to play.BizarroAzrael posted:I had Burn Away suggested to me, 5cmc by the time they have a whip out is achievable. Should kill most targets, plus you can get their Courser in response to the whip activation. I'm going with at least 2x copies of Burn Away because it also deals with Soul of Theros in a way that enchantment hate alone can not. That card is unbeatable if they ever get to activate. Equilibrium fucked around with this message at 19:16 on Dec 15, 2014 |
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Dec 15, 2014 18:45
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This is what I run for my local standard FNM. I haven't had much problems with many of the asban mid ranges that people bring. I have lost to U/W heroic a time or two and to jeskia tokens twice. I'm trying to figure out what else to do to this deck. Any ideas will help 2 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver 4 Bile Blight 1 Bloodstained Mire 4 Dig Through Time 2 Disdainful Stroke 4 Dismal Backwater 4 Dissolve 4 Hero's Downfall 5 Island 3 Jace's Ingenuity 1 Murderous Cut 2 Pearl Lake Ancient 4 Perilous Vault 4 Polluted Delta 1 Radiant Fountain 1 Silence the Believers 5 Swamp 4 Temple of Deceit 1 Temple of Silence Sb 1 Aetherspouts 1 Disdainful Stroke 4 Drown in Sorrow 1 Jorubai Murk Lurker 1 Murderous Cut 2 Negate 2 Pharika's Cure 1 Silence the Believers 2 Tormod's Crypt
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Dec 16, 2014 05:32
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Fingers McLongDong posted:Mardu charm might be worth taking a look at. I had considered it originally but at the time didn't feel like it warranted a spot over the other choices. I might try running 2, probably cut my 4th downfall for one, not sure about the second. Maybe either one of the despises? Seems better to cut a despise than something like lightning strike or read the bones. Currently been using a 3/2 Thoughtseize/despise split so I'd still have 4 one mana hand disruption spells. Could just go with 4 Thoughtseize at that point but the whole reason I went with the split was to reduce the self-harm done along with painlands and RtB. I think I'm going to move Anger of the Gods to the sideboard, pushing out Bile Blight, and put 2 Charms maindeck. Kill spell against creature decks, disruption for blue decks, and instant speed surprise blockers that are also good just ahead of dropping Sorin. Think I'm playing Standard on Friday so I'll get to test a bit.
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Dec 17, 2014 00:39
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Yeah I'm doubleposting what of it? Here's my current build of the Mardu Walker deck I mean to try on Friday. Deck: Mardu Walkers  //Planeswalkers 2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion 2 Sorin, Solemn Visitor 1 Liliana Vess 2 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker 2 Chandra, Pyromaster //Spells 4 Lightning Strike 4 Thoughtseize 2 Mardu Charm 4 Hero's Downfall 4 Crackling Doom 3 End Hostilities 2 Utter End 3 Read the Bones //Land 4 Temple of Silence 3 Caves of Koilos 3 Temple of Triumph 2 Temple of Malice 4 Bloodstained Mire 2 Mountain 2 Swamp 4 Nomad Outpost 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth //Sideboard 3 Brimaz, King of Oreskos 2 Hushwing Gryff 2 Nyx-Fleece Ram 2 Revoke Existence 2 Anger of the Gods 2 Empty the Pits 2 Tormod's Crypt Display deck statisticsMight put a Burn Away in the sideboard when I get one, but I already have Crypts. Empty the Pits I mean to use whilst a control player taps out for Dig. I mean to switch Battlefield forge for another temple, scry is more valuable than getting W or R untapped I think. I sometimes think I should have more Walkers in there. A third Sorin or Chandra or second Liliana could all be good. Sorin is the one that's best to have multiples of in hand, another Lili might be worth it for the increased chance of her and Chandra being out at once. Would probably have to drop a removal spell, or possibly try to run with 24 land.
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Dec 18, 2014 01:39
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BizarroAzrael posted:Yeah I'm doubleposting what of it? Why not run Erase instead of Revoke Existence? It is cheaper, instead speed, and still hits Whip and Ascendancy. I'm running a similar deck with this mana base: 2 Battlefield Forge 2 Caves of Koilos 2 Mountain 4 Nomad Outpost 2 Plains 3 Swamp 3 Temple of Malice 3 Temple of Silence 3 Temple of Triumph 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth I've been pretty happy with it. I can usually get the appropriate untapped mana in time.
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Dec 18, 2014 02:26
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Revoke hits Perilous Vault. I don't see a point in running plains, I would swap them for Caves if you can. BizarroAzrael fucked around with this message at 02:44 on Dec 18, 2014 |
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Dec 18, 2014 02:41
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BizarroAzrael posted:Revoke hits Perilous Vault. I completely forgot about Perilous Vault. That makes a lot of sense and I'll probably swap the Erases out before I play it again. I've pretty much been the only person at my local store playing control but I'm going to a PTQ on the 27th so that'll be a good change to make. I'm not 100% sure why I put Plains in there instead of another Caves and Battlefield Forge. I'll have to give it a try.
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Dec 18, 2014 02:55
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I'm looking for some ideas for my recently-assembled Mardu Midrange deck. Ideally, I'd be running 4x Rabblemaster, 3x Stormbreath, 3x Brimaz, but this is what my budget and collection will allow me.quote:Babby's First Mardu Midrange: My biggest question is -- What's a good replacement for Goblin Rabblemaster (if there is such a thing)? The Wingmate Roc is in for the 3rd Stormbreath, the 3x Seekers are in for Brimaz, the Whip is in as a poor man's Sorin, Solemn Visitor, and the two copies of Purphoros are in for the two Sarkhans I don't own. I figured that the 3 remaining Rabblemasters should be replaced with Hordeling Outbursts, as they synergize with Big Purps and fill a similar role as Rabblemaster, and feed my Butchers. What things stand out as errors? Where can I shore up? (I can't really afford any more lands right now, so aside from switching out some gainlands for Nomad Outposts, it's gotta stay how it is...) Also, for reference, here are some cards I'm considering adding to the mix: 3x Stoke the Flames (I know these need to be in the deck, I just don't know where...) 2x Underworld Cerberus 3x Tymaret, the Murder King 2x Brain Maggot 1x Silence the Believers Thanks for the help! Dungeon Ecology fucked around with this message at 06:37 on Dec 18, 2014 |
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Dec 18, 2014 03:50
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Dungeon Ecology posted:I'm looking for some ideas for my recently-assembled Mardu Midrange deck. Ideally, I'd be running 4x Rabblemaster, 3x Stormbreath, 3x Brimaz, but this is what my budget and collection will allow me. It's not like any component of the deck in itself is bad, it all seems to be stuff making it to competitive standard decks. Wingmate Roc is really strong in a deck where it's easy to trigger raid and don't mind losing an attacker to do so, and has some interaction with Whip (use it after attacking and get the token to keep instead of attacking with the Roc once) The closest to a "replacement" for Rabblemaster is unfortunately Brimaz. Outburst is far from useless, but Rabblemaster, for the same cost, has put a 2/2 and 2 1/1's into play by the time it can first attack, and if both of the tokens survive to this point, he swings for 4 damage, plus the tokens. It can all be undone with one removal spell thought, Outburst tokens require a narrower subset of cards to be dealt with in one go.
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Dec 18, 2014 11:45
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With the double posting again. I played the Mardu Walkers at FNM, it was only 8 people/3 rounds, but I won 3-0. It's a new store so probably not the strongest competition around, but maybe just quite ahead of Xmas. Round 1 against UB control, though the deck seemed incomplete and he said he was new to the game. He had the Ancients and Vaults, but ran Annuls maindecck, which I kept seeing when I thoughtseized him. He had Downfalls and Strokes to make my life difficult, but I was able to kill his creatures without issue and he appeared not to run an alternative wincon like Ashiok. I got to use Mardu charm's Duress mode to check the coast was clear in his end step, so good start for my use of that card. Round 2 against GW aggro? Ran some of the White Heroic guys and Fleecemane, and also Abzan Falconer, which when I saw it thought could actually be pretty nifty! Heroic trigger on Phalanx Leader and they all fly. Didn't see it go of though. I killed them. Round 3 against Mono Red, managed to win game 1 after, as always, being taken to 6-8 quickly before stabilizing. Used the Raise the Alarm mode of Mardu Charm for blockers, which seems like it could be useful in the matchup when you might not be able to get a burn kill, or really need to stop 2 guys. As I type this I realise I forgot about the first strike, and lost one to a 1/1 soldier token. So completely satisfied with Mardu Charm and the relegation of Anger of the Gods to the sideboard. I think I now want to look at dropping something for either a second Liliana or third Sorin. Edit: How do we feel about dropping an End Hostilities or moving it to the sideboard for another Sorin? Perhaps I should get a second Liliana in the sideboard too. BizarroAzrael fucked around with this message at 14:18 on Dec 20, 2014 |
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Dec 20, 2014 01:11
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More Mardu chat: I've been playing the usual midrange list, and it's felt like its position in the meta has waned in the last couple of weeks. It has way too much trouble with token decks or Hornet Queen. Decided to run Anger + Brimaz instead: Deck: Mardu Midrange //Lands 3 Battlefield Forge 4 Bloodstained Mire 3 Caves of Koilos 2 Mountain 4 Nomad Outpost 2 Swamp 3 Temple of Silence 4 Temple of Triumph //Spells 3 Anger of the Gods 4 Crackling Doom 4 Lightning Strike 1 Murderous Cut 1 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker 2 Sorin, Solemn Visitor 4 Thoughtseize 1 Utter End //Creatures 3 Brimaz, King of Oreskos 4 Butcher of the Horde 4 Goblin Rabblemaster 2 Stormbreath Dragon 2 Wingmate Roc //Sideboard 1 Chandra, Pyromaster 2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion 2 End Hostilities 2 Glare of Heresy 2 Hushwing Gryff 2 Erase 2 Read the Bones 1 Utter End 1 Anger of the Gods Display deck statisticsPretty happy with the list, went 5-0 at FNM with it. Cutting Chain for Anger makes your mana base much better, and maindecking Anger makes your token/aggro match-ups much better. Cutting Seeker for Thoughtseize loses you some early tempo, but lets you take care of major threats while allowing you to safely sequence your own threats. Hordeling Outburst is a good card, but I've always been unimpressed with it in Mardu. Brimaz worked way better in its place. Most decks are week to flyers, so I really like having Butcher/Roc/Stormbreath/Sarkhan as the major threats. I was consistently flying over people for the win.
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Dec 20, 2014 21:24
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Sorry for asking about the composition of the boogeyman deck in the format, but all my usual Magic buddies are AWOL. I turn to Goons for last minute help for the PreTQ I'm doing tomorrow. Deck: Abzan Midrange //Lands 2 Caves of Koilos 4 Forest 2 Llanowar Wastes 2 Plains 4 Sandsteppe Citadel 4 Temple of Malady 2 Temple of Silence 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth 4 Windswept Heath //Spells 4 Abzan Charm 1 Ajani, Mentor of Heroes 2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion 3 Hero's Downfall 2 Sorin, Solemn Visitor 3 Thoughtseize 3 Utter End //Creatures 4 Courser of Kruphix 2 Polukranos, World Eater 4 Siege Rhino 4 Sylvan Caryatid 3 Wingmate Roc //Sideboard 1 Thoughtseize 1 Liliana Vess 2 Glare of Heresy 1 End Hostilities 1 Duneblast 2 Erase 3 Drown in Sorrow 2 Bile Blight 2 Whip of Erebos Display deck statisticsRight now I'm running 3 Utter End (and only 3 Downfall) as a nod to Whip and Jeskai Ascendancy decks. I recognize this makes me more vulnerable to Rabblemaster, but I expect those two combined to be more popular than aggro at the moment. I have no feeling for the local meta, so I'm curious if people think this is an incorrect impression. I'd love to find room for maindeck bile blights - again, terrified of Tokens - but I have no idea what I would take out. Maybe drop to 3 Abzan Charms and 2 Utter End? I have basically no confidence in my sideboard and would love some input. The moving parts for me are the Erases and the Whips. Erases come in against Whips and Ascendancy, Whips are for the mirror and against control. The possible substitutions are Rec Sage over Erase and Anafenza over Whip (which just makes life a little harder for Whip decks). Thoughts? I basically never see Anafenza played, which makes me think she's not actually that good. I also don't own any so I'd have to try to pick them up before things kicked off tomorrow, but I'm not that concerned about that. Boxman fucked around with this message at 01:25 on Dec 21, 2014 |
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Dec 21, 2014 01:22
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Boxman posted:Sorry for asking about the composition of the boogeyman deck in the format, but all my usual Magic buddies are AWOL. I turn to Goons for last minute help for the PreTQ I'm doing tomorrow. Anafenza is often a 1-2 of, possibly in sideboards but I think she makes maindecks for being a good size body for her place on the curve, useful ability (especially with a Roc or Rhino out) and mucking with reanimator decks. Dunno about sideboard whips but I can see the appeal with Roc and Rhino again. Up to you, but I run Revoke Existence in the side of my Mardu deck because of Perilous Vault. Since you have the option, I would take Naturalize. Why one each of End Hostilities and Duneblast? You're probably right about getting the Bile Blights in, makes you much better against Rabblemaster and Red in general. I'm happy with 2 Utter End for sheer flexibility, but it's good to have cheaper stuff dealing with earlier threats. I know Utter End is partially for Jeskai Ascendancy, but don't forget Jeskai decks often run Rabblemaster too!
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Dec 21, 2014 03:20
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Went to a GPT for Memphis today, only 17 people showed up but it was only a $10 entry fee so it was fine. Took a slightly modified Sam Black RW Tokens list: Deck: RW Tokens //Lands 4 Battlefield Forge 2 Evolving Wilds 1 Mana Confluence 9 Mountain 4 Plains 4 Temple of Triumph //Spells 4 Chained to the Rocks 2 Chandra, Pyromaster 1 Dragon Mantle 1 Erase 4 Hordeling Outburst 2 Lightning Strike 3 Raise the Alarm 4 Stoke the Flames //Creatures 2 Ashcloud Phoenix 2 Eidolon of Countless Battles 3 Heliod's Pilgrim 4 Seeker of the Way 4 Wingmate Roc //Sideboard 2 Arc Lightning 2 Ashcloud Phoenix 2 Chandra, Pyromaster 3 Erase 4 Glare of Heresy 1 Lightning Strike 1 Scouring Sands Display deck statisticsSam went 7-1 at the Invitational with the Ashclouds in the board, then this week he had 4 Ashclouds main with 4 Chandra in the board. I wasn't really happy pulling all the Chandras like that so I split the difference. Swiss: R1 - Jeskai Tokens 2-0 (1-0) - basic list, game 1 I beat him through 2 Treasure Cruises, game 2 I had 2 Arc Lightning as well with Raise, Raise, Outburst on my side R2 - New Player UG 2-0 (2-0) - was the only player out of the 8 winners and a bye to get paired down and it was against a new player with no sideboard. He got deck checked and got a game loss for only having a 59-card deck, then in our single game he mulliganed to 5 and kept a no-lander. R3 - UB Control 2-1 (3-0) - Close match. This match seems hard for the deck but I guess I made it out fine. Ashcloud Phoenix is very good in this match-up. R4 - UW Control 0-2 (3-1) - I got paired down AGAIN, probably because that New Player round made my tiebreakers awful. Then I lost to this UW Control deck that seemed sub-optimal. From what I could tell, he was playing UW but didn't have End Hostilities in the deck, at least, I saw like half of his deck in each game and I never saw it. We were almost at time when he killed me in game 2, but he had the exact mana and line of play to kill both of my lethal attackers when he was at 1 life. Devouring Light is an extremely good card against my deck when it comes to eliminating my heavy-hitting flying threats so you can stabilize. R5 - UB Control 2-1 (4-1) - Again I had to play, so even though I got to 3-0 and expected a 2 hour lunch break I ended up playing straight through. This one was a bit easier to win in the games that I won, and looking back both games in the UB matches I lost were because they stuck a Prognostic Sphinx early and I wasn't ever able to remove it and they just took me from 20+ down to 0 in increments of 3. Since I didn't draw in and ended up with 12 points, I was above the draw people and became the #1 seed. T8 QF - Mono Red Aggro 2-0 (5-1) - Running Hordeling Outbursts in game 1, where I had 1 in my opening hand and then had them on the top of my deck for my draws on turns 4 and 5. That game I was at 7 life before I stabilized. Game 2 I had Chained into Pilgrim-Chained into Pilgrim-Chained, plus an Outburst. T4 SF - Abzan Whip 1-2 (5-2) - My first showdown with Courser all day. In the end, I can't beat a Hornet Queen. Game 2 I was fast enough to beat it out. Game 1 I had 3 Chained or Pilgrim but he had main deck Reclamation Sages and he drew 2 of them, so just ETB Rhino triggers basically killed me. Game 3 was very close, but he stuck a Whip when he was on 1 life and I never drew a burn spell or Erase fast enough to get me back in the game. I used my first Erase to kill a Courser and on turn 1 I scryed a second to the bottom looking for lands, but perhaps I shouldn't have done that in the end. Still, I had about 5 turns to draw one of like 8 cards in my deck that might have given me a shot to win and I didn't hit. It happens. Not a bad day for $10, although since there were 17 people the shop only put in 34 prize packs and I ended up with just 3 for all my troubles. Still, I highly recommend this deck if you like casting cool spells. Wingmate Roc, Ashcloud Phoenix, Hordeling Outburst, and Chained to the Rocks are all awesome spells and I'm excited to be playing a deck that lets me cast all of them.
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Dec 21, 2014 04:01
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BizarroAzrael posted:Anafenza is often a 1-2 of, possibly in sideboards but I think she makes maindecks for being a good size body for her place on the curve, useful ability (especially with a Roc or Rhino out) and mucking with reanimator decks. Well, the Whips and Anafenza are zero-sum. I think it's just a matter of what deck I'm more afraid of - control or reanimator respectively (although the whips are fine in the mirror as well) - and boarding appropriately. I am terrified of seeing Whip, so I may end up buying some Anafenzas tomorrow. May be a game time decision unless someone has a strong opinion on whether I'm far more likely to see one or the other. Naturalize is a good idea, thank you. I may be willing to give up some equity against the few Pharikas that are out there for extra game against control. End Hostilities/Duneblast is hedging, and this is one place I'm not happy with my board. End Hostilities comes in against more aggressive decks, Duneblast is midrange. Just one End isn't realistically enough against aggro, but Duneblast is so powerful in the mirror I'm loathe to take it out. Still trying to figure out the Bile Blight thing...cutting an Utter End seems obvious but is one enough? What's the next cut, Abzan Charm? That can't be right...right?
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Dec 21, 2014 04:29
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OK, here is the deck I'm going to be taking to my first ever FMN (actually on sunday but whatever..) Thanks to the guy who gave me some pointers on the last page, much appreciated. Deck: Untitled Deck //Lands 1 Bloodfell Caves 7 Mountain 4 Nomad Outpost 3 Plains 3 Scoured Barrens 3 Swamp 3 Wind-Scarred Crag //Spells 2 Burning Anger 2 Chained to the Rocks 4 Crackling Doom 2 Goblinslide 4 Hordeling Outburst 4 Lightning Strike 4 Mardu Charm 2 Spear of Heliod //Creatures 2 Butcher of the Horde 4 Ponyback Brigade 2 Swarm of Bloodflies 4 Typhoid Rats Display deck statisticsI decided to go with 2x butcher and 2x bloodflies, I was testing this all day last sunday and I was getting some very good compliments around the bloodflies > butcher > tokens synergy and it seemed to be working very well indeed. He attacked me with some 4/4 flier while my bloodflies were 4/4 too so I sacced a token into the butcher blocked it with it now on 5/5 and won the game next turn :3 How does my Mana base look? I'm a little concerned that I have a lot of land that comes out tapped, and I didn't have most of the special lands when I was testing so I'm not sure if I've gone a bit overboard there. My Sideboard is another thing, I've put a playset of both shatter and erase in there because I know Jeskai decks can be annoying with ascendency and whips and poo poo like that but I feel like I'm missing something. I guess I can see myself swapping out the lightning strikes for 2x shatter 2x erase if I hit a bad matchup. Does that sound about right? Edit: I'm also not 100% sold on the goblinslide, for some reason it doesn't feel right but I can't explain it... AceClown fucked around with this message at 22:31 on Dec 23, 2014 |
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Dec 23, 2014 22:27
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Ruthless Ripper is pretty much strictly better than Typhoid Rats, I would use that instead. e: Bloodsoaked Champion would also work great with the deck (since it's free bloodfly/butcher fuel and also strong in general) but that would be more expensive. e2: Raise the Alarm might be a good swap for Goblinslide, it's a lot faster. Irony Be My Shield fucked around with this message at 05:10 on Dec 25, 2014 |
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Dec 25, 2014 04:45
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So I've been loving around with what used to be one of my old homebrew Standard decks during RtR block... And the result is rather similar, if a touch meaner and more rampy: Deck: Flickerdicks - Modern //Lands 4 Breeding Pool 5 Forest 2 Ghost Quarter 4 Hinterland Harbor 5 Island //Spells 4 Farseek 4 Ghostly Flicker 4 Mwonvuli Acid-Moss //Creatures 4 Acidic Slime 4 Birds of Paradise 4 Deadeye Navigator 4 Snapcaster Mage 4 Thragtusk 4 Venser, Shaper Savant 4 Wall of Roots Display deck statisticsBasically, the idea is to ramp into abusable ETB effects, focusing on land destruction and janky control. I recently added Venser to the pool and he is -amazing- for the utility he brings, especially so acting as a sort of Remand. I used to run clone in this deck during Standard, and that very often won me games by copying an enemy's supercreature and abusing its powers with magical teleportation techniques. Now I am considering Clever Impersonator instead. Are there any glaringly obvious ramp or ETB cards that I am missing out on? Any better flicker effects? I used to play Conjurer's Closet which is lovely in theory, but ended up worthless if I didn't have creatures worth bouncing. If it was a tap-ability flicker it would be godly (and probably overpowered) - but as is, end of turn bounce is more of a convenience and a 'win more' conditional if I have the boardstate established. What would you throw into the sideboard? Are there other cards better suited for the ramp? Maybe more things that I could feed my Snapcaster? Though what's there proves to pull its weight. Wall turns out to be amazing in a deck like this where bounce is common, since I can reset the counters on a whim - which lets me use its mana more than once per turn, too.
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Dec 26, 2014 01:22
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My LGS is starting a Modern night in January and I need some advice on any improvements that I can make to the Modern Event Deck. My inlaws got it for me for Christmas and I've changed it around to the following with the cards I had. I plan to pick up some Marsh Flats to replace the Windswept Heaths and a Windbrisk Heights. Deck: Modern BW Tokens //Lands 3 Windswept Heath 4 Godless Shrine 4 Isolated Chapel 5 Plains 2 Swamp 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth 1 Vault of the Archangel 3 Windbrisk Heights //Spells 3 Honor of the Pure 4 Inquisition of Kozilek 4 Lingering Souls 4 Path to Exile 4 Raise the Alarm 4 Spectral Procession 4 Thoughtseize 2 Zealous Persecution //Planeswalkers 1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant 1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor //Creatures 2 Brimaz, King of Oreskos 4 Tidehollow Sculler //Sideboard 4 Kor Firewalker 2 Stony Silence 3 Mana Tithe 2 Kataki, War's Wage 2 Sundering Growth 2 Duress Display deck statistics
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Dec 29, 2014 03:31
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Here's the list I'm taking to a PPTQ next weekend: Deck: Boco_T Wb Tokens //Lands 3 Flooded Strand 4 Godless Shrine 3 Isolated Chapel 4 Marsh Flats 5 Plains 1 Swamp 2 Tectonic Edge 1 Vault of the Archangel //Spells 3 Honor of the Pure 3 Inquisition of Kozilek 1 Intangible Virtue 4 Lingering Souls 2 Murderous Cut 4 Path to Exile 4 Raise the Alarm 1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor 4 Spectral Procession 1 Sword of War and Peace 3 Thoughtseize 2 Zealous Persecution //Creatures 1 Hero of Bladehold 4 Mirran Crusader //Sideboard 3 Burrenton Forge-Tender 3 Leyline of Sanctity 2 Rest in Peace 3 Runed Halo 2 Stony Silence 2 Torpor Orb Display deck statisticsThe mana is fine with as many fetches as you want to cram in up to 8, so you can take your time getting up to Marsh Flats if you need to. My previous build had 4 Flooded Strands and 2 Windswept Heaths. The important thing with the mana is that within your 23 lands you want to try to get to around 13-14 untapped black sources for turn 1 discard spells and then 18+ white for maximum ability to cast Spectral for https://www. You only have single black spells so you can just put a Swamp in there instead of Urborg, and actually you probably want to max out on Caves of Koilos since your general color commitments aren't too high and it's an untapped land. I generally haven't been that impressed by the performance of Windbrisk Heights which is why I dropped it from my list, but your experiences might be different. The biggest creature push in the MTG Salvation thread for this deck in general is for Auriok Champion, and I understand it's great, but I'm not paying for it when it seems extremely likely it'll be reprinted this summer. For sideboard I think Forge-Tender is better than Firewalker because you can sacrifice it to prevent a Anger/Clasm/Whipflare from wiping your entire board, which is the most common way for opposing decks to catch up to your deck's creature card advantage. Torpor Orb helps stay the bane that is Orzhov Pontiff.
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Dec 29, 2014 04:11
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Maybe something like 3 Windswept Heath 4 Godless Shrine 4 Isolated Chapel 5 Plains 2 Swamp 1 Vault of the Archangel 4 Caves of Koilos as the mana base for the time being? That'll give me 20 white sources and quite a bit of turn 1 black sources. The sideboard does need some work. I put the Firewalkers in there thinking about burn, but didn't think about red board wipes.
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Dec 29, 2014 05:14
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This is my casual, cheap Turbofog I'm thinking of making. My main question is, go with the CTP lands, or stick with Forests, Islands, and Terramorphic Expanses? Deck: Turbofog //Lands 2 Island 4 Simic Guildgate 4 Temple of Mystery 4 Thornwood Falls 4 Vivid Creek 4 Vivid Grove //Spells 2 Arcane Denial 2 Archive Trap 4 Brainstorm 3 Constant Mists 3 Counterspell 4 Fog 4 Jace's Erasure 4 Moment's Peace 3 Respite 2 Skyscribing 3 Vision Skeins 4 Words of Wisdom //Sideboard 4 Capsize 4 Nourish 4 Quiet Disrepair 3 Tormod's Crypt Display deck statistics
Tricerapowerbottom fucked around with this message at 20:29 on Dec 29, 2014 |
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Dec 29, 2014 20:12
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Mardu Walkers update: I've been testing online and continue to have problems with Sidisi Whip and UB control. I think the deck needs to run more threats under the control deck's counters, so I'm experimenting with Seeker of the Way. It seems good so far, but not had enough matches against control, and haven't had Ashiok sided against it yet. I would say Ashiok, Vault and boredom are the main problems in the match. Not figured out the Sidisi match yet, maybe more Anger of the Gods in the sideboard or back in the main. Not cast my one-of Burn Away yet. maybe just keep using Tormod's Crypt to deny them resources when some Hornet Queens are in the bin, or I expect Delves spells to go off. Rakdos Charm probably won't be reprinted in Fate Reforged, right?  Just occurred to me how good it would be for this sideboard. gently caress graveyards, gently caress artifacts.
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Dec 31, 2014 02:33
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BizarroAzrael posted:Mardu Walkers update: I've been testing online and continue to have problems with Sidisi Whip and UB control. I think the deck needs to run more threats under the control deck's counters, so I'm experimenting with Seeker of the Way. It seems good so far, but not had enough matches against control, and haven't had Ashiok sided against it yet. I would say Ashiok, Vault and boredom are the main problems in the match. I forgot to post saying I tried out the 2 mardu charms in the main in place of anger and liked it. I actually didn't do well sunday, went 1-3 which is the first time I haven't top 4'd at an fnm/sunday standard since I started using this deck. I fought a ton of tokens decks and actually had a lot of very close games, losing twice in two different game 3's to mana screw. The charms had some neat uses though and I think they're worth keeping. Keeping with the transformative sideboard too, actually won a game and my opponent mentioned that he sideboarded anticipating the same deck and ended up with a few more dead cards. Increasing threat density against control seems to be working ok for the time being. Going to keep with the deck for now unless something in the new set changes my mind.
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Dec 31, 2014 02:56
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Looking at manifest, it seems like the mechanic is very breakable. I think it's probably going to be much better in Legacy with stuff like Enlightened Tutor and Worldly Tutor (plus Top, Brainstorm, etc), but I've been looking at possibilities with Modern as well. This is just based off the two white cards spoiled: 4x Lightform 4x Soul Summons 4x Cloudshift 4x Momentary Blink 2x Ghostly Flicker 4x Condescend 4x Serum Visions 1x Iona, Shield of Emeria 1x Sundering Titan 1x Ashen Rider 1x Emrakul, the Aeons Torn 1x Kozilek, Butcher of Truth 1x It That Betrays 1x Ulamag, the Infinite Gyre 3x Omniscience 4x Temple of Enlightenment 4x New Benalia 4x Flooded Strand 4x Hallowed Fountain 4x Plains 4x Island
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Dec 31, 2014 16:32
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My intuition is that you need too many pieces for not enough payoff there. You need your fatty(specifically on top of your deck, at that), a way to dump it into play, and a way to blink it. What makes this better than Goryo's Vengeance or Gifts Ungiven shenanigans? Also, I'm pretty sure that you want Griselbrand.
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Dec 31, 2014 18:13
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Yeah, I think it's a bit too weak in Modern. Not enough ways to ensure that the creature you want to manifest is on top of your library. Maybe if there are enough mid-range creatures or decent spells with manifest to fill out the deck and bring it closer to something like Pod. I think this would be much stronger in Legacy, perhaps in something like a Miracles shell? One of the cool interactions I noticed when putting this list in is that you can blink any manifested creature and, as long as the face-down card is a permanent, you would get it into play. It seems really powerful with Omniscience, actually. Enlightened Tutor for Omniscience, put it on top of your library, manifest, then blink? Works with Blightsteel, Sundering Titan, plus any artifacts or enchantments that have a ETB effect. It's a bit trickier to set up than something like Sneak and Show, but the benefit of not having to sac your creature at end of turn and not giving your opponent a creature seems pretty good. EDIT: Also, alternatively in legacy you can play Phyrexian Dreadnought and just turn it face up for its mana cost rather than blink it. A vanilla 12/12 with no trample or evasion doesn't win the game right away, though. They can chump with Elemental tokens forever. Emerson Cod fucked around with this message at 18:29 on Dec 31, 2014 |
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Dec 31, 2014 18:25
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Emerson Cod posted:A vanilla 12/12 with no trample or evasion doesn't win the game right away, though. They can chump with Elemental tokens forever. Good news... The bad news is this has been much easier to do with Illusionary Mask since forever, and I'm pretty sure it's never been a thing.
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Dec 31, 2014 18:40
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Duh, missed that. Hmm, well maybe it just takes a few more spells with that similar ability to make it a thing. Redundancy is really key for any sort of combo deck. Maybe manifest will be the keyword that pushes that over the edge.
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Dec 31, 2014 18:50
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Mask/naught was a deck for a long time. It fell off, I suspect because making an undercosted 12/12 trampler with 2 cards simply isn't powerful enough to be worth it.
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Dec 31, 2014 19:12
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Elyv posted:Mask/naught was a deck for a long time. It fell off, I suspect because making an undercosted 12/12 trampler with 2 cards simply isn't powerful enough to be worth it. Stiflenaught was a thing until fairly recently, so the issue is probably moreso that there's no reason to use Mask when you could use Stifle, which actually does something if you don't have a Dreadnought in your hand. Abrupt Decay was pretty much the nail in the coffin there, though. I've seen more Stiflenought decks lately, with all this UR nonsense and the lack of Abrupt Decay, it's probably a pretty good place to me.
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Dec 31, 2014 19:31
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Thought I'd quickly update with my new version of the Mardu Walkers deck: //Creatures 4 Seeker of the Way //Spells 2 End Hostilities 4 Thoughtseize 3 Read the Bones 3 Hero's Downfall 4 Lightning Strike 2 Utter End 4 Cracking Doom //Planeswalkers 2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion 1 Liliana Vess 2 Chandra, Pyromancer 2 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker 2 Sorin, Solemn Visitor //Land 4 Bloodstrained Mire 1 Caves of Koilos 2 Mountain 4 Nomad Outpost 2 Swamp 3 Temple of Malice 4 Temple of Silence 4 Temple of Triumph 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth //Sideboard 2 Nyx-Fleece Ram 2 Revoke Existence 3 Brimaz, King of Oreskos 2 Empty the Pits 2 Anger of the Gods 1 Burn Away 2 Mardu Charm 1 Hero's Downfall I like Seekers a lot, they buy time both from the lifelink and the extra respect they get afforded in combat when you have cards and mana available. Gets me more value from the Lightning Strikes for sure, and they love charging under a Cracking Doom. I think I want to move things around to get Charm back in the main deck. Also considering Stain the Mind to try and get Ashiok and Vaults from control players. Some other cards that crossed my mind: Erebos - reusable card draw, useful passive ability in some matches. Can't be a creature in current build. Purpherous - Do damage from my token generators, may occasionally be a creature. Mogis - does something whilst doing nothing. Will never be a creature. Dictate of Heliod - surprise! my tokens are bigger! Also works with Seeker well and Sarkhan. Narrow. Dictate of Erebos - also works with my tokens, even more narrow. Ashcloud Phoenix - recommended in this thread.
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Dec 31, 2014 21:32
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Emerson Cod posted:
Read Manifest again. If you blink a non-creature card it goes away.
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Jan 1, 2015 14:09
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BizarroAzrael posted:Thought I'd quickly update with my new version of the Mardu Walkers deck: I'll post my version. This is the updated one I just made, changed 2-3 cards since FNM. Deck: Mardu Walkers //Main 4 Lightning Strike  3 Anger of the Gods 2 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker  2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion  2 Sorin, Solemn Visitor  3 Chandra, Pyromaster 1 Liliana Vess 2 Read the Bones 4 Crackling Doom 3 Hero's Downfall 4 Thoughtseize 2 Utter End 1 Banishing Light 2 End Hostilities 1 Bloodfell Caves 3 Bloodstained Mire 2 Wind-Scarred Crag 1 Mountain 4 Nomad Outpost 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth 2 Swamp 1 Plains 2 Temple of Malice 2 Temple of Silence 3 Temple of Triumph 1 Battlefield Forge 3 Caves of Koilos //Sideboard 2 Erase 2 Peak Eruption 2 Despise 1 Empty the Pits  2 Hushwing Gryff 2 Aegis of the Gods 2 Seeker of the Way 2 Brimaz, King of Oreskos Display deck statisticsTonight I had 1 Ajani maindeck, and an Underworld Cerberus in SB. I went 2-1 tonight, playing against Mardu midrange, RW aggro, and RW control. And that's why I run Peak Eruption. 5 of the 6 decks playing Standard tonight were Mardu or RW (other thing was Esper Control.) So this deck is tuned to beat up Mirrors. Game 1 vs. Mardu midrange, I grind out game 1, get stuck on 2 mana game 2 when I switched to creatures. Game 3, he thoughtseizes turn 4 me and sees Lightning Strike, Seeker of the way, Peak Eruption. He takes the Lightning Strike. I use Peak Eruption next turn, keep him off Elspeth mana, and use Brimaz, 1 Seeker, and 2 new Lighting strikes to seal it. Game 2 vs. RW aggro. He has a slow start, gets me down to 8 life. I Anger one turn to kill a seeker, Rabblemaster, and 1 Swiftspear, then drop Sarkhan, Elspeth, Sorin. Game 2 I get mana screwed again (keeping 2-landers in this deck is folly, and I will never do it again.) Game 3 he mulligans to 6, I turn 1 Despise him. I see 1 RW temple, 2 Raise the Alarm, 2 Trumpet Blast, 1 Goblin Outburst. He gets an untapped mana turn 2 and get starts getting out his stuff. I never see a wrath and I lose. Game 3 vs. RW control. He gets me down to 2 life, and through Chandra 0s and scrylands, can't find any burn spells for 7-8 turns. I get Elspeth/Liliana/Sorin out and can come back to win from 24-2. Game 2 is much quicker and he loses to the same thing. I still loving playing this deck. It always screws up people starting out with no creatures. I am maindecking 3 Anger now because aggro is always a crapshoot, so I'm trying to making it a bit easier for me. Underworld Cerberus is my pet card, but usually when it comes out (against Mardu, have yet to get it out against whip decks because no one plays them here) it is fighting against a tide of weenies. So Empty the pits shall become my new 1-of in the SB, because all the games I play get really grindy.
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Jan 2, 2015 16:24
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GoutPatrol posted:Read Manifest again. If you blink a non-creature card it goes away. No? Unless they posted a rules update making a special case, as long as its a permanent it will reenter the battlefield, same as a card like Zoetic Cavern. They haven't ruled on what would happen to an instant or sorcery officially yet, but it would probably remain exiled.
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Jan 2, 2015 17:11
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