A week to go till I will get to get out and test in my National Qualifiers. Then the weekend after I will be attending a 2nd National Qualifier.
Anyone here going to theirs and taking Tezzerator?
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UB - Tezzerator 2.0 - UB
8-3-0
(Decklist and blog updated 4/11/2011)
"Fun fact about me: I home brew my buddies meta deck. He went from having a much lower ranking then me to a significantly higher rating since I started doing this."
Dom, when is your's? I would be happy to let you know how my testing against RUG goes tonight, I made some pretty neat MB changes I am dying to test :P.
Zeek, are you taking BUG or Grixis?
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UB - Tezzerator 2.0 - UB
8-3-0
(Decklist and blog updated 4/11/2011)
"Fun fact about me: I home brew my buddies meta deck. He went from having a much lower ranking then me to a significantly higher rating since I started doing this."
Alright here is my build, its been through a ton of changes, for one i felt like i saw sphere/chalice way too much, so i cut back on them, and in doing that i took out galvanic blast, just no point now, lightning bolt is better as i dont see metalcraft that often anymore. Precursor golem IS a house, but he went down too fast too many times, for the most part in situations i wish i saw wurmcoil i was getting precursor, so i cut him for wurmcoils. the increase in sweepers was due to the fact that around my way i play against alot of aggro, it was needed to protect a T3 koth/T3 Tezzeret. I will say with the big loss of artifacts that ive been through with my changes, Tezz +1 misses alot more now, but thats fine as i find myself -1ing with him alot more now anyways.
Dom, when is your's? I would be happy to let you know how my testing against RUG goes tonight, I made some pretty neat MB changes I am dying to test :P.
Alright here is my build, its been through a ton of changes, for one i felt like i saw sphere/chalice way too much, so i cut back on them, and in doing that i took out galvanic blast, just no point now, lightning bolt is better as i dont see metalcraft that often anymore. Precursor golem IS a house, but he went down too fast too many times, for the most part in situations i wish i saw wurmcoil i was getting precursor, so i cut him for wurmcoils. the increase in sweepers was due to the fact that around my way i play against alot of aggro, it was needed to protect a T3 koth/T3 Tezzeret. I will say with the big loss of artifacts that ive been through with my changes, Tezz +1 misses alot more now, but thats fine as i find myself -1ing with him alot more now anyways.
i'd try to fit in 3 more artifacts main, so you can use the +1 on tezz reliably. without this change you will whiff on tezz +1's, and thats a pretty huge fail IMO.
Sorry guys, no results tonight, I played one round against an all in GR Infect deck and lost. I was missing land drops like a champ and capped at 3 for a magnet game one and capped at 2 land game 2 so I just dropped. I would rather grind on MWS then play every random deck under the sun at FNM tonight as a result of falling to the bottom of standings haha.
Next week for sure though :).
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UB - Tezzerator 2.0 - UB
8-3-0
(Decklist and blog updated 4/11/2011)
"Fun fact about me: I home brew my buddies meta deck. He went from having a much lower ranking then me to a significantly higher rating since I started doing this."
i'd try to fit in 3 more artifacts main, so you can use the +1 on tezz reliably. without this change you will whiff on tezz +1's, and thats a pretty huge fail IMO.
I know, but his +1 is not as useful as resolving a Iok or sweeping the board to make way for a +1 koth or -1 tezz. there is just no artifact i can think of right now which would replace any of the non artifact cards in my list and do a better job.
I know, but his +1 is not as useful as resolving a Iok or sweeping the board to make way for a +1 koth or -1 tezz. there is just no artifact i can think of right now which would replace any of the non artifact cards in my list and do a better job.
i think theres more to it than that. yes, other cards will probably be better than artifacts, but there is still a lot of good artifacts that you could be using to up your count, to make the +1 on tezz more consistent. this being said, if you just plan on using -1 on tezz all day, and not using the +1 once, its probably ok to have less.
I tried out ken's list and I was missing land drops like crazy, I dropped after the third game. Not having as many artifacts did not help to sculpt my hand at all. I do agree with the 3-3 split of chalice and sphere, but I am going to try to bring in more artifacts. Right now I am looking at
-1 slagstorm
-1 black sun zenith
-1 Koth
-1 Wurmcoil
+1 Island
+1 lightning bolt
+2 Brittle effigy or Pyrexian Revoker.
Just what I am going to try and see how it works.
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" I'm my mother's child and she doesn't say I'm wrong when I say I'm ugly..."
I tried out ken's list and I was missing land drops like crazy, I dropped after the third game. Not having as many artifacts did not help to sculpt my hand at all. I do agree with the 3-3 split of chalice and sphere, but I am going to try to bring in more artifacts. Right now I am looking at
-1 slagstorm
-1 black sun zenith
-1 Koth
-1 Wurmcoil
+1 Island
+1 lightning bolt
+2 Brittle effigy or Pyrexian Revoker.
Just what I am going to try and see how it works.
hmm, i will admit some games i dont get past 4 lands, lol, but thats rarely. but i will say i do like the idea of trying out brittle effigy or revoker.
Even just adding one more land helps to even out your land to draw ratio. I played a few games for fun after I dropped, and since my meta is mostly RUG/Valakut/Caw-blade I mained 2 revokers and one in the side. It was a good call on my end, naming their swords and planeswalkers, forcing them to use spot removal if the had any to kill him when he was still a 2/1. After that he became a 5/5 that usually wouldn't attack for fear of condemn or outst.
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" I'm my mother's child and she doesn't say I'm wrong when I say I'm ugly..."
Even just adding one more land helps to even out your land to draw ratio. I played a few games for fun after I dropped, and since my meta is mostly RUG/Valakut/Caw-blade I mained 2 revokers and one in the side. It was a good call on my end, naming their swords and planeswalkers, forcing them to use spot removal if the had any to kill him when he was still a 2/1. After that he became a 5/5 that usually wouldn't attack for fear of condemn or outst.
yea revoker definetly seems amazing in this meta. ill probably tinker with my list some more and find a way to add 2 revokers and 1 more land.
yea revoker definetly seems amazing in this meta. ill probably tinker with my list some more and find a way to add 2 revokers and 1 more land.
maybe you could add another 2 mana artifact instead of the land. that way you'll have a very high artifact count, and you'll fix your mana a bit (if it needed it, im not sure).
I just got back from FNM a few hours ago. I went 3-1 and ended up either 2nd or 3rd. I decided the Grixis list was better than the Esper one I had brewed up and I think I was right. The spot removal and sweepers in the burn are just much better overall.
Sigh, when I sat down I couldn't help but think that this was a bad match. A throw back to my non-Pyroclasm/Slagstorm days. Game 1 I managed to handle his threats and with a couple of timely Pyroclasms managed to get the win via Creeping Tar Pit and Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas. Game 2, I was dead by turn 4. He dropped Ornithopter, Memnite, and Kuldotha Rebirth before my first turn. He followed that up with a Contested Warzone on turn 2 and I was basically dead at that point. Game 3, I hit a turn 5 Wurmcoil Engine and took control of the game. He had a decent board position with 3 goblin tokens, Goblin Wardriver, 2 4/4 Devastating Summons tokens, a Chimeric Mass with 3 counters, and Koth of the Hammer but he had sacrificed all of his lands and couldn't draw another. He actually used Koth's first ability on one of my mountains just to do something on his turn. I finished him off with Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas' ultimate.
Round 3: Mono White Lifegain (2-0)
This felt like a bye. I think the guy was new to the game but I did realize that Leyline of Sanctity (which he had main) is a real pain to deal with. I managed to kill him with big artifacts courtesy of Precursor Golem in both games after he managed to get to around 30 each time.
Round 4: Blue/White Proliferate (2-1)
Game 1, I seriously lost to Thrumming Bird...let that sink in. I ended up having to use Tumble Magnet counters on the damn thing. I felt horrible after this game because he was running Fuel for the Cause and Steady Progress :o...he finished Game 1 with a Tumble Magnet that had almost 10 counters on it. I was completely locked out of the game. Game 2 and Game 3, were inverses of each other. He got mana screwed in game 2 and flooded in game 3. Both of those games were won off the back of turn 3 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas and his artifact friends.
So all in all, 3-1, but it's not like I had stiff competition. I understand the value of Inferno Titan in this deck and if I had them then they would be main over the Precursor Golem. I thought I'd like the Golem but there's just too much spot removal in my meta (Doom Blade is overtaking Go for the Throat here) so I might put the Grave Titans main over the Golem. I really enjoyed playing this deck, it was a lot of fun.
Both plans are supported and bolstered by Tezzeret who is helpful in both increasing a clock or drawing into answers or sword carriers as needed. and the board is controlled by a combination of Perilous Myr, Mortapod and Tumble Magnets.
I've only played it at one FNM and on MWS a few times but overall it was pretty powerful, flexible and consistent.
Some of the more off-beat cards: Ancient Stirrings - So this card seems like a worse Pre-Ordain, which in some ways it is, but I've found it superior in this build. Getting to look at 5 cards is pretty strong and is a great way to find a Vat, a Sword or the right coloured land. In combination with Tezzeret you end up at looking 10 cards!
Perilous Myr - A great anti-aggro card. He holds off creatures like a champion; threatening the chump and selective kill. With Mortapod he gains a lot more flexibility and is able to kill a Sworded hawk.
Mimic Vat - The whole reason I built the deck. Sure I don't have a million Vat targets in here but you don't really need them. Sticking a Myr or a Wurmcoil on the Vat is pretty sweet. And more then a few times I'm animated something via Tezz and then stuck that on: Tumble Magnet, Mortapod being two good example. And never mind the fact that you're stick your opponents creatures too. For example sticking a side-boarded Acidic Slime from your Valakut opponent.
Sylvok Replica - Not a lot of answers to Artifacts in Blue and Black - specifically opposing Swords. The answers that do exist can't be found with the digging mechanisms I've identified. But this little gem does the work splendidly. Not only is he a random body for equipping but he puts himself onto the Vat against other Tezzeret decks. But mainly I can dig for it.
Evolution:
My most recent changes were to take out 3 Precursor Golems and add in the Mana Leak. I did this because I found the Golems to be pretty clunky and I didn't really need them when it came down to it. I would much rather just protect the Man-Land beat-down plan. If I wanted more bodies I might play Myr Sire instead.
As far as I'm concerned the deck can go two different ways from here:
1) A further splash into Green which opens up many options in the SB and/or MD including: Acidic Slime and Glissa the Traitor
2) A move more toward control by adding more counter-magic and supporting the man-land/Sword combination more. This would include pre-ordain over Stirring Ancients to dig for coloured answer spells. With the goal of protecting the the man-lands themselves.
The trick here is to not dilute the number of 'useful' artifacts you're looking for. Having Sphere of the Sun's and Prophetic Prisms is fine if you're pure control and have an amazing stage 3 but this deck is hoping to play a bit of the Caw-Go role of having both a good stage 2 and a good stage 3 but not a back-breaking late game. Therefore I find you can't put in too many coloured spells in the deck for fear of making Tezzeret/Stirrings less useful. Sure you can play Pre-Ordain but as of yet I haven't decided which way to go.
My current decision is to go more towards (1) which means more green. It's a bit janky but I like to try new things. For me this means no changes to the MD but it does make the SB look like this:
So the Slimes could come in against Valakut where you're cutting you're Myrs. Slimes also supplement the Sword hate against Caw-Go as well as dealing with their Man-Lands. Slimes also have a role to play against particular decks where you want to take advantage of the Deathtouch/Mortapod interaction doing a good impersonation of Cunning Sparkmage and Basilisk Collar.
Glissa the Traitor seems juicy for this deck but she's definitely in danger of being 'too cute.' All her abilities are relevant: she's great on a Vat, she reccurs stuff for you, she loves being launched out of a mortapod and left alone she's the best defense you could ask for or a serious attacker, equipped or not. BUT she dies to a lot...
At the moment I'm also unsure about the MainDeck countermagic. What should it be? My creature control comes in the form of Magnets/Myrs/Mortapods and Go For the Throats. My non-creature/Planeswalker control comes in the form of Duress and Man-Lands. Therefore it seems to me that I want my counter magic mainly to protect my own plan, not circumvent theirs. Therefore it seems like Negate is the best choice.
Well...there you go. I think this deck is awesome. Hope you have some opinions and ideas!
Both plans are supported and bolstered by Tezzeret who is helpful in both increasing a clock or drawing into answers or sword carriers as needed. and the board is controlled by a combination of Perilous Myr, Mortapod and Tumble Magnets.
I've only played it at one FNM and on MWS a few times but overall it was pretty powerful, flexible and consistent.
Some of the more off-beat cards: Ancient Stirrings - So this card seems like a worse Pre-Ordain, which in some ways it is, but I've found it superior in this build. Getting to look at 5 cards is pretty strong and is a great way to find a Vat, a Sword or the right coloured land. In combination with Tezzeret you end up at looking 10 cards!
Perilous Myr - A great anti-aggro card. He holds off creatures like a champion; threatening the chump and selective kill. With Mortapod he gains a lot more flexibility and is able to kill a Sworded hawk.
Mimic Vat - The whole reason I built the deck. Sure I don't have a million Vat targets in here but you don't really need them. Sticking a Myr or a Wurmcoil on the Vat is pretty sweet. And more then a few times I'm animated something via Tezz and then stuck that on: Tumble Magnet, Mortapod being two good example. And never mind the fact that you're stick your opponents creatures too. For example sticking a side-boarded Acidic Slime from your Valakut opponent.
Sylvok Replica - Not a lot of answers to Artifacts in Blue and Black - specifically opposing Swords. The answers that do exist can't be found with the digging mechanisms I've identified. But this little gem does the work splendidly. Not only is he a random body for equipping but he puts himself onto the Vat against other Tezzeret decks. But mainly I can dig for it.
Evolution:
My most recent changes were to take out 3 Precursor Golems and add in the Mana Leak. I did this because I found the Golems to be pretty clunky and I didn't really need them when it came down to it. I would much rather just protect the Man-Land beat-down plan. If I wanted more bodies I might play Myr Sire instead.
As far as I'm concerned the deck can go two different ways from here:
1) A further splash into Green which opens up many options in the SB and/or MD including: Acidic Slime and Glissa the Traitor
2) A move more toward control by adding more counter-magic and supporting the man-land/Sword combination more. This would include pre-ordain over Stirring Ancients to dig for coloured answer spells. With the goal of protecting the the man-lands themselves.
The trick here is to not dilute the number of 'useful' artifacts you're looking for. Having Sphere of the Sun's and Prophetic Prisms is fine if you're pure control and have an amazing stage 3 but this deck is hoping to play a bit of the Caw-Go role of having both a good stage 2 and a good stage 3 but not a back-breaking late game. Therefore I find you can't put in too many coloured spells in the deck for fear of making Tezzeret/Stirrings less useful. Sure you can play Pre-Ordain but as of yet I haven't decided which way to go.
My current decision is to go more towards (1) which means more green. It's a bit janky but I like to try new things. For me this means no changes to the MD but it does make the SB look like this:
So the Slimes could come in against Valakut where you're cutting you're Myrs. Slimes also supplement the Sword hate against Caw-Go as well as dealing with their Man-Lands. Slimes also have a role to play against particular decks where you want to take advantage of the Deathtouch/Mortapod interaction doing a good impersonation of Cunning Sparkmage and Basilisk Collar.
Glissa the Traitor seems juicy for this deck but she's definitely in danger of being 'too cute.' All her abilities are relevant: she's great on a Vat, she reccurs stuff for you, she loves being launched out of a mortapod and left alone she's the best defense you could ask for or a serious attacker, equipped or not. BUT she dies to a lot...
At the moment I'm also unsure about the MainDeck countermagic. What should it be? My creature control comes in the form of Magnets/Myrs/Mortapods and Go For the Throats. My non-creature/Planeswalker control comes in the form of Duress and Man-Lands. Therefore it seems to me that I want my counter magic mainly to protect my own plan, not circumvent theirs. Therefore it seems like Negate is the best choice.
Well...there you go. I think this deck is awesome. Hope you have some opinions and ideas!
i feel like 3 mimic vat is too many. you could probably safely drop this to 2, or even 1, for better results. maybe in the place of 1 mimic vat you could add another mortarpod. this way when you stick a vat, you can equip and set up your myr combo faster.
have you found that you need the replica mainboard? seems like this card would be better suited for the side.
overall i like your deck, it has a unique approach to tezz, and im all for that.
maybe if you want the game plan to be man land + equip, you could take out your perilous myr + mortarpod + mimic vat package and add 4 black sun's zenith in their place, so you can nuke their board while keeping your own. something to test maybe.
I was taking Tezzerator 2.0 (with IoK in MD) to GP Trial with minor tweaks:
-1 Preordain
-2 Inkmoth Nexus
-1 Precursor Golem
+1 Wurmcoil Engine
+2 Tectonic Edge
Sadly I was trampled over by Valakut in 2 matchs of 4, and got a infraction vs caw-blade and lose at 1-1. Won only one match vs mass polymorph.
Could someone be kind to tell me a bit how to deal with valakut? With no counters in MD it seems impossible to stop valakut and only IoK is not enough, plus that there are not likely always i could get IoK resolved on T1/T2 (due to mana screw)
Thanks a lot!
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Magic Level 2 Judge Currently Playing:
Standard: Bant Tokens / Jeskai Tutelage
Modern: Temur Twin / GR Tron
Legacy: Miracles / Grixis Delver
i feel like 3 mimic vat is too many. you could probably safely drop this to 2, or even 1, for better results. maybe in the place of 1 mimic vat you could add another mortarpod. this way when you stick a vat, you can equip and set up your myr combo faster.
I feel like in some way it's a meta-game call. When I'm playing at my FNM I really like to see Vat. It shores up my aggro match-up, which I see a lot of, by making it very difficult to attack. I could certainly reducing the MD number and having one in the SB in a less creature oriented meta-game. BUT I'm convinced that Mimic Vat is a really powerful card much like Tezzeret - under-explored. In format like Standard that is board-based there's no lack of uses for Mimic Vat.
have you found that you need the replica mainboard? seems like this card would be better suited for the side.
Good point. I figure there's enough stuff to worry about: Swords, Magnets, Chalices, Mindslavers, WurmCoil, Journey to Nowhere, Quests, any equipments, etc that it's fine MD. Maybe just a 1-of though is the prudent number MD.
maybe if you want the game plan to be man land + equip, you could take out your perilous myr + mortarpod + mimic vat package and add 4 black sun's zenith in their place, so you can nuke their board while keeping your own. something to test maybe.
Good idea. I'm torn as to whether to move more towards the man-land plan or another way. I'll just have to tool around some more but if the man-land plan is better then more mass removal is a solid idea. I'll probably make room in the MD for 1 BSZ and 2 in the board. Good one!
I wanted to get this on paper while it was fresh on my mind. Went 3-1 at FNM losing to my deck (mana screw games 2-3).
Round 1 Valakut
I am one turn too slow and he P. Titans FTW. I had and Inferno Titan and Tezz out with 5/5's swinging for lethal. I managed to stall him by bouncing his Battlement but I couldn't get-er-done. Game 2 I win off Koth's ultimate, but I stalled with Jace and I countered his beef. Game 3 was all mine as he mulled to 5 and I had a hand that had Tarn, Tarn, Sphere, Duress, IoK, Tar Pit, and Jace. I turn 3 Jace him and he almost punched me!
Round 2 Esper Caw-Blade
Game 1 I win off Koth's ultimate after a long match but I managed to go toe to toe with him. Tezz helped but Koth was the all-star. I got lucky and saw 3 Magnets. Game 2 he wins with a little disruption and Jura beats. Game 3 I keep his swords at bay and I Duress a counter to cast Tezz and comense da beats. He casts Jura to make my dudes bash him but I peel and Vampire Hexmage and win on the spot.
Round 3 Jank????!!!
I didn't know what this kid was playing but I beat him real bad. Game 2 my deck decides to poop on me as I drew 2 lands off the first 10 cards after my initial 7. I get a decent had but he IoK's my Magnet and things go down hill from there where I eventually lose to a manland.
Round 4 U/W Caw Blade
He wins game 1 by belching a bunch of 1/1's via Elspeth and I couldn't find a Slagstorm to save my life. Game 2 I win by casting a Koth turn 3 and this time finding a mass removal spell. Game 3 we have about 5 minutes so I have to win for prize and my starting 7 has a Jace, Sphere and some lands. I fateseal him and brainstorm the next turn seeing a Tezz so I cast him and begin looking for artifacts. I bounce his hawks and beat face with a 5/5. We end up going to turns and he is at 15. I see that I've got a shot by casting Koth and +1ing Tezz. He blocks to keep from getting to low. I get to 4 on Tezz and I brainstorm finding 2 Tumble Magnets and cast them to get me to 3 artifacts. I bash and he takes 4 putting him at 6 (popped a fetch) and Tezz finished him off.
A lot of people can't figure out how a deck with Koth and Tezz works but they love how it plays. I still am not completely sold on the 75 but it's very close. I am very pleased with the Caw-Blade matchup as this deck has the tools to beat it but I am not too sure about the Valakut matchup.
Btw, my list is post 1500 if you want to see it. I don't know how to put my deck on my sig so if you know how pm me!
How do you feel your build did and what would you change? How was the clasp/doomblades? I feel like battlesphere is not good with this build and more set for blue black.
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Anyone here going to theirs and taking Tezzerator?
UB - Tezzerator 2.0 - UB
8-3-0
(Decklist and blog updated 4/11/2011)
"Fun fact about me: I home brew my buddies meta deck. He went from having a much lower ranking then me to a significantly higher rating since I started doing this."
Hey zeek im up for some MWS, im on there now.
hitting regionals tomorrow with mine, and national qualifier on the 30th.
let me finish my game dominati and i will make a game with your name.
Zeek, are you taking BUG or Grixis?
UB - Tezzerator 2.0 - UB
8-3-0
(Decklist and blog updated 4/11/2011)
"Fun fact about me: I home brew my buddies meta deck. He went from having a much lower ranking then me to a significantly higher rating since I started doing this."
4x Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
4x Koth of the Hammer
Creatures : 5
2x Inferno Titan
3x Wurmcoil Engine
Artifacts: 10
3x Sphere of the Suns
3x Everflowing Chalice
4x Tumble Magnet
3x Lightning Bolt
3x Slagstorm
3x Black Sun's Zenith
3x Preordain
3x Inquisition of Kozilek
Lands: 22
4x Darkslick Shores
1x Blackcleave Cliffs
3x Dragonskull Summit
4x Scalding Tarn
6x Mountain
2x Island
2x Swamp
BUG. I will post the list later.
i'd try to fit in 3 more artifacts main, so you can use the +1 on tezz reliably. without this change you will whiff on tezz +1's, and thats a pretty huge fail IMO.
Next week for sure though :).
UB - Tezzerator 2.0 - UB
8-3-0
(Decklist and blog updated 4/11/2011)
"Fun fact about me: I home brew my buddies meta deck. He went from having a much lower ranking then me to a significantly higher rating since I started doing this."
I know, but his +1 is not as useful as resolving a Iok or sweeping the board to make way for a +1 koth or -1 tezz. there is just no artifact i can think of right now which would replace any of the non artifact cards in my list and do a better job.
i think theres more to it than that. yes, other cards will probably be better than artifacts, but there is still a lot of good artifacts that you could be using to up your count, to make the +1 on tezz more consistent. this being said, if you just plan on using -1 on tezz all day, and not using the +1 once, its probably ok to have less.
-1 slagstorm
-1 black sun zenith
-1 Koth
-1 Wurmcoil
+1 Island
+1 lightning bolt
+2 Brittle effigy or Pyrexian Revoker.
Just what I am going to try and see how it works.
hmm, i will admit some games i dont get past 4 lands, lol, but thats rarely. but i will say i do like the idea of trying out brittle effigy or revoker.
yea revoker definetly seems amazing in this meta. ill probably tinker with my list some more and find a way to add 2 revokers and 1 more land.
maybe you could add another 2 mana artifact instead of the land. that way you'll have a very high artifact count, and you'll fix your mana a bit (if it needed it, im not sure).
2 Drowned Catacomb
3 Dragonskull Summit
4 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Lavaclaw Reaches
4 Mountain
5 Island
3 Swamp
Creatures:
2 Precursor Golem
1 Wurmcoil Engine
Artifacts:
4 Everflowing Chalice
3 Sphere of the Suns
4 Tumble Magnet
3 Jace Beleren
4 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
1 Liliana Vess
Spells:
4 Preordain
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Galvanic Blast
3 Pyroclasm
2 Slagstorm
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Galvanic Blast
3 Doom Blade
2 Consume the Meek
1 Sorin Markov
1 Volition Reins
2 Grave Titan
1 Wurmcoil Engine
Round 1: New Jund (1-2)
This deck was seriously annoying to play against. Abyssal Persecutor, Grave Titan, Inferno Titan, Man Lands, Lotus Cobra, Garruk Wildspeaker, Sarkhan the Mad, Chandra Nalaar, and Oracle of Mul Daya backed up with burn and removal. It just had too many threats for me to keep up with. Game 1 was a long drawn out affair that ended with him having 2 Grave Titans and an Inferno Titan on the board before I finally gave in, this was after all 4 Tumble Magnets had hit play AND been depleted of counters. Game 2 saw Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas Memoricided on turn 4 but I managed to steal the win via a Volition Reins on his Grave Titan and just burning out or tapping down his blockers. Game 3 I just got smashed, I couldn't keep up. This deck has serious potential and could pose a big problem in the future.
Round 2: Kuldotha Red (2-1)
Sigh, when I sat down I couldn't help but think that this was a bad match. A throw back to my non-Pyroclasm/Slagstorm days. Game 1 I managed to handle his threats and with a couple of timely Pyroclasms managed to get the win via Creeping Tar Pit and Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas. Game 2, I was dead by turn 4. He dropped Ornithopter, Memnite, and Kuldotha Rebirth before my first turn. He followed that up with a Contested Warzone on turn 2 and I was basically dead at that point. Game 3, I hit a turn 5 Wurmcoil Engine and took control of the game. He had a decent board position with 3 goblin tokens, Goblin Wardriver, 2 4/4 Devastating Summons tokens, a Chimeric Mass with 3 counters, and Koth of the Hammer but he had sacrificed all of his lands and couldn't draw another. He actually used Koth's first ability on one of my mountains just to do something on his turn. I finished him off with Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas' ultimate.
Round 3: Mono White Lifegain (2-0)
This felt like a bye. I think the guy was new to the game but I did realize that Leyline of Sanctity (which he had main) is a real pain to deal with. I managed to kill him with big artifacts courtesy of Precursor Golem in both games after he managed to get to around 30 each time.
Round 4: Blue/White Proliferate (2-1)
Game 1, I seriously lost to Thrumming Bird...let that sink in. I ended up having to use Tumble Magnet counters on the damn thing. I felt horrible after this game because he was running Fuel for the Cause and Steady Progress :o...he finished Game 1 with a Tumble Magnet that had almost 10 counters on it. I was completely locked out of the game. Game 2 and Game 3, were inverses of each other. He got mana screwed in game 2 and flooded in game 3. Both of those games were won off the back of turn 3 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas and his artifact friends.
So all in all, 3-1, but it's not like I had stiff competition. I understand the value of Inferno Titan in this deck and if I had them then they would be main over the Precursor Golem. I thought I'd like the Golem but there's just too much spot removal in my meta (Doom Blade is overtaking Go for the Throat here) so I might put the Grave Titans main over the Golem. I really enjoyed playing this deck, it was a lot of fun.
The deck has two distinct plans: 1) Inkmoth Nexus/Creeping Tar-Pit beat-down pushed by Sword of Feast and Famine. (Inkmoth and Sword is brutal. Tar-Pit w/Sword is totally unfair.)
2) Mimic Vat beat-down and/or control depending on the situation.
Both plans are supported and bolstered by Tezzeret who is helpful in both increasing a clock or drawing into answers or sword carriers as needed. and the board is controlled by a combination of Perilous Myr, Mortapod and Tumble Magnets.
I've only played it at one FNM and on MWS a few times but overall it was pretty powerful, flexible and consistent.
4x Creeping Tar-Pit
4x Inkmoth Nexus
4x Verdant Catacombs
3x Misty Rainforest
2x Island
1x Forest
4x Swamp
3x Darkslick Shores
2x Ancient Stirrings
4x Perilous Myr
2x Mortapod
3x Go For The Throat
3x Mana Leak/Negate/Spell Pierce
2x Sword of F&F
3x Mimic Vat
4x Tumble Magnet
4x Tezzeret
2x Wurmcoil Engine
Some of the more off-beat cards:
Ancient Stirrings - So this card seems like a worse Pre-Ordain, which in some ways it is, but I've found it superior in this build. Getting to look at 5 cards is pretty strong and is a great way to find a Vat, a Sword or the right coloured land. In combination with Tezzeret you end up at looking 10 cards!
Perilous Myr - A great anti-aggro card. He holds off creatures like a champion; threatening the chump and selective kill. With Mortapod he gains a lot more flexibility and is able to kill a Sworded hawk.
Mimic Vat - The whole reason I built the deck. Sure I don't have a million Vat targets in here but you don't really need them. Sticking a Myr or a Wurmcoil on the Vat is pretty sweet. And more then a few times I'm animated something via Tezz and then stuck that on: Tumble Magnet, Mortapod being two good example. And never mind the fact that you're stick your opponents creatures too. For example sticking a side-boarded Acidic Slime from your Valakut opponent.
Sylvok Replica - Not a lot of answers to Artifacts in Blue and Black - specifically opposing Swords. The answers that do exist can't be found with the digging mechanisms I've identified. But this little gem does the work splendidly. Not only is he a random body for equipping but he puts himself onto the Vat against other Tezzeret decks. But mainly I can dig for it.
Evolution:
My most recent changes were to take out 3 Precursor Golems and add in the Mana Leak. I did this because I found the Golems to be pretty clunky and I didn't really need them when it came down to it. I would much rather just protect the Man-Land beat-down plan. If I wanted more bodies I might play Myr Sire instead.
As far as I'm concerned the deck can go two different ways from here:
1) A further splash into Green which opens up many options in the SB and/or MD including: Acidic Slime and Glissa the Traitor
2) A move more toward control by adding more counter-magic and supporting the man-land/Sword combination more. This would include pre-ordain over Stirring Ancients to dig for coloured answer spells. With the goal of protecting the the man-lands themselves.
The trick here is to not dilute the number of 'useful' artifacts you're looking for. Having Sphere of the Sun's and Prophetic Prisms is fine if you're pure control and have an amazing stage 3 but this deck is hoping to play a bit of the Caw-Go role of having both a good stage 2 and a good stage 3 but not a back-breaking late game. Therefore I find you can't put in too many coloured spells in the deck for fear of making Tezzeret/Stirrings less useful. Sure you can play Pre-Ordain but as of yet I haven't decided which way to go.
My current decision is to go more towards (1) which means more green. It's a bit janky but I like to try new things. For me this means no changes to the MD but it does make the SB look like this:
2x Negate
2x Black Sun's Zenith
2x Doom Blade
2x Glissa the Traitor
1x Forest
3x Acidic Slime
So the Slimes could come in against Valakut where you're cutting you're Myrs. Slimes also supplement the Sword hate against Caw-Go as well as dealing with their Man-Lands. Slimes also have a role to play against particular decks where you want to take advantage of the Deathtouch/Mortapod interaction doing a good impersonation of Cunning Sparkmage and Basilisk Collar.
Glissa the Traitor seems juicy for this deck but she's definitely in danger of being 'too cute.' All her abilities are relevant: she's great on a Vat, she reccurs stuff for you, she loves being launched out of a mortapod and left alone she's the best defense you could ask for or a serious attacker, equipped or not. BUT she dies to a lot...
At the moment I'm also unsure about the MainDeck countermagic. What should it be? My creature control comes in the form of Magnets/Myrs/Mortapods and Go For the Throats. My non-creature/Planeswalker control comes in the form of Duress and Man-Lands. Therefore it seems to me that I want my counter magic mainly to protect my own plan, not circumvent theirs. Therefore it seems like Negate is the best choice.
Well...there you go. I think this deck is awesome. Hope you have some opinions and ideas!
i feel like 3 mimic vat is too many. you could probably safely drop this to 2, or even 1, for better results. maybe in the place of 1 mimic vat you could add another mortarpod. this way when you stick a vat, you can equip and set up your myr combo faster.
have you found that you need the replica mainboard? seems like this card would be better suited for the side.
overall i like your deck, it has a unique approach to tezz, and im all for that.
maybe if you want the game plan to be man land + equip, you could take out your perilous myr + mortarpod + mimic vat package and add 4 black sun's zenith in their place, so you can nuke their board while keeping your own. something to test maybe.
-1 Preordain
-2 Inkmoth Nexus
-1 Precursor Golem
+1 Wurmcoil Engine
+2 Tectonic Edge
Sadly I was trampled over by Valakut in 2 matchs of 4, and got a infraction vs caw-blade and lose at 1-1. Won only one match vs mass polymorph.
Could someone be kind to tell me a bit how to deal with valakut? With no counters in MD it seems impossible to stop valakut and only IoK is not enough, plus that there are not likely always i could get IoK resolved on T1/T2 (due to mana screw)
Thanks a lot!
Currently Playing:
Standard: Bant Tokens / Jeskai Tutelage
Modern: Temur Twin / GR Tron
Legacy: Miracles / Grixis Delver
I feel like in some way it's a meta-game call. When I'm playing at my FNM I really like to see Vat. It shores up my aggro match-up, which I see a lot of, by making it very difficult to attack. I could certainly reducing the MD number and having one in the SB in a less creature oriented meta-game. BUT I'm convinced that Mimic Vat is a really powerful card much like Tezzeret - under-explored. In format like Standard that is board-based there's no lack of uses for Mimic Vat.
Good point. I figure there's enough stuff to worry about: Swords, Magnets, Chalices, Mindslavers, WurmCoil, Journey to Nowhere, Quests, any equipments, etc that it's fine MD. Maybe just a 1-of though is the prudent number MD.
Good idea. I'm torn as to whether to move more towards the man-land plan or another way. I'll just have to tool around some more but if the man-land plan is better then more mass removal is a solid idea. I'll probably make room in the MD for 1 BSZ and 2 in the board. Good one!
Round 1 Valakut
I am one turn too slow and he P. Titans FTW. I had and Inferno Titan and Tezz out with 5/5's swinging for lethal. I managed to stall him by bouncing his Battlement but I couldn't get-er-done. Game 2 I win off Koth's ultimate, but I stalled with Jace and I countered his beef. Game 3 was all mine as he mulled to 5 and I had a hand that had Tarn, Tarn, Sphere, Duress, IoK, Tar Pit, and Jace. I turn 3 Jace him and he almost punched me!
Round 2 Esper Caw-Blade
Game 1 I win off Koth's ultimate after a long match but I managed to go toe to toe with him. Tezz helped but Koth was the all-star. I got lucky and saw 3 Magnets. Game 2 he wins with a little disruption and Jura beats. Game 3 I keep his swords at bay and I Duress a counter to cast Tezz and comense da beats. He casts Jura to make my dudes bash him but I peel and Vampire Hexmage and win on the spot.
Round 3 Jank????!!!
I didn't know what this kid was playing but I beat him real bad. Game 2 my deck decides to poop on me as I drew 2 lands off the first 10 cards after my initial 7. I get a decent had but he IoK's my Magnet and things go down hill from there where I eventually lose to a manland.
Round 4 U/W Caw Blade
He wins game 1 by belching a bunch of 1/1's via Elspeth and I couldn't find a Slagstorm to save my life. Game 2 I win by casting a Koth turn 3 and this time finding a mass removal spell. Game 3 we have about 5 minutes so I have to win for prize and my starting 7 has a Jace, Sphere and some lands. I fateseal him and brainstorm the next turn seeing a Tezz so I cast him and begin looking for artifacts. I bounce his hawks and beat face with a 5/5. We end up going to turns and he is at 15. I see that I've got a shot by casting Koth and +1ing Tezz. He blocks to keep from getting to low. I get to 4 on Tezz and I brainstorm finding 2 Tumble Magnets and cast them to get me to 3 artifacts. I bash and he takes 4 putting him at 6 (popped a fetch) and Tezz finished him off.
A lot of people can't figure out how a deck with Koth and Tezz works but they love how it plays. I still am not completely sold on the 75 but it's very close. I am very pleased with the Caw-Blade matchup as this deck has the tools to beat it but I am not too sure about the Valakut matchup.
Btw, my list is post 1500 if you want to see it. I don't know how to put my deck on my sig so if you know how pm me!
Thanks to Dantcg for the Sig!
How do you feel your build did and what would you change? How was the clasp/doomblades? I feel like battlesphere is not good with this build and more set for blue black.