This is a deck that I've been slowly refining and building over the course of a month or so and I feel it's really starting to come together as a pretty strong deck.
As others have pointed out as well, I've really felt the weakness of Tezzeret decks have generally been "what happens when you don't get Tezzeret out". But, the difficulty has really been trying to build a core around Tezzeret that has enough artifacts to not make him useless, while still being able to win without him. I've found that I've almost never regretted taking out an aggressive low mana card (Necropede, for instance) in favor of a more control-oriented card.
This deck has really spawned out of an adaptation of this. One of the issues I've really tried to do was eliminate as much colored mana as possible, and approach it with enough creature warding and control where the goal is to draw the game out. This deck almost never loses a control game just because it has more control, and Tezzeret's ultimate is a more potent win condition than any other control-based Planeswalker (excluding maybe Karn, but using Karn's ultimate is quite difficult to use when you actually need it.)
The entire lower end of the mana curve is really just about manufacturing a very long-lasting control engine and reacting to what the opponent does - as well as digging. I find that Despise is a stronger card for Tezzeret decks than IoK - because generally speaking, seeing their hand and removing their creature or planeswalker is better - both against control and aggro. A lot of times IoK will hit a card I don't really care about - like a Bolt or a Go For the throat - cards which mean relatively little to me (I'm not saying Bolt is bad, but I would rather hit an Inferno Titan given how slow the deck plays in a way that's almost going to assure that it comes out). Keeping your opponent off either big creatures or Planeswalkers is almost always more valuable, as I'm willing to sit back and wait until I can play around their counters if they're willing to keep mana untapped for them - or eat a countered tumble magnet to get out a 1 mana dismember for easy removal.
Wurmcoil Engine and Karn both have been things I really went back and forth on, a lot of games start to really come down to pecking each other down with man lands, but a late Wurmcoil can really swing that in your favor - a couple of decks are running Leyline of Sanctity now, and when playing a lengthy control game, Tezzeret ultimates become very scary for your opponent - which Karn deals with, as well as a late-game Titan, Planeswalker, stuff like that. Usually if I get Karn out and on the battlefield, I win because by that time the board is relatively clear and I have enough control to protect him while he controls the board himself. And between he and Liliana, they also amount to a solid late-game card advantage and Liliana's ability to tutor is also very nice.
Between the dismembers, clasps, tumble magnets and spellskites, I can usually manage to slow the opponent down enough to either a) Have dealt with their bombs, b) gotten a Tezzeret out and commenced digging or beating with an animated clasp or spellskite, or c) Used Metamorph to copy one of their bombs and can control theirs more than they can control mine.
The Inkmoth Nexus to Tectonic Edge ratio has been really difficult to decide, but as the deck has gotten less and less aggro and more and more control based, I've found the Tec Edges proportionately more and more valuable - manlands are probably one of the top threats that keep Tezzeret stuck in my hand. I also find myself less motivated to use Tezzeret's -1, risking the loyalty loss on Tezzeret as well as the loss of a land - as opposed to his +1, to further cement my board control and try to win with a Tezz Ultimate as opposed to poison.
The sideboard has been built around dealing with the main weakness - which is a mix between beatdown and aggro decks. Ratchet Bombs are a very good, highly adaptable way to eliminate threats, as well as being a good board wipe against decks that run a lot of 0-2 CMC cards. Phyrexian Crusader is outstanding against Goblins and Big Red, and Torpor Orb is very good against cawblade, particularly if you draw it on the play and can stick it before they play a Mystic or Squad hawk. Torpor Orb, Spellskite and Dismembers all thrown in together also give you an almost airtight engine to stop the Splinter Twin decks as well - and Surgical Extraction is usually a very good answer to beatdown, particularly when you catch a Vengevine deck discarding a Vengevine.
Anyhow - I'm really starting to feel like this deck is beginning to approach a competitive level, it's tested very well against RUG, Splinter Twin, Tempered Steel and Cawblade - which have been my main focuses due to my local meta.
As for your build, I saw it earlier and I liked it, but if I were you I'd try to fit in Metamorphs, they're ridiculous. I also put Jace's in my build because the ability to cycle away stuff you don't want with Tezz helps a lot. Other than that do you see anything with my build? I could possibly see Contagion Clasp fitting in.
I find metamorph to be by chance one of the best cards for me. It may never win me the game but it almost always gets me back in when im behind. That alone is reason enough for it being amazing.
That's why I am leaving it in for now since it has potential.
Yeah I run Esper Tezz-Blade. It is quite good against Caw Blade and even better against esper caw blade. It really plays very similar except you have the opportunity to have 5/5 infect flyers, and 5/5 lifelink flyers.
I like the list. Black Sun's Zenith would have saved me in my last matchup. I am definitely SB it. Caw is the only matchup I am worried about so I am most likely going Esper build.
I have to agree with the strength of metamorph. It and Spellskite are not only probably the best cards in the set for Tezzeret, but some of the best cards in the set in general.
Metamorph can really just fit in virtually any deck no matter where you need it to fit - even if you just need a random 1 of to stick somewhere. But the flexiblity and adaptability the card offers is ridiculously good.
As for your build, I saw it earlier and I liked it, but if I were you I'd try to fit in Metamorphs, they're ridiculous. I also put Jace's in my build because the ability to cycle away stuff you don't want with Tezz helps a lot. Other than that do you see anything with my build? I could possibly see Contagion Clasp fitting in.
12 artifacts is a little light for a Tezz deck IMO (especially with SFM tutoring up more out of your library).
You also are running 25 lands which isn't bad but you might be able to live with 23 or 24. For example I'd think about taking out the fetches and dropping tarpits down to a 2 of (6 CIPT lands seems like a lot) and replacing them with some M2011 duals and a couple basics.
You also have a weird hybrid of counters and hand disruption. I'd stick with one and drop the other to make more room for some artifacts (4x tumble magnets!)
In general it seems like you're trying to spread yourself a little too thin between a couple different approaches so your deck slots are getting very tight. You might be better served picking on direction and doing it really really well and using your SB to change out your tactic if it's not working.
p.s. I love the Sun titan in sideboard. Sun Titan + Spellskite is just fun.
No comments on my tezz blade deck? i am a sad panda.
Menace I also think you are a little light on artifacts. I'd drop the Squad Hawks to make room and also drop the preordains down (maybe a 2 of?) to make room for some more removal and/or despise. I really like the 3x IoK and 2x Despise build myself.
It just seems like your current build is going to play like a darkblade variant (basically subbing out the Jace-control stuff for Tezz stuff) but with only 12 artifacts the Tezz won't be doing a ton so it will likely be an inferior darkblade variant. Just my two cents but let us know how it goes and I hope you win!
12 artifacts is a little light for a Tezz deck IMO.
You also are running 25 lands which isn't bad but you might be able to live with 23 or 24. For example I'd think about taking out the fetches and dropping tarpits down to a 2 of (6 CIPT lands seems like a lot) and replacing them with some M2011 duals and a couple basics.
You also have a weird hybrid of counters and hand disruption. I'd stick with one and drop the other to make more room for some artifacts (4x tumble magnets!)
In general it seems like you're trying to spread yourself a little too thin between a couple different approaches so your deck slots are getting very tight. You might be better served picking on direction and doing it really really well and using your SB to change out your tactic if it's not working.
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Yea, it's really hard to combine caw-blade with Tezz and not have to cut important artifacts xD. I do want to add more Tumble Magnets, but the mix of disruption and counter magic is kind of necessary when you have to worry about beating every different archetype, plus the countermagic helps against random decks that aren't known. The thing is though, I opted to not run 4 Tezz's so that I have to rely less on artifacts, and so far this deck is crushing in playtesting, but I do think that if you include Tezz, at least 15 artifacts is clutch and I tend to do at least 16. I agree with you on the less CIPT lands thing as well, but 4x tar pit is too good. I'm probably going to drop the colonnades and a seachrome coast for 3x Glacial Fortress. Anyway, thank you for the input
As for your build, I saw it earlier and I liked it, but if I were you I'd try to fit in Metamorphs, they're ridiculous. I also put Jace's in my build because the ability to cycle away stuff you don't want with Tezz helps a lot. Other than that do you see anything with my build? I could possibly see Contagion Clasp fitting in.
I would move the doom blade to the sideboard and main a second gftt. you want to kill their batterskull germ as fast as possible.
Yeah, my build is pretty tight. not too sure what I would take out for the metamorphs. maybe a tumble magnet and the second mained batterskull.
I do want to fit some in. I might do this:
-4 Sqaud Hawks
-2 Tumble Magnet
-1 Preordain
+2 Spellskite
+2 Metamorphs (Can copy a 5/5 Vault Skirge)
+2 Jace Beleren
+1 Sun Titan
Then my sideboard could change to:
-3 Spellskite
+2 Day of Judgment
+1 Duress
I would also tighten up your sideboard some. You have a lot of 1 of's that wont do much in helping game 2-3. If you are looking for consistent answers to the threats you dont expect I would run 2-3 minimum of sideboard items.
Also, Revoke existance is a side board tech i am using right now. It helps with jank decks you dont see coming (like tezz control with mind slavers and blightsteel colossus etc)
So, Mainboard I would do the following:
-1 Doom Blade +1 Gftt (so you have easier chance of killing their batterskull)
-1 IoK +1 Duress (I know this sounds wierd but being able to pull their Batterskull from them after they fetch for it is super pro)
Try to make room for Inkmoth Nexus. It is a very valuable tool to respond to some of the life gain decks out there and to an extent, the mirror. My friend Mike Long came in second in Louisville because he didnt have an answer late game for the Nexus his opponent had on the board. Board wiped late game and equiped everything to the nexus. Game over.
Try to make room for Inkmoth Nexus. It is a very valuable tool to respond to some of the life gain decks out there and to an extent, the mirror. My friend Mike Long came in second in Louisville because he didnt have an answer late game for the Nexus his opponent had on the board. Board wiped late game and equiped everything to the nexus. Game over.
Thanks, I would do that but I recently traded my inkmoths, but I might pick some more up with that advice in mind. I remember reading some article by some pro earlier this week that said it's decisive in the mirror match because of batterskull life gain. I like your doom blade idea, I'm doing that.
This is the way Tezzeret and Inkmoth Nexus work, in a bit of excruciating detail.
Inkmoth Nexus, the type text on it is as it says in the card, just "Land"
You pay one mana, animate Inkmoth Nexus. If you were to actually see the card now, it would say "Artifact Creature Land - Blinkmoth" as its type. Its power and toughness are 1/1, and it has the abilities "Flying" and "Infect" - until end of turn.
Utilizing Tezzeret's ability, it leaves every other current part of the Inkmoth Nexus the same (Artifact Creature Land - Blinkmoth, with Flying and Infect), except that its Power and Toughness are now both 5.
At the end of turn, this is where the card interaction starts to get a little confusing - Inkmoth Nexus' card ability fades... However, Tezzeret's ability does not. So your Inkmoth Nexus loses Flying and Infect, but if you were to regard it as a card, its type would be "Artifact Creature Land" - once Tezzeret's ability hits it, it can't ever "not" be an Artifact or a Creature unless it leaves the battlefield. It would lose the Blinkmoth subtype, and its power and toughness would still be 5/5
If you animate it again, the most recent effect to be applied is the one that overwhelms all of the others. Paying one mana to activate Inkmoth Nexus again would oncemore yield it as a "Artifact Creature Land - Blinkmoth" card, with a power and toughness of 1/1, and Flying and Infect. However, this ability is still only until the "End of Turn". So, like before, at the end of this turn, that effect would fade, and the card would resume being a 5/5 "Artifact Creature Land" without Flying or Infect, and not of the Blinkmoth type.
what if you cast phyrexian metamorph, targetting a -1 tezz'd inkmoth nexus? i know it will come in as a 5/5 flying infect, but what happens to it at the end of the turn? does it lose flying and infect and just become a 5/5 artifact creature for the same reason inkmoth nexus does? or does it remain a 5/5 flying infect because itself doesnt lose the flying and infect abilities since itself didnt activate it?
edit: i just murdered the English language with that last sentence >.<
what if you cast phyrexian metamorph, targetting a -1 tezz'd inkmoth nexus? i know it will come in as a 5/5 flying infect, but what happens to it at the end of the turn? does it lose flying and infect and just become a 5/5 artifact creature for the same reason inkmoth nexus does? or does it remain a 5/5 flying infect because itself doesnt lose the flying and infect abilities since itself didnt activate it?
edit: i just murdered the English language with that last sentence >.<
When you copy a manland with the metamorph it comes into play as an unactivated copy of the land with it's abilities. I mean that it basically is just an artifact copy of the land, not a creature until you activate it. (i.e. Metamortph copying a Tar Pit comes in as a tapped artifact land that has T: Add U or B to your mana pool and 1UB: "Creeping Tar Pit becomes...")
When you copy a manland with the metamorph it comes into play as an unactivated copy of the land with it's abilities. I mean that it basically is just an artifact copy of the land, not a creature until you activate it. (i.e. Metamortph copying a Tar Pit comes in as a tapped artifact land that has T: Add U or B to your mana pool and 1UB: "Creeping Tar Pit becomes...")
No it doesnt, The level 2 judge at my qaulifier ruled that the metamorph copies all static effects. It isnt coping the card. It is coping the "Thing". So if you copy a 5/5 Vault Skirge, it comes into play as a 5/5 Vault Skirge not a 1/1. If you copy a 5/5 Batterskull, it comes into play as a Batterskull that can't be equiped......etc, However, if you copy an inkmoth nexus, it does come into play as a 5/5 infect flyer, but it losed the end of turn abilities at the end of turn and retains the 5/5 effect of tezz.
This is my attempt at assembling a more aggro oriented version of a Tezz deck. Some explanation may be needed for a couple of card choices.
I see most (if not all) of the Tezz decks listed here use Sword of Feast and Famine and/or Sword of War and Peace. I would use them as well, but I sadly don't have them. If I ever get them, they will definitely go in.
Also, I need a lot of advice on the sideboard. This is the first time I've ever attempted to make this kind of deck, so I'm at a bit of a loss....
No it doesnt, The level 2 judge at my qaulifier ruled that the metamorph copies all static effects. It isnt coping the card. It is coping the "Thing". So if you copy a 5/5 Vault Skirge, it comes into play as a 5/5 Vault Skirge not a 1/1. If you copy a 5/5 Batterskull, it comes into play as a Batterskull that can't be equiped......etc, However, if you copy an inkmoth nexus, it does come into play as a 5/5 infect flyer, but it losed the end of turn abilities at the end of turn and retains the 5/5 effect of tezz.
Then your level 2 judge needs to reread up on his rulings. It copies the card exactly, not including the changes to the card due to abilities and spells. So it would just be the land, not a creature. Ask the rule gurus in the rules forum, I'm pretty sure they can explain this in a lot more detail with actual quotes from the rulebook.
This is my attempt at assembling a more aggro oriented version of a Tezz deck. Some explanation may be needed for a couple of card choices.
I see most (if not all) of the Tezz decks listed here use Sword of Feast and Famine and/or Sword of War and Peace. I would use them as well, but I sadly don't have them. If I ever get them, they will definitely go in.
Also, I need a lot of advice on the sideboard. This is the first time I've ever attempted to make this kind of deck, so I'm at a bit of a loss....
If you have Stoneforge mystics, I have an extra war and peace. I am trying to acquire Stoneforges.
I played @ LGS last night, and went 3-0 for 1st place. I didn't lose a single game. It was only 3 rounds because of the low number of people that attended, normally it is a much larger, 4 round event. Regardless, I feel good, as the decks there were definitely competitive.
Round 1: Soul Sisters. Simple.
Round 2: Caw Blade. I had such a board advantage, it didn't matter. I countered the KEY spells, and used removal on Stoneforeges, and Batterskull Germs. Game 2, he drew lots of lands.
Round 3: Bant control. Great deck, great games. I really liked this deck, but he just couldn't handle a 14 damage Tezz ultimate. Game 2 he really had good board position, and got me down really low with a Sworded Thrun...but I Metamorphed his sword, and threw it on a 5/5 Vault Skirge, and he just couldn't handle the life swing changes.
I love this deck. I have been a RDW player for YEARS, but I think I finally found the control deck I can appreciate. This IS going to become a tier 1 deck for sure. I have complete and total faith in my brew, and similar control route Tezz brews.
Very solid build Lactone and congrats on the win! I was thinking of doing a similar build once I got bored of the forgemaster. The only diffeence is I was thinking of doing a couple BSZ for a couple preordains. Did you end up using BSZ much out of the SB and was preordain critical?
Very solid build Lactone and congrats on the win! I was thinking of doing a similar build once I got bored of the forgemaster. The only diffeence is I was thinking of doing a couple BSZ for a couple preordains. Did you end up using BSZ much out of the SB and was preordain critical?
BSZ was amazing vs soul sisters, drew it twice, both times taking out a Sworded (FnF) hawk or sister. Preordains are really nice for fixing mana/counters/removal/digging for swords. I would never run less than 4 preordains, unless I ran 3 and 2 gambits, which I have thought about doing.
EDIT: BSZ is also 100% necessary vs vamps, and elves. These aren't as prevalent in the meta as they were before, but any aggro matchup is tough, but spellskites act as mini walls, and Zeniths take out the lil guys.
lactone, i am running almost same deck but using two tezz gamits instead of the doomblades.
Did the extra removal help? debating if i should add more removal and take out the gamits.
The extra removal was pivotal in almost every win. Against Caw, you HAVE to get rid of that turn 2 Mystic, otherwise Batterskull will go to town, which is hard to recover from. Honestly, I have even thought about running steel sabotage or more Into the Roils to help combat Caw. Into the Roil is really awesome, it has even acted as a time walk for me from time to time, but then again, one of my favorite cards in magic is Boomerang, so I might be biased. Against aggro, the extra removal is 100% necessary. I originally had in two contagion clasps before I threw the swords in there, but I found myself only proliferating occasionally, late game, where I pretty much had the win anyways, so I took them out. I might take out the despise and put the clasps back in, but we'll see. I like being able to take out a bird and having late game options with Tezz.
No it doesnt, The level 2 judge at my qaulifier ruled that the metamorph copies all static effects. It isnt coping the card. It is coping the "Thing". So if you copy a 5/5 Vault Skirge, it comes into play as a 5/5 Vault Skirge not a 1/1. If you copy a 5/5 Batterskull, it comes into play as a Batterskull that can't be equiped......etc, However, if you copy an inkmoth nexus, it does come into play as a 5/5 infect flyer, but it losed the end of turn abilities at the end of turn and retains the 5/5 effect of tezz.
Your judge is 100% wrong. Phyrexian Metamorph is a card that is very easy to verify against - compare it to another complex card that has been around for a long time with almost exactly the same mechanics (Clone), but it enters as a copy of the *card* it is copying - with the additional condition that it is an artifact.
From the rulings on clone:
Clone doesn't copy whether the original creature is tapped or untapped. It also doesn't copy any counters on that creature, any Auras attached to that creature, or any effects that are currently affecting that creature -- you get exactly what's printed on the chosen card and nothing more. So if you copy an animated Chimeric Staff, for example, you get a normal, nonanimated Chimeric Staff.
The extra removal was pivotal in almost every win. Against Caw, you HAVE to get rid of that turn 2 Mystic, otherwise Batterskull will go to town, which is hard to recover from. Honestly, I have even thought about running steel sabotage or more Into the Roils to help combat Caw. Into the Roil is really awesome, it has even acted as a time walk for me from time to time, but then again, one of my favorite cards in magic is Boomerang, so I might be biased. Against aggro, the extra removal is 100% necessary. I originally had in two contagion clasps before I threw the swords in there, but I found myself only proliferating occasionally, late game, where I pretty much had the win anyways, so I took them out. I might take out the despise and put the clasps back in, but we'll see. I like being able to take out a bird and having late game options with Tezz.
I run 4 swords. I might remove one sword and run three like you and have one extra removal. Between 3 preodains and 2 tezz gamits and tezz i should have no problem digging for a sword. I am trying to fit in Despise. 3 IOK and 2 Despise should help me with that stoneforge in their hand.
I run 4 swords. I might remove one sword and run three like you and have one extra removal. Between 3 preodains and 2 tezz gamits and tezz i should have no problem digging for a sword. I am trying to fit in Despise. 3 IOK and 2 Despise should help me with that stoneforge in their hand.
Yeah, despise is nice for the extra targets that are prevalent today that IoK can't hit: Jace, Gideon, Titans, Wurmcoil. Cards that if not dealt with in some way will win games for the opponent.
I think that 3 swords is the perfect number. I have yet to play a game where I didn't get at least 1. I am thinking of removing the B&M for another F&F MD, but I only have 1 F&F right now, so I don't know yet. I still really like the B&M vs Caw, because it prevents Jace bounce, which when done to my 5/5 Skirge is a huge pain in my a$$. The mill can be relevant, and having a free dude never hurts.
1x Karn Liberated
1x Liliana Vess
4x Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
Creatures (8)
2x Wurmcoil Engine
3x Phyrevian Metamorph
3x Spellskite
Artifacts (12)
3x Contagion Clasp
3x Everflowing Chalice
3x Tumble Magnet
Instants (3)
3x Dismember
1x Black Sun Zenith
4x Despise
4x Preordain
2x Tezzeret's Gambit
Land (24)
4x Creeping Tar Pit
4x Darkslick Shores
4x Drowned Catacomb
2x Inkmoth Nexus
3x Island
4x Swamp
3x Tectonic Edge
1x Black Sun's Zenith
1x Dismember
3x Phyrexian Crusader
4x Ratchet Bomb
1x Spellskite
2x Surgical Extraction
3x Torpor Orb
As others have pointed out as well, I've really felt the weakness of Tezzeret decks have generally been "what happens when you don't get Tezzeret out". But, the difficulty has really been trying to build a core around Tezzeret that has enough artifacts to not make him useless, while still being able to win without him. I've found that I've almost never regretted taking out an aggressive low mana card (Necropede, for instance) in favor of a more control-oriented card.
This deck has really spawned out of an adaptation of this. One of the issues I've really tried to do was eliminate as much colored mana as possible, and approach it with enough creature warding and control where the goal is to draw the game out. This deck almost never loses a control game just because it has more control, and Tezzeret's ultimate is a more potent win condition than any other control-based Planeswalker (excluding maybe Karn, but using Karn's ultimate is quite difficult to use when you actually need it.)
The entire lower end of the mana curve is really just about manufacturing a very long-lasting control engine and reacting to what the opponent does - as well as digging. I find that Despise is a stronger card for Tezzeret decks than IoK - because generally speaking, seeing their hand and removing their creature or planeswalker is better - both against control and aggro. A lot of times IoK will hit a card I don't really care about - like a Bolt or a Go For the throat - cards which mean relatively little to me (I'm not saying Bolt is bad, but I would rather hit an Inferno Titan given how slow the deck plays in a way that's almost going to assure that it comes out). Keeping your opponent off either big creatures or Planeswalkers is almost always more valuable, as I'm willing to sit back and wait until I can play around their counters if they're willing to keep mana untapped for them - or eat a countered tumble magnet to get out a 1 mana dismember for easy removal.
Wurmcoil Engine and Karn both have been things I really went back and forth on, a lot of games start to really come down to pecking each other down with man lands, but a late Wurmcoil can really swing that in your favor - a couple of decks are running Leyline of Sanctity now, and when playing a lengthy control game, Tezzeret ultimates become very scary for your opponent - which Karn deals with, as well as a late-game Titan, Planeswalker, stuff like that. Usually if I get Karn out and on the battlefield, I win because by that time the board is relatively clear and I have enough control to protect him while he controls the board himself. And between he and Liliana, they also amount to a solid late-game card advantage and Liliana's ability to tutor is also very nice.
Between the dismembers, clasps, tumble magnets and spellskites, I can usually manage to slow the opponent down enough to either a) Have dealt with their bombs, b) gotten a Tezzeret out and commenced digging or beating with an animated clasp or spellskite, or c) Used Metamorph to copy one of their bombs and can control theirs more than they can control mine.
The Inkmoth Nexus to Tectonic Edge ratio has been really difficult to decide, but as the deck has gotten less and less aggro and more and more control based, I've found the Tec Edges proportionately more and more valuable - manlands are probably one of the top threats that keep Tezzeret stuck in my hand. I also find myself less motivated to use Tezzeret's -1, risking the loyalty loss on Tezzeret as well as the loss of a land - as opposed to his +1, to further cement my board control and try to win with a Tezz Ultimate as opposed to poison.
The sideboard has been built around dealing with the main weakness - which is a mix between beatdown and aggro decks. Ratchet Bombs are a very good, highly adaptable way to eliminate threats, as well as being a good board wipe against decks that run a lot of 0-2 CMC cards. Phyrexian Crusader is outstanding against Goblins and Big Red, and Torpor Orb is very good against cawblade, particularly if you draw it on the play and can stick it before they play a Mystic or Squad hawk. Torpor Orb, Spellskite and Dismembers all thrown in together also give you an almost airtight engine to stop the Splinter Twin decks as well - and Surgical Extraction is usually a very good answer to beatdown, particularly when you catch a Vengevine deck discarding a Vengevine.
Anyhow - I'm really starting to feel like this deck is beginning to approach a competitive level, it's tested very well against RUG, Splinter Twin, Tempered Steel and Cawblade - which have been my main focuses due to my local meta.
No one said anything about mine either lol
This is what I'm running on Friday:
4x Creeping Tar Pit
4x Darkslick Shores
4x Seachrome Coast
2x Celestial Colonnade
3x Marsh Flats
3x Plains
1x Swamp
2x Island
2x Tectonic Edge
Planeswalkers:
3x Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
2x Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Creatures:
3x Vault Skirge
4x Stoneforge Mystic
2x Phyrexian Metamorph
2x Spellskite
1x Sword of Feast and Famine
1x Sword of War and Peace
1x Batterskull
2x Tumble Magnet
Spells:
1x Go for the Throat
1x Doom Blade
1x Dismember (Probably going to change to a Go for the Throat)
3x Mana Leak
3x Preordain
3x Inquisition of Kozilek
2x Duress (Possibly switch for Despise or do a 1/1 split)
1x Wurmcoil Engine (Only have 1 Batterskull :/)
1x Sun Titan
2x Day of Judgment
3x Flashfreeze
1x Mortarpod
2x Divine Offering
2x Into the Roil
2x Memoricide
1x Other, probably either Doom Blade or Go for the Throat
As for your build, I saw it earlier and I liked it, but if I were you I'd try to fit in Metamorphs, they're ridiculous. I also put Jace's in my build because the ability to cycle away stuff you don't want with Tezz helps a lot. Other than that do you see anything with my build? I could possibly see Contagion Clasp fitting in.
That's why I am leaving it in for now since it has potential.
I like the list. Black Sun's Zenith would have saved me in my last matchup. I am definitely SB it. Caw is the only matchup I am worried about so I am most likely going Esper build.
Metamorph can really just fit in virtually any deck no matter where you need it to fit - even if you just need a random 1 of to stick somewhere. But the flexiblity and adaptability the card offers is ridiculously good.
12 artifacts is a little light for a Tezz deck IMO (especially with SFM tutoring up more out of your library).
You also are running 25 lands which isn't bad but you might be able to live with 23 or 24. For example I'd think about taking out the fetches and dropping tarpits down to a 2 of (6 CIPT lands seems like a lot) and replacing them with some M2011 duals and a couple basics.
You also have a weird hybrid of counters and hand disruption. I'd stick with one and drop the other to make more room for some artifacts (4x tumble magnets!)
In general it seems like you're trying to spread yourself a little too thin between a couple different approaches so your deck slots are getting very tight. You might be better served picking on direction and doing it really really well and using your SB to change out your tactic if it's not working.
p.s. I love the Sun titan in sideboard. Sun Titan + Spellskite is just fun.
Menace I also think you are a little light on artifacts. I'd drop the Squad Hawks to make room and also drop the preordains down (maybe a 2 of?) to make room for some more removal and/or despise. I really like the 3x IoK and 2x Despise build myself.
It just seems like your current build is going to play like a darkblade variant (basically subbing out the Jace-control stuff for Tezz stuff) but with only 12 artifacts the Tezz won't be doing a ton so it will likely be an inferior darkblade variant. Just my two cents but let us know how it goes and I hope you win!
Yea, it's really hard to combine caw-blade with Tezz and not have to cut important artifacts xD. I do want to add more Tumble Magnets, but the mix of disruption and counter magic is kind of necessary when you have to worry about beating every different archetype, plus the countermagic helps against random decks that aren't known. The thing is though, I opted to not run 4 Tezz's so that I have to rely less on artifacts, and so far this deck is crushing in playtesting, but I do think that if you include Tezz, at least 15 artifacts is clutch and I tend to do at least 16. I agree with you on the less CIPT lands thing as well, but 4x tar pit is too good. I'm probably going to drop the colonnades and a seachrome coast for 3x Glacial Fortress. Anyway, thank you for the input
I would move the doom blade to the sideboard and main a second gftt. you want to kill their batterskull germ as fast as possible.
Yeah, my build is pretty tight. not too sure what I would take out for the metamorphs. maybe a tumble magnet and the second mained batterskull.
I do want to fit some in. I might do this:
-4 Sqaud Hawks
-2 Tumble Magnet
-1 Preordain
+2 Spellskite
+2 Metamorphs (Can copy a 5/5 Vault Skirge)
+2 Jace Beleren
+1 Sun Titan
Then my sideboard could change to:
-3 Spellskite
+2 Day of Judgment
+1 Duress
I would also tighten up your sideboard some. You have a lot of 1 of's that wont do much in helping game 2-3. If you are looking for consistent answers to the threats you dont expect I would run 2-3 minimum of sideboard items.
Also, Revoke existance is a side board tech i am using right now. It helps with jank decks you dont see coming (like tezz control with mind slavers and blightsteel colossus etc)
So, Mainboard I would do the following:
-1 Doom Blade +1 Gftt (so you have easier chance of killing their batterskull)
-1 IoK +1 Duress (I know this sounds wierd but being able to pull their Batterskull from them after they fetch for it is super pro)
Try to make room for Inkmoth Nexus. It is a very valuable tool to respond to some of the life gain decks out there and to an extent, the mirror. My friend Mike Long came in second in Louisville because he didnt have an answer late game for the Nexus his opponent had on the board. Board wiped late game and equiped everything to the nexus. Game over.
Thanks, I would do that but I recently traded my inkmoths, but I might pick some more up with that advice in mind. I remember reading some article by some pro earlier this week that said it's decisive in the mirror match because of batterskull life gain. I like your doom blade idea, I'm doing that.
what if you cast phyrexian metamorph, targetting a -1 tezz'd inkmoth nexus? i know it will come in as a 5/5 flying infect, but what happens to it at the end of the turn? does it lose flying and infect and just become a 5/5 artifact creature for the same reason inkmoth nexus does? or does it remain a 5/5 flying infect because itself doesnt lose the flying and infect abilities since itself didnt activate it?
edit: i just murdered the English language with that last sentence >.<
:symr::symw:Boros:symw::symr: 32-6-3 Competitive Play (ret. 4/10)
:symb::symr:B/R Vamps:symr::symb: 22-3 FNM
:symw::symw:WW Quest:symw::symw:
:symr::symr:RDW:symr::symr: 25-4 FNM, 4-2 TCQ (ret. 2/5)
:symr::symw:R/W Boros Landfall:symw::symr: 2-2 (ret. same day)
When you copy a manland with the metamorph it comes into play as an unactivated copy of the land with it's abilities. I mean that it basically is just an artifact copy of the land, not a creature until you activate it. (i.e. Metamortph copying a Tar Pit comes in as a tapped artifact land that has T: Add U or B to your mana pool and 1UB: "Creeping Tar Pit becomes...")
No it doesnt, The level 2 judge at my qaulifier ruled that the metamorph copies all static effects. It isnt coping the card. It is coping the "Thing". So if you copy a 5/5 Vault Skirge, it comes into play as a 5/5 Vault Skirge not a 1/1. If you copy a 5/5 Batterskull, it comes into play as a Batterskull that can't be equiped......etc, However, if you copy an inkmoth nexus, it does come into play as a 5/5 infect flyer, but it losed the end of turn abilities at the end of turn and retains the 5/5 effect of tezz.
4 Vault Skirge
4 Memnite
4 Steel Overseer
3 Spellskite
2 Phyrexian Metamorph
Sorceries
4 Preordain
2 Tezzeret's Gambit
Instants
3 Go for the Throat
2 Stoic Rebuttal
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
Equipment
1 Sword of Body and Mind
1 Argentum Armor
Land
4 Darkslick Shore
4 Creeping Tar Pit
4 Inkmoth Nexus
8 Island
4 Swamp
2 Despise
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Argent Sphynx
2 Black Sun's Zenith
3 Tumble Magnet
2 Flashfreeze
2 Marrow Shards
1 Surgical Extraction
1 Mind Slaver
This is my attempt at assembling a more aggro oriented version of a Tezz deck. Some explanation may be needed for a couple of card choices.
I see most (if not all) of the Tezz decks listed here use Sword of Feast and Famine and/or Sword of War and Peace. I would use them as well, but I sadly don't have them. If I ever get them, they will definitely go in.
Also, I need a lot of advice on the sideboard. This is the first time I've ever attempted to make this kind of deck, so I'm at a bit of a loss....
Then your level 2 judge needs to reread up on his rulings. It copies the card exactly, not including the changes to the card due to abilities and spells. So it would just be the land, not a creature. Ask the rule gurus in the rules forum, I'm pretty sure they can explain this in a lot more detail with actual quotes from the rulebook.
If you have Stoneforge mystics, I have an extra war and peace. I am trying to acquire Stoneforges.
Sorry, but I don't have any.
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Sword of War and Peace
1 Sword of Body and Mind
4 Tumble Magnet
Creatures
3 Phyrexian Metamorph
3 Spellskite
4 Vault Skirge
Instant
2 Go for the Throat
2 Doom Blade
4 Mana Leak
4 Preordain
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Despise
Planeswalkers
4 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
Land
3 Creeping Tar Pit
4 Darkslick Shores
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Inkmoth Nexus
4 Island
5 Swamp
2 Doom Blade
3 Flashfreeze
3 Memoricide
2 Duress
1 Sword of War and Peace
2 Black Sun's Zenith
2 Spell Pierce
I played @ LGS last night, and went 3-0 for 1st place. I didn't lose a single game. It was only 3 rounds because of the low number of people that attended, normally it is a much larger, 4 round event. Regardless, I feel good, as the decks there were definitely competitive.
Round 1: Soul Sisters. Simple.
Round 2: Caw Blade. I had such a board advantage, it didn't matter. I countered the KEY spells, and used removal on Stoneforeges, and Batterskull Germs. Game 2, he drew lots of lands.
Round 3: Bant control. Great deck, great games. I really liked this deck, but he just couldn't handle a 14 damage Tezz ultimate. Game 2 he really had good board position, and got me down really low with a Sworded Thrun...but I Metamorphed his sword, and threw it on a 5/5 Vault Skirge, and he just couldn't handle the life swing changes.
I love this deck. I have been a RDW player for YEARS, but I think I finally found the control deck I can appreciate. This IS going to become a tier 1 deck for sure. I have complete and total faith in my brew, and similar control route Tezz brews.
STANDARD:
UWDelverWU
LEGACY:
RGOBLINSR
RBURNR (Retired)
WWhite WeenieW (Work in Progress)
Did the extra removal help? debating if i should add more removal and take out the gamits.
Very solid build Lactone and congrats on the win! I was thinking of doing a similar build once I got bored of the forgemaster. The only diffeence is I was thinking of doing a couple BSZ for a couple preordains. Did you end up using BSZ much out of the SB and was preordain critical?
BSZ was amazing vs soul sisters, drew it twice, both times taking out a Sworded (FnF) hawk or sister. Preordains are really nice for fixing mana/counters/removal/digging for swords. I would never run less than 4 preordains, unless I ran 3 and 2 gambits, which I have thought about doing.
EDIT: BSZ is also 100% necessary vs vamps, and elves. These aren't as prevalent in the meta as they were before, but any aggro matchup is tough, but spellskites act as mini walls, and Zeniths take out the lil guys.
The extra removal was pivotal in almost every win. Against Caw, you HAVE to get rid of that turn 2 Mystic, otherwise Batterskull will go to town, which is hard to recover from. Honestly, I have even thought about running steel sabotage or more Into the Roils to help combat Caw. Into the Roil is really awesome, it has even acted as a time walk for me from time to time, but then again, one of my favorite cards in magic is Boomerang, so I might be biased. Against aggro, the extra removal is 100% necessary. I originally had in two contagion clasps before I threw the swords in there, but I found myself only proliferating occasionally, late game, where I pretty much had the win anyways, so I took them out. I might take out the despise and put the clasps back in, but we'll see. I like being able to take out a bird and having late game options with Tezz.
STANDARD:
UWDelverWU
LEGACY:
RGOBLINSR
RBURNR (Retired)
WWhite WeenieW (Work in Progress)
Your judge is 100% wrong. Phyrexian Metamorph is a card that is very easy to verify against - compare it to another complex card that has been around for a long time with almost exactly the same mechanics (Clone), but it enters as a copy of the *card* it is copying - with the additional condition that it is an artifact.
From the rulings on clone:
Clone doesn't copy whether the original creature is tapped or untapped. It also doesn't copy any counters on that creature, any Auras attached to that creature, or any effects that are currently affecting that creature -- you get exactly what's printed on the chosen card and nothing more. So if you copy an animated Chimeric Staff, for example, you get a normal, nonanimated Chimeric Staff.
I run 4 swords. I might remove one sword and run three like you and have one extra removal. Between 3 preodains and 2 tezz gamits and tezz i should have no problem digging for a sword. I am trying to fit in Despise. 3 IOK and 2 Despise should help me with that stoneforge in their hand.
2 Hex Parasite3 Spellskite2 Phyrexian Metamorph3 Moltensteel Dragon1 Wurmcoil Engine1 Myr BattlesphereSpells (9)
4 Tezzeret, Agent of BolasLands (24)
4 Wall of Tanglecord2 Ratchet Bomb1 Spellskite4 Memoricide2 Phyrexian Revoker2 Precursor Golem
This is the version I've been running. Tezzeret + Moltensteel Dragon is a fast clock.
(From my article at http://manadeprived.com/2011/05/tezz-mania.html)
Yeah, despise is nice for the extra targets that are prevalent today that IoK can't hit: Jace, Gideon, Titans, Wurmcoil. Cards that if not dealt with in some way will win games for the opponent.
I think that 3 swords is the perfect number. I have yet to play a game where I didn't get at least 1. I am thinking of removing the B&M for another F&F MD, but I only have 1 F&F right now, so I don't know yet. I still really like the B&M vs Caw, because it prevents Jace bounce, which when done to my 5/5 Skirge is a huge pain in my a$$. The mill can be relevant, and having a free dude never hurts.
STANDARD:
UWDelverWU
LEGACY:
RGOBLINSR
RBURNR (Retired)
WWhite WeenieW (Work in Progress)