I originally wanted to create a mix of a Polymorph deck with summoning trap. However, I was not sure if a polymorph/summoning trap deck would be able to prevent enough damage and reliably stick a win condition. So I thought, "How do you "Get there" and get to play fatties". Plus, with summoning trap, when I untapped, I wanted to win (hopefully). So I decided on using walls. The other point to putting this deck together was to hopefully create a deck with multiple win conditions that has a chance against both aggro and control. I don't know if this deck can beat U/W control but I will get to that later.
Creature package:
2x Iona--Hardcastable and just fine off of a trap
2x Emrakul--Annihilator 6. Sounds good to me.
1x Ulamog--I wanted a way to deal with Planeswalkers
1x Progenitus--Seems solid and can't be bounced.
2x Sphinx. If I hold too many emrakul, ulamog, progenitus, they can now be recycled. Also a "questionable at best" alternate win condition.
--I do not know if this package is consistent/versatile enough to compete, however, I believe all of the above creatures offer great value. The total number of fatties may need to be upped.
Defenders:
Wall of Denial/Overgrown Battlement:
--Help me "get there" vs agro, provide extra mana to accelerate to trap. Mnemonic walls were also considered. But for 5 mana and needing a trap or path in the yard, it seemed as if it were too slow to provide either recursion or defense.
--Everflowing Chalice:
-I question this card. It helps if the fatties need to be hardcasted and maybe accelerates to a jace/summoning trap. However, perhaps overgrown battlement is enough.
--The Instants are self explanatory. I considered Trapmakers snare, but ultimately decided against it.
O-ring.
-I was worried about not being able to deal with opposing vengeants, jaces, and garruks. So I added O-rings. Can be beneficial in the early game as well.
Jace--Alternate win condition. Also helps reshuffle legendary creatures into my deck.
DID not include: Day of Judgement. I haven't tested my deck yet. I don't know if DoJ is necessary (thus perhaps negating the wall package). Thoughts?
Counter spells: It seems like 3-4 Negates would be perfect for this deck. However, I couldn't find room. I believe, this would be a 4 of in the sideboard.
Any general thoughts? I don't know if 6 legends and 2 sphinxes is enough creatures for summoning trap to be effective (I need to do more math, sorry for not being completely prepared before posting).
I dont know if this deck is better at beating aggro than U/W. I don't know if this deck is better at beating control than aggro. However, it seems like a solid starting point. Testing certainly needs to be done.
Let me know what you think. Please respond with well thought out points in regards to the deck list.
Finally, the manabase was just thrown together and could probably use some work.
I have personally went with polymorph, summoning trap and it is a lot harder too mantain the so called "board position" allthough i did it for the reason that at least in every hand i get a polymorph or a summoning trap. And i only morph/trap into Emrakul
over all nice deck 7 for bestiallity and a 5 for originality
i would drop prog. all the others can be hardcasted, prog in your hand is just laughing at you.
and i would maybe look at running Sphinx of Jwar Isle in place of the Lost Truths, stronger attacker, shroud, and insight as to your next card.
might want to slide in multiple eldrazi temples and an eye of ugin or 2. i know summoning trap is tech, but being able to hard cast your titans is all the sweeter
maybe slip in perimeter captains? the 1 drop only helps you protect yourself faster, and gives more synergy among your walls aspect (especially towards the mana ramp of trellis 2.0 towards hardcasting)
Yeah perimeter captain is great at stopping the aggro rush, I always hate seeing that guy across the table. I don't know what you would take out for him... maybe go to a three of for the other walls? hard choice.
i would drop prog. all the others can be hardcasted, prog in your hand is just laughing at you.
and i would maybe look at running Sphinx of Jwar Isle in place of the Lost Truths, stronger attacker, shroud, and insight as to your next card.
might want to slide in multiple eldrazi temples and an eye of ugin or 2. i know summoning trap is tech, but being able to hard cast your titans is all the sweeter
maybe slip in perimeter captains? the 1 drop only helps you protect yourself faster, and gives more synergy among your walls aspect (especially towards the mana ramp of trellis 2.0 towards hardcasting)
I currently play a similar deck (minus the RoE cards, of course) and here are my thoughts on your suggestions:
1) Agree with dropping Progenitus. It is nothing but disappointment. If you want a fatty that your opponent can't easily kill, Iona is it.
2) No opinion on adding Sphinx of Jwar Isle, but completely disagree about dropping Sphinx of Lost Truths. The problem with this deck is you would often have hands with very little action. They're not auto-mulligan hands, but you need a way to rev up. Sphinx of Lost Truths provides the boost and is a decent sized body on its own. I'd play four if there is room.
3) Focusing the deck on the Eldrazi is a bad idea. The moment the deck goes that direction, it will start to lose to more decks. It needs to keep flexibility to cast other cards, and having Eldrazi lands that are subpar for the other 30+ spells in your deck sucks.
4) The Captain is a good idea for the sideboard. With two different walls already in the main deck though, it's not that necessary to have a third main deck unless the match up's really call for it.
Your threat density is too low. The key to a good Summoning Trap deck is to have some big creatures so you can win the game but you also need to just play creatures that can win. A good way to balance this is to have creatures you wouldn't mind playing with a trap but can be played in the midgame. KotR, Rhox War Monk, and of course, Baneslayer Angel. This way, if you have trap, you can hit some giant monster and if you whiff, there's still a good chance you can hit a baneslayer or KotR, which isn't awful. And if you don't have trap, you can at least play a bant-like midgame until you can get a trap to fire.
i would drop prog. all the others can be hardcasted, prog in your hand is just laughing at you.
Agreed, Progenitus will be dropped...but for what? A second Ulamog? A third Emrakul?
This.
Also, if you're going with walls, Perimeter captain is good, Gomazoa too. And you really need to keep the O-ring, since basilik collars ☺☺☺☺s walls beyond belief.
Perimeter captain will be considered for the sideboard. However, I think 8 walls is currently enough and (unless testing reveals otherwise) i think overgrown battlement is slightly better than the captain. Although I am open to switching them.
3) Focusing the deck on the Eldrazi is a bad idea. The moment the deck goes that direction, it will start to lose to more decks. It needs to keep flexibility to cast other cards, and having Eldrazi lands that are subpar for the other 30+ spells in your deck sucks.
Completely agreed.
Your threat density is too low. The key to a good Summoning Trap deck is to have some big creatures
My threat density may be too low. But I disagree with having to play KotR, RWM, and BSA. If I were going to play those, I would just play bant.
If my threat density is too low, what do I take out? I believe the jaces serve a very important function...Alternate win condition, put cards I don't want back in my deck (via brainstorm).
Does everflowing chalice get cut? If so, this drastically reduces my chances of hard casting an iona if need be. Do I cut more walls?
Would it be best to go the complete control route, cutting out the walls and and adding DoJ and 4 more threats?
Perhaps I can cut a land (if I keep 8 mana accelerants).
In regards to the sphinx of jwar isle debate; I think SoLT does its job well. Admittedly the Jwar Isle is a much better blocker, attacker, etc. If I were to replace SoLT, wouldn't it be better to just switch to BSA?
Or, in game 1, since the opponent will most likely be holding removal (How many decks do not play single-target removal?) is Jwar Isle just better?
I could see
-2 SoLT
-1Progenitus
+3 SoJI
with a sideboard that boards these out for BSA's (I guess most people would be likely to board out targetted removal post board).
I am not sure if SoLT is infinitely better or worse MB when compared to JI.
More questions
Everflowing chalice v Overgrown battlement v Perimeter captain:
I like EC and OB for ramp to turn 3 jace and EC provides a (albeit small) alternate route to hardcasting a fatty.
SoLT vs JI. In a vaccum, JI is simply better. But if I do not draw a jace and get stuck with two eldrazi in my hand, I'd be likely to lose. OTOH, JI increases the chance that Trap hits.
Reccomend Spell Pierce in SB for aggro/RDW? It'd also help a lot against control....
"Cast Summoning Trap?"
"Cancel"
"Spell Pierce?"
"Crap."
Lots of land +4x Chalice seems a bit heavy on the mana. Maybe cut back to two Chalices and see how that does? I'd hate seeing Land/Land/Land/Chalice/Chalice/Path/Ulamog in my opening hand no matter how you look at it.
Lots of fatties, this deck hinges on resolving a Summoning Trap because I don't see you hardcasting very many of them. If you do, it'll be a very slow hardcast. I'd reccomend some card selection....drop two chalices, progenitus, and one sphinx for 4x Ponder? You're trying to accelerate into Summoning Trap, not Ulamog, Emrakul, or Iona. And since you've got so much acceleration, but not any little dudes, where's DoJ? It begs to be in here, else someone else's shrouded beatstick be unanswerable, WW walks all over you, or an Eldrazi deckuses minions to accelerate into Emrakul before you draw summoning trap.
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Wall theme is pushed a little more to make it a hell for aggro added garruk to ramp more and make beasties. This deck likes summoning trap, but it doesn't mind hardcasting (as such ulamog)
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EllE:
Because she's the hero standard deserves, but not the one it needs right now... and so we'll chase her... because she can take it... because she's not a hero... she's a silent guardian
I'm not sold on Perimeter Captain. I'd rather up the Path to Exile count, and once again I think Ponder is a good option for this deck to help it find Summoning Traps or utility cards. Drop the Perimeter Captains for two more Paths and add Ponder.
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Perimeter captain actually destroys decks. No joke, I have seen that one drop pulsed. Idk why i need creature removal when i have great walls. The reason i run path is so i can get rid of their bombs but everything else is covered, from bloodbraid to bushwacker. Also Halamir Depths are my ponder.
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EllE:
Because she's the hero standard deserves, but not the one it needs right now... and so we'll chase her... because she can take it... because she's not a hero... she's a silent guardian
Doing a take two on it, the o-rings in conjunction with the existing Paths ought to cover nasty fliers. I can see where Perimeter Captain would be annoying, but I wouldn't waste a Pulse or Path on him. I just would hate to draw him mid-late game. I'm thinking with all the accel in this deck, this could be a better midrange card, maybe a midrange beater that I wouldn't mind hitting off of summoning trap that could give me some lifegain.
It would sure be nice if there was a decent bodied creature (say, 5/5) that could somehow give me life whenever it dealt damage or something like that, maybe had flying to help me deal with other fliers, and could attack and bash people in the face. If there ever were such a card, I'd make it an Angel of some nature.
And I'd have it slay banes. Whatever a bane is.
Look at it this way:
T1 Halimar Depths
T2 forest, Overgrown Battlement
T3 Sunpetal Grove, WoD
T4 BSA (Either beats face or uses up removal setting up for.....)
T5 Summoning Trap
If nothing else, I'm not sure how much of a place four Chalices has in this deck, there's just not a whole lot of free mana sitting around early game when chalice is need most. On T4, when you would Chalice for two, you're only gonna be one turn away from casting Summoning Trap anyway. On T6, you could chalice for three, but on T6 I should be beating your face in with something ridiculous by now.
Plus, I'm not gonna complain about Summoning Trap only getting me a BSA.
Reccomend Spell Pierce in SB for aggro/RDW?
Lots of land +4x Chalice seems a bit heavy on the mana. Maybe cut back to two Chalices and see how that does? .... for 4x Ponder? You're trying to accelerate into Summoning Trap, not Ulamog, Emrakul, or Iona. And since you've got so much acceleration, but not any little dudes, where's DoJ? It begs to be in here, else someone else's shrouded beatstick be unanswerable, WW walks all over you, or an Eldrazi deckuses minions to accelerate into Emrakul before you draw summoning trap.
I agree with a lot of what you say. 8 sources of acceleration is probably a lot. Also, I think Momentous fall is a card to keep track of for the deck.
I would definitely consider -2 chalice for +2 DoJ. Still, this would appear to make the control match slightly worse for how much of an upgrade vs aggro? Is 8 walls, 4 paths, and 3 O-rings not enough already?
Im not sold on Ponder. What would you take out for it?
The way I see it is that if I add more DoJ I should take out the wall package altogether and add BSA or SoJI, plus either ponders or negates.
This deck only runs Green for summoning trap. Does its matchup vs. control improve? Does its matchup vs aggro improve? I think the control matchup decreases slightly while the aggro matchup, might improve.
Well, here's the weak points of the deck:
Fast aggro/RDW
Control
The best thing to help against control would probably be Spell Pierce. Control decks keep their cancel/negate mana open, but they usually don't anticipate a full blown counter battle by leaving two more mana open. Negate may not be a bad fit either, but Spell Pierce is more useful against aggro/WW and control IMO since this deck is doing pretty much nothing the first few turns that really threatens the opponent.
My case for Ponder is this: The deck hinges on being able to cast Summoning Trap into something awesome. Ponder allows you to not only dig for Summoning Trap, but offers a small preview of what you might Summoning Trap into. It also digs for utility cards if the situation calls for it. Need a win con? Dig for trap. Need boardsweep? Dig for Day of Judgment. Need to kill a permanent? Dig for o-ring/path. Kinda mana screwed? Dig for land. Halimar Depths is a nice accent as well, just wish it wasn't a CiPT land.
PLaying against control? Find that Spell Pierce or Negate before casting Summoning Trap. A lot of playing against control will be casting Summoning Trap at just the right moment. I would honestly drop the Sphinx of Lost Truths from your list. Ponder does the job he does for digging, and it's not like you didn't add 4 BSA for additional threats. I don't see Sphinx of Lost Truths being a huge help here. I got 5 mana, I'm gonna play BSA.
Help against control matchups? Build the sideboard accordingly, side out Paths and Days, bring in some really annoying cheap beatsticks for them to counter (KoTR comes to mind) . Then play Summoning Trap for free! I see control being one of the better matchups since the deck is built around Summoning Trap and Summoning Trap is kinda made to hate on control.
As far as aggro/RDW, you know what they hate? Kor Firewalkers.
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Turn 1 PtE, turn 3 Wall of Denial would probably win the game.
WW would probably be able to out swarm the walls, but thats what sideboard BSA's, DoJ would be for.
The question becomes, ponder is fine on turn 1. However, are 4 ponders...along with 4 jaces to dig necessary? Granted, ponder grants an additional shuffle effect without needing a fetch as well.
I was considering the transformational sideboard.
Assuming adding 4 DoJ from the board turned the WW/allies matchup favorable, would a creature/negate heavy sideboard be enough to turn the control match?
4x DoJ (or just 2x depending on the final mainboard).
4x KotR
4x BSA
3x Negate/Rhox War Monk/KFW?
Let's say you are playing against control. You drew walls that you don't need. Turn 5, cast Sphinx of Lost Truths without kicker. Draw 3 and discard your wall(s) + whatever you don't need. If they counter Sphinx? Oh wait, that's what Summoning Trap is for.
Against aggro, Sphinx is a turn 5 large butt that makes them waste removal to get around, and that's in addition to having to get around walls and Day of Judgment.
Sphins of Lost Truths is so good in this deck. I'm talking from experience and not hypothetical.
Let's say you are playing against control. You drew walls that you don't need. Turn 5, cast Sphinx of Lost Truths without kicker. Draw 3 and discard your wall(s) + whatever you don't need. If they counter Sphinx? Oh wait, that's what Summoning Trap is for.
Against aggro, Sphinx is a turn 5 large butt that makes them waste removal to get around, and that's in addition to having to get around walls and Day of Judgment.
Sphins of Lost Truths is so good in this deck. I'm talking from experience and not hypothetical.
SoLT is not getting dropped. It's even fine off of a summoning trap. I'm considering adding realms uncharted for everflowing chalice (might consider momentous fall instead).
Realms, at least in theory, seems like a great card choice. It plays well with instant speed removal, keeps my hand stocked and thins the deck by at least 4 cards, making summoning traps slightly more likely to hit. With the mana base, if I need one of any color, realms will ALWAYS be able to grab that color (unless Ive already used up, all the misty rainforests..buut realistically that will happen few and far between).
Also, if the sideboard includes KotR for the control matchup, realms gains even more of a use.
SoLT is not getting dropped. It's even fine off of a summoning trap. I'm considering adding realms uncharted for everflowing chalice (might consider momentous fall instead).
Realms, at least in theory, seems like a great card choice. It plays well with instant speed removal, keeps my hand stocked and thins the deck by at least 4 cards, making summoning traps slightly more likely to hit. With the mana base, if I need one of any color, realms will ALWAYS be able to grab that color (unless Ive already used up, all the misty rainforests..buut realistically that will happen few and far between).
Also, if the sideboard includes KotR for the control matchup, realms gains even more of a use.
That's cool, but others keep suggesting it. As for Realm, it's worth testing but it doesn't help ramp. In my version, I play Khalni Heart Expedition and Explore for acceleration and it's been great. KHE sometimes get Pulsed if my opponents catch on to the importance of the acceleration, but if they waste a Maelstrom Pulse on the expedition, that's one less for my creatures! Anyway, KHE is great because it helps smooth the colors I need, whether it's UUU or WWW or GG, and it helps improve the quality of my draws by a tiny bit. You can up the fetchland count and it'll be very easy to trigger it, especially together with Explore.
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2x Iona, Shield of Emeria
2x Emrakul, Aeons Torn
1x Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
1x Progenitus
4x Wall of Denial
4x Overgrown Battlement
2x Sphinx of Lost Truths
4x Everflowing Chalice
Instants: 8
4x Summoning Trap
4x Path to Exile
Enchantments: 3
3x Oblivion Ring
Planeswalkers: 4
4x Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Land: 25
2x Marsh Flats
4x Seaside Citadel
4x Misty Rainforest
4x Forest
4x Islands
5x Plains
2x Glacial Fortress
Thoughts on this deck:
I originally wanted to create a mix of a Polymorph deck with summoning trap. However, I was not sure if a polymorph/summoning trap deck would be able to prevent enough damage and reliably stick a win condition. So I thought, "How do you "Get there" and get to play fatties". Plus, with summoning trap, when I untapped, I wanted to win (hopefully). So I decided on using walls. The other point to putting this deck together was to hopefully create a deck with multiple win conditions that has a chance against both aggro and control. I don't know if this deck can beat U/W control but I will get to that later.
Creature package:
2x Iona--Hardcastable and just fine off of a trap
2x Emrakul--Annihilator 6. Sounds good to me.
1x Ulamog--I wanted a way to deal with Planeswalkers
1x Progenitus--Seems solid and can't be bounced.
2x Sphinx. If I hold too many emrakul, ulamog, progenitus, they can now be recycled. Also a "questionable at best" alternate win condition.
--I do not know if this package is consistent/versatile enough to compete, however, I believe all of the above creatures offer great value. The total number of fatties may need to be upped.
Defenders:
Wall of Denial/Overgrown Battlement:
--Help me "get there" vs agro, provide extra mana to accelerate to trap. Mnemonic walls were also considered. But for 5 mana and needing a trap or path in the yard, it seemed as if it were too slow to provide either recursion or defense.
--Everflowing Chalice:
-I question this card. It helps if the fatties need to be hardcasted and maybe accelerates to a jace/summoning trap. However, perhaps overgrown battlement is enough.
--The Instants are self explanatory. I considered Trapmakers snare, but ultimately decided against it.
O-ring.
-I was worried about not being able to deal with opposing vengeants, jaces, and garruks. So I added O-rings. Can be beneficial in the early game as well.
Jace--Alternate win condition. Also helps reshuffle legendary creatures into my deck.
DID not include: Day of Judgement. I haven't tested my deck yet. I don't know if DoJ is necessary (thus perhaps negating the wall package). Thoughts?
Counter spells: It seems like 3-4 Negates would be perfect for this deck. However, I couldn't find room. I believe, this would be a 4 of in the sideboard.
Any general thoughts? I don't know if 6 legends and 2 sphinxes is enough creatures for summoning trap to be effective (I need to do more math, sorry for not being completely prepared before posting).
I dont know if this deck is better at beating aggro than U/W. I don't know if this deck is better at beating control than aggro. However, it seems like a solid starting point. Testing certainly needs to be done.
Let me know what you think. Please respond with well thought out points in regards to the deck list.
Finally, the manabase was just thrown together and could probably use some work.
I have personally went with polymorph, summoning trap and it is a lot harder too mantain the so called "board position" allthough i did it for the reason that at least in every hand i get a polymorph or a summoning trap. And i only morph/trap into Emrakul
over all nice deck 7 for bestiallity and a 5 for originality
and i would maybe look at running Sphinx of Jwar Isle in place of the Lost Truths, stronger attacker, shroud, and insight as to your next card.
might want to slide in multiple eldrazi temples and an eye of ugin or 2. i know summoning trap is tech, but being able to hard cast your titans is all the sweeter
maybe slip in perimeter captains? the 1 drop only helps you protect yourself faster, and gives more synergy among your walls aspect (especially towards the mana ramp of trellis 2.0 towards hardcasting)
Replace Prog with another Ulamog.
Looks pretty good though.
1) Agree with dropping Progenitus. It is nothing but disappointment. If you want a fatty that your opponent can't easily kill, Iona is it.
2) No opinion on adding Sphinx of Jwar Isle, but completely disagree about dropping Sphinx of Lost Truths. The problem with this deck is you would often have hands with very little action. They're not auto-mulligan hands, but you need a way to rev up. Sphinx of Lost Truths provides the boost and is a decent sized body on its own. I'd play four if there is room.
3) Focusing the deck on the Eldrazi is a bad idea. The moment the deck goes that direction, it will start to lose to more decks. It needs to keep flexibility to cast other cards, and having Eldrazi lands that are subpar for the other 30+ spells in your deck sucks.
4) The Captain is a good idea for the sideboard. With two different walls already in the main deck though, it's not that necessary to have a third main deck unless the match up's really call for it.
Agreed, Progenitus will be dropped...but for what? A second Ulamog? A third Emrakul?
Perimeter captain will be considered for the sideboard. However, I think 8 walls is currently enough and (unless testing reveals otherwise) i think overgrown battlement is slightly better than the captain. Although I am open to switching them.
Completely agreed.
My threat density may be too low. But I disagree with having to play KotR, RWM, and BSA. If I were going to play those, I would just play bant.
If my threat density is too low, what do I take out? I believe the jaces serve a very important function...Alternate win condition, put cards I don't want back in my deck (via brainstorm).
Does everflowing chalice get cut? If so, this drastically reduces my chances of hard casting an iona if need be. Do I cut more walls?
Would it be best to go the complete control route, cutting out the walls and and adding DoJ and 4 more threats?
Perhaps I can cut a land (if I keep 8 mana accelerants).
In regards to the sphinx of jwar isle debate; I think SoLT does its job well. Admittedly the Jwar Isle is a much better blocker, attacker, etc. If I were to replace SoLT, wouldn't it be better to just switch to BSA?
Or, in game 1, since the opponent will most likely be holding removal (How many decks do not play single-target removal?) is Jwar Isle just better?
I could see
-2 SoLT
-1Progenitus
+3 SoJI
with a sideboard that boards these out for BSA's (I guess most people would be likely to board out targetted removal post board).
I am not sure if SoLT is infinitely better or worse MB when compared to JI.
More questions
Everflowing chalice v Overgrown battlement v Perimeter captain:
I like EC and OB for ramp to turn 3 jace and EC provides a (albeit small) alternate route to hardcasting a fatty.
SoLT vs JI. In a vaccum, JI is simply better. But if I do not draw a jace and get stuck with two eldrazi in my hand, I'd be likely to lose. OTOH, JI increases the chance that Trap hits.
"Cast Summoning Trap?"
"Cancel"
"Spell Pierce?"
"Crap."
Lots of land +4x Chalice seems a bit heavy on the mana. Maybe cut back to two Chalices and see how that does? I'd hate seeing Land/Land/Land/Chalice/Chalice/Path/Ulamog in my opening hand no matter how you look at it.
Lots of fatties, this deck hinges on resolving a Summoning Trap because I don't see you hardcasting very many of them. If you do, it'll be a very slow hardcast. I'd reccomend some card selection....drop two chalices, progenitus, and one sphinx for 4x Ponder? You're trying to accelerate into Summoning Trap, not Ulamog, Emrakul, or Iona. And since you've got so much acceleration, but not any little dudes, where's DoJ? It begs to be in here, else someone else's shrouded beatstick be unanswerable, WW walks all over you, or an Eldrazi deckuses minions to accelerate into Emrakul before you draw summoning trap.
EDH: Grand Arbiter $tax, Freyalise Stompy, Mimeoplasm Death From the Grave
4 Overgrown Battlement
4 Perimeter Captain
4 Wall of Denial
Summoning Trap and Friends
4 Summoning Trap
2 Iona, Shield of Emeria
2 Emrakul
1 Ulamog
3 Jace, Mindsculptor
3 Garruk Wildspeaker
2 Path to exile
3 Oblivion Ring
4 Everflowing Chalice
Lands
4 Sunpetal Grove
4 Glacial Fortress
3 Misty Rainforest
3 Island
4 Forest
3 Plains
2 Halamir Depths
Wall theme is pushed a little more to make it a hell for aggro added garruk to ramp more and make beasties. This deck likes summoning trap, but it doesn't mind hardcasting (as such ulamog)
EllE:
EDH: Grand Arbiter $tax, Freyalise Stompy, Mimeoplasm Death From the Grave
EllE:
It would sure be nice if there was a decent bodied creature (say, 5/5) that could somehow give me life whenever it dealt damage or something like that, maybe had flying to help me deal with other fliers, and could attack and bash people in the face. If there ever were such a card, I'd make it an Angel of some nature.
And I'd have it slay banes. Whatever a bane is.
Look at it this way:
T1 Halimar Depths
T2 forest, Overgrown Battlement
T3 Sunpetal Grove, WoD
T4 BSA (Either beats face or uses up removal setting up for.....)
T5 Summoning Trap
If nothing else, I'm not sure how much of a place four Chalices has in this deck, there's just not a whole lot of free mana sitting around early game when chalice is need most. On T4, when you would Chalice for two, you're only gonna be one turn away from casting Summoning Trap anyway. On T6, you could chalice for three, but on T6 I should be beating your face in with something ridiculous by now.
Plus, I'm not gonna complain about Summoning Trap only getting me a BSA.
EDH: Grand Arbiter $tax, Freyalise Stompy, Mimeoplasm Death From the Grave
I agree with a lot of what you say. 8 sources of acceleration is probably a lot. Also, I think Momentous fall is a card to keep track of for the deck.
I would definitely consider -2 chalice for +2 DoJ. Still, this would appear to make the control match slightly worse for how much of an upgrade vs aggro? Is 8 walls, 4 paths, and 3 O-rings not enough already?
Im not sold on Ponder. What would you take out for it?
The way I see it is that if I add more DoJ I should take out the wall package altogether and add BSA or SoJI, plus either ponders or negates.
2x Iona, Shield of Emeria
2x Emrakul, Aeons Torn
1x Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
4x Baneslayer Angel
2x Sphinx of Lost Truths
Artifacts: 4
4x Everflowing Chalice
4x Summoning Trap
4x Path to Exile
Sorceries:
4x Day of Judgment
4x Ponder/Negate
Enchantments: 3
3x Oblivion Ring
Planeswalkers: 4
4x Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2x Marsh Flats
4x Seaside Citadel
4x Misty Rainforest
4x Forest
4x Islands
5x Plains
2x Glacial Fortress
This deck only runs Green for summoning trap. Does its matchup vs. control improve? Does its matchup vs aggro improve? I think the control matchup decreases slightly while the aggro matchup, might improve.
Fast aggro/RDW
Control
The best thing to help against control would probably be Spell Pierce. Control decks keep their cancel/negate mana open, but they usually don't anticipate a full blown counter battle by leaving two more mana open. Negate may not be a bad fit either, but Spell Pierce is more useful against aggro/WW and control IMO since this deck is doing pretty much nothing the first few turns that really threatens the opponent.
My case for Ponder is this: The deck hinges on being able to cast Summoning Trap into something awesome. Ponder allows you to not only dig for Summoning Trap, but offers a small preview of what you might Summoning Trap into. It also digs for utility cards if the situation calls for it. Need a win con? Dig for trap. Need boardsweep? Dig for Day of Judgment. Need to kill a permanent? Dig for o-ring/path. Kinda mana screwed? Dig for land. Halimar Depths is a nice accent as well, just wish it wasn't a CiPT land.
PLaying against control? Find that Spell Pierce or Negate before casting Summoning Trap. A lot of playing against control will be casting Summoning Trap at just the right moment. I would honestly drop the Sphinx of Lost Truths from your list. Ponder does the job he does for digging, and it's not like you didn't add 4 BSA for additional threats. I don't see Sphinx of Lost Truths being a huge help here. I got 5 mana, I'm gonna play BSA.
Help against control matchups? Build the sideboard accordingly, side out Paths and Days, bring in some really annoying cheap beatsticks for them to counter (KoTR comes to mind) . Then play Summoning Trap for free! I see control being one of the better matchups since the deck is built around Summoning Trap and Summoning Trap is kinda made to hate on control.
As far as aggro/RDW, you know what they hate? Kor Firewalkers.
EDH: Grand Arbiter $tax, Freyalise Stompy, Mimeoplasm Death From the Grave
Turn 1 PtE, turn 3 Wall of Denial would probably win the game.
WW would probably be able to out swarm the walls, but thats what sideboard BSA's, DoJ would be for.
The question becomes, ponder is fine on turn 1. However, are 4 ponders...along with 4 jaces to dig necessary? Granted, ponder grants an additional shuffle effect without needing a fetch as well.
I was considering the transformational sideboard.
Assuming adding 4 DoJ from the board turned the WW/allies matchup favorable, would a creature/negate heavy sideboard be enough to turn the control match?
4x DoJ (or just 2x depending on the final mainboard).
4x KotR
4x BSA
3x Negate/Rhox War Monk/KFW?
Let's say you are playing against control. You drew walls that you don't need. Turn 5, cast Sphinx of Lost Truths without kicker. Draw 3 and discard your wall(s) + whatever you don't need. If they counter Sphinx? Oh wait, that's what Summoning Trap is for.
Against aggro, Sphinx is a turn 5 large butt that makes them waste removal to get around, and that's in addition to having to get around walls and Day of Judgment.
Sphins of Lost Truths is so good in this deck. I'm talking from experience and not hypothetical.
SoLT is not getting dropped. It's even fine off of a summoning trap. I'm considering adding realms uncharted for everflowing chalice (might consider momentous fall instead).
Realms, at least in theory, seems like a great card choice. It plays well with instant speed removal, keeps my hand stocked and thins the deck by at least 4 cards, making summoning traps slightly more likely to hit. With the mana base, if I need one of any color, realms will ALWAYS be able to grab that color (unless Ive already used up, all the misty rainforests..buut realistically that will happen few and far between).
Also, if the sideboard includes KotR for the control matchup, realms gains even more of a use.