How does this work with frites? We are all about playing a fattie quickly and then maintaining board presence by constantly bringing them back. Biovisionary is a 2/3 for 3 that does nothing until there are 4 of them. How do we find all 4 or better yet, how do you propose we clone them while keeping our deck integrity.
pretty strong abbility for control decks... i mean seriously? you have 10 open mana, cast a think twice and let the opponent lose 8 life while gaining 8?
that seems absolutly powerful oO
and another reason there should be something playable which stops lifegain..
i seriously see things happening like: "eot - casting think twice, pay 8 mana gain 8 and you lose 8" now its my turn, flashback think twice, gain 7 you lose 7. seriously this seems crazy powerful for controldecks. okay you need white or black for it, which makes it a little harder, since you will need blue in a control deck.. but hey.. you got white/black duals, blue white duals and so on...^^ if there come some cards with this abbility and which are useful for controldecks, this could get crazy..^^
It's not an X, you would only gain one and they would lose one. There would only be that much of a swing if you had 8 extort abilities on the field.
Haste is strong, however I don't think it is worth a card slot. Slayer's stronghold is expensive but I think it's better purely because it won't take up the slot of an actual threat.
If you are a midrange deck that has access to red and white the this should be in your sideboard. It's not without its faults but it does good work against both aggro and mid range. I have had very good results with it in 4-Color animator. It answers Thrag and it's token, it hits everything in BR zombie and a majority of GW.
1) It's from a known faker.
1a) He can still only show 1 card?
2) It's very hard to tell the details of the card.
2a) That foiling is weird.
3) It's grossly, stupidly overpowered. There is no way that is balanced at 4 mana. That would be a very good 6 drop.
I am partial to decks that use control elements to stabilize the board until I can land an OMG fattie. I was a big fan of Wolfrun Ramp and am currently playing a 4 color reanimator. Money is not so much a factor, I have constantly placed first at my LGS in standard evenents. (As it stands, I am getting around $100+ a week in store credit). A deck that can be bough on the semi-cheap, then gradly improved $40-$50 at a time is ideal.
GW Agro is problematic. A turn 2 Thalia causes all sorts of headaches. Grisly and Mulch become problematic while faithless looting becomes just okay on the cast and horrible on the flashback.
Sideboard Tremblors and Burning Oil usually fixes this, but game 1 against GW is usually pretty rough.
Color problems aside, I don't think Tracker's Insctints is a good card for us. Grisly Salvage has the important "may" clause allowing you to take nothing and ship all 5 to the graveyard. If you really need a fattie in the graveyard, Trackers will require you to put in your hand.
Forbidden Alchemy however will be a rock star. Take 1 out of 4? There will always be a pick you dont mind being in your hand. Being able to take Instant / Sorcery will be huge if we can make the mana stable. However we can not pull that one off until Gatecrash and we get the other shocks. (Mainly Breeding Pool)
I am a fairly competitive standard player but a large set of my friends never go past the kitchen table. They like to do large-ish multiplayer games with 3-5 people in them. Almost exclusively they play some form of agro decks. I put togther this list not really to dominate and win, but more to try and make a cute game state.
The idea is early game I protect myself with Magma Jet and Pyroclasm, Brainstorm to find my "Combo". Get Witchbane orb out, then a Hive Mind play a few Arc Blade and then watch a bunch of Arc Blade go off targeting everyone/everything but me. Turn Aside will mostly be used to protect Hive Mind/Witchbane, (The only counter I could find that a bunch of Hive Mind copies won't just counter). The fun idea is to let Cerebral Vortex go off where everyone draws a bunch, then takes a bunch.
I couldn't resist adding a pair of pacts, but at least I didn't put in Tutors in!
She is good, but she doesn't affect the board once she appears. If you have another creature and are willing to swing out then she is good, but by herself she is lackluster compared to Grisel / AoS / Craterhoof
Overview:
Jund ramp is a late game control deck that is focused on board wiping any potental threats then landing a planeswalker or Griselbrand to gain a victory. It has a variety of support cards but primarily depends on Mutilate, Bonfire, Mizzium Mortars and Sever the Bloodline to control the field.
Lilliana of the Dark Realms " target="blank">Lilliana of the Dark Realms – Lilliana is our primary source of “ramping” while simlantously being a win condition in her own right. She will almost exclusively be used for her +1 to ensure constant land drops, for color fixing and for deck thinning.
Her -3 is more situational, but it does have some very strong applications. The most obvious use is killing a resilant threat that cant be dealt with by normal means. Loleth troll is the first to come to mind but indesctuable such as Predator Ooze are a decent target. The more interesting applications involve her buffing. Late game buff on to a Griselbrand can be a game ender (From additional damage, lifelink, card draw).
Her ultimate can be argued as a win more token. However, one should keep in mind that if she ultimate you are at at a minimum of 7 land. That means you can tap a crypt for red and the rest of the swamps you fetched up for 4 each and Devils play for 24. Or flash it back for 21. Or Rakados Return for game. Or Bonfire for 12 as a hard cast.
Garruk Primal Hunter " target="blank">Garruk Primal Hunter - A bit more straight forward planeswalker. Pop his +1 to make chump blocks for as long as you need, or if you have control of board state to start applying pressure. His -3 is conditionally good, but it also can draw you in to an answer for 0 mana. If you are in the control match up, pooping out a token then drawing three can easily be the deciding factor.
Unlike Liliana’s ultimate, Garruks is a must answer now bomb.
The only downside to Garruk is his color’s. Three green can be difficult for this deck occasionally, especially when you would like to overload Mizzium Mortars the next turn for RRR. With smart fetching this is not a problem, but it is something to keep in mind.
Griselbrand " target="blank">Griselbrand - The big man himself! Heart of the Monoblack control and a huge win con for us. 7/7 Flying, Lifelink is already enough of a win condition, adding in his draw enginge is just icing on the cake. Wolfrun him when you can, pump him with lilly when you can, -3 Garruk when you can. Even if he dies to removal, you can always draw 7 in response. (Which likely gets you another one.
The supporting cast!
Farseek" target="blank">Farseek - It's not flashy but it is necessary. It's a 4-of that you hope to see in your opening hand. Your goal is to play the big threats, the quicker you do that the better off you are.
Elderscale wurm" target="blank">Elderscale wurm – Mostly added as a stabilizing factor, but has a large amount of synergy with the rest of the deck. A surprising number of decks flat out fold to this card purely because they do not have a way to exile. Life loss will still get around his ability so you are not completely safe, but he goes a long ways. He is a good top deck, and a good follow up to a Griselbrand activation
Tree of Redemption" target="blank">Tree of Redemption – Not just a wall, but THE wall. Agro decks will spend multiple turns trying to whilte you down. He is not a win condition, he is a stall tatic that slows down the agro decks.
Gatecreeper Vine " target="blank">Gatecreeper Vine - One of our few early game options. He does not ramp per say, but he does keep the land flowing. While also proving a chump blocker to an opponents early threats.
Other creatures:
Vampire Nighthawk" target="blank">Vampire Nighthawk- A flying lifelinker that trades with anything without first strike? Yes please. Fantastic in the control match ups as a small threat they must waste removal on and good in the agro match ups as a block to kill their threats or a source of constant life gain. Dawntreader Elk " target="blank"> Dawntreader Elk - It is a rampant growth attached to a body. Which is fairly appealing, however its primary downside is the G of the activation cost. This is no viridian corrupter but it is closest we can come. He makes a good chump then sac target.
Our ambitious mana base!
Blood Crypt" target="blank">Blood Crypt/Overgrown Tomb" target="blank">Overgrown Tomb – Both Relevant shocklands are absolute 4-of’s. Mutilate is our go to board wipe, these still give us our swamp trigger while also still proving our colors. Keep in mind that these can be fetched up by Lilliana and farseek so do this often. Its best not to shock yourself unless you absolutely have to. (Generally to board wipe and prevent more damage the next turn), play them early and let them untap naturally.
Dragonskull Summit" target="blank">Dragonskull Summit – Is important to have in the deck to smooth out our colors, but it can not be fetched and does not recognize as a swamp for Lilliana or Mutilate. I been switching between 2 and 3 of these.
Kessig Wolf Run" target="blank">Kessig Wolf Run – A hedge card. Considering how creature light we are, its difficult to justify this. However since we are ramping, this can turn any creature in to a late game threat.
The board wipes!
Mutilate" target="blank">Mutilate – Good early game, good late game. The idea is to try and get as many 2 for 1’s as possible. Mind how many swamps you play. It may be wise to cap yourself out at 6 on field at some points. Just to make sure that Elderscale and Griselbrand can live through them.
Sever the Bloodline" target="blank">Sever the Bloodline – With the rise of zombies, blood artists and brimstone volley “exiling” a creature instead of killing it is very relevant. This can easily stop a swarm of strangleroot geists then late game stop a group of loleth’s troll.
Abrupt Decay" target="blank">Abrupt Decay – A sideboard card at least initially, but has potential to be mainboard pending on the meta. Kills almost everything in the agro match up and destroys O-ring/D-Sphere in blue white games.
Devil’s play" target="blank">Devil’s play – Great singleton removal that you can ramp to the size you need while also simultaneously being a win condition. It’s flash back is steep, but still worthwhile.
Mizzium Mortars" target="blank">Mizzium Mortars – It is an early game kill spell and a late game 1 sided board wipe. I won’t lie that its overload cast is difficult at time, but its worth it but perhaps not a 4-of.
Poetnetal Sideboard options:
Dreadbore" target="blank">Dreadbore – The sideboard all star. Good against superfriend decks. Anything that relies on a planeswalker will love this.
Rakdos Return" target="blank">Rakdos Return – This is the deciding card in control match ups. Most agro decks will generally play out their hand as quickly as possible, but it’s the guys who still have a full grip on turn 7 that you gotta watch out for.
Slaughter Games" target="blank">Slaughter Games – Is… okay. It all depends on what your opponent is playing, how certain you are of what they are playing and what they need to win. If there is a combo deck in the new meta, then this could shift from a mediocre card to a fantastic one.
The reason that most auras are not competitive is the 2-1 aspect of them, i.e. removing the creature the aura is on destroys the aura as well. Rancor and some other auras are better in that they return to your hand instead of the graveyard but don't expect any aura that doesn't have this ability to ever see competitive play.
Which is why you put it on a hexproof. Board wipes are virtually non existant as is. There is bonfire and .... Electrickty I guess?
If you play some mana dorks to try and side step the sacrfise effects (or ramp in to Sigarda) you can do okay with this. Etheral armor does have 2v1 potential, but it can also make a near immposbile creature to kill.
Another possible enchant to synergy with spectral flight? Evasion and +2/+2 seems good.
So in Modern, T2 Izzet Signet, T3 Epic Experiment for 8 with the full 'tron.
Reveal Temporal Mastery, Reverberate and a bunch of ridiculous stuff? Ancestral Vision x 4 is a must, of course...
That is a way to do it.
Personally just taking this baby on to a storm deck seems a lot easier / more reliable. Much smaller chance of hitting a non spell and has a much bigger chance of just going infinite with past in flames.
Tarmogoyf, Dark Confidant, Snapcaster Mage, Stoneforge Mystic.
Basically everything in legacy.
Basically everything agro in standard.
Agro is getting a lot of intersting toys in RtR, most of which are coming from the BG camp. Intrestingly enough abrupt decay might be one of the better cards to keep it in check. Personally I am just gonna side step the whole issue and go Naya ramp/control.
It's not an X, you would only gain one and they would lose one. There would only be that much of a swing if you had 8 extort abilities on the field.
One of the most underrated cards in standard.
1a) He can still only show 1 card?
2) It's very hard to tell the details of the card.
2a) That foiling is weird.
3) It's grossly, stupidly overpowered. There is no way that is balanced at 4 mana. That would be a very good 6 drop.
Fake.
Sideboard Tremblors and Burning Oil usually fixes this, but game 1 against GW is usually pretty rough.
Forbidden Alchemy however will be a rock star. Take 1 out of 4? There will always be a pick you dont mind being in your hand. Being able to take Instant / Sorcery will be huge if we can make the mana stable. However we can not pull that one off until Gatecrash and we get the other shocks. (Mainly Breeding Pool)
4 Steam Vents
7 Island
7 Mountain
4 Izzet Signet
4 Witchbane Orb
2 Pact of the Titan
4 Cerebral Vortex
4 Magma Jet
4 Arc Blade
3 Turn Aside
3 Rhystic Study
4 Brainstorm
2 Pyroclasm
The idea is early game I protect myself with Magma Jet and Pyroclasm, Brainstorm to find my "Combo". Get Witchbane orb out, then a Hive Mind play a few Arc Blade and then watch a bunch of Arc Blade go off targeting everyone/everything but me. Turn Aside will mostly be used to protect Hive Mind/Witchbane, (The only counter I could find that a bunch of Hive Mind copies won't just counter). The fun idea is to let Cerebral Vortex go off where everyone draws a bunch, then takes a bunch.
I couldn't resist adding a pair of pacts, but at least I didn't put in Tutors in!
Thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions?
Overview:
Jund ramp is a late game control deck that is focused on board wiping any potental threats then landing a planeswalker or Griselbrand to gain a victory. It has a variety of support cards but primarily depends on Mutilate, Bonfire, Mizzium Mortars and Sever the Bloodline to control the field.
Sample Working Decklist
4 Griselbrand
4 Farseek
4 Liliana of the Dark Realms
4 Mutilate
2 Garruk, Primal Hunter
2 Elderscale Wurm
4 Blood Crypt
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Rootbound Crag
2 Dragonskull Summit
2 Forest
5 Swamp
2 Woodland Cemetery
2 Sever the Bloodline
4 Mizzium Mortars
2 Devil's Play
2 Kessig Wolf Run
2 Gatecreeper Vine
2 Tree of Redemption
The Main Stars!
Her -3 is more situational, but it does have some very strong applications. The most obvious use is killing a resilant threat that cant be dealt with by normal means. Loleth troll is the first to come to mind but indesctuable such as Predator Ooze are a decent target. The more interesting applications involve her buffing. Late game buff on to a Griselbrand can be a game ender (From additional damage, lifelink, card draw).
Her ultimate can be argued as a win more token. However, one should keep in mind that if she ultimate you are at at a minimum of 7 land. That means you can tap a crypt for red and the rest of the swamps you fetched up for 4 each and Devils play for 24. Or flash it back for 21. Or Rakados Return for game. Or Bonfire for 12 as a hard cast.
Garruk Primal Hunter " target="blank">Garruk Primal Hunter - A bit more straight forward planeswalker. Pop his +1 to make chump blocks for as long as you need, or if you have control of board state to start applying pressure. His -3 is conditionally good, but it also can draw you in to an answer for 0 mana. If you are in the control match up, pooping out a token then drawing three can easily be the deciding factor.
Unlike Liliana’s ultimate, Garruks is a must answer now bomb.
The only downside to Garruk is his color’s. Three green can be difficult for this deck occasionally, especially when you would like to overload Mizzium Mortars the next turn for RRR. With smart fetching this is not a problem, but it is something to keep in mind.
Griselbrand " target="blank">Griselbrand - The big man himself! Heart of the Monoblack control and a huge win con for us. 7/7 Flying, Lifelink is already enough of a win condition, adding in his draw enginge is just icing on the cake. Wolfrun him when you can, pump him with lilly when you can, -3 Garruk when you can. Even if he dies to removal, you can always draw 7 in response. (Which likely gets you another one.
The supporting cast!
Farseek" target="blank">Farseek - It's not flashy but it is necessary. It's a 4-of that you hope to see in your opening hand. Your goal is to play the big threats, the quicker you do that the better off you are.
Elderscale wurm" target="blank">Elderscale wurm – Mostly added as a stabilizing factor, but has a large amount of synergy with the rest of the deck. A surprising number of decks flat out fold to this card purely because they do not have a way to exile. Life loss will still get around his ability so you are not completely safe, but he goes a long ways. He is a good top deck, and a good follow up to a Griselbrand activation
Tree of Redemption" target="blank">Tree of Redemption – Not just a wall, but THE wall. Agro decks will spend multiple turns trying to whilte you down. He is not a win condition, he is a stall tatic that slows down the agro decks.
Gatecreeper Vine " target="blank">Gatecreeper Vine - One of our few early game options. He does not ramp per say, but he does keep the land flowing. While also proving a chump blocker to an opponents early threats.
Other creatures:
Vampire Nighthawk" target="blank">Vampire Nighthawk - A flying lifelinker that trades with anything without first strike? Yes please. Fantastic in the control match ups as a small threat they must waste removal on and good in the agro match ups as a block to kill their threats or a source of constant life gain.
Dawntreader Elk " target="blank"> Dawntreader Elk - It is a rampant growth attached to a body. Which is fairly appealing, however its primary downside is the G of the activation cost. This is no viridian corrupter but it is closest we can come. He makes a good chump then sac target.
Our ambitious mana base!
Dragonskull Summit" target="blank">Dragonskull Summit – Is important to have in the deck to smooth out our colors, but it can not be fetched and does not recognize as a swamp for Lilliana or Mutilate. I been switching between 2 and 3 of these.
Woodland Cemetery" target="blank">Woodland Cemetery – Slightly more important then Dragonskull purely becaue it is attached to green, but still suffers many of the same downsides.
Kessig Wolf Run" target="blank">Kessig Wolf Run – A hedge card. Considering how creature light we are, its difficult to justify this. However since we are ramping, this can turn any creature in to a late game threat.
The board wipes!
Bonfire of the Damned" target="blank">Bonfire of the Damned – Our primary reason for playing red. It is a solid board wipe even as a hard cast but absolutely devastating as a miracle.
Sever the Bloodline" target="blank">Sever the Bloodline – With the rise of zombies, blood artists and brimstone volley “exiling” a creature instead of killing it is very relevant. This can easily stop a swarm of strangleroot geists then late game stop a group of loleth’s troll.
Abrupt Decay" target="blank">Abrupt Decay – A sideboard card at least initially, but has potential to be mainboard pending on the meta. Kills almost everything in the agro match up and destroys O-ring/D-Sphere in blue white games.
Devil’s play" target="blank">Devil’s play – Great singleton removal that you can ramp to the size you need while also simultaneously being a win condition. It’s flash back is steep, but still worthwhile.
Mizzium Mortars" target="blank">Mizzium Mortars – It is an early game kill spell and a late game 1 sided board wipe. I won’t lie that its overload cast is difficult at time, but its worth it but perhaps not a 4-of.
Poetnetal Sideboard options:
Flames of the Firebrand" target="blank">Flames of the Firebrand – It’s not quite a board wipe, but its close enough.
Rakdos Return" target="blank">Rakdos Return – This is the deciding card in control match ups. Most agro decks will generally play out their hand as quickly as possible, but it’s the guys who still have a full grip on turn 7 that you gotta watch out for.
Slaughter Games" target="blank">Slaughter Games – Is… okay. It all depends on what your opponent is playing, how certain you are of what they are playing and what they need to win. If there is a combo deck in the new meta, then this could shift from a mediocre card to a fantastic one.
Unauthorized modtext removed. ~parinoid
Which is why you put it on a hexproof. Board wipes are virtually non existant as is. There is bonfire and .... Electrickty I guess?
If you play some mana dorks to try and side step the sacrfise effects (or ramp in to Sigarda) you can do okay with this. Etheral armor does have 2v1 potential, but it can also make a near immposbile creature to kill.
Another possible enchant to synergy with spectral flight? Evasion and +2/+2 seems good.
That is a way to do it.
Personally just taking this baby on to a storm deck seems a lot easier / more reliable. Much smaller chance of hitting a non spell and has a much bigger chance of just going infinite with past in flames.
Basically everything in legacy.
Basically everything agro in standard.
Agro is getting a lot of intersting toys in RtR, most of which are coming from the BG camp. Intrestingly enough abrupt decay might be one of the better cards to keep it in check. Personally I am just gonna side step the whole issue and go Naya ramp/control.