Alright so I started fine tuning my GU list a bit more and am going to do some testing today hopefully. I moved some ramp over to things like Cultivate and Khalni to try and not be so reliant on creature based ramp and also added in Leak and Deprive in hopes of countering any clasms or DoJ's. I'm still working on the SB but the idea would be to have Flashfreeze versus Mirror, Eldrazi and RDW and Memoricide + Swamp for stripping the decks G2 of their main threats. A part of me really wanted to find a spot for Marsh Casualties to mess with other ramp decks little guys but BB is too hard for such a small splash.
I keep bouncing around with ideas and variations but haven't been able to nail down anything that really makes me feel content aside from the original list. Going GU gives me Jace but splashing just for Jace seems almost pointless if we don't tap into blue's other abilities.
GP's in town this weekend and I still haven't finished my Legacy or Standard deck so I may not get much testing in this weekend.
Crab was thrown in for testing in the off chance I don't kill them on the first Wave, don't get a slaver running or they wipe my board I can at least rest assured I've dented their library significantly. The problem with any spells as discussed earlier is they're trash unless you get them before you wave. Anything that isn't a permanent can't be played with Wave so it gets thrown into the yard and I'm more likely to use Mnemonic for a Genesis than a Leak or draw.
Given the current build there's not much you could do but that can be said for a lot of decks facing Memoricide. I'd probably say in a GU build you'd want some counters and cross your fingers for an opening hand Mana Leak or Deprive so if they get a Sacrement on T3 or Memoricide on T4 you can counter.
True. I meant Consuming Vapors, always seem to think Meek instead of Vapors for some reason. I don't see a lot of MBC however it's gaining popularity in the area and I know people have been chatting about ways to abuse Vat more and more here. I'm thinking I will probably run a GU based deck for JtMS as a 2 or 3 of and go from there. I really dig this idea and combo as it's just so explosive.
Time reversal is an interesting Idea, the problem I see is that it doesn't have much synergy with Wave. If you hit it off of the wave it just goes to the yard and if you cast one before a wave you probably will not be able to take advantage of it before your opponent does. Blue I would mostly want to be able to have Jace 2.0 so I could put those avengers and slavers back on top of the deck for a guaranteed hit. Speaking of Avenger, there was no room for Baloth with Avengers as the primary win condition, remember if you hit an avenger and lands off of a wave you get all the tokens AND all the tokens get the pump from the lands that come out because you can stack them so that they come out before the counters happen. One game I hit 10 lands and an avenger to put out 14 10/11 tokens in one turn, who needs 4/4 beasts when you have plants?
Wow.. I've never really played Avenger so I didn't even clue in that you could play the Avenger + Lands and then once on the field let the Landfall resolve itself to pump everyone. Nuts. Now Wave doesn't count as actually playing a spell though does it? It's just a "put onto battlefield" effect so anything that triggers on casting a spell doesn't work here right?
I'm also considering adding in a Tajuru Preserver or two for MBC with Consume the Meek or All is Dust to prevent any sacrifices.
Love the idea of the deck and the high speed ramp. Out of curiosity with a GU build have you tried running Time Reversal as a possible two of? In the off chance you dump everything and nearly deck yourself only to meet a DoJ or All is Dust it would at least provide another go at it no? Also with all the nuts land drops going on I'd almost want to run Rampaging Baloths to lay down an army of beasts.
Precursor is definitely a quick way to get the artifact count up and gives a lot of blocking bodies and attackers. The original list was pretty awful as you noticed and the second posted was the one I was testing the most but I've moved away from the Metalcraft a little bit.
Journey is just one of those cards in a rather creature heavy meta that works wonders. It's easily able to knock out a lot of threats played these days including Eldrazi which is nice.
I see you found the same thing I did - Metalcraft may just not be viable at this point in the block. I've never played around with Glint Hawk though I imagine it provides you with some fast creatures in the early turns. Removal seems a bit light though no? I might looking at running Dispense Justice or Journey to Nowhere
So I tested taking Kuldotha out and messing around with some other options in the 5 slot and here's what I've been testing so far:
Chandra Nalaar - ping twice and then nuke the board seems to work well for some of the faster aggro and ramp decks.
Koth of the Hammer - I found Valakut Ramp to be a rather difficult match so I looked into SB'ing Comet Storm and then figured the synergy with Koth would be quite good to clear their board.
Gideon Jura - I'm not entirely sure if he really fits here... destroying a tapped creature is fine but that's about all I've really used him for so far.
Baneslayer Angel - She's a beast on her own but when she's got shroud from a liquimetal coating and an Archangel it's nuts. Problem is if you can't coat her you just spent 5 to watch her go to the yard.
Some other changes I made were moving two Brittle Effigy into the main board to add some extra removal and artifacts to the mix. I found this helped a little vs ramp decks like Valakut but I really wonder if I should find room in the SB for Tunnel Ignus for that MU.
I should preface the original post with the fact that Metalcraft is really just a bonus in this deck where if you get it it's solid but if you don't you still have alternatives. LD vs mono black was a rough match for me and Consuming Vapors just destroyed me (needs a Leyline of Sanctity for that MU) but against dual colored decks like UG ramp it's really frustrating for them. Bolt their ramp dorks and turn their counter mana into artifacts and nuke them puts a huge hurt on ramp and even if they counter I usually leave mana open to nuke it with another Shatter/Revoke or pay my way out of Mana Leak.
Indomitable Archangel has to be the MVP of the deck in all honesty. I played two games where I had Chalice/Liquimetal/Wurmcoil on the board and dropped her only to have my opponent scoop. The shroud effect just stuns most players and it may not be 100% guaranteed odds when it happens it can quickly swing the game in your favor if it's not already.
After more testing... Kuldotha's out as I don't get consistent enough mana for the RRR when I really need it and by the time it dies I've got a Wurmcoil in hand ready to hit the floor which I'd rather spend the mana on. Will do more testing tomorrow night to see what could be done to the curve as the deck is a pretty late game deck right now with 4CC, 5CC and 6CC creatures.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Thoughts?
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Verdant Catacombs
12 Forest
6 Island
1 Halimar Depths
Creatures(16)
4 Lotus Cobra
4 Oracle of Mul Daya
3 Primeval Titan
2 Avenger of Zendikar
2 Mnemonic Wall
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
4 Genesis Wave
3 Jace, The Mind Sculptor
3 Mindslaver
3 Cultivate
2 Deprive
2 Mana Leak
2 Khalni Heart Expedition
Side(15)
3 Flashfreeze
3 Summoning Trap
3 Obstinate Baloth
1 Swamp
3 Memoricide
2 Gaea's Revenge
GP's in town this weekend and I still haven't finished my Legacy or Standard deck so I may not get much testing in this weekend.
7 Island
9 Forest
1 Halimar Depths
2 Khalni Garden
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Verdant Catacombs
3 Avenger of Zendikar
3 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truths
4 Primeval Titan
4 Lotus Cobra
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Hedron Crab
2 Mnemonic Wall
3 Mindslaver
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4 Genesis Wave
Still working out the sideboard and obviously vs Vengevine matches you'll want a replacement for Hedron Crab so I'm working that out as well.
Given the current build there's not much you could do but that can be said for a lot of decks facing Memoricide. I'd probably say in a GU build you'd want some counters and cross your fingers for an opening hand Mana Leak or Deprive so if they get a Sacrement on T3 or Memoricide on T4 you can counter.
Wow.. I've never really played Avenger so I didn't even clue in that you could play the Avenger + Lands and then once on the field let the Landfall resolve itself to pump everyone. Nuts. Now Wave doesn't count as actually playing a spell though does it? It's just a "put onto battlefield" effect so anything that triggers on casting a spell doesn't work here right?
I'm also considering adding in a Tajuru Preserver or two for MBC with Consume the Meek or All is Dust to prevent any sacrifices.
I like the suggestion of adding in an Eldrazi.
My list has changed to testing the following:
2 Arid Mesa
2 Tectonic Edge
1 Mystifying Maze
9 Mountains
9 Plains
Creatures(15)
4 Wall of Omens
2 Stoneforge Mystic
3 Cunning Sparkmage
3 Sun Titan
2 Inferno Titan
1 Wurmcoil Engine
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Destructive Force
3 Day of Judgment
3 Journey to Nowhere
1 Brittle Effigy
1 Basilisk Collar
1 Sword of Vengeance
3 Everflowing Chalice
2 Gideon Jura
2 Koth of the Hammer
Chandra Nalaar - ping twice and then nuke the board seems to work well for some of the faster aggro and ramp decks.
Koth of the Hammer - I found Valakut Ramp to be a rather difficult match so I looked into SB'ing Comet Storm and then figured the synergy with Koth would be quite good to clear their board.
Gideon Jura - I'm not entirely sure if he really fits here... destroying a tapped creature is fine but that's about all I've really used him for so far.
Baneslayer Angel - She's a beast on her own but when she's got shroud from a liquimetal coating and an Archangel it's nuts. Problem is if you can't coat her you just spent 5 to watch her go to the yard.
Some other changes I made were moving two Brittle Effigy into the main board to add some extra removal and artifacts to the mix. I found this helped a little vs ramp decks like Valakut but I really wonder if I should find room in the SB for Tunnel Ignus for that MU.
Indomitable Archangel has to be the MVP of the deck in all honesty. I played two games where I had Chalice/Liquimetal/Wurmcoil on the board and dropped her only to have my opponent scoop. The shroud effect just stuns most players and it may not be 100% guaranteed odds when it happens it can quickly swing the game in your favor if it's not already.
After more testing... Kuldotha's out as I don't get consistent enough mana for the RRR when I really need it and by the time it dies I've got a Wurmcoil in hand ready to hit the floor which I'd rather spend the mana on. Will do more testing tomorrow night to see what could be done to the curve as the deck is a pretty late game deck right now with 4CC, 5CC and 6CC creatures.