I run a typical UB Control deck, of the non-mill variety.
I'm considering maining 2 Nephalia Drownyard for control deck match ups.
In a UB Control mirror in particular, your opponent can deck him/herself without any helf from me and this would significantly push that process along.p
As a secondary strategy, it allows me to mill myself looking for Flashback spells or cards I can Flashback with Snappy. (I stress that this would just be a bonus from time to time and not the main reason I woud run it)
The negative is that it slighlty increases the chances of being color screwed. The main situation is having 1BUand needing to cast Dissipate.
I could side it, but I'm having trouble finding the room. I would also not be able to use it game 1.
If I cast Life's Finale with no creatures on the board (no creatures down for me or my opponent), I assume I can still search my opponent's library for 3 creature cards?
They need 2 regular burn spells (or 1 morbid Brimstone) to kill it, it's quite ressiliant. If you counter one of the 2 burn spells (or the Brimstone), you can 2x1 or 3x1 him.
Plus you can have more than one spellskite
I agree with this statement.
Letting the first burn spell hit, and then countering the second is just mean and a great play.
Also, worst case scenario they've just burnt two burn spells (2 for 1 trade) which puts them that much closer to running out of gas.
I worry more above blocking a creature with it and then them burning it with a single spell. (If no counter in hand) Even then, you've slowed them down enough to make the trade worth while.
Steel Sabotage is good for the shrine but too narrow for everything else in their deck. Bringing in say 2 of these at the cost of main deck spells is bad in practice.
Spellskite on the other hand shuts down just about everything they do.
Plan A is to Mana Leak the shrine, plain and simple.
Plan B is to drop a Spellskite.
Plan C hope you drop a Wurmcoil Engine in time to race the shrine.
I'm a little unconvensional in that I maindeck 2 Spellskites. That puts me on the front foot again RDW and its actually a deck I don't worry about playing against. Also, its uses for UB Control are much broader than most people realise. (But that's another topic)
Typical responses in Magic such as 'it depends on the situation', 'when it benefits you the most' or 'depends which deck you are playing against' don't actually contribute anything. These statement's are obvious and provide no information.
It is possible to provide general rules of thumb. While not set in stone, they are more usefull to players who are trying to learn than no information at all.
It certainly does depend on the situation but one can provide some examples of when to drop the win con and when not to as I did in an earlier post. i.e I went on to state the situations.
One of the main selling points of batterskull is its bounce affect.
However, bouncing the batterskull in response to artifact destruction sounds good in theory but if you play it turn 5 thats not possible. If you are gonna wait until you have 8 mana (say turn 11) to play it safely then you might as well have played a wurmcoil.
Even if you do get to re-occur Batterskull it cost cost 8 mana in total. Getting two tokens cost me nothing and I can use that mana to further advance my game.
if your oponent is playing control, yes. If it is agro, being a goldfish for 3 turns while you cast think twice or FA isnt that good. maybe I m wrong, but if Im going to hold a questionable hand like 5 lands, I'd rather have two inmediate answers to try to survive long enough so it does matter what I can draw. A hand with 5 lands and no inmediate answers might be dead before it can play whatever Think Twice gave you.
Well, my original post states 1 immediate answer in hand which is exceptional for the deck I'm playing against plus a draw spell, rather than no immediate answer.
If I have 5 lands and no immediate answered in hand I would mull.
I drop it turn 6 in any one of the following scenarios:
1. I have a Spellskite in play. (Which is why I maindeck 2)
2. I have a second titan in hand. (If the first dies I still have the second)
3. They have no cards in hand.
4. They are playing a deck which is unlikely to have an effective answer (Not many decks fit here, but usually RDW can't remove a titan and if Wolf Run uses Beast Within on my Wurmcoil Engine I can live with that)
5. They have used the answer you are worried about once earlier in the game, meaning the chance of a second is less likely.
6. If I don't drop it turn 6 I'm going to lose anyway, in which case, I've got nothing to lose.
7. You believe you have correctly read your opponents body language and on that basis they have no answer.
Sometimes you have to take a calculated risk and just go for it.
Its a good card but making room for it is the problem.
I tried replacing 4 Think Twice with 4 Gitaxian Probe and it didn't turn out well. (Not enough draw power)
You could make room for it by thinning out your spells, losing 1 counter, 1 removal, 1 draw and 1 creature, on the basis you will cantrip into these anyway. Trouble is that this slows you down and you may be dead before you can draw answers.
Why a draw spell? With a draw spell you have chances to draw a land instead of, say, a removal. I'd keep a hand with 5 lands and 2 removals much more than a hand with 5 lands, 1 removal and 1 think twice/forbiden alchemy
As Think Twice gives you 2 cards, you effectivey have an hand of 5 lands, 1 spell and 2 cards. Those two cards should either be 2 spells (in which case you are better off) or 1 spell and 1 land. If the later, then you are back to being stuck with 2 spells but now you have cleared 1 land from your library.
With Forbidden Alchemy, cast it turn 3 (at end of opponents turn) and throw all lands in the bin. Worst case senario, you draw 4 lands and keep one, but thats 4 turns of land draw you no longer have to deal with.
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I'm considering maining 2 Nephalia Drownyard for control deck match ups.
In a UB Control mirror in particular, your opponent can deck him/herself without any helf from me and this would significantly push that process along.p
As a secondary strategy, it allows me to mill myself looking for Flashback spells or cards I can Flashback with Snappy. (I stress that this would just be a bonus from time to time and not the main reason I woud run it)
The negative is that it slighlty increases the chances of being color screwed. The main situation is having 1BUand needing to cast Dissipate.
I could side it, but I'm having trouble finding the room. I would also not be able to use it game 1.
Thoughts?
No question this card is more effective against WRG and the control decks than aggro.
The only two competitive aggro decks out there at the moment are RDW and W/x Human/Token variants. (and maybe MB Infect but time will tell)
But, the following cards are still worth extracting:
Mirran Crusader
Hero of Bladehold
Geist of Saint Traft
Hero of Oxid Ridge
The other thing to consider is that W/x Human/Token variants can have creatures grow out of BSZ range very quickly.
For RDW, spot removal is more important anyway, but I would still prefer BSZ over Life's Finale.
It sounds crazy at first but when you think it through:
In response, I cast Wring Flesh on it.
Does the Reckless Waif die or survive?
I agree with this statement.
Letting the first burn spell hit, and then countering the second is just mean and a great play.
Also, worst case scenario they've just burnt two burn spells (2 for 1 trade) which puts them that much closer to running out of gas.
I worry more above blocking a creature with it and then them burning it with a single spell. (If no counter in hand) Even then, you've slowed them down enough to make the trade worth while.
Steel Sabotage is good for the shrine but too narrow for everything else in their deck. Bringing in say 2 of these at the cost of main deck spells is bad in practice.
Spellskite on the other hand shuts down just about everything they do.
Plan A is to Mana Leak the shrine, plain and simple.
Plan B is to drop a Spellskite.
Plan C hope you drop a Wurmcoil Engine in time to race the shrine.
I'm a little unconvensional in that I maindeck 2 Spellskites. That puts me on the front foot again RDW and its actually a deck I don't worry about playing against. Also, its uses for UB Control are much broader than most people realise. (But that's another topic)
My thoughts are:
1. RDW - Wurmcoil Engine - For lifegain
2. MB Infect - Consecrated Sphinx - For flying
3. UB Control - Grave Titan - Can't be Doom Bladed and best at beating face
4. Solar Flare - Grave Titan - Can't be Doom Bladed and best at beating face
5. B Pod - Grave Titan - Best at beating face
6. Wolfrun - Undecided
7. Tempered Steel - Undecided
8. W/x Human variants - Undecided
For example:
4 Mana Leak
4 Dissipate
3 Stoic Rebuttal
3 Negate
It is possible to provide general rules of thumb. While not set in stone, they are more usefull to players who are trying to learn than no information at all.
It certainly does depend on the situation but one can provide some examples of when to drop the win con and when not to as I did in an earlier post. i.e I went on to state the situations.
The extra 1 cmc is not prohibitive.
One of the main selling points of batterskull is its bounce affect.
However, bouncing the batterskull in response to artifact destruction sounds good in theory but if you play it turn 5 thats not possible. If you are gonna wait until you have 8 mana (say turn 11) to play it safely then you might as well have played a wurmcoil.
Even if you do get to re-occur Batterskull it cost cost 8 mana in total. Getting two tokens cost me nothing and I can use that mana to further advance my game.
Well, my original post states 1 immediate answer in hand which is exceptional for the deck I'm playing against plus a draw spell, rather than no immediate answer.
If I have 5 lands and no immediate answered in hand I would mull.
1. I have a Spellskite in play. (Which is why I maindeck 2)
2. I have a second titan in hand. (If the first dies I still have the second)
3. They have no cards in hand.
4. They are playing a deck which is unlikely to have an effective answer (Not many decks fit here, but usually RDW can't remove a titan and if Wolf Run uses Beast Within on my Wurmcoil Engine I can live with that)
5. They have used the answer you are worried about once earlier in the game, meaning the chance of a second is less likely.
6. If I don't drop it turn 6 I'm going to lose anyway, in which case, I've got nothing to lose.
7. You believe you have correctly read your opponents body language and on that basis they have no answer.
Sometimes you have to take a calculated risk and just go for it.
I tried replacing 4 Think Twice with 4 Gitaxian Probe and it didn't turn out well. (Not enough draw power)
You could make room for it by thinning out your spells, losing 1 counter, 1 removal, 1 draw and 1 creature, on the basis you will cantrip into these anyway. Trouble is that this slows you down and you may be dead before you can draw answers.
As Think Twice gives you 2 cards, you effectivey have an hand of 5 lands, 1 spell and 2 cards. Those two cards should either be 2 spells (in which case you are better off) or 1 spell and 1 land. If the later, then you are back to being stuck with 2 spells but now you have cleared 1 land from your library.
With Forbidden Alchemy, cast it turn 3 (at end of opponents turn) and throw all lands in the bin. Worst case senario, you draw 4 lands and keep one, but thats 4 turns of land draw you no longer have to deal with.