All budget discussion regarding U/w Tempo go in this thread. Budget (this means all kinds of card availability-issues) discussion elsewhere in this subforum is not allowed.
Phantasmal Images run at least $10 and Lords are $4. I don't know how you can make a cheap version of this deck without the (roughly) $56 you need to spend to get those.
In all seriousness it's hard to "budget" this deck. You can go Illusions with control. Forgoing the Snapcasters, Dismembers and just taking cheaper removals. You can even go U/B with Doom Blades/Go for the Throats.
Phantasmal Images run at least $10 and Lords are $4. I don't know how you can make a cheap version of this deck without the (roughly) $56 you need to spend to get those.
Maybe do a core draft and pick up 12 Bears?
It depends what budget you decide to set.
Snapcaster is expensive but kicks the deck into tier 1, although you *can* run a blue fish deck without him (although as much as anything he solves the issue of there being a lack of suitable counters at 2 CMC or less).
Likewise, the Moorland Haunts could drop, taking out the duals since Seachrome are pretty costly right now. It makes you that much more of a glass cannon but it's playable.
Likewise one can make an evaluation as to whether they require both Gut Shot AND Mental Misstep in this meta, whether to run Dismember since the latter 2 are costly anyway (although I'd say Dismember especially is a format staple and worth picking up.
Not got a full list, but I'd probably run Grand Architect as a second lord in a budget version in order to give the deck more punching power. Probably just run:
Ghost Quarter can come out if needed to shave a few $ off...the deck *does* at least build well off someone buying the M12 pre-con and adding to it, although it does feel like a JVL type of budget deck since it's still using Image as a card over $10
It's already one of the more affordable Standard decks. Honestly, besides the Snapcaster Mages, the deck is "budget" already.
Totally agreed. Also, the high-value cards are really versatile (can be used in other decks), and therefore are stable in value. Even if Illusions drops from Tier 1 upon the release of DKA, all of these cards will remain popular.
Snapcaster Mage is expensive, but it is guaranteed to hold its value. It's arguably the single most powerful creature in Standard, and that might still be the case a year from now. If control decks make a comeback, this guy will be a staple. Not only does it have another 22 months of Standard shelf life, it is also used in Legacy and Modern too.
Phantasmal Image, if reprinted in M13 (which I think it will be), has another 1.5 years left. As long as Hexproof legends exist (Thrun and GST), he will always find a place in control decks (sideboard or main deck).
The other high value card is Seachrome Coast, which is the best Scars dual right now, and will retain its value as long as it's legal in standard.
I disagree on the notion Illusions can't be budget. If I'm not mistaken, Illusions Fish should be one of the cheaper of the current tier1 decks to make (TS is the only one I'm fairly certain of to be cheaper). Moreover, the core of the deck (minus SCMs) is, I think pretty reasonably affordable - of course, this is based on my subjective definition of 'budget'. Still, bargain basement variants should be possible.
For people w/o SCM but want to play a tempo deck with Illusions, use Aether Adept. Adept gives a similar effect as SCM+Vapor snag, has 2 toughness and is dirrt cheep. Granted, power level goes down, but this card should be very suitable against other budget decks, since most of those are casual creature decks anyways.
Stitched Drake is a happily cheep card, and a powerhouse in the tier1 variant.
In lieu of copious amounts of phyrexian mana'd removal, I think the Spined Thopter and Porcelain Legionaire are worth taking as well. In fact, I think cards from the Illusionary Might Event deck are some of the best budget Illusions deck cards in general.
EDIT: Yeah, SCM is probably going to be one of those forever awesome cards that never go down in price. It's *undercosted* (mana-wise) for what it does, and what it does is so much beyond just being a creature (and even as just a creature, it's quite decent).
For people w/o SCM but want to play a tempo deck with Illusions, use Aether Adept. Adept gives a similar effect as SCM+Vapor snag, has 2 toughness and is dirrt cheep. Granted, power level goes down, but this card should be very suitable against other budget decks, since most of those are casual creature decks anyways.
Aether Adept and Azure Mage come to mind as possible alternative, especially Azure mage. In the absence of SCM card draw combined with lots of cantrips can help overcome the lack of flashback through sheer card advantage. The big problem is both of them are fairly mana intensive in a tempo deck.
Stitched Drake is a happily cheep card, and a powerhouse in the tier1 variant.
In lieu of copious amounts of phyrexian mana'd removal, I think the Spined Thopter and Porcelain Legionaire are worth taking as well. In fact, I think cards from the Illusionary Might Event deck are some of the best budget Illusions deck cards in general.
Maindeck Spined Thopter can be pretty good. A flying 2/1 on turn 2 is nothing to scoff at.
EDIT: Yeah, SCM is probably going to be one of those forever awesome cards that never go down in price. It's *undercosted* (mana-wise) for what it does, and what it does is so much beyond just being a creature (and even as just a creature, it's quite decent).
Agreed, but the plus side to that is that SCM will almost never be a wasted investment. It'll probably be a lot like bob where a playset could pay for tier 1 standard deck in a few years.
EDIT: What about Civilized Scholar? Sure looting is less powerful without Snapcaster, but with Vapor Snags and other bounces in hand he can potentially be a blowout. Drop him turn three, bin a chump EoT turn four and vapor snag their block turn 5. Sure it isn't very efficient and it's kind of on the slow side but it can be a 'come from nowhere' card plus his flip trigger helps create fodder for Stitched Drake and Moorland Haunt.
As this deck is a very mental/foresight oriented deck, one should view acquiring/prioritizing the cards for it. I cannot defend hard enough the use of Moarland Haunt or Snapcaster. And Image, while I side it out enough, is needed in certain matchups.
Otherwise you probably will just play Architect/Illusions pre-Inn. Which was a solid deck, however, SCM makes this style hum.
I would pose the question of what, in order, are the priority acquisitions? When is SCM #4 more valuable than Image #3.. things like that.
Aether Adept and Azure Mage come to mind as possible alternative, especially Azure mage. In the absence of SCM card draw combined with lots of cantrips can help overcome the lack of flashback through sheer card advantage. The big problem is both of them are fairly mana intensive in a tempo deck.
Aether Adept shouldn't be too mana intensive. It costs the same as a SCM + Vapor Snag combo, with the added benefits of not needing said Snag in GY and having 2 toughness over 1. It's one of the stronger OTB picks in the Illusions event deck, which is imo a good standard from which to judge a budget deck.
Azure mage is probably way too slow; 4 mana for 1 card probably isn't going to see more than 1-2 plays every 1-2 games, even going at the event deck's pace. The 2 for 2/1 is equal to the SCM, but I'd probably rather have an Aether Adept in the slot. Also, Ponder and Gitaxian Probe are thankfully pretty cheap commons, so the regular draw engine should be accessible to most everyone.
Maindeck Spined Thopter can be pretty good. A flying 2/1 on turn 2 is nothing to scoff at.
Yeah. Flying is an awesome awesome ability in a tempo deck. I used to play (casual) Skies back around Masques block and I just remember how much more confidence that deck gave me over even the tourney-level Delver Fish deck I've got now.
EDIT: What about Civilized Scholar? Sure looting is less powerful without Snapcaster, but with Vapor Snags and other bounces in hand he can potentially be a blowout. Drop him turn three, bin a chump EoT turn four and vapor snag their block turn 5. Sure it isn't very efficient and it's kind of on the slow side but it can be a 'come from nowhere' card plus his flip trigger helps create fodder for Stitched Drake and Moorland Haunt.
I think the main problem with Scholar is that the Brute is 5/1. I suppose one might pull off some Deadly Insect-like psyke-out with that card, but I'm not sure that works for a tempo deck. 1 toughness fatties are usually not stellar.
First off, I know UW Illusions is better and I don't care.
So I've just completed building my ur tempo deck and I wanted to try out making UR Illusions since most of the cards are the same and I dont feel like dropping $40 on the UW lands. My build focuses more on ensuring a delver flip and I'm using burn to give this deck just a bit more reach/removal. I still need to test this deck, but I wanted some input from more experienced Illusion players since this is my first time playing this deck.
I really wanted to test this deck out online and I already had the images and lords. I didn't have the dual lands and the snapcasters online however (I have in RL but I wasnt buying each card twice). I thought about it and decided that the only reason to run the duel lands was to run Moorland Haunt and I didnt feel it was totally necessary so I ran an all islands mana base. I also looked at 2 drops in standard that i could play in place of Snapcaster Mage. I found Mindshrieker and I've liked him since i fit him in their instead of the Snapacaster. He rarely gets counterd and if you are smart, he can survive a Slagstorm. He also rarely is seen as a threat and helps me refrain from overextending by acting as a mana sink. I have never regretted drawing him later in the game and once again, he is budget friendly. I know that Snapcaster helps push the deck over, but I think that the deck can function without him. I think that getting rid of the dual lands and the snapcasters are the most budget frindly version you can make.
For the Pike-Blade build, the only expensive cards are Snapcasters, Seachrome Coast, and Geist- with Glacial Fortress clocking in at a few dollars. Seachrome can naturally be replaced with Islands and Plains for only a small decrease in consistency. Geist and Snapcaster are more essential. I'd recommend that people who want to play this deck try to collect those. There really isn't a suitable replacement for either, but Mindshreiker, Aether Adept, Looters, and other things mentioned don't seem bad.
Dunno hwo viable either of them are, but the second one feels okay. I need to test the first one. Trinket Mage is ... eh. Interesting though.
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my mouth is full of winsome lies -
and eyes are full of death besides
but luckily the soul is wise -
it sees beyond my blindness and
forced failure makes a better guise,
so as i come again alive,
it feels like life's a decent plan
typically how much does a deck like this costs? I stopped playing MTG since '07 (ravnica block) and I think I missed out alot. Judging by the prices of those pieces, probably around 250USD?
typically how much does a deck like this costs? I stopped playing MTG since '07 (ravnica block) and I think I missed out alot. Judging by the prices of those pieces, probably around 250USD?
If you skip the swords you can do it for probably a bit less. I would suggest aggressively looking for deals on ebay, if you're pretty diligent and don't mind being patient you could built a tier one version for around $225 or so.
I do not have Snapcaster Mages and Swords and I do not plan to invest in them for now as I have other tier1 deck but I am interested in this playstyle.
Do people have suggestion of which card can be used in their place (I am currently playing a delver/geist deck with 3 pikes and doomed traveler but there may be better alternatives)
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I do not have Snapcaster Mages and Swords and I do not plan to invest in them for now as I have other tier1 deck but I am interested in this playstyle.
Do people have suggestion of which card can be used in their place (I am currently playing a delver/geist deck with 3 pikes and doomed traveler but there may be better alternatives)
There really is no replacement for Snappy, but what I did when I didn't have them was I picked which function I wanted Snappy to fill most based on the meta and I found a blue creature to fit that slot.
Against control decks I run Merfolk Looter who is easily maindeckable in tier 1 lists.
Against decks that rely on bombs I'd run Aether Adept
Sometimes I'd run Deceiver Exarch as my super secret tech. Flashing EoT, tapping down the blocker, then untapping, equipping and swinging for alpha is hilarious.
Running a list with only a single geist and no seachrome coasts.
Any suggestions? Probably gonna wait a month or so before cashing or trading for them, if the deck stays consistent.
Currently running in place of them, 3x Drogskol captains and Evolving Wilds (not too sure, probably going to split 2/2 Island and Plains if the ETB tapped proved to be crippling).
The angelic is there just because it seemed like a good place for it, my meta is crawling with anti artifact (multiple WRR's running 4x Ancient Grudge for starters) and I wanted some form of non artifact threat to compliment dissipate's in the board. I had also thought about Bonds of Faith as it could function as both removal and a creature pump, but at 2/2 with no additional bonuses and a weakness against human card matchup's I figured I might as well use the Angelic I already have.
I find Grand Architect to work well though, his ability allows me to play and equip pikes without having to compromise on counter mana. Geist would probably be better in the slot, but the architect seems to get the job done.
So here's a budget build I've been putting together for a friend of mine. It works well, but the power level is severely reduced compared to normal tempo decks.
According to TCGplayer average that clocks in at $42.
The deck pretty much goes all in on the pike plan with delver and legionnaire providing beats along the way. 12 cantrips and the looters provide fuel for the Pike, the haunts keep you going in the midgame and the counterspell package makes sure you survive the early turns. It was designed with the mirror in mind but has a decent game against monored and can give WRR a decent fight post-board. Solar flare and UB control can be problematic because they can grind you out but we've managed to regularly land 12+ point swings by dropping and equipping a pike when they tapped out to drop a fatty.
Obviously the mana is the weakest part of the deck and the end game is hampered by the lack of swords, snapcasters and geists. If you were start with a list like this I would suggest acquiring the lands before anything else (seachrome first) then getting snapcasters and geists as you can. The pike makes a decent sword impression so I would get those last.
So here's a budget build I've been putting together for a friend of mine. It works well, but the power level is severely reduced compared to normal tempo decks.
According to TCGplayer average that clocks in at $42.
The deck pretty much goes all in on the pike plan with delver and legionnaire providing beats along the way. 12 cantrips and the looters provide fuel for the Pike, the haunts keep you going in the midgame and the counterspell package makes sure you survive the early turns. It was designed with the mirror in mind but has a decent game against monored and can give WRR a decent fight post-board. Solar flare and UB control can be problematic because they can grind you out but we've managed to regularly land 12+ point swings by dropping and equipping a pike when they tapped out to drop a fatty.
Obviously the mana is the weakest part of the deck and the end game is hampered by the lack of swords, snapcasters and geists. If you were start with a list like this I would suggest acquiring the lands before anything else (seachrome first) then getting snapcasters and geists as you can. The pike makes a decent sword impression so I would get those last.
This looks interesting. You use the words "It works well". So i take it you have some tests with this? I have most of the parts, except Porcelain Legionnaire and Rune-Chanters Pike. Lands won't problem. But getting Geist of Saint Traft around here is hard, even if you do have the money to buy. Snap is the same story. So would you be able to say this won't be viable against a meta full of U/W control, Solar Flare, or RDW?
This looks interesting. You use the words "It works well". So i take it you have some tests with this? I have most of the parts, except Porcelain Legionnaire and Rune-Chanters Pike. Lands won't problem. But getting Geist of Saint Traft around here is hard, even if you do have the money to buy. Snap is the same story. So would you be able to say this won't be viable against a meta full of U/W control, Solar Flare, or RDW?
"well" is a relative term. We brewed it up and played the hell out of in paper and online until he was comfortable with the list. He's been played a slightly modified version of it this week and went 3-2-1 so it's capable of putting up some wins. It isn't awesome and it's not going to get you into the top 8 often, but his win ratio is about 45% in a fairly competitive meta.
If you already have the duals you should focus on picking up pikes then snapcasters. Geist is awesome but you can win without him.
So, I decided to build a UW Delver deck. I've obtained a playset of all the rares/mythics I need, SnapCasters, Geists etc.
However, upon reviewing some deck-lists and trying to find the cards I needed, I came up a bit short.
I'm currently working my early morning Saturday Job, so even if I have them, it's too late to use them today, unless I can manage to nab some from a fellow gamer.
Here's what I'm missing.
I have NO Lingering Souls, Invisible Stalkers or MerFolk Looters
Only have 1x Sword of War and Peace (but have 2 incoming)
Only have 2x Ponder.
Otherwise, I have plenty of the other cards from what I've seen of Decklists, such as; 4x Geists, Images, Snappys, Vapor Snags, Delvers etc.
I was thinking I could replace the missing cards with more counters/instants or revert back to Phantasmal Bears or something.
So, basically I could build this deck real quick before I go to work, but be short a few cards OR I could use my Township Tokens deck.
BGStandard Green AggroGB
UWRGModern Saheeli CobraGRWU
UBRGLegacy StormGRBU
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Maybe do a core draft and pick up 12 Bears?
20 Phantasmal Bears
4 Ponder
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Dissipate
In all seriousness it's hard to "budget" this deck. You can go Illusions with control. Forgoing the Snapcasters, Dismembers and just taking cheaper removals. You can even go U/B with Doom Blades/Go for the Throats.
It depends what budget you decide to set.
Snapcaster is expensive but kicks the deck into tier 1, although you *can* run a blue fish deck without him (although as much as anything he solves the issue of there being a lack of suitable counters at 2 CMC or less).
Likewise, the Moorland Haunts could drop, taking out the duals since Seachrome are pretty costly right now. It makes you that much more of a glass cannon but it's playable.
Likewise one can make an evaluation as to whether they require both Gut Shot AND Mental Misstep in this meta, whether to run Dismember since the latter 2 are costly anyway (although I'd say Dismember especially is a format staple and worth picking up.
Not got a full list, but I'd probably run Grand Architect as a second lord in a budget version in order to give the deck more punching power. Probably just run:
3 Ghost Quarter
4 Ponder
3 Gitaxian Probe
4 Vapor Snag
4 Mana Leak
4 Dismember
4 Phantasmal Bear
4 Lord of Illusions
4 Phantasmal Image
4 Grand Architect
Ghost Quarter can come out if needed to shave a few $ off...the deck *does* at least build well off someone buying the M12 pre-con and adding to it, although it does feel like a JVL type of budget deck since it's still using Image as a card over $10
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I do agree that the Snapcasters are key to making this deck tier 1, and the duel lands and removals all go along with it :/
It would be difficult to make a budget version of this deck that is still competitive, but not impossible
Standard
GWU BantRestoWurm UWG
EDH
RGURiku's Happy Fun TimesUGR
UBRThraximundarRBU
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Totally agreed. Also, the high-value cards are really versatile (can be used in other decks), and therefore are stable in value. Even if Illusions drops from Tier 1 upon the release of DKA, all of these cards will remain popular.
Snapcaster Mage is expensive, but it is guaranteed to hold its value. It's arguably the single most powerful creature in Standard, and that might still be the case a year from now. If control decks make a comeback, this guy will be a staple. Not only does it have another 22 months of Standard shelf life, it is also used in Legacy and Modern too.
Phantasmal Image, if reprinted in M13 (which I think it will be), has another 1.5 years left. As long as Hexproof legends exist (Thrun and GST), he will always find a place in control decks (sideboard or main deck).
The other high value card is Seachrome Coast, which is the best Scars dual right now, and will retain its value as long as it's legal in standard.
For people w/o SCM but want to play a tempo deck with Illusions, use Aether Adept. Adept gives a similar effect as SCM+Vapor snag, has 2 toughness and is dirrt cheep. Granted, power level goes down, but this card should be very suitable against other budget decks, since most of those are casual creature decks anyways.
Stitched Drake is a happily cheep card, and a powerhouse in the tier1 variant.
In lieu of copious amounts of phyrexian mana'd removal, I think the Spined Thopter and Porcelain Legionaire are worth taking as well. In fact, I think cards from the Illusionary Might Event deck are some of the best budget Illusions deck cards in general.
EDIT: Yeah, SCM is probably going to be one of those forever awesome cards that never go down in price. It's *undercosted* (mana-wise) for what it does, and what it does is so much beyond just being a creature (and even as just a creature, it's quite decent).
Aether Adept and Azure Mage come to mind as possible alternative, especially Azure mage. In the absence of SCM card draw combined with lots of cantrips can help overcome the lack of flashback through sheer card advantage. The big problem is both of them are fairly mana intensive in a tempo deck.
Maindeck Spined Thopter can be pretty good. A flying 2/1 on turn 2 is nothing to scoff at.
Agreed, but the plus side to that is that SCM will almost never be a wasted investment. It'll probably be a lot like bob where a playset could pay for tier 1 standard deck in a few years.
EDIT: What about Civilized Scholar? Sure looting is less powerful without Snapcaster, but with Vapor Snags and other bounces in hand he can potentially be a blowout. Drop him turn three, bin a chump EoT turn four and vapor snag their block turn 5. Sure it isn't very efficient and it's kind of on the slow side but it can be a 'come from nowhere' card plus his flip trigger helps create fodder for Stitched Drake and Moorland Haunt.
Modern:
UR Storm RU
RG Titanshift GR
MTGO: MrPajitnv (Yes I typo'd it)
Otherwise you probably will just play Architect/Illusions pre-Inn. Which was a solid deck, however, SCM makes this style hum.
I would pose the question of what, in order, are the priority acquisitions? When is SCM #4 more valuable than Image #3.. things like that.
To show my example:
1) Image
2) Image
3) Snapcaster
4) Snapcaster
5) Image
6) Snapcaster
7) Snapcaster
8) Seachrome
9) Seachrome
10) Image
11) Seachrome
12) Seachrome
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Aether Adept shouldn't be too mana intensive. It costs the same as a SCM + Vapor Snag combo, with the added benefits of not needing said Snag in GY and having 2 toughness over 1. It's one of the stronger OTB picks in the Illusions event deck, which is imo a good standard from which to judge a budget deck.
Azure mage is probably way too slow; 4 mana for 1 card probably isn't going to see more than 1-2 plays every 1-2 games, even going at the event deck's pace. The 2 for 2/1 is equal to the SCM, but I'd probably rather have an Aether Adept in the slot. Also, Ponder and Gitaxian Probe are thankfully pretty cheap commons, so the regular draw engine should be accessible to most everyone.
Yeah. Flying is an awesome awesome ability in a tempo deck. I used to play (casual) Skies back around Masques block and I just remember how much more confidence that deck gave me over even the tourney-level Delver Fish deck I've got now.
I think the main problem with Scholar is that the Brute is 5/1. I suppose one might pull off some Deadly Insect-like psyke-out with that card, but I'm not sure that works for a tempo deck. 1 toughness fatties are usually not stellar.
So I've just completed building my ur tempo deck and I wanted to try out making UR Illusions since most of the cards are the same and I dont feel like dropping $40 on the UW lands. My build focuses more on ensuring a delver flip and I'm using burn to give this deck just a bit more reach/removal. I still need to test this deck, but I wanted some input from more experienced Illusion players since this is my first time playing this deck.
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Phantasmal Bear
4 Phantasmal Image
4 Lord of the Unreal
3 Snapcaster Mage (Only have 3 and I don't plan on getting a forth)
Spells: 22
4 Ponder
2 Vapor Snag
4 Mana Leak
4 Arc Trail
4 Incinerate
2 Dissipate
2 Dismember
4 Sulfur Falls
11 Island
3 Mountain
1 Ghost Quarter
2 Grim Lavamancer
2 Gut Shot
2 Spellskite
2 Flashfreeze
1 Ghost Quarter
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Disperse
2 Negate
Also, what about Skaab Ruinator as a 1-2 of in side aganist deck with mass removal since I do not have access to Moorland Haunt?
Suggestions are welcome.
Thanks!
I got this after some fooling:
13 Island
4 Glacial Fortress
3 Moorland Haunt
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Invisible Stalker
4 Snapcaster Mage
2 Trinket Mage
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Ponder
3 Gut Shot
4 Mana Leak
4 Vapor Snag
2 Psychic Barrier
1 Dissipate
1 Sylvok Lifestaff
1 Silver-Inlaid Dagger
Or this:
13 Island
4 Glacial Fortress
3 Moorland Haunt
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Phantasmal Bear
4 Snapcaster Mage
2 Azure Mage
2 Merfolk Looter
1 Stitched Drake
4 Ponder
4 Gut Shot
4 Mana Leak
4 Vapor Snag
1 Dissipate
2 Runecaster's Pike
1 Disperse
3 Dissipate
2 Flashfreeze
1 Mortarpod
2 Negate
1 Runechanter's Pike
2 Silent Departure
3 Stitched Drake
Dunno hwo viable either of them are, but the second one feels okay. I need to test the first one. Trinket Mage is ... eh. Interesting though.
and eyes are full of death besides
but luckily the soul is wise -
it sees beyond my blindness and
forced failure makes a better guise,
so as i come again alive,
it feels like life's a decent plan
If you skip the swords you can do it for probably a bit less. I would suggest aggressively looking for deals on ebay, if you're pretty diligent and don't mind being patient you could built a tier one version for around $225 or so.
Modern:
UR Storm RU
RG Titanshift GR
MTGO: MrPajitnv (Yes I typo'd it)
Do people have suggestion of which card can be used in their place (I am currently playing a delver/geist deck with 3 pikes and doomed traveler but there may be better alternatives)
There really is no replacement for Snappy, but what I did when I didn't have them was I picked which function I wanted Snappy to fill most based on the meta and I found a blue creature to fit that slot.
Modern:
UR Storm RU
RG Titanshift GR
MTGO: MrPajitnv (Yes I typo'd it)
Any suggestions? Probably gonna wait a month or so before cashing or trading for them, if the deck stays consistent.
Currently running in place of them, 3x Drogskol captains and Evolving Wilds (not too sure, probably going to split 2/2 Island and Plains if the ETB tapped proved to be crippling).
4 Glacial Fortress
3 Moorland Haunt
9 Island
5 Plains
Creatures
4 Invisible Stalker
4 Delver of Secrets
3 Snapcaster Mage
3 Grand Architect
4 Runechanter's Pike
2 Gut Shot
4 Ponder
1 Angelic Destiny
4 Mana Leak
4 Midnight Haunting
3 Gitaxian Probe
3 Vapor Snag
The angelic is there just because it seemed like a good place for it, my meta is crawling with anti artifact (multiple WRR's running 4x Ancient Grudge for starters) and I wanted some form of non artifact threat to compliment dissipate's in the board. I had also thought about Bonds of Faith as it could function as both removal and a creature pump, but at 2/2 with no additional bonuses and a weakness against human card matchup's I figured I might as well use the Angelic I already have.
I find Grand Architect to work well though, his ability allows me to play and equip pikes without having to compromise on counter mana. Geist would probably be better in the slot, but the architect seems to get the job done.
Thoughts?
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Invisible Stalker
4 Porcelain Legionnaire
1 Merfolk looter
Sorceries
4 Ponder
4 Gitaxian Probe
Instants
2 Gut Shot
4 Thought Scour
3 Vapor Snag
4 Mana leak
2 Mental Misstep
4 Runechanter's Pike
lands
11 Island
4 Plains
3 Moorland Haunt
2 Evolving Wilds
1 Mental Misstep
2 Negate
1 Dissipate
2 Revoke Existence
2 Marrow Shards
1 Merfolk Looter
1 Volition Reins
2 feeling of dread
2 Oblivion Ring
According to TCGplayer average that clocks in at $42.
The deck pretty much goes all in on the pike plan with delver and legionnaire providing beats along the way. 12 cantrips and the looters provide fuel for the Pike, the haunts keep you going in the midgame and the counterspell package makes sure you survive the early turns. It was designed with the mirror in mind but has a decent game against monored and can give WRR a decent fight post-board. Solar flare and UB control can be problematic because they can grind you out but we've managed to regularly land 12+ point swings by dropping and equipping a pike when they tapped out to drop a fatty.
Obviously the mana is the weakest part of the deck and the end game is hampered by the lack of swords, snapcasters and geists. If you were start with a list like this I would suggest acquiring the lands before anything else (seachrome first) then getting snapcasters and geists as you can. The pike makes a decent sword impression so I would get those last.
Modern:
UR Storm RU
RG Titanshift GR
MTGO: MrPajitnv (Yes I typo'd it)
This looks interesting. You use the words "It works well". So i take it you have some tests with this? I have most of the parts, except Porcelain Legionnaire and Rune-Chanters Pike. Lands won't problem. But getting Geist of Saint Traft around here is hard, even if you do have the money to buy. Snap is the same story. So would you be able to say this won't be viable against a meta full of U/W control, Solar Flare, or RDW?
"well" is a relative term. We brewed it up and played the hell out of in paper and online until he was comfortable with the list. He's been played a slightly modified version of it this week and went 3-2-1 so it's capable of putting up some wins. It isn't awesome and it's not going to get you into the top 8 often, but his win ratio is about 45% in a fairly competitive meta.
If you already have the duals you should focus on picking up pikes then snapcasters. Geist is awesome but you can win without him.
Modern:
UR Storm RU
RG Titanshift GR
MTGO: MrPajitnv (Yes I typo'd it)
So, I decided to build a UW Delver deck. I've obtained a playset of all the rares/mythics I need, SnapCasters, Geists etc.
However, upon reviewing some deck-lists and trying to find the cards I needed, I came up a bit short.
I'm currently working my early morning Saturday Job, so even if I have them, it's too late to use them today, unless I can manage to nab some from a fellow gamer.
Here's what I'm missing.
I have NO Lingering Souls, Invisible Stalkers or MerFolk Looters
Only have 1x Sword of War and Peace (but have 2 incoming)
Only have 2x Ponder.
Otherwise, I have plenty of the other cards from what I've seen of Decklists, such as; 4x Geists, Images, Snappys, Vapor Snags, Delvers etc.
I was thinking I could replace the missing cards with more counters/instants or revert back to Phantasmal Bears or something.
So, basically I could build this deck real quick before I go to work, but be short a few cards OR I could use my Township Tokens deck.
What do you guys think?
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=409478