So pretty standard White Blue control deck that can lock the game out with Isochron Scepter with an Orim's Chant tucked under it, and gains incremental advantage through a full house of sweepers, counters, and a couple decent Planeswalkers.
Elspeth, Sun's Champion - Is really an all-star here. Her +1 pumps out tokens to protect herself, Narset Transcendent, and me while taking chips of life points here and there when they can. Her Neg 3 can sweep a midrange boards presence of any fatties laying around. Finally, her Ultimate, makes all those weenie dudes serious threats, and makes a cycled Decree of Justice better than if you hardcasted it. Come to think of it, her design is really something to marvel at in a control deck. If there's a threat under 3 power you can set up a double or triple block with her tokens to take it down or if there is a threat out of the tokens range you can just Neg her and wipe it clean.
Narset Transcendent - I have never really heard anyone speak of this card. I really see her as a power house in control. With that being said, her Neg 2 is vastly useless here. Her +1 is going to net me a card the majority of the time since roughly 2/3 of the deck is noncreature or nonland cards. After a few turns of her being on the field you can pop her Ultimate and that really puts the game out of reach for your opponent because you can just sit back and hold your counters knowing 1/3 of there deck (or more) is utterly dead. Regardless of what light you look at her under she is just going to promote and produce card advantage in this deck.
Isochron Scepter - Grants virtual card advantage at worst and locks my opponent out of the game at best. With 16 cards that can be imprinted onto it, this deck might not be the most ideal home for it but it's just too powerful to pass up. Weather it's a simple Counterspell to gain tiny little bits of virtual card advantage or Orim's Chant just utterly stopping your opponent from casting spells or attacking ever again, you'll be glad to see this card when you rip it off the top of the deck.
Decree of Justice - I needed a finisher in this deck, originally it was Aetherling then it became Eternal Dragon and now it's Decree of Justice. It can be played at instant speed, is all but uncounterable, produces a threat that skirts spot removal, replaces itself, and synergizes in tandem with Elspeth, Sun's Champion's Ultimate to put the game on a short clock. Seems to be a pretty good fit. Sidenote: There are a ton of cards in my meta that force a sacrifice like Diabolic Edict, Chainer's Edict, Geth's Verdict, etc. So a single threat is generally bad in my meta.
Supreme Verdict - An uncounterable sweeper. There's not really much more to say about this card.
Orim's Chant - In a vacuum it's pretty good. It's basically a Time Walk against aggro, midrange, combo, and any other non-draw go strategies. Get this card tucked under an Isochron Scepter and it's all but Good Game. Has a nice little interaction with Narset Transcendent's Ultimate to lock your opponent completely out of the game.... barring creatures with Flash, but we have other counters for that.
Swords to Plowshares - Unconditional creature removal for W at instant speed with a drawback that this deck really doesn't care about. There's a reason this card is one of the best removal spells ever printed.
Counterspell - An Unconditional counter for a scant UU. Meh I really shouldn't have to tell you why this card is good.
Mana Leak - I loathe this card... With everything I am. It's necessary though, for now. It's a bomb in the first 4 turns and only requires 1 hard mana to cast. In a multi-color control deck it slots in. But seriously can anybody offer up a better suggestion for this slot? I considered Hindering Light but I generally point Mana Leak at an early game creature. I also thought on Memory Lapse for a good long time, it seems good here. I can really use someone's input on this.
Render Silent - Of all the 3 mana Counterspells i was between this, Forbid, and Scatter to the Winds. While I like Scatter the Winds a lot, Render Silent just gives you a nice position mid to late game if you don't have everything locked up by then. If you think about it, it allows you to play whatever you want on your turn, without fear of something slipping past you on your opponents next turn,all for only 3 open mana.
Sphinx's Revelation - Wow. This card... Just wow. Return to Ravnica gave UW control such good cards, but all pale in comparison and fall into Sphinx's Revelations shadow. Stroke of Genius was a brilliant card a long time ago, but for the same CMC we now get to gain life too? Where do I sign up? Resolving this spell at the end of an opponents turn and dumping all your mana into it generally puts you into a situation where you literally need to try to lose the game. I could go on and on but in reality I am sure you get the point.
As for all the lands they're pretty typical, nothing really special to see here with the exception of:
Calciform Pools - Not really the best card but nice as a fun of in this deck. Just here to store mana in case we need it in an emergency but honestly its synergy with Sphinx's Revelation and Decree of Justice are too much to pass up. This slot could go to Mage-Ring Network but with how intensive this deck is on colored mana, how low the curve is, and how reactive it is, the 1 you pay for a storage counter E.o.T. will vary rarely ever be a problem.
Mishra's Factory - In my humble opinion this is the best non-multicolor man land. It activates for 1, becomes a 2/2 ground pounder, and can pump itself or another one up by simply tapping itself. That may not seem like too much but I can not tell you how many games I've played where people will swing in with a 2/2 thinking they'll be, I activate, declare blocks, tap to pump and my opponent loses his creature. At it's best it clears out some small dudes, on an average day it keeps them at home, on a bad day it goes in for damage. Seriously underestimated and underrated.
Now to the Sideboard
Detention Sphere - So everyone likes Oblivion Ring and Banishing Light and who wouldn't? They can remove any nonland problem permanent with ease. Planeswalkers can be a serious problem for this deck since it lacks offense in a big way so these come in to sure up that problem. Enchantments can also be bothersome and there isn't really room to have mainboard answers, and my meta isn't to big on them so i can't bring myself to burn a slot for removal. Finally it sures up the match up against token strategies as well, acting as a 3 mana Wrath of God.
Wrath of God - Wow, yeah ok... So this is overkill. I remember putting this in the sideboard because there was a rash of creatures being played with regeneration in my meta. That problem has seemed to clear up, so I am open to suggestions on what to replace this card with.
Negate - I debate back and forth on this card whether it should be Negate or Hindering Light. I like that Negate helps evening up the matchups against most combo and control decks along with nerfing 'Walkers but I love that Hindering Light replaces it's self. Im also open to suggestions on this slot as well.
As always thank you for reading this and for your comments/suggestions.
They might not look like much, but each is quite powerful in its own way, and could possibly suit your deck pretty well.
edit: That is, of course, if you don't want to go full Force of Will.
I want to keep something that can stick to Isochron Specter, and while yes both Daze and Remand do that, they don't deal with the threat. Daze is a fantastic card when you are playing to your first 3 turns (especially when your afraid of someone comboing out on you), but this deck is really built for the long haul. So what realistically happens is the first Daze is a blow out but every subsequent one is terrible. It's place in Legacy and Vintage, and it's power level there, is undeniable. There everyone knows your running it but it just boils down to who's faster. It's utterly wretched under a Stick too.
As for Remand, well I believe it's move suited for combo oriented decks where you're digging for pieces to something, don't you? It doesn't solve the problem, just delays it. Yes, I realize you can make the same argument for Memory Lapse, but I think it's a bit different in the fact that it stalls out their next draw.
As for Force of Will, the same argument that applies to Daze is applicable here except instead for your trading a playable card in your hand instead of setting your mana development back a turn. Neither of which you really want to do without the fear of instant win combos in the first turn. Not to mention, that price tag though, lol.
Thank you for taking the time to post though, I greatly appreciate it.
I think he´s arguing that the greatness of Narset comes from her -2 rather than her +1. Personally, I think Narset is weak in this deck because the only cards you can get Rebound value off are the Wraths and arguably Swords, not to mention you sort of give away what you´re drawing with her. I mean your opponent is likely to know that you have counterspells handy but revealing a Wrath or an Elspeth might make them more wary. Alternatively, not revealing a card (I.E. having a land there) telegraphs that your next topdeck is a relative blank.
I don´t know what to replace her with if to replace her but that´s my viewpoint on the context of this deck
Force of Will is fine even against non-combo decks, really. The idea behind it is that you get to curve out into your threats (scepter-chant or planeswalker here) without having to worry about them landing a game breaking threat once you tap out. That said, this is casual, and 100 dollar cards usually end up getting cut.
Anyways:
23 lands seems pretty low for a deck that wants to be casting six mana planeswalkers. I would seriously consider going up to 24-26 lands. You really want to be making your land drops each turn until late in the game, when you can start powering out huge Revelations and Decrees. Also, storage lands are a trap. They're terrible, terrible cards, and I strongly recommend just dropping them. It doesn't tap for colored mana, costs two mana to charge (it has to tap itself also), and it even costs mana to use it's effect. Just run enough lands in the first place, and you don't have to hassle with cards like that.
12 Counterspells is almost certainly overkill. I would recommend dropping the Render Silents. By the time you can cast it, you're really going to want to be responding to their threats with Verdicts. Also, it's too expensive to go on the scepter. I do understand why you dislike Mana Leak, but it's actually an amazingly good card. The mana requirements are lower, for those times you find yourself without double blue mana on turn two; and by the time your opponents can afford to pay three, you should already have taken over the game.
23 lands seems pretty low for a deck that wants to be casting six mana planeswalkers. I would seriously consider going up to 24-26 lands. You really want to be making your land drops each turn until late in the game, when you can start powering out huge Revelations and Decrees.
That's understanble I can certain trim a card or two for land.
Also, storage lands are a trap. They're terrible, terrible cards, and I strongly recommend just dropping them. It doesn't tap for colored mana, costs two mana to charge (it has to tap itself also), and it even costs mana to use it's effect. Just run enough lands in the first place, and you don't have to hassle with cards like that.
On this topic I can understand where you're coming from, and I even admit that it's not the best card in the OP, but I like it here. Yes, as you can see from list this deck is trying to be competitive, on the other hand they joy that comes from the every 8ish games where I can power out a huge X of this things back is well worth it eating up 1 land spot. Seriously it's a "fun of" card. It's not good but it can lead to a decent chuckle for me.
12 Counterspells is almost certainly overkill. I would recommend dropping the Render Silents. By the time you can cast it, you're really going to want to be responding to their threats with Verdicts. Also, it's too expensive to go on the scepter. I do understand why you dislike Mana Leak, but it's actually an amazingly good card. The mana requirements are lower, for those times you find yourself without double blue mana on turn two; and by the time your opponents can afford to pay three, you should already have taken over the game.
Shhheeee I don't know... But seriously I can consider dropping Render Silent if I can replace Mana Leak with a hard counter. Negate seems good enough and it would let me move Hindering Light into the sideboard, and Memory Lapse seems bomby. Like, I get why Mana Leak is good, believe me I understand, but there's just been too many times where I have been gripping it and have been utterly frustrated and wished it were something, anything else.
Assuming I can replace Mana Leak, and I take out the Render Silent and add another land that will leave me with 3 open slots. So Impulse? Normally I reach for Think Twice first but I think I'd rather have the selection than the extra card.
Have you considered brainstorm for your selection? It's pretty good on Scepter, and you can use it to set up Narset's +1 ability. And, you know, all the other stupid stuff brainstorm can be used for...
Another option is Treasure Hunt, if you end up upping your land count. Would work well with brainstorm as well...
Memory Lapse looks pretty sweet, especially on Scepter. You could basically cause a soft lock, where they can't play anything (because then they'll just keep drawing the same card) for a while. I'm a huge fan of Mana Leak, but if you're regularly going into the lategame without the game being decided, then it definitely loses it's luster.
I don't really see Hindering Light doing much for you that negate wouldn't. You don't really care that much if your opponent goes after your permanents, and Revelation will undo a lot of Burn spells. It draws a card, but it also takes two colors of mana, which means you can't always count on it being online turn two.
The only thing I can really think of to help you out is some sort of cheap way to hold creatures off early game, until you can start blowing up the board. I don't know that it's actually something you need with Scepter/swords available, but it could be an issue, depending on your meta.
Also, I knwo that you said you've already tried Aetherling, but I'm going to recommend him anyways. He's nice to have around as a one-off in control decks, as that one guy that just straight up can't be stopped.
Elspeth, Sun's Champion - Is really an all-star here. Her +1 pumps out tokens to protect herself, Narset Transcendent, and me while taking chips of life points here and there when they can. Her Neg 3 can sweep a midrange boards presence of any fatties laying around. Finally, her Ultimate, makes all those weenie dudes serious threats, and makes a cycled Decree of Justice better than if you hardcasted it. Come to think of it, her design is really something to marvel at in a control deck. If there's a threat under 3 power you can set up a double or triple block with her tokens to take it down or if there is a threat out of the tokens range you can just Neg her and wipe it clean.
Unless I'm extremely bad at math.....
Hard cast Decree of Justice = X 4/4 angels
+ ultimate = X 6/6 angels.
Ultimate Espeth = X 3/3 fliers
How is this better? In the terms of cost maybe but in the terms of power no way. The ultimate on 1/1 gives only 3/3s the ultimate on a hard cast decree gives 6/6s
I like this decklist but with just 20 instants do you really need Scepter? 4 more slots could easily be 4 more counters, removal, draw etc. Narah suggested Brainstorm, how about adding that plus some fetches? Or perhaps just remove Scepter for Sensei's Divining Top.
Hard cast Decree of Justice = X 4/4 angels
+ ultimate = X 6/6 angels.
Ultimate Espeth = X 3/3 fliers
How is this better? In the terms of cost maybe but in the terms of power no way. The ultimate on 1/1 gives only 3/3s the ultimate on a hard cast decree gives 6/6s
I like this decklist but with just 20 instants do you really need Scepter? 4 more slots could easily be 4 more counters, removal, draw etc. Narah suggested Brainstorm, how about adding that plus some fetches? Or perhaps just remove Scepter for Sensei's Divining Top.
As Xyx pointed out XX means you need to divid X in half. So hardcasting starts at 4WW, for a single 4/4 Angel at Sorcery speed. Take that same 6 mana, well not the same because it would be 5W do it'd be easier to cast, and you get 3 1/1 Soldiers at Instant speed,uncounterable, and you get to draw a card.
Now with Elspeth, Sun's Champion's emblem you'd have 1x 4/4 Angel becomes a 6/6 with Flying, wherein the Soldiers would be 3x 3/3s with flying.
I like this decklist but with just 20 instants do you really need Scepter? 4 more slots could easily be 4 more counters, removal, draw etc. Narah suggested Brainstorm, how about adding that plus some fetches? Or perhaps just remove Scepter for Sensei's Divining Top.
Yes I like the Isochron Scepter here, and the amount of Instants are balanced for it. Not to mention it's the whole reason Orim's Chant is in the deck, combine they can lock out my opponent... For the most part.
I don't run Entreat the Angels because it's simply wretched in this deck. First off playing it your Draw Step requires you to tap down during your turn, something a reactive Draw-Go deck doesn't really want to do. Second it's horrible to peel this off on the back of a Sphinx's Revelation. I get that that problem clears it's self up in the presence of Brainstorm but that still leaves us at point one.
Martial Coup is a fine card in Tap-Out style control, but once again, kind of not the direction the deck is going.
Finally, Celestial Colonnade, yes, I'd love to put them in here, but I need to acquire more.
Hard cast Decree of Justice = X 4/4 angels
+ ultimate = X 6/6 angels.
Ultimate Espeth = X 3/3 fliers
How is this better? In the terms of cost maybe but in the terms of power no way. The ultimate on 1/1 gives only 3/3s the ultimate on a hard cast decree gives 6/6s
I like this decklist but with just 20 instants do you really need Scepter? 4 more slots could easily be 4 more counters, removal, draw etc. Narah suggested Brainstorm, how about adding that plus some fetches? Or perhaps just remove Scepter for Sensei's Divining Top.
As Xyx pointed out XX means you need to divid X in half. So hardcasting starts at 4WW, for a single 4/4 Angel at Sorcery speed. Take that same 6 mana, well not the same because it would be 5W do it'd be easier to cast, and you get 3 1/1 Soldiers at Instant speed,uncounterable, and you get to draw a card.
Now with Elspeth, Sun's Champion's emblem you'd have 1x 4/4 Angel becomes a 6/6 with Flying, wherein the Soldiers would be 3x 3/3s with flying.
I like this decklist but with just 20 instants do you really need Scepter? 4 more slots could easily be 4 more counters, removal, draw etc. Narah suggested Brainstorm, how about adding that plus some fetches? Or perhaps just remove Scepter for Sensei's Divining Top.
Yes I like the Isochron Scepter here, and the amount of Instants are balanced for it. Not to mention it's the whole reason Orim's Chant is in the deck, combine they can lock out my opponent... For the most part.
I don't run Entreat the Angels because it's simply wretched in this deck. First off playing it your Draw Step requires you to tap down during your turn, something a reactive Draw-Go deck doesn't really want to do. Second it's horrible to peel this off on the back of a Sphinx's Revelation. I get that that problem clears it's self up in the presence of Brainstorm but that still leaves us at point one.
Martial Coup is a fine card in Tap-Out style control, but once again, kind of not the direction the deck is going.
Finally, Celestial Colonnade, yes, I'd love to put them in here, but I need to acquire more.
Ah I see now that you are going for more of a draw-go build as opposed to interactive control which is why Entreat and Coup, while they are good cards in their own way, would be less optimal in this deck (and why scepter chant is). In any case, I really like your decklist however might you consider adding a bit of draw? Perhaps replacing the 2 Narsets with 2 Jace, Architect of Thought? Or instead cutting 1-2 Render silent for a Divination effect? Cheers
2 Narset Transcendent
4 Isochron Scepter
2 Decree of Justice
4 Supreme Verdict
4 Orim's Chant
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Counterspell
4 Mana Leak
4 Render Silent
3 Sphinx's Revelation
2 Island
4 Flooded Strand
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Glacial Fortress
1 Prairie Stream
1 Temple of Enlightenment
1 Calciform Pools
4 Mishra's Factory
//Sideboard//
3 Circle of Protection: Red
4 Wrath of God
4 Negate
So pretty standard White Blue control deck that can lock the game out with Isochron Scepter with an Orim's Chant tucked under it, and gains incremental advantage through a full house of sweepers, counters, and a couple decent Planeswalkers.
Elspeth, Sun's Champion - Is really an all-star here. Her +1 pumps out tokens to protect herself, Narset Transcendent, and me while taking chips of life points here and there when they can. Her Neg 3 can sweep a midrange boards presence of any fatties laying around. Finally, her Ultimate, makes all those weenie dudes serious threats, and makes a cycled Decree of Justice better than if you hardcasted it. Come to think of it, her design is really something to marvel at in a control deck. If there's a threat under 3 power you can set up a double or triple block with her tokens to take it down or if there is a threat out of the tokens range you can just Neg her and wipe it clean.
Narset Transcendent - I have never really heard anyone speak of this card. I really see her as a power house in control. With that being said, her Neg 2 is vastly useless here. Her +1 is going to net me a card the majority of the time since roughly 2/3 of the deck is noncreature or nonland cards. After a few turns of her being on the field you can pop her Ultimate and that really puts the game out of reach for your opponent because you can just sit back and hold your counters knowing 1/3 of there deck (or more) is utterly dead. Regardless of what light you look at her under she is just going to promote and produce card advantage in this deck.
Isochron Scepter - Grants virtual card advantage at worst and locks my opponent out of the game at best. With 16 cards that can be imprinted onto it, this deck might not be the most ideal home for it but it's just too powerful to pass up. Weather it's a simple Counterspell to gain tiny little bits of virtual card advantage or Orim's Chant just utterly stopping your opponent from casting spells or attacking ever again, you'll be glad to see this card when you rip it off the top of the deck.
Decree of Justice - I needed a finisher in this deck, originally it was Aetherling then it became Eternal Dragon and now it's Decree of Justice. It can be played at instant speed, is all but uncounterable, produces a threat that skirts spot removal, replaces itself, and synergizes in tandem with Elspeth, Sun's Champion's Ultimate to put the game on a short clock. Seems to be a pretty good fit. Sidenote: There are a ton of cards in my meta that force a sacrifice like Diabolic Edict, Chainer's Edict, Geth's Verdict, etc. So a single threat is generally bad in my meta.
Supreme Verdict - An uncounterable sweeper. There's not really much more to say about this card.
Orim's Chant - In a vacuum it's pretty good. It's basically a Time Walk against aggro, midrange, combo, and any other non-draw go strategies. Get this card tucked under an Isochron Scepter and it's all but Good Game. Has a nice little interaction with Narset Transcendent's Ultimate to lock your opponent completely out of the game.... barring creatures with Flash, but we have other counters for that.
Swords to Plowshares - Unconditional creature removal for W at instant speed with a drawback that this deck really doesn't care about. There's a reason this card is one of the best removal spells ever printed.
Counterspell - An Unconditional counter for a scant UU. Meh I really shouldn't have to tell you why this card is good.
Mana Leak - I loathe this card... With everything I am. It's necessary though, for now. It's a bomb in the first 4 turns and only requires 1 hard mana to cast. In a multi-color control deck it slots in. But seriously can anybody offer up a better suggestion for this slot? I considered Hindering Light but I generally point Mana Leak at an early game creature. I also thought on Memory Lapse for a good long time, it seems good here. I can really use someone's input on this.
Render Silent - Of all the 3 mana Counterspells i was between this, Forbid, and Scatter to the Winds. While I like Scatter the Winds a lot, Render Silent just gives you a nice position mid to late game if you don't have everything locked up by then. If you think about it, it allows you to play whatever you want on your turn, without fear of something slipping past you on your opponents next turn,all for only 3 open mana.
Sphinx's Revelation - Wow. This card... Just wow. Return to Ravnica gave UW control such good cards, but all pale in comparison and fall into Sphinx's Revelations shadow. Stroke of Genius was a brilliant card a long time ago, but for the same CMC we now get to gain life too? Where do I sign up? Resolving this spell at the end of an opponents turn and dumping all your mana into it generally puts you into a situation where you literally need to try to lose the game. I could go on and on but in reality I am sure you get the point.
As for all the lands they're pretty typical, nothing really special to see here with the exception of:
Calciform Pools - Not really the best card but nice as a fun of in this deck. Just here to store mana in case we need it in an emergency but honestly its synergy with Sphinx's Revelation and Decree of Justice are too much to pass up. This slot could go to Mage-Ring Network but with how intensive this deck is on colored mana, how low the curve is, and how reactive it is, the 1 you pay for a storage counter E.o.T. will vary rarely ever be a problem.
Mishra's Factory - In my humble opinion this is the best non-multicolor man land. It activates for 1, becomes a 2/2 ground pounder, and can pump itself or another one up by simply tapping itself. That may not seem like too much but I can not tell you how many games I've played where people will swing in with a 2/2 thinking they'll be, I activate, declare blocks, tap to pump and my opponent loses his creature. At it's best it clears out some small dudes, on an average day it keeps them at home, on a bad day it goes in for damage. Seriously underestimated and underrated.
Now to the Sideboard
Detention Sphere - So everyone likes Oblivion Ring and Banishing Light and who wouldn't? They can remove any nonland problem permanent with ease. Planeswalkers can be a serious problem for this deck since it lacks offense in a big way so these come in to sure up that problem. Enchantments can also be bothersome and there isn't really room to have mainboard answers, and my meta isn't to big on them so i can't bring myself to burn a slot for removal. Finally it sures up the match up against token strategies as well, acting as a 3 mana Wrath of God.
Circle of Protection: Red - What's this decks worst match up? Yep burn, by a mile. Second would be heavy discard strategies. So maybe this should be Leyline of Sancity, Witchbane Orb, or Ivory Mask?
Wrath of God - Wow, yeah ok... So this is overkill. I remember putting this in the sideboard because there was a rash of creatures being played with regeneration in my meta. That problem has seemed to clear up, so I am open to suggestions on what to replace this card with.
Negate - I debate back and forth on this card whether it should be Negate or Hindering Light. I like that Negate helps evening up the matchups against most combo and control decks along with nerfing 'Walkers but I love that Hindering Light replaces it's self. Im also open to suggestions on this slot as well.
As always thank you for reading this and for your comments/suggestions.
-Odin
* Daze
* Remand
They might not look like much, but each is quite powerful in its own way, and could possibly suit your deck pretty well.
edit: That is, of course, if you don't want to go full Force of Will.
I want to keep something that can stick to Isochron Specter, and while yes both Daze and Remand do that, they don't deal with the threat. Daze is a fantastic card when you are playing to your first 3 turns (especially when your afraid of someone comboing out on you), but this deck is really built for the long haul. So what realistically happens is the first Daze is a blow out but every subsequent one is terrible. It's place in Legacy and Vintage, and it's power level there, is undeniable. There everyone knows your running it but it just boils down to who's faster. It's utterly wretched under a Stick too.
As for Remand, well I believe it's move suited for combo oriented decks where you're digging for pieces to something, don't you? It doesn't solve the problem, just delays it. Yes, I realize you can make the same argument for Memory Lapse, but I think it's a bit different in the fact that it stalls out their next draw.
As for Force of Will, the same argument that applies to Daze is applicable here except instead for your trading a playable card in your hand instead of setting your mana development back a turn. Neither of which you really want to do without the fear of instant win combos in the first turn. Not to mention, that price tag though, lol.
Thank you for taking the time to post though, I greatly appreciate it.
I think he´s arguing that the greatness of Narset comes from her -2 rather than her +1. Personally, I think Narset is weak in this deck because the only cards you can get Rebound value off are the Wraths and arguably Swords, not to mention you sort of give away what you´re drawing with her. I mean your opponent is likely to know that you have counterspells handy but revealing a Wrath or an Elspeth might make them more wary. Alternatively, not revealing a card (I.E. having a land there) telegraphs that your next topdeck is a relative blank.
I don´t know what to replace her with if to replace her but that´s my viewpoint on the context of this deck
Ah gotcha, I tested her today being more aggressive with her new 2 you're right it's pretty brilliant.
Anyways:
23 lands seems pretty low for a deck that wants to be casting six mana planeswalkers. I would seriously consider going up to 24-26 lands. You really want to be making your land drops each turn until late in the game, when you can start powering out huge Revelations and Decrees. Also, storage lands are a trap. They're terrible, terrible cards, and I strongly recommend just dropping them. It doesn't tap for colored mana, costs two mana to charge (it has to tap itself also), and it even costs mana to use it's effect. Just run enough lands in the first place, and you don't have to hassle with cards like that.
12 Counterspells is almost certainly overkill. I would recommend dropping the Render Silents. By the time you can cast it, you're really going to want to be responding to their threats with Verdicts. Also, it's too expensive to go on the scepter. I do understand why you dislike Mana Leak, but it's actually an amazingly good card. The mana requirements are lower, for those times you find yourself without double blue mana on turn two; and by the time your opponents can afford to pay three, you should already have taken over the game.
That's understanble I can certain trim a card or two for land.
On this topic I can understand where you're coming from, and I even admit that it's not the best card in the OP, but I like it here. Yes, as you can see from list this deck is trying to be competitive, on the other hand they joy that comes from the every 8ish games where I can power out a huge X of this things back is well worth it eating up 1 land spot. Seriously it's a "fun of" card. It's not good but it can lead to a decent chuckle for me.
Shhheeee I don't know... But seriously I can consider dropping Render Silent if I can replace Mana Leak with a hard counter. Negate seems good enough and it would let me move Hindering Light into the sideboard, and Memory Lapse seems bomby. Like, I get why Mana Leak is good, believe me I understand, but there's just been too many times where I have been gripping it and have been utterly frustrated and wished it were something, anything else.
Assuming I can replace Mana Leak, and I take out the Render Silent and add another land that will leave me with 3 open slots. So Impulse? Normally I reach for Think Twice first but I think I'd rather have the selection than the extra card.
Another option is Treasure Hunt, if you end up upping your land count. Would work well with brainstorm as well...
Memory Lapse looks pretty sweet, especially on Scepter. You could basically cause a soft lock, where they can't play anything (because then they'll just keep drawing the same card) for a while. I'm a huge fan of Mana Leak, but if you're regularly going into the lategame without the game being decided, then it definitely loses it's luster.
I don't really see Hindering Light doing much for you that negate wouldn't. You don't really care that much if your opponent goes after your permanents, and Revelation will undo a lot of Burn spells. It draws a card, but it also takes two colors of mana, which means you can't always count on it being online turn two.
The only thing I can really think of to help you out is some sort of cheap way to hold creatures off early game, until you can start blowing up the board. I don't know that it's actually something you need with Scepter/swords available, but it could be an issue, depending on your meta.
Also, I knwo that you said you've already tried Aetherling, but I'm going to recommend him anyways. He's nice to have around as a one-off in control decks, as that one guy that just straight up can't be stopped.
Unless I'm extremely bad at math.....
Hard cast Decree of Justice = X 4/4 angels
+ ultimate = X 6/6 angels.
Ultimate Espeth = X 3/3 fliers
How is this better? In the terms of cost maybe but in the terms of power no way. The ultimate on 1/1 gives only 3/3s the ultimate on a hard cast decree gives 6/6s
I like Decree of Justice but why not just run a 2/2 split of Entreat the Angels and Martial Coup? Also, how about some Celestial Colonnade in the land base?
Legacy Burn
NO Combo Elves
Reanimator
Trades
Burn Primer
:symg:Free Gaea's Cradle:symg:
As Xyx pointed out XX means you need to divid X in half. So hardcasting starts at 4WW, for a single 4/4 Angel at Sorcery speed. Take that same 6 mana, well not the same because it would be 5W do it'd be easier to cast, and you get 3 1/1 Soldiers at Instant speed,uncounterable, and you get to draw a card.
Now with Elspeth, Sun's Champion's emblem you'd have 1x 4/4 Angel becomes a 6/6 with Flying, wherein the Soldiers would be 3x 3/3s with flying.
Angel = 6 Power.
Soldiers = 9 Power.
Yes I like the Isochron Scepter here, and the amount of Instants are balanced for it. Not to mention it's the whole reason Orim's Chant is in the deck, combine they can lock out my opponent... For the most part.
I don't run Entreat the Angels because it's simply wretched in this deck. First off playing it your Draw Step requires you to tap down during your turn, something a reactive Draw-Go deck doesn't really want to do. Second it's horrible to peel this off on the back of a Sphinx's Revelation. I get that that problem clears it's self up in the presence of Brainstorm but that still leaves us at point one.
Martial Coup is a fine card in Tap-Out style control, but once again, kind of not the direction the deck is going.
Finally, Celestial Colonnade, yes, I'd love to put them in here, but I need to acquire more.
Ah I see now that you are going for more of a draw-go build as opposed to interactive control which is why Entreat and Coup, while they are good cards in their own way, would be less optimal in this deck (and why scepter chant is). In any case, I really like your decklist however might you consider adding a bit of draw? Perhaps replacing the 2 Narsets with 2 Jace, Architect of Thought? Or instead cutting 1-2 Render silent for a Divination effect? Cheers
Legacy Burn
NO Combo Elves
Reanimator
Trades
Burn Primer
:symg:Free Gaea's Cradle:symg: