So I have been wanting to make use of Warden of Evos Isle and Windreader Sphinx for a fair while. They're both cheap now, and I have enough degenerate flying things lying around that I can probably put together a decently fun deck.
What I do want to do:
Make use of Warden of Evos Isle and Windreader Sphinx.
Have the deck at least be able to cope with a Warden-less start (because it does happen, and there aren't too many other cost-reduction things out there, so I can't rely on always having that).
Play fun and slightly degenerate fliers.
What I don't want to do:
Fill this thing full of Eldrazi gorillas and things like that. Yes, they exist, but this is for fun purposes.
Bleed this deck into other colours. White turns this into a tax deck too easily (and my meta haaaaates tax decks), green turns it into a herp-derp Primal Surge deck, and red just makes it go all Dragony (and I've got one of those decks already).
So, with that in mind, an initial decklist. So far, this is in complete magical fairy-land. If you wish to send this build in a particular direction, go for it.
Dimir Fun with Fliers v0.1
Creatures - 33
4 Warden of Evos Isle(Accelerant)
2 Phyrexian Metamorph(Because)
4 Sangromancer(This decks needs a 4-drop to cope with a Warden-less start... this is probably the best thing I have sitting around, and it plays nicely with...)
4 Malakir Bloodwitch(There are enough Vampires in here, and these things are value-town)
3 Draining Whelk(Cheapened by Warden, countermagic of choice in here)
2 Steel Hellkite(Dropping this before Turn 6 is a guarantee of degeneracy)
1 Roil Elemental(Because fun)
3 Butcher of Malakir(Moar vampires)
4 Chancellor of the Dross(Moar vampires, swingy starts to the game)
4 Chancellor of the Spires(Another swingy start to the game, capable of all sorts of crazy things when it drops)
3 Windreader Sphinx(Card advantage etc. etc.)
Spells - 4
4 Rite of Replication(Because they're undecked, and kicking them on most of the above is GG)
Jesus dude, you do realize that your deck has 23 lands and 24 cards that cost 5 or more mana right XD? You LITERALLY (figuratively speaking) have more 7 drops than lands!
Baleful Strix has significantly dropped in price and is probably the best UB flyer in the game. Nightveil Specter is stellar in multiplayer and fits the theme perfectly. Your curve looks very high to me so if possible I'd recommend taking it down a notch to support spells such as these. My advice:
I don't care if my 2 and 3 mana spells aren't affected by my ramp. I'd rather cast good cards for full price than bad ones that I'll sometimes get a discount on. I just want a deck that will consistently play Magic.
However Mr. Bloom started the deck with the wardens.
They're the reason of the deck so nonbo's hurt the deck.
I just don't understand how these are nonbos. He said that he wanted a deck with Wardens and Windreaders. He didn't say "every card must extract maximum value from their abilities." You don't put 2 drops in your deck so that you can sandbag them for turn 4 at which point you can sometimes cast them for 1 mana. You put 2 drops in your deck so that you can cast them on turn 2. Would it be nice if the card were 1U? Yeah, sure, obviously. Still, this deck probably wants something to do early on and Strix is by far and away the best 2 drop flier in the color combo. It trades, it draws a card, it triggers the Sphinx, it's perfect. It doesn't hurt the deck at all. You just think it does because it doesn't have 100% optimal synergy with one other 3 drop in the deck. That's what I don't understand. You say that Baleful Strix is hurting the deck, what's your plan to replace it? What card do you replace Strix with that helps the deck? I would argue that basically everything else is a notch below and will reduce it's overall win %. Moreover, I would argue that most other cards are significantly less fun to play with because casting a cantripping Deadly Recluse feels SWEET and it's one the reasons why I look forward to playing UB decks in the first place. Not only does the deck become weaker but it probably feels less fun and less "safe." In that sense it makes no sense to me when you say that I'm hurting the deck with my suggestions.
Nightveil Specter is basically the same thing. You put 3 drops in your deck to cast them on turn 3 and Bl00m isn't some magician who can magically produce a turn 3 Warden every game. A large % of the time he's not going to have one early on but he'll probably still want something to play early on to protect himself. As it turns out a flying Phyrexian Arena is a big game and Nightveil Specter is an amazing card as result. It's going to draw into free lands, pressure players and frequently even nab him a free spell. It doesn't hurt his deck just because the Warden doesn't reduce its cost. I would argue that it helps it a lot because a steady stream of lands is essential if your plan is to curve out into 7 drops. Obviously he could play a Wind Drake or whatever that can use the Warden's mana reduction but what purpose does that serve? Sometimes you get a bad 2 mana card instead of a bad 3 mana card? How does that help him?
The difference between our point of views is that (for better or worse) I'm a "big picture" guy who's always keeping the ultimate goal in his sights. I can get behind building a deck with Warden and Sphinx, that's reasonable, but the ultimate goal is to win games and in order to do that you need to build powerful Magic decks that are (hopefully) fun to play with and against. You don't get an award for building decks that have perfect synergy and no one is going to care if every creature in his deck is affected by Warden or not. It's irrelevant. What matters is how consistently his deck can play magic and put up a solid fight. I'm the kind of guy who will play Chameleon Colossus in Beast Tribal or Taurean Mauler in Dragon tribal if I think that it will win me games and improve my deck. I'm willing to adhere to restrictions and player preferences but I'm never going to enslave myself to a theme at my own detriment. What you call "hurt[ing] the deck" I call "helping it" because powerful cards, smooth mana curves, adequate land counts and more all make for consistent, powerful decks that win games. An easy way to hurt a deck, in my mind, is to enslave yourself to a marginal, protectionless 3 drop that you have no real ability to tutor up and/or draw into and force yourself to build your deck completely around it. I would much rather jam cards like Baleful Strix and Nightveil Specter in my deck and play a solid game a Magic.
Yes, good points all.
At the end of the day, if it's a 2-drop or 3-drop we're talking about, it really doesn't need to be able to have its cost reduced by Warden of Evos Isle as much as it's a non-bo, as it stands a good chance of hitting the table before the Warden anyway. So yes, I should probably bring the curve down a bit and run Baleful and Nightveil. But boy... if the initial decklist gets so much as two Wardens on the table, it takes off. Don't ask me how, it just does. But it's basically dropping a gorilla or two every turn... which is pretty much how I wanted this deck to play. My meta is pretty high on removal, so one of the ways around this is to play threat after threat after threat. If you can do that quickly to boot, win!
I did have Diluvian Primordial in initially... my concern is that without the mill of Chancellor of the Spires, I'm worried it's not going to have enough awesome targets. That said, this is one of the few Primordials that are so far unsighted in my meta, so I have no background on what it plays like (Sylvan, Luminate and Sepulchral are, of course, everywhere...). What does it play like for everyone else?
There are a couple of artifact/enchantment decks running around, but nothing too much (other than my own decks! Ha!)... I'm hoping that Draining Whelks and unblockableSteel Hellkites will be enough to handle it. The other thing I will have to watch out for is Planar Cleansing, which has been making an appearance of late in one of my buddy's decks. Whelk will have to handle that. Or I suppose I could just run Living Death or something...
I am particularly fond of Butcher of Malakir and Malakir Bloodwitch in the initial list, though. The Butcher is a real rattlesnake card, and makes people think twice about axing your stuff. Kicked RoR on the Bloodwitch is GG.
I should add that I have unlimited mulligans in my playgroup, and this list kind of plays on that. It's important for it to start with a Warden in hand if possible, and I have already abused the unlimited mulligans + playset of Chancellor of the Dross before (trolololololol... nothing to see here... move along...)
I did have Diluvian Primordial in initially... What does it play like for everyone else?
The words that I would use to describe it wouldn't make it past the chat filter. I have absolutely no idea why Primordials get zero respect. They're Gods of the battlefield.
The difference between our point of views is that (for better or worse) I'm a "big picture" guy who's always keeping the ultimate goal in his sights.
My ultimate goal is making the concept of my decks work.
In most of my decks "winning by using X, Y and Z" tactics or cards the goal.
In some it's just "doing amazing silly things while winning once in twenty games" the goal.
We average at four games an evening with me winning a fair share of them. (mostly four player games so I average one win) (playing a different deck each game)
The ultimate goal is fun and winning is part of that. But to me it's not the purpose of all my decks, just most.
I don't know Blooms goals.
That said, I think it's nonsense that 2 and 3 drops don't need discounts.
Most of those you'll draw off curve. And if you're running decent card draw it's very probable you'll want to be able to cast more than one each turn as soon as able. (in the process using your discount more efficient)
Ultimate goal?
(-:
Edit
I like both the strix and the specter because they do what you say. But before you know it the theme goes out the door and that's a sin in my book. Which as we both know shares a few chapters with yours but some chapters differ radically.
That said, I think it's nonsense that 2 and 3 drops don't need discounts.
Most of those you'll draw off curve. And if you're running decent card draw it's very probable you'll want to be able to cast more than one each turn as soon as able. (in the process using your discount more efficient)
So what are you running instead? How about you actually provide alternatives as opposed to simply shooting my ideas down? You think that the cards that I suggested are hurting the deck. Fine. What would you run to help it?
The ultimate goal is fun and winning is part of that. But to me it's not the purpose of all my decks, just most.
I don't know Blooms goals.
1. Fun with the odd win involved.
2. Exploit the meta, but don't annoy the friends in the process.
3. Spam threats onto the board as fast as a Dimir deck possibly can (well, without using obnoxious things like Show and Tell, anyway). Spam. Spam. Spam.
I'm wondering if I should throw a couple of Rhystic Studies in, too, just to make sure my hand is always full. But people actually like paying that tax in my meta, and Windreader Sphinx may actually be enough acceleration (because, let's face it, every creature in this deck is capable of drawing me a card with the Sphinx out).
This deck has no way of refilling gas other than those 7-drops (Windreader sphinx really should not have been 3 power)
Mulldrifters seem fine here and on-theme, although not an actual engine, so to speak.
Nightveils are great because half the time you just hit their lands and play free land drops. If you don't play mass ramp you NEED to be hitting your land drops.
Also could use a tiny bit of interaction. I think this list just plain loses to Ensnaring Bridge.
I think you can build a list like this but you probably need to get more games in and tune the ratios of everything. To me, having CA sources and fewer fatties is better than just having a bunch of fatties. It's all about how smoothly the deck runs.
But people actually like paying that tax in my meta
You can't exactly blame them now can you :3?
Blue and Black have access to tons of powerful draw spells. Staples such as Syphon Mind and Fact or Fiction are perfectly fine options in these kinds of shells.
I actually like pairing fact or fiction with a slightly smaller quantity of delve spells.
Feels good to fact or fiction, dump three cards (not including the fact itself), then two turns later eat your graveyard (that you're not using) to cruise away for 1 mana.
EDIT: Although delving for cards is a bit worse in heavy-creature builds, assuming wraths aren't commonplace.
EDIT: Although delving for cards is a bit worse in heavy-creature builds, assuming wraths aren't commonplace.
True, but even Concentrate is a semi-reasonable Magic card and it's hard for Cruise to be (on average) worse than that. Given that some % of the time it's just an Ancestrall Recall the card is still usually worth running. High risk, high reward cards are worth playing because MP's a winner-take-all format and so the difference between second and is are rather inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. You may as well go big or go home because playing it safe can only take you so far and there's no prize for a steady stream of middling finishes. Besides, you can always shave Basics for things like Nephalia Drownyard, Evolving Wilds and/or Myriad Landscape and you can always cut 4 cards for 4 Preordains or Impulses.
Cruise is also weird in the sense that when it's bad, it almost doesn't matter. If your creatures aren't dying, well, you probably don't need extra cards RIGHT NOW. You may need them at some point in the future but if you're just curving out and maintaining your board then you're probably not desperately trying to dig into anything. It obviously helps if you can fire off a draw spell, you should run some some number of Fact or Fictions (or whatever), but there are worse fates in life than being stuck with draw spells in your hand when you're not losing your threats.
But people actually like paying that tax in my meta
You can't exactly blame them now can you :3?
Blue and Black have access to tons of powerful draw spells. Staples such as Syphon Mind and Fact or Fiction are perfectly fine options in these kinds of shells.
Definitely can't blame them, no... they know what comes next when they let me draw cards.
I reckon Plushpenguin's right about Mulldrifter, though... given it's a flier, it's potentially more than just two cards (if I land it with a Windreader out, and then swing). Can always throw it overboard on Turn 3 if I haven't drawn the Warden (or any other things we're considering as 3-drops, like Nightveil Specter)...
Useful UB 2/3 drops with colorless mana are hard to find indeed.
But now I didn't just shoot options down.
Though I already applauded the Muldrifters so I didn't hate all of the choices.
I hated the Nightveil Specter most because it's just too much of a staple and I thought there would be zillion alternatives. The first is still true, the second disappointed me...
+1 for the Drake. I love champion creatures and think wizards should print more. If your meta is like mine - a solid amount of sweepers, but not continual - champion creatures are great ways to get pseudo-haste and re-enter the battlefield effects. The Drake would be relevant later as a draw if you slipped a Mulldrifter under it, chump blocked, and then drew cards, for example. Of course, if you have a haymaker meta it may be too weak. If you end up with Strix and Mulldrifters and have sweepers it might be a solid choice.
Okay, Baleful Strix and Mulldrifter are definitely in the list.
I was pondering how to deal with stuff like Ensnaring Bridge and similar nasties, and was thinking that Tradewind Rider may be the only solution... until my Gatherer Mojo remembered Tidespout Tyrant. He's not cheap by either means (pennies or mana), but this deck aims to spam, and he's bouncing the table's biggest threat each time. He doesn't usually last long, but he mightn't need to here...
Playtesting shows it definitely not lacking in card advantage or finishing moves, and its curve is vastly improved. The question now is whether it's resilient enough to make it to its acceleration point.
EDIT: Oh, and evoked Mulldrifter with multiple Butchers of Malakir out? WIN.
I just don't understand how you can playtest a 23 land deck with 19 cards that cost 5 or mana and not run into problems. Ignore the fatties, how does this deck beat a single removal spell cast on Warden?
I also can't think of any reason why this deck wouldn't play 4x Mulldrifter. Turn 3 Warden means "turn four 5 drop" and given that this decks really wants to hit 2 more land drops beyond that you really need to be drawing cards. This deck's nut curve (real-world, no crazy triple/quadruple Warden sequences), as far as I can tell, is Strix into Warden into 'Drifter so I don't see why you wouldn't just play 4 of each.
I just don't understand how you can playtest a 23 land deck with 19 cards that cost 5 or mana and not run into problems. Ignore the fatties, how does this deck beat a single removal spell cast on Warden?
I also can't think of any reason why this deck wouldn't play 4x Mulldrifter. Turn 3 Warden means "turn four 5 drop" and given that this decks really wants to hit 2 more land drops beyond that you really need to be drawing cards. This deck's nut curve (real-world, no crazy triple/quadruple Warden sequences), as far as I can tell, is Strix into Warden into 'Drifter so I don't see why you wouldn't just play 4 of each.
So far, the only land issues my playtesting has had is colour-screw, not total land-screw. I'm actually pondering swapping four more islands out for four Tainted Isles, and see how that plays (and yes, this would obviously be easily fixed by four Watery Graves or Polluted Deltas. I shall now light my wallet on fire).
Given the unlimited mulligans (as mentioned before), I usually ensure I've got 3+ land in hand before I start, and that pretty much negates any issues here. Between the Strixes, Wardens and Drifters, if I can't get myself into a position where I can start playing 5-drops, it's probably one of those occasions where you just go "oh well, one of them games", shuffle up and see it not happen a second time.
That said, you're probably right on playing a full playset of Drifters and Strixes. I'm going to have to source a full four Baleful Strixes here, which is not something light on the wallet, but they're excellent at stalling and drawing. TBH, the biggest problem has been figuring out what to cull. I suspect Sangromancer needs to go, as much as it's the only 4-drop here - it's by far the weakest dude in the list.
You're not far off the Magical Christmasland Draw... I suspect the most enjoyable one would be T2 Strix, T3 Warden, T4 Warden Strix, T5 Windreader Sphinx, swing swing swing. T5 Steel Hellkite with a Rogue's Passage out would be highly acceptable too. But you're right... T4 Mulldrifter can only be followed by good things in this deck.
I suspect my meta will actually leave Warden of Evos Isle well alone, and that the only thing axing it will be global effects. It's had zero play in my meta so far, and I suspect its relative threat level will be below the "kill it now" level... goodness knows there are enough other threats on my table at any given moment that people have learnt not to waste their removal on the cheaty stuff, but rather on the stuff it's trying to cheat out. Because I'm going to be killing you with Malakir Bloodwitches or Steel Hellkites in reality, not Wardens.* I'm hoping to dodge the removal on the big guys simply by critical mass.
* That said, if I do manage to kill someone using nothing but Warden of Evos Isle in this decklist, there will be a victory dance. Oh yes there shall.
Okay, I have an old deck that is currently running three Tainted Isles and a Sunken Ruins. I think I can safely gut that and steal its manabase. Swapping out four Islands for those four makes it feel like I'm playing a deck full of duals (at a minimal price, apart from the Ruins, which I'm lucky to have pulled many moons ago). Draining Whelk is also way too slow for this deck - I want to be burning all my mana, rather than leaving it all untapped for a counter that I may not need to cast. I'm not going to find another all-in solution, so I should probably just swap to the 187 guy I should have been running all along - Bone Shredder. Double the fun if I don't pay the echo with Butcher of Malakir out.
Playtesting also shows that if I haven't got a Malakir Bloodwitch on the table for the inevitable T9 kicked RoR, Tidespout Tyrant is a damned good alternative (and is also capable of bouncing my own Strixes and Drifters for further fuel).
It now looks like the only issue this deck has is waiting around to draw a Warden if it hasn't got one yet. That's something that can probably be fixed by my unlimited mulligans.
This makes me want to build a U/B deck, only this one tries to control the board via bounce loops while accumulating value in the meantime.
Baleful Strix, Snapcaster Mage, Archaeomancer, Evacuation (preferred because instant speed), maybe a small reanimator subtheme so I can abuse Kederekt Leviathan reanimation loops (also because permanent-based mass bounce makes the enchantment versions reusable!), and a spell-based wincon. Probably a looped Time Warp.
What I do want to do:
Dimir Fun with Fliers v0.1
Creatures - 33
4 Warden of Evos Isle (Accelerant)
2 Phyrexian Metamorph (Because)
4 Sangromancer (This decks needs a 4-drop to cope with a Warden-less start... this is probably the best thing I have sitting around, and it plays nicely with...)
4 Malakir Bloodwitch (There are enough Vampires in here, and these things are value-town)
3 Draining Whelk (Cheapened by Warden, countermagic of choice in here)
2 Steel Hellkite (Dropping this before Turn 6 is a guarantee of degeneracy)
1 Roil Elemental (Because fun)
3 Butcher of Malakir (Moar vampires)
4 Chancellor of the Dross (Moar vampires, swingy starts to the game)
4 Chancellor of the Spires (Another swingy start to the game, capable of all sorts of crazy things when it drops)
3 Windreader Sphinx (Card advantage etc. etc.)
Spells - 4
4 Rite of Replication (Because they're undecked, and kicking them on most of the above is GG)
Land - 23
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Jwar Isle Refuge
1 Rogue's Passage
7 Island
7 Swamp
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It looks like you want to jam bombs - I would run 4 Worn Powerstone to complement your wardens. I would also get Mulldrifter in there.
Chancellor of the Spires seems like he's not doing much here, even when you get him in your opening. Diluvian Primordial just seems better.
Question: do your opponents play a lot of oppressive artifacts/enchantments? In that case you might need more ways to deal with those.
And... When playing blue black, I'd always consider some animation options. (Think Nezumi Graverobber orHavengul Lich)
My meta: 3 or 4 player free for all, anything goes but boring games or broken decks cause a vote to end that game.
Baleful Strix has significantly dropped in price and is probably the best UB flyer in the game. Nightveil Specter is stellar in multiplayer and fits the theme perfectly. Your curve looks very high to me so if possible I'd recommend taking it down a notch to support spells such as these. My advice:
4x Drowned Catacomb
4x Jwar Isle Refuge
1x Rogue's Passage
8x Island
8x Swamp
Creatures (26)
4x Baleful Strix
4x Warden of Evos Isle
4x Nightveil Specter
2x Sangromancer
4x Mulldrifter
1x Dark Hatchling
2x Draining Whelk
1x Steel Hellkite
3x Windreader Sphinx
1x Diluvian Primordial
2x Go for the Throat
2x Counterspell
1x Memory Plunder
3x Rite of Replication
1x Palace Siege
Something closer to this perhaps.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
My meta: 3 or 4 player free for all, anything goes but boring games or broken decks cause a vote to end that game.
I don't care if my 2 and 3 mana spells aren't affected by my ramp. I'd rather cast good cards for full price than bad ones that I'll sometimes get a discount on. I just want a deck that will consistently play Magic.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
However Mr. Bloom started the deck with the wardens.
They're the reason of the deck so nonbo's hurt the deck.
My meta: 3 or 4 player free for all, anything goes but boring games or broken decks cause a vote to end that game.
I just don't understand how these are nonbos. He said that he wanted a deck with Wardens and Windreaders. He didn't say "every card must extract maximum value from their abilities." You don't put 2 drops in your deck so that you can sandbag them for turn 4 at which point you can sometimes cast them for 1 mana. You put 2 drops in your deck so that you can cast them on turn 2. Would it be nice if the card were 1U? Yeah, sure, obviously. Still, this deck probably wants something to do early on and Strix is by far and away the best 2 drop flier in the color combo. It trades, it draws a card, it triggers the Sphinx, it's perfect. It doesn't hurt the deck at all. You just think it does because it doesn't have 100% optimal synergy with one other 3 drop in the deck. That's what I don't understand. You say that Baleful Strix is hurting the deck, what's your plan to replace it? What card do you replace Strix with that helps the deck? I would argue that basically everything else is a notch below and will reduce it's overall win %. Moreover, I would argue that most other cards are significantly less fun to play with because casting a cantripping Deadly Recluse feels SWEET and it's one the reasons why I look forward to playing UB decks in the first place. Not only does the deck become weaker but it probably feels less fun and less "safe." In that sense it makes no sense to me when you say that I'm hurting the deck with my suggestions.
Nightveil Specter is basically the same thing. You put 3 drops in your deck to cast them on turn 3 and Bl00m isn't some magician who can magically produce a turn 3 Warden every game. A large % of the time he's not going to have one early on but he'll probably still want something to play early on to protect himself. As it turns out a flying Phyrexian Arena is a big game and Nightveil Specter is an amazing card as result. It's going to draw into free lands, pressure players and frequently even nab him a free spell. It doesn't hurt his deck just because the Warden doesn't reduce its cost. I would argue that it helps it a lot because a steady stream of lands is essential if your plan is to curve out into 7 drops. Obviously he could play a Wind Drake or whatever that can use the Warden's mana reduction but what purpose does that serve? Sometimes you get a bad 2 mana card instead of a bad 3 mana card? How does that help him?
The difference between our point of views is that (for better or worse) I'm a "big picture" guy who's always keeping the ultimate goal in his sights. I can get behind building a deck with Warden and Sphinx, that's reasonable, but the ultimate goal is to win games and in order to do that you need to build powerful Magic decks that are (hopefully) fun to play with and against. You don't get an award for building decks that have perfect synergy and no one is going to care if every creature in his deck is affected by Warden or not. It's irrelevant. What matters is how consistently his deck can play magic and put up a solid fight. I'm the kind of guy who will play Chameleon Colossus in Beast Tribal or Taurean Mauler in Dragon tribal if I think that it will win me games and improve my deck. I'm willing to adhere to restrictions and player preferences but I'm never going to enslave myself to a theme at my own detriment. What you call "hurt[ing] the deck" I call "helping it" because powerful cards, smooth mana curves, adequate land counts and more all make for consistent, powerful decks that win games. An easy way to hurt a deck, in my mind, is to enslave yourself to a marginal, protectionless 3 drop that you have no real ability to tutor up and/or draw into and force yourself to build your deck completely around it. I would much rather jam cards like Baleful Strix and Nightveil Specter in my deck and play a solid game a Magic.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
At the end of the day, if it's a 2-drop or 3-drop we're talking about, it really doesn't need to be able to have its cost reduced by Warden of Evos Isle as much as it's a non-bo, as it stands a good chance of hitting the table before the Warden anyway. So yes, I should probably bring the curve down a bit and run Baleful and Nightveil. But boy... if the initial decklist gets so much as two Wardens on the table, it takes off. Don't ask me how, it just does. But it's basically dropping a gorilla or two every turn... which is pretty much how I wanted this deck to play. My meta is pretty high on removal, so one of the ways around this is to play threat after threat after threat. If you can do that quickly to boot, win!
I did have Diluvian Primordial in initially... my concern is that without the mill of Chancellor of the Spires, I'm worried it's not going to have enough awesome targets. That said, this is one of the few Primordials that are so far unsighted in my meta, so I have no background on what it plays like (Sylvan, Luminate and Sepulchral are, of course, everywhere...). What does it play like for everyone else?
There are a couple of artifact/enchantment decks running around, but nothing too much (other than my own decks! Ha!)... I'm hoping that Draining Whelks and unblockable Steel Hellkites will be enough to handle it. The other thing I will have to watch out for is Planar Cleansing, which has been making an appearance of late in one of my buddy's decks. Whelk will have to handle that. Or I suppose I could just run Living Death or something...
I am particularly fond of Butcher of Malakir and Malakir Bloodwitch in the initial list, though. The Butcher is a real rattlesnake card, and makes people think twice about axing your stuff. Kicked RoR on the Bloodwitch is GG.
I should add that I have unlimited mulligans in my playgroup, and this list kind of plays on that. It's important for it to start with a Warden in hand if possible, and I have already abused the unlimited mulligans + playset of Chancellor of the Dross before (trolololololol... nothing to see here... move along...)
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The words that I would use to describe it wouldn't make it past the chat filter. I have absolutely no idea why Primordials get zero respect. They're Gods of the battlefield.
You need to live my dream for me and play my patented Mortivore deck. It's just 4x Chancellor of the Spires with every Wight of Precinct Six, Nighthowler, Mortivore, Consuming Aberration, etc. and then some Blue/Black draw spells.
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My ultimate goal is making the concept of my decks work.
In most of my decks "winning by using X, Y and Z" tactics or cards the goal.
In some it's just "doing amazing silly things while winning once in twenty games" the goal.
We average at four games an evening with me winning a fair share of them. (mostly four player games so I average one win) (playing a different deck each game)
The ultimate goal is fun and winning is part of that. But to me it's not the purpose of all my decks, just most.
I don't know Blooms goals.
That said, I think it's nonsense that 2 and 3 drops don't need discounts.
Most of those you'll draw off curve. And if you're running decent card draw it's very probable you'll want to be able to cast more than one each turn as soon as able. (in the process using your discount more efficient)
Ultimate goal?
(-:
Edit
I like both the strix and the specter because they do what you say. But before you know it the theme goes out the door and that's a sin in my book. Which as we both know shares a few chapters with yours but some chapters differ radically.
My meta: 3 or 4 player free for all, anything goes but boring games or broken decks cause a vote to end that game.
So what are you running instead? How about you actually provide alternatives as opposed to simply shooting my ideas down? You think that the cards that I suggested are hurting the deck. Fine. What would you run to help it?
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Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
1. Fun with the odd win involved.
2. Exploit the meta, but don't annoy the friends in the process.
3. Spam threats onto the board as fast as a Dimir deck possibly can (well, without using obnoxious things like Show and Tell, anyway). Spam. Spam. Spam.
I'm wondering if I should throw a couple of Rhystic Studies in, too, just to make sure my hand is always full. But people actually like paying that tax in my meta, and Windreader Sphinx may actually be enough acceleration (because, let's face it, every creature in this deck is capable of drawing me a card with the Sphinx out).
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Mulldrifters seem fine here and on-theme, although not an actual engine, so to speak.
Nightveils are great because half the time you just hit their lands and play free land drops. If you don't play mass ramp you NEED to be hitting your land drops.
Also could use a tiny bit of interaction. I think this list just plain loses to Ensnaring Bridge.
I think you can build a list like this but you probably need to get more games in and tune the ratios of everything. To me, having CA sources and fewer fatties is better than just having a bunch of fatties. It's all about how smoothly the deck runs.
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You can't exactly blame them now can you :3?
Blue and Black have access to tons of powerful draw spells. Staples such as Syphon Mind and Fact or Fiction are perfectly fine options in these kinds of shells.
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Feels good to fact or fiction, dump three cards (not including the fact itself), then two turns later eat your graveyard (that you're not using) to cruise away for 1 mana.
EDIT: Although delving for cards is a bit worse in heavy-creature builds, assuming wraths aren't commonplace.
The Unidentified Fantastic Flying Girl.
EDH
Xenagos, the God of Stompy
The Gitrog Monster: Oppressive Value.
Marchesa, Marionette Master - Undying Robots
Yuriko, the Hydra Omnivore
I make dolls as a hobby.
True, but even Concentrate is a semi-reasonable Magic card and it's hard for Cruise to be (on average) worse than that. Given that some % of the time it's just an Ancestrall Recall the card is still usually worth running. High risk, high reward cards are worth playing because MP's a winner-take-all format and so the difference between second and is are rather inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. You may as well go big or go home because playing it safe can only take you so far and there's no prize for a steady stream of middling finishes. Besides, you can always shave Basics for things like Nephalia Drownyard, Evolving Wilds and/or Myriad Landscape and you can always cut 4 cards for 4 Preordains or Impulses.
Cruise is also weird in the sense that when it's bad, it almost doesn't matter. If your creatures aren't dying, well, you probably don't need extra cards RIGHT NOW. You may need them at some point in the future but if you're just curving out and maintaining your board then you're probably not desperately trying to dig into anything. It obviously helps if you can fire off a draw spell, you should run some some number of Fact or Fictions (or whatever), but there are worse fates in life than being stuck with draw spells in your hand when you're not losing your threats.
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Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
Definitely can't blame them, no... they know what comes next when they let me draw cards.
I reckon Plushpenguin's right about Mulldrifter, though... given it's a flier, it's potentially more than just two cards (if I land it with a Windreader out, and then swing). Can always throw it overboard on Turn 3 if I haven't drawn the Warden (or any other things we're considering as 3-drops, like Nightveil Specter)...
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Useful UB 2/3 drops with colorless mana are hard to find indeed.
But now I didn't just shoot options down.
Though I already applauded the Muldrifters so I didn't hate all of the choices.
I hated the Nightveil Specter most because it's just too much of a staple and I thought there would be zillion alternatives. The first is still true, the second disappointed me...
My meta: 3 or 4 player free for all, anything goes but boring games or broken decks cause a vote to end that game.
+1 for the Drake. I love champion creatures and think wizards should print more. If your meta is like mine - a solid amount of sweepers, but not continual - champion creatures are great ways to get pseudo-haste and re-enter the battlefield effects. The Drake would be relevant later as a draw if you slipped a Mulldrifter under it, chump blocked, and then drew cards, for example. Of course, if you have a haymaker meta it may be too weak. If you end up with Strix and Mulldrifters and have sweepers it might be a solid choice.
I was pondering how to deal with stuff like Ensnaring Bridge and similar nasties, and was thinking that Tradewind Rider may be the only solution... until my Gatherer Mojo remembered Tidespout Tyrant. He's not cheap by either means (pennies or mana), but this deck aims to spam, and he's bouncing the table's biggest threat each time. He doesn't usually last long, but he mightn't need to here...
I'm currently playing around with:
Fun Dimir Fliers v0.2
Creatures - 33
3 Baleful Strix
3 Butcher of Malakir
3 Diluvian Primordial
3 Draining Whelk
3 Malakir Bloodwitch
3 Mulldrifter
2 Phyrexian Metamorph
2 Sangromancer
2 Steel Hellkite
2 Tidespout Tyrant
4 Warden of Evos Isle
3 Windreader Sphinx
Spells - 4
4 Rite of Replication
Land - 23
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Jwar Isle Refuge
1 Rogue's Passage
7 Island
7 Swamp
Playtesting shows it definitely not lacking in card advantage or finishing moves, and its curve is vastly improved. The question now is whether it's resilient enough to make it to its acceleration point.
EDIT: Oh, and evoked Mulldrifter with multiple Butchers of Malakir out? WIN.
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I also can't think of any reason why this deck wouldn't play 4x Mulldrifter. Turn 3 Warden means "turn four 5 drop" and given that this decks really wants to hit 2 more land drops beyond that you really need to be drawing cards. This deck's nut curve (real-world, no crazy triple/quadruple Warden sequences), as far as I can tell, is Strix into Warden into 'Drifter so I don't see why you wouldn't just play 4 of each.
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So far, the only land issues my playtesting has had is colour-screw, not total land-screw. I'm actually pondering swapping four more islands out for four Tainted Isles, and see how that plays (and yes, this would obviously be easily fixed by four Watery Graves or Polluted Deltas. I shall now light my wallet on fire).
Given the unlimited mulligans (as mentioned before), I usually ensure I've got 3+ land in hand before I start, and that pretty much negates any issues here. Between the Strixes, Wardens and Drifters, if I can't get myself into a position where I can start playing 5-drops, it's probably one of those occasions where you just go "oh well, one of them games", shuffle up and see it not happen a second time.
That said, you're probably right on playing a full playset of Drifters and Strixes. I'm going to have to source a full four Baleful Strixes here, which is not something light on the wallet, but they're excellent at stalling and drawing. TBH, the biggest problem has been figuring out what to cull. I suspect Sangromancer needs to go, as much as it's the only 4-drop here - it's by far the weakest dude in the list.
You're not far off the Magical Christmasland Draw... I suspect the most enjoyable one would be T2 Strix, T3 Warden, T4 Warden Strix, T5 Windreader Sphinx, swing swing swing. T5 Steel Hellkite with a Rogue's Passage out would be highly acceptable too. But you're right... T4 Mulldrifter can only be followed by good things in this deck.
I suspect my meta will actually leave Warden of Evos Isle well alone, and that the only thing axing it will be global effects. It's had zero play in my meta so far, and I suspect its relative threat level will be below the "kill it now" level... goodness knows there are enough other threats on my table at any given moment that people have learnt not to waste their removal on the cheaty stuff, but rather on the stuff it's trying to cheat out. Because I'm going to be killing you with Malakir Bloodwitches or Steel Hellkites in reality, not Wardens.* I'm hoping to dodge the removal on the big guys simply by critical mass.
* That said, if I do manage to kill someone using nothing but Warden of Evos Isle in this decklist, there will be a victory dance. Oh yes there shall.
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Draining Whelk is also way too slow for this deck - I want to be burning all my mana, rather than leaving it all untapped for a counter that I may not need to cast. I'm not going to find another all-in solution, so I should probably just swap to the 187 guy I should have been running all along - Bone Shredder. Double the fun if I don't pay the echo with Butcher of Malakir out.
Playtesting also shows that if I haven't got a Malakir Bloodwitch on the table for the inevitable T9 kicked RoR, Tidespout Tyrant is a damned good alternative (and is also capable of bouncing my own Strixes and Drifters for further fuel).
It now looks like the only issue this deck has is waiting around to draw a Warden if it hasn't got one yet. That's something that can probably be fixed by my unlimited mulligans.
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Baleful Strix, Snapcaster Mage, Archaeomancer, Evacuation (preferred because instant speed), maybe a small reanimator subtheme so I can abuse Kederekt Leviathan reanimation loops (also because permanent-based mass bounce makes the enchantment versions reusable!), and a spell-based wincon. Probably a looped Time Warp.
The Unidentified Fantastic Flying Girl.
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Xenagos, the God of Stompy
The Gitrog Monster: Oppressive Value.
Marchesa, Marionette Master - Undying Robots
Yuriko, the Hydra Omnivore
I make dolls as a hobby.