That's 5 mana to possibly counter something. We are playing battlecruiser magic, as the saying goes, I'm sure someone with Cabal Coffers can afford to pay 9 (although they may have spent that to increase the X by 9). I changed my Talrand a bit by putting more fast mana and reducing my costs of my spells:
I cut an Island for a Soldevi Excavation, allowing me to Scry when I have nothing better to do. I cut another Island because I added 4 mana rocks in, but I also put the Gitaxian Probe because I need as much cantrips as possible to filter for what I need. Diluvian Primordial also got the axe, just so I don't need to worry about whiffing due to a Torpor Orb.
I got rid of a bunch of 'wishful thinking' cards or durdly stuff to make my deck more lean and mean. Need more things to hit the yard for all the Delve cards.
The only thing now is I'm thinking of cutting the Proteus Package; however, each of my creatures is worth hard casting instead of the 'wishful thinking' I had previously. Not sure what to do from here except go full Snow.
Well, I've been thinking of cutting expensive Instants and Sorceries for a while now and today's game sort of proved that. I have trouble getting rid of all of the troublesome stuff, such as not having enough mana open for Desertion, Dominate or even Rewind. It's why I cut Dominate for the Summonings, though if I cut all of the expensive Instants and Sorceries, I'm not sure if it would do anything for Summonings. Though it could make me chump blockers while my Drakes do business.
Also, it makes me contemplate using Trail of Evidence. I'd have more Artifacts to possibly activate Summonings. But a part of me can't help but think that those aren't Instants or Sorceries or fast mana to get my Talrand online. Today, I had a slow start and so I had to police things before rushing out Talrand.
I've found the 5 mana cost of Desertion to be one mana too much at times. I replaced Desertion with a very versatile Counterspell in Cryptic Command. Curse of the Swine should exile many creatures, which is why I choose to replace with Saheeli's Artistry. Artistry 'countered' the creatures by being copies, but I might not be able to synergize as well as my foes. Swine gets rid of them entirely, which is very productive for myself. It was between Saheeli's Aristry and Stolen Identity for the cut. They're both expensive Sorceries that copy Creatures or Artifacts. Stolen Identity chaining Casts is what won me over, as it makes more drakes and copies more things in the long run.
I've decided to retire Talrand. He's not fun with a win or a loss. I either get overwhelmed, do nothing and get smashed helplessly or I lock my opponents out and don't give a fair game.
These cards will be cannibalized with my other decks.
1 Abjure
1 Coldsteel Heart
1 Thought Vessel
1 Sky Diamond
1 Mind Stone
1 Soldevi Excavations
1 Gitaxian Probe
1 Temporal Trespass
1 Spell Crumple
1 Mystic Speculation
1 Turnabout
1 Reins of Power
1 Diluvian Primordial
1 Opposition
2 Islands
I got rid of a bunch of 'wishful thinking' cards or durdly stuff to make my deck more lean and mean. Need more things to hit the yard for all the Delve cards.
The only thing now is I'm thinking of cutting the Proteus Package; however, each of my creatures is worth hard casting instead of the 'wishful thinking' I had previously. Not sure what to do from here except go full Snow.
Mid-Tier: Marchesa Aggro Rose Asmadi Get Dire Tymna Ikra Woke Women Tiana Aura Angel Ruric Thar SMASH Smasher Kraum Mana Positivity Zur Slides
Filthy Casual: WUBRG Jodah WUBRG WUBRG Fatties WUBRG Gahiji Vigilant Vengeance Ezuri Mysterious Morphs
1 Metallurgic Summonings
1 Dominate
Well, I've been thinking of cutting expensive Instants and Sorceries for a while now and today's game sort of proved that. I have trouble getting rid of all of the troublesome stuff, such as not having enough mana open for Desertion, Dominate or even Rewind. It's why I cut Dominate for the Summonings, though if I cut all of the expensive Instants and Sorceries, I'm not sure if it would do anything for Summonings. Though it could make me chump blockers while my Drakes do business.
Also, it makes me contemplate using Trail of Evidence. I'd have more Artifacts to possibly activate Summonings. But a part of me can't help but think that those aren't Instants or Sorceries or fast mana to get my Talrand online. Today, I had a slow start and so I had to police things before rushing out Talrand.
Mid-Tier: Marchesa Aggro Rose Asmadi Get Dire Tymna Ikra Woke Women Tiana Aura Angel Ruric Thar SMASH Smasher Kraum Mana Positivity Zur Slides
Filthy Casual: WUBRG Jodah WUBRG WUBRG Fatties WUBRG Gahiji Vigilant Vengeance Ezuri Mysterious Morphs
1 Cryptid Command
1 Curse of the Swind
1 Desertion
1 Saheeli's Artistry
Mid-Tier: Marchesa Aggro Rose Asmadi Get Dire Tymna Ikra Woke Women Tiana Aura Angel Ruric Thar SMASH Smasher Kraum Mana Positivity Zur Slides
Filthy Casual: WUBRG Jodah WUBRG WUBRG Fatties WUBRG Gahiji Vigilant Vengeance Ezuri Mysterious Morphs
These cards will be cannibalized with my other decks.
Mid-Tier: Marchesa Aggro Rose Asmadi Get Dire Tymna Ikra Woke Women Tiana Aura Angel Ruric Thar SMASH Smasher Kraum Mana Positivity Zur Slides
Filthy Casual: WUBRG Jodah WUBRG WUBRG Fatties WUBRG Gahiji Vigilant Vengeance Ezuri Mysterious Morphs