OK so which should I run, Stoic Rebuttal or Glen Elendra Archmage? Both have their merits, but I think that Stoic is better as Archmage basically costs 5 CMC to use.
Also how do you feel about Force of Will? I know its card disadvantage, but in a pinch it can do serious work. I'm debating on running Rewind vs FoW.
Neither. Force is fine, but depends on your specific build. You need to have enough blue cards to make Force Viable, and my build does not.
Countermagic for this deck should be as cheap as possible. Dispel, Flusterstorm, Spell Pierce, Pact of Negation, Arcane Denial, Counterspell, Delay, Mana Drain, Mana Leak, Thwart, Force of Will, and Memory Lapse are all cards that I would consider playable in this deck. Everything else is too expensive to consider.
I guess I should put up my list just for reference. I've generally happy with it, but it's not 100% tuned by any means. I only play 1v1 with it, since I enjoy having friends
Adding Staff of Nin to the deck as well as Bluesun:rystic study to the deck playing in multiplayer games it's really to be hated on and run out of steam way to quickly
Okay ill bite about Teff/pool lock. Not sure if correct or not but I'll go with it. Why no time Warp effects you speak of it being three turns to set everything up why not accelerate yourself turns and upkeeps with Time warp, Temporal manipulation/Capture.
If you want to run Teferipool, by all means, please do. Like I said, in French duels lists, where many of our combo pieces are banned, Teferipool is included. It's not like he wouldn't fit at all. It's just that with the full power of the multiplayer banlist at our fingertips we don't need to resort to creature combo pieces.
No Time Warp effects because we're too fast for them. When we pop Lotus Petal and Svyelunite Temple and tap Cavern of Souls and an Island to generate UUUUU on T3, we don't want to blow that mana on Time Warp; we'd rather drop an uncounterable, Swiftfoot Boots-protected Arcum (granted, this is an exceptionally strong starting play, but it's what we aim for) and win the game shortly thereafter.
That list looks pretty tight. What's Duplicant doing there besides overall goodstuff? He's really the only card I'd question, otherwise great work putting that together.
I guess I should put up my list just for reference. I've generally happy with it, but it's not 100% tuned by any means. I only play 1v1 with it, since I enjoy having friends
I have friends, too! We're just all masochists and we get along by mutually tearing each other to shreds.
Anyway, you still run Rings/Monolith/Staff, so you've still got a little bit to be accountable for. And you even run Winter Orb mainboard.
The only things that really leap out at me are Serrated Biskellion and Golem Artisan. As far as "casual jank" goes, those two strike me as especially casually janky.
Adding Staff of Nin to the deck as well as Bluesun:rystic study to the deck playing in multiplayer games it's really to be hated on and run out of steam way to quickly
Rhystic Study is one of those generic blue goodstuff cards that isn't really "optimal" here but at the same time can never do you any wrong.
Staff of Nin on the other hand is waaaaaay outclassed by other options. If you need card draw there are better artifacts, and if you need a direct damage wincon there are better ways to do it (Myr Token swarm, Karn, Silver Golem, hell, even Telim'Tor's Darts).
Just to let people know, tap effects from Frost Titan and the counter ability from Glen Elendra Archmage are super effing annoying to play against. If you know your opponent has the Archmage, get your Pithing Needle out ASAP. Against Frost Titan, get out general protection ASAP. If you can't get protection out before they play Frost Titan, try to get out Mycosynth Lattice and Unwinding Clock so you can atleast use Arcum's ability on your opponent's turn. Also you will need extra mana for Duplicant to kill someone's Frost Titan.
Just to let people know, tap effects from Frost Titan and the counter ability from Glen Elendra Archmage are super effing annoying to play against. If you know your opponent has the Archmage, get your Pithing Needle out ASAP. Against Frost Titan, get out general protection ASAP. If you can't get protection out before they play Frost Titan, try to get out Mycosynth Lattice and Unwinding Clock so you can atleast use Arcum's ability on your opponent's turn. Also you will need extra mana for Duplicant to kill someone's Frost Titan.
Nothing new is coming out for this deck! Oh well. Maybe next block. I think I'll update the title date even though nothing's really changed just to show that this list is still valid as of today.
Anyway, you still run Rings/Monolith/Staff, so you've still got a little bit to be accountable for. And you even run Winter Orb mainboard.
The only things that really leap out at me are Serrated Biskellion and Golem Artisan. As far as "casual jank" goes, those two strike me as especially casually janky.
Those two are a couple of experiments. Biskelion is an attempt to headge against Edric and Derevi decks. Getting to pick off x/1s is ok, and I wanted to increase my artifact creature count. Artisan is my main win condition. Once I've drawn my deck I need a way to actually kill and Artisan is the best method I'd found. It's a creature so if I draw it early I can use it to tutor.
I am entering a edh tournament using the Arcum list in the OP. What I need help with however is building a 10 card sideboard. I have already some good ideas for it, but more ideas are always welcome. I am expecting the following:
Lots of Ionas
Junk combos
Esper and UW artifact combo
Animar combo
Random homebrews of popular commanders
Of all of these, I am most scared of the Ionas. It's going to come from Kaalia players and they have plenty of annoying cards. I've added capsize to the deck so that we can bounce their whole board if they have an avacyn out assuming I have a lattice on the field. However, I'm really scarred of what could happen if I were to face Ionas naming blue. Should I just add more contermagic to that kaalia never hits the field? More spot removal? (Pongify, boomerang etc)
Other than that I am fairly confidant I can win, I will definitely move jester's cap to the mainboard for the tournament so combo decks don't scare me that much. It's mostly the aggro decks that scare me, especially the ones that have no issue blowing up ensnaring bridge and the like.
Those two are a couple of experiments. Biskelion is an attempt to headge against Edric and Derevi decks.
That's interesting. I hadn't considered that. Is it working for you? Does your group allow Edric and Derevi still even though they've been banned in French?
Once I've drawn my deck I need a way to actually kill and Artisan is the best method I'd found. It's a creature so if I draw it early I can use it to tutor.
Well, once you've got infinite mana and card draw, you can very easily combo into infinite graveyard recursion and then permalock with Mindslaver or Spine of Ish Sah (which you've already got mainboard).
And if they don't surrender (which they really should've done as soon as you went infinite), you can just bop them in the face with Arcum or a Myr Turbine token until they die.
And yeah, it's a creature, but at 5 it's pretty bad fodder.
Anyway, I know you said your list isn't supposed to be 100% tuned, I'm just giving you beef because that's my job.
Lots of Ionas
Junk combos
Esper and UW artifact combo
Animar combo
Random homebrews of popular commanders
Of all of these, I am most scared of the Ionas. It's going to come from Kaalia players and they have plenty of annoying cards. I've added capsize to the deck so that we can bounce their whole board if they have an avacyn out assuming I have a lattice on the field. However, I'm really scarred of what could happen if I were to face Ionas naming blue. Should I just add more contermagic to that kaalia never hits the field? More spot removal? (Pongify, boomerang etc)
Other than that I am fairly confidant I can win, I will definitely move jester's cap to the mainboard for the tournament so combo decks don't scare me that much. It's mostly the aggro decks that scare me, especially the ones that have no issue blowing up ensnaring bridge and the like.
I'd start with the 8-card sideboard that you see in the main decklist in my original post. Pretty much all of them are really outstanding cards in certain matchups, except maybe Neurok Stealthsuit (which is still pretty good, just not as outstanding as some of the others on that list).
Ideally, you want to keep Kaalia off the field, yeah, or at very least keep your Ensnaring Bridge alive long enough that she can't attack. But obviously not all your games will work out that well, so it's good to have other plans in the hole.
The good news is that Iona doesn't break our back quite as much as it breaks other monoblue combo decks. At the end of the day the only thing we absolutely need to cast with U in its mana cost is Arcum himself; after that, we can get by casting only colorless artifacts (and tutoring with Arcum, of course).
Remember, you can always Spine of Ish Sah Iona even if she hits the field so long as Arcum's out first. And you already put in Capsize for Avacyn, which is a smart move.
Possessed Portal will smash Kaalia as it smashes so many other decks that are permanent-light. If she doesn't have Necropotence in her opening hand, she'll be hurting bad really fast, while you just keep tinkering along.
For the others you mentioned in your meta list:
Junk combos - All the ones I'm aware of involve the GY, like Ghave or Karador. Consider Grafdigger's Cage and also of course Jester's Cap.
Esper/UW Artifact - I put some paragraphs in my Meta Analysis section about Sharuum the Hegemon, who's probably the biggest competitive Esper threat around. Again, typically there's some GY recursion element, like Sword/Foundry or Hannah, Ship's Navigator shenanigans. You can use Grafdigger's Cage to stop it.
Animar combo - Torpor Orb is the name of the game. Find it and stick it for as long as you can and you'll win. Because Animar synergizes so beautifully with creatures, Animar combo decks will always use creature cards with ETB effects for their tutor/draw/recursion (eg Coiling Oracle, Elvish Visionary, Mulldrifter, Fierce Empath, Artisan of Kozilek, and many, many more). Torpor Orb, as a result, shuts down pretty much the entire deck for as long as it sticks. Also watch out for his most important cards like Survival of the Fittest and counter them or tutor into Pithing Needle.
Random homebrews of popular commanders - In the Meta Analysis section of the primer I discussed some of the most popular choices in my area. Keep in mind that many choices that are popular (eg Azusa, Lost but Seeking) aren't necessarily top-tier competitive and won't cause you much difficulty.
Btw, I don't know if you've had your tournament already or if you're still even checking this thread, but definitely watch out for those obnoxious Hermit Druids.
Hey this is a really great primer, thanks for keeping it up to date and responding, I was wondering what your opinion on meekstone as a second bridge effect is? It doesn't start arcum but I may be missing some other interaction. Thanks!
EDIT: Also, can you try and explain to me the applications of memory jar? I haven't played with it before and am kind of puzzled by it, Thanks!
I wouldn't play Cyclonic Rift. If you're just looking for a generic bounce spell, there are much better 2-mana options, like Into the Roil or even just Boomerang. The strength of Cyclonic Rift over those cards is in its Overload cost--and if you've got 7 mana to throw around, you've either A) already assembled your infinite combo, at which point you've won that turn anyway; or B) haven't yet assembled your infinite combo, at which point your 7 mana should be used to complete the combo and win the game that turn.
Platinum Angel and Platinum Emperion don't really fit in this deck or in the competitive meta for several reasons:
1. They're too expensive. Again, if we ever have that much mana, we should be playing something that wins the game on the spot--not something that merely prevents us from losing.
2. As creature artifacts, we can't tutor them out nearly as well as we can noncreature artifacts (Arcum can't get them).
3. In the competitive meta, Platinum Emperion really won't even stop you from losing, more often than not, because of the abundance of ways in competitive play to eliminate you without ever touching your life total, for example by forcing you to draw out your entire library (eg assemble infinite mana then Blue Sun's Zenith for X = 1000).
I hope this helped. As I've said to so many other people before, if you really want these cards in your deck, you can put them there--if they're your "pet cards" and you'd have more fun with them in, then by all means put them in. But if your goal is strictly to win as often as possible, which is the goal I had in mind when I composed this deck and wrote this primer, then there are better options.
Hey this is a really great primer, thanks for keeping it up to date and responding, I was wondering what your opinion on meekstone as a second bridge effect is? It doesn't start arcum but I may be missing some other interaction. Thanks!
Thank you for your support! I'm glad you liked the primer. Unfortunately these last couple of blocks have brought us very little in the ways of powerful artifacts, so the reason I haven't updated the primer since January is because there really hasn't been much to change since then.
Meekstone is an OK Ensnaring Bridge #2 if your meta is choc full of aggro decks, but keep in mind that the Bridge does it so much better. Here's why:
1. On small/empty hands (and with how fast we blow through our cards, our hand will empty out pretty fast), the bridge affects ALL creatures irrespective of their power. Keep in mind that there are some super dangerous aggro creatures out there with under 3 power, such as Thada Adel, Acquisitor, Kaalia of the Vast, and more.
2. Ensnaring Bridge actually prevents creatures from attacking, whereas Meekstone merely keeps them tapped after they've attacked once. Many creatures only need one shot to do massive damage, like the Eldrazi gods. Moreover, smart aggro players will find ways to untap their creatures again anyway, like with Seedborn Muse.
In general, Ensnaring Bridge is a much "harder" lock on aggro. If you have an empty hand, no creatures with power >0 can attack--not even once, and there's nothing your opponents can do about it except attempt to destroy the Bridge. So you can run the Meekstone in addition to the Bridge if you really think it will help, but simply keep in mind that the Meekstone can't totally do the Bridge's job.
EDIT: Also, can you try and explain to me the applications of memory jar? I haven't played with it before and am kind of puzzled by it, Thanks!
It might seem confusing at first, but there's a reason Memory Jar is banned in Legacy and restricted in Vintage. First of all, it basically says "Draw 7 cards," it costs 5, and it can be activated at instant speed. Just think about that for a second. Compare it to something like Tidings, a Draw 4 for 3UU at sorcery speed, and you'll see right away just how strong the Jar is for its cost relative to other draw spells.
Unlike Tidings you don't have to draw your cards right away when you're using the Jar. You can save the Jar on the field for your next turn after you've untapped all your lands so you'll have more mana available to capitalize on your Draw 7. You can even pop the Jar on your opponents' turn, if you really wanted, in response to something they cast if you desperately need to find a Counterspell or other response.
Lastly, it's a non-creature artifact, which means it's tutorable with Arcum. Having it in your deck means you can literally tap Arcum to draw 7 cards at instant speed.
Maybe it's the reciprocity that's throwing you? The fact that your opponents get the effect, too? Well, like so many "reciprocal" cards in Magic, like Wheel of Fortune and Timetwister and Balance (all of which are also banned or restricted in every tournament format), the trick is to deploy the card in a gamestate wherein you'll reap the benefit and your opponents won't. For example, consider this scenario: it's the beginning of your turn. Your opponent is all tapped out except for two Islands, and you've got the gut feeling he's saving a Counterspell to muck up your next big play. What do you do?
Well, you have many options--one of which is to tap Arcum for Memory Jar and pop it. Now you've got all your mana open and a fresh new hand of 7 cards to spend it on, AND whatever countermagic your opponent was saving for you is now exiled away for the remainder of your turn. Your opponent has 7 new cards, too, but he can't any of them except the instants (assuming he drew any) because it's not his turn--and at the next end step (i.e. your end step), he discards his Jar hand and picks up his old one again just like you do. So, as you can see, when played correctly, the benefit you get from the Jar far outweighs whatever benefit your opponents get.
Is is possible to do a budget version of this deck, but say that my criteria was only cards equal or under $10 unless a card is core/must-have to the deck?
Where is Mental Misstep in the main decklist? Worked wonders for me, stopping swords, path, innocent blood, worst case you can stop someone from brainstorming or pondering for removal spells.
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>implying Modern
>implying Legacy UWMiracles/Countertop EDH UUUMemnarch, Steal your grillUUU RWUZedruu, Queen of ChaosRWU GWUBRReaper KingGWUBR My Trades
Finally done with school, so I should be able to check this thread more regularly. Should be able to, anyway.
Mental Misstep is one of those meta decisions. Certain competitive decks have some very powerful 1drops that are tutored and played very consistently, like Animar with Shrieking Drake or Rhys the Redeemed with himself. In those cases Misstep becomes much more useful. But other competitive decks (combos like Arcum, Sharuum, and Azami and certain aggro like Sigarda and Uril) don't have very many one-drops at all; instead their target CMC is around 3 or 4, and they work to get there on T3 or earlier by mana rocks and/or land ramp. In those cases, your Misstep will be useless if it doesn't show up right in your opening hand to counter a T1 Sol Ring, Burgeoning, etc. because they'll never play another counter-worthy 1drop after T2 or so besides the few you listed.
Btw, Innocent Blood, we don't worry about that one ever because it's super easy for us to simply pitch a dork or token.
I'm still enjoying this deck. I traded my whole collection just so I can play this. Almost all foil about 19 more cards to go! I decided to play your entire decklist so far TheTrueNub at least until I completely foil it out. I like to play in multiplayer more than 1 v 1's because of the challenge. 1 v 1 did help me improve my skills on what I see as a immediate threat situations and what situations I can ignore and continue assembling my engine. For example to search for Null Brooch to counter a spell that will kill Arcum instead of continuing with assembling my engine or when I'm playing aggro and they have a creature ability when it attacks can potentially kill Arcum, but I already have hexproof or shroud I can continue doing what the original plan is. I'm really glad this is a active blog because I myself keep referring back to it. In multiplayer I've learned if I don't stick Arcum with haste when he's first cast he ends up being sent back to the commander zone even if I cast him and everyone is tapped out during their turn at least one of them will kill Arcum. With that said I was wondering if some cards could be replaced when in multiplayer and would you advise it? The cards I was thinking were the ones that just accelerate Arcum out faster and don't help us in the mid game. I could be playing it wrong though because I'm just basing my experience off of the losses I've had when I cast Arcum early and he doesn't have haste to get the greaves or boots or doesn't have the boots or greaves to protect him. By the way I do like the card Witchbane Orb, but haven't really faced anyone where I actually needed it yet. I think it would be awesome to instantly tutor it with Arcum and prevent a Magister's Sphinx entering the battlefield ability or a Sorrin ability making your life ten. Of course Torpor Orb would stop the Sphinx anyway. Haven't gotten in that position yet, but I would love to do that if it happened. The cards I thought of changing out was Lotus Petal and Svyelunite Temple. In multiplayer do you think Scrying Sheets would do well. I know your opinion on it in your primer, but what if it's a multiplayer game where your slowed down because your being cautious about Arcum. Would Jace, the Mind Sculptor be better used in a multiplayer battle and Mind Over Matter or does that not really change anything. I like Myr Sire, but would you take anything out for it. I wouldn't take out any more creatures for it because I like all of them. Mox Opal might be a better choice for mid-game instead of Lotus Petal. How about mid-game Time Spiral instead of Thirst for Knowledge. The choices I named and offered replacements are ones I'm actually considering doing, but the Jace and Mind over Matter and Myr Sire I'd like to know what you think for the mid-game. I like the Champions Helm option and considering the Neurok Stealthsuit to provide a answer to my multiplayer problem of being triple teamed up on. If I can't stick Arcum and tutor anything I end up top decking because I bust my whole hand out just to get him out as early as possible and that's why I considered a 7 card draw with Time Spiral instead of Thirst for Knowledge. I like expedition map because we can search for Academy Ruins and if we main board a Mindslaver we can lock opponents down if we have enough mana every turn not sure how effective it would be in a multiplayer game. Also, considering with an addition to the Expedition Map we would only have a 3 out of 99 chance of getting the Academy Ruins, but of course Mindslaver is much easier for us to get in play. Not sure if it's a worthy combo for the main board though.
I played nearly all day yesterday! Some of my previous statements I've changed my mind on what wasn't workio for me and why that is. I almost went undefeated all day. I seemed to run into problems when I didn't have a creature, a mana rock, two lands, a counter spell/spellskite/greaves or boots/or a search card to get one. I lost once 1 v 1 n twice n a multiplayer atmosphere to be fair in one of those it was a 5 person free for all instead of the usual 4. If I don't get a opening hand with those conditions i'm pretty much done with all the hate I receive with just showing my general. With that said the biggest priorities in my eyes is to definitely secure arcum. My answer to my dilemma is to either at more counter spells which I think would be our least preferred choice. As for what counters I would even consider I can only think of adding mystical tutor to search for a counter. She can also do something better n get fabricate for us which would get one of the boots. Also thinking about main boarding at least champions helm. Arcum is secured there's very little they can do to stop us unless they work together nand that is still unlikely after that. Null brooch has done wonders for me. I'm now not concerned about late game n would say disregard my previous comments on replacing thirst for time spiral. If we want more cards we can search for memory jar which rarely happens for me because we have ensnaring bridge out there which makes me question if it helps us as much in the deck. Also possessed portal doesn't allow us to draw either. I love memory jar knowing the history behind it. How it was banned even before the set printed it just because drawing 7 cards is fatal in magic. So with me to even consider removing it is sad for me to do. The only time I would actually tutor it with arcum would be if he was going to die and I can't do anything to stop it which is rare or when im gambling they don't have removal n I early cast him because I don't have anything to protect him. Like you've told me before TheTrueNub drawing cards is not always our friend but finding the right cards IS. I think mystical tutor does that for us maybe even consider personal tutor I know it's a sorcery but it finds fabricate or transmute artifact. Which will find the boots. Now probably the most crazy idea I have is removing timetwister in a multiplayer game it's killed me before. That was before I took a break from the deck. I might have played it wrong, but I casted it because I had nothing else to spend my mana on and it have them answers to me even after I had arcum protected n the turbine in play. I thought I had it won in 2 turns boy was I wrong. Drawing hasn't helped me as much as I previously thought. Mana is very previous too. Especially early turns so casting thirst for knowledge delays me a turn usually if I'm using it hopefully to get the bootd or a counter out of it. I think we can get just as much if not more benefits from brainstorm or ponder Sorry I wrote this blog from my phone. They let us look at the top three cards n ponder let's you shuffle if you don't like them n they cost 2 less I'd prefer the tutors by the way the scuttlemutt saved arcum vs a mono black deck lol I was impressed. Also the memory jar cost 5 and that's not a lot but it definitely takes 2 turns to get the full advantage out of it if your hard casting it let me know what you think TheTrueNub
Also I pulled this pretty cool combo in the deck I had dross scorpion in play n had 3 creatures in play with a voltaic key n available mana I searched for mycosynth lattice n was able to untap arcum n get darksteel forge n the disk n win ultimately but having the scorpion in play n the lattice I didn't need to wait another turn to get my engine together
Also I noticed if you go possessed portal after you have the boots n turbine out and they don't have a answer they end up scooping n if not they waste there artifact destruction on it but the worst thing that could happen is you tried ending the game one turn earlier
I think myr sire should replace epochrasite because you instantly get the next artifact to sacrifice. I say this because once you have myr turbine you don't need epochrasite then. Usually go for swiftfoot boots then I go for myr turbine unless I can win also considering I have enough artifacts to win without turbine I still need 4 artifact creatures counting I used arcum to get the boots but at the least I'd need 3 if I had the boots n hand or searched for it. If I don't I go for the turbine n were talking 2 turns just to get our rings engine n if we have myr sire we have the 2 we need n if we had just another artifact oand myr sire we can win faster
Neither. Force is fine, but depends on your specific build. You need to have enough blue cards to make Force Viable, and my build does not.
Countermagic for this deck should be as cheap as possible. Dispel, Flusterstorm, Spell Pierce, Pact of Negation, Arcane Denial, Counterspell, Delay, Mana Drain, Mana Leak, Thwart, Force of Will, and Memory Lapse are all cards that I would consider playable in this deck. Everything else is too expensive to consider.
1 Arcum Dagsson
Counters, 9
1 Counterspell
1 Spell Crumple
1 Hinder
1 Rewind/FoW
1 Pact of Negation
1 Dissipate
1 Stoic Rebuttal
1 Muddle the Mixture *
1 Null Brooch
Win Conditions, 2
1 Karn Silver Golem
1 Blue Sun's Zenith *
Mana Rocks, 6
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Vault
1 Basalt Monolith
1 Grim Monolith
1 Mana Crypt
1 Lotus Petal
Artifact Creatures, 10
1 Silver Myr
1 Alloy Myr *
1 Plague Myr
1 Manakin
1 Myr Moonvessel *
1 Palladium Myr *
1 Etherium Sculptor *
1 Epochrasite
1 Myr Sire
1 Spellskite
Tutors,Draw, and CA, 13
1 Fabricate *
1 Staff of Domination
1 Trinket Mage
1 Master Transmuter
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Memory Jar
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Myr Retriever
1 Junk Diver
1 Transmute Artifact
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Rings of Brighthearth
1 Pithing Needle
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Spine of Ish Sah
1 Capsize
1 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Sculpting Steel
1 Duplicant
1 Elixir of Immortality
Locks, 9
1 Mycosynth Lattice
1 Darksteel Forge
1 Nev’s Disk
1 Myr Turbine
1 Voltaic Key
1 Clock of Omens
1 Possessed Portal *
1 Unwinding Clock
1 Crucible of Worlds
Lands, 40
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Polluted Delta
1 Flooded Strand
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Hall of the Bandit Lord
1 Svyelunite Temple
1 Academy Ruins
1 Buried Ruin *
1 Inkmoth Nexus
1 Blinkmoth Nexus
1 Mishra’s Factory
1 Phyrexia’s Core *
1 Tolaria West
1 Strip Mine
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1 Petrified Fields
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Crystal Vein
1 Torpor Orb
1 Jester's Cap
1 Witchbane Orb
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Mindslaver
1 Champion's Helm
1 Neurok Stealthsuit
1 Winter Orb
1 Defense Grid
1 Ensnaring Bridge
Also I can't afford to get a Drain right now (dental bills blow), so Stoic Rebuttal will suffice until I can get one.
The things with * are stuff that are cheap to get as foils that I don't already have.
1 Arcum Dagsson
Creatures:
1 Etherium Sculptor
1 Manakin
1 Milikin
1 Myr Retriever
1 Plague Myr
1 Silver Myr
1 Spellskite
1 Junk Diver
1 Serrated Biskellion
1 Master Transmuter
1 Masticore
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Golem Artisan
1 Kuldotha Forgemaster
1 Duplicant
1 Steel Hellkite
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Myr Battlesphere
1 Blightsteel Colossus
Artifacts:
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mox Diamond
1 Mox Opal
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Mana Vault
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Grim Monolith
1 Guardian Idol
1 Lighting Greaves
1 Mind Stone
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Winter Orb
1 Basalt Monolith
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Rings of Brighthearth
1 Staff of Domination
1 Vedalken Shackles
1 Worn Powerstone
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Trading Post
1 Batterskull
1 Myr Turbine
1 Contagion Engine
1 Mindslaver
1 Spine of Ish Sah
1 Pact of Negation
1 Brainstorm
1 Dispel
1 Flusterstorm
1 Spell Pierce
1 Swan Song
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Delay
1 Mana Leak
1 Reshape
1 Transmute Artifact
1 Fabricate
1 Thirst for Knowledge
Planeswalkers:
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Karn Liberated
Lands:
1 Academy Ruins
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Blinkmoth Nexus
1 Cavern of Souls
1 City of Traitors
1 Crystal Vein
1 Dread Statuary
1 Flooded Strand
1 Hall of the Bandit Lord
1 Inkmoth Nexus
1 Mishra's Factory
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Scalding Tarn
20 Snow-Covered Island
1 Strip Mine
1 Svyelunite Temple
1 Wasteland
If you want to run Teferipool, by all means, please do. Like I said, in French duels lists, where many of our combo pieces are banned, Teferipool is included. It's not like he wouldn't fit at all. It's just that with the full power of the multiplayer banlist at our fingertips we don't need to resort to creature combo pieces.
No Time Warp effects because we're too fast for them. When we pop Lotus Petal and Svyelunite Temple and tap Cavern of Souls and an Island to generate UUUUU on T3, we don't want to blow that mana on Time Warp; we'd rather drop an uncounterable, Swiftfoot Boots-protected Arcum (granted, this is an exceptionally strong starting play, but it's what we aim for) and win the game shortly thereafter.
That list looks pretty tight. What's Duplicant doing there besides overall goodstuff? He's really the only card I'd question, otherwise great work putting that together.
I have friends, too! We're just all masochists and we get along by mutually tearing each other to shreds.
Anyway, you still run Rings/Monolith/Staff, so you've still got a little bit to be accountable for. And you even run Winter Orb mainboard.
The only things that really leap out at me are Serrated Biskellion and Golem Artisan. As far as "casual jank" goes, those two strike me as especially casually janky.
Rhystic Study is one of those generic blue goodstuff cards that isn't really "optimal" here but at the same time can never do you any wrong.
Staff of Nin on the other hand is waaaaaay outclassed by other options. If you need card draw there are better artifacts, and if you need a direct damage wincon there are better ways to do it (Myr Token swarm, Karn, Silver Golem, hell, even Telim'Tor's Darts).
Legacy: GWR Enchantress <--That's my banner! (lol tinypic removed it)
Casual: WB [[Primer]]Clerics Tribal; BU Affinity
EDH: ...U [[Primer]]Arcum Dagsson; BG Legal Stax; B Illegal Stax
Proxy: .WX TriniStax
Other stuff: [[Official]]Shuffling, Truth + Maths
Glad to hear you're still enjoying the deck!
Glen Elendra Archmage's ability is also thwarted by Grafdigger's Cage. It might be better to use the cage to stop Archmage shenanigans so you can save your Pithing Needle for something even more threatening, like Azami, Lady of Scrolls, Mind Over Matter, Survival of the Fittest, and so forth.
Nothing new is coming out for this deck! Oh well. Maybe next block. I think I'll update the title date even though nothing's really changed just to show that this list is still valid as of today.
Legacy: GWR Enchantress <--That's my banner! (lol tinypic removed it)
Casual: WB [[Primer]]Clerics Tribal; BU Affinity
EDH: ...U [[Primer]]Arcum Dagsson; BG Legal Stax; B Illegal Stax
Proxy: .WX TriniStax
Other stuff: [[Official]]Shuffling, Truth + Maths
Those two are a couple of experiments. Biskelion is an attempt to headge against Edric and Derevi decks. Getting to pick off x/1s is ok, and I wanted to increase my artifact creature count. Artisan is my main win condition. Once I've drawn my deck I need a way to actually kill and Artisan is the best method I'd found. It's a creature so if I draw it early I can use it to tutor.
Lots of Ionas
Junk combos
Esper and UW artifact combo
Animar combo
Random homebrews of popular commanders
Of all of these, I am most scared of the Ionas. It's going to come from Kaalia players and they have plenty of annoying cards. I've added capsize to the deck so that we can bounce their whole board if they have an avacyn out assuming I have a lattice on the field. However, I'm really scarred of what could happen if I were to face Ionas naming blue. Should I just add more contermagic to that kaalia never hits the field? More spot removal? (Pongify, boomerang etc)
Other than that I am fairly confidant I can win, I will definitely move jester's cap to the mainboard for the tournament so combo decks don't scare me that much. It's mostly the aggro decks that scare me, especially the ones that have no issue blowing up ensnaring bridge and the like.
That's interesting. I hadn't considered that. Is it working for you? Does your group allow Edric and Derevi still even though they've been banned in French?
Well, once you've got infinite mana and card draw, you can very easily combo into infinite graveyard recursion and then permalock with Mindslaver or Spine of Ish Sah (which you've already got mainboard).
And if they don't surrender (which they really should've done as soon as you went infinite), you can just bop them in the face with Arcum or a Myr Turbine token until they die.
And yeah, it's a creature, but at 5 it's pretty bad fodder.
Anyway, I know you said your list isn't supposed to be 100% tuned, I'm just giving you beef because that's my job.
I'd start with the 8-card sideboard that you see in the main decklist in my original post. Pretty much all of them are really outstanding cards in certain matchups, except maybe Neurok Stealthsuit (which is still pretty good, just not as outstanding as some of the others on that list).
Ideally, you want to keep Kaalia off the field, yeah, or at very least keep your Ensnaring Bridge alive long enough that she can't attack. But obviously not all your games will work out that well, so it's good to have other plans in the hole.
The good news is that Iona doesn't break our back quite as much as it breaks other monoblue combo decks. At the end of the day the only thing we absolutely need to cast with U in its mana cost is Arcum himself; after that, we can get by casting only colorless artifacts (and tutoring with Arcum, of course).
Remember, you can always Spine of Ish Sah Iona even if she hits the field so long as Arcum's out first. And you already put in Capsize for Avacyn, which is a smart move.
Possessed Portal will smash Kaalia as it smashes so many other decks that are permanent-light. If she doesn't have Necropotence in her opening hand, she'll be hurting bad really fast, while you just keep tinkering along.
For the others you mentioned in your meta list:
Junk combos - All the ones I'm aware of involve the GY, like Ghave or Karador. Consider Grafdigger's Cage and also of course Jester's Cap.
Esper/UW Artifact - I put some paragraphs in my Meta Analysis section about Sharuum the Hegemon, who's probably the biggest competitive Esper threat around. Again, typically there's some GY recursion element, like Sword/Foundry or Hannah, Ship's Navigator shenanigans. You can use Grafdigger's Cage to stop it.
Animar combo - Torpor Orb is the name of the game. Find it and stick it for as long as you can and you'll win. Because Animar synergizes so beautifully with creatures, Animar combo decks will always use creature cards with ETB effects for their tutor/draw/recursion (eg Coiling Oracle, Elvish Visionary, Mulldrifter, Fierce Empath, Artisan of Kozilek, and many, many more). Torpor Orb, as a result, shuts down pretty much the entire deck for as long as it sticks. Also watch out for his most important cards like Survival of the Fittest and counter them or tutor into Pithing Needle.
Random homebrews of popular commanders - In the Meta Analysis section of the primer I discussed some of the most popular choices in my area. Keep in mind that many choices that are popular (eg Azusa, Lost but Seeking) aren't necessarily top-tier competitive and won't cause you much difficulty.
Btw, I don't know if you've had your tournament already or if you're still even checking this thread, but definitely watch out for those obnoxious Hermit Druids.
Legacy: GWR Enchantress <--That's my banner! (lol tinypic removed it)
Casual: WB [[Primer]]Clerics Tribal; BU Affinity
EDH: ...U [[Primer]]Arcum Dagsson; BG Legal Stax; B Illegal Stax
Proxy: .WX TriniStax
Other stuff: [[Official]]Shuffling, Truth + Maths
EDIT: Also, can you try and explain to me the applications of memory jar? I haven't played with it before and am kind of puzzled by it, Thanks!
I wouldn't play Cyclonic Rift. If you're just looking for a generic bounce spell, there are much better 2-mana options, like Into the Roil or even just Boomerang. The strength of Cyclonic Rift over those cards is in its Overload cost--and if you've got 7 mana to throw around, you've either A) already assembled your infinite combo, at which point you've won that turn anyway; or B) haven't yet assembled your infinite combo, at which point your 7 mana should be used to complete the combo and win the game that turn.
Platinum Angel and Platinum Emperion don't really fit in this deck or in the competitive meta for several reasons:
1. They're too expensive. Again, if we ever have that much mana, we should be playing something that wins the game on the spot--not something that merely prevents us from losing.
2. As creature artifacts, we can't tutor them out nearly as well as we can noncreature artifacts (Arcum can't get them).
3. In the competitive meta, Platinum Emperion really won't even stop you from losing, more often than not, because of the abundance of ways in competitive play to eliminate you without ever touching your life total, for example by forcing you to draw out your entire library (eg assemble infinite mana then Blue Sun's Zenith for X = 1000).
I hope this helped. As I've said to so many other people before, if you really want these cards in your deck, you can put them there--if they're your "pet cards" and you'd have more fun with them in, then by all means put them in. But if your goal is strictly to win as often as possible, which is the goal I had in mind when I composed this deck and wrote this primer, then there are better options.
Thank you for your support! I'm glad you liked the primer. Unfortunately these last couple of blocks have brought us very little in the ways of powerful artifacts, so the reason I haven't updated the primer since January is because there really hasn't been much to change since then.
Meekstone is an OK Ensnaring Bridge #2 if your meta is choc full of aggro decks, but keep in mind that the Bridge does it so much better. Here's why:
1. On small/empty hands (and with how fast we blow through our cards, our hand will empty out pretty fast), the bridge affects ALL creatures irrespective of their power. Keep in mind that there are some super dangerous aggro creatures out there with under 3 power, such as Thada Adel, Acquisitor, Kaalia of the Vast, and more.
2. Ensnaring Bridge actually prevents creatures from attacking, whereas Meekstone merely keeps them tapped after they've attacked once. Many creatures only need one shot to do massive damage, like the Eldrazi gods. Moreover, smart aggro players will find ways to untap their creatures again anyway, like with Seedborn Muse.
In general, Ensnaring Bridge is a much "harder" lock on aggro. If you have an empty hand, no creatures with power >0 can attack--not even once, and there's nothing your opponents can do about it except attempt to destroy the Bridge. So you can run the Meekstone in addition to the Bridge if you really think it will help, but simply keep in mind that the Meekstone can't totally do the Bridge's job.
It might seem confusing at first, but there's a reason Memory Jar is banned in Legacy and restricted in Vintage. First of all, it basically says "Draw 7 cards," it costs 5, and it can be activated at instant speed. Just think about that for a second. Compare it to something like Tidings, a Draw 4 for 3UU at sorcery speed, and you'll see right away just how strong the Jar is for its cost relative to other draw spells.
Unlike Tidings you don't have to draw your cards right away when you're using the Jar. You can save the Jar on the field for your next turn after you've untapped all your lands so you'll have more mana available to capitalize on your Draw 7. You can even pop the Jar on your opponents' turn, if you really wanted, in response to something they cast if you desperately need to find a Counterspell or other response.
Lastly, it's a non-creature artifact, which means it's tutorable with Arcum. Having it in your deck means you can literally tap Arcum to draw 7 cards at instant speed.
Maybe it's the reciprocity that's throwing you? The fact that your opponents get the effect, too? Well, like so many "reciprocal" cards in Magic, like Wheel of Fortune and Timetwister and Balance (all of which are also banned or restricted in every tournament format), the trick is to deploy the card in a gamestate wherein you'll reap the benefit and your opponents won't. For example, consider this scenario: it's the beginning of your turn. Your opponent is all tapped out except for two Islands, and you've got the gut feeling he's saving a Counterspell to muck up your next big play. What do you do?
Well, you have many options--one of which is to tap Arcum for Memory Jar and pop it. Now you've got all your mana open and a fresh new hand of 7 cards to spend it on, AND whatever countermagic your opponent was saving for you is now exiled away for the remainder of your turn. Your opponent has 7 new cards, too, but he can't any of them except the instants (assuming he drew any) because it's not his turn--and at the next end step (i.e. your end step), he discards his Jar hand and picks up his old one again just like you do. So, as you can see, when played correctly, the benefit you get from the Jar far outweighs whatever benefit your opponents get.
Legacy: GWR Enchantress <--That's my banner! (lol tinypic removed it)
Casual: WB [[Primer]]Clerics Tribal; BU Affinity
EDH: ...U [[Primer]]Arcum Dagsson; BG Legal Stax; B Illegal Stax
Proxy: .WX TriniStax
Other stuff: [[Official]]Shuffling, Truth + Maths
>implying
Modern
>implying
Legacy
UWMiracles/Countertop
EDH
UUUMemnarch, Steal your grillUUU
RWUZedruu, Queen of ChaosRWU
GWUBRReaper KingGWUBR
My Trades
Mental Misstep is one of those meta decisions. Certain competitive decks have some very powerful 1drops that are tutored and played very consistently, like Animar with Shrieking Drake or Rhys the Redeemed with himself. In those cases Misstep becomes much more useful. But other competitive decks (combos like Arcum, Sharuum, and Azami and certain aggro like Sigarda and Uril) don't have very many one-drops at all; instead their target CMC is around 3 or 4, and they work to get there on T3 or earlier by mana rocks and/or land ramp. In those cases, your Misstep will be useless if it doesn't show up right in your opening hand to counter a T1 Sol Ring, Burgeoning, etc. because they'll never play another counter-worthy 1drop after T2 or so besides the few you listed.
Btw, Innocent Blood, we don't worry about that one ever because it's super easy for us to simply pitch a dork or token.
Legacy: GWR Enchantress <--That's my banner! (lol tinypic removed it)
Casual: WB [[Primer]]Clerics Tribal; BU Affinity
EDH: ...U [[Primer]]Arcum Dagsson; BG Legal Stax; B Illegal Stax
Proxy: .WX TriniStax
Other stuff: [[Official]]Shuffling, Truth + Maths
Memory jar
Timetwister
Fact or fiction
Thirst for knowledge
Lotus pedal
Svyelunite temple
Not sure about the last two.
Considering replacement cards:
Personal tutor, mystical tutor, champions helm, brainstorm/ponder preferably brainstorm because it's a instant
WorkshopsLegacy:
Death and Taxes
EDH:
Arcum DagssonMake Paradox Engine Great Again!Urza, Lord High Artificer