"Knowledge is no more expensive than ignorance, and at least as satisfying."
- Barrin, master wizard
OK, so 40% of my current stable of EDH decks is headed up by Weatherlight characters. Maybe it's because I started playing in Ravnica/Time Spiral block? So, instead of the guy who kamikaze-d a Death Cloud (shameless self-promotion here), how about the guy who decided that he would go out with a bang? This is a Barrin deck whose method of dealing with most problems is to go "ooh, shiny! MINE." and use Barrin's ability to avoid giving them back. Ever. It's probably my favorite EDH deck, and can hold its own decently both in multiplayer and duels (barring a significant power level difference such as coming up against Zur/Arcum/Edric etc).
Why I play Barrin:
Stealing your opponent's stuff is fun, and beating them over the head with it is even fun-ner (:
As a result - every game is different and there is no set path to victory, since this deck can win equally via its own stuff, or the opponent's.
He's interactive - winning depends on answers, counter-answers, and saving the right play for the right time, not one rigid plan or combo which must be protected at all costs. A blue mage enjoys a true Battle of Wits. (though, not the card)
Cheap enough to come out early, with built in protection - Barrin is a commander that takes care of himslf!
It's a different style of blue deck I'm playing - since Barrin needs permanents around to do his thing, I've cut the usual counterspells, instants and sorceries in favour of more... permanent solutions. I only run 6 counterspells (if you include Glen Elendra Archmage).
Flavour, flavour, flavour. Go read Barrin's backstory.
How I play:
Usually I avoid running Barrin out before I reach 5 mana and an "egg" on the board (i.e. a wellspring or something I don't mind sacrificing). In fact, sometimes I only cast Barrin when there's something like a Reality Acid which I can abuse.
Oh, and the draw power isn't very good in this deck (despite being mono-U), so I tend to stockpile my answers and steal-spells.
My favourite card is probably Cultural Exchange. HexproofHAHAHAHAHA, and they never see it coming! Here, I'll take your Sigarda, enjoy your Myr token... haha... Plus, the artwork is goofy but rather apt.
Why don't I run/cards I've tried: Consecrated Sphinx - I wanted this card for a long time, but when the price finally dropped enough, I had trouble deciding what to cut for it. Plus, I have a semi-flavour based aversion to running anything obviously Phyrexian in a Barrin deck. And since most blue decks have it, I might be able to get theirs. These are all not very good reasons, so eventually I might get one (especially if it's reprinted in MM2) but not for now. Added some "repurposed" Phyrexian tech
More Clone effects (Ingester, Quicksilver Gargantuan, Sakashima the Impostor): I'd rather steal stuff than clone it, especially since the legend rule got changed. Plus, Ingester/Golem are way too expensive. Only Clones I run are Clever Impersonator for the insane versatility (and being too stingy to buy actual Planeswalkers) and Followed Footsteps because if left unanswered, it can win all by itself.
Corrupted Conscience: This was in for the longest time, but eventually it got cut for Control Magic to make the deck a little faster in duels. In multiplayer, I think I'd still use this instead, though.
Ertai, Wizard Adept: He stuck around for flavour reasons, but eventually he got too slow and got cut. Barrin's other student, Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir has the opposite problem - like ConSphinx, he's good, but not sure what to cut for him. Well, at least Karn, Silver Golem is here. Jhoira is, uh, too red :s
Obliterate: For flavour reasons alone, I'd run this if I could. But... colour identity.
Meloku the Clouded Mirror: One of blue's few good token producers, but I need a lot of mana and the whole returning a land business was hurting that.
Merchant of Secrets/Surveilling Sprite/Thalakos Seer: Like the token producers, I used to run these but they were the first to go as my deck improved. I find I need to tread the fine balance between actual wincons/answers and "eggs" in this deck. I only kept Sea Gate Oracle because it digs 2 deep and is a useful speedbump.
Things I might find a home for eventually: Ugin's Nexus Chasm Skulker (doubt it though, as I said draw power of this deck is not very strong)
I think my worst nightmare is swarm tactics and early aggro. Propaganda can only go so far... Also, I'm always on the lookout for nice token producers/eggs, but haven't been able to find anything better than Precursor Golem for tokens or the wellsprings/Launch for eggs (those are probably the weakest examples of each card type in my deck currently). Help with these problems would be appreciated!
Oh, and I play on MTGO, so prices/availability of cards might be a little different as compared to paper.
Mirror Mockery goes in for Followed Footsteps ASAP. I'm more likely to get the token since the copy appears within the same turn, and since it's much cheaper compared to Footsteps I can leave mana up to sac the token to Barrin.
Have you had any experience against low or non-creature decks? I've been wanting to make Barrin for a while, but my meta has a ton of PW decks or low-creature Narset decks, etc. Wondering how Barrin does in this situation.
In my old barrin deck I used Static Orb and Winter orb to stax out players until end of players turn before my turn sac them to barrins ability and then use Academy Ruins to bring them right back. It is a very powerful effect and I think you might enjoy the stupidity of the semicombo
Have you had any experience against low or non-creature decks? I've been wanting to make Barrin for a while, but my meta has a ton of PW decks or low-creature Narset decks, etc. Wondering how Barrin does in this situation.
Not too shabby, actually. I use Barrin's ability more for the sacrifice outlet, rather than for returning opposing creatures to their owner's hand. 2 mana and 1 permanent is actually quite a steep price to pay for an Unsummon... Since I play on MTGO, I do have trouble with Narset but I find that is more a function of power level differences (most lists I've encountered are quite well tuned) rather than not being able to deal with non-creature permanents - counterspells, Cultural Exchange, Ixidron, Arcane Lighthouse work well against her.
I haven't had much trouble dealing with PWs as commanders, except for Teferi (which usually runs more permission than I do). I make sure I have ways to deal with planeswalkers (Confiscate your PW just before you ulti is fun), and most PW commanders do run creatures anyway. However, if you encounter few creatures I'd consider swapping out some of the more creature-oriented stuff (like Roil Elemental) for things like Ugin's Nexus.
In my old barrin deck I used Static Orb and Winter orb to stax out players until end of players turn before my turn sac them to barrins ability and then use Academy Ruins to bring them right back. It is a very powerful effect and I think you might enjoy the stupidity of the semicombo
Haha, sounds good! The deck's theme is more stealyourstuff.dec, but definitely Barrin can be built stax and that's as good a combo to add in as any...
I put together a tentative list out of the cards that I have or will easily drop the money for. There are some that I may decide to purchase, like Sower of Temptation, Vedalken Shackles or Bribery if I feel the deck can't work that well without them. I added in Quicksilver Fountain just for fun. The errata says that the lands stay islands even when the artifact leaves, so I could shut down a lot of people that way with saccing it to Barrin. I'm not sure how much threat it will give me, though.
The PWs I had trouble with aren't as Commanders. They are full on creatureless PW decks, usually headed by Progenitus or Horde of Notions. There's a bunch of pillowfort. They are five color decks, but I can't debase myself to using Back to Basics. I still want people to be able to play Magic. I may add in Pithing Needle or Phyrexian Revoker to handle that.
I did some sample games and it seemed to be very consistent with land drops and mana rocks. Not sure how it would compete in my meta. Any suggestions or advice would be fantastic.
P.S. I did read the linked background for Barrin. A very cool story (besides the unfortunate end), but I really like Phyrexian Metamorph so he made it into the deck despite Barrin's dealings with the Phyrexians.
I put together a tentative list out of the cards that I have or will easily drop the money for. There are some that I may decide to purchase, like Sower of Temptation, Vedalken Shackles or Bribery if I feel the deck can't work that well without them. I added in Quicksilver Fountain just for fun. The errata says that the lands stay islands even when the artifact leaves, so I could shut down a lot of people that way with saccing it to Barrin. I'm not sure how much threat it will give me, though.
The PWs I had trouble with aren't as Commanders. They are full on creatureless PW decks, usually headed by Progenitus or Horde of Notions. There's a bunch of pillowfort. They are five color decks, but I can't debase myself to using Back to Basics. I still want people to be able to play Magic. I may add in Pithing Needle or Phyrexian Revoker to handle that.
I did some sample games and it seemed to be very consistent with land drops and mana rocks. Not sure how it would compete in my meta. Any suggestions or advice would be fantastic.
Do you play more duels or multiplayer?
Oh yes, 5-colour Superfriends. Yup, I do have some trouble with those as well, for 2 reasons (which actually, you can build around).
1. This deck steals everything, but mostly creatures. Creatureless decks make Sower of Temptation and Roil Elemental, usually 2 of my best cards, into horribly overcost fliers (along with a lot of other things, like Mind Control, Duplicant, etc).
2. As mentioned before, this deck is very reactive rather than proactive. A lot of times, I find I'm waiting for the opponent to play something nice so I can steal it. One of the main ways to deal with Superfriends is to play out giant creatures to smack them around, since if they aren't playing creatures their defenses can be limited (a problem I also face, Propaganda can only get you so far). My highest power creature is what, Steel Hellkite? Keiga, the Tide Star? DEN?
I was going to say there was a 3rd reason, but some people may disagree. Basically, I think Planeswalkers as a card type have an (unfair?) advantage because of their relatively recent printing and hence fewer ways to deal with them. Additionally, Wizards wants to push their power level, so there are few Planeswalker wraths and they all require white (Planar Cleansing, Fated Retribution, Merciless Eviction). Comparatively, there are many ways in each colour to deal with a lot of creatures: blue has Evacuation, white has all the wraths, black has wraths too, red has X spells, and green is usually the one causing the problem (but still has Hurricane effects). Hence, I would have little or no qualms playing "unfair" stuff like Back to Basics too, but whatever floats your boat.
If you are playing creature-minimal or creatureless decks, I'd get around these problems by playing more actual threats like Eldrazi, Blightsteel Colossus, Jin-Gitaxias in place of the weaker or less protected creature steal effects like Mind Control, Roil Elemental, Reins of Power etc. Heck, even a Sphinx of Jwar Isle can cause headaches due to the shroud. Also, more counterspells. Of course, all the "steal permanent" stuff should stay, and usually artifact/enchantment hate helps with their pillowfort. In this case, Barrin becomes more of a sac rather than a bounce outlet (Aura Thief is tech), but as I said, I don't use Barrin's bounce so much anyway.
You might even find yourself moving more towards blue goodstuff or stax Barrin, In which case, I was going to say there was a Barrin primer, but I see you've already found it and it's not responding
Specific to your list - It's quite solid, but a few comments. I find this is actually a rather mana-intensive deck since you want to play and replay your permanents with nice ETB effects (at sorcery speed) and you still need mana up for counters/shenanigans. I would really recommend 38 lands, as well as mana doublers like Caged Sun and Gauntlet of Power which are a big part of playing monocolour. I also started with 36 lands, but as I added more I found I could hit my land drops more consistently and get to the point where I could spam stuff (like bouncing Mulldrifter, or blowing up everything with Spine of Ish Sah) faster. Of course, this is also because I don't have much draw, but you don't seem to have much of it either (besides, if you really need to sac a permanent, Barrin can eat lands too!)
Some other minor suggestions - Karn, Silver Golem can turn opponent's artifacts into creatures so you can steal/bounce them. I'm never sad to see Trading Post or Springjack Pasture as the goats really help with fuelling Barrin, and the secondary effects are never bad either. You don't actually need so many 1 mana eggs (Terrarion) that don't actually draw you a card if you use Barrin to sac them - I don't run them and I don't have much problem with eggs. I'd rather run say Thalakos Seer anyway because of the extra card. I'm a fan of Arcane Denial as I find the decreased mana you need to leave up justifies the card disadvantage, but YMMV. And, I actually like Mnemonic Wall (even though it's expensive) because I run so few counters, and I need certain key spells (e.g. Cultural Exchange against Narset).
Hope this helps!
Edit: Whoops, reading is tech. Still, I'd rather have a land over Terrarion.
Brittle Effigy - requires a lot of mana and is a one time use
Roil Elemental - requires lots of land, expensive, and only a 3/2. Can probably replace with a beater of some kind
Reality Acid - I really like it, I just have few ways to recur it. I'm on the fence.
I don't have a Gauntlet and will see if I can get by without one (expensive). What do you think about High Tide instead? Not sure how often Barrin would need mana in a pinch, but this could help get out an early Ulamog as well as clutch counterspells or Barrin activations, etc. It's recurrable with Archaeomancer and Snapcaster Mage and tutorable with Mystical Tutor.
I don't know how I feel about Mnemonic Wall. It's just so expensive for what it does. I'm thinking about Vedalken Æthermage instead. It can tutor up a lot of the good stuff in the deck (such as Archaeomancer). Even though the two together would be more expensive, I'd rather pay for the versatility. Also, it's great if, somehow, Barrin happens to get tucked.
Brittle Effigy - requires a lot of mana and is a one time use
Roil Elemental - requires lots of land, expensive, and only a 3/2. Can probably replace with a beater of some kind
Reality Acid - I really like it, I just have few ways to recur it. I'm on the fence.
I don't have a Gauntlet and will see if I can get by without one (expensive). What do you think about High Tide instead? Not sure how often Barrin would need mana in a pinch, but this could help get out an early Ulamog as well as clutch counterspells or Barrin activations, etc. It's recurrable with Archaeomancer and Snapcaster Mage and tutorable with Mystical Tutor.
I don't know how I feel about Mnemonic Wall. It's just so expensive for what it does. I'm thinking about Vedalken Æthermage instead. It can tutor up a lot of the good stuff in the deck (such as Archaeomancer). Even though the two together would be more expensive, I'd rather pay for the versatility. Also, it's great if, somehow, Barrin happens to get tucked.
I'm looking forward to tightening up this deck and testing it out!
I'd really keep the Reality Acid, ways to deal with PWs are hard to come by. Think of it as a 4UVindicate and Unsummon and it's not so bad (: I really encourage Trading Post as well, 1 token for 1 mana and 1 life is cheap compared to the Pasture. I haven't found Barrin to get tucked often, as long as I keep 2 mana up the worst-case is I sac Barrin to his own ability.
If you are concerned about PWs, I'd rather Pithing Needle than Stifle. As you mentioned, Phyrexian Revoker is probably better than Husher and Barrin allows you to reuse it to change the named PW by bouncing it. Trading Post will also help you reuse both, since they're artifacts.
Definitely you need more mana if you want to hardcast Eldrazi I play online, so Gauntlet is a sane price and I don't use High Tide. But I suppose it could be useful...
A very general comment - my list is theft-themed which is not as good in your meta. You seem to be taking the list more in the direction of blue goodstuff (with a subtheme of eggs for Barrin's sac ability and ETB to reuse the bounce). I'd thus add more ramp (maybe your High Tide, infinite mana with Palinchron?) to get to actually being able to cast the goodstuff, although I don't know if that is ok in your meta. Or you could focus on the ETBs, since Barrin offers a good way to reuse them, in which case you might want more clones and bounce. Point is, what's the "theme" of your deck and why do you use Barrin (over other generals)?
You make a good point. I have a tendency to try to cover all my bases in my decks, and thus spread myself thin. I will more than likely try to head towards exploiting Barrin bounce and ETBs than theft. While people in my meta play with infinite combos, I personally don't care for them. I'll keep Reality Acid. I already have Trading Post in the deck.
Okay, let's try this:
-Brittle Effigy - too expensive
-Expedition Map - this is better off as a mind stone
-Roil Elemental - perplexing chimera can potentially net me more stuff
-Fact or Fiction - seemed underwhelming in this style of deck
-Tormod's Crypt - I figure if I can control the board anyways, then whatever is in the GY should be manageable
-Quicksilver Fountain - it's cute, but slow
I think I really just need to get some games in with the deck and feel my way around on what needs to change. I'll update my previous decklist post. Thanks for all your help. Continued suggestions are definitely welcomed!
Launch for me is more like a renewable "egg" for Barrin, though sometimes the evasion is actually useful It can even go on your opponent's creatures if you have nothing on the board and you need a way to protect Barrin.
Let me know how Perplexing Chimera works for you... I have one, but I can't find a slot for it. Maybe it's because I usually play duel on MTGO and it is a little expensive, but I could see it doing serious work in slower environments.
You might need more heavy hitters, since I usually wait for my opponents to supply me with the required wincons though kicked Rite of Replication on Myr Battlesphere is awesome. Actually, kicked Rite on almost anything is awesome (:
How does that deck work for you? I've found that stax effects just paint a huge target on my head. You should take a look at Parallax Tide, if you haven't, with all your land/mana denial going on. I've been thinking of something else to add as a big beater. Wurmcoil Engine or Soul of New Phyrexia seem like a possible route to take.
Figured Id toss my list up for both of you in case you guys see something you like it.
Thanks! I'm always on the lookout for more token producers not named Meloku, actually - how are you finding Sharding Sphinx? With only 10 artifact creatures, do you find it connects often enough? I've always wanted to find a home for the Sphinx, but I only have 6 artifact creatures and a 4/4 for 6 usually either died or got chump blocked.
Also, no Karn, Silver Golem? I've found him invaluable for making creatures out of artifacts (so you can protect them with Barrin if need be), blocking or even killing opponents' 0-mana artifacts like Mana Crypt etc.
Do you plan to get back your enchantment stax such as Rising Waters, or do you only use them a turn before sac-ing them to Barrin? I also need something to deter swarm and early aggro - does Overburden hurt you much with only 34 lands (but admittedly much more artifact mana than I run)?
How does that deck work for you? I've found that stax effects just paint a huge target on my head. You should take a look at Parallax Tide, if you haven't, with all your land/mana denial going on. I've been thinking of something else to add as a big beater. Wurmcoil Engine or Soul of New Phyrexia seem like a possible route to take.
Multiple planeswalkers should also paint a target on your opponents' heads You need to point this out to them, haha...
Multiple planeswalkers should also paint a target on your opponents' heads You need to point this out to them, haha...
Strangely, my play group goes crazy around global effects (especially stax) and usually gang up on that person who controls it. They seem to have less animosity when someone drops a PW since most non-ults only affect one player or card. *shrug*
I'm going to start off by apologizing for my babd spelling and grammer and lack of autocarding as I'm on my phone. Ill edit it when I get back home. so I use to run parallax tide but found it didn't do enough work when this deck was a meleku stax deck. Ill have to revisit the Idea.
Sharding sphinx is actually a pet card and he often gets oit of control fast as my thopters also trigger his ability. Basically if I land him and one of my locks it turns into I win.
Overburden only hits creature spells ao it stops elves, goblins , ect but true token apam I still have issues with thus the 5 creature wipes. With rising tide I only play it after I have unwinding clock out. It allows to nearly hard lock people out.
Karn is one I'd love to put both versions of him in the deck but currently I just haven't gotten around to buying one For old version and planeswalker version is a tad out of budget for me.
And finally on planeswalkers, my group often trys to hate them out but with a superfreinds deck in my meta they focus on that players more than mine. Basically I only play them if I can protect them or need advantage from them.
I might try out Karn if I think I need a little boost through my artifacts. I currently run a Sydri deck that has my Karn in it, and I don't know if I want to do the same thing essentially in two different decks, but we will see. Maybe his shenanigans will prove better spiced up with Barrin.
I'm going to start off by apologizing for my babd spelling and grammer and lack of autocarding as I'm on my phone. Ill edit it when I get back home. so I use to run parallax tide but found it didn't do enough work when this deck was a meleku stax deck. Ill have to revisit the Idea.
Sharding sphinx is actually a pet card and he often gets oit of control fast as my thopters also trigger his ability. Basically if I land him and one of my locks it turns into I win.
Overburden only hits creature spells ao it stops elves, goblins , ect but true token apam I still have issues with thus the 5 creature wipes. With rising tide I only play it after I have unwinding clock out. It allows to nearly hard lock people out.
Karn is one I'd love to put both versions of him in the deck but currently I just haven't gotten around to buying one For old version and planeswalker version is a tad out of budget for me.
And finally on planeswalkers, my group often trys to hate them out but with a superfreinds deck in my meta they focus on that players more than mine. Basically I only play them if I can protect them or need advantage from them.
That's true, for Sharding Sphinx all you need is one hit before things get out of hand. And I guess Barrin can bounce potential blockers? Maybe I'll try it over Precursor Golem which is atm my worst token producer. After all, despite the Golem being 3 bodies, it still dies to 1 removal like the Sphinx.
Actually, I'm a big fan of Cultural Exchange because I find Wizards has printed a lot of hexproof commanders in recent years. It hits even Narset, Uril etc... Maybe a swap for Inundate? Likewise Ixidron (you can bounce Barrin first so he's not affected) and the new Arcane Lighthouse, although I'm not sure what to cut for Ixidron in your list since all your stuff works quite well together.
I might try out Karn if I think I need a little boost through my artifacts. I currently run a Sydri deck that has my Karn in it, and I don't know if I want to do the same thing essentially in two different decks, but we will see. Maybe his shenanigans will prove better spiced up with Barrin.
Karn started as a flavour choice for me (I used to have Ertai, Wizard Adept in as well), but over time I found that he was doing a fair bit of work since "steal creature" is more common than "steal artifact". You might want to give him a miss if you don't run as much creature hate as me, though.
Try Meekstone if you're having trouble against aggro!
I'm not so worried about a few big creatures - usually I can steal or bounce them. What worries me is more something like tokens or Elves which just swarm me with smaller creatures before I can get much defenses up.
Does your Precursor Golem get hated on by single target spell removal a lot, especially when you can bounce him back to your hand in response?
I kind of like Sharding Sphinx. I very rarely get to attack in my games without consequences, so I'm not sure how he'd connect for me, but it seems really solid in general. If we're looking for more token producers to potentially replace Precursor, I could suggest:
Thopter Assembly - a little slow, but potential for tons of fliers
Master of Waves - pretty nice if you have Caged Sun or Gauntlet out in case he gets taken out/bounced
The ways I've gotten around aggro swarms in the past in this color is by playing Crawlspace or Silent Arbiter. Crawlspace brings less threat to you since the aggro player can attack anyone else with full force whereas the Arbiter is global, but it's more easily bounced with Barrin when need be than the Crawlspace.
Does your Precursor Golem get hated on by single target spell removal a lot, especially when you can bounce him back to your hand in response?
I kind of like Sharding Sphinx. I very rarely get to attack in my games without consequences, so I'm not sure how he'd connect for me, but it seems really solid in general. If we're looking for more token producers to potentially replace Precursor, I could suggest:
Thopter Assembly - a little slow, but potential for tons of fliers
Master of Waves - pretty nice if you have Caged Sun or Gauntlet out in case he gets taken out/bounced
The ways I've gotten around aggro swarms in the past in this color is by playing Crawlspace or Silent Arbiter. Crawlspace brings less threat to you since the aggro player can attack anyone else with full force whereas the Arbiter is global, but it's more easily bounced with Barrin when need be than the Crawlspace.
What I like about the Golem is that it immediately places 3 decent-sized bodies on the battlefield. It's not actually very powerful beyond that, so if you want to waste a Path or something on it, that's fine Bouncing the Golem won't solve anything, since the speel is copies when it's cast and thus won't fizzle if its original target is bounced (I think).
What I like about the Golem is that it immediately places 3 decent-sized bodies on the battlefield. It's not actually very powerful beyond that, so if you want to waste a Path or something on it, that's fine Bouncing the Golem won't solve anything, since the speel is copies when it's cast and thus won't fizzle if its original target is bounced (I think).
If a spell is cast that targets one of them, then the copy trigger goes on the stack, in response you can sac one of the tokens and Barrin-bounce the Precursor Golem back to your hand. Then, when the copy trigger resolves it will only find 1 golem and copy the spell once, kill that golem, and then when the actual spell resolves it will fizzle because there will be no legal targets left. You may lose the token creatures, but you'll still have the card and can cast it again and they lost a relatively powerless removal spell.
What I like about the Golem is that it immediately places 3 decent-sized bodies on the battlefield. It's not actually very powerful beyond that, so if you want to waste a Path or something on it, that's fine Bouncing the Golem won't solve anything, since the speel is copies when it's cast and thus won't fizzle if its original target is bounced (I think).
If a spell is cast that targets one of them, then the copy trigger goes on the stack, in response you can sac one of the tokens and Barrin-bounce the Precursor Golem back to your hand. Then, when the copy trigger resolves it will only find 1 golem and copy the spell once, kill that golem, and then when the actual spell resolves it will fizzle because there will be no legal targets left. You may lose the token creatures, but you'll still have the card and can cast it again and they lost a relatively powerless removal spell.
True...but it also precludes the possibility of making a Golem army with bounce and reusing ETB :s
What I like about the Golem is that it immediately places 3 decent-sized bodies on the battlefield. It's not actually very powerful beyond that, so if you want to waste a Path or something on it, that's fine Bouncing the Golem won't solve anything, since the speel is copies when it's cast and thus won't fizzle if its original target is bounced (I think).
If a spell is cast that targets one of them, then the copy trigger goes on the stack, in response you can sac one of the tokens and Barrin-bounce the Precursor Golem back to your hand. Then, when the copy trigger resolves it will only find 1 golem and copy the spell once, kill that golem, and then when the actual spell resolves it will fizzle because there will be no legal targets left. You may lose the token creatures, but you'll still have the card and can cast it again and they lost a relatively powerless removal spell.
True...but it also precludes the possibility of making a Golem army with bounce and reusing ETB :s
Mmmmm Perplexing Chimera is so good. You'll have to let me know how Skullclamp ends up working for you. I've noticed the deck needs more draw in general. I'm gonna add mulldrifter to my deck (glossed over that you can respond to the evoke sac with bouncing it), and was considering BSZ, but skullclmap can have a more persistent presence.
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What's yours is mine...
OK, so 40% of my current stable of EDH decks is headed up by Weatherlight characters. Maybe it's because I started playing in Ravnica/Time Spiral block? So, instead of the guy who kamikaze-d a Death Cloud (shameless self-promotion here), how about the guy who decided that he would go out with a bang? This is a Barrin deck whose method of dealing with most problems is to go "ooh, shiny! MINE." and use Barrin's ability to avoid giving them back. Ever. It's probably my favorite EDH deck, and can hold its own decently both in multiplayer and duels (barring a significant power level difference such as coming up against Zur/Arcum/Edric etc).
Why I play Barrin:
Ok, enough talk. Here's my list:
1 Barrin, Master Wizard
Planeswalker
1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
Creatures
1 Archaeomancer
1 Aura Thief
1 Body Double
1 Clever Impersonator
1 Consecrated Sphinx
1 Deadeye Navigator
1 Duplicant
1 Gilded Drake
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Ixidron
1 Karn, Silver Golem
1 Keiga, the Tide Star
1 Master Thief
1 Mnemonic Wall
1 Mulldrifter
1 Myr Battlesphere
1 Precursor Golem
1 Roil Elemental
1 Sea Gate Oracle
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Sower of Temptation
1 Steel Hellkite
1 Treasure Mage
1 Trinket Mage
1 Arcane Denial
1 Bribery
1 Capsize
1 Counterspell
1 Cultural Exchange
1 Curse of the Swine
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Dissipate
1 Hinder
1 Rite of Replication
Enchantments
1 Confiscate
1 Hatching Plans
1 Reality Acid
1 Treachery
1 Volition Reins
Artifacts
1 Armillary Sphere
1 Caged Sun
1 Crawlspace
1 Everflowing Chalice
1 Expedition Map
1 Gauntlet of Power
1 Ichor Wellspring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mind Stone
1 Mycosynth Wellspring
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Sol Ring
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Skullclamp
1 Spine of Ish Sah
1 Sword of the Animist
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Trading Post
1 Vedalken Shackles
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Worn Powerstone
1 Academy Ruins
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Arcane Lighthouse
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Halimar Depths
1 Mystifying Maze
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Springjack Pasture
1 Strip Mine
1 Temple of the False God
1 Tolaria West
26 Island
Wincons:
Anything. I've won with a Followed Footsteps on Myr Battlesphere, Uril, the Miststalker or Narset, Enlightened Master stolen with Cultural Exchange, Rite of Replication or Bribery on something...big, Reins of Power a Ghave, Guru of Spores's entire board (which was being held at bay by Propaganda), Duplicant/Deadeye Navigator machine gun...
What I don't have, though, is infinite combos. I don't think I have the tutor support to run them, or the counterspell backup to protect them. And anyway, I don't like having only 1 path to victory (:
How I play:
Usually I avoid running Barrin out before I reach 5 mana and an "egg" on the board (i.e. a wellspring or something I don't mind sacrificing). In fact, sometimes I only cast Barrin when there's something like a Reality Acid which I can abuse.
Oh, and the draw power isn't very good in this deck (despite being mono-U), so I tend to stockpile my answers and steal-spells.
My favourite card is probably Cultural Exchange. HexproofHAHAHAHAHA, and they never see it coming! Here, I'll take your Sigarda, enjoy your Myr token... haha... Plus, the artwork is goofy but rather apt.
Why don't I run/cards I've tried:
Consecrated Sphinx - I wanted this card for a long time, but when the price finally dropped enough, I had trouble deciding what to cut for it. Plus, I have a semi-flavour based aversion to running anything obviously Phyrexian in a Barrin deck. And since most blue decks have it, I might be able to get theirs. These are all not very good reasons, so eventually I might get one (especially if it's reprinted in MM2) but not for now.Added some "repurposed" Phyrexian techPhyrexian Metamorph/Phyrexian Ingester: See the above about Phyrexian stuff. Spine of Ish Sah and the Wellsprings made it in cos they're just lumps of metal and..uh...Barrin likes blowing them up?
More Clone effects (Ingester, Quicksilver Gargantuan, Sakashima the Impostor): I'd rather steal stuff than clone it, especially since the legend rule got changed. Plus, Ingester/Golem are way too expensive. Only Clones I run are Clever Impersonator for the insane versatility (and being too stingy to buy actual Planeswalkers) and Followed Footsteps because if left unanswered, it can win all by itself.
Corrupted Conscience: This was in for the longest time, but eventually it got cut for Control Magic to make the deck a little faster in duels. In multiplayer, I think I'd still use this instead, though.
Ertai, Wizard Adept: He stuck around for flavour reasons, but eventually he got too slow and got cut. Barrin's other student, Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir has the opposite problem - like ConSphinx, he's good, but not sure what to cut for him. Well, at least Karn, Silver Golem is here. Jhoira is, uh, too red :s
Obliterate: For flavour reasons alone, I'd run this if I could. But... colour identity.
Meloku the Clouded Mirror: One of blue's few good token producers, but I need a lot of mana and the whole returning a land business was hurting that.
Wall of Kelp/Homarid Spawning Bed/Coral Barrier/Acorn Catapult/Sarpadian Empires, Vol. VII: since I can steal stuff, I don't need too many tokens running around. I find I usually have enough sac fodder for Barrin.
Merchant of Secrets/Surveilling Sprite/Thalakos Seer: Like the token producers, I used to run these but they were the first to go as my deck improved. I find I need to tread the fine balance between actual wincons/answers and "eggs" in this deck. I only kept Sea Gate Oracle because it digs 2 deep and is a useful speedbump.
Things I might find a home for eventually:
Ugin's Nexus
Chasm Skulker (doubt it though, as I said draw power of this deck is not very strong)
Things I'm too cheap to splash the money for:
Planeswalkers (Jace/Karn/Tamiyo whatever)
Force of Will/Mana Drain
Vedalken Shacklessplashed!I think my worst nightmare is swarm tactics and early aggro. Propaganda can only go so far... Also, I'm always on the lookout for nice token producers/eggs, but haven't been able to find anything better than Precursor Golem for tokens or the wellsprings/Launch for eggs (those are probably the weakest examples of each card type in my deck currently). Help with these problems would be appreciated!
Oh, and I play on MTGO, so prices/availability of cards might be a little different as compared to paper.
Comments welcomed!
Retired: WUEphara, God of the PolisWU blink | WGerrard CapashenW lifegain | WUB Ertai, the CorruptedWUB combo | WAvacyn, Angel of HopeW
mono-white controlangel tribalPauper: UBDimirKittyUB | RBG Deathcycle RBG
Modern: GWUEnchantressGWU | GWUTurbofogGWU
25/3/15:
- Followed Footsteps
- Rhystic Study
- Spell Crumple
+ Sharding Sphinx
+ Skullclamp
+ Overwhelming Intellect
9/10/15:
- Overwhelming Intellect
- Sharding Sphinx
- Propaganda
+ Sword of the Animist
+ Consecrated Sphinx
+ Crawlspace
19/10/15:
- Cavern of Souls
- Lonely Sandbar
- Reliquary Tower
- Thespian's Stage
- Launch
+ 4 Island
+
Pithing Needleforgot that I added in Vedalken Shackles somewhere along the way...10/11/15:
- Reins of Power
- Control Magic
+ Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
+ Treachery
Retired: WUEphara, God of the PolisWU blink | WGerrard CapashenW lifegain | WUB Ertai, the CorruptedWUB combo | WAvacyn, Angel of HopeW
mono-white controlangel tribalPauper: UBDimirKittyUB | RBG Deathcycle RBG
Modern: GWUEnchantressGWU | GWUTurbofogGWU
Retired: WUEphara, God of the PolisWU blink | WGerrard CapashenW lifegain | WUB Ertai, the CorruptedWUB combo | WAvacyn, Angel of HopeW
mono-white controlangel tribalPauper: UBDimirKittyUB | RBG Deathcycle RBG
Modern: GWUEnchantressGWU | GWUTurbofogGWU
Not too shabby, actually. I use Barrin's ability more for the sacrifice outlet, rather than for returning opposing creatures to their owner's hand. 2 mana and 1 permanent is actually quite a steep price to pay for an Unsummon... Since I play on MTGO, I do have trouble with Narset but I find that is more a function of power level differences (most lists I've encountered are quite well tuned) rather than not being able to deal with non-creature permanents - counterspells, Cultural Exchange, Ixidron, Arcane Lighthouse work well against her.
I haven't had much trouble dealing with PWs as commanders, except for Teferi (which usually runs more permission than I do). I make sure I have ways to deal with planeswalkers (Confiscate your PW just before you ulti is fun), and most PW commanders do run creatures anyway. However, if you encounter few creatures I'd consider swapping out some of the more creature-oriented stuff (like Roil Elemental) for things like Ugin's Nexus.
Haha, sounds good! The deck's theme is more stealyourstuff.dec, but definitely Barrin can be built stax and that's as good a combo to add in as any...
Retired: WUEphara, God of the PolisWU blink | WGerrard CapashenW lifegain | WUB Ertai, the CorruptedWUB combo | WAvacyn, Angel of HopeW
mono-white controlangel tribalPauper: UBDimirKittyUB | RBG Deathcycle RBG
Modern: GWUEnchantressGWU | GWUTurbofogGWU
The PWs I had trouble with aren't as Commanders. They are full on creatureless PW decks, usually headed by Progenitus or Horde of Notions. There's a bunch of pillowfort. They are five color decks, but I can't debase myself to using Back to Basics. I still want people to be able to play Magic. I may add in Pithing Needle or Phyrexian Revoker to handle that.
I did some sample games and it seemed to be very consistent with land drops and mana rocks. Not sure how it would compete in my meta. Any suggestions or advice would be fantastic.
P.S. I did read the linked background for Barrin. A very cool story (besides the unfortunate end), but I really like Phyrexian Metamorph so he made it into the deck despite Barrin's dealings with the Phyrexians.
3 Barrin, Master Wizard
Creatures (24)
2 Gilded Drake
2 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Snapcaster Mage
3 Treasure Mage
3 Trinket Mage
4 Archaeomancer
4 Aura Thief
4 Clever Impersonator
4 Glen Elendra Archmage
4 Master Thief
4 Phyrexian Metamorph
4 Solemn Simulacrum
4 Venser, Shaper Savant
4 Voidmage Husher
5 Body Double
5 Ixidron
5 Mulldrifter
5 Perplexing Chimera
5 Precursor Golem
6 Deadeye Navigator
6 Duplicant
6 Steel Hellkite
7 Myr Battlesphere
11 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
1 Elixir of Immortality
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
2 Armillary Sphere
2 Ichor Wellspring
2 Mind Stone
2 Mycosynth Wellspring
3 Oblivion Stone
3 Worn Powerstone
4 Thran Dynamo
4 Trading Post
5 Ugin's Nexus
6 Caged Sun
7 Spine of Ish Sah
Sorceries (4)
2 Curse of the Swine
4 Rite of Replication
6 Cultural Exchange
7 Blatant Thievery
Instants (10)
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Pongify
2 Counterspell
2 Cyclonic Rift
3 Capsize
3 Dissipate
3 Hinder
3 Spell Crumple
3 Stoic Rebuttal
4 Reins of Power
2 Hatching Plans
2 Launch
3 Equilibrium
3 Propaganda
3 Reality Acid
3 Rhystic Study
4 Control Magic
6 Confiscate
6 Volition Reins
Lands (38)
1 Academy Ruins
1 Arcane Lighthouse
1 Flooded Strand
1 Ghost Quarter
25 Island
1 Maze of Ith
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Myriad Landscape
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Springjack Pasture
1 Strip Mine
1 Temple of the False God
1 Terrain Generator
Do you play more duels or multiplayer?
Oh yes, 5-colour Superfriends. Yup, I do have some trouble with those as well, for 2 reasons (which actually, you can build around).
1. This deck steals everything, but mostly creatures. Creatureless decks make Sower of Temptation and Roil Elemental, usually 2 of my best cards, into horribly overcost fliers (along with a lot of other things, like Mind Control, Duplicant, etc).
2. As mentioned before, this deck is very reactive rather than proactive. A lot of times, I find I'm waiting for the opponent to play something nice so I can steal it. One of the main ways to deal with Superfriends is to play out giant creatures to smack them around, since if they aren't playing creatures their defenses can be limited (a problem I also face, Propaganda can only get you so far). My highest power creature is what, Steel Hellkite? Keiga, the Tide Star? DEN?
I was going to say there was a 3rd reason, but some people may disagree. Basically, I think Planeswalkers as a card type have an (unfair?) advantage because of their relatively recent printing and hence fewer ways to deal with them. Additionally, Wizards wants to push their power level, so there are few Planeswalker wraths and they all require white (Planar Cleansing, Fated Retribution, Merciless Eviction). Comparatively, there are many ways in each colour to deal with a lot of creatures: blue has Evacuation, white has all the wraths, black has wraths too, red has X spells, and green is usually the one causing the problem (but still has Hurricane effects). Hence, I would have little or no qualms playing "unfair" stuff like Back to Basics too, but whatever floats your boat.
If you are playing creature-minimal or creatureless decks, I'd get around these problems by playing more actual threats like Eldrazi, Blightsteel Colossus, Jin-Gitaxias in place of the weaker or less protected creature steal effects like Mind Control, Roil Elemental, Reins of Power etc. Heck, even a Sphinx of Jwar Isle can cause headaches due to the shroud. Also, more counterspells. Of course, all the "steal permanent" stuff should stay, and usually artifact/enchantment hate helps with their pillowfort. In this case, Barrin becomes more of a sac rather than a bounce outlet (Aura Thief is tech), but as I said, I don't use Barrin's bounce so much anyway.
You might even find yourself moving more towards blue goodstuff or stax Barrin, In which case, I was going to say there was a Barrin primer, but I see you've already found it and it's not responding
Specific to your list - It's quite solid, but a few comments. I find this is actually a rather mana-intensive deck since you want to play and replay your permanents with nice ETB effects (at sorcery speed) and you still need mana up for counters/shenanigans. I would really recommend 38 lands, as well as mana doublers like Caged Sun and Gauntlet of Power which are a big part of playing monocolour. I also started with 36 lands, but as I added more I found I could hit my land drops more consistently and get to the point where I could spam stuff (like bouncing Mulldrifter, or blowing up everything with Spine of Ish Sah) faster. Of course, this is also because I don't have much draw, but you don't seem to have much of it either
Some other minor suggestions - Karn, Silver Golem can turn opponent's artifacts into creatures so you can steal/bounce them. I'm never sad to see Trading Post or Springjack Pasture as the goats really help with fuelling Barrin, and the secondary effects are never bad either.
You don't actually need so many 1 mana eggs (Terrarion) that don't actually draw you a card if you use Barrin to sac them - I don't run them and I don't have much problem with eggs. I'd rather run say Thalakos Seer anyway because of the extra card.I'm a fan of Arcane Denial as I find the decreased mana you need to leave up justifies the card disadvantage, but YMMV. And, I actually like Mnemonic Wall (even though it's expensive) because I run so few counters, and I need certain key spells (e.g. Cultural Exchange against Narset).Hope this helps!
Edit: Whoops, reading is tech. Still, I'd rather have a land over Terrarion.
Retired: WUEphara, God of the PolisWU blink | WGerrard CapashenW lifegain | WUB Ertai, the CorruptedWUB combo | WAvacyn, Angel of HopeW
mono-white controlangel tribalPauper: UBDimirKittyUB | RBG Deathcycle RBG
Modern: GWUEnchantressGWU | GWUTurbofogGWU
My definite changes are:
-Chromatic Star
-Terrarion
+Springjack Pasture
+Caged Sun
Other potential cuts:
I don't have a Gauntlet and will see if I can get by without one (expensive). What do you think about High Tide instead? Not sure how often Barrin would need mana in a pinch, but this could help get out an early Ulamog as well as clutch counterspells or Barrin activations, etc. It's recurrable with Archaeomancer and Snapcaster Mage and tutorable with Mystical Tutor.
I don't know how I feel about Mnemonic Wall. It's just so expensive for what it does. I'm thinking about Vedalken Æthermage instead. It can tutor up a lot of the good stuff in the deck (such as Archaeomancer). Even though the two together would be more expensive, I'd rather pay for the versatility. Also, it's great if, somehow, Barrin happens to get tucked.
So here's a list of stuff I'm considering:
I'm looking forward to tightening up this deck and testing it out!
I'd really keep the Reality Acid, ways to deal with PWs are hard to come by. Think of it as a 4U Vindicate and Unsummon and it's not so bad (: I really encourage Trading Post as well, 1 token for 1 mana and 1 life is cheap compared to the Pasture. I haven't found Barrin to get tucked often, as long as I keep 2 mana up the worst-case is I sac Barrin to his own ability.
If you are concerned about PWs, I'd rather Pithing Needle than Stifle. As you mentioned, Phyrexian Revoker is probably better than Husher and Barrin allows you to reuse it to change the named PW by bouncing it. Trading Post will also help you reuse both, since they're artifacts.
Definitely you need more mana if you want to hardcast Eldrazi
A very general comment - my list is theft-themed which is not as good in your meta. You seem to be taking the list more in the direction of blue goodstuff (with a subtheme of eggs for Barrin's sac ability and ETB to reuse the bounce). I'd thus add more ramp (maybe your High Tide, infinite mana with Palinchron?) to get to actually being able to cast the goodstuff, although I don't know if that is ok in your meta. Or you could focus on the ETBs, since Barrin offers a good way to reuse them, in which case you might want more clones and bounce. Point is, what's the "theme" of your deck and why do you use Barrin (over other generals)?
Retired: WUEphara, God of the PolisWU blink | WGerrard CapashenW lifegain | WUB Ertai, the CorruptedWUB combo | WAvacyn, Angel of HopeW
mono-white controlangel tribalPauper: UBDimirKittyUB | RBG Deathcycle RBG
Modern: GWUEnchantressGWU | GWUTurbofogGWU
Okay, let's try this:
-Brittle Effigy - too expensive
-Expedition Map - this is better off as a mind stone
-Roil Elemental - perplexing chimera can potentially net me more stuff
-Fact or Fiction - seemed underwhelming in this style of deck
-Tormod's Crypt - I figure if I can control the board anyways, then whatever is in the GY should be manageable
-Quicksilver Fountain - it's cute, but slow
+Phyrexian Revoker
+Temple of the False God
+Island
+Perplexing Chimera
+Mind stone
+Voidmage Husher
I feel good about those changes. Not sure how winning the game is going to go. I pretty much have to rely on Hellkite, Battlesphere, and Ulamog to do the heavy hitting for me. Some exploited Precursor Golem and Deadeye Navigator shenanigans seem plausible too. And Launch can help me get through with a lot of stuff as well. Might try and find a slot for Argivian Restoration if it looks like my necessary artifacts are getting focused down. I will see how much work the Husher actually does. It may turn into something more focused like Force of Will, Vedalken Æthermage, Argivian Restoration, or Mnemonic Wall.
I think I really just need to get some games in with the deck and feel my way around on what needs to change. I'll update my previous decklist post. Thanks for all your help. Continued suggestions are definitely welcomed!
Let me know how Perplexing Chimera works for you... I have one, but I can't find a slot for it. Maybe it's because I usually play duel on MTGO and it is a little expensive, but I could see it doing serious work in slower environments.
You might need more heavy hitters, since I usually wait for my opponents to supply me with the required wincons
Retired: WUEphara, God of the PolisWU blink | WGerrard CapashenW lifegain | WUB Ertai, the CorruptedWUB combo | WAvacyn, Angel of HopeW
mono-white controlangel tribalPauper: UBDimirKittyUB | RBG Deathcycle RBG
Modern: GWUEnchantressGWU | GWUTurbofogGWU
1 Basalt Monolith
1 Caged Sun
1 Clock of Omens
1 Expedition Map
1 Ichor Wellspring
1 Mana Vault
1 Mind Stone
1 Mycosynth Wellspring
1 Nevinyrral's Disk
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Quicksilver Fountain
1 Rings of Brighthearth
1 Sapphire Medallion
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Spine of Ish Sah
1 Static Orb
1 Thran Foundry
1 Torpor Orb
1 Trading Post
1 Ugin's Nexus
1 Unwinding Clock
1 Vedalken Shackles
1 Winter Orb
1 Worn Powerstone
1 Arcbound Reclaimer
1 Burnished Hart
1 Etherium Sculptor
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Sharding Sphinx
1 Shimmer Myr
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Soul of New Phyrexia
1 Wurmcoil Engine
Creature (5)
1 Consecrated Sphinx
1 Grand Architect
1 Mulldrifter
1 Treasure Mage
1 Trinket Mage
Enchantment (6)
1 Back to Basics
1 Hatching Plans
1 Overburden
1 Rhystic Study
1 Rising Waters
1 Training Grounds
Instant (13)
1 Arcane Denial
1 Brainstorm
1 Counterspell
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Evacuation
1 High Tide
1 Hinder
1 Memory Lapse
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Pongify
1 Rapid Hybridization
1 Spell Crumple
1 Stoic Rebuttal
1 Teferi, Temporal Archmage
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
Sorcery (4)
1 Argivian Restoration
1 Fabricate
1 Inundate
1 Treasure Cruise
Land (34)
1 Academy Ruins
1 Darksteel Citadel
31 Island
1 Seat of the Synod
Commander (1)
1 Barrin, Master Wizard
Thanks! I'm always on the lookout for more token producers not named Meloku, actually - how are you finding Sharding Sphinx? With only 10 artifact creatures, do you find it connects often enough? I've always wanted to find a home for the Sphinx, but I only have 6 artifact creatures and a 4/4 for 6 usually either died or got chump blocked.
Also, no Karn, Silver Golem? I've found him invaluable for making creatures out of artifacts (so you can protect them with Barrin if need be), blocking or even killing opponents' 0-mana artifacts like Mana Crypt etc.
Do you plan to get back your enchantment stax such as Rising Waters, or do you only use them a turn before sac-ing them to Barrin? I also need something to deter swarm and early aggro - does Overburden hurt you much with only 34 lands (but admittedly much more artifact mana than I run)?
Multiple planeswalkers should also paint a target on your opponents' heads
Retired: WUEphara, God of the PolisWU blink | WGerrard CapashenW lifegain | WUB Ertai, the CorruptedWUB combo | WAvacyn, Angel of HopeW
mono-white controlangel tribalPauper: UBDimirKittyUB | RBG Deathcycle RBG
Modern: GWUEnchantressGWU | GWUTurbofogGWU
Strangely, my play group goes crazy around global effects (especially stax) and usually gang up on that person who controls it. They seem to have less animosity when someone drops a PW since most non-ults only affect one player or card. *shrug*
Sharding sphinx is actually a pet card and he often gets oit of control fast as my thopters also trigger his ability. Basically if I land him and one of my locks it turns into I win.
Overburden only hits creature spells ao it stops elves, goblins , ect but true token apam I still have issues with thus the 5 creature wipes. With rising tide I only play it after I have unwinding clock out. It allows to nearly hard lock people out.
Karn is one I'd love to put both versions of him in the deck but currently I just haven't gotten around to buying one For old version and planeswalker version is a tad out of budget for me.
And finally on planeswalkers, my group often trys to hate them out but with a superfreinds deck in my meta they focus on that players more than mine. Basically I only play them if I can protect them or need advantage from them.
EDH
U Azami, Lady of Scrolls
GBGlissa, the Traitor
Modern
X Affinity
EDH
BUGTasigur, the Golden Fang (French 1v1)
Modern
RWG Burn
That's true, for Sharding Sphinx all you need is one hit before things get out of hand. And I guess Barrin can bounce potential blockers? Maybe I'll try it over Precursor Golem which is atm my worst token producer. After all, despite the Golem being 3 bodies, it still dies to 1 removal like the Sphinx.
Actually, I'm a big fan of Cultural Exchange because I find Wizards has printed a lot of hexproof commanders in recent years. It hits even Narset, Uril etc... Maybe a swap for Inundate? Likewise Ixidron (you can bounce Barrin first so he's not affected) and the new Arcane Lighthouse, although I'm not sure what to cut for Ixidron in your list since all your stuff works quite well together.
Karn started as a flavour choice for me (I used to have Ertai, Wizard Adept in as well), but over time I found that he was doing a fair bit of work since "steal creature" is more common than "steal artifact". You might want to give him a miss if you don't run as much creature hate as me, though.
I'm not so worried about a few big creatures - usually I can steal or bounce them. What worries me is more something like tokens or Elves which just swarm me with smaller creatures before I can get much defenses up.
Retired: WUEphara, God of the PolisWU blink | WGerrard CapashenW lifegain | WUB Ertai, the CorruptedWUB combo | WAvacyn, Angel of HopeW
mono-white controlangel tribalPauper: UBDimirKittyUB | RBG Deathcycle RBG
Modern: GWUEnchantressGWU | GWUTurbofogGWU
I kind of like Sharding Sphinx. I very rarely get to attack in my games without consequences, so I'm not sure how he'd connect for me, but it seems really solid in general. If we're looking for more token producers to potentially replace Precursor, I could suggest:
The ways I've gotten around aggro swarms in the past in this color is by playing Crawlspace or Silent Arbiter. Crawlspace brings less threat to you since the aggro player can attack anyone else with full force whereas the Arbiter is global, but it's more easily bounced with Barrin when need be than the Crawlspace.
What I like about the Golem is that it immediately places 3 decent-sized bodies on the battlefield. It's not actually very powerful beyond that, so if you want to waste a Path or something on it, that's fine
Retired: WUEphara, God of the PolisWU blink | WGerrard CapashenW lifegain | WUB Ertai, the CorruptedWUB combo | WAvacyn, Angel of HopeW
mono-white controlangel tribalPauper: UBDimirKittyUB | RBG Deathcycle RBG
Modern: GWUEnchantressGWU | GWUTurbofogGWU
If a spell is cast that targets one of them, then the copy trigger goes on the stack, in response you can sac one of the tokens and Barrin-bounce the Precursor Golem back to your hand. Then, when the copy trigger resolves it will only find 1 golem and copy the spell once, kill that golem, and then when the actual spell resolves it will fizzle because there will be no legal targets left. You may lose the token creatures, but you'll still have the card and can cast it again and they lost a relatively powerless removal spell.
True...but it also precludes the possibility of making a Golem army with bounce and reusing ETB :s
Changes 20/3/15:
- Precursor Golem
- Followed Footsteps
- Rhystic Study
+ Sharding Sphinx
+ Perplexing Chimera
+ Skullclamp
Retired: WUEphara, God of the PolisWU blink | WGerrard CapashenW lifegain | WUB Ertai, the CorruptedWUB combo | WAvacyn, Angel of HopeW
mono-white controlangel tribalPauper: UBDimirKittyUB | RBG Deathcycle RBG
Modern: GWUEnchantressGWU | GWUTurbofogGWU
Mmmmm Perplexing Chimera is so good. You'll have to let me know how Skullclamp ends up working for you. I've noticed the deck needs more draw in general. I'm gonna add mulldrifter to my deck (glossed over that you can respond to the evoke sac with bouncing it), and was considering BSZ, but skullclmap can have a more persistent presence.