Updated my list last week and have had an opportunity to get in several new games with it since then. Dropped Stonehorn Dignitary in favor of Arcane Denial, the deck's seventh counter spell. Stonehorn Dignitary was a strong card and if the deck was more focused around flicker effects throughout all parts of the game it might have been a little better. In the early game it felt like a random one-of effect that didn't do enough to keep it. In the late game in combination with Archaeomancer & Ghostly Flicker produced a soft lock but even that felt like a win more. Arcane Denial is obviously much better throughout an entire game and I'm glad I finally found a slot for it.
I've taken to playing the deck in casual pick up games as a 100 card singleton as well just to see how it fares and it has been a good learning experience. The decks I am playing against are by no means tier one but are a good reflection of what I may randomly encounter in an EDH game. It's allowed me to get a better feel of how to play the deck when all the aggro is headed straight at me and its helped out in multiplayer situations as well.
Updated the original post with what I think are going to be significant changes to the deck. First, with the release of Return to Ravnica I started swapping out the original Ravnica bounce lands for the new Guildgates. Additionally I cut Shimmering Grotto for Transguild Promenade.
I will probably have to make a few additional adjustments to the mana base but so far I am really liking how the new version plays out. I'm hoping 38 lands is enough. To ease a little stress on the mana base I cut Overrule for Stoic Rebuttal and Kabira Crossroads for another Island. Stoic Rebuttal feels like a better fit in the deck regardless.
I do have a question that just occurred to me. Do you really need Crypt Rats? It seems from what I've seen that you rarely use it and the cost to activate is rough.
Suggestions to look at:
The Replica cycle from Scars block or Mirrodin block.
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That's true. Crypt Rats have always been the deck's main sweeper but it is a challenge to activate early and rarely something I use late game unless my back is to the wall.
Replicas seem cool albeit a little pricey. I will take a look at them.
I noticed you were back on the forum, Zombie Shakespear, so I thought I'd ask your view on this... I'm making a Mistmeadow Witch deck and I'm having my doubts about Sanctum Gargoyle. Some background:
Goldfishing a bit, I find that I often use a t3 Trinket Mage to grab me some land. Ramp makes no sense when you're not making every land drop, so I tend to prioritize blinking Mage, Pilgrim's Eye or even Kor Cartographer whenever I run out of land. Getting something like Wayfarer's Bauble seems like an early game luxury since it costs 3 to use and the ramp may be a short-lived head start. Later on, I'd rather pay mana for a draw spell than trying to ramp, so I'm thinking about cutting the Bauble.
You run lots of trinkets that don't really measure up to the card quality in your sorceries and instants (for example, I compare Courier's Capsule or Armillary Sphere to Foresee). Obviously, this is necessary to make Sanctum Gargoyle work. I find myself running all the draw you're running so right now I'm thinking about adding the less powerful artifact draw/ramp cards over more business cards (like removal) and Sanctum Gargoyle, or simply cut the Gargoyle and add even more business cards. Since I can loop draw spells by blinking a recursion wizard fairly easily, I don't think I need the density of draw that you have - OTOH, Gargoyle would be a snug fit with the Witch. It's one of those things that would probably leave me fooled by randomness if I actually tried testing it, so I thought maybe you had some experience on it. Especially since your running a 3rd color with even more potential card quality in business spells, what made you include the Gargoyle package?
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I run Sanctum Gargoyle so that I can recur many of the artifacts Trinket Mage gets. Executioner's Capsule and Nihil Spellbomb are generally the most often recurred but the other artifacts you mentioned, Courier's Capsule & Armillary Sphere in particular, are also strong targets. In some cases I have transmuted for Armillary Sphere on turn 3 to ensure I hit my early land drops and get the specific mana I need based on what's in my hand. Later Sanctum Gargoyle becomes part of the team that helps lock up the game with the Ghostly Flicker engine.
I suppose if I weren't running Sanctum Gargoyle I would probably have Remember the Fallen in that slot to recur most of the same artifacts that Trinket Mage fetches. I think what really helps Pauper EDH decks excel versus the regular EDH decks is their ability to reuse practically everything they play and Sanctum Gargoyle has been a solid addition for me in that regard.
I think because your Mistmeadow Witch deck is focused on Auras adding Gargoyle and enough utility artifacts to make him worthwhile would potentially water down your primary strategy.
Thanks for a very informative answer. I agree that trying to fit both ETB enchantment AND artifact recursion leads to spreading yourself too thin, when really recursion of instants and sorceries is the core. Your list prioritizes artifacts so it's only natural you should go for Gargoyle. I don't have black removal and white removal is more enchantment based, so I'll go for Aurmancer, with Remember the Fallen and Mine Excavation providing a lot of flexibility.
I find the only artifact I'd like to recur is Tormod's Crypt. Or maybe a destroyed Tumble Magnet (?). As for securing land drops with a 2 cmc transmute, I think Armillary Sphere is more important from a color fixing perspective in a 3C deck. I'd still have the option of Intution or Aethermage -> Trinket Mage. Honestly, Walking Atlas wasn't all that. You need copious amounts of draw (and land, most likely) to make it worthwhile. I tried him in my Puresight Merrow list, but in Mistmeadow Witch I'm using Pilgrim's Eye in his slot instead. He should fit right into your list as well. Any reason for not running him? A great option for securing mana with 3 cmc transmutes (though arguably, Trinket Mage already performs well there).
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Posted before reading the thread as to not be corrupted in my opinion
Doom Blade>> Eyeblight's Ending- EE is very similar to Rend Flesh, which you are already playing. Stonybrook Angler>>Rimewind Taskmage- Playing snow lands might make this an upgrade, test for a bit and see if you like it. Brainstorm>>Preordain- Without tons of shuffle effects, I think that Preordain would be better, especially for hitting early land drops.
Now about the actual strategy of the deck. How do you plan on actually killing? Your creatures will take forever, so I assume it is using the creatures that you have stolen? If so, [CARD]Whispersilk Cloak
[/CARD] might be the card that you are looking for. I see that you have taken out Twisted Abomination. That card's absence startled me. In a deck with Crypt Rats and recursion, surely a win condition attached to a Swamp fetcher would be welcome? I would probably axe Prophetic Prism for it. It also is good with Rush of Knowledge.
That is all that I can think of off the top of my head, without playing the deck. Looks very solid right now though, good job.
I found a card that might find a home in your deck Zombie. Mystic Remora it's something to consider.
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Thanks for the feedback Overheat. Many of the cards you suggested I have considered over the course of developing the deck and some may be worth a second look (Twisted Abomination & Rimewind Taskmage in particular). Really iffy on Preordain over Brainstorm. I understand your reasoning but Brainstorm has been really strong for me and I've never had an issue with finding shuffle effects to go with it.
In terms of killing, occasionally I win with stolen creatures but most of the games I've had to grind it out with my own after I taking control of the game. With the Ghostly Flicker endgame in place some players see the writing on the wall and scoop while others are happy to play it out. Giving Twisted Abomination another try would certainly shorten my clock.
@Jakalova - Mystic Remora has been a consideration over Rhystic Study but not having an upkeep cost attached to it is why I went with the latter.
I'm going to test out Twisted Abomination, Eyeblight's Ending and Traumatic Visions tonight at the LGS and report back. I'm liking them so far just goldfishing. My only concern is with Eyeblight's Ending replacing Doom Blade I no longer have a solid creature removal spell at 2cc that I can Transmute for.
If I could find a blasted Rimewind Taskmage I'd sub that in too but I've been looking for months with no luck. Just found one! Let's do this!
I'm really excited about the changes. Both Overheat & urdjur presented sound arguments for the inclusion of Traumatic Visions in the Mistmeadow Witch thread. It, along with Twisted Abomination, help to further tighten up the deck's mana base. Rimewind Taskmage proved to be strong as well in games this weekend. While not as useful earlier game as Stonybrook Angler was, mid and late game it makes up for it by being able to deal with any permanents (artifacts and utility lands especially) that may impede your game plan.
In one game this weekend I faced off against Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and Rhys the Redeemed. Both decks were a good test for my deck's defenses. Both established board positions early, Thalia with several creatures and Thraben with tokens. Trinket Mage & Sea Gate Oracle chump blocked early while I was still getting my mana base set up. Traumatic Visions and Armillary Sphere helped there. Rimewind Taskmage came online just in time to tap Odric, Master Tactician & prevent the Thalia player from forcing my Crypt Rats to block. On Rhys' next turn I wiped the board of creatures with Crypt Rats in response to him casting Coat of Arms.
We started developing our board positions again from there. I recurred Armillary Sphere with Sanctum Gargoyle on my next turn and dispatched the Coat of Arms with Dismantling Blow soon after. Thalia struggled to get something going after the Crypt Rats wiped the board and Rhys took full advantage of it attacking him with his rebuilt token army. Rhys ultimately finished off the Thalia player with two soldier tokens that had been beefed up with Increasing Savagery. Those were taken out by Ashes to Ashes on my next turn. As the game progressed I was able to get the Ghostly Flicker engine online and was able to deal with all of Rhys tokens through recurring Echoing Decay several times a turn. Recurred Trinket Mage to get Strip Mine (via Expedition Map) to dispatch Rhys' Gavony Township and took control of Rhys using Merieke just to prevent him from making even more tokens as my own offense picked up. From there it was academic as the Pauper Bear Beatdown finished off the game.
Very interesting read - sounds like a cool game. Glad the changes seemed to have payed off! One question though:
was able to deal with all of Rhys tokens through recurring Echoing Decay several times a turn.
Was that really necessary? Rhys taps to make tokens so I'm assuming he had some other bonkers token generator he could use?
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The deck didn't really lose a step after I wiped the board with Crypt Rats. It just kept playing more things that made tokens & doubling them with his General.
I've had the opportunity to get in several more games over the past few weeks with the new build and am really liking it. Traumatic Visions has proven to be very handy and Rimewind Taskmage is just as versatile. Here are a few highlights from recent games.
Sunday I faced off against Trancer's Glissa, the Pauper, Vela the Night-Clad, and Damia, Sage of Stone. Glissa did most of the heavy lifting at the table with Cranial Plating and other equipments. Damia cast an early Tunnel Vision on Vela leaving him him with only 8 cards in his library but Vela was still able to whittle away at all our life totals throughout the game with various token shenanigans. I targeted Vela with Compulsive Research when he was down to three cards in his library and he was still able to live two more turns thanks to Fencer Clique.
In the end Vela attacked Glissa down to 1 and me to 2. Glissa cast Lignify on Vela on his turn and kept his defenses up. With no cards left in library and Fencer Clique finally in the graveyard thanks to Soul Manipulation I was able to Capsize Vela and swing through killing Glissa.
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Last night I got two games in both of which were really fun. Game one I faced off against Ghave, Guru of Spores, Uril, the Miststalker, and Trostani, Selesnya's Voice. Uril developed early with New Frontiers for 3 on turn 4 and two turns later Uril one shots Trostani with commander damage to everyone's surprise. I was able to transmute for Diabolic Edict early and set up Merieke and Rimewind Taskmage before the offense came my way. Uril continued to beat Ghave down over several turns but Ghave is still able to produce enough tokens thru Rhys, the Redeemed, Doubling Season, Geist-Honored Monk, & his general to hang in there. Merieke took several creatures throughout the game for defense including Ghave but traded it in for Uril's Worldspine Wurm a few turns later. When Uril finally turned the offense my way I used Merieke and Rimewind Taskmage to take his other creature and hit him with Diabolic Edict. Worldspine's Wurn tokens finished off Ghave the next turn and I shored up the game shortly thereafter transmuting Perplex for Ghostly Flicker to get Diabolic Edict back from the graveyard.
Game Two was a Three for All versus Ghave and Trostani
Ghave develops early and I focus on him using Revoke Existence to get rid of his Mirari's Wake and Defense of the Heart and using Merieke to take his Oracle of Mul Daya and speed up my land drops for a few turns. Trostani quietly develops an early Forgotten Ancient out and a few turns later we're staring down a Primordial Hydra that becomes insanely huge. Ghave is taking Hydra beats and the Ancient is pointed my way. Trostani miracled Entreat the Angels for four 8/8s with Cathars' Crusade in play and next turn Trostani has a 7/7 Forbidden Ancient, a lethal Hydra and 4 9/9 angels on the board. He swings I save Ghave from the Hydra with Unmake, chump block the Ancient with Trinket Mage, & bounce one of the four angels headed my way with AEther Spellbomb. Ghave's turn he casts Rune-scarred Demon and gets Crime // Punishment using Punishment to kill the angels.
Trostani miracles Terminus clearing the board and then casts Sigarda, Host of Herons to finish us off. My previous turn I used Mnemonic Wall to return Unmake instead of Arcane Denial and I was kicking myself for the mistake. I could have just chump blocked again & used the Death Denied in my hand to get my creature back. Great games though. Trostani got a measure of revenge for the earlier defeat at the hands of Uril.
Zombie, situations like that are why I suggest Echoing Truth. It allows you to get rid of token swarms that are larger than 2/2s more easier than Echoing Decay. I would like to see you run both since you can tutor them up easily. Not trying to sound mean/sarcastic/douchey in case it comes off that way.
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After my Standard Pauper event earlier today I was able to get in a game of EDH with Merieke vs Niv Mizzet, the Firemind and Jhoira of the Ghitu. I recently updated the deck switching out Echoing Decay for Echoing Truth. Both are still very good against most of the tokens I come up against but Truth gives me another bonce spell to compliment Capsize and makes Merchant Scroll even better (if that's even possible by now).
Today's game was a long drawn out affair but really fun. Both the other decks were non-Pauper EDH decks with a lot of really strong threats between them. I ended up losing in a close game that where everyone's life totals were low. Highlights included Merieke taking an opponent's Archeomancer early, and later Niv-Mizzet, keeping them via Ghostly Flicker. I zoomed ahead on card advantage with the second Archeaomancer but remained on defense until I had better control of the board (and flyers) late game.
In the end Niv-Mizzet overwhelmed me with Goblin tokens which was no small task given I had landed Echoing Truth on three previous swarms he had built up with Krenko, Mob Boss before dispatching him to the graveyard. I spent a lot of my resources that turn cycle focusing (probably to much) on Jhoria and didn't have enough left to return Echoing Truth from my graveyard after a counter war over Ghostly Flicker. The Niv-Mizzet player could have won it all but sent all his forces at me when Jhoria was at 3 life with only one creature in play. On his turn the Jhoria player cast Insurrection taking Niv-Mizzet's team and swinging through on him. Niv-Mizzet had a counter in hand for it but not the mana to cast it. Fun stuff.
I'm still looking for areas to improve the deck. I'd really like to squeeze Grim Discovery in to have the option of recurring lands. While I only run 3 fetch lands and Strip Mine that go to my graveyard naturally other lands get in there occasionally via Forbidden Alchemy, Compulsive Research or mill cards opponents play. Currently, Divination and Rhystic Study are two cards that are top of my list for possible changes. Rhystic Study, while good in theory, is pretty underwhelming late game when opponents are in top deck mode and have plenty of mana.
Hey dude, this deck rules! I recently got into commander, but I've been a longtime pauper player, almost since the beginning with tharionwind on MTGO. I started questioning the use of expensive cards in my commander deck though and thought it would be cool to just play pauper commander. More fun using unusual cards. I'm psyched to see you built this. I'm actually using a bunch of rebels in my version, not sure which is better.
If only Trinket Mage could retrieve a Guinness from the fridge, then the deck would be perfect! 1 beer probably cost no more than (1) to even the least skilled mages.
Thank you! Rebels would certainly appeal to those who want to run the deck with a more aggro feel. You should start a thread for your version for all to see & discuss.
If I tap her to gain control of a creature but flicker her in response to my tap. She then leaves play and comes back before the gain control ability resolves. So what happens? Do you permanently gain control of the creature? Because i think technically you treat the now flickered merieke as a new creature.
If I tap her to gain control of a creature but flicker her in response to my tap. She then leaves play and comes back before the gain control ability resolves. So what happens? Do you permanently gain control of the creature? Because i think technically you treat the now flickered merieke as a new creature.
Unfortunately if Merieke Ri Berit leaves play before her activated ability resolves then nothing happens. The creature will remain under the control of whoever had it when it was targeted by Merieke's ability. The individual who responded to your question on Gather was incorrect. Here's the portion of the Comp Rules relevant to the question:
Originally Posted by comp rules 611.2b Some continuous effects generated by the resolution of a spell or ability have durations worded “for as long as . . . .” If the “for as long as” duration never starts, or it ends before the moment the effect would first be applied, the effect does nothing. It doesn’t start and immediately stop again, and it doesn’t last forever.
Example: Endoskeleton is an artifact with an activated ability that reads “{2}, {T}: Target creature gets +0/+3 for as long as Endoskeleton remains tapped.” If you activate this ability and then Endoskeleton becomes untapped before the ability resolves, it does nothing, because its duration—remaining tapped—was over before the effect began.
Strategically it would probably be better to use Ghostly Flicker on both Merieke & the creature she's taken after her ability has finished resolving. That way you keep both.
Zombie have you looked into the Cluestone cycle from DGM? They look like interesting ramp with added card draw for emergencies.
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Zombie have you looked into the Cluestone cycle from DGM? They look like interesting ramp with added card draw for emergencies.
I'm not sure they're worth the card slots. The deck is very tightly packed and finding room for cluestones would be a challenge. I cut the Signets a while ago to fit in more draw & have found the draw spells to be much better throughout the game than the Signets. For this deck, consistently making land drops over the course of the entire game is far more important than a little extra ramp and the possibility of cycling it from the battlefield later.
Highlights from recent games:
Using Ghostly Flicker + Scrivener + Kabira Crossroads to pull my life total out of the gutter and regain some breathing room.
Kabira Crossroads came in handy in another game when I chained together Cadaver Imp > Sanctum Gargoyle > Expedition Map > Kabira Crossroads to get my life total to 30 when I had control of an opponent's Serra Ascendant.
I've taken to playing the deck in casual pick up games as a 100 card singleton as well just to see how it fares and it has been a good learning experience. The decks I am playing against are by no means tier one but are a good reflection of what I may randomly encounter in an EDH game. It's allowed me to get a better feel of how to play the deck when all the aggro is headed straight at me and its helped out in multiplayer situations as well.
The second set of changes included dropping the signets and Darksteel Pendant for Divination, Compulsive Research, Vedalken AEthermage, and Echoing Decay. AEthermage is great for finding the deck's key creatures like Trinket Mage, the spell mancers (Archaeomancer & Scrivener), and Stonybrook Angler. Echoing Decay helps the deck better deal with token heavy decks in my meta. The inclusion of Divination and Compulsive Research were based heavily on playing Overheat's version of d0su's Child of Alara Dreamcrusher. Both are much better top decks late game than the signets.
I will probably have to make a few additional adjustments to the mana base but so far I am really liking how the new version plays out. I'm hoping 38 lands is enough. To ease a little stress on the mana base I cut Overrule for Stoic Rebuttal and Kabira Crossroads for another Island. Stoic Rebuttal feels like a better fit in the deck regardless.
Suggestions to look at:
The Replica cycle from Scars block or Mirrodin block.
For Lists, Click Here
EDH:
GW: Selvala, Let us help YOU.
UB: Mirko Vosk, when outmatched cheat
BW: Vish Kal, The Arbiter of Reanimation
UG: Prime Speaker Zegana, the science of sorcery
RB: Malfegor, Traitor's Haven
UW: Daxos, Control-Fort-Tron
BG: Pharika, Goddess of Stax
RW: Gisela, Boros Control
RG: Ruric Thar, a Primal Surge deck
RU: Niv-Mizzet the Firemind, Spellslinger?!?!
B:(Pauper) Mikaeus the Unhallowed
R: Kurkesh, Onakke Ancient: The Power of Engineering
Replicas seem cool albeit a little pricey. I will take a look at them.
Goldfishing a bit, I find that I often use a t3 Trinket Mage to grab me some land. Ramp makes no sense when you're not making every land drop, so I tend to prioritize blinking Mage, Pilgrim's Eye or even Kor Cartographer whenever I run out of land. Getting something like Wayfarer's Bauble seems like an early game luxury since it costs 3 to use and the ramp may be a short-lived head start. Later on, I'd rather pay mana for a draw spell than trying to ramp, so I'm thinking about cutting the Bauble.
You run lots of trinkets that don't really measure up to the card quality in your sorceries and instants (for example, I compare Courier's Capsule or Armillary Sphere to Foresee). Obviously, this is necessary to make Sanctum Gargoyle work. I find myself running all the draw you're running so right now I'm thinking about adding the less powerful artifact draw/ramp cards over more business cards (like removal) and Sanctum Gargoyle, or simply cut the Gargoyle and add even more business cards. Since I can loop draw spells by blinking a recursion wizard fairly easily, I don't think I need the density of draw that you have - OTOH, Gargoyle would be a snug fit with the Witch. It's one of those things that would probably leave me fooled by randomness if I actually tried testing it, so I thought maybe you had some experience on it. Especially since your running a 3rd color with even more potential card quality in business spells, what made you include the Gargoyle package?
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I run Sanctum Gargoyle so that I can recur many of the artifacts Trinket Mage gets. Executioner's Capsule and Nihil Spellbomb are generally the most often recurred but the other artifacts you mentioned, Courier's Capsule & Armillary Sphere in particular, are also strong targets. In some cases I have transmuted for Armillary Sphere on turn 3 to ensure I hit my early land drops and get the specific mana I need based on what's in my hand. Later Sanctum Gargoyle becomes part of the team that helps lock up the game with the Ghostly Flicker engine.
I suppose if I weren't running Sanctum Gargoyle I would probably have Remember the Fallen in that slot to recur most of the same artifacts that Trinket Mage fetches. I think what really helps Pauper EDH decks excel versus the regular EDH decks is their ability to reuse practically everything they play and Sanctum Gargoyle has been a solid addition for me in that regard.
I think because your Mistmeadow Witch deck is focused on Auras adding Gargoyle and enough utility artifacts to make him worthwhile would potentially water down your primary strategy.
How has Walking Atlas been working for you?
I find the only artifact I'd like to recur is Tormod's Crypt. Or maybe a destroyed Tumble Magnet (?). As for securing land drops with a 2 cmc transmute, I think Armillary Sphere is more important from a color fixing perspective in a 3C deck. I'd still have the option of Intution or Aethermage -> Trinket Mage. Honestly, Walking Atlas wasn't all that. You need copious amounts of draw (and land, most likely) to make it worthwhile. I tried him in my Puresight Merrow list, but in Mistmeadow Witch I'm using Pilgrim's Eye in his slot instead. He should fit right into your list as well. Any reason for not running him? A great option for securing mana with 3 cmc transmutes (though arguably, Trinket Mage already performs well there).
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Doom Blade>> Eyeblight's Ending- EE is very similar to Rend Flesh, which you are already playing.
Stonybrook Angler>>Rimewind Taskmage- Playing snow lands might make this an upgrade, test for a bit and see if you like it.
Brainstorm>>Preordain- Without tons of shuffle effects, I think that Preordain would be better, especially for hitting early land drops.
Cards to consider- Remember the Fallen, Reconstruction, Ritual of Restoration, Leonin Squire. With the amount of artifacts that you have, surely you might find one of these useful if you had not considered them before.
Reprisal- Extremely solid removal spell if you want another/different one.
Memory Lapse- Two mana hard counter if you wanted another one, good for winning counter wars and for hitting a general.
Dispel- Wins counter wars.
Now about the actual strategy of the deck. How do you plan on actually killing? Your creatures will take forever, so I assume it is using the creatures that you have stolen? If so, [CARD]Whispersilk Cloak
[/CARD] might be the card that you are looking for. I see that you have taken out Twisted Abomination. That card's absence startled me. In a deck with Crypt Rats and recursion, surely a win condition attached to a Swamp fetcher would be welcome? I would probably axe Prophetic Prism for it. It also is good with Rush of Knowledge.
That is all that I can think of off the top of my head, without playing the deck. Looks very solid right now though, good job.
Turn 2 Two Goblin Guide
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EDH:
GW: Selvala, Let us help YOU.
UB: Mirko Vosk, when outmatched cheat
BW: Vish Kal, The Arbiter of Reanimation
UG: Prime Speaker Zegana, the science of sorcery
RB: Malfegor, Traitor's Haven
UW: Daxos, Control-Fort-Tron
BG: Pharika, Goddess of Stax
RW: Gisela, Boros Control
RG: Ruric Thar, a Primal Surge deck
RU: Niv-Mizzet the Firemind, Spellslinger?!?!
B:(Pauper) Mikaeus the Unhallowed
R: Kurkesh, Onakke Ancient: The Power of Engineering
In terms of killing, occasionally I win with stolen creatures but most of the games I've had to grind it out with my own after I taking control of the game. With the Ghostly Flicker endgame in place some players see the writing on the wall and scoop while others are happy to play it out. Giving Twisted Abomination another try would certainly shorten my clock.
@Jakalova - Mystic Remora has been a consideration over Rhystic Study but not having an upkeep cost attached to it is why I went with the latter.
Have you figured out which commander for your pauper #2 deck?
I am still debating making Glissa, the Traitor in pauper, but I always seem to run off in tangents.
..
Azusa - Derevi - Glissa - Mizzix - Sharuum - Wanderer - Wort
It was common in Ice Age.
Glissa would be interesting in pauper, especially since the best stuff to recur is common anyway.
Turn 2 Two Goblin Guide
Executioner's Capsule anyone?
I'm going to test out Twisted Abomination, Eyeblight's Ending and Traumatic Visions tonight at the LGS and report back. I'm liking them so far just goldfishing. My only concern is with Eyeblight's Ending replacing Doom Blade I no longer have a solid creature removal spell at 2cc that I can Transmute for.
If I could find a blasted Rimewind Taskmage I'd sub that in too but I've been looking for months with no luck.Just found one! Let's do this!Thanks again for all the feedback.
I'm really excited about the changes. Both Overheat & urdjur presented sound arguments for the inclusion of Traumatic Visions in the Mistmeadow Witch thread. It, along with Twisted Abomination, help to further tighten up the deck's mana base. Rimewind Taskmage proved to be strong as well in games this weekend. While not as useful earlier game as Stonybrook Angler was, mid and late game it makes up for it by being able to deal with any permanents (artifacts and utility lands especially) that may impede your game plan.
In one game this weekend I faced off against Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and Rhys the Redeemed. Both decks were a good test for my deck's defenses. Both established board positions early, Thalia with several creatures and Thraben with tokens. Trinket Mage & Sea Gate Oracle chump blocked early while I was still getting my mana base set up. Traumatic Visions and Armillary Sphere helped there. Rimewind Taskmage came online just in time to tap Odric, Master Tactician & prevent the Thalia player from forcing my Crypt Rats to block. On Rhys' next turn I wiped the board of creatures with Crypt Rats in response to him casting Coat of Arms.
We started developing our board positions again from there. I recurred Armillary Sphere with Sanctum Gargoyle on my next turn and dispatched the Coat of Arms with Dismantling Blow soon after. Thalia struggled to get something going after the Crypt Rats wiped the board and Rhys took full advantage of it attacking him with his rebuilt token army. Rhys ultimately finished off the Thalia player with two soldier tokens that had been beefed up with Increasing Savagery. Those were taken out by Ashes to Ashes on my next turn. As the game progressed I was able to get the Ghostly Flicker engine online and was able to deal with all of Rhys tokens through recurring Echoing Decay several times a turn. Recurred Trinket Mage to get Strip Mine (via Expedition Map) to dispatch Rhys' Gavony Township and took control of Rhys using Merieke just to prevent him from making even more tokens as my own offense picked up. From there it was academic as the Pauper Bear Beatdown finished off the game.
Was that really necessary? Rhys taps to make tokens so I'm assuming he had some other bonkers token generator he could use?
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The deck didn't really lose a step after I wiped the board with Crypt Rats. It just kept playing more things that made tokens & doubling them with his General.
Sunday I faced off against Trancer's Glissa, the Pauper, Vela the Night-Clad, and Damia, Sage of Stone. Glissa did most of the heavy lifting at the table with Cranial Plating and other equipments. Damia cast an early Tunnel Vision on Vela leaving him him with only 8 cards in his library but Vela was still able to whittle away at all our life totals throughout the game with various token shenanigans. I targeted Vela with Compulsive Research when he was down to three cards in his library and he was still able to live two more turns thanks to Fencer Clique.
In the end Vela attacked Glissa down to 1 and me to 2. Glissa cast Lignify on Vela on his turn and kept his defenses up. With no cards left in library and Fencer Clique finally in the graveyard thanks to Soul Manipulation I was able to Capsize Vela and swing through killing Glissa.
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Last night I got two games in both of which were really fun. Game one I faced off against Ghave, Guru of Spores, Uril, the Miststalker, and Trostani, Selesnya's Voice. Uril developed early with New Frontiers for 3 on turn 4 and two turns later Uril one shots Trostani with commander damage to everyone's surprise. I was able to transmute for Diabolic Edict early and set up Merieke and Rimewind Taskmage before the offense came my way. Uril continued to beat Ghave down over several turns but Ghave is still able to produce enough tokens thru Rhys, the Redeemed, Doubling Season, Geist-Honored Monk, & his general to hang in there. Merieke took several creatures throughout the game for defense including Ghave but traded it in for Uril's Worldspine Wurm a few turns later. When Uril finally turned the offense my way I used Merieke and Rimewind Taskmage to take his other creature and hit him with Diabolic Edict. Worldspine's Wurn tokens finished off Ghave the next turn and I shored up the game shortly thereafter transmuting Perplex for Ghostly Flicker to get Diabolic Edict back from the graveyard.
Game Two was a Three for All versus Ghave and Trostani
Ghave develops early and I focus on him using Revoke Existence to get rid of his Mirari's Wake and Defense of the Heart and using Merieke to take his Oracle of Mul Daya and speed up my land drops for a few turns. Trostani quietly develops an early Forgotten Ancient out and a few turns later we're staring down a Primordial Hydra that becomes insanely huge. Ghave is taking Hydra beats and the Ancient is pointed my way. Trostani miracled Entreat the Angels for four 8/8s with Cathars' Crusade in play and next turn Trostani has a 7/7 Forbidden Ancient, a lethal Hydra and 4 9/9 angels on the board. He swings I save Ghave from the Hydra with Unmake, chump block the Ancient with Trinket Mage, & bounce one of the four angels headed my way with AEther Spellbomb. Ghave's turn he casts Rune-scarred Demon and gets Crime // Punishment using Punishment to kill the angels.
Trostani miracles Terminus clearing the board and then casts Sigarda, Host of Herons to finish us off. My previous turn I used Mnemonic Wall to return Unmake instead of Arcane Denial and I was kicking myself for the mistake. I could have just chump blocked again & used the Death Denied in my hand to get my creature back. Great games though. Trostani got a measure of revenge for the earlier defeat at the hands of Uril.
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EDH:
GW: Selvala, Let us help YOU.
UB: Mirko Vosk, when outmatched cheat
BW: Vish Kal, The Arbiter of Reanimation
UG: Prime Speaker Zegana, the science of sorcery
RB: Malfegor, Traitor's Haven
UW: Daxos, Control-Fort-Tron
BG: Pharika, Goddess of Stax
RW: Gisela, Boros Control
RG: Ruric Thar, a Primal Surge deck
RU: Niv-Mizzet the Firemind, Spellslinger?!?!
B:(Pauper) Mikaeus the Unhallowed
R: Kurkesh, Onakke Ancient: The Power of Engineering
Today's game was a long drawn out affair but really fun. Both the other decks were non-Pauper EDH decks with a lot of really strong threats between them. I ended up losing in a close game that where everyone's life totals were low. Highlights included Merieke taking an opponent's Archeomancer early, and later Niv-Mizzet, keeping them via Ghostly Flicker. I zoomed ahead on card advantage with the second Archeaomancer but remained on defense until I had better control of the board (and flyers) late game.
In the end Niv-Mizzet overwhelmed me with Goblin tokens which was no small task given I had landed Echoing Truth on three previous swarms he had built up with Krenko, Mob Boss before dispatching him to the graveyard. I spent a lot of my resources that turn cycle focusing (probably to much) on Jhoria and didn't have enough left to return Echoing Truth from my graveyard after a counter war over Ghostly Flicker. The Niv-Mizzet player could have won it all but sent all his forces at me when Jhoria was at 3 life with only one creature in play. On his turn the Jhoria player cast Insurrection taking Niv-Mizzet's team and swinging through on him. Niv-Mizzet had a counter in hand for it but not the mana to cast it. Fun stuff.
I'm still looking for areas to improve the deck. I'd really like to squeeze Grim Discovery in to have the option of recurring lands. While I only run 3 fetch lands and Strip Mine that go to my graveyard naturally other lands get in there occasionally via Forbidden Alchemy, Compulsive Research or mill cards opponents play. Currently, Divination and Rhystic Study are two cards that are top of my list for possible changes. Rhystic Study, while good in theory, is pretty underwhelming late game when opponents are in top deck mode and have plenty of mana.
If only Trinket Mage could retrieve a Guinness from the fridge, then the deck would be perfect! 1 beer probably cost no more than (1) to even the least skilled mages.
Thanks again & welcome to MTG Salvation!
Unfortunately if Merieke Ri Berit leaves play before her activated ability resolves then nothing happens. The creature will remain under the control of whoever had it when it was targeted by Merieke's ability. The individual who responded to your question on Gather was incorrect. Here's the portion of the Comp Rules relevant to the question:
Strategically it would probably be better to use Ghostly Flicker on both Merieke & the creature she's taken after her ability has finished resolving. That way you keep both.
For Lists, Click Here
EDH:
GW: Selvala, Let us help YOU.
UB: Mirko Vosk, when outmatched cheat
BW: Vish Kal, The Arbiter of Reanimation
UG: Prime Speaker Zegana, the science of sorcery
RB: Malfegor, Traitor's Haven
UW: Daxos, Control-Fort-Tron
BG: Pharika, Goddess of Stax
RW: Gisela, Boros Control
RG: Ruric Thar, a Primal Surge deck
RU: Niv-Mizzet the Firemind, Spellslinger?!?!
B:(Pauper) Mikaeus the Unhallowed
R: Kurkesh, Onakke Ancient: The Power of Engineering
I'm not sure they're worth the card slots. The deck is very tightly packed and finding room for cluestones would be a challenge. I cut the Signets a while ago to fit in more draw & have found the draw spells to be much better throughout the game than the Signets. For this deck, consistently making land drops over the course of the entire game is far more important than a little extra ramp and the possibility of cycling it from the battlefield later.