This is the list I'm currently using, At the past 2 local legacy events I've only lost to the turn 1 belcher win (unfortunately two games in a row >_>.)
The meta is very BUG/Control heavy here and the matchups haven't always been favorable but I love the toolbox feel to the deck. Dimir Charm has been extremely useful against hand disruption, Show and Tell, Entreat the angels, and also as spot removal. Misdirecting Ancestral visions and Hymn to tourachs are also awesome =3.
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I feel the main differences we have in deck philosophy is in you saying that it is a slow grindy deck. I don't really view it as a traditional control deck, but much closer to a Dragon Stompie deck with Planeswalkers. I feel that most of the games won are due to explosive starts with something the opponent is not equipped to handle, and the long game is usually a limp to the finish after have done something to stifle an opponent's offense.
Thanks for the reply. I understand your point of view. I'd love to hear a tournament report with your list if you get an opportunity to do so! I'm likely going to be reworking my sideboard for the next time I play the deck. I'm toying with a few things. Maybe they'll make it, maybe not, I'll report back in a week or so if I end up playing this deck at the next event.
Toxic deluge looks great. I intend on packing them in the sideboard soon. I'll probably still keep a mainboard damnation though. Definitely a great upgrade to perish.
Any updates or further testing to your Tangle Wire list, grapplingfarang? Was looking to test something similar on MODO in the next few days, was looking for the best starting point. Thanks!
I 3-1'd a Daily Event last night with it beating Reanimator, BUG, and Show and Tell and losing to Mono White Soldiers (yeah I was shocked at that.) No changes to the deck yet, but am considering both Cursed Totem instead of Engineered Plague for Elf Matchup. I am also considering a couple Damnation in sideboard since D&T is much more popular online atm (and Toxic Deluge is not available on MTGO yet.)
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Standard: Zombies, AntiTusk Vampires, BUG Graveyard, Bant Hexproof, UR Storm Delver Modern: Storm, Jund, Ghast Blaster, Elf Warriors Legacy: RUG Cascade, Imperial Painter, Affinity, Dredge, Elves, Merfolk, Pox, Dragon Stompie, Goblins, ANT, Belcher Classic: Delver, Dredge, Jacerater Draft: I will draft basically any format online (other than Masques) Pauper: MTGO's #1 most handsome Pauper Storm player
I have been testing the list a lot over the past two days - I find myself mulliganing a lot due to lack of colored-sources and low land count - perhaps I shouldn't be, but I am. I am looking around at all of the other Stompy lists, and most have 19-20 land. I'm wondering if going up a land would be an improvement. Might test tonight, not sure!
I have been testing the list a lot over the past two days - I find myself mulliganing a lot due to lack of colored-sources and low land count - perhaps I shouldn't be, but I am. I am looking around at all of the other Stompy lists, and most have 19-20 land. I'm wondering if going up a land would be an improvement. Might test tonight, not sure!
Most list run 21 land and an optional academy ruin. When you include the the mana rocks you have around 27-28 mana sources. Half of the deck is already mana and only 7-8 sources should be colorless. Sure you can add more lands but your already at the point where alot of hands have more mana then spells.
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Yes, most of the control lists do - but this deck has 3 Mox Opal and 2 Lotus Petal, as well as 1 more mana rock. It's obvious that it might run less land - the question is how many.
I believe that was the last version I actually played in an event. I later was playing with Dimir Charm over some of the Mox, but never had a chance to actually play an event with it.
The problem with the deck like this is the same issues with any Stax style deck, basically just in consistency issues. It does have the random "I win" hands (turn 1 Trinisphere, turn 2 Smokestack) that any Stax deck can pull, but unfortunately, since the printing of Deathrite, Abrupt Decay and Rest in Peace, the deck struggles (Deathrite is everywhere, so Trinisphere isn't as threatening on the draw. Abrupt Decay kills Chalice all day long, and Rest in Peace locks out both Thopter/Sword and Crucible)
I'm myself not a great adept of the thopter combo. But I really like the crucible + mox diamond interaction.
I have only two questions.
1- Playing 3 Tezz instead of the usual 4, was it worth it?
2- The potentiality of having your intuitions being disrupted by surgica extraction post game 2 made you side them out most of times?
Thanks in advance for your reply Poppelseed
Kind regards
João
Thopter Foundry was a wonderful answer to a lot of the format, and then Rest in Peace happened, but I digress. It pumps out huge numbers of blockers, and makes Smokestack hilarious (ever seen someone combat Smokestack with 5 counters on it?). It also makes Emrakul a lot less threatening.
1- I was playing 3 Tezz main, and the flex slot in the board was going back and forth between the 4th Tezz and Pirate Ship. 3 seemed to work fairly well in the main.
2- I actually had very little issue with Surgical. Chalice and Trinisphere both take care of it pretty well (Chalice@1 hits it, and Trinisphere makes it cost 2B or 3 and 2 life). Surgical is more troublesome when they try to interrupt the Thopter/Sword combo, but if you expect Surgical, make sure to keep one mana open.
This is the tezzeret shell I put together. I run it more as a "dragon stompy/Affinity" type build rather then a hard control build. I tried to build it more concentrating on card advantage and getting better utility out of the cards I play. I can't stand playing baleful strix in most builds to have it waffle around for 1 damage. Win con is either equipment, lodestone, or tezz blowing up. I haven't tried running dimir etc. but I'm not sure I need to as I rely heavily on tangle wire and trinisphere to slow down games.
Some thoughts in brief:
1) Why run thoughtcast/baleful when u are playing trinisphere?
- Really it doesn't matter, most of the time with the inclusion of mox opal, artifact lands, and sensei's u can blow a thoughtcast turn 2 for one mana then drop the trinisphere pretty easy. Afterwards, your mana is usually pretty amped up, so you can just play through it with metalworker and using sol lands
2) Why mox opal?
- This is with an eye towards the new legend rule, so it is never really redundant to have two of these in your hand, it just makes your mana faster. It actually synergizes well with the artifact land and helps you build tezz towards critical. Most of the time tezz can go off one turn after he enters the board for critical. Helps play around DnT, wasteland etc.
3) All artifacts, how to deal with sideboard hate?
- Well, it is a meta game decision to be honest. Most decks do not run enough significant sideboard hate to stop the deck. One shattering spree won't really work and this is why there is a smattering of dual land/glimmervoid etc in the deck. It does easily fold to dedicated artifact hate but most post board plays are going towards SnT and other more prevalent matchups
4) Lack of shuffle effects / brainstorm?
-This does hurt the deck, and is one of the reasons I'm considering retooling the deck without equipment and metalworker. However, due to running many 4 ofs in the deck, and having nice draw mechanics (thoughtcast, strix, tezz) the deck actually comes out to be fairly consistent.
Not going to explain all the choices, post would be too long, briefly metalworker helps amp the speed of playing equipment (play equip same turn etc.) it also makes karn a viable choice as a soft reset when games go sour. Helps play through trinisphere, counter spell snare etc.
This was my thought process when I built the deck, so far have done well against elves matchup and enchantress. Since I run mox opal and glimmervoid I'm thinking about sideboarding in some useful cards like ethersworn canoninst, phyrexian metamorph, pithing needle. With so few shuffle effects and so much mana, the deck is extremely soft to control/discard/burn (I know that seems like everything), so I was strongly considering siding 4 leyline of sancitity as this can really help in the discard/burn when on the draw (on the play usually can drop a trini or even a lodestone) Thoughts?
I run a maindeck Pithing Needle because the deck loses to Wasteland, sometimes even just one copy. I'll drop it on turn one without knowing my opponent's deck if I don't have a Chalice or Tezz to set up. Even when it's "dead" it can still serve as a Transmute enabler or become a 5/5. And after being sacrificed Academy Ruins can recycle it to name something new. I can't think of a deck without a good target for it.
Lodestone Golem is one I don't see often. I like it as another threat that can come down turn two (without colored mana) and take over the game, but from a different angle than a Planeswalker. It gives me a better game one against combo decks, and is a faster clock when unopposed. It sucks that he dies to Bolt, but Chalice will hopefully cover that.
Otherwise it's a pretty stock list. On to the Sideboard, which might not be so typical:
The Damnations are new, and they are excellent. Creature decks seem to be getting more popular, and TNN in particular requires answers that don't target.
The Curse of Death's Hold is also directed at TNN in particular, but also comes in against most other creature decks. It would be Night of Soul's Betrayal if 1/1s weren't a major win condition for me, and five mana isn't all that hard for this deck to hit. The Abyss is for all the same matchups. I still haven't got to cast this in all of the games I've boarded it in. I've only drawn it once, but I punted the game by sacrificing my City too early and never got four mana.
Spellskite is new as well; it's intended for Abrupt Decay decks, which I find to be some of my worst matchups. I often end up hiding behind an Ensnaring Bridge with no hand while trying to find/win with a Planeswalker, only to have the opponent find a Decay before I find anything relevant. I thought Welding Jar at first, but Skite can come in against other matches like Burn. Helm of Obedience comes in against Miracles, Stoneblade, really any white deck that has seen part of the Thopter/Sword combo. It's very likely they'll bring in Rest in Peace, which allows me to Transmute up the Helm and insta-win. Cursed Totem is pretty self-explanatory. It was in the maindeck at one point, but I feel like my matchup against the fair creature decks is good enough and I didn't want the dead card against combo.
An extra Golem and a Trinisphere against Storm or any cantrip-heavy deck like Delver.
A variety of graveyard hate, effective against different types of decks. Sometimes I even just swap the Spellbomb with the Relic.
The fourth Force and Flusterstorms, obviously for Storm and other combo. Flusterstorm actually works through Chalice for one, since the Storm copies are not cast and do not trigger the Chalice. The original copy of the spell will be countered, but all the Storm copies will go through.
Moving forward I'm replacing the sideboard copy of Force of Will with a Misdirection. It fills mostly the same role while being another answer to Abrupt Decay.
I would really like to run a land of a third color so I can bump Engineered Explosives up to three. I'll most likely replace a Darkslick Shores with another dual I can fetch up. Anyone have thoughts on a better way to splash? Or anything else that splashing a color might give me?
Hey, y'all, I've been working on a UB Tezzerator list that plays Mox Opal, and I was hoping to get some input. I just 4-0d (against Merfolk, Miracles, Jund and UR Painter) at my LGS in Los Angeles with this 75, but think it can certainly be optimized:
About my choices that differ from the stock lists:
- I like having lots of copies of the Thopter combo, as things can happen in the heat of battle: they get discarded, Abrupt Decayed/Ancient Grudged, countered, etc. Plus, with nine artifact lands, I utilize Thopter Foundry more aggressively than most Tezzerator lists. I often can win with just a few Thopters because I can sac extra lands.
- River of Tears doesn't come into play tapped ever, so I like it as a one-of alongside two Darkslick Shores. And it can tap for U on the opponent's turn after I play it, so I can instant-speed Thirst for Knowledge. Creeping Tar Pit has also been excellent, as, at the very least, it's another threat that deflects a Wasteland away from Academy Ruins.
- I've been trying a 2:2:2: Baleful Strix/Thirst for Knowledge/Thoughtcast split, just to see the merits of each card. Sometimes Thoughtcast is the stone cold nuts, curving out on turn 2 with Mox Opal; sometimes I can't get four artifacts in play 'cuz I have to blow up Ratchet Bombs and things. I'm undecided.
- The Tezzeret the Seeker might become a second Jace, the Mind Sculptor - not sure. I like being able to tutor for a missing combo piece or an Ensnaring Bridge (or one of my sideboard silver bullets); I *don't* like having to choose between Big Tezz and Tezz AoB. What do y'all think about the planeswalker split?
- The 3:1 main/side Chalice of the Void split has worked well for me. 95% of the time, I'm casting it for X=1, so additional copies are redundant. When it's good, though, I definitely want the fourth one. There are a surprising number of decks, though, where I side it out.
- Spellskite has been awesome - so much so that I'm considering a second one. It ate an Abrupt Decay, won me a game by redirecting an Echoing Truth that targeted a lock piece, fizzled a Pyroblast because of the "if it is blue" clause, and rendered useless Punishing Fire. It had applications I never even considered.
- Witchbane Orb has been equally impressive, causing headaches for Burn, Pox, Storm, OmniTell, and even UR Painter (they can't target me with Grindstone OR Intuition) - all decks that exist in my meta.
- Trading Post won me a grindy game by keeping my hand size down for Ensnaring Bridge and acting as a second Academy Ruins. I'm gonna keep it in for now.
- Wurmcoil Engine is mostly for decks like Delver and Merfolk. I've only cast it once, and it was pretty darn good at shutting down 5/6 Tarmogoyfs.
Things I'm thinking about:
- add Uba Mask and Sensei's Divining Tops; cut card draw spells and move Chalice of the Voids to the sideboard: I worry about making my blue card count too low for Force of Will, but turn 1 artifact land -> Top -> Mox Opal, spin Top seems insane. Plus, I could play Scroll Rack. I'd like to figure out how to play Force and Top together and whether sacrificing the Chalice plan in game 1 is worth it.
- add Mox Diamonds, Crucible of Worlds and a couple Wastelands; cut one or two Signets and one or two Sol lands: I may have to up my land count to accommodate this strategy and also worry that Wasteland-locking isn't relevant in all games.
I have thought about playing one copy of blue Tezzeret, mainly as another tutor effect for the bullet artifacts. The main problem I have with him is that my list doesn't gain anything from his +1 ability.
River of Tears is interesting. If my list were more evenly U/B I would likely play that over Darkslick, but the fact that you can't play it and tap for blue immediately is a drawback with all the double blue I need. I may try one anyway to see how it works.
I highly suggest running more Transmute Artifact, it's probably the best card in the deck (besides maybe Tezzeret himself. Maybe). Think of it this way - Transmute essentially acts as an extra copy of every artifact in your deck. That means that in my list above, for example, I effectively have five Thopter Foundry, five Sword, four Ensnaring Bridge, four Pithing Needle, and so on. If you switch one copy each of Foundry and Sword for two more Transmute, you actually increase your chances of putting the combo together. Drawing multiples of either one is pretty bad anyway, and sacrificing a Sword to pull out Foundry is pure value.
I'm also really happy with the full four Baleful Strix. They cantrip, they can be turned into a 5/5 flyer by Tezzeret, and they can hold back/trade with almost any attacker.
Good to hear that Spellskite is good at what I thought he would be. I put him in my board for exactly those things, but I haven't had the matchups to bring him in since then.
Witchbane Orb sounds good, I'll look into that one.
I've seen people running Wurmcoil before; I've tried to make space for it but I can't figure out what to cut. I like my Golems better for the main deck because they improve my combo matchup and slow down Delver decks by a turn. I might be able to fit one or two into the board, but I would have to sit down and figure out what matchups it would help and what else I have for those games and whatnot.
I wouldn't run Wasteland. The colorless lands in the deck now all fit better, and you really can't afford to replace any more colored sources. Crucible by itself doesn't sound terrible, because the deck is very soft to opposing Wastelands.
Thanks, Snickelfritz. Big Tezz's +1 untaps lands/rocks and Ratchet Bombs for me. I'm gonna stick with the one-of for now and see how it goes.
My one criticism of River of Tears is exactly the same as yours: it can't tap for U immediately. Some people have mentioned Darkwater Catacombs as a one-of, which is interesting (albeit a little janky). I might give that a shot, though, what the heck.
The lone Transmute Artifact is a card availability issue. I intend to acquire at least a second one, maybe even a third. I'm also leaning towards more Baleful Strixes. They allow me to +1 Tezz AoB more often because the Bird can stand in front of him. Plus, having more Transmute targets at 2 seems good. Thoughtcast was really powerful sometimes, but I found it a little awkward alongside Ensnaring Bridge. The Bird seems more versatile.
Spellskite is insane! It even blocks stuff like Nimble Mongoose, every non-flying creature in Death and Taxes, etc. Plus everyone is gonna bring in artifact removal anyways, so it's probably never dead. Witchbane Orb is really good, too. I've had some opponents just scoop to it or say, "I have one out" (typically Echoing Truth, which isn't an out alongside Spellskite). Wurmcoil Engine has been strong in the couple games I've played it. I just don't like that Lodestone Golem dies to Lightning Bolt. Delver decks would have no qualms paying 1R to blow up our 4-drop (or just Daze-ing it on the stack). But Golem's gotta be good against combo.
Do people swear by the full four Force of Wills, or do people find three to be OK? (I'm in the latter camp but can be swayed.) And any thoughts on Uba Mask? Too cute? We'd probably have to alter our deck too much to accommodate it, as cards like Jace, the Mind Sculptor obviously become far less powerful.
- I'm gonna try Darkwater Catacombs, as I don't see any drawback with the absence of 1-cost spells in the maindeck.
- I took out Tezzeret the Seeker in favor of a second Jace, the Mind Sculptor - seems right.
- My metagame is very fair - lots of Jund, DnT, Delver, etc. - so Go for the Throat could be excellent. I like it better than Engineered Explosives in this list because I can't always EE for 3. (Knight of the Reliquary is in my meta.)
- I'm going with Toxic Deluge over Damnation in the main so I have a better chance against T1 Empty the Warrens. Plus, Delver decks are running around my meta, so the mana denial sometimes prevents me from sweeping for 2BB.
- Sideboard, I'm not sure about KaRnLiBERatEd, but Caleb Durward ran it to some success. I'm gonna try it.
Spot removal is nice, but I wouldn't cut Explosives entirely. That with Academy Ruins can create a soft lock against a lot of people.
I played a small 3-round tournament today, only lost one game in all three. I made space for two Wurmcoil Engine in the sideboard, and I'm convinced they're totally worth it. I cut the sideboard Lodestone Golem, because I think I still have the right number of cards to bring in against combo without him, and Misdirection because Wurmcoil comes in against the same matchups and is more proactive.
Round one against RUG Delver. Both games I'm on the play with a turn one Chalice. He has the Force both times. Game one I got an Academy Ruins online, "locked" him with Engineered Explosives, and then recurred my Chalice to actually lock him out. I went down to three life to do all that, but once it was online he couldn't do anything to threaten me. Game two I resolved a Wurmcoil against his board of Goyf, unlfipped Delver, and two Mongeese. I attacked in, he let it through, and then I Transmuted into the second copy. All that value (and life gain) was too much to keep up with.
Round two, Jund. Game one I got the Thopter/Sword online early and he had no maindeck answer. Game two was a long one; I landed The Abyss pretty early so nothing stayed on the board. And on top of that I misread it, thought it would kill artifacts, and cast Trasnmute ignoring Wurmcoil twice. He got a Leyline of the Void, so I couldn't win with Thopters. I just had to wait and eventually draw into a Tezzeret and drain him out. Luckily the Abyss stopped everything he could do to threaten me, since I had exiled two of his three Punishing Fire.
Round three was Sneak and Show. Game one I mulled to five, he had the right pieces, and we moved on. Game two I started with turn one Chalice so he couldn't cantrip, turn three Tezzeret for quick pressure, and had two Force of Wills. Game three I kept a six-card hand with Ancient Tomb, Chalice, the Abyss, Ensnaring Bridge, Jace, and some other non-mana source. On the draw I turn one Chalice, he had a turn two Show and Tell. I put in the Abyss, he put in Ashen Rider exiling my Abyss. I miss a land drop, but play a Talisman taking myself to 16 then get hit down to 11. I cast Ensnaring Bridge taking myself to 9, it gets countered, I get hit down to 4. I fetch a land going to 3, cast another Ensnaring Bridge I've drawn, and finally stop getting hit. Luckily my opponent is still on two lands and can't cast any cantrips, but I'm at three life now. On my turn, I cast Jace taking myself to one life and start Fatesealing to keep him off an answer to Bridge. I start drawing into lands that don't hurt me, which is a big deal since I'm at one. After a couple turns I cast Damnation - it does let the Rider kill Jace, but I felt like it was worth the trade since I was dead to artifact removal/bounce. Right after that I drew into Tezzeret, which found me a Pithing Needle for Sneak Attack just in case. After ticking Tezzeret up twice I found the Thopter/Sword combo and ticked down to drain ten life, which got me the last game.
There were a couple things I noticed, in the last game in particular. First, Jace maybe should have bounced the Rider. That's up for debate though, because it opens up Show & Tell giving him another ETB trigger for my Bridge. Second, Pithing Needle probably would have been better naming Griselbrand. Neither of the two does anything until he deals with my Bridge, but Griselbrand is the one that helps him find that answer. The big one is that I'm really not sure whether casting Damnation was right. I suspect it would have been better to just keep fatesealing until I blow up Jace, letting him keep anything that doesn't remove Bridge.
So I was watching Caleb Durward's banned series the other day, and his Balance deck got me brewing. The Enlightened Tutor shell mostly gets artifact bullets, so it has a lot in common with the Tezzeret shell. With that in mind, I wrote up this list.
I don't know if this is better or worse than the typical Tezzeret list. At first glance it seems like it has less raw power and consistency, but more options and fewer bad topdecks. I'm going to try some games with this list over the weekend and see if it's worth working on.
As for the normal Tezzeret deck, I've been curious how Liliana of the Veil would fit. She seems a little hard to cast, but she can handle problem creatures and is great along with a Bridge. I've thought about running two in place of the maindeck Damnation and one Jace, but haven't got around to trying it out yet.
Neat list, Snickelfritz. Let me know how it's been for you. I'm curious to see how a deck like this deals with tempo decks like Delver, seeing as the Enlightened Tutor engine can be a little slow. The potential for CounterTop alongside ThopterSword intrigues me, though.
I tried one Liliana of the Veil in the main and one in the sideboard of my Tezzerator list and found it to be powerful if I could cast it, which wasn't as consistently as I would've liked. I wouldn't cut a main-deck sweeper for Liliana, though. I'm running a Toxic Deluge and wouldn't leave home without it. I've been running one Trading Post in the main as well, as it can't be Abrupt Decayed and has versatility in my very fair metagame. When it's bad, I just board it out.
Hey guys, I have been putting UB Tezz together, and in my journey I have been testing the deck as well. It all seems very solid and powerful with some deck just scooping on the spot to turn one chalice on one, but there is one glaring thing that drives me crazy about this deck. Transmute Artifacr. It seems like it is easily the worst card in the deck and I am almost never really happy to see it. Am I missing something with this card? I would almost rather them be Thirst for Knowledge. What do you guys think? Is Transmute Artifact a must have or auto include?
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1x Academy Ruins
4x Ancient Tomb
3x City of Traitors
3x Darkslick Shores
1x Island
3x Polluted Delta
1x Seat of the Synod
1x Swamp
4x Underground Sea
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Instant (6)
4x Force of Will
Sorcery (2)
2x Transmute Artifact
2x Dimir Charm
4x Chalice of the Void
3x Dimir Signet
1x Engineered Explosives
1x Ensnaring Bridge
1x Nihil Spellbomb
1x Ratchet Bomb
2x Sword of the Meek
3x Talisman of Dominance
2x Thopter Foundry
Planeswalker (8)
4x Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4x Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
Creature (4)
4x Baleful Strix
2x Damnation
2x Duress
1x Grafdigger's Cage
3x Lodestone Golem
1x Flusterstorm
2x Perish
1x Pithing Needle
1x Trinisphere
2x Misdirection
The meta is very BUG/Control heavy here and the matchups haven't always been favorable but I love the toolbox feel to the deck. Dimir Charm has been extremely useful against hand disruption, Show and Tell, Entreat the angels, and also as spot removal. Misdirecting Ancestral visions and Hymn to tourachs are also awesome =3.
Thanks for the reply. I understand your point of view. I'd love to hear a tournament report with your list if you get an opportunity to do so! I'm likely going to be reworking my sideboard for the next time I play the deck. I'm toying with a few things. Maybe they'll make it, maybe not, I'll report back in a week or so if I end up playing this deck at the next event.
Toxic deluge looks great. I intend on packing them in the sideboard soon. I'll probably still keep a mainboard damnation though. Definitely a great upgrade to perish.
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Modern: Storm, Jund, Ghast Blaster, Elf Warriors
Legacy: RUG Cascade, Imperial Painter, Affinity, Dredge, Elves, Merfolk, Pox, Dragon Stompie, Goblins, ANT, Belcher
Classic: Delver, Dredge, Jacerater
Draft: I will draft basically any format online (other than Masques)
Pauper: MTGO's #1 most handsome Pauper Storm player
Sig by DNC/HotP Studios
Most list run 21 land and an optional academy ruin. When you include the the mana rocks you have around 27-28 mana sources. Half of the deck is already mana and only 7-8 sources should be colorless. Sure you can add more lands but your already at the point where alot of hands have more mana then spells.
Sig by DNC/HotP Studios
Modern: Storm, Jund, Ghast Blaster, Elf Warriors
Legacy: RUG Cascade, Imperial Painter, Affinity, Dredge, Elves, Merfolk, Pox, Dragon Stompie, Goblins, ANT, Belcher
Classic: Delver, Dredge, Jacerater
Draft: I will draft basically any format online (other than Masques)
Pauper: MTGO's #1 most handsome Pauper Storm player
I just started testing the deck about 3 days ago after reading grapplingfarang list.
Since I do not have The Abyss I'm considering adding another Crucible and 1-2 Smokestack.
I'll play an legacy event in my town this week and I'll report back.
Have any of you tried smokestack yet??
I tried Smokestack in a Tezz-like shell, but the list was much more Stax-y than what people see as Tezz.
3 Mox Opal
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Vault of Whispers
4 Ancient Tomb
4 City of Traitors
4 Wasteland
3 Underground Sea
1 Academy Ruins
4 Trinisphere
4 Smokestack
3 Thopter Foundry
2 Sword of the Meek
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
3 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
4 Intuition
3 Crucible of Worlds
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Tormod's Crypt
4 Cursed Totem
1 Thopter Foundry
1 Sword of the Meek
1 Flex Slot
I believe that was the last version I actually played in an event. I later was playing with Dimir Charm over some of the Mox, but never had a chance to actually play an event with it.
The problem with the deck like this is the same issues with any Stax style deck, basically just in consistency issues. It does have the random "I win" hands (turn 1 Trinisphere, turn 2 Smokestack) that any Stax deck can pull, but unfortunately, since the printing of Deathrite, Abrupt Decay and Rest in Peace, the deck struggles (Deathrite is everywhere, so Trinisphere isn't as threatening on the draw. Abrupt Decay kills Chalice all day long, and Rest in Peace locks out both Thopter/Sword and Crucible)
Have any questions or concerns? Come take a dip in my pool.
I have only two questions.
1- Playing 3 Tezz instead of the usual 4, was it worth it?
2- The potentiality of having your intuitions being disrupted by surgica extraction post game 2 made you side them out most of times?
Thanks in advance for your reply Poppelseed
Kind regards
João
Thopter Foundry was a wonderful answer to a lot of the format, and then Rest in Peace happened, but I digress. It pumps out huge numbers of blockers, and makes Smokestack hilarious (ever seen someone combat Smokestack with 5 counters on it?). It also makes Emrakul a lot less threatening.
1- I was playing 3 Tezz main, and the flex slot in the board was going back and forth between the 4th Tezz and Pirate Ship. 3 seemed to work fairly well in the main.
2- I actually had very little issue with Surgical. Chalice and Trinisphere both take care of it pretty well (Chalice@1 hits it, and Trinisphere makes it cost 2B or 3 and 2 life). Surgical is more troublesome when they try to interrupt the Thopter/Sword combo, but if you expect Surgical, make sure to keep one mana open.
Have any questions or concerns? Come take a dip in my pool.
baleful strixx4
metalworkerx4
lodestone golem x4
master of etherium x1
Spells (4)
thoughtcast x4
Artifacts (18)
Sensei's divining Top x3
Mox Opal x3
Umezawa's Jitte x1
Chalice of the Void x3
Tangle Wire x3
Sword of Fire and Ice x1
Trinisphere x3
Mox Diamond x1
Lands (21)
Ancient Tomb x4
seat of the synod x4
vault of whispers x4
polluted delta x2
glimmervoid x4
underground sea x1
city of traitors x2
Planeswalkers
tezzeret, Agent of bolus x3
Karn Liberated
This is the tezzeret shell I put together. I run it more as a "dragon stompy/Affinity" type build rather then a hard control build. I tried to build it more concentrating on card advantage and getting better utility out of the cards I play. I can't stand playing baleful strix in most builds to have it waffle around for 1 damage. Win con is either equipment, lodestone, or tezz blowing up. I haven't tried running dimir etc. but I'm not sure I need to as I rely heavily on tangle wire and trinisphere to slow down games.
Some thoughts in brief:
1) Why run thoughtcast/baleful when u are playing trinisphere?
- Really it doesn't matter, most of the time with the inclusion of mox opal, artifact lands, and sensei's u can blow a thoughtcast turn 2 for one mana then drop the trinisphere pretty easy. Afterwards, your mana is usually pretty amped up, so you can just play through it with metalworker and using sol lands
2) Why mox opal?
- This is with an eye towards the new legend rule, so it is never really redundant to have two of these in your hand, it just makes your mana faster. It actually synergizes well with the artifact land and helps you build tezz towards critical. Most of the time tezz can go off one turn after he enters the board for critical. Helps play around DnT, wasteland etc.
3) All artifacts, how to deal with sideboard hate?
- Well, it is a meta game decision to be honest. Most decks do not run enough significant sideboard hate to stop the deck. One shattering spree won't really work and this is why there is a smattering of dual land/glimmervoid etc in the deck. It does easily fold to dedicated artifact hate but most post board plays are going towards SnT and other more prevalent matchups
4) Lack of shuffle effects / brainstorm?
-This does hurt the deck, and is one of the reasons I'm considering retooling the deck without equipment and metalworker. However, due to running many 4 ofs in the deck, and having nice draw mechanics (thoughtcast, strix, tezz) the deck actually comes out to be fairly consistent.
Not going to explain all the choices, post would be too long, briefly metalworker helps amp the speed of playing equipment (play equip same turn etc.) it also makes karn a viable choice as a soft reset when games go sour. Helps play through trinisphere, counter spell snare etc.
This was my thought process when I built the deck, so far have done well against elves matchup and enchantress. Since I run mox opal and glimmervoid I'm thinking about sideboarding in some useful cards like ethersworn canoninst, phyrexian metamorph, pithing needle. With so few shuffle effects and so much mana, the deck is extremely soft to control/discard/burn (I know that seems like everything), so I was strongly considering siding 4 leyline of sancitity as this can really help in the discard/burn when on the draw (on the play usually can drop a trini or even a lodestone) Thoughts?
Most non-combo matchups feel fine. I feel alright against Omni-tell, a bit less good about Sneak/Show, but I feel like I am a big dog to Painter.
It seems like I play it about 20% of the time, so it seems fine to add a few more sideboard slots for hate or even main deck them.
I currently run one Engineered Explosives main and I'm considering adding more to the main or the board.
Any tips for this matchup?
3 Talisman of Dominance
3 Dimir Signet
2 Sword of the Meek
2 Thopter Foundry
1 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Pithing Needle
4 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4 Baleful Strix
2 Lodestone Golem
3 Transmute Artifact
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Damnation
4 Ancient Tomb
3 City of Traitors
4 Polluted Delta
3 Underground Sea
2 Darkslick Shores
1 Academy Ruins
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Island
1 Swamp
1 Lodestone Golem
1 Spellskite
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Trinisphere
1 Helm of Obedience
1 Cursed Totem
2 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Damnation
1 Curse of Death's Hold
1 The Abyss
1 Force of Will
2 Flusterstorm
I run a maindeck Pithing Needle because the deck loses to Wasteland, sometimes even just one copy. I'll drop it on turn one without knowing my opponent's deck if I don't have a Chalice or Tezz to set up. Even when it's "dead" it can still serve as a Transmute enabler or become a 5/5. And after being sacrificed Academy Ruins can recycle it to name something new. I can't think of a deck without a good target for it.
Lodestone Golem is one I don't see often. I like it as another threat that can come down turn two (without colored mana) and take over the game, but from a different angle than a Planeswalker. It gives me a better game one against combo decks, and is a faster clock when unopposed. It sucks that he dies to Bolt, but Chalice will hopefully cover that.
Otherwise it's a pretty stock list. On to the Sideboard, which might not be so typical:
The Damnations are new, and they are excellent. Creature decks seem to be getting more popular, and TNN in particular requires answers that don't target.
The Curse of Death's Hold is also directed at TNN in particular, but also comes in against most other creature decks. It would be Night of Soul's Betrayal if 1/1s weren't a major win condition for me, and five mana isn't all that hard for this deck to hit.
The Abyss is for all the same matchups. I still haven't got to cast this in all of the games I've boarded it in. I've only drawn it once, but I punted the game by sacrificing my City too early and never got four mana.
Spellskite is new as well; it's intended for Abrupt Decay decks, which I find to be some of my worst matchups. I often end up hiding behind an Ensnaring Bridge with no hand while trying to find/win with a Planeswalker, only to have the opponent find a Decay before I find anything relevant. I thought Welding Jar at first, but Skite can come in against other matches like Burn.
Helm of Obedience comes in against Miracles, Stoneblade, really any white deck that has seen part of the Thopter/Sword combo. It's very likely they'll bring in Rest in Peace, which allows me to Transmute up the Helm and insta-win.
Cursed Totem is pretty self-explanatory. It was in the maindeck at one point, but I feel like my matchup against the fair creature decks is good enough and I didn't want the dead card against combo.
An extra Golem and a Trinisphere against Storm or any cantrip-heavy deck like Delver.
A variety of graveyard hate, effective against different types of decks. Sometimes I even just swap the Spellbomb with the Relic.
The fourth Force and Flusterstorms, obviously for Storm and other combo. Flusterstorm actually works through Chalice for one, since the Storm copies are not cast and do not trigger the Chalice. The original copy of the spell will be countered, but all the Storm copies will go through.
I would really like to run a land of a third color so I can bump Engineered Explosives up to three. I'll most likely replace a Darkslick Shores with another dual I can fetch up. Anyone have thoughts on a better way to splash? Or anything else that splashing a color might give me?
4 Ancient Tomb
2 City of Traitors
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Vault of Whispers
1 Darksteel Citadel
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Academy Ruins
1 Creeping Tar Pit
2 Darkslick Shores
1 River of Tears
1 Island
Creatures (2)
2 Baleful Strix
Planeswalkers (6)
4 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Transmute Artifact
2 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Damnation
2 Thoughtcast
3 Force of Will
Artifacts (21)
3 Chalice of the Void
1 Engineered Explosives
3 Mox Opal
3 Dimir Signet
2 Ratchet Bomb
4 Thopter Foundry
3 Sword of the Meek
2 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Chalice of the Void
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Pithing Needle
1 Defense Grid
1 Spellskite
1 Trinisphere
1 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Toxic Deluge
1 Damnation
1 Trading Post
1 Witchbane Orb
1 Misdirection
1 Wurmcoil Engine
About my choices that differ from the stock lists:
- I like having lots of copies of the Thopter combo, as things can happen in the heat of battle: they get discarded, Abrupt Decayed/Ancient Grudged, countered, etc. Plus, with nine artifact lands, I utilize Thopter Foundry more aggressively than most Tezzerator lists. I often can win with just a few Thopters because I can sac extra lands.
- River of Tears doesn't come into play tapped ever, so I like it as a one-of alongside two Darkslick Shores. And it can tap for U on the opponent's turn after I play it, so I can instant-speed Thirst for Knowledge. Creeping Tar Pit has also been excellent, as, at the very least, it's another threat that deflects a Wasteland away from Academy Ruins.
- I've been trying a 2:2:2: Baleful Strix/Thirst for Knowledge/Thoughtcast split, just to see the merits of each card. Sometimes Thoughtcast is the stone cold nuts, curving out on turn 2 with Mox Opal; sometimes I can't get four artifacts in play 'cuz I have to blow up Ratchet Bombs and things. I'm undecided.
- The Tezzeret the Seeker might become a second Jace, the Mind Sculptor - not sure. I like being able to tutor for a missing combo piece or an Ensnaring Bridge (or one of my sideboard silver bullets); I *don't* like having to choose between Big Tezz and Tezz AoB. What do y'all think about the planeswalker split?
- The 3:1 main/side Chalice of the Void split has worked well for me. 95% of the time, I'm casting it for X=1, so additional copies are redundant. When it's good, though, I definitely want the fourth one. There are a surprising number of decks, though, where I side it out.
- Spellskite has been awesome - so much so that I'm considering a second one. It ate an Abrupt Decay, won me a game by redirecting an Echoing Truth that targeted a lock piece, fizzled a Pyroblast because of the "if it is blue" clause, and rendered useless Punishing Fire. It had applications I never even considered.
- Witchbane Orb has been equally impressive, causing headaches for Burn, Pox, Storm, OmniTell, and even UR Painter (they can't target me with Grindstone OR Intuition) - all decks that exist in my meta.
- Trading Post won me a grindy game by keeping my hand size down for Ensnaring Bridge and acting as a second Academy Ruins. I'm gonna keep it in for now.
- Wurmcoil Engine is mostly for decks like Delver and Merfolk. I've only cast it once, and it was pretty darn good at shutting down 5/6 Tarmogoyfs.
Things I'm thinking about:
- add Uba Mask and Sensei's Divining Tops; cut card draw spells and move Chalice of the Voids to the sideboard: I worry about making my blue card count too low for Force of Will, but turn 1 artifact land -> Top -> Mox Opal, spin Top seems insane. Plus, I could play Scroll Rack. I'd like to figure out how to play Force and Top together and whether sacrificing the Chalice plan in game 1 is worth it.
- add Mox Diamonds, Crucible of Worlds and a couple Wastelands; cut one or two Signets and one or two Sol lands: I may have to up my land count to accommodate this strategy and also worry that Wasteland-locking isn't relevant in all games.
I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts - thanks!
River of Tears is interesting. If my list were more evenly U/B I would likely play that over Darkslick, but the fact that you can't play it and tap for blue immediately is a drawback with all the double blue I need. I may try one anyway to see how it works.
I highly suggest running more Transmute Artifact, it's probably the best card in the deck (besides maybe Tezzeret himself. Maybe). Think of it this way - Transmute essentially acts as an extra copy of every artifact in your deck. That means that in my list above, for example, I effectively have five Thopter Foundry, five Sword, four Ensnaring Bridge, four Pithing Needle, and so on. If you switch one copy each of Foundry and Sword for two more Transmute, you actually increase your chances of putting the combo together. Drawing multiples of either one is pretty bad anyway, and sacrificing a Sword to pull out Foundry is pure value.
I'm also really happy with the full four Baleful Strix. They cantrip, they can be turned into a 5/5 flyer by Tezzeret, and they can hold back/trade with almost any attacker.
Good to hear that Spellskite is good at what I thought he would be. I put him in my board for exactly those things, but I haven't had the matchups to bring him in since then.
Witchbane Orb sounds good, I'll look into that one.
I've seen people running Wurmcoil before; I've tried to make space for it but I can't figure out what to cut. I like my Golems better for the main deck because they improve my combo matchup and slow down Delver decks by a turn. I might be able to fit one or two into the board, but I would have to sit down and figure out what matchups it would help and what else I have for those games and whatnot.
I wouldn't run Wasteland. The colorless lands in the deck now all fit better, and you really can't afford to replace any more colored sources. Crucible by itself doesn't sound terrible, because the deck is very soft to opposing Wastelands.
My one criticism of River of Tears is exactly the same as yours: it can't tap for U immediately. Some people have mentioned Darkwater Catacombs as a one-of, which is interesting (albeit a little janky). I might give that a shot, though, what the heck.
The lone Transmute Artifact is a card availability issue. I intend to acquire at least a second one, maybe even a third. I'm also leaning towards more Baleful Strixes. They allow me to +1 Tezz AoB more often because the Bird can stand in front of him. Plus, having more Transmute targets at 2 seems good. Thoughtcast was really powerful sometimes, but I found it a little awkward alongside Ensnaring Bridge. The Bird seems more versatile.
Spellskite is insane! It even blocks stuff like Nimble Mongoose, every non-flying creature in Death and Taxes, etc. Plus everyone is gonna bring in artifact removal anyways, so it's probably never dead. Witchbane Orb is really good, too. I've had some opponents just scoop to it or say, "I have one out" (typically Echoing Truth, which isn't an out alongside Spellskite). Wurmcoil Engine has been strong in the couple games I've played it. I just don't like that Lodestone Golem dies to Lightning Bolt. Delver decks would have no qualms paying 1R to blow up our 4-drop (or just Daze-ing it on the stack). But Golem's gotta be good against combo.
I agree about Wasteland and may try a single Crucible of Worlds in the board.
Do people swear by the full four Force of Wills, or do people find three to be OK? (I'm in the latter camp but can be swayed.) And any thoughts on Uba Mask? Too cute? We'd probably have to alter our deck too much to accommodate it, as cards like Jace, the Mind Sculptor obviously become far less powerful.
4 Ancient Tomb
2 City of Traitors
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Vault of Whispers
1 Darksteel Citadel
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Academy Ruins
1 Creeping Tar Pit
2 Darkslick Shores
1 Darkwater Catacombs
1 Island
Creatures (3)
3 Baleful Strix
Planeswalkers (6)
4 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Transmute Artifact
1 Go for the Throat
2 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Toxic Deluge
3 Force of Will
Artifacts (21)
3 Chalice of the Void
3 Mox Opal
3 Dimir Signet
2 Ratchet Bomb
4 Thopter Foundry
3 Sword of the Meek
2 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Trading Post
1 Chalice of the Void
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Pithing Needle
1 Defense Grid
1 Spellskite
1 Trinisphere
1 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Damnation
1 Lodestone Golem
1 Witchbane Orb
1 Misdirection
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Karn Liberated
- I'm gonna try Darkwater Catacombs, as I don't see any drawback with the absence of 1-cost spells in the maindeck.
- I took out Tezzeret the Seeker in favor of a second Jace, the Mind Sculptor - seems right.
- My metagame is very fair - lots of Jund, DnT, Delver, etc. - so Go for the Throat could be excellent. I like it better than Engineered Explosives in this list because I can't always EE for 3. (Knight of the Reliquary is in my meta.)
- I'm going with Toxic Deluge over Damnation in the main so I have a better chance against T1 Empty the Warrens. Plus, Delver decks are running around my meta, so the mana denial sometimes prevents me from sweeping for 2BB.
- Sideboard, I'm not sure about KaRnLiBERatEd, but Caleb Durward ran it to some success. I'm gonna try it.
I played a small 3-round tournament today, only lost one game in all three. I made space for two Wurmcoil Engine in the sideboard, and I'm convinced they're totally worth it. I cut the sideboard Lodestone Golem, because I think I still have the right number of cards to bring in against combo without him, and Misdirection because Wurmcoil comes in against the same matchups and is more proactive.
Round one against RUG Delver. Both games I'm on the play with a turn one Chalice. He has the Force both times. Game one I got an Academy Ruins online, "locked" him with Engineered Explosives, and then recurred my Chalice to actually lock him out. I went down to three life to do all that, but once it was online he couldn't do anything to threaten me. Game two I resolved a Wurmcoil against his board of Goyf, unlfipped Delver, and two Mongeese. I attacked in, he let it through, and then I Transmuted into the second copy. All that value (and life gain) was too much to keep up with.
Round two, Jund. Game one I got the Thopter/Sword online early and he had no maindeck answer. Game two was a long one; I landed The Abyss pretty early so nothing stayed on the board. And on top of that I misread it, thought it would kill artifacts, and cast Trasnmute ignoring Wurmcoil twice. He got a Leyline of the Void, so I couldn't win with Thopters. I just had to wait and eventually draw into a Tezzeret and drain him out. Luckily the Abyss stopped everything he could do to threaten me, since I had exiled two of his three Punishing Fire.
Round three was Sneak and Show. Game one I mulled to five, he had the right pieces, and we moved on. Game two I started with turn one Chalice so he couldn't cantrip, turn three Tezzeret for quick pressure, and had two Force of Wills. Game three I kept a six-card hand with Ancient Tomb, Chalice, the Abyss, Ensnaring Bridge, Jace, and some other non-mana source. On the draw I turn one Chalice, he had a turn two Show and Tell. I put in the Abyss, he put in Ashen Rider exiling my Abyss. I miss a land drop, but play a Talisman taking myself to 16 then get hit down to 11. I cast Ensnaring Bridge taking myself to 9, it gets countered, I get hit down to 4. I fetch a land going to 3, cast another Ensnaring Bridge I've drawn, and finally stop getting hit. Luckily my opponent is still on two lands and can't cast any cantrips, but I'm at three life now. On my turn, I cast Jace taking myself to one life and start Fatesealing to keep him off an answer to Bridge. I start drawing into lands that don't hurt me, which is a big deal since I'm at one. After a couple turns I cast Damnation - it does let the Rider kill Jace, but I felt like it was worth the trade since I was dead to artifact removal/bounce. Right after that I drew into Tezzeret, which found me a Pithing Needle for Sneak Attack just in case. After ticking Tezzeret up twice I found the Thopter/Sword combo and ticked down to drain ten life, which got me the last game.
There were a couple things I noticed, in the last game in particular. First, Jace maybe should have bounced the Rider. That's up for debate though, because it opens up Show & Tell giving him another ETB trigger for my Bridge. Second, Pithing Needle probably would have been better naming Griselbrand. Neither of the two does anything until he deals with my Bridge, but Griselbrand is the one that helps him find that answer. The big one is that I'm really not sure whether casting Damnation was right. I suspect it would have been better to just keep fatesealing until I blow up Jace, letting him keep anything that doesn't remove Bridge.
4 Mox Diamond
2 Mox Opal
2 Thopter Foundry
2 Sword of the Meek
2 Crucible of Worlds
2 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Chalice of the Void
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Ensnaring Bridge
2 Counterbalance
1 Humility
1 Moat
1 Detention Sphere
3 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
2 Supreme Verdict
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Will of the Council
2 Ancient Den
2 Seat of the Synod
1 Vault of Whispers
3 Tundra
1 Underground Sea
2 Island
1 Plains
1 Karakas
4 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta
4 Wasteland
2 Mishra's Factory
1 Academy Ruins
I don't know if this is better or worse than the typical Tezzeret list. At first glance it seems like it has less raw power and consistency, but more options and fewer bad topdecks. I'm going to try some games with this list over the weekend and see if it's worth working on.
As for the normal Tezzeret deck, I've been curious how Liliana of the Veil would fit. She seems a little hard to cast, but she can handle problem creatures and is great along with a Bridge. I've thought about running two in place of the maindeck Damnation and one Jace, but haven't got around to trying it out yet.
I tried one Liliana of the Veil in the main and one in the sideboard of my Tezzerator list and found it to be powerful if I could cast it, which wasn't as consistently as I would've liked. I wouldn't cut a main-deck sweeper for Liliana, though. I'm running a Toxic Deluge and wouldn't leave home without it. I've been running one Trading Post in the main as well, as it can't be Abrupt Decayed and has versatility in my very fair metagame. When it's bad, I just board it out.