This deck is kinda weird, so I'm not sure which forum it should go into. It's similar in spirit to UWR Tempo and Zoo, but it's not really either of them.
The idea is: just play all the best cheap cards, regardless of color. Deathrite Shaman, Snapcaster Mage, Dark Confidant, Tarmogoyf, and Geist of Saint Traft are very good cheap creatures, and Path to Exile, Lightning Bolt, Lightning Helix, and Tribal Flames are very good cheap spells.
Æther Vial is basically Sol Ring: get it to two counters, and your creatures are instants that cost no mana. This is especially nice with Snapcaster Mage; it already has Flash, but putting it into play FOR FREE lets you start flashing things back much more quickly than you could otherwise. A one land hand with an Æther Vial isn't a mulligan; I could probably get away with 18 or 19 lands instead of 20; I'd already be playing 21 if not for the Vial.
The sideboard deserves some explanation. I've tried Negate and Countersquall, but they're not all that great against Tron because they can't counter Wurmcoil Engine. Similarly, Remand and Mana Leak both look pretty silly when they have 12 mana available. Hence, Unified Will and Voidslime. (With this mana base, Voidslime is as easy to cast as Dissipate would be.) Kor Firewalker is because I hate losing to burn decks and I actually do face them once in a while. Torpor Orb is mostly for Birthing Pod decks; watching an opponent gain zillions of life off of Kitchen Finks and Obstinate Baloth is annoying. Grim Lavamancer is my current anti-aggro and anti-UWR slot, although there should probably be something better. I haven't seen an Affinity or Bogle deck online in ages, so I've deliberately neglected those decks in my sideboard.
I'm wondering if I should run a basic Plains somewhere. It's kind of embarrassing when my opponent casts Path to Exile on something and I get nothing to show for it, and it's even worse when my opponent realizes that Ghost Quarter is literally a Strip Mine against me. And it would also be nice to be able to cast Path to Exile and Lightning Helix under a Blood Moon.
(Incidentally, I probably would have experimented a bit with Cryptic Command or Vendilion Clique if not for the fact that I don't own any and they're really expensive.)
Honestly, I don't see the point with so few creatures. If you have no creatures in hand, what's the point of your vial?
Also, your creatures are different cmc. Makes it inconsistant. If you make your 5 colour deck with more creatures of the same cmc, it will synergize better.
Look at a merfolk vial deck and look at the cmc of the creatures and see what I mean.
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Modern: U Merfolk | GR Tron | WUR Jeskai Control | WBG Abzan Company
This is literally Zoo but slowed down significantly. You should check out the Zoo thread to figure out what makes it work.
As for your sideboard, Unified Will is just a bad card and not worth dedicating 4 whole SB slots to. Same deal with Voidslime. If your concerned about Tron, neither of these cards stop them from tutoring and playing an Emrakul. Your best bet would be to slow them down, either via land destruction in the form of Stone Rain, Spreading Seas, or Fulminator Mage; slowing their searching with Aven Mindcensor, Shadow of Doubt, or Stony Silence; or very specific hate in Sowing Salts or Hide // Seek.
You'll only want to use 4 slots max unless you find you play against an excessive number of Tron decks.
Overall your sideboard needs work. You'll want some artifact/enchantment hate, graveyard hate, and since I think your going for an aggressive deck you'll also need to fight lifegain.
A friend if mine brainstormed a deck like this and decided after testing it that Aether Vial was too slow, and I agree. This deck retains all the weaknesses of Tribal Zoo and Eternal Command without keeping the strengths, since it isn't as fast as Zoo due to Aether Vial effectively setting your threats back a turn (even if they are free) but it doesn't hav the crazy Witness/Cryptic endgame, just a bunch of dorks and burn. It's straddling the fence between outright aggro and tricky Fish-like tempo/midrange but it doesn't actually execute either game plan effectively.
Obviously the cards are all good, though, so I could see this going x-3 at a PTQ if you played tight. But I think you'd just lose a fair number of games that a more dedicated aggro deck would win, without winning that many that aggro would lose.
One last thing is that I would probably drop a Hallowed Fountain and a Stomping Ground for a Blood Crypt and a Sacred Foundry, just to smooth out the mana and make it easier to fetch all 5 types efficiently with as many combination of fetches as possible. Going down further to 1 of each shock except Temple Garden and going to 11 fetches might make the mana even better, if also significantly more complicated to play perfectly.
As for your sideboard, Unified Will is just a bad card and not worth dedicating 4 whole SB slots to. Same deal with Voidslime. If your concerned about Tron, neither of these cards stop them from tutoring and playing an Emrakul. You'll only want to use 4 slots max unless you find you play against an excessive number of Tron decks.
Overall your sideboard needs work. You'll want some artifact/enchantment hate, graveyard hate, and since I think your going for an aggressive deck you'll also need to fight lifegain.
What I want against Tron is one card that can deal with both Wurmcoil Engine and Karn Liberated, and the only thing I could find that fit the description was a hard counter. (Or maybe Thoughtseize.) Emrakul simply isn't a problem because I can just win the game before it hits. And I do want eight cards, because I want to board out both Lightning Bolt and Lightning Helix. I just need at least four of those eight cards to have applications against other decks, and hard counters are fairly versatile.
For fighting lifegain, I have Torpor Orb. And I don't see the need for artifact or enchantment hate - as I said, I haven't faced an Affinity deck or Hexproof Auras deck in a long time.
Quote from onewheelwizzard »
This deck retains all the weaknesses of Tribal Zoo and Eternal Command without keeping the strengths, since it isn't as fast as Zoo due to Aether Vial effectively setting your threats back a turn (even if they are free) but it doesn't hav the crazy Witness/Cryptic endgame, just a bunch of dorks and burn. It's straddling the fence between outright aggro and tricky Fish-like tempo/midrange but it doesn't actually execute either game plan effectively.
Aether Vial doesn't actually slow me down. I cast the Vial on turn 1, I cast a two-drop on turn 2, and on turn 3 I get to both Vial out a two-drop and play a Lightning Helix or whatever from my hand.
Yeah, I'm going for a Fish feel. Like Zac Hill's Grixis Delver deck, only without the Delver:
Perhaps I should be running some discard, like this deck does? As I said, I found Remand to be largely ineffective. (And Negate and Countersquall don't touch Wurmcoil Engine or Deceiver Exarch.) I do like the idea of Cryptic Command but I'm hesitant to shell out the cash for MTGO copies.
One last thing is that I would probably drop a Hallowed Fountain and a Stomping Ground for a Blood Crypt and a Sacred Foundry, just to smooth out the mana and make it easier to fetch all 5 types efficiently with as many combination of fetches as possible.
Hell no! Every fetchland can grab both Stomping Ground and Hallowed Fountain, giving me four out of five colors. To get black mana, Scalding Tarn and Misty Rainforest fetch Watery Grave and Arid Mesa fetches Godless Shrine. I need RW for Lightning Helix, 1WU for Geist of Saint Traft, and the full Domain for Tribal Flames; this land mix gives me what I need when I need it.
I don't get all of this "Vial is slow" nonsense. Zoo doesn't play it because their deck consists mainly of 1-drops. But if your deck doesn't contain any, or few one-drops Vial clearly speeds up the process. Just look at Merfolk.
Going T1: Vial into T2: 2-drop into T3: 2-drop and 3-drop is clearly faster than going T1: nothing into T2: 2-drop into T3: 3-drop.
Well, I think I have to chalk this one up as another failed experiment. Not one of my decks has turned out well lately. I'm gonna go give up my self-esteem and play Splinter Twin combo now.
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4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Dark Confidant
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Path to Exile
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lightning Helix
4 Tribal Flames
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Arid Mesa
3 Hallowed Fountain
3 Stomping Ground
1 Godless Shrine
1 Watery Grave
4 Unified Will
4 Voidslime
2 Grim Lavamancer
3 Kor Firewalker
2 Torpor Orb
The idea is: just play all the best cheap cards, regardless of color. Deathrite Shaman, Snapcaster Mage, Dark Confidant, Tarmogoyf, and Geist of Saint Traft are very good cheap creatures, and Path to Exile, Lightning Bolt, Lightning Helix, and Tribal Flames are very good cheap spells.
Æther Vial is basically Sol Ring: get it to two counters, and your creatures are instants that cost no mana. This is especially nice with Snapcaster Mage; it already has Flash, but putting it into play FOR FREE lets you start flashing things back much more quickly than you could otherwise. A one land hand with an Æther Vial isn't a mulligan; I could probably get away with 18 or 19 lands instead of 20; I'd already be playing 21 if not for the Vial.
The sideboard deserves some explanation. I've tried Negate and Countersquall, but they're not all that great against Tron because they can't counter Wurmcoil Engine. Similarly, Remand and Mana Leak both look pretty silly when they have 12 mana available. Hence, Unified Will and Voidslime. (With this mana base, Voidslime is as easy to cast as Dissipate would be.) Kor Firewalker is because I hate losing to burn decks and I actually do face them once in a while. Torpor Orb is mostly for Birthing Pod decks; watching an opponent gain zillions of life off of Kitchen Finks and Obstinate Baloth is annoying. Grim Lavamancer is my current anti-aggro and anti-UWR slot, although there should probably be something better. I haven't seen an Affinity or Bogle deck online in ages, so I've deliberately neglected those decks in my sideboard.
I'm wondering if I should run a basic Plains somewhere. It's kind of embarrassing when my opponent casts Path to Exile on something and I get nothing to show for it, and it's even worse when my opponent realizes that Ghost Quarter is literally a Strip Mine against me. And it would also be nice to be able to cast Path to Exile and Lightning Helix under a Blood Moon.
(Incidentally, I probably would have experimented a bit with Cryptic Command or Vendilion Clique if not for the fact that I don't own any and they're really expensive.)
Also, your creatures are different cmc. Makes it inconsistant. If you make your 5 colour deck with more creatures of the same cmc, it will synergize better.
Look at a merfolk vial deck and look at the cmc of the creatures and see what I mean.
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U Merfolk | GR Tron | WUR Jeskai Control | WBG Abzan Company
EDH:
G Ezuri, Renegade Leader, Fighting for Rivendell
WU Brago, King Eternal, Long Live the King
WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon, Worship the Dragon
As for your sideboard, Unified Will is just a bad card and not worth dedicating 4 whole SB slots to. Same deal with Voidslime. If your concerned about Tron, neither of these cards stop them from tutoring and playing an Emrakul. Your best bet would be to slow them down, either via land destruction in the form of Stone Rain, Spreading Seas, or Fulminator Mage; slowing their searching with Aven Mindcensor, Shadow of Doubt, or Stony Silence; or very specific hate in Sowing Salts or Hide // Seek.
You'll only want to use 4 slots max unless you find you play against an excessive number of Tron decks.
Overall your sideboard needs work. You'll want some artifact/enchantment hate, graveyard hate, and since I think your going for an aggressive deck you'll also need to fight lifegain.
Good luck to you!
Obviously the cards are all good, though, so I could see this going x-3 at a PTQ if you played tight. But I think you'd just lose a fair number of games that a more dedicated aggro deck would win, without winning that many that aggro would lose.
One last thing is that I would probably drop a Hallowed Fountain and a Stomping Ground for a Blood Crypt and a Sacred Foundry, just to smooth out the mana and make it easier to fetch all 5 types efficiently with as many combination of fetches as possible. Going down further to 1 of each shock except Temple Garden and going to 11 fetches might make the mana even better, if also significantly more complicated to play perfectly.
Thanks to Gabgabdevo for the awesome sig image!
I'm always looking for foil Madcap Skills and Ghitu Fire-Eater, [trade thread link forthcoming]
What I want against Tron is one card that can deal with both Wurmcoil Engine and Karn Liberated, and the only thing I could find that fit the description was a hard counter. (Or maybe Thoughtseize.) Emrakul simply isn't a problem because I can just win the game before it hits. And I do want eight cards, because I want to board out both Lightning Bolt and Lightning Helix. I just need at least four of those eight cards to have applications against other decks, and hard counters are fairly versatile.
For fighting lifegain, I have Torpor Orb. And I don't see the need for artifact or enchantment hate - as I said, I haven't faced an Affinity deck or Hexproof Auras deck in a long time.
Aether Vial doesn't actually slow me down. I cast the Vial on turn 1, I cast a two-drop on turn 2, and on turn 3 I get to both Vial out a two-drop and play a Lightning Helix or whatever from my hand.
Yeah, I'm going for a Fish feel. Like Zac Hill's Grixis Delver deck, only without the Delver:
4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Snapcaster Mage
1 Vendilion Clique
3 Cryptic Command
1 Electrolyze
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Mana Leak
3 Remand
1 Spell Snare
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Pillar of Flame
4 Serum Visions
2 Thoughtseize
1 Breeding Pool
3 Creeping Tar Pit
2 Darkslick Shores
1 Misty Rainforest
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Steam Vents
3 Verdant Catacombs
1 Watery Grave
2 Island
1 Swamp
1 Spellskite
2 Threads of Disloyalty
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Countersquall
2 Geth's Verdict
1 Go for the Throat
1 Spell Pierce
1 Surgical Extraction
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Jace Beleren
1 Liliana of the Veil
1 Thoughtseize
Hell no! Every fetchland can grab both Stomping Ground and Hallowed Fountain, giving me four out of five colors. To get black mana, Scalding Tarn and Misty Rainforest fetch Watery Grave and Arid Mesa fetches Godless Shrine. I need RW for Lightning Helix, 1WU for Geist of Saint Traft, and the full Domain for Tribal Flames; this land mix gives me what I need when I need it.
It's an updated version of Brawl into an epic, new game.
Going T1: Vial into T2: 2-drop into T3: 2-drop and 3-drop is clearly faster than going T1: nothing into T2: 2-drop into T3: 3-drop.
Well, I think I have to chalk this one up as another failed experiment. Not one of my decks has turned out well lately. I'm gonna go give up my self-esteem and play Splinter Twin combo now.