I could definitely see the 5th delve guy being a problem, because there were times when I would have to snap a thought scour for more graveyard cards to be able to delve and still have the spells I wanted in my yard. I mean maybe we could consider a 4th scour, but then I think we should just not be playing cruel anymore and that's just not acceptable to me.
I could definitely see the 5th delve guy being a problem, because there were times when I would have to snap a thought scour for more graveyard cards to be able to delve and still have the spells I wanted in my yard. I mean maybe we could consider a 4th scour, but then I think we should just not be playing cruel anymore and that's just not acceptable to me.
Agreed; I'm steering clear of 4 Thought Scours because I'm running Cruels.
In fact I enjoyed the 2 Thought Scours yesterday; but that's perhaps because I run 2 Mulldrifters and I draw a bunch more cards.
It was pretty effective I thought.
I don't know what I want to replace my 3rd Gurmag with tho...
Alot of me wants a 3rd Cryptic... or a 4th Terminate.
I could even see myself re-adding the 1 of Jace for even more ability to see more Cards on any given game.
The few games I played; the 24 lands didn't feel like a hindrance as I had plenty of early game now and even if I didn't perfectly curve out to Turn 7 Cruel cuz I missed a land drop or 2; I still felt like I could easily get there.
So I gotta really analyze what I want to add in place of my 3rd Gurmag slot....
He may be good, I dunno. He has to tap and loot at least once to transform even if the graveyard is already full. And modern is a bolt format so I dunno how good he will continue to be if he is good initially.
Alright, so I've been debating this change for a moment. What are everyone's thoughts on izzet staticaster vs. Dark Blast. I am debating this because of running the Tasigur and gurmag anglers in the main and the fact that it can be recurred if milled with a thought scour while just dredging it back to hand can potentially fees Tasigur/snapcaster by itself.
Do you all think the idea is to far fetched to be realistic or do you think there is some amount of merit to it?
I like Izzet Staticaster better because you can block and reuse the ability without costing you a draw step.
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Level 1 Judge
Level 2 in progress...
UUU Merfolk UUU "Above the waves you may be mighty indeed, but down here you belong to me."
-Empress Galina
UBR Cruel Control UBR "The essence of every world, every spell, and every thought is power. Nothing else matters, because nothing else exists."
-Nicol Bolas
I like Izzet Staticaster better because you can block and reuse the ability without costing you a draw step.
I do agree with izzet staticaster usually being better in modern in general and being awesome against opposing one toughness dudes with the same name,but was wondering if the dredge ability and the possibility to get creature's with 2 toughness in combination with dredging it back was better or not is all. I mean if I'm not mistaken we can dredge it back off of something like cryptic or electrolyze right? I'm not exactly sure because I didn't play when dredge was a mechanic.
You are correct. Whenever you would draw a card, you may replace that draw by dredging.
Private Mod Note
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Level 1 Judge
Level 2 in progress...
UUU Merfolk UUU "Above the waves you may be mighty indeed, but down here you belong to me."
-Empress Galina
UBR Cruel Control UBR "The essence of every world, every spell, and every thought is power. Nothing else matters, because nothing else exists."
-Nicol Bolas
I would test it to find out just how effective Darkblast can be in this deck. I don't think it is necessary, but we can use the cards in our graveyard very well now between snap and delve dudes.
Private Mod Note
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Level 1 Judge
Level 2 in progress...
UUU Merfolk UUU "Above the waves you may be mighty indeed, but down here you belong to me."
-Empress Galina
UBR Cruel Control UBR "The essence of every world, every spell, and every thought is power. Nothing else matters, because nothing else exists."
-Nicol Bolas
so here is a glimpse of what I am going to try running tonight. It's more of an experiment than anything else.
I think I may run a 1 of electrolyze over the 3rd Terminate. But I have yet to go that far down that path.
On another note, I really liked the Gurmag, Tasigur, Thoughtscour against red. Plus in the control matches we may just completely catch them offguard by boarding into a ore grixis delve deck.
List looks good. I'd say the fourth terminate is better than the Go for the Throat, but there are some situations where you can screw over a Spellskite.
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Level 1 Judge
Level 2 in progress...
UUU Merfolk UUU "Above the waves you may be mighty indeed, but down here you belong to me."
-Empress Galina
UBR Cruel Control UBR "The essence of every world, every spell, and every thought is power. Nothing else matters, because nothing else exists."
-Nicol Bolas
Yesterday, i went 3:1 at a local fnm with Cruel Control, lost 0:2 against naya burn, won against merfolk (2:0), bogles (2:0) and grixis control (2:0). As for the list, i want to add another snapcaster, maybe go up to four serum visions. think twice and keranos did great for me, i might want to cut one clique and maybe go for the throat. For the sideboard, the only thing i'd want to replace is grave titan, maybe for ashiok or something along those lines.
One of the newest additions to my deck is Living Lore.
I admit; I haven't played with the card yet; but in theory I love what it might be able to do so I am going to test it.
#1: I see it as a 5th Snapcaster Mage. Let me explain: So on Turn 7 we cast Cruel; when it resolves we are looking for 2 things. #1 Another Cruel; #2 A Snapcaster so we can Flashback Cruel on Turn 9. What if we added a 3rd thing to that list... Living Lore? So if we hit a Living Lore on Turn 7 after a Resolved Cruel; that means on Turn 8; we can cast Living Lore with Cryptic Mana available; having counter backup we drop Living Lore out there as a 7/7. On Turn 9; we Attack; if Living Lore does ANY Damage either to a Creature or to a Player; we can SAC Living Lore; cast Cruel for Free; and with the "Return Target Creature from your GY to Hand" piece of Cruel; we just return Living Lore and do it again.
#2: Grixis Guru also mentioned that this could give us a way to cast Cruel Ultimatum when our opponent has a Blood Moon out that maybe we haven't been able to bounce or destroy yet with various tools.
#3: The interesting thing is; I also run a Forbidden Alchemy. I could even consider taking the Mulldrifter and making it another Alchemy. Sometimes I get to Alchemy on Turn 3; if I see a Cruel; dumping it in the Yard doesn't feel so terrible now. Because I can Living Lore on Turn 4 or even on Turn 5 with Spell Snare backup. And potentially end up with a Turn 6 Cruel.
#4: It might be worth giving the HYBRID builds a try again that I first started to try with the Thoughtscour. One of the reasons I wasn't a fan of the Hybrid ultimately was because Thoughtscour hitting and dumping a Cruel Ultimatum to the yard just made it harder to cast it... Now with Living Lore; it gives us the chance to bring it back out of the Yard easily instead of relying on a Turn 9 Snapcaster to Cruel to get it back.
#6: The CFB guys were trying to make Living Lore a combo piece; but what I'm proposing is that it's simply a pseudo 5th Snapcaster Mage; put it in a Control deck; we always end up having a lot of spells in the Yard; we always end up Casting Cruel if the Match goes the ways we want them to go and the way the decks are designed to go. Sure; Living Lore without Cruel looks awkward; Living Lore in our hand between Turns 1-6 is pretty blah for the most part; but I think it can give us another edge that most people won't expect.
Other than that; my list has been doing fairly well; I've been placing 2nd each week at my weekly LGS event; the 1 round I lose is mostly due to Play Mistakes.
I didn't do so hot at a PPTQ; but out of the 4 Matchups I played; I never felt Out Classed; still ironing out the Play Mistake Kinks of learning the format and learning all the decks that I have to battle.
So I'm very happy with my current list; and I'm very happy with the Sideboard; it's just a matter of continuing to plug away and grind out experience.
Keep up the good work MrRotten. I love the single Forbidden Alchemy in your list
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Level 1 Judge
Level 2 in progress...
UUU Merfolk UUU "Above the waves you may be mighty indeed, but down here you belong to me."
-Empress Galina
UBR Cruel Control UBR "The essence of every world, every spell, and every thought is power. Nothing else matters, because nothing else exists."
-Nicol Bolas
And one thing about Living Lore I'd like to mention; perhaps it ends up being relegated to the side if being played at all...
Theorizing to myself; how does a BURN deck beat a Turn 4 7/7 Living Lore? They don't really...
So we could theoretically have a Turn 5 CRUEL VS BURN decks...
So maybe it goes in the side; my Pyroclasm slot in the side is a throw away FLEX spot anyways; so maybe I put Living Lore there and bring it in VS BURN and bring it in VS decks that have a Blood Moon plan.
At any rate; I'm going to test Living Lore and see what I think... I put Living Lore in the mainboard in place of either a 2nd Mulldrifter or a 1 of Jace, Architect of Thought; so it's not like I'm losing alot of power with that slot being any of those.
I've liked Living Lore since it was spoiled, but I could never figure out the best way to use it. I think you are on the right track.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Level 1 Judge
Level 2 in progress...
UUU Merfolk UUU "Above the waves you may be mighty indeed, but down here you belong to me."
-Empress Galina
UBR Cruel Control UBR "The essence of every world, every spell, and every thought is power. Nothing else matters, because nothing else exists."
-Nicol Bolas
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I didn't get to really play last night; just some play testing that was successful; but I did feel like Gurmags and Tasigurs clogged my hand a bit.
So I think I'll also goto a 2/2 Split and add something else.
"The essence of every world, every spell, and every thought is power. Nothing else matters, because nothing else exists."
- Nicol Bolas
Agreed; I'm steering clear of 4 Thought Scours because I'm running Cruels.
In fact I enjoyed the 2 Thought Scours yesterday; but that's perhaps because I run 2 Mulldrifters and I draw a bunch more cards.
It was pretty effective I thought.
I don't know what I want to replace my 3rd Gurmag with tho...
Alot of me wants a 3rd Cryptic... or a 4th Terminate.
I could even see myself re-adding the 1 of Jace for even more ability to see more Cards on any given game.
The few games I played; the 24 lands didn't feel like a hindrance as I had plenty of early game now and even if I didn't perfectly curve out to Turn 7 Cruel cuz I missed a land drop or 2; I still felt like I could easily get there.
So I gotta really analyze what I want to add in place of my 3rd Gurmag slot....
I intend to play the new Jace to test his worth. I believe he may be a decent card to run in here. I'll inform you of my results.
"The essence of every world, every spell, and every thought is power. Nothing else matters, because nothing else exists."
- Nicol Bolas
Do you all think the idea is to far fetched to be realistic or do you think there is some amount of merit to it?
"The essence of every world, every spell, and every thought is power. Nothing else matters, because nothing else exists."
- Nicol Bolas
I like Izzet Staticaster better because you can block and reuse the ability without costing you a draw step.
Level 2 in progress...
UUU Merfolk UUU
"Above the waves you may be mighty indeed, but down here you belong to me."
-Empress Galina
UBR Cruel Control UBR
"The essence of every world, every spell, and every thought is power. Nothing else matters, because nothing else exists."
-Nicol Bolas
I do agree with izzet staticaster usually being better in modern in general and being awesome against opposing one toughness dudes with the same name,but was wondering if the dredge ability and the possibility to get creature's with 2 toughness in combination with dredging it back was better or not is all. I mean if I'm not mistaken we can dredge it back off of something like cryptic or electrolyze right? I'm not exactly sure because I didn't play when dredge was a mechanic.
"The essence of every world, every spell, and every thought is power. Nothing else matters, because nothing else exists."
- Nicol Bolas
Level 2 in progress...
UUU Merfolk UUU
"Above the waves you may be mighty indeed, but down here you belong to me."
-Empress Galina
UBR Cruel Control UBR
"The essence of every world, every spell, and every thought is power. Nothing else matters, because nothing else exists."
-Nicol Bolas
"The essence of every world, every spell, and every thought is power. Nothing else matters, because nothing else exists."
- Nicol Bolas
Level 2 in progress...
UUU Merfolk UUU
"Above the waves you may be mighty indeed, but down here you belong to me."
-Empress Galina
UBR Cruel Control UBR
"The essence of every world, every spell, and every thought is power. Nothing else matters, because nothing else exists."
-Nicol Bolas
"The essence of every world, every spell, and every thought is power. Nothing else matters, because nothing else exists."
- Nicol Bolas
I think I may run a 1 of electrolyze over the 3rd Terminate. But I have yet to go that far down that path.
On another note, I really liked the Gurmag, Tasigur, Thoughtscour against red. Plus in the control matches we may just completely catch them offguard by boarding into a ore grixis delve deck.
1 Blood Crypt
1 Cascade Bluffs
2 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Darkslick Shore
3 Island
1 Mountain
4 Polluted Delta
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Steam Vents
1 Sulfur Falls
1 Swamp
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2 Watery Grave
Creatures - 8
3 Fulminator Mage
1 Mulldrifter
3 Snapcaster Mage
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Anger of the Gods
2 Cruel Ultimatum
3 Cryptic Command
2 Damnation
1 Dispel
3 Kolaghan's Command
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Mana Leak
1 Remand
4 Serum Visions
2 Spell Snare
3 Terminate
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Dispel
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Flashfreeze
2 Gurmag Angler
2 Rakdos Charm
1 Spellskite
2 Tasigur, The Golden Fang
3 Thought Scour
"The essence of every world, every spell, and every thought is power. Nothing else matters, because nothing else exists."
- Nicol Bolas
Level 2 in progress...
UUU Merfolk UUU
"Above the waves you may be mighty indeed, but down here you belong to me."
-Empress Galina
UBR Cruel Control UBR
"The essence of every world, every spell, and every thought is power. Nothing else matters, because nothing else exists."
-Nicol Bolas
This is very very close to where my list has gone; more of a Draw Go style now.
4 Snapcaster Mage
1 Keranos, God of Storms
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Mulldrifter
1 Living Lore
Spells: 28
2 Cruel Ultimatum
1 Damnation
1 Anger of the Gods
3 Terminate
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Electrolyze
3 Kolaghan's Command
3 Cryptic Command
2 Mana Leak
1 Dispel
2 Spell Snare
4 Serum Visions
1 Forbidden Alchemy
2 Watery Grave
2 Steam Vents
2 Blood Crypt
2 Sulfur Falls
2 Creeping Tar Pit
4 Polluted Delta
4 Bloodstained Mire
3 Island
1 Mountain
2 Swamp
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Surgical Extraction
1 Thoughtseize
1 Counterflux
1 Dispel
2 Flashfreeze
1 Sowing Salt
2 Fulminator Mage
1 Shatterstorm
1 Rakdos Charm
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Damnation
1 Pyroclasm
One of the newest additions to my deck is Living Lore.
I admit; I haven't played with the card yet; but in theory I love what it might be able to do so I am going to test it.
#1: I see it as a 5th Snapcaster Mage. Let me explain: So on Turn 7 we cast Cruel; when it resolves we are looking for 2 things. #1 Another Cruel; #2 A Snapcaster so we can Flashback Cruel on Turn 9. What if we added a 3rd thing to that list... Living Lore? So if we hit a Living Lore on Turn 7 after a Resolved Cruel; that means on Turn 8; we can cast Living Lore with Cryptic Mana available; having counter backup we drop Living Lore out there as a 7/7. On Turn 9; we Attack; if Living Lore does ANY Damage either to a Creature or to a Player; we can SAC Living Lore; cast Cruel for Free; and with the "Return Target Creature from your GY to Hand" piece of Cruel; we just return Living Lore and do it again.
#2: Grixis Guru also mentioned that this could give us a way to cast Cruel Ultimatum when our opponent has a Blood Moon out that maybe we haven't been able to bounce or destroy yet with various tools.
#3: The interesting thing is; I also run a Forbidden Alchemy. I could even consider taking the Mulldrifter and making it another Alchemy. Sometimes I get to Alchemy on Turn 3; if I see a Cruel; dumping it in the Yard doesn't feel so terrible now. Because I can Living Lore on Turn 4 or even on Turn 5 with Spell Snare backup. And potentially end up with a Turn 6 Cruel.
#4: It might be worth giving the HYBRID builds a try again that I first started to try with the Thoughtscour. One of the reasons I wasn't a fan of the Hybrid ultimately was because Thoughtscour hitting and dumping a Cruel Ultimatum to the yard just made it harder to cast it... Now with Living Lore; it gives us the chance to bring it back out of the Yard easily instead of relying on a Turn 9 Snapcaster to Cruel to get it back.
#5: Living Lore plays nice with Kolaghan's Command too.
#6: The CFB guys were trying to make Living Lore a combo piece; but what I'm proposing is that it's simply a pseudo 5th Snapcaster Mage; put it in a Control deck; we always end up having a lot of spells in the Yard; we always end up Casting Cruel if the Match goes the ways we want them to go and the way the decks are designed to go. Sure; Living Lore without Cruel looks awkward; Living Lore in our hand between Turns 1-6 is pretty blah for the most part; but I think it can give us another edge that most people won't expect.
Other than that; my list has been doing fairly well; I've been placing 2nd each week at my weekly LGS event; the 1 round I lose is mostly due to Play Mistakes.
I didn't do so hot at a PPTQ; but out of the 4 Matchups I played; I never felt Out Classed; still ironing out the Play Mistake Kinks of learning the format and learning all the decks that I have to battle.
So I'm very happy with my current list; and I'm very happy with the Sideboard; it's just a matter of continuing to plug away and grind out experience.
/Cheers
Level 2 in progress...
UUU Merfolk UUU
"Above the waves you may be mighty indeed, but down here you belong to me."
-Empress Galina
UBR Cruel Control UBR
"The essence of every world, every spell, and every thought is power. Nothing else matters, because nothing else exists."
-Nicol Bolas
Theorizing to myself; how does a BURN deck beat a Turn 4 7/7 Living Lore? They don't really...
So we could theoretically have a Turn 5 CRUEL VS BURN decks...
So maybe it goes in the side; my Pyroclasm slot in the side is a throw away FLEX spot anyways; so maybe I put Living Lore there and bring it in VS BURN and bring it in VS decks that have a Blood Moon plan.
At any rate; I'm going to test Living Lore and see what I think... I put Living Lore in the mainboard in place of either a 2nd Mulldrifter or a 1 of Jace, Architect of Thought; so it's not like I'm losing alot of power with that slot being any of those.
Level 2 in progress...
UUU Merfolk UUU
"Above the waves you may be mighty indeed, but down here you belong to me."
-Empress Galina
UBR Cruel Control UBR
"The essence of every world, every spell, and every thought is power. Nothing else matters, because nothing else exists."
-Nicol Bolas