Has anyone considered Thunderbreak Regent as the side-in threat of choice against grindy decks? It's evasive and aggressive, 4 toughness puts it out of range against bolt and it replaces itself with a bolt against any targeted removal
Its a solid creature for sure. I don't know if I would want it to be your 1 of in the side to get you out of a grind. Its fragile and dies easily to removal. The lightning bolt effect is good but its not back breaking. I think you would be better trying to bring in a card drawing engine or life gain. The two cards I am trying out for grind are Jace, AOT, which I have yet to land, and the Sword of War and Peace. I am not sure if the sword is a solid answer or cute or if I would be better of dropping Aot to the cheaper party Jace.
I went 3-0-1 at my local FNM yesterday and got first place because of tiebreakers. Earlier this week I went 2-1 in a local 8-man. I used the following decklist:
4 delver of secrets
3 young pyromancer
3 snapcaster mage
2 tasigur
2 gurmag angler
4 bolt
1 forked bolt
1 electrolyze
1 deprive
2 mana leak
2 remand
2 spell snare
4 serum visions
4 gitaxian probe
4 thought scour
2 murderous cut
1 go for the throat
SB
2 dragon's claw
1 blood moon
2 dispel
2 negate
1 echoing truth
1 go for the throat
2 rakdos charm
3 anger of the gods
1 vandalblast
8 Man:
Round 1: UR storm (2-0)
He stumbled in lands g1 while I got T2 tasigur and flipped delver. I beat him down. G2 he had a hand with empty the warrens plan, I had a hand with echoing truth and some disruption. He scooped after a few minutes.
In: rakdos charm, echoing truth, dispel, negate
Round 2: Mono Red Goblins (1-2)
They're fast, they come in numbers and they have burn. Ouch. I didn't see my sweepers G3.
In: anger of the gods, dragon's claw (it's better than probe)
Round 3: GW collected company (2-1)
Round one I got combo'd. G2 I had anger so he lost. G3 he had a hand filled with abrupt decays while I beat him down with a zombie fish.
In: anger of the gods, dispel
FNM:
Round 1: mono green genesis wave control (1-1)
Not much to say. I countered his early game ramp g1 and beat him down after the got stuck. G2 I mulled to 4. I did ok, but lost after a semi-lock with primeval command. We didn't finish g3.
In: negate, echoing truth
Round 2: Griselbrand reanimator (2-0)
I managed to keep him off his combo both games (go spell snare) and beat him down with zombie fish. This match-up is scary with a griselbrand in the yard though.
In: rakdos charm, blood moon, 1 dispel
Round 3: 4C gifts (2-0)
This is a good match-up for us. They're clunky and we're efficient. Dispel g2 made it even easier.
In: 1 dispel
Round 4: Mono U tron (2-0)
This guy is a seasoned player and he usually beats me. G1 I see a lot of my counterspells and manage to keep a threat in play. I beat/burned him down. G2 he resolves a sun droplet while I manage to lure him into a counterwar over a snapcaster mage to tap him out. Next turn I land a blood moon. I end up beating him down with 3 flipped delvers and some burn after fighting through 3 repeals. Echoing truth helped me out a lot to keep his wurmcoils/batterskulls off the table.
In: 2 dispel, blood moon, echoing truth
My maindeck isn't optimized yet. I currently don't own a blood crypt and my terminates arrived a little late. That's why I run 1 go for the throat and a 2nd watery grave. My sideboard may seem a little weird, but random aggro decks and the new collected company combo deck are a thing in my area. So just boarding out some or all pyromancers in favor of angers can be (and has been) a lifesaver.
I feel pretty OK about my sideboard plan in general but I'm too sure about what to do against Abzan. I want to bring in the 2 Blood Moon, 2 Flashfreeze, 1 Monastery Siege, and 1 Terminate. I think I want to take out 2 Delver of Secrets, 2 Lightning Bolt, and 2 Spell Snare. I can also see myself bringing in the Kolaghan's Command for a Remand or something.
I'd love any suggestions on the match up or my deck / board in general.
I really hate dragon claw, so i cut it. My plan is to board in all my counters and siege and hope to ride an early fattie to victory. Claw is an awful topdeck and makes a unfavorable matchup only slightly less unfavorable. Not worth it in my opinion and testing.
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“I once had an entire race killed just to listen to the rattling of their dried bones as I waded through them.” —Volrath
What decks are our worst *emenies* and what decks are having a hard time against us in general?
I would argue that it would be burn as our #1 hate deck since we deal so much to ourselves and the second would either be BW tokens or Soul Sisters. All can be answered with proper side boarding, but against burn, its the most difficult since we already use hate as it is and they still can overpower us. Affinity is more even, but with cards like electrolyze, terminate and cut, we have plenty of ways to help make sure they don't have fun game 1 and we can bring in vandalblast or shatterstorm g2-3. Abzan we just have to try to aggro through and we can put up a good fight g1,2, and 3. If you expect abzan, which you always should, bring in deathmark and blood moon, since they are our best hate that we can use against them.
Trying to think outside the box a little: if Dragon's Claw is underwhelming by itself, just «making a horrible match-up 50/50», could we maybe empower the card by ourself, playing more red? Just a thought. o_O
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MODERN Blue Lantern, UBx Tezzerator. OLD SCHOOL 93/94 «The Pain Train» Black Sligh, Esper «Machine Gun» Artifacts, Jund «Psycho» Ponza-Disko.
Trying to think outside the box a little: if Dragon's Claw is underwhelming by itself, just «making a horrible match-up 50/50», could we maybe empower the card by ourself, playing more red? Just a thought. o_O
I'm going to test with Jorubai Murk Lurker, seeing as it is unboltable, and can give a blocking Tasigur/Angler lifelink. It is a bit slower though, but it can at least eat/block a Goblin Guide or Monastery Swiftspear.
Trying to think outside the box a little: if Dragon's Claw is underwhelming by itself, just «making a horrible match-up 50/50», could we maybe empower the card by ourself, playing more red? Just a thought. o_O
I'm going to test with Jorubai Murk Lurker, seeing as it is unboltable, and can give a blocking Tasigur/Angler lifelink. It is a bit slower though, but it can at least eat/block a Goblin Guide or Monastery Swiftspear.
But you still have to be able to hit 3 mana to cast it, let alone another 2 to have something gain lifelink, earliest turn possible to start gaining life is turn 4, when they are trying to kill you on or before that turn. I don't see any kind of attraction towards this card.
I personally think Death's Shadow could be a good card against Burn. I've been hearing some good things about. Just a thought.
I think Death's Shadow might be a great idea. Just imagine this creature suite.
4 Death's Shadow (maybe that's a bit much, idk)
4 Delver of Secrets
3 Snapcaster Mage
3 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
I love Death's Shadow as well, but it is completely dead in some matchups, especially against combo. I'll do some testing with it, but it might just be a good sideboard value creature for matchups against other aggro decks.
Well, the deck costs less to pick up than Burn and has a high skill ceiling. I actually just bit the bullet and bought the deck + SB for $145.
I think you might be right. People usually jumps on decks that are kind of new and don't require Goyfs
I did the same thing as you and bought the Snapcasters for kinda cheap (2 eng and 1 french EX+ to NM for 110 USD :D) and I have not needed to buy anything else, just done some trading (via mail) and I have thrown the deck together in about two weeks. Mind you that I live in Sweden, so international shipping made it so it took another week to get all the cards in the mail.
So I spent most of this afternoon playing this deck online and am dropping to 2 Snapcaster Mages in the main and am running 1 in the sideboard. I just don't find myself using it's ability as often as I want to. Half the time I'm just dropping it as a 2/1 with flash. I'm almost building the deck in physical form, and have the rest of the cards on their way to me right now. I began building UR delver a couple months ago but stopped and felt this was a good time to get back into it. I didn't have many of the cards starting out but I was able to do a good amount of trading for them. The only cards I've skimped on getting are the Scalding Tarns as there is no reason for me to buy them at the current price when they are going to drop significantly with reprints later this year. The deck doesn't seem to be affected much by running other fetches from my experience.
I just got back from Utrecht after getting my ass handed to me by my own deck. I went 1-3, and 2 of these losses came from me flooding. At one point i casted Tasigur for 4 in the mirror and could pay 3 for leak. I still lost since my opponent didn't draw 5 lands in a row and could actually play stuff. The other loss was against Collected Company wich i wasn't prepared for. The Dutch don't pick up new stuff this fast usually, but i was wrong. I'm putting 2 Anger of the Gods side and 2 Pillar of flame main to deal with this horrible matchup. And it is horrible..
Now back to my chronic flooding problem....where art thou brainstorm?
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“I once had an entire race killed just to listen to the rattling of their dried bones as I waded through them.” —Volrath
Its a solid creature for sure. I don't know if I would want it to be your 1 of in the side to get you out of a grind. Its fragile and dies easily to removal. The lightning bolt effect is good but its not back breaking. I think you would be better trying to bring in a card drawing engine or life gain. The two cards I am trying out for grind are Jace, AOT, which I have yet to land, and the Sword of War and Peace. I am not sure if the sword is a solid answer or cute or if I would be better of dropping Aot to the cheaper party Jace.
4 delver of secrets
3 young pyromancer
3 snapcaster mage
2 tasigur
2 gurmag angler
4 bolt
1 forked bolt
1 electrolyze
1 deprive
2 mana leak
2 remand
2 spell snare
4 serum visions
4 gitaxian probe
4 thought scour
2 murderous cut
1 go for the throat
3 island
1 swamp
1 mountain
4 scalding tarn
4 polluted delta
1 bloodstained mire
2 steam vents
2 watery grave
SB
2 dragon's claw
1 blood moon
2 dispel
2 negate
1 echoing truth
1 go for the throat
2 rakdos charm
3 anger of the gods
1 vandalblast
8 Man:
Round 1: UR storm (2-0)
He stumbled in lands g1 while I got T2 tasigur and flipped delver. I beat him down. G2 he had a hand with empty the warrens plan, I had a hand with echoing truth and some disruption. He scooped after a few minutes.
In: rakdos charm, echoing truth, dispel, negate
Round 2: Mono Red Goblins (1-2)
They're fast, they come in numbers and they have burn. Ouch. I didn't see my sweepers G3.
In: anger of the gods, dragon's claw (it's better than probe)
Round 3: GW collected company (2-1)
Round one I got combo'd. G2 I had anger so he lost. G3 he had a hand filled with abrupt decays while I beat him down with a zombie fish.
In: anger of the gods, dispel
FNM:
Round 1: mono green genesis wave control (1-1)
Not much to say. I countered his early game ramp g1 and beat him down after the got stuck. G2 I mulled to 4. I did ok, but lost after a semi-lock with primeval command. We didn't finish g3.
In: negate, echoing truth
Round 2: Griselbrand reanimator (2-0)
I managed to keep him off his combo both games (go spell snare) and beat him down with zombie fish. This match-up is scary with a griselbrand in the yard though.
In: rakdos charm, blood moon, 1 dispel
Round 3: 4C gifts (2-0)
This is a good match-up for us. They're clunky and we're efficient. Dispel g2 made it even easier.
In: 1 dispel
Round 4: Mono U tron (2-0)
This guy is a seasoned player and he usually beats me. G1 I see a lot of my counterspells and manage to keep a threat in play. I beat/burned him down. G2 he resolves a sun droplet while I manage to lure him into a counterwar over a snapcaster mage to tap him out. Next turn I land a blood moon. I end up beating him down with 3 flipped delvers and some burn after fighting through 3 repeals. Echoing truth helped me out a lot to keep his wurmcoils/batterskulls off the table.
In: 2 dispel, blood moon, echoing truth
My maindeck isn't optimized yet. I currently don't own a blood crypt and my terminates arrived a little late. That's why I run 1 go for the throat and a 2nd watery grave. My sideboard may seem a little weird, but random aggro decks and the new collected company combo deck are a thing in my area. So just boarding out some or all pyromancers in favor of angers can be (and has been) a lifesaver.
DECKS:
UB Faeries [Midrange/Tempo]
RWUGB Affinity[Aggro]
FAERIES TOO STRONK!!!1111
- Fae Prophecy, 201
56784 Delver of Secrets
4 Snapcaster Mage
3 Young Pyromancer
2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
1 Gurmag Angler
4 Thought Scour
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Serum Visions
3 Mana Leak
2 Remand
2 Spell Snare
2 Electrolyze
2 Murderous Cut
1 Terminate
4 Polluted Delta
4 Flooded Strand
2 Steam Vents
2 Watery Grave
1 Sulfur Falls
1 Darkslick Shores
3 Island
1 Swamp
3 Dragon's Claw
2 Engineered Explosives
2 Flashfreeze
2 Dispel
2 Blood Moon
1 Rending Volley
1 Terminate
1 Monastery Siege
1 Kolaghan's Command
I feel pretty OK about my sideboard plan in general but I'm too sure about what to do against Abzan. I want to bring in the 2 Blood Moon, 2 Flashfreeze, 1 Monastery Siege, and 1 Terminate. I think I want to take out 2 Delver of Secrets, 2 Lightning Bolt, and 2 Spell Snare. I can also see myself bringing in the Kolaghan's Command for a Remand or something.
I'd love any suggestions on the match up or my deck / board in general.
2x Tasigur, the golden fang
3x snapcaster mage
3x young pyromania
1x gurmaq angler
4x gitaxian probe
4x serum visions
3x thought scour
4x lightning bolt
1x electrolyse
1x Kolaghan's command
2x forked bolt
2x terminate
1x murderous cut
2x mana leak
2x remand
2x spell snare
1x deprive
4x polluted delta
4x scalding tarn
3x island
1x swamp
1x mountain
1x watery grave
1x blood crypt
2x steam vents
1x sulfur falls
1x Monastery siege
2x rending volley
2x blood moon
1x negate
1x dispel
1x engineered explosives
1x Pyroclasm
1x slaughter games
2x flashfreeze
1x spellskite
1x vandalblast
I really hate dragon claw, so i cut it. My plan is to board in all my counters and siege and hope to ride an early fattie to victory. Claw is an awful topdeck and makes a unfavorable matchup only slightly less unfavorable. Not worth it in my opinion and testing.
“I once had an entire race killed just to listen to the rattling of their dried bones as I waded through them.”
—Volrath
I would argue that it would be burn as our #1 hate deck since we deal so much to ourselves and the second would either be BW tokens or Soul Sisters. All can be answered with proper side boarding, but against burn, its the most difficult since we already use hate as it is and they still can overpower us. Affinity is more even, but with cards like electrolyze, terminate and cut, we have plenty of ways to help make sure they don't have fun game 1 and we can bring in vandalblast or shatterstorm g2-3. Abzan we just have to try to aggro through and we can put up a good fight g1,2, and 3. If you expect abzan, which you always should, bring in deathmark and blood moon, since they are our best hate that we can use against them.
On my tombstone, please write "Now his body fuels the Treasure Cruise"
Or you could Kommand him back...
Check out my Youtube Page for online Magic Content!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcq-a5rTSNclFCS2o4_lVFw
Modern:
BURGrixis DelverRUB
URUR DelverRU
URBlue MoonRU
RIPURUR TwinRURIP
Legacy:
URBGrixis DelverBRU
RUBGrixis PyromancerRUB
Commander:
URMelek, Izzet ParagonRU
URBJeleva, Nephalia's ScourgeRUB
OLD SCHOOL 93/94 «The Pain Train» Black Sligh, Esper «Machine Gun» Artifacts, Jund «Psycho» Ponza-Disko.
On my tombstone, please write "Now his body fuels the Treasure Cruise"
Or you could Kommand him back...
Check out my Youtube Page for online Magic Content!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcq-a5rTSNclFCS2o4_lVFw
Modern:
BURGrixis DelverRUB
URUR DelverRU
URBlue MoonRU
RIPURUR TwinRURIP
Legacy:
URBGrixis DelverBRU
RUBGrixis PyromancerRUB
Commander:
URMelek, Izzet ParagonRU
URBJeleva, Nephalia's ScourgeRUB
I'm going to test with Jorubai Murk Lurker, seeing as it is unboltable, and can give a blocking Tasigur/Angler lifelink. It is a bit slower though, but it can at least eat/block a Goblin Guide or Monastery Swiftspear.
But you still have to be able to hit 3 mana to cast it, let alone another 2 to have something gain lifelink, earliest turn possible to start gaining life is turn 4, when they are trying to kill you on or before that turn. I don't see any kind of attraction towards this card.
On my tombstone, please write "Now his body fuels the Treasure Cruise"
Or you could Kommand him back...
Check out my Youtube Page for online Magic Content!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcq-a5rTSNclFCS2o4_lVFw
Modern:
BURGrixis DelverRUB
URUR DelverRU
URBlue MoonRU
RIPURUR TwinRURIP
Legacy:
URBGrixis DelverBRU
RUBGrixis PyromancerRUB
Commander:
URMelek, Izzet ParagonRU
URBJeleva, Nephalia's ScourgeRUB
Well, the deck costs less to pick up than Burn and has a high skill ceiling. I actually just bit the bullet and bought the deck + SB for $145.
4 Death's Shadow (maybe that's a bit much, idk)
4 Delver of Secrets
3 Snapcaster Mage
3 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
I love Death's Shadow as well, but it is completely dead in some matchups, especially against combo. I'll do some testing with it, but it might just be a good sideboard value creature for matchups against other aggro decks.
I think you might be right. People usually jumps on decks that are kind of new and don't require Goyfs
I did the same thing as you and bought the Snapcasters for kinda cheap (2 eng and 1 french EX+ to NM for 110 USD :D) and I have not needed to buy anything else, just done some trading (via mail) and I have thrown the deck together in about two weeks. Mind you that I live in Sweden, so international shipping made it so it took another week to get all the cards in the mail.
Now back to my chronic flooding problem....where art thou brainstorm?
“I once had an entire race killed just to listen to the rattling of their dried bones as I waded through them.”
—Volrath
4 Polluted Delta
1 Bloodstained Mire
2 Steam Vents
2 Watery Grave
1 Blood Crypt
4 Island
1 Swamp
1 Mountain
1 Creeping Tar Pit
2 Grim Lavamancer
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Dark Confidant
4 Snapcaster Mage
1 Vendilion Clique
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Spell Snare
1 Forked Bolt
3 Remand
2 Mana Leak
2 Terminate
1 Electrolyze
2 Cryptic Command
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Dispel
1 Deathmark
2 Thoughtseize
2 Countersquall
1 Spellskite
3 Molten Rain
2 Anger of the Gods
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Batterskull