I have been playing variations of this deck a lot and I still think that black has the best synergy improvise can give in that you get Battle at the Bridge, Contraband Kingpin, Herald of Anguish, and Lost Legacy. I also think Censor has a place among the pile. I really like that card against a handful of decks that tap out early. Cycle is just icing.
Let me just say that Contraband Kingpin has given me stellar performances. Tool box blocker with lifelink on a 1/4 that scryes every time an artifact enters that battlefield is just nuts in this deck. He's gotten me out of many sticky situations.
I'm staying away from this deck. I won over 50 packs with this deck so I'm good and spent less than 10 bucks on it. Too much hate from this set. I can play around a Lost Legacy but now there's the artifact version of it which means we need an alternative win con no matter what now. The new artifact removal is also too much for us to handle. Release the gremlims was manageable but not like this...
I don't think the situation with the hate cards is as bad as you people make it out to be. The most problematic card will probably be Maglehorn (and to a point Dissenter's Deliverance)but it isn't the end of the world since it can be countered or even killed. I would by a brew to the first guy who plays Dispossess against me in this Standard (but if you feel people are out to get You that badly you can always play Approach of the Second Sun in the sideboard). Cast Out is nice, but it can also be countered or even exiled by our own Cast Out if we end up playing the UW version since the card solves planeswalkers which is something for an answer was sorely needed.
Bottom-line is it's still more or less the same metagame with the same two decks and Amonkhet did pump out a few new goodies for this deck which I've already mentioned...
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In my dream, the world had suffered a terrible disaster. A black haze shut out the sun, and the darkness was alive with the moans and screams of wounded people. Suddenly, a small light glowed. A candle flickered into life, symbol of hope for millions. A single tiny candle, shining in the ugly dark. I laughed and blew it out.
Many thanks to HotP Studios. Special thanks to DNC for this great sig.
Yes but all the decks have better side boards. By Force is ridiculous against this deck and definitely better than Manglehorn.
By Force can be good against us, true. Is it better the Release the Gremlins in the overall meta? I'm not betting on anyone playing By Force over it anytime soon.
Manglehorn on the other hand I see as much more of a problem. Apart from the shatter effect it also causes all our artifacts to ETB tapped which means no Inspiring Statuary shenanigans until we deal with it. This is relevant because the effect, and by extension the card itself, also matters against Copy Cat since they won't be able to combo off with that card in play either so we are bound to take splash damage from that.
All that being said the deck still has enough elbow room to work around that issue, especially with the new cards from Amonkhet.
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In my dream, the world had suffered a terrible disaster. A black haze shut out the sun, and the darkness was alive with the moans and screams of wounded people. Suddenly, a small light glowed. A candle flickered into life, symbol of hope for millions. A single tiny candle, shining in the ugly dark. I laughed and blew it out.
Many thanks to HotP Studios. Special thanks to DNC for this great sig.
I don't even play Inspiring Statuary and it is not necessary for this deck pre amonkhet since you could bank on just reservoir. It's a win more card when you want to make the deck as consistent as possible, you need to cut it. Going forward, it might be needed to play a variety of different threats.
By Force is better in the overall meta as well. I would never consider playing Release over it.... You can play it for 2 mana, it's just the better card that gives you more options to curve with.
In my dream, the world had suffered a terrible disaster. A black haze shut out the sun, and the darkness was alive with the moans and screams of wounded people. Suddenly, a small light glowed. A candle flickered into life, symbol of hope for millions. A single tiny candle, shining in the ugly dark. I laughed and blew it out.
Many thanks to HotP Studios. Special thanks to DNC for this great sig.
Knew there had been another card from AER I was forgetting. The list had originally been a mostly Kaladesh list and I remembered Rebuke and slid it in.
Im considering a ug turbofog / outcome deck. Same 12 0 mana artifacts with spring to mind, nissa, and rest is mono U. Glint nest crane and pull through time. Im going brewing tommorow on mtgo ill post when ive come up with stuff.
Went 3-1-0 tonight, taking a draw in the final round to split prizes. Played against BG Delirium, Mardu Vehicles and BR Eldrazi in that order. Took a draw against WB Control (though I lost the match after we casually played it out). The list I went with is as follows:
I originally planned on playing Cast Out in the main but switched to Censor in the last minute (on the basis I could more easily cycle it once I didn't need it since blue mana was much more readily available then white) and I couldn't have been happier with the results. I was countering Heart of Kiran and Gideon, Ally of Zendikar like nobody's business. Generally speaking all the decks I've played against had the tendency to tap out to play their high end threats and that's where Censor got them. I was siding it out when I was on the draw more often then not but it was still an excellent card to have for game one.
All that being said my first tournament with this deck in this new format could have gone a lot worse...
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In my dream, the world had suffered a terrible disaster. A black haze shut out the sun, and the darkness was alive with the moans and screams of wounded people. Suddenly, a small light glowed. A candle flickered into life, symbol of hope for millions. A single tiny candle, shining in the ugly dark. I laughed and blew it out.
Many thanks to HotP Studios. Special thanks to DNC for this great sig.
Sram alone is worth the splash and I would probably play him even if I didn't play a single other white card. It's very hard to wiff on your combo turn with him in play, he helps get you to the combo turn by making all your equipment effective cantrips. Worst case scenario he can even block! He is a lightning rod for removal but you usually don't cast him without being able to cantrip at least once, similar to the play pattern with Goblin Electromancer in storm decks. The mana base is actually quite stable. The only thing I'm debating is the number of cycling lands but the deck can afford to play at least three.
Before the cat was banned I used to play Repel the Abominable in the main as fog effects against the field. Other white cards I've played were Fumigate and Fragmentize. I have yet to settle on an acceptable sideboard configuration but having the option to play relevant white cards if I happen to need them comes at practically no cost.
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Many thanks to HotP Studios. Special thanks to DNC for this great sig.
Dispel seems to be mainly used to fight what... Counter magic war?
You said it yourself, Dispel is for counter wars. Are you implying that is somehow less relevant? Devoting slots for Invasive Surgery to fight against artifact removal sounds just awful to my ears. If you want the effect Rebuke feels better.
Dispel seems to be mainly used to fight what... Counter magic war?
You said it yourself, Dispel is for counter wars. Are you implying that is somehow less relevant?
Just looking over all the decklists everyone posts here and Dispel is in a good chunk of 'em (Sideboard). Overall I just see more value in boarding in Invasive Surgery as that answers more threats to the Aetherflux combo. Of course it depends on your LGS's meta, but I'm just presenting this point for further discussion if someone would like to discuss how Dispel is a better option.
Dispel seems to be mainly used to fight what... Counter magic war?
You said it yourself, Dispel is for counter wars. Are you implying that is somehow less relevant?
Just looking over all the decklists everyone posts here and Dispel is in a good chunk of 'em (Sideboard). Overall I just see more value in boarding in Invasive Surgery as that answers more threats to the Aetherflux combo. Of course it depends on your LGS's meta, but I'm just presenting this point for further discussion if someone would like to discuss how Dispel is a better option.
It's not that Dispel is a better spell than Invasive Surgery, but it's about in what kind of MUs you would SB those cards in. Transgress isn't a spell worth fighting over. All the other sorcery speed hate are usually boarded by fast creature decks where you would rather not sideboard heavily (in part due to the fact you will lose a good % of time just to their normal draws, especially if you have answers to answers rotting in your hand). Dispel comes in against control decks where you have more time to sculpt your hand.
For black decks, Invasive Surgury, for everything else, Dispel. There are two cards out there likely to be sideboarded in that can now kill our game plan with by just resolving 1 spell.
If I'm anticipating a black midrange or aggro deck sideboarding in the new artifact extraction spell, I would rather choose to side in an alternative wincon like Efficient Construction. Just one of those is enough. What are the advantages? Well, alternative win cons give you advantage when the opponent doesn't end up casting the extraction. Even bigger bonus is that counters like Invasive Surgery are timing sensitive, and you need to commit multiple slots for them to ensure you draw into them in time a good % of the time.
I have been very happy with Commit // Memory thus far. Having at least one Timetwister effect to draw into is immensely helpful as you don't just autolose when the opponent answers your win cons one or two times. Having additional counters is obviously great in the post board games where you can hope to fight the opponent's hate cards.
There's also always the Metallic Rebuke. Honestly, I don't see much reason to not play Rebuke over Invasive Surgery under any circumstances.
Thanks Tiemuuu, I'd forgotten that was a card. Might even play a couple main and board 2 more in. I have too many Standard decks right now. I should see if people want to buy some of them.
@Tiemuuu: For once I see a MonoU build that differs completely from mine.
I'm curious:
- What's the reason for not playing Whir of Invention or Metallic Rebuke main deck ?
- No cathar's shield either even though you're playing 4 Statuaries ?
- How do you deal with heavy hitters like Mardu Vehicles, Jund Energy or Pummeler without being able to interract at instant speed apart from Commit ?
- Why Ornithopter over Shield when you're not playing with Engulf the Shore ?
On a side note I don't really see an argument for 4x Renegade map when you're already packing 20 lands and playing MonoU.
Also, I don't like Crane but since you pack a lot more artifacts than I do, I could see its use there.
Your list is definitely in the Combo-All-in category and you don't seem to have a lot wiggle room when it comes to Game1 plan.
It's: draw into your pieces and combo-off quick or die x)
Yes, it's very focused and I also sideboard very little. Inspiring Statuary (with Baral's Expertise) is the most important card for my deck at least, as it allows me to win even against more aggressive openings.
20 lands + 4 maps feels like the right amount of mana sources. I had fewer lands in the past but I got manascrewed way too often. Right now I feel like there is a good balance between the probability of getting manascrewed vs getting flooded.
I can still bounce Ornithopters with Paradoxical Outcome. I don't know how other lists play out, but for me the first Outcome is usually a defensive one, where I prevent some damage, draw cards, and set up for a Baral's Expertise or another block + Outcome on the next turn.
As far as I know there isn't much playable instant speed interaction. Commit // Memory gets the green light for me because even though Commit is quite expensive, it's very flexible and Memory gives the deck much needed resilience to flooding and running out of win cons. Make no mistake, though. I don't think winning Mardu with any kind of Aetherflux deck is an easy task so I'm simply erring on the side of making the deck more solid at executing its own gameplan, I just don't care that Mardu beats me.
As for Statuary and the artifacts to speed your mana, notice that I have the Renegade Maps and the Cranes on top of the 8 0-mana artifacts to gain a critical mass of artifacts.
I used to play 2 Rebukes in the MD, but now I switched them for Commit to Memories. As for Whir of Invention, I have talked about the card earlier in this thread, but here's why I play none:
-Unlike Reservoir, Whir cannot be cast for free with Expertise (to get you a Reservoir). This is something like 80% of the reason for why I don't play the card.
-Decreases my artifact density - quite relevant with Crane. There are often situations where I have plenty of resources and I'm trying to dig for Reservoir to win me the game with Baral's Expertise, and 1-mana Cranes are an excellent way to dig for the Reservoir. This wouldn't work with Whir.
-Forces me to build my deck in such a way that it has a critical mass of 0-mana artifacts to support Whir. I would have to cut cards that in my mind are crucial for this deck to operate.
-Forces me to play (at least a good amount of) my 0-mana artifacts before I have Reservoir in play. The card simply doesn't work harmoniously with the synergies and card interactions of this deck.
I never played against mardu vehicule with this list,the only match i had against them was my first match with the deck,with tiemuuu's list (I didn't changed it at that time) and it felt a bit close (because of my mistakes I think ) but I still won with some ease . I need to play against him again to see if it's harder with my actual list. I'm more interested in the all-in combo style of the deck than the control-ish side of the deck but how does the controls (The new esper control mostly) and aggro (R/G energy,R/W exert) matchups are with your version?
Oh, on a side note, did anybody played against Kambal, Consul of Allocation? It was a nightmare when my opponent played it, but maybe it's because i didn't know the deck well enough?
edit:wrong language
Kambal is obviously not a very common card, but I actually got to play against it once at an FNM. It's very difficult to beat in play and really makes it harder to set up strong Outcome turns... but I did win that game and match! Baral's Expertise and Commit // Memory can of course get rid of the card, or you can just start comboing of and gain enough life with Reservoir anyway. But as I said the difficulty is you have very limited time and limited number of plays you can make before you have to deal with the Kambal problem.
I've finished 3 friendly standard leagues now, my finishes being 3-2, 2-3 and 4-1. There's been a lot of swings in luck in those matches, but the lack of mardu has made it easy to win games. I have more than few matches under my belt against Marvel decks, and those actually feel like 50-50 MUs or even better! The thing is, the plan B of grinding the opponent out simply doesn't work against us, and if the game goes long even Ulamog doesn't win them the game. It has to be t4-6 Ulamog or they lose. Even then it's quite easy to recover, since Expertise can bounce their Ulamog and Marvel, and buys us a ton of time.
I'm going to play this deck at a PPTQ this saturday and I'm actually thinking I have a decent shot at at least top 8'ing that tournament. Commit // Memory has been an all star thus far. I have won so many with one or both halves of that card!
Let me just say that Contraband Kingpin has given me stellar performances. Tool box blocker with lifelink on a 1/4 that scryes every time an artifact enters that battlefield is just nuts in this deck. He's gotten me out of many sticky situations.
Sexy Sig by mchief111 @ Rising Studios
EDH
G Isao
Bottom-line is it's still more or less the same metagame with the same two decks and Amonkhet did pump out a few new goodies for this deck which I've already mentioned...
Many thanks to HotP Studios. Special thanks to DNC for this great sig.
Sexy Sig by mchief111 @ Rising Studios
EDH
G Isao
By Force can be good against us, true. Is it better the Release the Gremlins in the overall meta? I'm not betting on anyone playing By Force over it anytime soon.
Manglehorn on the other hand I see as much more of a problem. Apart from the shatter effect it also causes all our artifacts to ETB tapped which means no Inspiring Statuary shenanigans until we deal with it. This is relevant because the effect, and by extension the card itself, also matters against Copy Cat since they won't be able to combo off with that card in play either so we are bound to take splash damage from that.
All that being said the deck still has enough elbow room to work around that issue, especially with the new cards from Amonkhet.
Many thanks to HotP Studios. Special thanks to DNC for this great sig.
By Force is better in the overall meta as well. I would never consider playing Release over it.... You can play it for 2 mana, it's just the better card that gives you more options to curve with.
Sexy Sig by mchief111 @ Rising Studios
EDH
G Isao
No Felidar Guardian.
What does this do for us in the big picture?
Many thanks to HotP Studios. Special thanks to DNC for this great sig.
3 Glint-Nest Crane
2 Ornithopter
Spells: 37
4 Bone Saw
4 Cathar's Shield
4 Prophetic Prism
4 Metallic Rebuke
2 Metalspinner's Puzzleknot
3 Woodweaver's Puzzleknot
2 Inspiring Statuary
3 Whir of Invention
1 Efficient Construction
3 Aetherflux Reservoir
4 Paradoxical Outcome
3 Baral's Expertise
18 Island
GBW Control
UWB Esper Thing Control
7 Island
4 Port Town
2 Irrigated Farmland
1 Prairie Stream
1 Inventors' Fair
3 Spire of Industry
2 Glint-Nest Crane
4 Sram, Senior Edificer
4 Bone Saw
4 Cathar's Shield
2 Renegade Map
3 Censor
4 Metallic Rebuke
2 Baral's Expertise
2 Anticipate
4 Reverse Engineer
4 Paradoxical Outcome
1 Whir of Invention
2 Inspiring Statuary
3 Aetherflux Reservoir
1 Dispel
2 Negate
1 Whir of Invention
4 Bastion Inventor
2 Fumigate
2 Cast Out
1 Repel the Abominable
2 Crush of Tentacles
I originally planned on playing Cast Out in the main but switched to Censor in the last minute (on the basis I could more easily cycle it once I didn't need it since blue mana was much more readily available then white) and I couldn't have been happier with the results. I was countering Heart of Kiran and Gideon, Ally of Zendikar like nobody's business. Generally speaking all the decks I've played against had the tendency to tap out to play their high end threats and that's where Censor got them. I was siding it out when I was on the draw more often then not but it was still an excellent card to have for game one.
All that being said my first tournament with this deck in this new format could have gone a lot worse...
Many thanks to HotP Studios. Special thanks to DNC for this great sig.
Before the cat was banned I used to play Repel the Abominable in the main as fog effects against the field. Other white cards I've played were Fumigate and Fragmentize. I have yet to settle on an acceptable sideboard configuration but having the option to play relevant white cards if I happen to need them comes at practically no cost.
Many thanks to HotP Studios. Special thanks to DNC for this great sig.
Youtube Channel
I feel like WOTC's shift to print so many sorcery speed answers makes Invasive Surgery so much better. (with the added delerium benefit)
By Force
Dispossess
Release the Gremlins
Transgress the Mind
Fragmentize
Almost all the Amonkhet split/fuse cards
Dispel seems to be mainly used to fight what... Counter magic war?
You said it yourself, Dispel is for counter wars. Are you implying that is somehow less relevant? Devoting slots for Invasive Surgery to fight against artifact removal sounds just awful to my ears. If you want the effect Rebuke feels better.
Youtube Channel
Just looking over all the decklists everyone posts here and Dispel is in a good chunk of 'em (Sideboard). Overall I just see more value in boarding in Invasive Surgery as that answers more threats to the Aetherflux combo. Of course it depends on your LGS's meta, but I'm just presenting this point for further discussion if someone would like to discuss how Dispel is a better option.
It's not that Dispel is a better spell than Invasive Surgery, but it's about in what kind of MUs you would SB those cards in. Transgress isn't a spell worth fighting over. All the other sorcery speed hate are usually boarded by fast creature decks where you would rather not sideboard heavily (in part due to the fact you will lose a good % of time just to their normal draws, especially if you have answers to answers rotting in your hand). Dispel comes in against control decks where you have more time to sculpt your hand.
Youtube Channel
Modern: UW Spirits
I have been very happy with Commit // Memory thus far. Having at least one Timetwister effect to draw into is immensely helpful as you don't just autolose when the opponent answers your win cons one or two times. Having additional counters is obviously great in the post board games where you can hope to fight the opponent's hate cards.
There's also always the Metallic Rebuke. Honestly, I don't see much reason to not play Rebuke over Invasive Surgery under any circumstances.
Youtube Channel
Modern: UW Spirits
Yes, it's very focused and I also sideboard very little. Inspiring Statuary (with Baral's Expertise) is the most important card for my deck at least, as it allows me to win even against more aggressive openings.
20 lands + 4 maps feels like the right amount of mana sources. I had fewer lands in the past but I got manascrewed way too often. Right now I feel like there is a good balance between the probability of getting manascrewed vs getting flooded.
I can still bounce Ornithopters with Paradoxical Outcome. I don't know how other lists play out, but for me the first Outcome is usually a defensive one, where I prevent some damage, draw cards, and set up for a Baral's Expertise or another block + Outcome on the next turn.
As far as I know there isn't much playable instant speed interaction. Commit // Memory gets the green light for me because even though Commit is quite expensive, it's very flexible and Memory gives the deck much needed resilience to flooding and running out of win cons. Make no mistake, though. I don't think winning Mardu with any kind of Aetherflux deck is an easy task so I'm simply erring on the side of making the deck more solid at executing its own gameplan, I just don't care that Mardu beats me.
As for Statuary and the artifacts to speed your mana, notice that I have the Renegade Maps and the Cranes on top of the 8 0-mana artifacts to gain a critical mass of artifacts.
I used to play 2 Rebukes in the MD, but now I switched them for Commit to Memories. As for Whir of Invention, I have talked about the card earlier in this thread, but here's why I play none:
-Unlike Reservoir, Whir cannot be cast for free with Expertise (to get you a Reservoir). This is something like 80% of the reason for why I don't play the card.
-Decreases my artifact density - quite relevant with Crane. There are often situations where I have plenty of resources and I'm trying to dig for Reservoir to win me the game with Baral's Expertise, and 1-mana Cranes are an excellent way to dig for the Reservoir. This wouldn't work with Whir.
-Forces me to build my deck in such a way that it has a critical mass of 0-mana artifacts to support Whir. I would have to cut cards that in my mind are crucial for this deck to operate.
-Forces me to play (at least a good amount of) my 0-mana artifacts before I have Reservoir in play. The card simply doesn't work harmoniously with the synergies and card interactions of this deck.
Youtube Channel
Kambal is obviously not a very common card, but I actually got to play against it once at an FNM. It's very difficult to beat in play and really makes it harder to set up strong Outcome turns... but I did win that game and match! Baral's Expertise and Commit // Memory can of course get rid of the card, or you can just start comboing of and gain enough life with Reservoir anyway. But as I said the difficulty is you have very limited time and limited number of plays you can make before you have to deal with the Kambal problem.
Youtube Channel
Youtube Channel
I'm going to play this deck at a PPTQ this saturday and I'm actually thinking I have a decent shot at at least top 8'ing that tournament. Commit // Memory has been an all star thus far. I have won so many with one or both halves of that card!
Youtube Channel
Youtube Channel