Scatter seems kind of meh to me personally. the deck doesn't run 3 mana counter spells, and if they did i'd definitely prefer disallow. That said, having another late game threat is worth thinking about for those grindy matches. I may put it in my SB for the control matchup.
What do you all think of the new samut from hour of devastation?
Samut, the tested 2GR
Planeswalker
4 starting loyalty
+1: Up to one target creature gains Double Strike until end of turn.
-2: Samut, the Tested deals 2 damage divided as you choose among one or two target creatures and/or players.
-7: Search your library for up to two planeswalker and/or creature cards, put them onto the battlefield, then shuffle your library.
+1 is fantastic with all of our creatures, -2 is kind of meh but can at least kill some tokens or help whittle away their life total, and the -7 is a great fit for this deck, grabbing some combination of our big bad beaters.
The +1 is what made me check her out, I love the idea of curving into a turn 3 enigma drake, turn 4 samut and swing with drake for tons.
He's also a tough-to-remove threat for decks like UR control once he sticks, and he works amazingly well with manlands. Swinging for 6 with a lumbering falls or 8 with a fumarole seems pretty great.
Also a question, if I have a gideon attacking me and I use a card to tap it with a condition saying it wont untap, does that follow that gideon goes back to his planeswalker form unable to untap the following turn and therefore can't use any abilities?
I'm not sure if he will untap or not, but if he stays tapped, his abilities can still be activated.
Also, has anyone tested Scatter to the Winds? It seems like it would be great here, giving us an extra threat late and a hard counter. It also makes our Wandering Fumarole huge.
Pretty much what I was curious about since deadlock trap does tap walkers, rendering them useless.
Also while scatter to the winds gives you a late game threat disallow was better poised to stop marvel activations, ulamog trigger and gives you a hard counter.
But with marvel gone, scatter may become good again along with ruinous path.
I think that is just part of Deadlock Traps effect, but a tapped walker should act normally otherwise.
This is going to be my new deck now that Marvel has been banned and I'm very excited for it
Thoughts on Expedite as a cantrip effect? As long as a creature is on board (which will happen quite frequently) it can just be cycled for R. Better than that though, it gives your Drake or Serpent haste in a pinch to take down a planeswalker or kill a tapped out opponent. I'm surprised to see nobody playing this one
How important is Aether Hub without us using an energy theme and only being in 2 colors. Isn't 8 dual lands enough? Assuming 22 land deck that leaves us with 14 basics which isn't so bad. Otherwise we have 8 duals, 4 hub, and 10 basics
Fnm report (I'm from asia so we just finished it haha) this is the deck I took today and went 3-2 losing only to temur energy due to mana flood and screw on game 1 and 2; and U/R control due to 2 TiTi going un answered. Won against temur dynavolt, U/R control (yeah there were freaking 4 out of 22 players using it), and jeskai control.
So after playing with it, i think fling should be increased to atleast 2 copies, throwing an enigma drake or cryptic serpent is no laughing matter.
Cathartic reunion or Bedlam reveller + drake haven = can really give you a leg up if the drakes go unanswered
Glorybringer didn't come out in any games so I might increase it to 3 copies just to see how it works
Since I'm using cycling lands, I'm thinking of including cut/ribbons mainboard and put lightning axe to the sideboard.
I'm also thinking of including a few copies of thing in the ice in the sideboard to see how it plays with cryptic serpent.
Control decks are hard to get around during game 1, but after you stick a drake haven in, things really swing in your favor, but never over commit to the board as they have sweepers at the ready. Post board greatly helped as most of the burn came out for counters.
Brisling hydra was also a problem during the temur energy match I lost, the darn thing can run over cyrptic serpent so I still blank as how to get around it hopefully TiTi helps solve that problem.
Would love to hear how everybody else played this fnm weekend.
I went 2-2 on matches beating Zombies and Temur energy and loosing to a Temur Energy and U/R Control as well lol. Temur was difficult because of Harnessed Lightning killing anything it wanted, Bristling Hydra and Longtusk Cub being must answer threats and then Glorybringer driving the nail in the coffin. It isn't a pretty matchup. U/R control I misplayed in game one and they just had all the answers while I flooded out in game 2. Harnessed Lightning was again very annoying... Any chance all the energy cards will be banned next?
I'm tempted to add an energy package with Whirler Virtuoso as the pay off threat and Harnessed as a powerful removal spell. Worth it?
I went 2-2 on matches beating Zombies and Temur energy and loosing to a Temur Energy and U/R Control as well lol. Temur was difficult because of Harnessed Lightning killing anything it wanted, Bristling Hydra and Longtusk Cub being must answer threats and then Glorybringer driving the nail in the coffin. It isn't a pretty matchup. U/R control I misplayed in game one and they just had all the answers while I flooded out in game 2. Harnessed Lightning was again very annoying... Any chance all the energy cards will be banned next?
I'm tempted to add an energy package with Whirler Virtuoso as the pay off threat and Harnessed as a powerful removal spell. Worth it?
I think it won't be worth it investing card slots in the main 60 while having no other sources of energy would just divide your attention to hitting off what the deck wants to do originally + sweltering suns is already being used that just wrecks our board same is true with our drakes so i'd rather run counter s for those . 2/2s and 3/2s canbe played around using shock or magmaspray, but that bristling hydra is indeed a problem as a well timed lightning axe is the only way to kill it unless you you can somehow overpower it.
I'm testing Glory bringers over Bedlam Reveler because I haven't been too impressed by the reveler in testing. In theory it's great but I found I could not empty my hand often enough. Maybe I was playing too many reactive cards?
How does everyone like the Incendiary Flow? The biggest problem I had with this deck was that I could not deal with huge creatures (Gearhulks, Glory Bringers, Bristling Hydra) and I need better answers for those
The idea is to burn early threats while baiting removal and forcing some damage with stormchaser mage. Around turn four/five, we want to start dropping Drakes and Constructrs. The idea is that either of these represents a 1-2 turn clock. Both Stormchaser Mage and Enigma Drake survive sweltering sun.
After a bit of playtesting, I am going to add awaken-cancel. This build is pretty threat-light, and against decks that ran lots of removal my Wandering Fumeroles were doing work. Making them into 7/4 beaters is pretty appealing, if risky.
Fling was really, really good. 2-of seems to be about right. I like it better than Slip Through Space against control and removal-heavy tempo decks, but less otherwise.
I am going to be main-decking either Negate or Dispel (or maybe Censor), and awaken-cancel will go in the board. My threats are few, but each of them is potentially game-ending if unanswered. I need inexpensive ways to ensure I connect through interaction.
Crackdown Construct seems "cute," but it's only 3-4 slots and by the time they kill my flying 8/4 Enigma Drakes and my (usually 3/x) Stormchaser Mages through my counter magic, they've run out of answers. Frequently they're out of dudes thanks to the pile of removal I run. A few fling and/or Slip Through Space seemed adequate to ensure they connect.
Big flying dudes are a bit tricky. I might swap some Cut // Ribbons into the sideboard and move one or two Magma Spray to the Main Deck. 4 toughness is an important number, the "flashback" option is ideal because I probably won't use it until it will win the game, so it will fuel my Drakes until the very end.
It's important that you be able to sideboard for opponents with no-creatures lists and for embalmy recursive creatures list to avoid having dead cards. This takes some planning in a tempo-aggro list, but is doable. Incendiary Flow is wonderful in its versatility in this respect.
so has anyone noticed the big u/r god that spews out 1/1 locusts with haste? can't say I'm convinced yet, but it seems a good fit for the deck, but then again that's just me. haha
I don't want to play the new god. It cost 6 mana. My deck tops its curve at 4 (not including the cost reduced creatures) for Illuminations and that has cycling. This is what allows me to get away with playing only 22 lands
I've decided to go back to playing the Lightning Axe + Fiery Temper combo because paying RR to deal 5 to one target and 3 to another is just too good to pass up. It's one of the few ways I have with dealing with stupid big threats like Verderous Gearhulk with 4 counters on it.
For those using lightning axe, Nahiri the Harbinger and other discard outlets, I can't help but wonder if Avacyn's Judgment might be worth testing. I know that under most circumstances Burn from Within is the better fireball variant to use, but I like judgement's added utility of hitting multiple targets. I guess it really depends on how often you can reliably find a discard outlet.
I mean, they're going to kill _something_ with it.
I do like that cryptic serpent is so big, but practically speaking we don't want more than one or two since he's a dead draw until turn 4 and really only good if the game goes longer.
So I think Rhonas' Last Stand could absolutely have a place here. It checks all of our boxes, it increases our already low threat count, increases the Instant/Sorcery count in the gy, and if it eats removal that's fine because thats less removal for our cryptic serpents or enigma drakes. In modern and legacy the lands don't untap downside is back-breaking, but I don't think it is so bad here.
Please don't talk about new standard cards outside of Standard New Card Discussion until the entire set is spoiled. Thanks! -- Lugger
So I think Rhonas' Last Stand could absolutely have a place here. It checks all of our boxes, it increases our already low threat count, increases the Instant/Sorcery count in the gy, and if it eats removal that's fine because thats less removal for our cryptic serpents or enigma drakes. In modern and legacy the lands don't untap downside is back-breaking, but I don't think it is so bad here.
I think it's a fantastic card, for exactly why you said, but the double green may be difficult since green is usually the splash, at least as our turn 2 drop.
I gave in and added an energy package of 4 Aetherhub and 4 Harnessed Lighting and the hubs colorless Mana going towards 2 Thought-Knot Seer as a proactive disruptive threat. 1 Geier Reach Sanitarium and the 4 hubs are my only sources of colorless Mana, is that enough?
So after some testing, I will be altering my mana base to include a few more green sources so I can play Rhonas's Last Stand. It's wonderful on turn 2, coming down as a must-answer threat that can otherwise end the game on its own by turn 6. On average if cast on turn 2 RLS did 10 damage or 5 and took out a creature or two that chump blocked. The worst was getting fatal pushed or bounced, but I'd definitely prefer they spend their removal on snake tokens over my drakes
I am thinking about getting into standard for the first time ever with this deck! It seems like a very viable budget deck that plays out just how I like.
Seems sweet to return a horde of zombies to the opponent's hand or even Gideon/Vehicles at instant speed
But is it bad because it turns on the opponent's Grasp of Darkness / Fatal Pushes?
Thing in the ice is good coming in from the sideboard, I've had matches otherwise I would have lost if TiTi didn't flip. The good thing bout it is you can control when to flip it to respond to the situation.
But you don't want to flip it when you have your whole team on, so its good but plan your plays well beforehand
This FNM I'm going to try Anticipate over Cathartic Reunion just because I'm trying to max out on instants and the ability to play draw go. Some number of Pull from tomorrow would be really good since it can dig and put stuff in the grave and scales up as we go, I will try them when I can find some.
On the draw, I'm going to try some Kefnet the Mindful, we can hopefully windmill slam it turn 3 and start beating, drawing and recurring an Aetherhub to make Harnessed Lighting that much better.
It seems like there are two builds to consider. One is basically Kiln Fiend, the other is basically Delver.
I think Drake works better in a Delver-style build, but our counter magic is so bad and our sweepers aren't great. Are you in white for Fumigate? If not, what do you use to clean up the early, low grade threats that you can't counter in the early turns?
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What do you all think of the new samut from hour of devastation?
Samut, the tested 2GR
Planeswalker
4 starting loyalty
+1: Up to one target creature gains Double Strike until end of turn.
-2: Samut, the Tested deals 2 damage divided as you choose among one or two target creatures and/or players.
-7: Search your library for up to two planeswalker and/or creature cards, put them onto the battlefield, then shuffle your library.
+1 is fantastic with all of our creatures, -2 is kind of meh but can at least kill some tokens or help whittle away their life total, and the -7 is a great fit for this deck, grabbing some combination of our big bad beaters.
The +1 is what made me check her out, I love the idea of curving into a turn 3 enigma drake, turn 4 samut and swing with drake for tons.
He's also a tough-to-remove threat for decks like UR control once he sticks, and he works amazingly well with manlands. Swinging for 6 with a lumbering falls or 8 with a fumarole seems pretty great.
BG Rock
Modern:
RW Sun & Moon
RBG Dredge
RWG Burn
Legacy:
W Death & Taxes
I think that is just part of Deadlock Traps effect, but a tapped walker should act normally otherwise.
Needs moar Delver.
And Burn from Within. This might work if you direct the damage from player to planeswalker
C Long Live Eldrazi C
Thoughts on Expedite as a cantrip effect? As long as a creature is on board (which will happen quite frequently) it can just be cycled for R. Better than that though, it gives your Drake or Serpent haste in a pinch to take down a planeswalker or kill a tapped out opponent. I'm surprised to see nobody playing this one
How important is Aether Hub without us using an energy theme and only being in 2 colors. Isn't 8 dual lands enough? Assuming 22 land deck that leaves us with 14 basics which isn't so bad. Otherwise we have 8 duals, 4 hub, and 10 basics
2 canyon slough
2 fetid pools
2 wandering fumarole
6 mountain
5 island
4 enigma drake
3 cryptic serpent
2 bedlam reveler
2 glorybringer
4 censor
4 hieroglyphic illumination
4 fiery temper
3 incendiary flow
2 magma spray
2 lightning axe
2 anticipate
1 fling
3 cathartic reunion
2 release the gremlins
2 disallow
2 negate
2 essence scatter
3 sweltering suns
1 dispel
So after playing with it, i think fling should be increased to atleast 2 copies, throwing an enigma drake or cryptic serpent is no laughing matter.
Cathartic reunion or Bedlam reveller + drake haven = can really give you a leg up if the drakes go unanswered
Glorybringer didn't come out in any games so I might increase it to 3 copies just to see how it works
Since I'm using cycling lands, I'm thinking of including cut/ribbons mainboard and put lightning axe to the sideboard.
I'm also thinking of including a few copies of thing in the ice in the sideboard to see how it plays with cryptic serpent.
Control decks are hard to get around during game 1, but after you stick a drake haven in, things really swing in your favor, but never over commit to the board as they have sweepers at the ready. Post board greatly helped as most of the burn came out for counters.
Brisling hydra was also a problem during the temur energy match I lost, the darn thing can run over cyrptic serpent so I still blank as how to get around it hopefully TiTi helps solve that problem.
Would love to hear how everybody else played this fnm weekend.
I'm tempted to add an energy package with Whirler Virtuoso as the pay off threat and Harnessed as a powerful removal spell. Worth it?
Needs moar Delver.
I think it won't be worth it investing card slots in the main 60 while having no other sources of energy would just divide your attention to hitting off what the deck wants to do originally + sweltering suns is already being used that just wrecks our board same is true with our drakes so i'd rather run counter s for those . 2/2s and 3/2s canbe played around using shock or magmaspray, but that bristling hydra is indeed a problem as a well timed lightning axe is the only way to kill it unless you you can somehow overpower it.
Needs moar Delver.
How does everyone like the Incendiary Flow? The biggest problem I had with this deck was that I could not deal with huge creatures (Gearhulks, Glory Bringers, Bristling Hydra) and I need better answers for those
After a bit of playtesting, I am going to add awaken-cancel. This build is pretty threat-light, and against decks that ran lots of removal my Wandering Fumeroles were doing work. Making them into 7/4 beaters is pretty appealing, if risky.
Fling was really, really good. 2-of seems to be about right. I like it better than Slip Through Space against control and removal-heavy tempo decks, but less otherwise.
I am going to be main-decking either Negate or Dispel (or maybe Censor), and awaken-cancel will go in the board. My threats are few, but each of them is potentially game-ending if unanswered. I need inexpensive ways to ensure I connect through interaction.
"Splashing" black for Unlicensed Disintegration is so good it feels like cheating.
Crackdown Construct seems "cute," but it's only 3-4 slots and by the time they kill my flying 8/4 Enigma Drakes and my (usually 3/x) Stormchaser Mages through my counter magic, they've run out of answers. Frequently they're out of dudes thanks to the pile of removal I run. A few fling and/or Slip Through Space seemed adequate to ensure they connect.
Big flying dudes are a bit tricky. I might swap some Cut // Ribbons into the sideboard and move one or two Magma Spray to the Main Deck. 4 toughness is an important number, the "flashback" option is ideal because I probably won't use it until it will win the game, so it will fuel my Drakes until the very end.
It's important that you be able to sideboard for opponents with no-creatures lists and for embalmy recursive creatures list to avoid having dead cards. This takes some planning in a tempo-aggro list, but is doable. Incendiary Flow is wonderful in its versatility in this respect.
I've decided to go back to playing the Lightning Axe + Fiery Temper combo because paying RR to deal 5 to one target and 3 to another is just too good to pass up. It's one of the few ways I have with dealing with stupid big threats like Verderous Gearhulk with 4 counters on it.
Standard - Some kind of control
Modern - UB Mill (casual)
EDH - Meren's Grave Shenanigans
Seems sweet to return a horde of zombies to the opponent's hand or even Gideon/Vehicles at instant speed
But is it bad because it turns on the opponent's Grasp of Darkness / Fatal Pushes?
I do like that cryptic serpent is so big, but practically speaking we don't want more than one or two since he's a dead draw until turn 4 and really only good if the game goes longer.
Please don't talk about new standard cards outside of Standard New Card Discussion until the entire set is spoiled. Thanks! -- Lugger
BG Rock
Modern:
RW Sun & Moon
RBG Dredge
RWG Burn
Legacy:
W Death & Taxes
I think it's a fantastic card, for exactly why you said, but the double green may be difficult since green is usually the splash, at least as our turn 2 drop.
I gave in and added an energy package of 4 Aetherhub and 4 Harnessed Lighting and the hubs colorless Mana going towards 2 Thought-Knot Seer as a proactive disruptive threat. 1 Geier Reach Sanitarium and the 4 hubs are my only sources of colorless Mana, is that enough?
Needs moar Delver.
BG Rock
Modern:
RW Sun & Moon
RBG Dredge
RWG Burn
Legacy:
W Death & Taxes
Do you have an updated list Khaos?
Thing in the ice is good coming in from the sideboard, I've had matches otherwise I would have lost if TiTi didn't flip. The good thing bout it is you can control when to flip it to respond to the situation.
But you don't want to flip it when you have your whole team on, so its good but plan your plays well beforehand
Anyways GG seems impossible to make in a UR-based deck. I'd like to see what kind of mana base we are looking at here
On the draw, I'm going to try some Kefnet the Mindful, we can hopefully windmill slam it turn 3 and start beating, drawing and recurring an Aetherhub to make Harnessed Lighting that much better.
Needs moar Delver.
I think Drake works better in a Delver-style build, but our counter magic is so bad and our sweepers aren't great. Are you in white for Fumigate? If not, what do you use to clean up the early, low grade threats that you can't counter in the early turns?