Hey guys I've been testing this shell and I have a question: How do we deal with high toughness creatures such as Green Hulk, Harvester or a 6-lands Advocate?
Large toughness creatures can be problematic. Harnessed Lightning can kill most things, but I like Confiscation Coup as my sideboard answer for large creatures. Thing in the Ice can bounce them back to hand if you have room for them in the sideboard.
I've been pretty happy with UR overall, but I'm probably going to try the Temur variant.
I won a Aether Revolt Game Day with a slight variation with this and top 4'd a store $500 store credit tournament. Would have been in the finals, but I misplayed in the final game of the semi-final match repeatedly and it cost me.
Horribly Awry is so goddamn useful. It hits nearly everything in the format and is a must play against G/B either energy or delirium. Even in matchups where I side it out like Jeskai Saheli, it can be useful in game 1 catching a Guardian or a Spell Queller. It only misses the Gearhulks, by which time you should have the resources to deal with them.
As for how I deal with green Gearhulks, if one does land, Brutal Expulsion is so useful. It doesn't look like much on paper, but seeing the card in action, it feels like the missing piece of the puzzle for the U/R version. Bouncing a Gearhulk on their turn can set them back enough to get another shot at taking it out or give you that extra turn to win. And in other aggro match ups it takes care of Scrapheap Scroungers while two for oneing your opponent. It also deals with the Saheli combo all by itself meaning Shock isn't as necessary and I'm free to better utilize Galvanic Bombardment. I used to run Leave in the Dust to deal with on the board Gearhulks, because it drew a card and could hit problematic plansewalkers in a pinch. It was good, but Brutal Expulsion does that and grant on board extra value.
I used to run 26 lands, but I kept flooding out after I had stabilized the board. It happened just enough times that I went down to 25 and so far the change has worked out really well.
I also prefer Take Inventory over Anticipate, because in the late game against control it fills your hand back up. This is true of any game that goes long. And the trade off of instant speed to hold up a counterspell isn't much. You do have to learn the flow of various matches if you should cast it early on or just hold it for when you have many. It took a while to learn, but once I did the downside feels even less relevant.
This deck looks interesting to me, and I don't see a devoted topic to it in the proven or established sections. I have most of the deck so seems interesting. My main question is why do I see so many of them sideboard 2 Kozilek's Return? They don't run any Eldrazi to get the secondary effect. I realize instant is super important in a deck that wants to mainly play on the opponents turn, but Radiant Flames still seems better to me. Or maybe I just don't wanna dish out the extra money for the sideboard card......
Merging into URx Control because I consider Temur Tower a control deck and Temur is a flavor of URx. - hoser2
against Mardu vehicles Kozileks return will get just about everything in the creature department with the exception of maybe Depala, inventors apprentice,and Avacyn so yeah Kozileks return much better than radiant flames in that match-up, and in the match-up with G/b counters in my experience with radiant flames if u try to wait just 1 turn to get like a 2 for 1 with a sorcery sweeper with a cap of 3 damage u easily run the risk of them dropping something like Nissa, r=Rishkar, Verdurous, Tracker, turning on delirium for Flayer and getting out of range. Personally i like Kozilek's return in my Temur energy deck(completely different from Temur Dynavolt more mid range with hydra, brawler, cub harnessed, that kind of stuff)because like i said earlier hits most things in mardu and most of my creatures can boost out of range my favorite is declaring attacks, boosting brawler, then casting Kozilek's return before blocks.
Im actually building 4 color dynavolt and I drew alot of inspiration from this deck my question is why summary dismissal merits a 2 of in the side of alot of these decks looking at the things that it can hit that disallow and void shatter cant and I can only see Elder deep fiend coming out of blue red emerge, and Ulamog coming out of old school aetherworks marvel which nowadays is more usually used in some saheeli decks,and also the mirror match where u can counter a spell and deny them 2 energy but im just not seeing it, is there something I'm missing besides these?
I moved Rogue Refiner to the sideboard so I don't have to tap out as often against CopyCat, but it's still great value and worth bringing in against most other foes. Whirler Virtuoso is great against most of the field and the deck needs some way to deal with wide strategies so I moved one to the main (also stalls large creatures, like the latest MTGO U/W budget deck that piles equipment on Bastion Inventor). I know from experience that Bristling Hydra is obnoxious to face with a control deck, so I'm running one to punish other control players for tapping out. If it sticks, one is all you need! Right now the deck giving me trouble is 4c CopyCat, I probably have a positive win rate against it but it's everywhere and it keeps me sweating bullets every game. Half of their deck overlaps with mine but I have to play around the combo while they proactively stack value.
After a long night of testing on MTGO, I had some realizations:
Temur Tower is EVERYWHERE on MTGO right now, so I'm running a second Whirler Virtuoso in the main and a Confirm Suspicions in the sideboard to really stick em. I also switched my Bristling Hydra for Sphinx of the Final Word, partly since I expect to see some opposing Sphinxes soon. I'm feeling very confident in the mirror matches, I'm happy to farm them for points.
4c CopyCat isn't as tough as I was making it, I was focused on keeping the combo pieces out of play but you can safely ignore them once you have 5 energy on a Tower or a Shock in hand. I also had to learn some of their tricks, like blinking a land to cast the combo on six lands. The real danger is Whirler Virtuoso going wide, which is partly mitigated by my own two copies and I added a third Radiant Flames to the sideboard. I also squeezed a Horribly Awry in as a hedge - it's good against G/B but could also help keep Virtuoso off the table on the draw. I did encounter two variations that require extra consideration, one version is Marvel-based and has Nissa's Renewal as a plan B to hardcast their Ulamogs. I had to add a Summary Dismissal back to the sideboard because it's the only clean answer. The other version to look out for is running Elder Deep-Fiend, and I'm still looking for ways to handle that...there's Ceremonious Rejection but I could see myself just getting clobbered by Rogue Refiner and Thopters while it sits in my hand, there aren't enough targets.
Rogue Refiner was cut entirely, mainly due to the rise in opposing Shielded Aether Thief. If you can't get a clean 2-for-1 out of it by trading or drawing removal it's just not worth the slots, even though in a vacuum it's a perfect fit for this deck.
I pulled my Dragonmaster Outcasts too, since Temur Tower is now the dominant control deck and they never board out Tower.
The sorcery speed on Radiant Flames is a necessary evil to hit Whirler Virtuoso along with its thopter tokens. I'm facing a lot more 4c Saheeli and mirror matches than Mardu, so it might be a metagame call (I play on MTGO exclusively). Scrapheap Scrounger hasn't been a huge headache for me the way it was when I played Esper, although I do have a Horribly Awry that I bring in. Shielded Aether Thief does a pretty good job of holding them off until I get Dynavolt Tower online, after that the free lightning bolts keep them locked down. The only time I wished I had more hate was when I was facing a rogue black deck using Eternal Scourge too, and well...it still wouldn't have saved me, let's hope it doesn't catch on lol
I think I may have found the closest thing to a silver bullet against 4c Saheeli: Dampening Pulse. It shuts off the combo like a blue Authority of the Consuls and Natural State doesn't hit it, the only answer they run is the occasional Nahiri. Best of all, it nullifies Whirler Virtuoso's thopters and nerfs their other threats by 33%-50%. You can safely tap out for it on turn 4 and the game is basically over for them, half of their deck is dead and what's left is a slow, overcosted, threat-light "beatdown" deck.
I went to Wednesday standard at my local store and decided to try out this piece of tech. Unfortunately the store only had one Dampening Pulse. Still, there was a 4-color Saheli deck there and we got matched up in the final round. I won the first game handily thanks to a slow draw on his part. Game 2 I was under the gun facing a Felidar Guardian and two Whirler Virtuosos. Then I drew the one Dampening Pulse. He was tapped out and I dropped it. I still had to worry about Virtuoso beatdowns at 10 life, but I got 10 extra turns I wouldn't have otherwise and won the game thanks to it. There was a point he had the combo on the board for two turns and it meant nothing. It is the real deal.
I don't think it will work against Jeskai Saheli, but I was worried about the 4-color variant because I figured I couldn't side out as much creature removal and Dispels wouldn't help as much. But this card really eases up on the sideboard decisions.
Awesome! It's not good in multiples and it's pretty narrow so I think just one is the correct number. If it catches on it won't be hard for them to adjust their sideboard accordingly, but for now it's good for stealing some free wins.
This is my current list, I added a touch of black for Unlicensed Disintegration (for G/B but also good against Colossus etc) and cut most of my creatures in favor of sweepers to blank removal in game 1. It's harder to get value out of Shielded Aether Thief before it dies without Rogue Refiner helping to fuel it early, and rather than match Whirler Virtuosos against 4c CopyCat's I think it's better to be holding Radiant Flames and take out their Refiners too (feels good not to get 2-for-1'd pointing targeted removal at them). I've started running a Jace in the main as another resilient threat and also an out against a resolved Ulamog or other ridiculous creature, it makes up some ground in the mirror match since I cut my Virtuosos and have potentially dead sweepers.
So apparently this is the deck that's going to save the meta, so sayeth wizards.
Obviously Temur's been tested and is a thing that works, I'm going to see if I can't give it a go this week.
Obviously I expect a lot of mardu and copycat at the top tables, and we're just dead to snake decks so I won't worry so much about it. But how do we board the deck against Mardu and/or Copycat?
Top 16 - 2012 Indiana State Championships Currently Playing: GBStandard - Golgari Safari MidrangeBG RBWModern - Mardu PyromancerWBR RLegacy - Good Old Fashioned BurnR
You only have to swap two lands to splash for Unlicensed Disintegration and you'll pick up 15-20% against G/B. I got the idea from Joe Lam's Nashville deck.
I like to bring in a single Bristling Hydra occasionally, they have no answer to it and it keeps them scrambling to produce blockers. Especially if I suspect they're cutting Virtuosos to "next level" my plan.
I can't justify 1-ofs in the board without copies maindeck, and dampening pulse I don't think is good enough against other decks to justify mainboard inclusion. I'd have at least 2 copies in my board because it does just nuke the combo and force them to commit a much bigger presence than they're used to.
I also don't see how a singleton unlicensed disintegration has any real impact against GB Constrictor. Were it maelstrom pulse maybe...
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Top 16 - 2012 Indiana State Championships Currently Playing: GBStandard - Golgari Safari MidrangeBG RBWModern - Mardu PyromancerWBR RLegacy - Good Old Fashioned BurnR
I'm up to two Dampening Pulse in the sideboard, although I think even just one is worth running. Even if you only draw it every 4th time you board it in, that's still a nearly free win 25% of your sideboarded games vs a T1 deck. I pretty much just face Mardu, 4c CopyCat, and occasionally G/B or UlaMarvel on MTGO, so my 75 is heavily skewed for that rigid metagame. I started with two Unlicensed Disintegrations and am now up to 3 total, but I only run a single copy in the main because the 3cmc slot is crowded by Radiant Flames (also since G/B is relatively uncommon lately).
This is what I'm running currently. I'm not 100% on the Bristling Hydras in the main but it's almost a free win in the mirror and I feel like I'm otherwise very soft to control and planeswalkers. Against Mardu it takes a little work to be good, but once you can safely get a +1/+1 counter on it you can block Scroungers indefinitely and mangle planeswalkers as needed. Against 4c CopyCat I don't like it so much, mainly because Whirler Virtuoso can chump it forever with Thopters, but I do have sweepers in the main so it occasionally gets there.
Went 3-1 tonight, probably boarded wrong in the match I lost but also kept slow hands. I'll go into more detail tomorrow but here's the quick and dirty.
Round 1 (vs. RU Thermo-Thing) game 1 he gets stuck on 5 mana, I catch him tapping out, resolve a gearhulk and swing 4 times. Game 2 he gets turn 3 fevered visions turn 4 tower, I obsolecense to tuck his tower in response to him countering disallow on a fevered visions trigger, and end up winning the game the turn that visions would kill me. W 2-0
Round 2 (vs. GB Constrictor) game 1 he gets a super fast start and gets a turn 4 gearhulk into turn 5 gearhulk. Game 2 he grinds me down, I manage to flash in gearhulk to kill a snake and harness'd lightning a deathtouch guy, surviving on 1 life after I play chandra and -4 her to nuke his board. I'm dead if he ever finds walking ballista - which he doesn't. Game 3 I just pick off all his dudes as they come up, with niblis of frost form the board applying beats and locking down all his potential blockers. W 2-1
Round 3 (vs. RG Pummeler) game 1 I keep a slow-ish hand with 2 negates. He gets a turn 4 pummeler kill. game 2 I keep a slightly faster hand, he goes turn 1 attune, turn 2 attune, turn 3 lathnu hellion, turn 4 lathnu hellion. I tap out to conspiracy coup one of them, but he has blossoming defense to coutner it and I die next turn. L 0-2
Round 4 (vs. ?) He tells me as we're shuffling "It's late, I'll give you one of my prize packs if you scoop to me." 10 minutes later he's walking 5 miles to the nearest Dairy Queen.
All in all good for 2nd place on the night. I like the deck but it never feels like you're ahead until you have lethal on board. The matches also take a long time, so I'm not sure how well this would do at a 9-round GP with no meal or bathroom breaks.
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Top 16 - 2012 Indiana State Championships Currently Playing: GBStandard - Golgari Safari MidrangeBG RBWModern - Mardu PyromancerWBR RLegacy - Good Old Fashioned BurnR
So is URX just dead in the water against B/G Delirium and/or counter decks? I ask because I played FNM last night for the first time in many many years. Finally had my deck all built and ready to play, I made a ton of misplays last night (not using my dynavolt towers correctly, not knowing when to play release the gremlins, played a glimmer main phase etc), last night was really just about taking that first leap and showing up to my LGS and playing! Ended up 2-2 overall, but I truly feel I should've went 3-1 if I were a better pilot (again I haven't played the game in probably 5+ years). Anyways my third match was against a B/G Delirium deck with the 2/2 flayer, ulvenwald, pick the brain etc and I feel like I just got blown out of the water. He landed two pick the brains on me game 2 after boarding and it felt ruthless. I never felt like I was on my feet against this deck wheter on the play or on the draw. I did stabilize a bit game 2 but my final four card draws were complete bricks, drew 4 mana in a row. I had a chance to win game 2 potentially...
So is URX just dead in the water against B/G Delirium and/or counter decks? I ask because I played FNM last night for the first time in many many years. Finally had my deck all built and ready to play, I made a ton of misplays last night (not using my dynavolt towers correctly, not knowing when to play release the gremlins, played a glimmer main phase etc), last night was really just about taking that first leap and showing up to my LGS and playing! Ended up 2-2 overall, but I truly feel I should've went 3-1 if I were a better pilot (again I haven't played the game in probably 5+ years). Anyways my third match was against a B/G Delirium deck with the 2/2 flayer, ulvenwald, pick the brain etc and I feel like I just got blown out of the water. He landed two pick the brains on me game 2 after boarding and it felt ruthless. I never felt like I was on my feet against this deck wheter on the play or on the draw. I did stabilize a bit game 2 but my final four card draws were complete bricks, drew 4 mana in a row. I had a chance to win game 2 potentially...
Are we dead against B/G?
Learn to love their discard spells - any time we can trade cards 1-for-1 with G/B it's a good thing, especially if they pay for it. Our removal lines up poorly with their threats anyway and we don't have juicy Fumigates to snag.
These are the steps I've taken to boost my win % against G/B:
1) Play the second Incendiary Flow in the main, it's good against Scrounger out of Mardu but also helps kill Winding Constrictor on turn 2 before they can follow it up with a payoff card. Killing the snake immediately is priority #1.
2) The reason G/B is so hard for us is because our removal is all damage-based and their creatures are huge. Splash a touch of black for Unlicensed Disintegration and it makes dealing with an 8/8 much easier. The traditional Temur plan is to lean on Confiscation Coup, but it's slower and less reliable - especially if you've cut some proactive energy generation like Rogue Refiner.
3) The energy version has smaller creatures so I play Shock and Radiant Flames against it, but the Goodstuff (Advocate) and Delirium versions won't have (m)any targets so I board them out.
4) Play Jace, Unraveler of Secrets in the 75. Between the bounce and draw abilities, it's very effective at turning the corner against midrange decks.
You might try Niblis of Frost too, I haven't tested it myself yet but I can see how it would be effective once they board out removal. Shaving a Negate from the main is also something to consider since it's nearly dead against them, though I think it's probably too important against 4c Copycat and Mardu to give up.
I've been pretty happy with UR overall, but I'm probably going to try the Temur variant.
UR Blue-Red Control
Modern:
UBR Grixis Control
UWR Jeskai Control
9x Island
4x Mountain
4x Wandering Fumerole
4x Spirebluff Canal
4x Aether Hub
Creature (4)
4x Torrential Gearhulk
Planeswalker (1)
1x Jack, Unraveler of Secrets
Artifact (2)
2x Dynavolt Tower
4x Take Inventory
4x Glimmer of Genius
4x Galvanic Bombardment
4x Harnessed Lightning
4x Disallow
3x Negate
2x Horribly Awry
2x Brutal Expulsion
1x Confirm Suspicions
3x Thing in the Ice
3x Dispel
1x Negate
1x Horribly Awry
2x Dragonmaster Outcast
2x Release the Gremlins
2x Incendiary Flow
1x Shock
I won a Aether Revolt Game Day with a slight variation with this and top 4'd a store $500 store credit tournament. Would have been in the finals, but I misplayed in the final game of the semi-final match repeatedly and it cost me.
Horribly Awry is so goddamn useful. It hits nearly everything in the format and is a must play against G/B either energy or delirium. Even in matchups where I side it out like Jeskai Saheli, it can be useful in game 1 catching a Guardian or a Spell Queller. It only misses the Gearhulks, by which time you should have the resources to deal with them.
As for how I deal with green Gearhulks, if one does land, Brutal Expulsion is so useful. It doesn't look like much on paper, but seeing the card in action, it feels like the missing piece of the puzzle for the U/R version. Bouncing a Gearhulk on their turn can set them back enough to get another shot at taking it out or give you that extra turn to win. And in other aggro match ups it takes care of Scrapheap Scroungers while two for oneing your opponent. It also deals with the Saheli combo all by itself meaning Shock isn't as necessary and I'm free to better utilize Galvanic Bombardment. I used to run Leave in the Dust to deal with on the board Gearhulks, because it drew a card and could hit problematic plansewalkers in a pinch. It was good, but Brutal Expulsion does that and grant on board extra value.
I used to run 26 lands, but I kept flooding out after I had stabilized the board. It happened just enough times that I went down to 25 and so far the change has worked out really well.
I also prefer Take Inventory over Anticipate, because in the late game against control it fills your hand back up. This is true of any game that goes long. And the trade off of instant speed to hold up a counterspell isn't much. You do have to learn the flow of various matches if you should cast it early on or just hold it for when you have many. It took a while to learn, but once I did the downside feels even less relevant.
Merging into URx Control because I consider Temur Tower a control deck and Temur is a flavor of URx. - hoser2
Temur and UR can coexist in the same thread. The strategies are very similar.
Thanks!
-- Lugger
3 Shielded Aether Thief
1 Whirler Virtuoso
3 Torrential Gearhulk
Spells 27
4 Attune with Aether
3 Shock
4 Harnessed Lightning
3 Anticipate
3 Negate
1 Incendiary Flow
1 Natural Obsolescence
4 Disallow
4 Glimmer of Genius
4 Dynavolt Tower
Lands 22
4 Aether Hub
4 Botanical Sanctum
4 Spirebluff Canal
2 Lumbering Falls
4 Forest
3 Island
1 Mountain
3 Dispel
2 Dragonmaster Outcast
1 Natural State
2 Radiant Flames
2 Rogue Refiner
1 Whirler Virtuoso
1 Bristling Hydra
2 Confiscation Coup
1 Release the Gremlins
I moved Rogue Refiner to the sideboard so I don't have to tap out as often against CopyCat, but it's still great value and worth bringing in against most other foes. Whirler Virtuoso is great against most of the field and the deck needs some way to deal with wide strategies so I moved one to the main (also stalls large creatures, like the latest MTGO U/W budget deck that piles equipment on Bastion Inventor). I know from experience that Bristling Hydra is obnoxious to face with a control deck, so I'm running one to punish other control players for tapping out. If it sticks, one is all you need! Right now the deck giving me trouble is 4c CopyCat, I probably have a positive win rate against it but it's everywhere and it keeps me sweating bullets every game. Half of their deck overlaps with mine but I have to play around the combo while they proactively stack value.
Esper Control
RNA Standard: Grixis Midrange, Jund Deathwhirler, Sultai Vannifar
GRN Standard: Red Midrange, Mono-Blue Tempo, Wr Aggro, Gruul Experimental Dinosaurs, Sultai Midrange, Jeskai Midrange
Modern: Bant Spirits
Forcing a single archetype in all formats: too many colors, bad mana.
Temur Tower is EVERYWHERE on MTGO right now, so I'm running a second Whirler Virtuoso in the main and a Confirm Suspicions in the sideboard to really stick em. I also switched my Bristling Hydra for Sphinx of the Final Word, partly since I expect to see some opposing Sphinxes soon. I'm feeling very confident in the mirror matches, I'm happy to farm them for points.
4c CopyCat isn't as tough as I was making it, I was focused on keeping the combo pieces out of play but you can safely ignore them once you have 5 energy on a Tower or a Shock in hand. I also had to learn some of their tricks, like blinking a land to cast the combo on six lands. The real danger is Whirler Virtuoso going wide, which is partly mitigated by my own two copies and I added a third Radiant Flames to the sideboard. I also squeezed a Horribly Awry in as a hedge - it's good against G/B but could also help keep Virtuoso off the table on the draw. I did encounter two variations that require extra consideration, one version is Marvel-based and has Nissa's Renewal as a plan B to hardcast their Ulamogs. I had to add a Summary Dismissal back to the sideboard because it's the only clean answer. The other version to look out for is running Elder Deep-Fiend, and I'm still looking for ways to handle that...there's Ceremonious Rejection but I could see myself just getting clobbered by Rogue Refiner and Thopters while it sits in my hand, there aren't enough targets.
Rogue Refiner was cut entirely, mainly due to the rise in opposing Shielded Aether Thief. If you can't get a clean 2-for-1 out of it by trading or drawing removal it's just not worth the slots, even though in a vacuum it's a perfect fit for this deck.
I pulled my Dragonmaster Outcasts too, since Temur Tower is now the dominant control deck and they never board out Tower.
Updated list:
3 Shielded Aether Thief
2 Whirler Virtuoso
3 Torrential Gearhulk
Spells 26
4 Attune with Aether
2 Shock
4 Harnessed Lightning
3 Anticipate
3 Negate
1 Incendiary Flow
1 Natural Obsolescence
4 Disallow
4 Glimmer of Genius
4 Dynavolt Tower
Lands 22
4 Aether Hub
4 Botanical Sanctum
4 Spirebluff Canal
2 Lumbering Falls
4 Forest
3 Island
1 Mountain
3 Dispel
1 Shock
1 Natural State
1 Horribly Awry
3 Radiant Flames
1 Summary Dismissal
2 Confiscation Coup
1 Confirm Suspicions
1 Sphinx of the Final Word
1 Release the Gremlins
Esper Control
The sorcery speed on Radiant Flames is a necessary evil to hit Whirler Virtuoso along with its thopter tokens. I'm facing a lot more 4c Saheeli and mirror matches than Mardu, so it might be a metagame call (I play on MTGO exclusively). Scrapheap Scrounger hasn't been a huge headache for me the way it was when I played Esper, although I do have a Horribly Awry that I bring in. Shielded Aether Thief does a pretty good job of holding them off until I get Dynavolt Tower online, after that the free lightning bolts keep them locked down. The only time I wished I had more hate was when I was facing a rogue black deck using Eternal Scourge too, and well...it still wouldn't have saved me, let's hope it doesn't catch on lol
Esper Control
Esper Control
I don't think it will work against Jeskai Saheli, but I was worried about the 4-color variant because I figured I couldn't side out as much creature removal and Dispels wouldn't help as much. But this card really eases up on the sideboard decisions.
Esper Control
This is my current list, I added a touch of black for Unlicensed Disintegration (for G/B but also good against Colossus etc) and cut most of my creatures in favor of sweepers to blank removal in game 1. It's harder to get value out of Shielded Aether Thief before it dies without Rogue Refiner helping to fuel it early, and rather than match Whirler Virtuosos against 4c CopyCat's I think it's better to be holding Radiant Flames and take out their Refiners too (feels good not to get 2-for-1'd pointing targeted removal at them). I've started running a Jace in the main as another resilient threat and also an out against a resolved Ulamog or other ridiculous creature, it makes up some ground in the mirror match since I cut my Virtuosos and have potentially dead sweepers.
3 Torrential Gearhulk
Spells 30
4 Attune with Aether
2 Shock
4 Harnessed Lightning
3 Anticipate
3 Negate
2 Incendiary Flow
1 Natural Obsolescence
4 Disallow
2 Radiant Flames
1 Unlicensed Disintegration
4 Glimmer of Genius
4 Dynavolt Tower
Planeswalkers 1
1 Jace, Unraveler of Secrets
Lands 22
4 Aether Hub
4 Botanical Sanctum
4 Spirebluff Canal
2 Lumbering Falls
1 Blooming Marsh
3 Island
2 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Swamp
2 Dispel
1 Natural State
2 Shielded Aether Thief
1 Natural Obsolescence
2 Whirler Virtuoso
1 Unlicensed Disintegration
2 Bristling Hydra
1 Dampening Pulse
1 Summary Dismissal
1 Confiscation Coup
1 Release the Gremlins
Basically my metagame plan breaks down like this:
Mardu Vehicles - Shock, Natural Obsolescence, Incendiary Flow, Release the Gremlins, Negate
4c CopyCat - Radiant Flames, Dampening Pulse, Shock, Dynavolt Tower, Unlicensed Disintegration (surprisingly good here, kills both Saheeli and the kitty)
Mirror - Bristling Hydra, Jace, Dispel, Whirler Virtuoso, Lumbering Falls
G/B - Incendiary Flow, Unlicensed Disintegration, Confiscation Coup, Jace
Temur Marvel - Radiant Flames, Negate, Disallow, Summary Dismissal, Confiscation Coup
Esper Control
Obviously Temur's been tested and is a thing that works, I'm going to see if I can't give it a go this week.
Obviously I expect a lot of mardu and copycat at the top tables, and we're just dead to snake decks so I won't worry so much about it. But how do we board the deck against Mardu and/or Copycat?
3 Shielded Aether Thief
4 Torrential Gearhulk
Instants/Sorceries (27)
3 Anticipate
4 Attune with Aether
4 Glimmer of Genius
4 Harnessed Lightning
1 Incendiary Flow
1 Natural Obsolescence
3 Negate
3 Shock
4 Void Shatter
4 Dynavolt Tower
Lands (22)
4 Aether Hub
4 Botanical Sanctum
3 Forest
3 Island
2 Lumbering Falls
2 Mountain
4 Spirebluff Canal
2 Confiscation Coup
3 Dispel
2 Niblis of Frost
3 Radiant Flames
1 Natural State
2 Release the Gremlins
2 Whirler Virtuoso
Currently Playing:
GBStandard - Golgari Safari MidrangeBG
RBWModern - Mardu PyromancerWBR
RLegacy - Good Old Fashioned BurnR
Clan Contest 3 Mafia - Mafia Co-MVP
For Mardu I just cut my top end and focus on answers for Heart, Scrounger, and Gideon:
+ 1 Natural State
+ 1 Natural Obsolescence <-- best overall card against Mardu
+ 2 Shielded Aether Thief
+ 2 Whirler Virtuoso
+ 1 Release the Gremlins
- 1 Swamp
- 1 Anticipate
- 4 Disallow
- 1 Unlicensed Disintegration
- 1 Jace, Unraveler of Secrets
- 1 Torrential Gearhulk
For 4c CopyCat I already have my sweepers so I bring in Dampening Pulse and Unlicensed Disintegration which are tidy answers for the combo
+ 2 Shielded Aether Thief
+ 1 Unlicensed Disintegration
+ 1 Dampening Pulse <-- best overall card against CopyCat
- 1 Natural Obsolescence
- 2 Incendiary Flow
- 1 Jace, Unraveler of Secrets
I like to bring in a single Bristling Hydra occasionally, they have no answer to it and it keeps them scrambling to produce blockers. Especially if I suspect they're cutting Virtuosos to "next level" my plan.
Esper Control
I also don't see how a singleton unlicensed disintegration has any real impact against GB Constrictor. Were it maelstrom pulse maybe...
Currently Playing:
GBStandard - Golgari Safari MidrangeBG
RBWModern - Mardu PyromancerWBR
RLegacy - Good Old Fashioned BurnR
Clan Contest 3 Mafia - Mafia Co-MVP
This is what I'm running currently. I'm not 100% on the Bristling Hydras in the main but it's almost a free win in the mirror and I feel like I'm otherwise very soft to control and planeswalkers. Against Mardu it takes a little work to be good, but once you can safely get a +1/+1 counter on it you can block Scroungers indefinitely and mangle planeswalkers as needed. Against 4c CopyCat I don't like it so much, mainly because Whirler Virtuoso can chump it forever with Thopters, but I do have sweepers in the main so it occasionally gets there.
2 Bristling Hydra
3 Torrential Gearhulk
Spells 29
4 Attune with Aether
2 Shock
4 Harnessed Lightning
3 Anticipate
3 Negate
2 Incendiary Flow
1 Natural Obsolescence
3 Disallow
2 Radiant Flames
1 Unlicensed Disintegration
4 Glimmer of Genius
4 Dynavolt Tower
Lands 22
4 Aether Hub
4 Botanical Sanctum
4 Spirebluff Canal
2 Lumbering Falls
1 Blooming Marsh
3 Island
2 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Swamp
3 Dispel
1 Natural State
1 Natural Obsolescence
1 Negate
2 Unlicensed Disintegration
1 Radiant Flames
2 Dampening Pulse
1 Summary Dismissal
1 Confiscation Coup
1 Jace, Unraveler of Secrets
1 Release the Gremlins
Esper Control
Round 1 (vs. RU Thermo-Thing) game 1 he gets stuck on 5 mana, I catch him tapping out, resolve a gearhulk and swing 4 times. Game 2 he gets turn 3 fevered visions turn 4 tower, I obsolecense to tuck his tower in response to him countering disallow on a fevered visions trigger, and end up winning the game the turn that visions would kill me. W 2-0
Round 2 (vs. GB Constrictor) game 1 he gets a super fast start and gets a turn 4 gearhulk into turn 5 gearhulk. Game 2 he grinds me down, I manage to flash in gearhulk to kill a snake and harness'd lightning a deathtouch guy, surviving on 1 life after I play chandra and -4 her to nuke his board. I'm dead if he ever finds walking ballista - which he doesn't. Game 3 I just pick off all his dudes as they come up, with niblis of frost form the board applying beats and locking down all his potential blockers. W 2-1
Round 3 (vs. RG Pummeler) game 1 I keep a slow-ish hand with 2 negates. He gets a turn 4 pummeler kill. game 2 I keep a slightly faster hand, he goes turn 1 attune, turn 2 attune, turn 3 lathnu hellion, turn 4 lathnu hellion. I tap out to conspiracy coup one of them, but he has blossoming defense to coutner it and I die next turn. L 0-2
Round 4 (vs. ?) He tells me as we're shuffling "It's late, I'll give you one of my prize packs if you scoop to me." 10 minutes later he's walking 5 miles to the nearest Dairy Queen.
All in all good for 2nd place on the night. I like the deck but it never feels like you're ahead until you have lethal on board. The matches also take a long time, so I'm not sure how well this would do at a 9-round GP with no meal or bathroom breaks.
Currently Playing:
GBStandard - Golgari Safari MidrangeBG
RBWModern - Mardu PyromancerWBR
RLegacy - Good Old Fashioned BurnR
Clan Contest 3 Mafia - Mafia Co-MVP
Are we dead against B/G?
Learn to love their discard spells - any time we can trade cards 1-for-1 with G/B it's a good thing, especially if they pay for it. Our removal lines up poorly with their threats anyway and we don't have juicy Fumigates to snag.
These are the steps I've taken to boost my win % against G/B:
1) Play the second Incendiary Flow in the main, it's good against Scrounger out of Mardu but also helps kill Winding Constrictor on turn 2 before they can follow it up with a payoff card. Killing the snake immediately is priority #1.
2) The reason G/B is so hard for us is because our removal is all damage-based and their creatures are huge. Splash a touch of black for Unlicensed Disintegration and it makes dealing with an 8/8 much easier. The traditional Temur plan is to lean on Confiscation Coup, but it's slower and less reliable - especially if you've cut some proactive energy generation like Rogue Refiner.
3) The energy version has smaller creatures so I play Shock and Radiant Flames against it, but the Goodstuff (Advocate) and Delirium versions won't have (m)any targets so I board them out.
4) Play Jace, Unraveler of Secrets in the 75. Between the bounce and draw abilities, it's very effective at turning the corner against midrange decks.
You might try Niblis of Frost too, I haven't tested it myself yet but I can see how it would be effective once they board out removal. Shaving a Negate from the main is also something to consider since it's nearly dead against them, though I think it's probably too important against 4c Copycat and Mardu to give up.
Esper Control