How do you guys face UW Drake Haven? There's one person in my meta who plays that and it's the only deck I consistently lose to or draw against when I play UB or Grixis (assuming Lost Legacy doesn't make it)
When playing Esper or BW Conntrol, I do fine.
It's the only deck I dislike facing. How do you guys play against it? Minus counter spells, is Lost Legacy the key card?
Well I play Grixis control with 2 Fiery Cannonade main deck and a third in the sideboard. If you're on straight UB, Golden Demise and Yahenni's Expertise work in a slow manner if you have the life left to make it work.
How do you guys face UW Drake Haven? There's one person in my meta who plays that and it's the only deck I consistently lose to or draw against when I play UB or Grixis (assuming Lost Legacy doesn't make it)
When playing Esper or BW Conntrol, I do fine.
It's the only deck I dislike facing. How do you guys play against it? Minus counter spells, is Lost Legacy the key card?
What Chaos021 siad is true. With UB, you have to aggressively Duress and Negate your way into keeping Drake Haven off the board. If you can do that, you pretty much win. Commit helps. Lost Legacy is crap in general, but it does help a lot if you can force it through, or catch them with shields down.
Just a preemptive reminder that, as we enter spoiler season, no new cards should be discussed in this thread until the whole set is spoiled. I've started a thread in SNCD that we can use to talk about which new cards could find their way in to our lists.
Managed to go 6-2 for the night, blowing the finals to really poor decision making on my part and inexperience with relatively new cards
Not sure I can list the matchups in order, but I'll try. As you can see by the results, the deck did pretty well VS a nice assortment of decks.
Match 1: Mono Red Aggro 2-1
Drew pretty good both games, but he was able to race me on G2. G1 was a complete overkill, Fataling all his little aggro creatures and countering Hazoret and the final Khari Zev he needed, stabilized with Vraska's on his Khenras. G3 he drew too many uncolored lands to be a threat and closed the game with Scarab.
Match 2: Naya Dinos 2-0
Pretty straightforward. Let the small dudes hit me and saved the counters for the real deal. The variety in the removal suite also allowed for some really nice curve decisions, granted that won't always happen. G2 he kept a questionable hand with 3 tribal lands and lost game himself.
Match 3: BW Vampires 2-0
G1 was a pretty cool win, went down to 2 life and slowly climbed back up. Had real issues with his token spells early, and by the time I could close the game out I had 4 cards left in my library. G2, after I streamlined my removal he couldn't get enough aggro up to be a danger: overcommited with his lords and I blew them all up with Bontu's, then stabilized with lifegain.
Match 4: BR Vehicles 1-2
Tough MU, as described above. Interacting with his artifacts on my main deck package was pretty hard, so I lost G1 fast. G2 I got the sideboard I needed and came back, but G3 he landed Hook of Condemnation and I lost too much fuel.
off to Top 8!
Match 5: Cycling 2-0
Hadn't fought against the deck, but it went more or less as expected. G1 he killed himself during his combo, G2 I surprised him with some bold moves, such as tapping out for my Scarab God assuming he boarded Negates in. He tried to hurry up and resolved an Approach, but he ran out of draw and I prevented his combo from coming online, so he couldn't cast the second one. Killed him 2 turns after he played Approach.
Match 6: Mardu Vehicles 2-0
Pretty much same issues and caveats as the other Vehicles match, but his deck was a little less consistent.
Match 7: Sultai Energy 1-2
No one to blame this on but me. I was ahead 1 game, and underestimated his ability to put pressure back on with just 2 small creatures. I also wasn't familiar with Hadana's Climb. I casted some pretty crappy Bontu's, and it lost me both games.
Closing Thoughts:
I think the deck's shortcomings can be attributed to my lack of practice with the deck and inexperience with the Rivals cards of enemy decks. The games I lost felt fair, and could've been won if I played my lines a little differently and more conservatively.
Essence Extraction feels a little awkward, and I think the main is too heavy on creature hate as is. Most of the other cards do the same job anyways, so I think I'll put in one more Disallow and Illumination for them.
I'm feeling a little underwhelmed with Legacy and Bontu's. I'd like to try out Yahenni's, but I want to know about other people's experiences with it in the current format. Also, just wondering: has anyone tried Tetzimoc, Primal Death in something other than Commander with positive results?
I'd appreciate any feedback or comments on my list, and the overall direction of the archetype. Thanks in advance!
Congrats on the finals placing. Like you, I've also been underwhelmed with Lost Legacy. Not sure what there is currently that could work. I was just thinking of adding another Duress or bounce spell.
I'm interested in your creature/PW mix. I'd been running a list with 3 Hostage Takers and 2 Lilis for a while, but then went back to the "traditional" God/Hulk only route. Do you think that your list gets more of an advantage? You've made me want to try running the list with some number of Gontis in the main just for hilarity...
Congrats on the finals placing. Like you, I've also been underwhelmed with Lost Legacy. Not sure what there is currently that could work. I was just thinking of adding another Duress or bounce spell.
Thanks! I still feel bad about it tho, since I just can't help myself and stop being patient and reactive when I see my opponent draw no lands for 3 turns.
I think the problem with Lost Legacy is not that there's no targets, it's that there's too many and you can't really tap out expecting to grab something really, really good. We're not in Aetherworks Marvel // Saheeli Rai territory anymore, where a well planted Legacy could pretty much dismantle the deck. I think we need to minimize sorcery speed cards in general, and just let Doomfall deal with Carnage Tyrant, Approach of the Second Sun, etc.
I'm interested in your creature/PW mix. I'd been running a list with 3 Hostage Takers and 2 Lilis for a while, but then went back to the "traditional" God/Hulk only route. Do you think that your list gets more of an advantage? You've made me want to try running the list with some number of Gontis in the main just for hilarity...
I'm pretty happy with the ratios there. The selling point for me was the printing of Ravenous Chupacabra, which to me justifies having Liliana in the deck at all. She turns all of your creatures into flashback gods, and can pretty much land a threat and get rid of one on the same turn with the right combination of cards. What's even better, her reanimates don't exile when they die leading to fancy loops with The Scarab God and awesome synergy in the form of zombie production. I'd say it's still a matter of choice, tho.
I'm thinking of trying for 2 Tetzimoc, Primal Death (in the sideboard most likely), for grindy stuff like BG Snake and take out Bontu's Last Reckoning. That card lost me my two final games (half the card, half my idiocy I guess) and it's too much of a gamble for me to get attached to it. I get that you're supposed to stall and land it on land drop 5+, but I'd still like more reactive options.
Final note on Hostage Taker: I don't really enjoy removal that can bite you in the ass, I like my creatures doing stuff on ETB and then not worrying about them dying later. Even if you save 7 mana to rock Hostage and counter, she's still open next turn and you're tapped out, which loses you a creature and leaves them right where they started.
The Dominaria spoiler is listed as complete, so now we can start talking about which cards seem good to add in to existing shells.
For me, Phyrexian Scriptures seems to be the certain replacement for Bontu's Last Reckoning, especially based on the idea that Torrysan mentions above - Reckoning is better dropped on 5+, which would be when Scriptures would go off... Of course, the list of cards below is UB-centric. It could be that Esper may become feasible, splashing for Urza's Ruinous Blast, Teferi, etc.
Copied over from the thread I had in SNCD, here's the cards that I've seen that could be interesting... Bold = probably close to certain inclusions, Italic = possibles, Normal - looks like fun, probably not worth it.
Blue Syncopate - useful scaleable counter spell, that exiles too. Likely a certain inclusion as it can deal with Scarab God and eternalize/embalm creatures. Unwind - a "free" Negate, but costs one more to start with. Possible one-of? Divination - A reprint that has been often used in control decks. May not fit in a reactive deck, but could be good for tap-out. Blink of an Eye - may not replace Commit // Memory, but is could be an option with kicker. Deep Freeze - sideboard card for Scarab Gods? Precognition Field - most likely jank, but tempting to try. Doesn't work well with Search, but in the late game allows filtering etc.
Black Cast Down - this could likely going to replace Moment of Craving in the main, as it's a guaranteed kill (against nonlegendaries). Means we can save Contempt for the key cards like Hazoret and TSG. Potentially even a 3-4-of, and a reduction on Essence Scatter? Depends on how legend heavy decks become. Phyrexian Scriptures - article on SCG talking about this card on 10 Apr. Could be underrated. Dark Bargain - possible... Sees one more than Hieroglyphic Illumination, although the cycling is nice early. Demonlord Belzenlok - a one-of top end? Josu Vess, Lich Knight - a one-of top end? Rite of Belzenlok - possibly a sideboard card to be used as a finisher in control mirrors?
Gold Rona, Disciple of Gix - again, probably jank, but could be interesting connected with Precognition Field.
Colorless Karn, Scion of Urza - Could he be worth it solely for card advantage? It's not that likely to get a strong -2. Of course, once you've stabilised, you only need 3-4 turns to churn out a huge amount of damage from the tokens (assuming he's been around +1ing for a while).
Land Memorial to Genius - another draw "spell" that is easier on the mana base than Arch of Orazca, although Arch is reusable. Zhalfirin Void - harkens back to the Theros Temples, but doesn't CIPT, and is colorless. Memorial to Folly - return a Gearhulk or a Scarab God? Seems ok...
For me, Phyrexian Scriptures seems to be the certain replacement for Bontu's Last Reckoning, especially based on the idea that Torrysan mentions above - Reckoning is better dropped on 5+, which would be when Scriptures would go off... Of course, the list of cards below is UB-centric. It could be that Esper may become feasible, splashing for Urza's Ruinous Blast, Teferi, etc.
My only problem with that card is that it still leaves alone some true staple cards in the format, Scrapheap Scrounger and Walking Ballista. Granted you can still take care of them with other cards, but I'd like my 5 mana wipe to actually wipe. Also, unless post SB, the first ability is pretty much dead in most cases.
Syncopate - useful scaleable counter spell, that exiles too. Likely a certain inclusion as it can deal with Scarab God and eternalize/embalm creatures.
Unwind - a "free" Negate, but costs one more to start with. Possible one-of?
It's a great time to be control with these 2 prints. I don't think we've had such counter variety since Ojutai Control, so I'll definitely include a number of both in my lists.
Divination - A reprint that has been often used in control decks. May not fit in a reactive deck, but could be good for tap-out.
Blink of an Eye - may not replace Commit // Memory, but is could be an option with kicker.
Hmmm, I'm not sure how much of a spot vanilla 2-cost bounce spells have in the current meta... Besides, Commit can deal with Carnage Tyrant, which this one cannot.
Precognition Field - most likely jank, but tempting to try. Doesn't work well with Search, but in the late game allows filtering etc.
Could see uses for it, but the mana cost is steeeeeep. You'd sell me if it had flash, but that would probably bust it.
Overall, I think the Tezzeret variant gets more out of blue than we do, but those counters are more than enough.
Cast Down - this could likely going to replace Moment of Craving in the main, as it's a guaranteed kill (against nonlegendaries). Means we can save Contempt for the key cards like Hazoret and TSG. Potentially even a 3-4-of, and a reduction on Essence Scatter? Depends on how legend heavy decks become.
Definitely down for this one. Much more versatility and Fatal Push takes care of stuff like Kari Zev, Skyship Raider. Only worried about the life gain loss vs aggressive matchups, but we just move Moment of Craving to the SB then.
Dark Bargain - possible... Sees one more than Hieroglyphic Illumination, although the cycling is nice early.
Unfortunately, I'm a sucker for Read the Bones style cards. I'll probably split 2 and 2.
Demonlord Belzenlok - a one-of top end?
I really like this card. I'd prefer having it in the yard every time tho, since it's kind of a win-more card and casting it for 6 on curve doesn't seem viable to me. I'm already struggling with including Tetzimoc, Primal Death as another bomb, so we'll see if this guy makes the cut.
Josu Vess, Lich Knight - a one-of top end?
Honestly think it's meant for mono black: at least in my shell, with my heavier lean on reanimation, I'll pass on this card.
Rite of Belzenlok - possibly a sideboard card to be used as a finisher in control mirrors?
Why not for aggro too? it gives you crappy blockers that they can't really interact with efficiently, buys you time and lands a threat. Doesn't count as legendary either, right? so in theory, you could just sideboard a bunch in and chain them and hit him with flyers. Vehicles risks losing their important ships and Hazoret has problems interacting with flyers if you play it right.
Rona, Disciple of Gix - again, probably jank, but could be interesting connected with Precognition Field.
Agreed, probably won't be touching that.
Karn, Scion of Urza - Could he be worth it solely for card advantage? It's not that likely to get a strong -2. Of course, once you've stabilised, you only need 3-4 turns to churn out a huge amount of damage from the tokens (assuming he's been around +1ing for a while).
Ehhh, I think I'll pass on it too. The mana cost is really nice for the curve, but the borderline useless -2 makes me think twice.
Memorial to Genius - another draw "spell" that is easier on the mana base than Arch of Orazca, although Arch is reusable.
Zhalfirin Void - harkens back to the Theros Temples, but doesn't CIPT, and is colorless.
Memorial to Folly - return a Gearhulk or a Scarab God? Seems ok...
Like all of them except for the colorless one. What would we sub out for them tho, Evolving Wilds?
EDIT: I'll probably be starting with something similar to this:
Only thing that worries me is no real main deck response to Tyrant and really bad G1s in the mirror. But honestly, I don't expect to see it that much, so I'll try death dino first; if it blows, I'll just cut 1 death dino and 1 Dark Bargain for the 2 good ol' Doomfall.
The Dominaria spoiler is listed as complete, so now we can start talking about which cards seem good to add in to existing shells.
For me, Phyrexian Scriptures seems to be the certain replacement for Bontu's Last Reckoning, especially based on the idea that Torrysan mentions above - Reckoning is better dropped on 5+, which would be when Scriptures would go off... Of course, the list of cards below is UB-centric. It could be that Esper may become feasible, splashing for Urza's Ruinous Blast, Teferi, etc.
Copied over from the thread I had in SNCD, here's the cards that I've seen that could be interesting... Bold = probably close to certain inclusions, Italic = possibles, Normal - looks like fun, probably not worth it.
Blue Syncopate - useful scaleable counter spell, that exiles too. Likely a certain inclusion as it can deal with Scarab God and eternalize/embalm creatures. Unwind - a "free" Negate, but costs one more to start with. Possible one-of? Divination - A reprint that has been often used in control decks. May not fit in a reactive deck, but could be good for tap-out. Blink of an Eye - may not replace Commit // Memory, but is could be an option with kicker. Deep Freeze - sideboard card for Scarab Gods? Precognition Field - most likely jank, but tempting to try. Doesn't work well with Search, but in the late game allows filtering etc.
Black Cast Down - this could likely going to replace Moment of Craving in the main, as it's a guaranteed kill (against nonlegendaries). Means we can save Contempt for the key cards like Hazoret and TSG. Potentially even a 3-4-of, and a reduction on Essence Scatter? Depends on how legend heavy decks become. Phyrexian Scriptures - article on SCG talking about this card on 10 Apr. Could be underrated. Dark Bargain - possible... Sees one more than Hieroglyphic Illumination, although the cycling is nice early. Demonlord Belzenlok - a one-of top end? Josu Vess, Lich Knight - a one-of top end? Rite of Belzenlok - possibly a sideboard card to be used as a finisher in control mirrors?
Gold Rona, Disciple of Gix - again, probably jank, but could be interesting connected with Precognition Field.
Colorless Karn, Scion of Urza - Could he be worth it solely for card advantage? It's not that likely to get a strong -2. Of course, once you've stabilised, you only need 3-4 turns to churn out a huge amount of damage from the tokens (assuming he's been around +1ing for a while).
Land Memorial to Genius - another draw "spell" that is easier on the mana base than Arch of Orazca, although Arch is reusable. Zhalfirin Void - harkens back to the Theros Temples, but doesn't CIPT, and is colorless. Memorial to Folly - return a Gearhulk or a Scarab God? Seems ok...
My 2 cents...
Syncopate - Good, but what does it replace? I can't see not playing Disallow because of the utility, and the flat mana cost. Also, Syncopate totally falls apart when you miss land drops...and crap in the control mirror.
Unwind - I wish it was Rewind, but I'll take it. Not being able to Negate on T2 is bad, but otherwise, it's all upside. Unwind, untap, Glimmer Of Genius will probably break games...
Cast Down - Call me crazy, but I think it replaces Fatal Push before Moment Of Craving. I know, I know, hear me out...
1. It covers like 90 to 95% of what Fatal Push covers, but -2/-2 kills some things that Fatal Push doesn't.
2. I expect Goblins to become the mono red deck of choice, and Kari Zev, Skyship Raider, the biggest hole in the Cast Down plan, should see less play.
3. We still need the life gain against aggro. Removal gaining life is one of UB's biggest advantages right now.
4. It's almost never a bad top deck, unlike Fatal Push. No need for Revolt. Unless Legend.dec becomes a thing, Cast Down fails way less.
Phyrexian Scriptures - The downside on this is probably better than Bontu's Last Reckoning. Letting things you need to kill badly (Carnage Tyrant) live a turn is very dangerous. Also opens you up to Heroic Intervention even more since they get time to prepare, though you will have mana to counter it. It also fails bad against Brontodon and Naturalize. We'll see. I plan on doing Esper (Teferi, Hero Of Dominaria and Settle The Wreckage, along with really good aggro hate), but if I go back to UB, I'll probably at least give it a chance. Also, a nonbo with The Scarab God.
Karn, Scion Of Urza - IMO, totally overrated outside of dedicated artifact decks. Another reason I want to play Esper, I see Vehicles, or some new variant, making a HUGE comeback on Karn's back.
Memorial To Folly - Also yes. Being able to run out creatures with less risk, as well as overload opponent's removal sound great. Lessens their ability to win by stopping The Scarab God.
This is what I am thinking of starting with once Dominaria is released. Outside of 4 cards every non-land can be played on their turn. I've opted for a white splash to get access to Seal Away and Cast Out for removal and Teferi, Hero of Dominaria as a strong, must be answered threat. Cast Out also has the ability to be cycled away, if needed. This is by no means the final product and I can already see a few possible changes that I might want to make once I can use the cards.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Currently Playing:
Standard - Some kind of control
Modern - UB Mill (casual)
EDH - Meren's Grave Shenanigans
Yes, I agree that Urza's Ruinous Blast should be in, I just wasn't sure where to put it on the first draft. Likely going to remove the third Cast Out for one, and maybe one of the counter spells for a second. Another change I'm thinking about is 1-2 Phyrexian Scriptures in the SB, after seeing you guys talk about it. Baral would be likely candidate to be removed for them, but I like that he makes things cheaper while allow me to filter my hand out.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Currently Playing:
Standard - Some kind of control
Modern - UB Mill (casual)
EDH - Meren's Grave Shenanigans
This is what I am thinking of starting with once Dominaria is released. Outside of 4 cards every non-land can be played on their turn. I've opted for a white splash to get access to Seal Away and Cast Out for removal and Teferi, Hero of Dominaria as a strong, must be answered threat. Cast Out also has the ability to be cycled away, if needed. This is by no means the final product and I can already see a few possible changes that I might want to make once I can use the cards.
Urza's Ruinous Blast seems bad. This deck will only have 3 ways main deck to enable casting it. I'm pretty sure more will be needed
Yes. I refuse to play any Legendary Sorceries. If they counted all permanent types, Search For Azcanta would probably make them viable, but a couple of Teferis and a couple Scarab Gods are way too risky to hinge games on, especially for your sweeper. Why would you want Urza's Ruinous Blast over Settle The Wreckage any way? It exiles, and is instant. Also, It doesn't leave your opponents legendary creatures back to keep killing you...
No Search for Azcanta because I don’t have any yet, same for Settle. Not having played either I have no opinions or thoughts on the cards, and thus when making my first draft I didn’t think about them. As for Urza’s, I see what you’re saying. Yes, there are not many way to cast it in this deck. What Urza’s does, however, is wipeout Enchantments, and is slightly easier on the mana base at just one white instead of two, for settle. Haven’t had much time to play lately (any time I’ve played it’s been limited) and so am a little out of the loop, even though I try to keep up with this thread.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Currently Playing:
Standard - Some kind of control
Modern - UB Mill (casual)
EDH - Meren's Grave Shenanigans
I am fairly keen on Esper Control, but the mana of 3 colour decks is always the issue. With the reprint of Isolated Chapel hopefully we have a chance to make it work nicely. I guess the first thing we should look at is: what is our splash colour? If we start with a brute force of all the available rare dual lands together we get this:
In 20 lands, 8 of which are guaranteed to come in tapped, the sources we have:
12 W
16 U
12 B
Blue is easiest to support as core, with potential for another main colour and then a splash. Frank Karsten recommends, if we'd like double mana symbols, to have 19 sources for T3, 18 sources for T4, and 16 sources for T5. Obviously having Disallow > Settle the Wreckage/Vraska's Contempt > Fumigate is not possible if we'd like under a reasonable amount of lands.
We are able to lean toward either Vraska's Contempt or Settle the Wreckage as our T4 play, and still have enough sources to reliably cast our powerful hay-makers in The Scarab God and Teferi, Hero of Dominaria in reasonable time, as well as having the proper mana symbols about 90% of the time to cast our T2 removal and counters provided our lands come in untapped.
The problem is the suggested above is 27 lands, which is likely not ideal.
I don't know what is the correct amount of lands and sources, but I just wanted to sort my thoughts out. I really like having at least 2 Field of Ruin to combat enemy utility lands, especially potential Memorial to Genius and definitely Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin, and fixes your colours a bit. Don't know the math on it, but it's probably good as an include.
The rest of the deck should build itself after we figure the mana part out. The nice thing is that if the meta adapts toward going wide then white as a secondary for sweepers is an option, but if the meta is about large singular threats then black for strong spot removal is also an option. This flexibility without removing the deck's core could make the deck a great choice for control moving forward. (sorry for the long post)
Cast Down - Call me crazy, but I think it replaces Fatal Push before Moment Of Craving. I know, I know, hear me out...
1. It covers like 90 to 95% of what Fatal Push covers, but -2/-2 kills some things that Fatal Push doesn't.
2. I expect Goblins to become the mono red deck of choice, and Kari Zev, Skyship Raider, the biggest hole in the Cast Down plan, should see less play.
3. We still need the life gain against aggro. Removal gaining life is one of UB's biggest advantages right now.
4. It's almost never a bad top deck, unlike Fatal Push. No need for Revolt. Unless Legend.dec becomes a thing, Cast Down fails way less.
I can agree with that, but you're neglecting the mana cost. A single black allows you to play more fluidly, and if you're worried about G1, a decent amount of Vraska's Contempt should get you through it.
Phyrexian Scriptures - The downside on this is probably better than Bontu's Last Reckoning. Letting things you need to kill badly (Carnage Tyrant) live a turn is very dangerous. Also opens you up to Heroic Intervention even more since they get time to prepare, though you will have mana to counter it. It also fails bad against Brontodon and Naturalize. We'll see. I plan on doing Esper (Teferi, Hero Of Dominaria and Settle The Wreckage, along with really good aggro hate), but if I go back to UB, I'll probably at least give it a chance. Also, a nonbo with The Scarab God.
If you're in trouble, like, real trouble, you'll need to tap out for this. That leaves you with no counter for the next turn and potential to blow out your saga and lose you the game. Personally, I'm steering clear of board wipes until I see a decent enough BG tokens deck running around. And have we really forgotten we have Yahenni's Expertise for those situations anyways? I feel the card fits better in a creature based midrange deck. Hell, it's great with Walking Ballista for BGx Counters.
The Esper list is very close to where I can see control decks going. Maybe 1-2 Urza's Ruinous Blast as sweepers...?
There's really no reason tho! No need to force use Blast when you have access to Settle the Wreckage or Fumigate.
I don't know what is the correct amount of lands and sources, but I just wanted to sort my thoughts out. I really like having at least 2 Field of Ruin to combat enemy utility lands, especially potential Memorial to Genius and definitely Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin, and fixes your colours a bit. Don't know the math on it, but it's probably good as an include.
I think it'll just be a matter of personal preference or how the meta shapes up. I will stay on two colors until I see a big resurgence of go-wide decks. In the current meta, board wipes are rarely necessary G1.
I am fairly keen on Esper Control, but the mana of 3 colour decks is always the issue. With the reprint of Isolated Chapel hopefully we have a chance to make it work nicely. I guess the first thing we should look at is: what is our splash colour? If we start with a brute force of all the available rare dual lands together we get this:
In 20 lands, 8 of which are guaranteed to come in tapped, the sources we have:
12 W
16 U
12 B
Blue is easiest to support as core, with potential for another main colour and then a splash. Frank Karsten recommends, if we'd like double mana symbols, to have 19 sources for T3, 18 sources for T4, and 16 sources for T5. Obviously having Disallow > Settle the Wreckage/Vraska's Contempt > Fumigate is not possible if we'd like under a reasonable amount of lands.
We are able to lean toward either Vraska's Contempt or Settle the Wreckage as our T4 play, and still have enough sources to reliably cast our powerful hay-makers in The Scarab God and Teferi, Hero of Dominaria in reasonable time, as well as having the proper mana symbols about 90% of the time to cast our T2 removal and counters provided our lands come in untapped.
The problem is the suggested above is 27 lands, which is likely not ideal.
I don't know what is the correct amount of lands and sources, but I just wanted to sort my thoughts out. I really like having at least 2 Field of Ruin to combat enemy utility lands, especially potential Memorial to Genius and definitely Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin, and fixes your colours a bit. Don't know the math on it, but it's probably good as an include.
The rest of the deck should build itself after we figure the mana part out. The nice thing is that if the meta adapts toward going wide then white as a secondary for sweepers is an option, but if the meta is about large singular threats then black for strong spot removal is also an option. This flexibility without removing the deck's core could make the deck a great choice for control moving forward. (sorry for the long post)
I totally forgot about Concealed Courtyard, because I'm a doofus. With the above dual lands and some islands we get:
I guess we can play about what we want. Mana will not be about 90% reliable, but is pretty close. The problem is lack of utility lands, however we could probably make up for it in the powerful selection of cards we get. The islands could also be Memorial to Genius as well, but we should watch our ETB tapped lands and seek to have our buddy lands come in untapped.
Sideboard depends on the meta obviously, but we get a huge choice of cards. I personally think something like Fungal Infection could be good against all the creature decks with x/1s in them and the surge of Llanowar Elves coming. Fumigate could also be SB instead of main to hedge against other control decks and crush game 2 against creature decks.
Also a note on Hieroglyphic Illumination instead of Glimmer of Genius; cycling might be necessary so as not to clog the hand with 4 CMC spells. We have extra card advantage in all of our non-land permanents, but if we never get there then it could be a problem. In this list we sacrifice power in the draw spells so we can continue to be mana efficient throughout the game.
I can agree with that, but you're neglecting the mana cost. A single black allows you to play more fluidly, and if you're worried about G1, a decent amount of Vraska's Contempt should get you through it.
I'm going Esper, so far, I will have will have max 3 T1 black sources. I'll also have Settle The Wreckage to clean up bad board states. I am not going to be the guy who loses because his opponent won the die roll and had T1 Llanowar Elves, T2 Steel Leaf Champion or Jadelight Ranger, and hit twice. If I was UB, maybe, but I also don't like having to play several Evolving Wilds to keep my Fatal Pushes "on".
If you're in trouble, like, real trouble, you'll need to tap out for this. That leaves you with no counter for the next turn and potential to blow out your saga and lose you the game. Personally, I'm steering clear of board wipes until I see a decent enough BG tokens deck running around. And have we really forgotten we have Yahenni's Expertise for those situations anyways? I feel the card fits better in a creature based midrange deck. Hell, it's great with Walking Ballista for BGx Counters.
I generally agree, but if staying UB, I feel like there needs to be at least 1 "hard" sweeper in your 75. I refuse to lose to T6 (now maybe T4 or 5) Carnage Tyrant. Commit alone isn't enough of a safety net for me.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
When playing Esper or BW Conntrol, I do fine.
It's the only deck I dislike facing. How do you guys play against it? Minus counter spells, is Lost Legacy the key card?
What Chaos021 siad is true. With UB, you have to aggressively Duress and Negate your way into keeping Drake Haven off the board. If you can do that, you pretty much win. Commit helps. Lost Legacy is crap in general, but it does help a lot if you can force it through, or catch them with shields down.
The thread is here.
I play 2 in the main and easily one of the most overperforming game 1 card.
I already mentioned that card.
3 Ravenous Chupacabra
3 Torrential Gearhulk
2 The Scarab God
2 Liliana, Death's Majesty
Counters
2 Essence Scatter
3 Disallow
2 Supreme Will
Removal
4 Fatal Push
2 Essence Extraction
4 Vraska's Contempt
2 Doomfall
2 Search For Azcanta
3 Hieroglyphic Illumination
Lands
4 Fetid Pools
4 Drowned Catacombs
4 Evolving Wilds
2 Field of Ruin
6 Swamp
6 Island
1 Lost Legacy
1 Bontu's Last Reckoning
1 Gonti, Lord of Luxury
2 Gifted Aetherborn
2 Moment of Craving
2 Duress
2 Arguel's Blood Fast
2 Negate
1 Nezahal, Primal Tide
1 Vizier of Many Faces
Managed to go 6-2 for the night, blowing the finals to really poor decision making on my part and inexperience with relatively new cards
Not sure I can list the matchups in order, but I'll try. As you can see by the results, the deck did pretty well VS a nice assortment of decks.
Match 1: Mono Red Aggro 2-1
Drew pretty good both games, but he was able to race me on G2. G1 was a complete overkill, Fataling all his little aggro creatures and countering Hazoret and the final Khari Zev he needed, stabilized with Vraska's on his Khenras. G3 he drew too many uncolored lands to be a threat and closed the game with Scarab.
Match 2: Naya Dinos 2-0
Pretty straightforward. Let the small dudes hit me and saved the counters for the real deal. The variety in the removal suite also allowed for some really nice curve decisions, granted that won't always happen. G2 he kept a questionable hand with 3 tribal lands and lost game himself.
Match 3: BW Vampires 2-0
G1 was a pretty cool win, went down to 2 life and slowly climbed back up. Had real issues with his token spells early, and by the time I could close the game out I had 4 cards left in my library. G2, after I streamlined my removal he couldn't get enough aggro up to be a danger: overcommited with his lords and I blew them all up with Bontu's, then stabilized with lifegain.
Match 4: BR Vehicles 1-2
Tough MU, as described above. Interacting with his artifacts on my main deck package was pretty hard, so I lost G1 fast. G2 I got the sideboard I needed and came back, but G3 he landed Hook of Condemnation and I lost too much fuel.
off to Top 8!
Match 5: Cycling 2-0
Hadn't fought against the deck, but it went more or less as expected. G1 he killed himself during his combo, G2 I surprised him with some bold moves, such as tapping out for my Scarab God assuming he boarded Negates in. He tried to hurry up and resolved an Approach, but he ran out of draw and I prevented his combo from coming online, so he couldn't cast the second one. Killed him 2 turns after he played Approach.
Match 6: Mardu Vehicles 2-0
Pretty much same issues and caveats as the other Vehicles match, but his deck was a little less consistent.
Match 7: Sultai Energy 1-2
No one to blame this on but me. I was ahead 1 game, and underestimated his ability to put pressure back on with just 2 small creatures. I also wasn't familiar with Hadana's Climb. I casted some pretty crappy Bontu's, and it lost me both games.
Closing Thoughts:
I think the deck's shortcomings can be attributed to my lack of practice with the deck and inexperience with the Rivals cards of enemy decks. The games I lost felt fair, and could've been won if I played my lines a little differently and more conservatively.
Essence Extraction feels a little awkward, and I think the main is too heavy on creature hate as is. Most of the other cards do the same job anyways, so I think I'll put in one more Disallow and Illumination for them.
I'm feeling a little underwhelmed with Legacy and Bontu's. I'd like to try out Yahenni's, but I want to know about other people's experiences with it in the current format. Also, just wondering: has anyone tried Tetzimoc, Primal Death in something other than Commander with positive results?
I'd appreciate any feedback or comments on my list, and the overall direction of the archetype. Thanks in advance!
I'm interested in your creature/PW mix. I'd been running a list with 3 Hostage Takers and 2 Lilis for a while, but then went back to the "traditional" God/Hulk only route. Do you think that your list gets more of an advantage? You've made me want to try running the list with some number of Gontis in the main just for hilarity...
Thanks! I still feel bad about it tho, since I just can't help myself and stop being patient and reactive when I see my opponent draw no lands for 3 turns.
I think the problem with Lost Legacy is not that there's no targets, it's that there's too many and you can't really tap out expecting to grab something really, really good. We're not in Aetherworks Marvel // Saheeli Rai territory anymore, where a well planted Legacy could pretty much dismantle the deck. I think we need to minimize sorcery speed cards in general, and just let Doomfall deal with Carnage Tyrant, Approach of the Second Sun, etc.
I'm pretty happy with the ratios there. The selling point for me was the printing of Ravenous Chupacabra, which to me justifies having Liliana in the deck at all. She turns all of your creatures into flashback gods, and can pretty much land a threat and get rid of one on the same turn with the right combination of cards. What's even better, her reanimates don't exile when they die leading to fancy loops with The Scarab God and awesome synergy in the form of zombie production. I'd say it's still a matter of choice, tho.
I'm thinking of trying for 2 Tetzimoc, Primal Death (in the sideboard most likely), for grindy stuff like BG Snake and take out Bontu's Last Reckoning. That card lost me my two final games (half the card, half my idiocy I guess) and it's too much of a gamble for me to get attached to it. I get that you're supposed to stall and land it on land drop 5+, but I'd still like more reactive options.
Final note on Hostage Taker: I don't really enjoy removal that can bite you in the ass, I like my creatures doing stuff on ETB and then not worrying about them dying later. Even if you save 7 mana to rock Hostage and counter, she's still open next turn and you're tapped out, which loses you a creature and leaves them right where they started.
For me, Phyrexian Scriptures seems to be the certain replacement for Bontu's Last Reckoning, especially based on the idea that Torrysan mentions above - Reckoning is better dropped on 5+, which would be when Scriptures would go off... Of course, the list of cards below is UB-centric. It could be that Esper may become feasible, splashing for Urza's Ruinous Blast, Teferi, etc.
Copied over from the thread I had in SNCD, here's the cards that I've seen that could be interesting... Bold = probably close to certain inclusions, Italic = possibles, Normal - looks like fun, probably not worth it.
Blue
Syncopate - useful scaleable counter spell, that exiles too. Likely a certain inclusion as it can deal with Scarab God and eternalize/embalm creatures.
Unwind - a "free" Negate, but costs one more to start with. Possible one-of?
Divination - A reprint that has been often used in control decks. May not fit in a reactive deck, but could be good for tap-out.
Blink of an Eye - may not replace Commit // Memory, but is could be an option with kicker.
Deep Freeze - sideboard card for Scarab Gods?
Precognition Field - most likely jank, but tempting to try. Doesn't work well with Search, but in the late game allows filtering etc.
Black
Cast Down - this could likely going to replace Moment of Craving in the main, as it's a guaranteed kill (against nonlegendaries). Means we can save Contempt for the key cards like Hazoret and TSG. Potentially even a 3-4-of, and a reduction on Essence Scatter? Depends on how legend heavy decks become.
Phyrexian Scriptures - article on SCG talking about this card on 10 Apr. Could be underrated.
Dark Bargain - possible... Sees one more than Hieroglyphic Illumination, although the cycling is nice early.
Demonlord Belzenlok - a one-of top end?
Josu Vess, Lich Knight - a one-of top end?
Rite of Belzenlok - possibly a sideboard card to be used as a finisher in control mirrors?
Gold
Rona, Disciple of Gix - again, probably jank, but could be interesting connected with Precognition Field.
Colorless
Karn, Scion of Urza - Could he be worth it solely for card advantage? It's not that likely to get a strong -2. Of course, once you've stabilised, you only need 3-4 turns to churn out a huge amount of damage from the tokens (assuming he's been around +1ing for a while).
Land
Memorial to Genius - another draw "spell" that is easier on the mana base than Arch of Orazca, although Arch is reusable.
Zhalfirin Void - harkens back to the Theros Temples, but doesn't CIPT, and is colorless.
Memorial to Folly - return a Gearhulk or a Scarab God? Seems ok...
My only problem with that card is that it still leaves alone some true staple cards in the format, Scrapheap Scrounger and Walking Ballista. Granted you can still take care of them with other cards, but I'd like my 5 mana wipe to actually wipe. Also, unless post SB, the first ability is pretty much dead in most cases.
It's a great time to be control with these 2 prints. I don't think we've had such counter variety since Ojutai Control, so I'll definitely include a number of both in my lists.
I think I'm good with Hieroglyphic Illumination, but I can see some people buying in.
Hmmm, I'm not sure how much of a spot vanilla 2-cost bounce spells have in the current meta... Besides, Commit can deal with Carnage Tyrant, which this one cannot.
Would rather just Vraska's Contempt it, personally.
Could see uses for it, but the mana cost is steeeeeep. You'd sell me if it had flash, but that would probably bust it.
Overall, I think the Tezzeret variant gets more out of blue than we do, but those counters are more than enough.
Definitely down for this one. Much more versatility and Fatal Push takes care of stuff like Kari Zev, Skyship Raider. Only worried about the life gain loss vs aggressive matchups, but we just move Moment of Craving to the SB then.
Unfortunately, I'm a sucker for Read the Bones style cards. I'll probably split 2 and 2.
I really like this card. I'd prefer having it in the yard every time tho, since it's kind of a win-more card and casting it for 6 on curve doesn't seem viable to me. I'm already struggling with including Tetzimoc, Primal Death as another bomb, so we'll see if this guy makes the cut.
Honestly think it's meant for mono black: at least in my shell, with my heavier lean on reanimation, I'll pass on this card.
Why not for aggro too? it gives you crappy blockers that they can't really interact with efficiently, buys you time and lands a threat. Doesn't count as legendary either, right? so in theory, you could just sideboard a bunch in and chain them and hit him with flyers. Vehicles risks losing their important ships and Hazoret has problems interacting with flyers if you play it right.
No thoughts on The Eldest Reborn? I'll admit it's reaaaaally slow, but if you can crack the third mode and have your GY set up nicely, you could get a massive swing. Torrential Gearhulk or Liliana, Death's Majesty + Torrential Gearhulk//Ravenous Chupacabra. 1 PW and a creature down, for no mana. Spend your mana on a second Gearhulk or keep it open.
Agreed, probably won't be touching that.
Ehhh, I think I'll pass on it too. The mana cost is really nice for the curve, but the borderline useless -2 makes me think twice.
Like all of them except for the colorless one. What would we sub out for them tho, Evolving Wilds?
EDIT: I'll probably be starting with something similar to this:
2 Ravenous Chupacabra
1 Tetzimoc, Primal Death
3 Torrential Gearhulk
2 The Scarab God
2 Liliana, Death's Majesty
Counters
2 Essence Scatter
3 Disallow
2 Supreme Will
2 Syncopate
Removal
4 Fatal Push
2 Cast Down
3 Vraska's Contempt
2 Search For Azcanta
2 Hieroglyphic Illumination
2 Dark Bargain
Lands
4 Fetid Pools
4 Drowned Catacombs
2 Memorial to Folly
1 Memorial to Genius
2 Evolving Wilds
1 Field of Ruin
6 Swamp
6 Island
2 Unwind
1 Gonti, Lord of Luxury
2 Gifted Aetherborn
2 Moment of Craving
2 Duress
2 Arguel's Blood Fast
2 Negate
1 Nezahal, Primal Tide
1 Vizier of Many Faces
Only thing that worries me is no real main deck response to Tyrant and really bad G1s in the mirror. But honestly, I don't expect to see it that much, so I'll try death dino first; if it blows, I'll just cut 1 death dino and 1 Dark Bargain for the 2 good ol' Doomfall.
My 2 cents...
Syncopate - Good, but what does it replace? I can't see not playing Disallow because of the utility, and the flat mana cost. Also, Syncopate totally falls apart when you miss land drops...and crap in the control mirror.
Unwind - I wish it was Rewind, but I'll take it. Not being able to Negate on T2 is bad, but otherwise, it's all upside. Unwind, untap, Glimmer Of Genius will probably break games...
Cast Down - Call me crazy, but I think it replaces Fatal Push before Moment Of Craving. I know, I know, hear me out...
1. It covers like 90 to 95% of what Fatal Push covers, but -2/-2 kills some things that Fatal Push doesn't.
2. I expect Goblins to become the mono red deck of choice, and Kari Zev, Skyship Raider, the biggest hole in the Cast Down plan, should see less play.
3. We still need the life gain against aggro. Removal gaining life is one of UB's biggest advantages right now.
4. It's almost never a bad top deck, unlike Fatal Push. No need for Revolt. Unless Legend.dec becomes a thing, Cast Down fails way less.
Phyrexian Scriptures - The downside on this is probably better than Bontu's Last Reckoning. Letting things you need to kill badly (Carnage Tyrant) live a turn is very dangerous. Also opens you up to Heroic Intervention even more since they get time to prepare, though you will have mana to counter it. It also fails bad against Brontodon and Naturalize. We'll see. I plan on doing Esper (Teferi, Hero Of Dominaria and Settle The Wreckage, along with really good aggro hate), but if I go back to UB, I'll probably at least give it a chance. Also, a nonbo with The Scarab God.
Karn, Scion Of Urza - IMO, totally overrated outside of dedicated artifact decks. Another reason I want to play Esper, I see Vehicles, or some new variant, making a HUGE comeback on Karn's back.
Memorial To Genius - Yes please. I love Arch Of Orazca in two color, I think this is way better in three color.
Memorial To Folly - Also yes. Being able to run out creatures with less risk, as well as overload opponent's removal sound great. Lessens their ability to win by stopping The Scarab God.
2 The Scarab God
Enchantment
3 Cast Out
2 Seal Away
Land
4 Island
2 Plains
3 Swamp
2 Irrigated Farmland
2 Fetid Pools
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Isolated Chapel
3 Torrential Gearhulk
Instant
3 Disallow
3 Fatal Push
2 Essence Scatter
4 Hieroglyphic Illumination
2 Commit // Memory
2 Supreme Will
2 Cast Down
2 Unwind
3 Syncopate
Planeswalker
2 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
2 Baral, Chief of Compliance
2 Gonti, Lord of Luxury
2 Ravenous Chupacabra
3 Negate
2 Moment of Craving
2 Doomfall
2 Duress
This is what I am thinking of starting with once Dominaria is released. Outside of 4 cards every non-land can be played on their turn. I've opted for a white splash to get access to Seal Away and Cast Out for removal and Teferi, Hero of Dominaria as a strong, must be answered threat. Cast Out also has the ability to be cycled away, if needed. This is by no means the final product and I can already see a few possible changes that I might want to make once I can use the cards.
Standard - Some kind of control
Modern - UB Mill (casual)
EDH - Meren's Grave Shenanigans
Until I get my hands on some UW lands (Teferi is an interest to me as well), I'm sticking with the UB list. Something like this...
2 The Scarab God
3 Torrential Gearhulk
Spells (26)
3 Fatal Push
2 Syncopate
3 Cast Down
2 Essence Scatter
3 Disallow
1 Supreme Will
1 Unwind
3 Glimmer of Genius
2 Hieroglyphic Illumination
1 Mastermind's Acquisition
3 Vraska's Contempt
2 Commit // Memory
2 Search for Azcanta
1 Phyrexian Scriptures
Lands (26)
3 Aether Hub
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Fetid Pools
2 Field of Ruin
5 Island
2 Memorial to Genius
6 Swamp
1 Deadeye Tracker
2 Duress
1 Arguel's Blood Fast
3 Contraband Kingpin
2 Moment of Craving
2 Negate
1 Golden Demise
2 Phyrexian Scriptures
1 Nezahal, Primal Tide
Standard - Some kind of control
Modern - UB Mill (casual)
EDH - Meren's Grave Shenanigans
No Search For Azcanta? Card is bonkers.
Yes. I refuse to play any Legendary Sorceries. If they counted all permanent types, Search For Azcanta would probably make them viable, but a couple of Teferis and a couple Scarab Gods are way too risky to hinge games on, especially for your sweeper. Why would you want Urza's Ruinous Blast over Settle The Wreckage any way? It exiles, and is instant. Also, It doesn't leave your opponents legendary creatures back to keep killing you...
Standard - Some kind of control
Modern - UB Mill (casual)
EDH - Meren's Grave Shenanigans
In 20 lands, 8 of which are guaranteed to come in tapped, the sources we have:
12 W
16 U
12 B
Blue is easiest to support as core, with potential for another main colour and then a splash. Frank Karsten recommends, if we'd like double mana symbols, to have 19 sources for T3, 18 sources for T4, and 16 sources for T5. Obviously having Disallow > Settle the Wreckage/Vraska's Contempt > Fumigate is not possible if we'd like under a reasonable amount of lands.
Additionally, it leaves little room for any utility lands such as Field of Ruin, Arch of Orazca, or the new Memorial to Genius.
If we keep the above and add in:
Total Sources:
19 U
17 W OR B
15 W OR B
Desired Minimum Sources:
19 Primary for T3 Disallow
18 Secondary for double coloured T4 Settle the Wreckage OR Vraska's Contempt
13 Tertiary for single coloured T2 plays like Seal Away, Cast Down, etc.
We are able to lean toward either Vraska's Contempt or Settle the Wreckage as our T4 play, and still have enough sources to reliably cast our powerful hay-makers in The Scarab God and Teferi, Hero of Dominaria in reasonable time, as well as having the proper mana symbols about 90% of the time to cast our T2 removal and counters provided our lands come in untapped.
The problem is the suggested above is 27 lands, which is likely not ideal.
I don't know what is the correct amount of lands and sources, but I just wanted to sort my thoughts out. I really like having at least 2 Field of Ruin to combat enemy utility lands, especially potential Memorial to Genius and definitely Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin, and fixes your colours a bit. Don't know the math on it, but it's probably good as an include.
The rest of the deck should build itself after we figure the mana part out. The nice thing is that if the meta adapts toward going wide then white as a secondary for sweepers is an option, but if the meta is about large singular threats then black for strong spot removal is also an option. This flexibility without removing the deck's core could make the deck a great choice for control moving forward. (sorry for the long post)
I can agree with that, but you're neglecting the mana cost. A single black allows you to play more fluidly, and if you're worried about G1, a decent amount of Vraska's Contempt should get you through it.
If you're in trouble, like, real trouble, you'll need to tap out for this. That leaves you with no counter for the next turn and potential to blow out your saga and lose you the game. Personally, I'm steering clear of board wipes until I see a decent enough BG tokens deck running around. And have we really forgotten we have Yahenni's Expertise for those situations anyways? I feel the card fits better in a creature based midrange deck. Hell, it's great with Walking Ballista for BGx Counters.
There's really no reason tho! No need to force use Blast when you have access to Settle the Wreckage or Fumigate.
I think it'll just be a matter of personal preference or how the meta shapes up. I will stay on two colors until I see a big resurgence of go-wide decks. In the current meta, board wipes are rarely necessary G1.
I totally forgot about Concealed Courtyard, because I'm a doofus. With the above dual lands and some islands we get:
Sources:
16 W
18 U
16 B
I guess we can play about what we want. Mana will not be about 90% reliable, but is pretty close. The problem is lack of utility lands, however we could probably make up for it in the powerful selection of cards we get. The islands could also be Memorial to Genius as well, but we should watch our ETB tapped lands and seek to have our buddy lands come in untapped.
4 Isolated Chapel
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Fetid Pools
4 Irrigated Farmland
4 Concealed Courtyard
2 Island
Non-land Permanents (8)
2 Search for Azcanta
2 The Scarab God
1 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
3 Torrential Gearhulk
4 Fatal Push
3 Essence Scatter
2 Seal Away
2 Cast Down
3 Disallow
2 Syncopate
4 Vraska's Contempt
2 Settle the Wreckage
4 Hieroglyphic Illumination
2 Fungal Infection
2 Duress
2 Fumigate
1 Profane Procession
1 Nezahal, Primal Tide
2 Negate
2 Contraband Kingpin
1 Gonti, Lord of Luxury
2 Ixalan's Binding
Sideboard depends on the meta obviously, but we get a huge choice of cards. I personally think something like Fungal Infection could be good against all the creature decks with x/1s in them and the surge of Llanowar Elves coming. Fumigate could also be SB instead of main to hedge against other control decks and crush game 2 against creature decks.
Also a note on Hieroglyphic Illumination instead of Glimmer of Genius; cycling might be necessary so as not to clog the hand with 4 CMC spells. We have extra card advantage in all of our non-land permanents, but if we never get there then it could be a problem. In this list we sacrifice power in the draw spells so we can continue to be mana efficient throughout the game.
I'm going Esper, so far, I will have will have max 3 T1 black sources. I'll also have Settle The Wreckage to clean up bad board states. I am not going to be the guy who loses because his opponent won the die roll and had T1 Llanowar Elves, T2 Steel Leaf Champion or Jadelight Ranger, and hit twice. If I was UB, maybe, but I also don't like having to play several Evolving Wilds to keep my Fatal Pushes "on".
I generally agree, but if staying UB, I feel like there needs to be at least 1 "hard" sweeper in your 75. I refuse to lose to T6 (now maybe T4 or 5) Carnage Tyrant. Commit alone isn't enough of a safety net for me.