No, it doesn't hurt Metamorph or Image, because those are "as they come into play" abilities, not "enter the battlefield" abilities.
I checked out the list. It seems extremely solid. I don't agree with the 8 clones in the deck, but he seemed to do well with them. I think that it should be included in the Primer under the Grand Architect strategy. It seemed to focus more on GA than I'm comfortable with, but it seems like a viable deck.
Now, back to Torpor Orb... I think that its a good sideboard card for us. For people who include GA in their deck, they can easily pop it out T3 off a GA, before Valakut can drop a Primeval Titan. That way they don't lose tempo but hinder their opponent's strategy. Also stops the other Titans, specifically Grave, Inferno, Frost, and Sun (oh wait... that's all of them ). I liked the 4x Mental Misstep, but the rest of the SB seemed pretty terrible. I also didn't agree with his lack of removal in the MD and all his cantrip cards (3x Gitaxian Probe, 2x Ponder, and 4x Preordain!!??); I agree with his use of Preordain, because that deck wants to dig for clones or Wurmcoil Engines, but I think that the deck is diluted by all the dig. What do you all think?
Edit: Actually, I reread the cards. I'm probably wrong about Torpor Orb. I'll let an official judge rule on that one. It's late.
Edit 2: Okay, so I was wrong about the specific wording, but right about the conclusion. Torpor Orb doesn't stop the clones, and can be a awesome here, stopping titans, hawks, and exarchs.
Torpor Orb is there for Twin. You thankfully have a deck that gets on the board quick enough for the turn they are forced to spend on Orb to make it useful. I don't really see it coming in for any other matchup. 8 clones let the deck go all-in on the Unreal draw, and all that digging helps you find an Unreal all the faster. G-Probe also lets you scout out on turn 1 to see what you're up against and play accordingly. I'll be MODOing this list as soon as I get some of the cards from friends, but I've already seen it lose to Caw in the Tournament Practice room so it doesn't look like it steamrolls the deck all the time like it did on stream.
The really tough matchups look to be Goblins, RDW, and Twin. None of these look to be unwinnable, though, as a quick start with one or two counterspells as backup seems to spell doom for most decks. If I had to equate this list to anything I think it most resembles old school U/G Madness.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"If you are flammable and have legs, you are never blocking a fire exit."
"A severed foot is the ultimate stocking stuffer."
"I love you guys, thanks for comin' to my special."
- Mitch Hedburg (1968-2005)
We love you too Mitch, we love you too.
"Girls are like Voltron: the more you stick together, the better it gets." SE
In a deck that runs so many creatures, have you considered splashing green for Lead the Stampede? Many lists are already running fetchlands for Ponder, so swapping out two islands for two forest and getting Lead the Stampede in there could be really strong.
Clones dont have a enter the battlefield effect which triggers when they etb but a replacement effect. They enter the battlefield already as the creature you choose to copy.
I have question about Phantasmal image. As I play Image, does my opponent have a chance to respond, like killing a creature, before I choose what Image copies?
theres a 5-0 illusions deck atm in chicago 75k tourney
They played the deck on MODO for a bit. I don't agree with that build. Too many Phantasmal Dragons. I think the best part about the SCG list is that it has room for a bunch of counterspells but also has the mana to play them while staying aggressive.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"If you are flammable and have legs, you are never blocking a fire exit."
"A severed foot is the ultimate stocking stuffer."
"I love you guys, thanks for comin' to my special."
- Mitch Hedburg (1968-2005)
We love you too Mitch, we love you too.
"Girls are like Voltron: the more you stick together, the better it gets." SE
After a bit of testing, that SCG illusion deck is really good against the top tier decks. It beats UB, Caw-Blade, Splinter Twin, Pod and most anything that tries to be controlling. It really only has problems with RDW and jank aggro.
It's funny to see how people are playing this on MOL right now. Last night I played vs 2 mirror matches. I have a list a couple pages back that used Metamorph/Wurmcoil Engine instead of Automaton and everyone here scoffed at it. I still use 3 Metamorph main and 1 Dragon. I'm sure some so-called pro will do an article on this deck soon, since it is showing decent numbers. It's funny how even the pros didn't give this strategy a chance. All they were doing is sticking with the many different ways to make decks that were already proven better.
I just played the control/aggro Illusions deck this past Sat and beat Caw-Blade, Pod and poison Counters. the only deck I had trouble with was a black/blue Grave titan deck.
I find the control handles Pod a lot better than Aggro/wurm. My dragons are what gave it the biggest problem as my opponent didn't have any flying creatures besides BOP.
The Poison counter deck just couldn't deal enough. It got close when I had 9 poison counters on me. Again though the dragons were to much for him.
I can't, can't, can't can't keep illusion cards in my trade binder right now!
Everyone's building the deck. I keep trying to get it together via trades but people keep offering me more for the cards I gather, deals too good to refuse!
Curses, this is as bad as when I built the Sovereigns of Lost Alara deck (which later became Mythic Conscription once Eldrazi Conscription came out) and I couldn't even get enough pieces f the deck together to play it!
Unfortunately this is the way of the world now. Let someone else create a masterpiece than copy it. Well, we were working together to make the deck better, so sooner or later the word was going to get out. Just watch for all the new articles that will appear now.
Phantasmal Image is getting hot at my shop. About a week after everyone traded them to, they're all trying to trade to get a few copies. Thankfully after trading to get 4, I ended up pulling 3 more in a few drafts.
I'm hoping that Innistrad has a few cards that might make Illusion based decks even better.
Yeah I stopped into a couple of shops to pick up my last copy and found they were sold out in all but one shop, and I picked up the last one for $5. Lord is also gaining price, but I've got farther to go since I need all 4. Interestingly, shops are selling the illusions Event Deck for around $15... might be worth gobbling those up, esp if the Phantasmal Image keep gaining.
Are Æther Adept or [CARD]Neurok Invisimancer
[/CARD] viable in an aggro build?
Not at all.
Adept isn't an illusion and will end up being less helpful than just about any other illusion considering you're dropping 3 mana for just a 2/2 in aggro. Even if it was worth playing, it would be a sideboard card at best.
And the Invisimancer... don't play it unless you enjoy the idea of blowing up your own creatures.
FNM last friday, went 2-0-1 because I had to leave to pickup my girlfriend so I drew with one of my friends so he would get better tiebreaks(this also screwed the end results of the tournament, someone who was 2-2 ended up getting 3 packs).
Anyways, beat Venser-Control because essentially my deck is Venser/Illusion control. Thus, similar game plan, but faster results. Beat All-In-Fect(Tec-Edge and Mental Misstep were two champs in that game) which was ironically my deck I loaned to a friend, so i knew exact decklist/guessed his sideboard strategy. Unfair advantage, I guess. But yea, third match was against U/R/G Pod, game 1 was quick, game 2 became disgusting because I got stuck on 4mana. Game 3 I had him on the ropes but I got a phone call and he didn't want to play fast enough to let me take the win and ID/concede the 4th round and end up with some product to pick up next friday(in retropect, 2-1-1 would have still gotten me product).
But yea, U/W Illusions+Venser is looking pretty good.
That's the link to the decklist. Looks like a fairly simple mono-U Architect build.
Torpor Orb feels weird in the sideboard- does that not break Image and Metamorph?
4 Phyrexian Metamorph
2 Wurmcoil Engine
Creatures
4 Grand Architect
4 Lord of the Unreal
4 Phantasmal Bear
4 Phantasmal Image
Enchantments
2 Spreading Seas
Instants
3 Mana Leak
3 Spell Pierce
3 Gitaxian Probe
2 Ponder
4 Preordain
Basic Lands
14 Island
Lands
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Scalding Tarn
2 Tectonic Edge
2 Torpor Orb
1 Tumble Magnet
2 Spreading Seas
3 Flashfreeze
1 Into the Roil
4 Mental Misstep
2 Vapor Snag
Apparently it beat down Caw-Blade.
On a side not I haven't read through this primer, but I feel like Summoner's Bane could be some super secret tech.
Playing:
Modern:
BWEldrazi and TaxesBW
Legacy:
WEldraziW
I checked out the list. It seems extremely solid. I don't agree with the 8 clones in the deck, but he seemed to do well with them. I think that it should be included in the Primer under the Grand Architect strategy. It seemed to focus more on GA than I'm comfortable with, but it seems like a viable deck.
Now, back to Torpor Orb... I think that its a good sideboard card for us. For people who include GA in their deck, they can easily pop it out T3 off a GA, before Valakut can drop a Primeval Titan. That way they don't lose tempo but hinder their opponent's strategy. Also stops the other Titans, specifically Grave, Inferno, Frost, and Sun (oh wait... that's all of them ). I liked the 4x Mental Misstep, but the rest of the SB seemed pretty terrible. I also didn't agree with his lack of removal in the MD and all his cantrip cards (3x Gitaxian Probe, 2x Ponder, and 4x Preordain!!??); I agree with his use of Preordain, because that deck wants to dig for clones or Wurmcoil Engines, but I think that the deck is diluted by all the dig. What do you all think?
Edit: Actually, I reread the cards. I'm probably wrong about Torpor Orb. I'll let an official judge rule on that one. It's late.
Edit 2: Okay, so I was wrong about the specific wording, but right about the conclusion. Torpor Orb doesn't stop the clones, and can be a awesome here, stopping titans, hawks, and exarchs.
Here's a link to one of the ruling pages on Torpor orb vs. Phyrexian Metamorph http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=331487&highlight=torpor+orb
The really tough matchups look to be Goblins, RDW, and Twin. None of these look to be unwinnable, though, as a quick start with one or two counterspells as backup seems to spell doom for most decks. If I had to equate this list to anything I think it most resembles old school U/G Madness.
"A severed foot is the ultimate stocking stuffer."
"I love you guys, thanks for comin' to my special."
- Mitch Hedburg (1968-2005)
We love you too Mitch, we love you too.
"Girls are like Voltron: the more you stick together, the better it gets." SE
UTeferi, Mage of ZhalfirU
xKarn, Silver Golemx
WUBRGSliver OverlordWUBRG
UBCircu, Dimir LobotomistUB
UMistform UltimusU
Thurn 1v1
Pauper EDH
Sage of Fables
Nivix Guildmage
Agent of Masks
Airdrop Condor
Imperious Perfect
Selesnya Guildmage
Orzhov Guildmage
Jund Battlemage
Standard
Modern
Booby Trap
Disciple Tinkets
They played the deck on MODO for a bit. I don't agree with that build. Too many Phantasmal Dragons. I think the best part about the SCG list is that it has room for a bunch of counterspells but also has the mana to play them while staying aggressive.
"A severed foot is the ultimate stocking stuffer."
"I love you guys, thanks for comin' to my special."
- Mitch Hedburg (1968-2005)
We love you too Mitch, we love you too.
"Girls are like Voltron: the more you stick together, the better it gets." SE
That is awesome. Do you have a list?
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4 Lord of the Unreal
4 Phantasmal Bear
4 Phantasmal Dragon
4 Phantasmal Image
4 Renegade Doppelganger
4 Mana Leak
4 Ponder
4 Preordain
4 Spell Pierce
19 Island
4 Tectonic Edge
4 Flashfreeze
3 Mental Misstep
4 Neurok Commando
4 Spellskite
I find the control handles Pod a lot better than Aggro/wurm. My dragons are what gave it the biggest problem as my opponent didn't have any flying creatures besides BOP.
The Poison counter deck just couldn't deal enough. It got close when I had 9 poison counters on me. Again though the dragons were to much for him.
UTeferi, Mage of ZhalfirU
xKarn, Silver Golemx
WUBRGSliver OverlordWUBRG
UBCircu, Dimir LobotomistUB
UMistform UltimusU
Thurn 1v1
Pauper EDH
Sage of Fables
Nivix Guildmage
Agent of Masks
Airdrop Condor
Imperious Perfect
Selesnya Guildmage
Orzhov Guildmage
Jund Battlemage
Standard
Modern
Booby Trap
Disciple Tinkets
Everyone's building the deck. I keep trying to get it together via trades but people keep offering me more for the cards I gather, deals too good to refuse!
Curses, this is as bad as when I built the Sovereigns of Lost Alara deck (which later became Mythic Conscription once Eldrazi Conscription came out) and I couldn't even get enough pieces f the deck together to play it!
*laughs*
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Sig-Heroes of the Plane
I'm hoping that Innistrad has a few cards that might make Illusion based decks even better.
UTeferi, Mage of ZhalfirU
xKarn, Silver Golemx
WUBRGSliver OverlordWUBRG
UBCircu, Dimir LobotomistUB
UMistform UltimusU
Thurn 1v1
Pauper EDH
Sage of Fables
Nivix Guildmage
Agent of Masks
Airdrop Condor
Imperious Perfect
Selesnya Guildmage
Orzhov Guildmage
Jund Battlemage
Standard
Modern
Booby Trap
Disciple Tinkets
Not at all.
Adept isn't an illusion and will end up being less helpful than just about any other illusion considering you're dropping 3 mana for just a 2/2 in aggro. Even if it was worth playing, it would be a sideboard card at best.
And the Invisimancer... don't play it unless you enjoy the idea of blowing up your own creatures.
Modern:
Bant Eldrazi
Merfolk
Abzan Company
EDH:
Mono-Green Omnath
Mono-White Odric Soup
Mono-Blue Muzzio
Mono-Red Feldon
Before it isn't cool anymore...
Working on trading and buying the cards now.
Going for the Blue & White version to start out.
Anyways, beat Venser-Control because essentially my deck is Venser/Illusion control. Thus, similar game plan, but faster results. Beat All-In-Fect(Tec-Edge and Mental Misstep were two champs in that game) which was ironically my deck I loaned to a friend, so i knew exact decklist/guessed his sideboard strategy. Unfair advantage, I guess. But yea, third match was against U/R/G Pod, game 1 was quick, game 2 became disgusting because I got stuck on 4mana. Game 3 I had him on the ropes but I got a phone call and he didn't want to play fast enough to let me take the win and ID/concede the 4th round and end up with some product to pick up next friday(in retropect, 2-1-1 would have still gotten me product).
But yea, U/W Illusions+Venser is looking pretty good.
Thanks to syndarion of Aeternal Studios for the awesome Sig.
Standard: MWLC All-InFect Illusion Control(MTGO)
EDH(MODO): :symg::symu::symb:The Mimeoplasm:symg::symu::symb: 6-2-0 in 4player