I personally like Horribly Awry, almost better than Void Shatter. Its at that beautiful 2 cmc spot, and it is just awesome to get rid of a lot of peskies. I mean, the only real cards that beat it that we dont like are Avacyn, Ramp Guys, and Reality Smasher.
Brain in a Jar I definitely am going to include in my main list the next few times, it just seems too good, especially with the Day's Undoing Recycling. Probably only as a 2-of though.
I think I am going to try and make these changes to my main list.
I may end up switching back to Calc Dis as sometimes I really like letting them pay the extra mana, then casting a bounce lol, and the scry is nice. But I want to try this.
I'm a bit concerned about mill, I faced it one time on FNM and two times online. That's why I like Void Shatter - it exiles Sphinx's Tutelage and 4 days provides more protection.
Yes, I did it! I cast Days for 1 mana with Brain on opponents upkeep to mess their hand and recharge mine. It works as expected, Days goes to GY. Opponent conceded...
And after that didn't win a single game, either mana screwed or flooded every time.
Played 4 games last night. Lost all four and I'll try and recap as best as possible:
M1 vs. Mono White Humans - Deck was just too fast for me to do anything. Sideboarded in the 2 Horrible Awrys but it was just too hard keeping all of their creatures off of the board.
M2 vs. Bant Company - Couldn't get my Fevered Visions to stay on the board because of Dromoka's Command g1 and didn't draw another. Game two I protected Fevered Visions, countered Collected Company every time unless I had an Engulf the Shores to send it all back to his hand, and would have won the game but ran out of time.
M3 vs. RG Werewolves - Had hasty creatures that made bouncing creatures both games useless. Could never setup the board properly to actually 'control' the game. Another super aggro deck that I couldn't keep up with.
M4 vs. 3c Planeswalkers - Won g1. Was able to get two Fevered Visions out in play however, his deck was running Shambling Vents and Linvala, the Preserver so negating the lifelink was a pain at the end of the game. G2 he was able to use Anguished Unmaking to get rid of the only Fevered Visions I got out and I couldn't keep up with countering his planeswalkers. G3 I never drew Fevered Visions and again wasn't able to keep his planeswalkers off the field.
Notes:
Opponent lifelink and life gain can be a pain to deal with.
Super aggro is such a bad matchup for the deck.
This deck needs another win condition. It is too difficult to win using Fevered Visions by itself. Thing in the Ice and Chandra, Flamecaller should strongly be considered in the main deck going forward (Thing can chump block aggro decks and Chandra is a good finisher with her +1. I don't think having double red by turn 6-9 should be a problem.)
Or, the deck needs to have a way to guarantee a Fevered Visions is played by turn 5
Brain in a Jar felt underwhelming when I got it on the board but I never got the card out early so I'm willing to give it another chance.
To fit 2 Chandra's in the deck, I was thinking -1 Prism Ring and -1 Day's Undoing or just removing Brain in a Jar. I'll leave the rest for discussion and I'll try to answer questions if you have any.
Also wanted to say that the deck was super fun to play and the guys who I played against liked the deck. They all said the deck was missing another win condition and the two cards that were mentioned were Chandra, Flamecaller and Thing in the Ice. That is why I am suggesting those two cards.
I was going to say, I usually havent had too much trouble against super aggro. Its rough sometimes, but usually manageable, and definitely deflates them.
TITI is an amazing card, but it turns on a handful of removal they'd be sitting on usually, and even when it flips, isnt that hard to kill. I'd rather put in Sphinx of the Final Word if we are going to put in any creatures. Keeps their removal blanked. Another decent maybe creature would be Thunderbreak Regent, its effect would be very nice, sure, you can get rid of some cards in your hand, but, youll take damage to do it.
I could see how Brain in a Jar could be too slow, but I dunno, maybe its a SB card and only good in the slower matchups.
Chandra, Flamecaller is definitely a monster of a finisher, and helps control. I could see putting her as a 1 of. Perhaps up Void Shatter back to a 3-of and take out the two Brain in a Jar for 1 Chandra
I've been having a lot of success with Chandra, Flamecaller as a 1 of. I take out 1 Day's Undoing for her and run a second in the sideboard. I find it really helps as a secondary win condition and helps a lot with those grindy matches. Finding her isn't a problem either with all the draw we have going. And man, Circle of Flame would be the greatest. Lets hope for a reprint in Eldritch Moon!
Another decent maybe creature would be Thunderbreak Regent, its effect would be very nice, sure, you can get rid of some cards in your hand, but, youll take damage to do it.
I was also thinking about Thunderbreak Regent today, but double-red cost is a problem. I have 9 red sources in my deck and a lot of times I find the second one only at the late game.
Earlier I said that I don't like to bring mill into this deck, but I'm testing it today. It's not so bad as I expected - mill happens much faster than 20 damage and lifelink is not an issue anymore. 2 visions + 2 tuteages on battlefield = minimum 12 cards mill per our turn + 3 cards per their turn. Bad things still happen - one game I found the first of my 8 enchantments only when there were 25 cards left in my deck.
Dang lol that's super rough, but yeah it definitely happens. Another thing I stumbled upon today is....
Wait for it...
....
Pyromancer's Assult!!!!!
That could do some pretty gnarly work along side Visions I think.
As for adding the tutelage's, they weren't bad, but just didn't do enough for me. I actually had more than one game where I got them to 0 cards, and they won that turn. My problem with it is that it doesn't really further our game plan. It's good, and it works in its own deck, but it doesn't really put pressure on a good player. If we get 18 damage in and mill 45 cards that doesn't win the game, just gets close twice.
Pyromancer's Assault could be good, but looks too slow and conditional. If we have visions in play - yes, casting 2 spells per turn is not a problem, but if there are no visions - it does nothing. On the other side it provides protection from Dromoka's Command.
When I was thinking about Thunderbreak Regent I had a feeling that this card provides even more value but I couldn't recall what exactly it is. My memory came back to me this morning - Draconic Roar. It's not completely in line with our game plan, but it can burn the opponent! And it's not necessary to cast Regent early, it could sit in the hand and still do a good job. Also Roar takes care of annoying creatures (haste, ETB, lifelink, etc). I'll try it.
I still don't see how this deck wins consistently with just Fevered Visions as the only win condition. I also don't think small/medium creatures are the answer because of spells like Engulf the Shore and Displacement Wave.
The deck is supposed to draw the game out so creatures/planeswalkers with higher mana costs should be considered as another win condition. This is why Chandra, Flamecaller should be highly considered for the main deck as well as well as Sphinx of the Final Word. It's either that or find a way to incorporate burn into the deck. This deck needs more punch and a little less control to finish and win games. I will look to see if there are any other cards to consider to help the deck finish games.
You do not want creatures in this deck. It blanks any removal by them not being there. If you can withstand the weenie rush, this deck wins. Aggressive mulligans is the key.
I've tested the Awaken mechanic and found it to be pretty bad. It really opens out lands up to easier removal, which is part of what crushes up in GR Ramp.
Crush of Tentacles I think is something we should probably look back into. It's surge shouldnt be too hard to cast, though it would essentially be wasting a spell to get surge for it, but meh. An 8/8 would definitely help out, but then again, if we're loading their hand with blanked removal, they may be happy to see an 8/8 to use it on. It would require pretty heavy land to get the best use which would be, Prism Ring -> Surge Crush of Tentacles -> 2 mana open for a counter.
Adding burn may be a bit more possible, but what would you add? My first thought would be X Spells like, Avacyn's Judgment. The only other option I'd really consider would be Exquisite Firecraft.
Rise from the Tides would be great if we didnt have the need to constantly recycle our hands.
Westvale Abbey this may be a top contender, though it'd be fairly hard to flip i'd assume.
As for how it wins with just Fevered Visions, well, MOST of my recent games have had a combination of Visions + Wandering Fumarole damage. While that can also be a bit mana intensive, when you stabilize and control the board, swinging for 4 a turn isnt too hard to achieve.
Some other farther out there considerations: Blighted Gorge - weakens our Engulf, but can do direct to the face, and cant be countered. Explosive Apparatus - Um similar to above, just goes to the face, if its sacc'd it comes back with Days Molten Vortex - Turns late game land draws into fire, but we tend to enjoy late game land just as much as early imo. Burn from Within - Cheapest X cost without stipulations, only sorcery though. Gibbering Fiend - Uh, kinda synergy with our Days Undoing as he comes back, and synergy with bounce, watch out for exile though. Ghirapur Æther Grid - Play's nice with Prism Ring and Aligned Hedron Network if thats in the game too. Goldnight Castigator - 4 hasty damage in the air, too big of a butt for anything but lava axe to kill Skywise Teachings - Not sure, but I think this can be arranged to put a monk after an engulf, and triggers off EVERY spell in the deck. Structural Distortion - You're already pissing the opponent off by playing this deck, why not add land destruction. Makes it harder to empty their hand, and has a Shock attached. Talent of the Telepath - What a fun mill card. Could net some value, most likely useless unless against burn.
I honestly think if you're REALLY trying to get the best finisher to supplement the deck, its probably Chandra, Flamecaller, with 2nd place tie going to Sphinx of the Final Word.
Round 1 0-2 against uW, some creature based deck with Humans and Angels.
Both games I did not find Visions in time and was slowly killed when I ran out of bounces.
Round 2 0-2 against the Rakdos Control that destroyed me last week as well. He changed his deck to contain more hand disruption, so his Goblin Dark-Dwellers were even more of a pain.
Round 3 2-0 against an Eldrazi deck.
His biggest threats were Thought-Knot Seer and Reality Smasher. Boarded +3 Horribly Awry to take care of the TKS and +2 Thing in the Ice just to test if it helped. -2 Brain in a Jar, -2 Negate, -1 Anticipate.
Round 4 1-0 against UB Control
After a long and grindy match, I won in turn 3 of the timeout, with a full four of Prism Ring and Visions on the Board and at 92 life. Early game I lacked Visions, and we both kinda cautiously circled each other to see who'd move first. For the longest part of the game, I had 3 Prism Rings out, so every time he tried to attack with Dragonlord Ojutai, I profited. He won most counter wars over Visions and regained life with Foul-Tonge Invocation, thus I wasn't able to finish him quickly. To minimize his lifegain, I often traded Fumarole against Shambling Vent.
Highlight of the evening was to see him countering his own Jace in a desperate try to get rid of enough cards to counteract the full four Visions.
Round 5 2-0 against a small kid with a rogue UW deck. Nothing new to report for our deck, but a good time was had by both players.
Notes:
I feel quite good with the Mana Base playing 23,5 lands. Only change I consider is +1 Mountain, -1 Shivan Reef.
Brain in a Jar is very good in matches where it is good. I usually kept it sitting at 2 counters to enable EOT Day's, and I think that is what it's for.
The fourth Anticipate was not missed.
Void Shatter to remove problematic cards intead of letting them recycle them when I play Day's Undoing felt like VS over Calculated Dismisal is the right call.
playing against discard sucks. We already struggle until we can find both Prism Ring and Visions, and this makes it almost impossible to reach that point safely.
Thing would be terrific if it didn't turn on their removal in an otherwise creatureless deck. I still like it G2. G3 it's a bluffing game to guess whether they de-debooarded enough removal to warrant taking it out again.
I've been playing 1 Crumble to Dust in the main deck, and a second in the board. It's been terrific against everything except for mono white. So many creature lands floating around...
Chandra is probably the stronger finisher, but she's a dead card until lategame. I'd be interested to hear about results from people testing with her.
TitI can couble as blocker early, but is more vulnerable to removal and takes a bit of work to turn into a finisher.
Crumble may be nice to have, not sure how to make room for it, though.
hey guys, this is the list i ran at my scg regionals today; went 2-2-1. i am having a blast playing this deck and getting peoples reactions from it. a few notes before i start. i found that sphinx was unimpressive, i boarded him out almost every game. it was never advantageous to play him for me. lastly i was very safe with my mulligans, i still need to find that right balance of how aggressive i need to be.
Match 1: Mono-White Humans
Game 1 i didnt draw into a single days and only 1 shore. eventually got overwhelmed.
Game 2 got stuck with 1 island and 1 mountain. overall a bad start to the day
Match 2: Bant Company
Game 1 I got 3 rings out early and was able to keep his board clear and grinded out a win
Game 2 lost by not seeing a single visions
game 3 we decided to draw due to time
Match 3: U/R/w Control
Game 1 he kept drawing cards with magmatic insight and tormenting voice so i just had to keep bouncing threats while visions killed him
Game 2 he sided in 4 visions against me and found out they are quite good along with Nahiri, TitI and Fumaroles won me the game on the ground
Match 4: B/W tokens/control
Game 1 was cake as he had a hand full of removal and i was able to keep his few creatures off the board
Game 2 he did manage to ultimate an Ob-Nixilis and had to creatively kill him by bouncing my own visions so i wouldnt die to them and ground out with fumaroles. he admitted that in sideboarding he simple took out as much removal and boarded in anything that wasnt removal to fill in the spots
Match 5: G/R Ramp
this match was just a total loss and now i see why this matchup is so bad. game 2 mulled into an AHN but he managed to resolve a 1 of void winnower before i could cast it. didnt help i was stuck on mana both games
Below is the sideboard i was playing. i found myself boarding in the TitIs for the sphionx and jace most games. the ramp game i boarded in all but the waves.
hope this helps in any ways guys
I keep turning back to Reality Smasher and Thought-Knot Seer as possible includes to help push the deck into a kill. Both would be exceptional against Ramp, and help push the clock. Smasher has pretty good protection, though if they want to kill him they get to go down 2 cards, but they need an instant speed kill, and it hits for 5, since we should have their board clear. TKS fits into our game plan letting us steal a trouble card, and fills their hand when he dies
I Think that Chandra, Flamecaller is the best control/finisher card in this deck. No need to search another cards to include.
I prefer this list of your great, brainwashing, very fanny deck!!!
I keep turning back to Reality Smasher and Thought-Knot Seer as possible includes to help push the deck into a kill. Both would be exceptional against Ramp, and help push the clock. Smasher has pretty good protection, though if they want to kill him they get to go down 2 cards, but they need an instant speed kill, and it hits for 5, since we should have their board clear. TKS fits into our game plan letting us steal a trouble card, and fills their hand when he dies
i'm quite curious as well, do you have a drafted decklist?
How much have you tested that with only 23 lands? I still havent had much trouble with that mana base, but a lot of folks are reporting the need to go up to 9 red sources, or even 10, and run 24 lands.
What are folks thoughts on Jace, Unraveler of Secrets still? He still usually to me ends up being just a bit win-more, or cannon fodder so I dont need to bounce right away. I still like him in the deck, but am wondering if he is actually progressing the deck further.
@Beowulfe:
It would be mostly using my core deck, probably adding in one of those as a 2 of. Something like
*sideboard would be the generic sideboard posted.
I'm really not sure which one I like more. TKS can exile trouble cards, and would help in some bad matchups, could exile Olivia, or Always Watching, or Ulamog/World Breaker. It also draws the opponent more cards by using their removal, which actually is really good for us. The downside of creatures is that they open up the ability for the opponent to remove them, thus letting them empty their hand. TKS negates that bonus by refilling it. The only problem is getting a chance to hit with TKS, but I guess you could always just snag their removal.
Reality Smasher, probably is not quite as good for this deck as it does let them get rid of two cards potentially, where that can definitely help them. The upside, is pretty clear, a 5/5 hasty trampler. Lets assume that we're keeping the board fairly clear (maybe an EOT Engulf -> Smasher). If we can connect for 5, before they remove it, thats the equivalent of 2.5 Fevered Visions triggers. Plus, if they dont answer right away, their hand continues to fill. Its also some of the quickest damage besides Chandra, Flamecaller.
I havent tested enough with either three, but I would have to guess that the rankings are Chandra #1, TKS #2, Smasher #3, OR Chandra and TKS tied for #1. However, running only 23 lands (even with our ridiculous card draw/filtering) can sometimes make more than 5 mana a bit slower, so that helps Smashers case, despite him needing the Reefs. The reliance on Shivan Reef is also the biggest mark against TKS as well. I could see potentially adding in a 1-of Crumbling Vestige as a 24th land. Gives a pseudo extra red/blue source, plus colorless. Would probably -1 Anticipate for that.
Finally, these cards would probably not be casted on curve. I expect to play them around T7-T9 at earliest, TKS still has value because we should be keeping them opponents hand full, and Smasher is a big beat.
I've also been looking back at toying with a Black splash as well, and think it could happen fairly decently, and brings a lot to the table. Here is my take on that.
Basically it covers most of what the discussion in this post has been about pretty easily:
1) Another Win-Con: We are UR.. wheres our burn.. Oh right, we splash black for burn? Damnable Pact X cost, helps us get Visions triggers, helps us burn them out.
2) GR Ramp Hate: Infinite Obliteration, you could get screwed and not find it, but take out Ulamog and World Breaker and we win.
3) Planeswalkers: Ob Nixilis Reignited fits this deck soooo well, it'd be a shame to not run him. His ultimate if it pops is amazing.
4) Mana base: Bumped to 24 lands, added 1x Island, 8 red, 8 black, 20 blue, 16 Islands, 2 Swamps in board if needed for a quick Infinite Obliteration.
5) Token/Swarm hate: Displacement Wave & Horribly Awry is something we all agree on, also added Virulent Plague
The big things I want from this are Damnable Pact. There have been quite a few games I'm sitting on like 9+ lands and am stuck SLOWLY burning 2 dmg a turn. Enter Damnable Pact, X = 7, they fill their hand (though they get to sculpt it), and take 7 damage + 2 more on their turn. Not the best, but I think it fits nicely as a finisher. I also am very interested in Ob Nixilis Reignited, and wanted to put him mainboard, but dropping the PWs makes even more removal blanked which is nice. His ultimate is made for this deck though, added him even if just for flavor. The Infinite Obliteration by itself can win the game against Ramp, and makes it so Chandra, Flamecaller is the only threat. For more hate, we could add Transgress or Pick the Brain to snag her. The rest of the SB goes to our other bad matchups, basically swarm and aggro. Added in some token hate.
I personally like Horribly Awry, almost better than Void Shatter. Its at that beautiful 2 cmc spot, and it is just awesome to get rid of a lot of peskies. I mean, the only real cards that beat it that we dont like are Avacyn, Ramp Guys, and Reality Smasher.
Brain in a Jar I definitely am going to include in my main list the next few times, it just seems too good, especially with the Day's Undoing Recycling. Probably only as a 2-of though.
I think I am going to try and make these changes to my main list.
Out:
-1 Day's Undoing
-4 Calculated Dismissal
In:
+3 Horribly Awry
+2 Brain in a Jar
I may end up switching back to Calc Dis as sometimes I really like letting them pay the extra mana, then casting a bounce lol, and the scry is nice. But I want to try this.
And after that didn't win a single game, either mana screwed or flooded every time.
M1 vs. Mono White Humans - Deck was just too fast for me to do anything. Sideboarded in the 2 Horrible Awrys but it was just too hard keeping all of their creatures off of the board.
M2 vs. Bant Company - Couldn't get my Fevered Visions to stay on the board because of Dromoka's Command g1 and didn't draw another. Game two I protected Fevered Visions, countered Collected Company every time unless I had an Engulf the Shores to send it all back to his hand, and would have won the game but ran out of time.
M3 vs. RG Werewolves - Had hasty creatures that made bouncing creatures both games useless. Could never setup the board properly to actually 'control' the game. Another super aggro deck that I couldn't keep up with.
M4 vs. 3c Planeswalkers - Won g1. Was able to get two Fevered Visions out in play however, his deck was running Shambling Vents and Linvala, the Preserver so negating the lifelink was a pain at the end of the game. G2 he was able to use Anguished Unmaking to get rid of the only Fevered Visions I got out and I couldn't keep up with countering his planeswalkers. G3 I never drew Fevered Visions and again wasn't able to keep his planeswalkers off the field.
Notes:
I used the following deck:
4 Prism Ring
2 Brain in a Jar
Enchantment (4)
4 Fevered Visions
Instant (22)
4 Anticipate
4 Compelling Deterrence
4 Disperse
4 Engulf the Shore
4 Negate
2 Void Shatter
4 Day's Undoing
Planeswalker (1)
1 Jace, Unraveler of Secrets
Land (23)
14 Island
1 Mountain
4 Shivan Reef
4 Wandering Fumarole
4 Aligned Hedron Network
4 Blessed Reincarnation
3 Displacement Wave
1 Dispel
1 Sphinx of the Final Word
2 Horribly Awry
To fit 2 Chandra's in the deck, I was thinking -1 Prism Ring and -1 Day's Undoing or just removing Brain in a Jar. I'll leave the rest for discussion and I'll try to answer questions if you have any.
TITI is an amazing card, but it turns on a handful of removal they'd be sitting on usually, and even when it flips, isnt that hard to kill. I'd rather put in Sphinx of the Final Word if we are going to put in any creatures. Keeps their removal blanked. Another decent maybe creature would be Thunderbreak Regent, its effect would be very nice, sure, you can get rid of some cards in your hand, but, youll take damage to do it.
What this deck really needs is some Circle of Flame.
I could see how Brain in a Jar could be too slow, but I dunno, maybe its a SB card and only good in the slower matchups.
Chandra, Flamecaller is definitely a monster of a finisher, and helps control. I could see putting her as a 1 of. Perhaps up Void Shatter back to a 3-of and take out the two Brain in a Jar for 1 Chandra
I was also thinking about Thunderbreak Regent today, but double-red cost is a problem. I have 9 red sources in my deck and a lot of times I find the second one only at the late game.
Earlier I said that I don't like to bring mill into this deck, but I'm testing it today. It's not so bad as I expected - mill happens much faster than 20 damage and lifelink is not an issue anymore. 2 visions + 2 tuteages on battlefield = minimum 12 cards mill per our turn + 3 cards per their turn. Bad things still happen - one game I found the first of my 8 enchantments only when there were 25 cards left in my deck.
Wait for it...
....
Pyromancer's Assult!!!!!
That could do some pretty gnarly work along side Visions I think.
As for adding the tutelage's, they weren't bad, but just didn't do enough for me. I actually had more than one game where I got them to 0 cards, and they won that turn. My problem with it is that it doesn't really further our game plan. It's good, and it works in its own deck, but it doesn't really put pressure on a good player. If we get 18 damage in and mill 45 cards that doesn't win the game, just gets close twice.
When I was thinking about Thunderbreak Regent I had a feeling that this card provides even more value but I couldn't recall what exactly it is. My memory came back to me this morning - Draconic Roar. It's not completely in line with our game plan, but it can burn the opponent! And it's not necessary to cast Regent early, it could sit in the hand and still do a good job. Also Roar takes care of annoying creatures (haste, ETB, lifelink, etc). I'll try it.
The deck is supposed to draw the game out so creatures/planeswalkers with higher mana costs should be considered as another win condition. This is why Chandra, Flamecaller should be highly considered for the main deck as well as well as Sphinx of the Final Word. It's either that or find a way to incorporate burn into the deck. This deck needs more punch and a little less control to finish and win games. I will look to see if there are any other cards to consider to help the deck finish games.
You do not want creatures in this deck. It blanks any removal by them not being there. If you can withstand the weenie rush, this deck wins. Aggressive mulligans is the key.
Jace's Sanctum I like, but I think it shares the issue Pyromancer's Assault. They're both too slow, and kinda win-more.
Crush of Tentacles I think is something we should probably look back into. It's surge shouldnt be too hard to cast, though it would essentially be wasting a spell to get surge for it, but meh. An 8/8 would definitely help out, but then again, if we're loading their hand with blanked removal, they may be happy to see an 8/8 to use it on. It would require pretty heavy land to get the best use which would be, Prism Ring -> Surge Crush of Tentacles -> 2 mana open for a counter.
Adding burn may be a bit more possible, but what would you add? My first thought would be X Spells like, Avacyn's Judgment. The only other option I'd really consider would be Exquisite Firecraft.
Rise from the Tides would be great if we didnt have the need to constantly recycle our hands.
Westvale Abbey this may be a top contender, though it'd be fairly hard to flip i'd assume.
As for how it wins with just Fevered Visions, well, MOST of my recent games have had a combination of Visions + Wandering Fumarole damage. While that can also be a bit mana intensive, when you stabilize and control the board, swinging for 4 a turn isnt too hard to achieve.
Some other farther out there considerations:
Blighted Gorge - weakens our Engulf, but can do direct to the face, and cant be countered.
Explosive Apparatus - Um similar to above, just goes to the face, if its sacc'd it comes back with Days
Molten Vortex - Turns late game land draws into fire, but we tend to enjoy late game land just as much as early imo.
Burn from Within - Cheapest X cost without stipulations, only sorcery though.
Gibbering Fiend - Uh, kinda synergy with our Days Undoing as he comes back, and synergy with bounce, watch out for exile though.
Ghirapur Æther Grid - Play's nice with Prism Ring and Aligned Hedron Network if thats in the game too.
Goldnight Castigator - 4 hasty damage in the air, too big of a butt for anything but lava axe to kill
Skywise Teachings - Not sure, but I think this can be arranged to put a monk after an engulf, and triggers off EVERY spell in the deck.
Structural Distortion - You're already pissing the opponent off by playing this deck, why not add land destruction. Makes it harder to empty their hand, and has a Shock attached.
Talent of the Telepath - What a fun mill card. Could net some value, most likely useless unless against burn.
I honestly think if you're REALLY trying to get the best finisher to supplement the deck, its probably Chandra, Flamecaller, with 2nd place tie going to Sphinx of the Final Word.
Compared to pyro1934's core, I played -4 Calculated Dismissal, -1 Anticipate, +3 Void Shatter, +2 Brain in a Jar, +1 Mountain.
3 Blessed Reincarnation
3 Horribly Awry
3 Displacement Wave
2 Thing in the Ice
1 Sphinx of the Final Word
Round 1 0-2 against uW, some creature based deck with Humans and Angels.
Both games I did not find Visions in time and was slowly killed when I ran out of bounces.
Round 2 0-2 against the Rakdos Control that destroyed me last week as well. He changed his deck to contain more hand disruption, so his Goblin Dark-Dwellers were even more of a pain.
Round 3 2-0 against an Eldrazi deck.
His biggest threats were Thought-Knot Seer and Reality Smasher. Boarded +3 Horribly Awry to take care of the TKS and +2 Thing in the Ice just to test if it helped. -2 Brain in a Jar, -2 Negate, -1 Anticipate.
Round 4 1-0 against UB Control
After a long and grindy match, I won in turn 3 of the timeout, with a full four of Prism Ring and Visions on the Board and at 92 life. Early game I lacked Visions, and we both kinda cautiously circled each other to see who'd move first. For the longest part of the game, I had 3 Prism Rings out, so every time he tried to attack with Dragonlord Ojutai, I profited. He won most counter wars over Visions and regained life with Foul-Tonge Invocation, thus I wasn't able to finish him quickly. To minimize his lifegain, I often traded Fumarole against Shambling Vent.
Highlight of the evening was to see him countering his own Jace in a desperate try to get rid of enough cards to counteract the full four Visions.
Round 5 2-0 against a small kid with a rogue UW deck. Nothing new to report for our deck, but a good time was had by both players.
Notes:
I feel quite good with the Mana Base playing 23,5 lands. Only change I consider is +1 Mountain, -1 Shivan Reef.
Brain in a Jar is very good in matches where it is good. I usually kept it sitting at 2 counters to enable EOT Day's, and I think that is what it's for.
The fourth Anticipate was not missed.
Void Shatter to remove problematic cards intead of letting them recycle them when I play Day's Undoing felt like VS over Calculated Dismisal is the right call.
playing against discard sucks. We already struggle until we can find both Prism Ring and Visions, and this makes it almost impossible to reach that point safely.
Thing would be terrific if it didn't turn on their removal in an otherwise creatureless deck. I still like it G2. G3 it's a bluffing game to guess whether they de-debooarded enough removal to warrant taking it out again.
Glad to hear it went a bit better today. Do you think that TITI is better than Chandra?
TitI can couble as blocker early, but is more vulnerable to removal and takes a bit of work to turn into a finisher.
Crumble may be nice to have, not sure how to make room for it, though.
4 Prism Ring
3 Anticipate
4 compelling Deterrence
4 Disperse
4 Engulf the Shore
4 day's undoing
4 Fevered Visions
3 Void Shatter
3 Negate
2 Horribly awry
1 Jace, Unraveler of Secrets
2 shivan reef
4 wandering fumarole
3 mountain
14 island
hey guys, this is the list i ran at my scg regionals today; went 2-2-1. i am having a blast playing this deck and getting peoples reactions from it. a few notes before i start. i found that sphinx was unimpressive, i boarded him out almost every game. it was never advantageous to play him for me. lastly i was very safe with my mulligans, i still need to find that right balance of how aggressive i need to be.
Match 1: Mono-White Humans
Game 1 i didnt draw into a single days and only 1 shore. eventually got overwhelmed.
Game 2 got stuck with 1 island and 1 mountain. overall a bad start to the day
Match 2: Bant Company
Game 1 I got 3 rings out early and was able to keep his board clear and grinded out a win
Game 2 lost by not seeing a single visions
game 3 we decided to draw due to time
Match 3: U/R/w Control
Game 1 he kept drawing cards with magmatic insight and tormenting voice so i just had to keep bouncing threats while visions killed him
Game 2 he sided in 4 visions against me and found out they are quite good along with Nahiri, TitI and Fumaroles won me the game on the ground
Match 4: B/W tokens/control
Game 1 was cake as he had a hand full of removal and i was able to keep his few creatures off the board
Game 2 he did manage to ultimate an Ob-Nixilis and had to creatively kill him by bouncing my own visions so i wouldnt die to them and ground out with fumaroles. he admitted that in sideboarding he simple took out as much removal and boarded in anything that wasnt removal to fill in the spots
Match 5: G/R Ramp
this match was just a total loss and now i see why this matchup is so bad. game 2 mulled into an AHN but he managed to resolve a 1 of void winnower before i could cast it. didnt help i was stuck on mana both games
Below is the sideboard i was playing. i found myself boarding in the TitIs for the sphionx and jace most games. the ramp game i boarded in all but the waves.
hope this helps in any ways guys
4 Thing in the Ice
4 Aligned Hedron Network
3 Blessed Reincarnation
1 Horribly Awry
I prefer this list of your great, brainwashing, very fanny deck!!!
2 Chandra, Flamecaller
4 Fevered Visions
3 Day's Undoing
4 Prism Ring
2 Brain in a Jar
3 Anticipate
4 Disperse
4 Compelling Deterrence
4 Engulf the Shore
3 Negate
4 Wandering Fumarole
4 Shivan Reef
15 Island
3 Aligned Hedron Network
3 Blessed Reincarnation
3 Displacement Wave
3 Horribly Awry
3 Send to Sleep
i'm quite curious as well, do you have a drafted decklist?
I also see you're still playing with Brain in a Jar, and while I like the slightly cheaper spells, and the instant speed Day's Undoing, I feel like its a bit too cute. I like your list a lot, but think that I'd probably add the Negate, Anticipate, and Day's Undoing back in and drop Brain in a Jar, and lower Chandra, Flamecaller to one of, but maybe 2-of is the right call for her, but I still like the 4x Day's Undoing and Negate
What are folks thoughts on Jace, Unraveler of Secrets still? He still usually to me ends up being just a bit win-more, or cannon fodder so I dont need to bounce right away. I still like him in the deck, but am wondering if he is actually progressing the deck further.
@Beowulfe:
It would be mostly using my core deck, probably adding in one of those as a 2 of. Something like
4x Prism Ring
Creatures (2)
2x Thought-Knot Seer
2x Reality Smasher
Instant (23)
4x Anticipate
3x Void Shatter
4x Compelling Deterrence
4x Disperse
4x Engulf the Shore
4x Negate
4x Day's Undoing
Enchantment (4)
4x Fevered Visions
Land (23)
15x Island
4x Shivan Reef
4x Wandering Fumarole
*sideboard would be the generic sideboard posted.
I'm really not sure which one I like more. TKS can exile trouble cards, and would help in some bad matchups, could exile Olivia, or Always Watching, or Ulamog/World Breaker. It also draws the opponent more cards by using their removal, which actually is really good for us. The downside of creatures is that they open up the ability for the opponent to remove them, thus letting them empty their hand. TKS negates that bonus by refilling it. The only problem is getting a chance to hit with TKS, but I guess you could always just snag their removal.
Reality Smasher, probably is not quite as good for this deck as it does let them get rid of two cards potentially, where that can definitely help them. The upside, is pretty clear, a 5/5 hasty trampler. Lets assume that we're keeping the board fairly clear (maybe an EOT Engulf -> Smasher). If we can connect for 5, before they remove it, thats the equivalent of 2.5 Fevered Visions triggers. Plus, if they dont answer right away, their hand continues to fill. Its also some of the quickest damage besides Chandra, Flamecaller.
I havent tested enough with either three, but I would have to guess that the rankings are Chandra #1, TKS #2, Smasher #3, OR Chandra and TKS tied for #1. However, running only 23 lands (even with our ridiculous card draw/filtering) can sometimes make more than 5 mana a bit slower, so that helps Smashers case, despite him needing the Reefs. The reliance on Shivan Reef is also the biggest mark against TKS as well. I could see potentially adding in a 1-of Crumbling Vestige as a 24th land. Gives a pseudo extra red/blue source, plus colorless. Would probably -1 Anticipate for that.
Finally, these cards would probably not be casted on curve. I expect to play them around T7-T9 at earliest, TKS still has value because we should be keeping them opponents hand full, and Smasher is a big beat.
I've also been looking back at toying with a Black splash as well, and think it could happen fairly decently, and brings a lot to the table. Here is my take on that.
4x Prism Ring
Instant (22)
3x Anticipate
3x Void Shatter
4x Compelling Deterrence
4x Disperse
4x Engulf the Shore
4x Negate
4x Day's Undoing
2x Damnable Pact
Enchantment (4)
4x Fevered Visions
Land (24)
12x Island
4x Sunken Hollow
4x Smoldering Marsh
4x Wandering Fumarole
1x Jace, Unraveler of Secrets
1x Ob Nixilis Reignited
3x Infinite Obliteration
2x Swamp
3x Displacement Wave
3x Horribly Awry
2x Virulent Plague
Basically it covers most of what the discussion in this post has been about pretty easily:
1) Another Win-Con: We are UR.. wheres our burn.. Oh right, we splash black for burn? Damnable Pact X cost, helps us get Visions triggers, helps us burn them out.
2) GR Ramp Hate: Infinite Obliteration, you could get screwed and not find it, but take out Ulamog and World Breaker and we win.
3) Planeswalkers: Ob Nixilis Reignited fits this deck soooo well, it'd be a shame to not run him. His ultimate if it pops is amazing.
4) Mana base: Bumped to 24 lands, added 1x Island, 8 red, 8 black, 20 blue, 16 Islands, 2 Swamps in board if needed for a quick Infinite Obliteration.
5) Token/Swarm hate: Displacement Wave & Horribly Awry is something we all agree on, also added Virulent Plague
The big things I want from this are Damnable Pact. There have been quite a few games I'm sitting on like 9+ lands and am stuck SLOWLY burning 2 dmg a turn. Enter Damnable Pact, X = 7, they fill their hand (though they get to sculpt it), and take 7 damage + 2 more on their turn. Not the best, but I think it fits nicely as a finisher. I also am very interested in Ob Nixilis Reignited, and wanted to put him mainboard, but dropping the PWs makes even more removal blanked which is nice. His ultimate is made for this deck though, added him even if just for flavor. The Infinite Obliteration by itself can win the game against Ramp, and makes it so Chandra, Flamecaller is the only threat. For more hate, we could add Transgress or Pick the Brain to snag her. The rest of the SB goes to our other bad matchups, basically swarm and aggro. Added in some token hate.