Random question: is Displacer worth it at all? I know it means running more colorless sources which is a little dicey, but I can't help but wonder if it could add value on both the offensive and defensive game. Since it can tap down your opponent's creatures and flicker your own maybe this does double duty of Herald and Spectral Shepherd?
Displacer would also play into the Anafenza plan quite well, and can help with Wanderer shenanigans.
At that point I feel like you'd want to splash green for Coast on top of Abbey and then run Tamiyo as a 1-2 of.
You know, I was going to comment on declaration being a risky card, then realized it states specifically that it only targets creatures on your opponents side of the board.
So what are we going to use to replace all the dragons and origins stuff when it rotates? Trying to buy a few things ahead of time for when that eventuality hits.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
You know, I was going to comment on declaration being a risky card, then realized it states specifically that it only targets creatures on your opponents side of the board.
So what are we going to use to replace all the dragons and origins stuff when it rotates? Trying to buy a few things ahead of time for when that eventuality hits.
At the risk of sounding rude, I'm really not sure what you're fretting over since almost the entire deck is BFZ and SOI blocks, and, we don't know what's going to be printed on rotation so it's a moot point.
The only cards not accounted for are counterspells which will have a replacement and Command which isn't the backbone of the deck. Or am I missing a couple?
I'd say this deck will be extremely rotation resilient unless the next set packs serious hosers for us.
Edit: Anafenza will certainly be a major loss for us in my opinion, but the core of the deck should remain in tact.
I think Displacer takes the deck into a more midrange style and sort of gimps the tempo of the deck's main plan. You have to make a lot of concessions in your deck building to get it to actually work, but I'm not even sure that makes the risk of it all worth it. It's also a lot of mana to flicker things and I don't envision this deck really ever having access to more than five or six lands, unless things are going very poorly and I doubt an Eldrazi Displacer will be enough to reverse that.
It's a sweet card, but I think it's a little out of place in this type of deck.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Post Ravnica Allegiance Type 2 - WUB Control
States '09: 14th place. Aiming for better next year.
States '10: 12th place. Aiming for better next year.
Everyone's trying to do too much with their deck at a given time. Remember to keep things clean and constant, but until the set releases, we can all experiment a bit at least.
I still somehow feel that Reflector Mage is really clunky in this deck full of flash creatures and instants. However, in testing Unsubstantiate and Essence Flux have been amazing and versatile and works wonders with it. I miss Dimensional Infiltrator in the deck though, and Topplegeist may be the first to go if that's the case since with the inclusion of Nebelgast Herald it's not as necessary. My case for it to be in is I want to be playing something on turn 1 since none of the lands are likely to be coming in tapped. Maybe Thraben Inspector really isn't that farfetched.
Collective Effort is the only card I don't like in the side, but as an enchantment removal with lots of added goodies was too good to pass up against some rogue decks.
I also considered Thraben Inspector, but it just feels 'meh' to me. Not a card I'd really be that interested in drawing anywhere other than my opening hand. With the density of powerful cards that many decks have access to, I'd rather not be drawing 1/2 dorks in the late game even if they do generate some card advantage. I'd rather look for that advantage in other ways; for example, Ojutai's Command bringing back Rattlechains can act as a swingy play to counter a removal spell, draw a card, and add an evasive body to your board. That's the kind of play I'm looking to make in the mid/late game.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Post Ravnica Allegiance Type 2 - WUB Control
States '09: 14th place. Aiming for better next year.
States '10: 12th place. Aiming for better next year.
While I'm very high on reflector mage, someone pointed out to me that herald is essentially the better card, it has flash, it has synergy with the other spirit cards, it turns all your other spirits into tap downs, and if you have multiple copies in play... well ******* forget it. It also has strong synergy with essence flux, as you can target a different spirit, and still get the tap effect. I love reflector mage too, but I think its probably best saved for the sideboard in case you need to keep particular threats off the ground.
Hi all, This is my take on the deck. Not much of a brewer but I figured I would give it a go.
I'm not sure I'd run Archangel avacyn in the side. She's good for the first side, but her flip would be bad news unless you have a Selfless Spirit out. I've pondered her as a curve topper, but the giant octopus does more to win the game in my own mind.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
There is some serious synergy between Anafenza, kin-tree spirit + Essence Flux + (name any spirit).
Target (name any spirit) with Flux while Anafenza is floating around and (name any spirit) comes back to haunt with 2 +1/+1 counters
What do you think about Invocation of Saint Traft as an additional win condition? I'm thinking two of should get the job done.
I like Backrub of Saint Traft but I worry about it a little without anything to back it up. If you have a Wanderer out then you're clear, but otherwise unless you're keeping 5 up for a Rattlechains or have a Rattlechains or Queller on the field that you're not targeting with it and can Flux one of them to deflect the removal. That's always the issue with auras: getting 2 for 1'd and 3cmc cards are a little rough on this deck.
Personally I'm more in favor of 2 of Stoneforge Masterwork. It's a 1 drop and won't get you 2 for 1'd.
Essence flux is situational.
Usubstantiate is versatile.
Never play EF b4 4 Unsubstantiate
This is mistaken. Have you even bothered playing with essence flux? The card is the absolute nuts. Yes, you need a spirit on board to make the card relevant, but if youre midgame or later and have no spirits on board, unsubstantiate is just as trash as essence flux, irrespective of whether you can cast it without a target.
Flux can effectively be a counterspell or even a stifle by negating targeted abilities on its own, or flickering rattlechains for hexproof. It triggers all the relevant ETB effects (rattlechains, reflector mage, herald of nebelgast, anafenza, spell queller) and functions as a multi faceted comat trick by either untapping a creature, making the creature survive an otherwise unprofitable fight, or buffing the creature to make a block profitable. In some cases you can make more than one of those things happen (herald or reflect mage).
Just the fact that it costs U alone makes it an absurdly powerful card. If you want to run both thats fine, but to run unsubstantiate over flux, and saying running flux is patently worse, is simply poor card evaluation.
Tested a 3/2 Flux/Unsubstantiate split yesterday, felt good except for drawing multiple Flux. Both cards were strong in different situations. Moving forward I'll likely try a 2/2 split.
Selfless Spirit felt like the worst creature in the deck but I like how easy it is to cast as opposed to Anafenza. 4 Nebelgast Herald felt great. Obviously it is a card to be boarded out in some match ups but against Bant Humans for example it was essential to racing, and having multiple on board felt filthy.
I was playing Always Watching but never wanted to tap-out for it rather than leaving up mana for all our instant threats, especially with 4 Herald. The card didn't seem necessary when we're rarely blocking. I've been playing Reflector Mages in its place and it has been solid. Rarely play it on turn 3 due to abundance of 3s but it makes racing on the ground very difficult for them in conjunction with Nebelgast. Also sweet with Essence Flux.
The number of 3 drops has been a challenge because Bygone Bishop is our only card advantage engine, and clues work so well with how the deck plays, so it seems necessary.
I'll post my current list later, and will hopefully get some more testing in this week.
Tried a mix, did well. Anafenza is hard to land turn 2 unless I open with port town, usually flashed in during later turns, so not sure how useful she is.
Hi all, This is my take on the deck. Not much of a brewer but I figured I would give it a go.
I'm not sure I'd run Archangel avacyn in the side. She's good for the first side, but her flip would be bad news unless you have a Selfless Spirit out. I've pondered her as a curve topper, but the giant octopus does more to win the game in my own mind.
All the pros think that the pseudo spaghetti monster is going to be extremely good. I don't like to subscribe to crowd-thinking too often, but the comparison to mistbind clique is too strong here. Faeries was utterly despotic in its time, causing wizards to print volcanic fallout just to combat it, and I think the parallels between the clique and the new octopus are good enough to make it a relevant comparison. Watch. This octopus will swing games, and the fact that we are already playing a flash deck that has nebelgast herald and declaration in stone to clear the ground for the new spaghetti monster to rumble in... Games will be quick. Even if it's not emerged, the spaghetti octopus is still pretty decent. With the density of 3 drops, it's going to emerge almost always on time, and that consistency gives the deck added power in addition to the plan that the spirits already enable with tempo control. I can't wait for this deck to depose tokens and CoCo. I despise green and white as colors of the mtg pie, so this standard has been especially hard to watch. Too bad blue black zombies didn't get any love on the same caliber that UW spirits did...
While I'm very high on reflector mage, someone pointed out to me that herald is essentially the better card, it has flash, it has synergy with the other spirit cards, it turns all your other spirits into tap downs, and if you have multiple copies in play... well ******* forget it. It also has strong synergy with essence flux, as you can target a different spirit, and still get the tap effect. I love reflector mage too, but I think its probably best saved for the sideboard in case you need to keep particular threats off the ground.
What do you think about Invocation of Saint Traft as an additional win condition? I'm thinking two of should get the job done.
I like Backrub of Saint Traft but I worry about it a little without anything to back it up. If you have a Wanderer out then you're clear, but otherwise unless you're keeping 5 up for a Rattlechains or have a Rattlechains or Queller on the field that you're not targeting with it and can Flux one of them to deflect the removal. That's always the issue with auras: getting 2 for 1'd and 3cmc cards are a little rough on this deck.
Personally I'm more in favor of 2 of Stoneforge Masterwork. It's a 1 drop and won't get you 2 for 1'd.
I think the masterwork gives more of the pump feel that you're looking for without opening up the option for a 2-1 to occur. Tempo decks will die if they can get 2-1 consistently enough by an opponent and the spell is sorcery sped to boot. Not good enough, methinks.
Essence flux is situational.
Usubstantiate is versatile.
Never play EF b4 4 Unsubstantiate
This is mistaken. Have you even bothered playing with essence flux? The card is the absolute nuts. Yes, you need a spirit on board to make the card relevant, but if youre midgame or later and have no spirits on board, unsubstantiate is just as trash as essence flux, irrespective of whether you can cast it without a target.
Flux can effectively be a counterspell or even a stifle by negating targeted abilities on its own, or flickering rattlechains for hexproof. It triggers all the relevant ETB effects (rattlechains, reflector mage, herald of nebelgast, anafenza, spell queller) and functions as a multi faceted comat trick by either untapping a creature, making the creature survive an otherwise unprofitable fight, or buffing the creature to make a block profitable. In some cases you can make more than one of those things happen (herald or reflect mage).
Just the fact that it costs U alone makes it an absurdly powerful card. If you want to run both thats fine, but to run unsubstantiate over flux, and saying running flux is patently worse, is simply poor card evaluation.
Yup, essence flux is secretly a sleeper card in this deck. I think that this deck is going to have the resilience to last the long game while disrupting the early game enough to put the opponent off balance to close out the game. Reusing any instant etb ability will definitely go a long way in cementing wins. The fact that it pumps is just an even better addition, possibly shaving the clock by a turn in some instances.
Tested a 3/2 Flux/Unsubstantiate split yesterday, felt good except for drawing multiple Flux. Both cards were strong in different situations. Moving forward I'll likely try a 2/2 split.
Selfless Spirit felt like the worst creature in the deck but I like how easy it is to cast as opposed to Anafenza. 4 Nebelgast Herald felt great. Obviously it is a card to be boarded out in some match ups but against Bant Humans for example it was essential to racing, and having multiple on board felt filthy.
I was playing Always Watching but never wanted to tap-out for it rather than leaving up mana for all our instant threats, especially with 4 Herald. The card didn't seem necessary when we're rarely blocking. I've been playing Reflector Mages in its place and it has been solid. Rarely play it on turn 3 due to abundance of 3s but it makes racing on the ground very difficult for them in conjunction with Nebelgast. Also sweet with Essence Flux.
The number of 3 drops has been a challenge because Bygone Bishop is our only card advantage engine, and clues work so well with how the deck plays, so it seems necessary.
I'll post my current list later, and will hopefully get some more testing in this week.
I appreciate the observations here. Reflector Mage might be good enough to warrant inclusion. I'm surprised that always watching didn't perform for you. I think that it would be the boost to the army that is needed to close out the game. Do you find that it's generally not necessary with the the board control that is offered in the nebelgast herald? I would almost see always watching as a t5 play to close out the last few points of damage while leaving some blockers around to win the tempo game.
Anafenza has a hard cost and is sorcery speed. I'm not especially sold on it, but others' testing will have to determine the results there.
Yeah, I never felt like I needed the extra push of Always Watching as Herald and Reflector Mage are good at locking down the ground. If it's a turn 5 play, I think I'd rather play Thunderclap Wyvern, especially with the abundance of Dromoka's Command that can remove enchantments. I'll test something like this tonight:
- Ojutai's Command is great on paper but I have yet to get great value from it and it often clogs up your hand. Trimming from 3 to 2 with the addition of Deep-Fiends as another 4 drop. People have been high on this card as a finisher so I'll test it out. Reflector Mage is great fodder for the emerge cost.
- 1 Unsubstantiate and 1 Selfless Spirit are expendable. I will try 2 Declaration in Stone or 2 Anafenza in this spot at some point. I don't like how Anafenza skews the manabase, and Declaration isn't as necessary with Reflectors/Nebelgasts. But these slots are certainly wide-open.
- I played Dimensional Infiltrator for a little while but didn't like it. Playing more Spirits in the 2-drop slot has been smoother in the late game. I also went from 3 Clash of Wills to 2, and now 0. It might have a place, but we already have a fair amount of spell interaction.
EDIT: Stoneforge Masterwork is another one to test but I don't like how low impact it is when you only have a couple of creatures. I don't think the additional damage is worth it over the tempo of Reflectors and Nebelgasts but maybe it is just better to run pump effects than Reflector Mage in general.
Fair. But wouldn't masterwork be better for the power boost that anaconda offers? I guess being able to statically power creep the flyers just by casting spells is reasonable too.
I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that "anaconda" is autocorrect's bastardization of Anafenza
Honestly I'm probably talking out of my ass a bit since I need to playtest Anafenza which I'll likely be doing tonight or tomorrow night. I'm going on hunch and paper right now.
Collective Effort is performing very well for me. It is like a better dromoka's comand. The Spellqueller and Reflector Mage package are great with Essence Flux. Spellqueller on a Hangarback Walker is pretty funny.
How many Bygone are you playing BTW? I see it coming out of the sideboard, but what's the right Maindeck number?
I decided to take it out for being clunky like Reflector Mage. Sure in can get flash from Rattlechains but it was still worse than Mage.
I just think turn 3 is very crucial for aggro players. It determines how we can win the game or preparing for a Radiant Flames/Languish. I think I would rather increase the number of Nebelgast Herald. Always Watching is okay to play on turn 3 since it's extra power without over-extending into the boardwipes.
I should note that Patrick Chapin posted an amazing Spirits guide on SCG with a huge in depth analysis on advanced Spell Queller techniques I didn't even see. He posted a midrange/control list and an aggro list too.
I should note that Patrick Chapin posted an amazing Spirits guide on SCG with a huge in depth analysis on advanced Spell Queller techniques I didn't even see. He posted a midrange/control list and an aggro list too.
I haven't read the article because I don't have Premium, but looking at the comments it sounds like Chapin may be a titch off with some of his suggestions around Queller, namely bouncing it to reverse the triggers. Since you put the EtB ability back on the stack it sounds like it doesn't work as he's saying it does. You'd get:
-- top of stack --
exile spell
cast spell
exile spell
When they go to resolve, you'd hit the most recent exile ability, then the cast which I assume would fizzle as well as the first exile due to lack of a target right? Seems like Eerie Interlude would do it correctly though.
Standard: BG Golgari Midrange
Modern: U Merfolk GWUBR 5 Color Humans UBW Esper Gifts GW Bogles
Displacer would also play into the Anafenza plan quite well, and can help with Wanderer shenanigans.
At that point I feel like you'd want to splash green for Coast on top of Abbey and then run Tamiyo as a 1-2 of.
Want to be a better Magic player? Read the rulings forum and check out the comprehensive rules!
So what are we going to use to replace all the dragons and origins stuff when it rotates? Trying to buy a few things ahead of time for when that eventuality hits.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
At the risk of sounding rude, I'm really not sure what you're fretting over since almost the entire deck is BFZ and SOI blocks, and, we don't know what's going to be printed on rotation so it's a moot point.
The only cards not accounted for are counterspells which will have a replacement and Command which isn't the backbone of the deck. Or am I missing a couple?
I'd say this deck will be extremely rotation resilient unless the next set packs serious hosers for us.
Edit: Anafenza will certainly be a major loss for us in my opinion, but the core of the deck should remain in tact.
Want to be a better Magic player? Read the rulings forum and check out the comprehensive rules!
It's a sweet card, but I think it's a little out of place in this type of deck.
States '09: 14th place. Aiming for better next year.
States '10: 12th place. Aiming for better next year.
Idaho State Champ: 2011
States '12: 5th place.
Here's my list Version 3.0:
4 Mausoleum Wanderer
4 Topplegeist
3 Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit
4 Rattlechains
4 Selfless Spirit
4 Spell Queller
3 Reflector Mage
2 Nebelgast Herald
4 Always Watching
3 Unsubstantiate
2 Essence Flux
Lands
4 Port Town
4 Prairie Stream
6 Island
9 Plains
4 Gisela, the Broken Blade
2 Dispel
2 Negate
3 Declaration in Stone
2 Collective Effort
2 Silkwrap
I still somehow feel that Reflector Mage is really clunky in this deck full of flash creatures and instants. However, in testing Unsubstantiate and Essence Flux have been amazing and versatile and works wonders with it. I miss Dimensional Infiltrator in the deck though, and Topplegeist may be the first to go if that's the case since with the inclusion of Nebelgast Herald it's not as necessary. My case for it to be in is I want to be playing something on turn 1 since none of the lands are likely to be coming in tapped. Maybe Thraben Inspector really isn't that farfetched.
Collective Effort is the only card I don't like in the side, but as an enchantment removal with lots of added goodies was too good to pass up against some rogue decks.
Standard: BG Golgari Midrange
Modern: U Merfolk GWUBR 5 Color Humans UBW Esper Gifts GW Bogles
States '09: 14th place. Aiming for better next year.
States '10: 12th place. Aiming for better next year.
Idaho State Champ: 2011
States '12: 5th place.
4 Mausoleum Wanderer
4 Dimensional Infiltrator
3 Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit
4 Rattlechains
4 Selfless Spirit
4 Spell Queller
2 Reflector Mage
3 Nebelgast Herald
3 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
Spells
4 Always Watching
2 Essence Flux
Lands
4 Port Town
4 Prairie Stream
6 Island
9 Plains
3 Gisela, the Broken Blade
2 Dispel
2 Negate
3 Declaration in Stone
2 Collective Effort
1 Reflector Mage
2 Archangel Avacyn
Hi all, This is my take on the deck. Not much of a brewer but I figured I would give it a go.
*just my figures*
Thanks to mchief111 at Rising Studios for the amazing signature!
Current decks:
Standard:
:symr::symb:R/B Aggro
I'm not sure I'd run Archangel avacyn in the side. She's good for the first side, but her flip would be bad news unless you have a Selfless Spirit out. I've pondered her as a curve topper, but the giant octopus does more to win the game in my own mind.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
Target (name any spirit) with Flux while Anafenza is floating around and (name any spirit) comes back to haunt with 2 +1/+1 counters
C Long Live Eldrazi C
Standard: BG Golgari Midrange
Modern: U Merfolk GWUBR 5 Color Humans UBW Esper Gifts GW Bogles
I like Backrub of Saint Traft but I worry about it a little without anything to back it up. If you have a Wanderer out then you're clear, but otherwise unless you're keeping 5 up for a Rattlechains or have a Rattlechains or Queller on the field that you're not targeting with it and can Flux one of them to deflect the removal. That's always the issue with auras: getting 2 for 1'd and 3cmc cards are a little rough on this deck.
Personally I'm more in favor of 2 of Stoneforge Masterwork. It's a 1 drop and won't get you 2 for 1'd.
Want to be a better Magic player? Read the rulings forum and check out the comprehensive rules!
This is mistaken. Have you even bothered playing with essence flux? The card is the absolute nuts. Yes, you need a spirit on board to make the card relevant, but if youre midgame or later and have no spirits on board, unsubstantiate is just as trash as essence flux, irrespective of whether you can cast it without a target.
Flux can effectively be a counterspell or even a stifle by negating targeted abilities on its own, or flickering rattlechains for hexproof. It triggers all the relevant ETB effects (rattlechains, reflector mage, herald of nebelgast, anafenza, spell queller) and functions as a multi faceted comat trick by either untapping a creature, making the creature survive an otherwise unprofitable fight, or buffing the creature to make a block profitable. In some cases you can make more than one of those things happen (herald or reflect mage).
Just the fact that it costs U alone makes it an absurdly powerful card. If you want to run both thats fine, but to run unsubstantiate over flux, and saying running flux is patently worse, is simply poor card evaluation.
Selfless Spirit felt like the worst creature in the deck but I like how easy it is to cast as opposed to Anafenza. 4 Nebelgast Herald felt great. Obviously it is a card to be boarded out in some match ups but against Bant Humans for example it was essential to racing, and having multiple on board felt filthy.
I was playing Always Watching but never wanted to tap-out for it rather than leaving up mana for all our instant threats, especially with 4 Herald. The card didn't seem necessary when we're rarely blocking. I've been playing Reflector Mages in its place and it has been solid. Rarely play it on turn 3 due to abundance of 3s but it makes racing on the ground very difficult for them in conjunction with Nebelgast. Also sweet with Essence Flux.
The number of 3 drops has been a challenge because Bygone Bishop is our only card advantage engine, and clues work so well with how the deck plays, so it seems necessary.
I'll post my current list later, and will hopefully get some more testing in this week.
4 mausoleum wanderer
2 essence flux
2cc
4 rattlechain
4 selfless spirit
2 unsubstantiate
2 anafenza, tree-kin spirit
4 reflector mage
4 spell queller
4 bygone bishop
4 nebegast herald
4cc
3 ojutai's command
4 port town
4 prairie stream
2 meandering river
6 island
5 plains
2 westvale abbey
All the pros think that the pseudo spaghetti monster is going to be extremely good. I don't like to subscribe to crowd-thinking too often, but the comparison to mistbind clique is too strong here. Faeries was utterly despotic in its time, causing wizards to print volcanic fallout just to combat it, and I think the parallels between the clique and the new octopus are good enough to make it a relevant comparison. Watch. This octopus will swing games, and the fact that we are already playing a flash deck that has nebelgast herald and declaration in stone to clear the ground for the new spaghetti monster to rumble in... Games will be quick. Even if it's not emerged, the spaghetti octopus is still pretty decent. With the density of 3 drops, it's going to emerge almost always on time, and that consistency gives the deck added power in addition to the plan that the spirits already enable with tempo control. I can't wait for this deck to depose tokens and CoCo. I despise green and white as colors of the mtg pie, so this standard has been especially hard to watch. Too bad blue black zombies didn't get any love on the same caliber that UW spirits did...
Agreed in every way.
I think the masterwork gives more of the pump feel that you're looking for without opening up the option for a 2-1 to occur. Tempo decks will die if they can get 2-1 consistently enough by an opponent and the spell is sorcery sped to boot. Not good enough, methinks.
Yup, essence flux is secretly a sleeper card in this deck. I think that this deck is going to have the resilience to last the long game while disrupting the early game enough to put the opponent off balance to close out the game. Reusing any instant etb ability will definitely go a long way in cementing wins. The fact that it pumps is just an even better addition, possibly shaving the clock by a turn in some instances.
UB Dralnu, Lich Lord
RBW [Primer]-Kaalia of the Vast
BUG [Primer]-Tasigur, the Golden Fang
GWU [Primer]-Arcades, the Strategist
WUB Primer-Aminatou, the Fateshifter
UBR Nicol Bolas, the Ravager
I appreciate the observations here. Reflector Mage might be good enough to warrant inclusion. I'm surprised that always watching didn't perform for you. I think that it would be the boost to the army that is needed to close out the game. Do you find that it's generally not necessary with the the board control that is offered in the nebelgast herald? I would almost see always watching as a t5 play to close out the last few points of damage while leaving some blockers around to win the tempo game.
Anafenza has a hard cost and is sorcery speed. I'm not especially sold on it, but others' testing will have to determine the results there.
UB Dralnu, Lich Lord
RBW [Primer]-Kaalia of the Vast
BUG [Primer]-Tasigur, the Golden Fang
GWU [Primer]-Arcades, the Strategist
WUB Primer-Aminatou, the Fateshifter
UBR Nicol Bolas, the Ravager
Want to be a better Magic player? Read the rulings forum and check out the comprehensive rules!
4 Selfless Spirit
4 Rattlechains
4 Nebelgast Herald
4 Bygone Bishop
4 Spell Queller
3 Reflector Mage
3 Eldrazi Deep-Fiend
3 Unsubstantiate
2 Ojutai's Command
4 Port Town
4 Prairie Stream
9 Island
6 Plains
Some notes:
- Ojutai's Command is great on paper but I have yet to get great value from it and it often clogs up your hand. Trimming from 3 to 2 with the addition of Deep-Fiends as another 4 drop. People have been high on this card as a finisher so I'll test it out. Reflector Mage is great fodder for the emerge cost.
- 1 Unsubstantiate and 1 Selfless Spirit are expendable. I will try 2 Declaration in Stone or 2 Anafenza in this spot at some point. I don't like how Anafenza skews the manabase, and Declaration isn't as necessary with Reflectors/Nebelgasts. But these slots are certainly wide-open.
- I played Dimensional Infiltrator for a little while but didn't like it. Playing more Spirits in the 2-drop slot has been smoother in the late game. I also went from 3 Clash of Wills to 2, and now 0. It might have a place, but we already have a fair amount of spell interaction.
EDIT: Stoneforge Masterwork is another one to test but I don't like how low impact it is when you only have a couple of creatures. I don't think the additional damage is worth it over the tempo of Reflectors and Nebelgasts but maybe it is just better to run pump effects than Reflector Mage in general.
I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that "anaconda" is autocorrect's bastardization of Anafenza
Honestly I'm probably talking out of my ass a bit since I need to playtest Anafenza which I'll likely be doing tonight or tomorrow night. I'm going on hunch and paper right now.
Want to be a better Magic player? Read the rulings forum and check out the comprehensive rules!
I decided to take it out for being clunky like Reflector Mage. Sure in can get flash from Rattlechains but it was still worse than Mage.
I just think turn 3 is very crucial for aggro players. It determines how we can win the game or preparing for a Radiant Flames/Languish. I think I would rather increase the number of Nebelgast Herald. Always Watching is okay to play on turn 3 since it's extra power without over-extending into the boardwipes.
Invocation of Saint Traft would have been great if it gave hexproof, but that would be broken.
Standard: BG Golgari Midrange
Modern: U Merfolk GWUBR 5 Color Humans UBW Esper Gifts GW Bogles
1 Bygone Bishop
4 Niblis of Frost
4 Rattlechains
4 Reflector Mage
4 Spell Queller
3 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
7 Island
7 Plains
2 Evolving Wilds
4 Port Town
4 Prairie Stream
3 Anticipate
2 Clash of Wills
4 Essence Flux
2 Ojutai's Command
3 Unsubstantiate
2 Declaration in Stone
2 Bygone Bishop
4 Mausoleum Wanderer
4 Nebelgast Herald
4 Rattlechains
4 Selfless Spirit
4 Spell Queller
3 Thunderclap Wyvern
5 Island
4 Plains
4 Evolving Wilds
2 Foundry of the Consuls
4 Port Town
4 Prairie Stream
2 Clash of Wills
4 Essence Flux
2 Ojutai's Command
2 Unsubstantiate
2 Declaration in Stone
2 Bygone Bishop
4 Elder Deep-Fiend
4 Mausoleum Wanderer
4 Nebelgast Herald
4 Rattlechains
4 Selfless Spirit
4 Spell Queller
7 Island
7 Plains
2 Evolving Wilds
4 Port Town
4 Prairie Stream
2 Clash of Wills
3 Essence Flux
2 Ojutai's Command
3 Unsubstantiate
Let's discuss these choices.
Standard: BG Golgari Midrange
Modern: U Merfolk GWUBR 5 Color Humans UBW Esper Gifts GW Bogles
I haven't read the article because I don't have Premium, but looking at the comments it sounds like Chapin may be a titch off with some of his suggestions around Queller, namely bouncing it to reverse the triggers. Since you put the EtB ability back on the stack it sounds like it doesn't work as he's saying it does. You'd get:
-- top of stack --
exile spell
cast spell
exile spell
When they go to resolve, you'd hit the most recent exile ability, then the cast which I assume would fizzle as well as the first exile due to lack of a target right? Seems like Eerie Interlude would do it correctly though.
Want to be a better Magic player? Read the rulings forum and check out the comprehensive rules!