Anyways, the tappedout audience is somewhat small and Limo is on a budget, so I figured I would create this thread here to get the salvation crowd in on the deck and also provide a place for discussion more based around making the deck as competitive as possible. I didn't see a thread already dedicated to the deck, so my apologies mods if I missed it or if this is the wrong place to post this. Any suggestions/comments are greatly appreciated!
The deck is based around using Lich's Mastery and Nexus of Fate combined with mass life gain such as Sanguine Sacrament to generate card advantage and eventually deck yourself to take infinite turns with Nexus of Fate. A control shell helps us live till we get the combo going as well as protect the combo from nasty things like Cleansing Nova.
Card choices:
Removal:
For early removal I'm using cast down because it's cheap, instant speed and hits a lot of early creatures in the meta. Late game is Vraska's Contempt for single removal and Ritual of Soot for wraths. I would like to be able to play Settle the Wreckage and/or Cleansing Nova but I'm not sure the mana base can handle double blue for Sinister Sabotage, double-triple black for Vraska's Contempt and Lich's Mastery AND double white for Settle the Wreckage and Cleansing Nova. With the current removal suite I'm having some problems with Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice and her other high cmc cronies. Vraska's contempt can get the job done but I only recently went up from 2-4 so I haven't gotten to test it too much.
A few ideas to solve this: Chromatic Lantern for mana fixing and ramp so that I can play the better white wraths, or moving away from blue and just playing tons of black and white removal, (splashing blue for nexus), but then I don't have very reliable card draw early game, (pre-Lich's Mastery) adding more life gain to stall for longer while I draw into my stuff naturally may work?
Card draw: Discovery // Dispersal, Notion Rain, Chemister's Insight, Anticipate all have their upsides and downsides, I'm really not sure which combination of which cards is better. Currently I'm running Radical Idea for early game, instant speed card draw and Notion Rain because it digs deep for whatever I need, (more lands, the correct colors of lands, combo pieces, answers to threats). How much of a drawback being sorcery speed remains to be seen, I may go back to Chemister's Insight for the top-of-the-curve card draw spells, 4 mana for only 2 cards deep felt too slow when trying to find an answer for something. Surveiling also stocks the graveyard for "lich life" later on in the game. I'm also not currently usuing Search for Azcanta which is probably a mistake but I don't know where to fit it in.
Mana base:
The Standard esper mana base is pretty rough especially with the expensive spells we want to be casting. No Field of Ruins for that reason, and only 2 Reliquary Towers. So far it seems like dual taplands are better than Evolving Wilds, no Watery Graves because it doesn't work well after Lich's Mastery, but it does make the mana a bit slower - not sure if I should be playing them or not.
Combo Pieces:
Obviously Lich's Mastery and Nexus of Fate aren't really replaceable. Chance for Glory would work but that's somewhat of a different deck, and I don't like that it is dead in hand pre-lich. To get closer to decking myself to take infinite trurns with Nexus I'm using Sanguine Sacrament, (and Vraska's Contempt syngergizes nicely). I've thought about Lyra Dawnbringer as both a combo piece and a win con but haven't tested it yet. The win con is Chromium, the Mutable because it's a fast clock is in our colors and is very hard to kill. Nezahal, Primal Tide could also work but doesn't have evasion, maybe evasion is needed, maybe it's not, I don't know. The card draw certainly goes along with the plan nicely.
Teferi: Teferi, Hero of Dominaria is in there because he is in our colors and is op. Some card draw and untapping lands is nice and once we go infinite you can exile everything with the ultimate, also the minus ability is helpful for controling the board. He seems to be one of those cards that is too good to not play regardless of if he combos perfectly with Lich's Mastery, but taking him out opens spots for mana fixing, more removal, more combo pieces, more counter magic etc.
As someone who has played a lot of the Rainbow Lich Deck, I will note that paying 7 mana to take another turn and paying 3 mana to take another turn, is really where the value is at. I run a single copy of Nexus if Fate in that deck and it has been due to be cut.
If you are in an Esper Control Shell, Idk why you would even run Lich’s Mastery if you want to go infinite.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
STANDARD|UW Control MODERN| UBG Midrange PAUPER| UG Fog COMMANDER| UBG The Mimeoplasm
Anyways, the tappedout audience is somewhat small and Limo is on a budget, so I figured I would create this thread here to get the salvation crowd in on the deck and also provide a place for discussion more based around making the deck as competitive as possible. I didn't see a thread already dedicated to the deck, so my apologies mods if I missed it or if this is the wrong place to post this. Any suggestions/comments are greatly appreciated!
The deck is based around using Lich's Mastery and Nexus of Fate combined with mass life gain such as Sanguine Sacrament to generate card advantage and eventually deck yourself to take infinite turns with Nexus of Fate. A control shell helps us live till we get the combo going as well as protect the combo from nasty things like Cleansing Nova.
3x Lich's Mastery
2x Sanguine Sacrament
1x Nexus of Fate
Removal
3x Ritual of Soot
4x Cast Down
4x Vraska's Contempt
Card Draw
4x Radical Idea
4x Notion Rain
Counter Magic
4x Essence Scatter
3x Sinister Sabotage
1x Chromium, the Mutable
Teferi
1x Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
Lands
4x Drowned Catacomb
4x Glacial Fortress
6x Island
4x Isolated Chapel
1x Plains
2x Reliquary Tower
5x Swamp
1x Murder
2x Duress
3x Invoke the Divine
1x Moment of Craving
2x Negate
2x Price of Fame
1x Ritual of Soot
3x Unmoored Ego
Card choices:
Removal:
For early removal I'm using cast down because it's cheap, instant speed and hits a lot of early creatures in the meta. Late game is Vraska's Contempt for single removal and Ritual of Soot for wraths. I would like to be able to play Settle the Wreckage and/or Cleansing Nova but I'm not sure the mana base can handle double blue for Sinister Sabotage, double-triple black for Vraska's Contempt and Lich's Mastery AND double white for Settle the Wreckage and Cleansing Nova. With the current removal suite I'm having some problems with Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice and her other high cmc cronies. Vraska's contempt can get the job done but I only recently went up from 2-4 so I haven't gotten to test it too much.
A few ideas to solve this: Chromatic Lantern for mana fixing and ramp so that I can play the better white wraths, or moving away from blue and just playing tons of black and white removal, (splashing blue for nexus), but then I don't have very reliable card draw early game, (pre-Lich's Mastery) adding more life gain to stall for longer while I draw into my stuff naturally may work?
Card draw:
Discovery // Dispersal, Notion Rain, Chemister's Insight, Anticipate all have their upsides and downsides, I'm really not sure which combination of which cards is better. Currently I'm running Radical Idea for early game, instant speed card draw and Notion Rain because it digs deep for whatever I need, (more lands, the correct colors of lands, combo pieces, answers to threats). How much of a drawback being sorcery speed remains to be seen, I may go back to Chemister's Insight for the top-of-the-curve card draw spells, 4 mana for only 2 cards deep felt too slow when trying to find an answer for something. Surveiling also stocks the graveyard for "lich life" later on in the game. I'm also not currently usuing Search for Azcanta which is probably a mistake but I don't know where to fit it in.
Mana base:
The Standard esper mana base is pretty rough especially with the expensive spells we want to be casting. No Field of Ruins for that reason, and only 2 Reliquary Towers. So far it seems like dual taplands are better than Evolving Wilds, no Watery Graves because it doesn't work well after Lich's Mastery, but it does make the mana a bit slower - not sure if I should be playing them or not.
Combo Pieces:
Obviously Lich's Mastery and Nexus of Fate aren't really replaceable. Chance for Glory would work but that's somewhat of a different deck, and I don't like that it is dead in hand pre-lich. To get closer to decking myself to take infinite trurns with Nexus I'm using Sanguine Sacrament, (and Vraska's Contempt syngergizes nicely). I've thought about Lyra Dawnbringer as both a combo piece and a win con but haven't tested it yet. The win con is Chromium, the Mutable because it's a fast clock is in our colors and is very hard to kill. Nezahal, Primal Tide could also work but doesn't have evasion, maybe evasion is needed, maybe it's not, I don't know. The card draw certainly goes along with the plan nicely.
Teferi:
Teferi, Hero of Dominaria is in there because he is in our colors and is op. Some card draw and untapping lands is nice and once we go infinite you can exile everything with the ultimate, also the minus ability is helpful for controling the board. He seems to be one of those cards that is too good to not play regardless of if he combos perfectly with Lich's Mastery, but taking him out opens spots for mana fixing, more removal, more combo pieces, more counter magic etc.
If you are in an Esper Control Shell, Idk why you would even run Lich’s Mastery if you want to go infinite.
STANDARD|UW Control MODERN| UBG Midrange PAUPER| UG Fog COMMANDER| UBG The Mimeoplasm
Radical Idea is also a bad card and any other cantrip would be better instead be it Opt or Anticipate
(Discovery // Dispersal and Chart a Course would also be better though as sorceries they are less optimal here imho.
Chemister's Insight is the better option over Notion Rain in this deck.
I'm not sure how necessary Essence Scatter is here with so much removal already so I'd consider Thought Erasure instead or maybe Moment of Craving (for the lifegain).