Throughout Standard, I've noticed a group of cards in the UB spectrum that just haven't gotten their day to shine, and yet it seems like they'd be pretty powerful if they were just dialed into the right strategy. My purpose here is to provoke a brainstorm and see if we can find anything.
Three bears in UB colors who each give their own kind of card advantage. Elder and Disciple can filter draws, and Pain Seer just straight draws more. This opens the way for a toolbox deck with Disciple able to transmute between any two cards in the deck with the same CMC. Ideally the deck would top out at 3 CMC, with enough grouping between 1-drops, 2-drops, and 3-drops to warrant the usefulness of a transmuting tutor.
Ah, but our sweepers! Nothing cuts those opponent creatures down to size like Curse of the Swine, which is both tutorable with any 2-drop through Disciple, and makes Bile Blight work on anything at all. I'm baffled as to why this doesn't see more play, especially considering the giant Godzillas that dominate a midrange format. There's also Polymorphist's Jest and Turn to Frog, two cards that can both work as a combat trick or combo removal with Drown in Sorrow - too cute to rely on, but maybe worth 1x for the occasional Christmasland play.
I've tried tossing various configurations together for goldfish testing, and it's enough to make me think this could work. It seems to work best with 4x the three draw engine bears, then 2x each of just about everything else. Treat it like a toolbox deck like Pod in Modern. One possible stunt is pairing Bloodsoaked Champion with Thoughtseize: Draw Champion early, pitch him to Disciple to get a Thoughtseize and you can always get Champion out later. Draw Thoughtseize late game when the opponent's hand is empty, pitch it to Disciple to get a Champion because now it's time to shift gears into beatdown.
One big issue is with removal. Pain Seer, especially, seems to drive opponents to kill it on sight; you'd think it was Pack Rat! The engine bears tend to get picked off a lot, and the deck is usually too busy to play protect-the-queen. Better to use Brain Maggot and Thoughtseize to scout for removal ahead of time. In a pinch we can use Boon of Erebos or Molting Snakeskin, but it's generally better to just drop another bear; something always connects eventually. Quickling is also in our colors, saving a draw engine and giving us a flying bear in its place.
What does everybody think? Is there something there that has potential against the big baddies in the current Standard format?
There was a Disciple of Deceit deck floating around here for a while, I think it was called "Flickering Tapdancer" or something weird like that. Looking through that thread could give you some additional ideas.
I do think the deck can win games if built right. This will not be a tier 1 deck and it certainly won't be easy to build, but there definitely is potential here. Dig Through Time would be better than Treasure Cruise or Sign in Blood, as a toolbox deck needs to be able to dig deep.
Post a decklist and I'll provide some critique! I would add red and just go with Grixis colors for additional card selection, but that's just me. Low cost removal like Magma Spray and [/card]Lightning Strike[/card] would be pretty good here.
I have a deck using Disciple of Deceit and other Inspired cards alongside Chief Engineer and Springleaf Drum to provide taps. It's pretty good at powering out Scuttling Doom Engine, trading Ornithopter with Daring Thief, and it gets to run Ensoul Artifact which I think is the highlight of the deck. It also has some cute plays, like discarding Ornithopter with Discicple of Deceit to tutor for a land. I've been having a blast playing it. Although I definitely don't think it's tier 1, I think it could gain a lot from new sets since Disciple allows for a toolbox.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Begin with these three creatures:
Three bears in UB colors who each give their own kind of card advantage. Elder and Disciple can filter draws, and Pain Seer just straight draws more. This opens the way for a toolbox deck with Disciple able to transmute between any two cards in the deck with the same CMC. Ideally the deck would top out at 3 CMC, with enough grouping between 1-drops, 2-drops, and 3-drops to warrant the usefulness of a transmuting tutor.
One issue is how to reliably tap / attack with them. Ideally, we'd have the best removal in the format with Bile Blight, Hero's Downfall, Void Snare, and Singing Bell Strike, so blockers get handled pretty fast. We can also give them evasion with Stratus Walk, Mogis's Marauder, and Aqueous Form, the latter also helping with card selection. Finally if you just have to tap that inspired to get the ball rolling and have no other option, Claim of Erebos or Retraction Helix could come in handy.
With controlling the opponent's hand, we have Thoughtseize, Despise, and Brain Maggot at our disposal. For extra aggro punch, there's Spiteful Returned, Herald of Torment, and Master of the Feast. If we need more card advantage, a Treasure Cruise or Sign in Blood couldn't hurt, and in fact since Disciple can tutor from one card to another, that makes every non-land card drawn a potential win.
Ah, but our sweepers! Nothing cuts those opponent creatures down to size like Curse of the Swine, which is both tutorable with any 2-drop through Disciple, and makes Bile Blight work on anything at all. I'm baffled as to why this doesn't see more play, especially considering the giant Godzillas that dominate a midrange format. There's also Polymorphist's Jest and Turn to Frog, two cards that can both work as a combat trick or combo removal with Drown in Sorrow - too cute to rely on, but maybe worth 1x for the occasional Christmasland play.
I've tried tossing various configurations together for goldfish testing, and it's enough to make me think this could work. It seems to work best with 4x the three draw engine bears, then 2x each of just about everything else. Treat it like a toolbox deck like Pod in Modern. One possible stunt is pairing Bloodsoaked Champion with Thoughtseize: Draw Champion early, pitch him to Disciple to get a Thoughtseize and you can always get Champion out later. Draw Thoughtseize late game when the opponent's hand is empty, pitch it to Disciple to get a Champion because now it's time to shift gears into beatdown.
One big issue is with removal. Pain Seer, especially, seems to drive opponents to kill it on sight; you'd think it was Pack Rat! The engine bears tend to get picked off a lot, and the deck is usually too busy to play protect-the-queen. Better to use Brain Maggot and Thoughtseize to scout for removal ahead of time. In a pinch we can use Boon of Erebos or Molting Snakeskin, but it's generally better to just drop another bear; something always connects eventually. Quickling is also in our colors, saving a draw engine and giving us a flying bear in its place.
What does everybody think? Is there something there that has potential against the big baddies in the current Standard format?
Thirst for Knowledge % to hit artifact
I do think the deck can win games if built right. This will not be a tier 1 deck and it certainly won't be easy to build, but there definitely is potential here. Dig Through Time would be better than Treasure Cruise or Sign in Blood, as a toolbox deck needs to be able to dig deep.
A few suggestions that come to mind: Dakra Mystic, Daring Thief, Springleaf Drum, Siren of the Silent Song, Erebos, God of the Dead (to stop those pesky lifegain decks and provide draw), and Retraction Helix.
Post a decklist and I'll provide some critique! I would add red and just go with Grixis colors for additional card selection, but that's just me. Low cost removal like Magma Spray and [/card]Lightning Strike[/card] would be pretty good here.