Lou i'm not trying to troll, I just legitimately don't understand where some of this reasoning is coming from. For example that it will be a much slower format. There are and have been turn 4 kills possible in Standard over the last few years, i.e. Atarka Red was very prominent. It's absolutely going to be a thing with fast zoo in Frontier. To have the expectation that won't be the case just isn't grounded in reality. 2008Stickman gave the best reasoning so far to me in that he just wants to play cards that aren't strong enough for Modern. That's legitimate to me. A reason of wanting a slower format isn't legitimate from my perspective, because unless the ban list is huge people will find a way to win on turn 4 or even 3 since you are equally limited on hate cards.
I found this link a while ago and had a friend who was just beginning in the game read it. It helped him a lot. It explains a lot of nuances very well.
Aw shucks, was hoping that would be a way to deal with Walking Ballista in standard. Thanks for the quick reply!
You just got bad advice from Silent. You cannot respond to them entering the battlefield without using a hard counter to the cast. You CAN respond to their on use ability to add a counter with Warping Wail. Those abilities go on the stack and can be responded to. You only need to make sure they are a 1/1 when you cast your wail and they don't have the mana in the case of Ballista to add another counter in response.
Colt you say those are "problem cards" but those kind of cards add diversity and flavor to a format. If you remove them you don't have anything but a standard type gameplay with a larger card pool. That sounds like a very niche group of people who that appeals to who just love Standard but hate their cards to rotate. Basically you told me the appeal is you don't have to think as hard as Modern on how to approach your matches.
So, it's a pretty simple question, I don't understand the draw of Frontier. Why do people even want this format? It seems to directly conflict with Standard because the time frame is so short there will be a large amount of Standard legal cards that will be played. So if you don't want to keep paying for Standard cards this does nothing for you, since you will still have to keep up with the Standard legal cards. If it's because you want a format less powerful than Modern, you do realize that Frontier will be short lived at a low power level? Every released set will increase the power level and it will eventually become the little Modern that I have seen some of you say you don't want. I just don't get it?
You have a ton of land destruction included in that list. Wizards has said previously they don't believe players find land disruption fun for Standard where there are less answers. You will never see it on that level again. There is plenty of disruption in Standard, just not the type you are asking for.
I've made a lot of changes to the original list and the deck plays with a better flow. I moved away from the counter magic in the main deck because it felt clunky when actually playing some of the agro decks. Most of it is moved to the sideboard now for playing against control and the main deck has more burn and removal. The mana base is also improved. I don't like how much comes in to play tapped, but I can live with it. I have also cut Metallurgic Summonings because I never really found myself wanting to draw it. The deck isn't really built to maximize it's value and it always felt like win more.
If you go mono red you lose Trail of Evidence which is what makes you even able to cast Indomitable Creativity, so that's out of the question. I was just UR originally but it felt off and I wanted to be able to hardcast Herald of Anguish if needed. I do agree that the mana base is off so I will be switching that up.
Each release has it's intriguing cards that just beg you to brew around them. For me it was Indomitable Creativity for this release. The question became how to ensure that you could reasonably predict what your results would be. You have to both run no artifacts you don't want and also creatures that you don't want. The solution I came up with ended up being Trail of Evidence and Metallurgic Summonings build around a control shell. Both produce artifacts/creatures that you can sacrifice without actually taking up those deck slots when the search happens. The below list is rough, but it has been tested online. It's by no means a polished product, that's why I am posting it here to get some suggestions for making this better.
Over the last month I have been experimenting with this deck and have tuned it enough into a list that I am really happy with. I liked the premise in the OP's deck a lot but I felt like it was really easy to fall uncontrollably behind if you didn't combo out very early because eventually your opponent can just keep casting out creatures and the only answer was to keep bouncing them. When it worked it worked very well, when it didn't it was obvious the deck was letting you down. In order to fix that issue I moved a few cards out and replaced them with a couple main-deck Fumigate and Overwhelming Denial. With that change it's much easier to bounce and then either destroy or counter what you don't want to deal with. The denials also come in very handy against the other control decks. They usually aren't available turn 3, which is a downer, but they do usually get cast for UU since we have plenty to use surge with. Going down to 3 Aetherflux makes comboing out a little less reliable, but in exchange the deck can feel more like a control tempo. I find myself winning on a beatdown strategy as much as I do with Aetherflux, which is a nice flexibility to have.
Yes, that IS a lot of counters in the sideboard, I know. Some match-ups I like to go full on control and they almost all go in depending on the situation.
I picked this up because it looked fun to play. It is, but the various energy based decks seem impossible to beat. I get crushed every time and they are all over the place right now. The deck doesn't seem to be a good meta choice right now because of that.
I know this didn't get much attention on here when I posted it originally, but I've had a lot of people ask for a list on MTGO while I have been playing it, so I am going to update this and send them here rather than keep typing it out. Below is the most recent list I am playing.
As the name might suggest the deck is intended to abuse Soul Separator. The black elements of the deck are mostly to fill out the sideboard to be able to have more answers. In fact I think it could easily be replace with another color (Blue has good discard effects). The deck has a feeling very reminiscent of the UR Goggles deck as it shares a lot of elements of play. It may seem like Ulamog is the centerpiece of the deck but it actually revolves much more around Emeria Shepherd. The Shepherd allows plays like a copied Shepherd + non-copied Ulamog on turn 6. It also allows you to return the Soul Separator to your hand if you sandbag a land before copying it. Take a look and see what you guys think (the sideboard is very rough).
https://www.isleofcards.com/magic-the-gathering-beginner-guide
You just got bad advice from Silent. You cannot respond to them entering the battlefield without using a hard counter to the cast. You CAN respond to their on use ability to add a counter with Warping Wail. Those abilities go on the stack and can be responded to. You only need to make sure they are a 1/1 when you cast your wail and they don't have the mana in the case of Ballista to add another counter in response.
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/standard-type-2/proven-standard/756777-mardu-rw-dwarf-vehicle-aggro
but before that I would suggest reading this:
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/community-forums/community-discussion/576824-the-mtg-salvation-tag-explanation-thread#c1
2 Shock
4 Anticipate
3 Incendiary Flow
4 Trail of Evidence
3 Unlicensed Disintegration
2 Glimmer of Genius
2 Yahenni's Expertise
3 Indomitable Creativity
2 Tezzeret the Schemer
3 Torrential Gearhulk
1 Sphinx of the Final Word
1 Herald of Anguish
1 Bane of Bala Ged
1 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
2 Foreboding Ruins
4 Smoldering Marsh
4 Spirebluff Canal
4 Sunken Hollow
2 Wandering Fumarole
3 Island
2 Mountain
1 Swamp
3 Dispel
2 Disallow
2 Overwhelming Denial
3 Transgress the Mind
2 To the Slaughter
2 Hungry Flames
1 Unlicensed Disintegration
2 Shock
4 Anticipate
3 Incendiary Flow
4 Trail of Evidence
3 Unlicensed Disintegration
2 Glimmer of Genius
2 Yahenni's Expertise
3 Indomitable Creativity
2 Tezzeret the Schemer
3 Torrential Gearhulk
1 Sphinx of the Final Word
1 Herald of Anguish
1 Bane of Bala Ged
1 Ulamog the Ceaseless Hunger
2 Foreboding Ruins
4 Smoldering Marsh
4 Spirebluff Canal
4 Sunken Hollow
2 Wandering Fumarole
3 Island
2 Mountain
1 Swamp
3 Dispel
2 Disallow
2 Overwhelming Denial
3 Transgress the Mind
2 To the Slaughter
2 Hungry Flames
1 Unlicensed Disintegration
Yes, that IS a lot of counters in the sideboard, I know. Some match-ups I like to go full on control and they almost all go in depending on the situation.
4 Essence Flux
2 Blessed Alliance
4 Anticipate
4 Reflector Mage
4 Engulf the Shore
3 Overwhelming Denial
3 Aetherflux Reservoir
1 Dovin Baan
2 Fumigate
3 Cloudblazer
3 Torrential Gearhulk
1 Geier Reach Sanitarium
11 Island
3 Plains
3 Port Town
4 Prairie Stream
1 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Blessed Alliance
2 Declaration in Stone
2 Negate
1 Revolutionary Rebuff
2 Imprisoned in the Moon
2 Void Shatter
1 Fumigate
3 Sphinx of the Final Word
3 Declaration in Stone
3 Tormenting Voice
2 Painful Truths
4 Collective Defiance
3 Nahiri, the Harbinger
3 Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim
3 Goblin Dark-Dwellers
4 Emeria Shepherd
4 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
4 Evolving Wilds
3 Foreboding Ruins
1 Needle Spires
1 Shambling Vent
4 Smoldering Marsh
4 Mountain
4 Plains
1 Swamp
2 Rending Volley
2 Incendiary Flow
2 To the Slaughter
2 Infinite Obliteration
2 Nahiri's Wrath
2 Anguished Unmaking
The incendiary flow can be cut from the sideboard. I almost never put them in, I just don't know what to put in their place.
3 Magmatic Insight
4 Tormenting Voice
3 Nahiri's Wrath
3 Collective Defiance
3 Fiery Temper
4 Soul Separator
3 Pyromancer's Goggles
3 Nahiri, the Harbinger
2 Chandra, Flamecaller
3 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
3 Drownyard Temple
4 Evolving Wilds
2 Foreboding Ruins
4 Smoldering Marsh
5 Mountain
4 Plains
1 Swamp
3 Duress
2 Transgress the Mind
2 Oblivion Strike
2 Exquisite Firecraft
3 Languish
2 Anguished Unmaking