Expounding: I felt this deck was weak at the 4-drop slot without taking damage to play other things. I'm totally happy flashing out a Chimera with 4 mana, or playing a Biomancer with it.
If they kill the Biomancer, great... it means my more threatening things have less to worry about. If they don't kill him? Every threat or dork or ANYTHING I play after that just became that much scarier. Horizon Chimera suddenly becomes a game ending threat when he enters the battlefield as a 5/4 trampler with flying + lifegain on card draw.
The difference here with Armada Wurm is that it 2-for-1s removal. Wanna kill one wurm? Okay, but I still have another that's going to swing at you for 10. Flashing it out at the end of their turn is absolutely nuts, you put ten power on the board with trample across two bodies they have to remove in order to stop it. It's way different playing a threat at the end of their turn and being able to untap with it instead of tapping out for it.
The threats don't need to be consistent when they're all threats. Granted, this list could probably use some tuning, but I'm never unhappy to see any of my cards.
Master Biomancer is exactly what this deck needs. He's the difference between mana dork draws being unplayable in mid-late game and going "okay, I'll tap out to play an entire army of 3/3s, what now?" Keep in mind... with 60 cards, 12 of them being mana dorks can put you in some really bad situations. The only reason this deck is able to play 12 mana dorks comfortably is because it has a way to buff them late game - Archangel, and Biomancer.
This is identical to the deck that top 8'd at SCG Classic in Durham NC a few weeks back. I had been playtesting a similar deck against my friend who was in the tournament, and he called me flipping his lid because he got knocked out of the top 8 by this deck and wound up top 16.
I don't like Jace in this deck, like, at all. I think he's pretty useless.
- Flashing out Armada Wurm end of turn is almost always gg. Same goes for Kalonian Hydra.
- Horizon Chimera is exactly what we need in this deck to survive aggro. It may not seem like much, but flashing one out on turn three to gain a life the next turn can make the difference against some aggro decks, which is easily our weakest matchup. Not to mention, seeing multiples is never bad... gaining more than 1 life each draw step is pretty good. The wombo combo dream world is having a few out + Archangel so when you Sphinx's, or draw a card, or cast Zegana, you just gain like a million life and all your creatures get a million counters and the game is over.
- This deck doesn't have a lot of bad matchups. Sideboard is rough right now, but Smiter & Courage come in against aggro; Smiter & Hydra come in against control; Charm comes in against midrange/fatties.
- I'm running a bunch of one ofs, yes... some of it is out of convenience, but some of it is because it's hard for you opponent to play against your top-end threats if he doesn't know what's about to drop down on his face.
- Master Biomancer is an all star in this list, I'm considering upping the number to 3. I totally didn't realize he wasn't legendary... so each trigger is insane, and he's never a card I'm sad to see. He turns your twelve dorks into 3/3s or 2/5s and makes your wincons bigger. You know what's hilarious? +1 on Elspeth with a MB or two on the battlefield.
- This deck basically just has to survive until it sees a threat, and at that point, it usually ends up that every threat that hits the battlefield wins the game unless it is dealt with. It puts them on the defensive and forces them to blow an absurd amount of removal to deal with you. I *love* it.
- This deck also does fine against the devotion decks that are dominating right now. Blue devotion? I'm going to go over you to kill you... Tidebinder Mage to tap my guys? That's fine, Prophet untaps them...
I'd say since it seems like you primary win-con to up the count of Nephalia Drownyard to at least 3. You want to be sure you hit it as often as possible. Usually having 2 on the field that are used for milling is the average I believe.
This.
I noticed a huge upgrade in winning from upping my Drownyard count from 2 to 3. Drownyard is something you NEED on the battlefield... it lets you bluff your opponent. "Is he leaving DY mana up, or does he have a counterspell?" Not to mention, with a T4 drownyard hitting the field, you have your opponent on a 12 turn clock AT THE LEAST... and 12 turns may seem like a long time, but with potential card draw, playing Psychic Strikes or Jace to mill them more, etc... it ends up being not that long of a time. And if they try to play a threat in those 12 turns, chances are you have a counterspell in hand to deal with them... or a Tamiyo to tap them down... or a Doom Blade... or... etc.
It's a pretty cheap list, other than the lands, and even then you're only paying for one set of duals instead of 2-3 like other multicolored decks. Jace is only like a $5 Planeswalker. Tamiyo is rather expensive at the moment and she's rotating soon, but you could easily cut her for any number of things. Although, when she goes off, she goes off. I've made plenty of people scoop just because I was about to ultimate Tamiyo.
So far, I've had really good results. I was running Notion Thief + Evil Twin in the SB, but they wound up getting cut. Hardest matchup by far is Jund. Any suggestions on changes/updates to this list (MB or SB)?
Tragic Slip & Doomblade seem like easy choices to put in this deck. Tragic Slip gets a bunch of morbid triggers here, and it kills indestructible things. I'm honestly wondering if the whole Apostle combo thing might fit better in a black control shell.
I haven't decided if I like Shock or Pillar more. Pillar deals with VoR... but Shock can kill their dork or x/2 on their turn, giving you more mana to combo off on your turn.
If they kill the Biomancer, great... it means my more threatening things have less to worry about. If they don't kill him? Every threat or dork or ANYTHING I play after that just became that much scarier. Horizon Chimera suddenly becomes a game ending threat when he enters the battlefield as a 5/4 trampler with flying + lifegain on card draw.
The threats don't need to be consistent when they're all threats. Granted, this list could probably use some tuning, but I'm never unhappy to see any of my cards.
Master Biomancer is exactly what this deck needs. He's the difference between mana dork draws being unplayable in mid-late game and going "okay, I'll tap out to play an entire army of 3/3s, what now?" Keep in mind... with 60 cards, 12 of them being mana dorks can put you in some really bad situations. The only reason this deck is able to play 12 mana dorks comfortably is because it has a way to buff them late game - Archangel, and Biomancer.
This is still a baby, feel free to take part in the growth process!
Core cards:
- Sphinx's Revelation
- Prophet of Kruphix
- A whole bunch of mana dorks
- Master Biomancer (imo, this is debatable)
This is identical to the deck that top 8'd at SCG Classic in Durham NC a few weeks back. I had been playtesting a similar deck against my friend who was in the tournament, and he called me flipping his lid because he got knocked out of the top 8 by this deck and wound up top 16.
I don't like Jace in this deck, like, at all. I think he's pretty useless.
The current list I'm testing is as follows:
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Manaweft Sliver
4 Horizon Chimera
2 Master Biomancer
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
1 Archangel of Thune
1 Angel of Serenity
2 Detention Sphere
1 Cyclonic Rift
2 Kalonian Hydra
3 Sphinx's Revelation
2 Prime Speaker Zegana
1 Armada Wurm
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Breeding Pool
4 Temple Garden
4 Temple of Mystery
2 Selesnya Guildgate
4 Forest
2 Island
1 Plains
Things to consider:
- Flashing out Armada Wurm end of turn is almost always gg. Same goes for Kalonian Hydra.
- Horizon Chimera is exactly what we need in this deck to survive aggro. It may not seem like much, but flashing one out on turn three to gain a life the next turn can make the difference against some aggro decks, which is easily our weakest matchup. Not to mention, seeing multiples is never bad... gaining more than 1 life each draw step is pretty good. The wombo combo dream world is having a few out + Archangel so when you Sphinx's, or draw a card, or cast Zegana, you just gain like a million life and all your creatures get a million counters and the game is over.
- This deck doesn't have a lot of bad matchups. Sideboard is rough right now, but Smiter & Courage come in against aggro; Smiter & Hydra come in against control; Charm comes in against midrange/fatties.
- I'm running a bunch of one ofs, yes... some of it is out of convenience, but some of it is because it's hard for you opponent to play against your top-end threats if he doesn't know what's about to drop down on his face.
- Master Biomancer is an all star in this list, I'm considering upping the number to 3. I totally didn't realize he wasn't legendary... so each trigger is insane, and he's never a card I'm sad to see. He turns your twelve dorks into 3/3s or 2/5s and makes your wincons bigger. You know what's hilarious? +1 on Elspeth with a MB or two on the battlefield.
- This deck basically just has to survive until it sees a threat, and at that point, it usually ends up that every threat that hits the battlefield wins the game unless it is dealt with. It puts them on the defensive and forces them to blow an absurd amount of removal to deal with you. I *love* it.
- This deck also does fine against the devotion decks that are dominating right now. Blue devotion? I'm going to go over you to kill you... Tidebinder Mage to tap my guys? That's fine, Prophet untaps them...
My LGS is selling them for less than $1 each.
This.
I noticed a huge upgrade in winning from upping my Drownyard count from 2 to 3. Drownyard is something you NEED on the battlefield... it lets you bluff your opponent. "Is he leaving DY mana up, or does he have a counterspell?" Not to mention, with a T4 drownyard hitting the field, you have your opponent on a 12 turn clock AT THE LEAST... and 12 turns may seem like a long time, but with potential card draw, playing Psychic Strikes or Jace to mill them more, etc... it ends up being not that long of a time. And if they try to play a threat in those 12 turns, chances are you have a counterspell in hand to deal with them... or a Tamiyo to tap them down... or a Doom Blade... or... etc.
3 Augur of Bolas
3 Think Twice
2 Opportunity
2 Syncopate
3 Psychic Strike
4 Far // Away
3 Doom Blade
2 Warped Physique
1 Devour Flesh
1 Rewind
3 Mutilate
3 Forbidden Alchemy
1 Barter in Blood
1 Jace, Memory Adept
1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
4 Watery Grave
4 Drowned Catacomb
2 Nephalia Drownyard
5 Island
11 Swamp
It's a pretty cheap list, other than the lands, and even then you're only paying for one set of duals instead of 2-3 like other multicolored decks. Jace is only like a $5 Planeswalker. Tamiyo is rather expensive at the moment and she's rotating soon, but you could easily cut her for any number of things. Although, when she goes off, she goes off. I've made plenty of people scoop just because I was about to ultimate Tamiyo.
1 AEtherling
3 Augur of Bolas
3 Think Twice
2 Opportunity
2 Syncopate
3 Psychic Strike
4 Far // Away
3 Doom Blade
2 Warped Physique
1 Devour Flesh
1 Rewind
3 Mutilate
3 Forbidden Alchemy
1 Barter in Blood
1 Jace, Memory Adept
1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
4 Watery Grave
4 Drowned Catacomb
2 Nephalia Drownyard
5 Island
11 Swamp
SB: 2 Appetite for Brains
SB: 2 Duress
SB: 1 Ratchet Bomb
SB: 1 Jace, Memory Adept
SB: 1 Notion Thief
SB: 2 Pithing Needle
SB: 1 Crypt Incursion
SB: 2 Negate
SB: 1 Dispel
SB: 1 Essence Scatter
SB: 1 Psychic Spiral
So far, I've had really good results. I was running Notion Thief + Evil Twin in the SB, but they wound up getting cut. Hardest matchup by far is Jund. Any suggestions on changes/updates to this list (MB or SB)?