B/G Whip:
This guy was the real deal. A mix of mono-green devotion, enchantment packages (Eidolon of Blossoms, Courser of Kruphix, Doomwake Giant) with 3 Whip of Erebos and Hornet Queens. Sideboard I brought in suspension fields for queens, but admittedly the sideboard was not prepared for this matchup. Results:0-2
How do you Suspension Field a Hornet Queen? I'd love to learn that trick. Some number of Erase may help against that Whip deck. They're all enchantment heavy just because of courser, whip, and the often included Doomwake Giants
Lol. Chained to the Rocks maybe? I like that card; 1 mana removal is good. I run 3 in addition to 3 end hostilities and burn. But it requires Mountains. Doesn't deal with planeswalkers either. I don't run nyx fleece ram like Lars but I've found that gain lands + Pearl lake ancient has done work to keep me in it to win it in some games.
You're certainly welcome to try it. It's been suggested that there are two versions of the deck: a faster version without pilgrim and the version with pilgrim. My experience has been that the benefit of pilgrim is not just the silver bullets, but the ability to run less copies of certain auras and thus more pump/protection instants.
Good. I originally ran 3, then after its usefulness went up to 4. +3+3 can win tight games and is a useful battle trick in a deck with limited removal. Hexproof mode comes in handy a lot (this is the most common mode, I think, so much targeted removal etc and we have creatures like prophet or zegana that you don't want to lose), and the bounce works when you're in a tight spot. I don't think I'm ever unhappy to see it. In my experience, even when it's a dead draw the turn you pull it, within 1 or 2 it will see play. But now that said, it may be worth dropping to 3 again to explore other possibilities.
Here is the list I played last FNM; a couple of minor changes from the deck I posted earlier. Took second, beating Orzhov aggro 2-0, Esper Humans 2-0, RG monsters 2-0 and losing 0-2 to Big Boros (I made bad plays and also sideboarded poorly, but learned). What's funny is I was originally going to fit in another prognostic sphinx, but couldn't find the card in time so I stuck another cyclonic rift MD which ended up being a great change. The card won me more than a couple of games and I think I will leave the 3 MD. I don't think there was a point where Divination would have done me better than Inspiration... If I go Land>Land, Caryatid>Land I don't want to Divination, I want to hold open for Capture, Chimera, or Inspiration. Then again, if I go Land>Land, Omenspeaker> Land I probably do. Inspiration hasn't been so clunky as to warrant a change yet so I'll just leave it for now. Jace might be better. I might drop a chimera for another sphinx. Aetherling looks good too. I don't think I have enough to go the devotion route. I need to play more before making some of these larger changes, but right now I am OK with the deck.
Inspiration is bad. Divination and Urban Evolution are just better, and those don't make the cut in our deck a lot of the time
Don't cut Caryatid, it's one of the most important cards in our deck, and Gyre Sage is worse in every way.
4 Plasm Capture and 4 Horizon Chimera are too many copies of each
Oops, yes I forgot to include Urban Evolution. My numbers are off, it should be 38 nonlands, counting 2x Urban Evolution I think the card is great but I've cut it down from 4 to 3 to 2 after it sat in my hand too many games. I like the earlier boost Inspiration gives. I run Inspiration over Divination because Divination is a sorcery and I originally didn't want to tapout T3(I started building this deck with more counterspells than I'm running now). I still prefer the instant speed to play it EOT. I think divination works in UW decks because of their need to dig for something to rush out by T4, Jace or Supreme Verdict. I don't experience that, but I will keep it in mind during games to see if it is something I want. Now that I'm thinking of it, though, dropping Inspiration for Jace, Architect of Thought might be good. If we had Kiora already She would do well in the spot too. You may be right about Chimera and Plasm Capture. Though, you are only telling me what you don't like about the deck and not what you would add in their place or move around. What do you think? I actually never feel overloaded with Chimera; in fact I'm almost always glad to see it. Plasm Capture... That may be another story. I'll keep that in mind in testing as well to see how useful it is as a 4 of. If I dropped 1 plasm capture I'd probably give the slot to another Cyclonic Rift or maybe Bow of Nylea.
Also don't worry, I won't cut Caryatid. that was more of a lulzy suggestion.
@owlbro: seems like yours should be a Bant list, it needs Sphinx's Revelation. Theres a thread in the competitive forums for Bant Prophet, I suggest checking it out
@LeoninKha that is interesting you say that..Why? I have actually been interested in that thread/deck for some time, though I wanted to see how far I could go with U/G and see the necessity of adding an additional color. So far it doesn't seem necessary but BANT does seem like a good time. I am not willing to invest in all the cards necessary at this point tho, with BOTG coming out soon.
I'm running a different build from what I've seen here so far, but I started with a bit of a different shell and have been tweaking it since. I'm happy with the results.
61 is Elixir. My sideboard varies but there is no secret tech there. More Rifts, gainsays, additional counters.
Last FNM I went 1-0-1 v. USA Control, 2-1-0 v. GR Devotion/Monsters, 1-1-1 v. Esper Control, and 0-2 v. Maze's End (ARGHHH). There were many MUD/Wb/WW played but I didn't run into them myself. Placed 9th/22. I'm wondering how my game is against aggro, though with Bounty, Elixir and Horizon I've had past wins against Red aggro variants. I've played the deck at 3 other similar sized tourneys and it's been getting better.
23 Lands might be too low, I think. Curse of the Swine wasn't as necessary as I thought it would be, but not having removal makes me nervous. I might go -2 COTSwine -3 Caryatid +2 Vorel +3 Gyre Sage. Or maybe I should really get the additional land in there...
Edit:
Actually I'll probably go -2 COTSwine +1 Land +1 Prognostic Sphinx
I slapped together a deck for fun out of the cards I have. It began first as an experiment, since I have always had difficulty playing blue, with a permission style deck. But I like the idea of counter-burn, and I like the fun cards u/r has available.
There are a few cards that I am liking that I don't see mentioned in this thread:
Elite Arcanist
This + Cyclonic Rift is some great hijinx. Or you can stick burn on it, or a counterspell. Also, this can have some great synergy with Guttersnipe The issue with this is the 4cmc, which means you may have to hold the card in hand for a few turns before you can play it and still have mana available. Also has synergy with Ral Zarek
Guttersnipe is also a good card in theory considering the breakdown of the deck, but I'm thinking that by the time you'll want to play it, you'd rather have something that's more threatening on board. Maybe Young pyromancer is a better choice?
So a big issue is leaving mana open and being able to have something on the board. I'm not convinced the weird is the way to go.. it's a good card, but if I were to use it, I'd think I'd want to play it in response to say a Kalonian Tusker or Call Token--because I may not want to expend a counter/burn on such a cheap card... however at that point in the game, do you really want to tap out or only leave one mana open? I guess you could let it hit you once or twice, then bring it out, but by then your opponent already has some advantage and has gotten their mana's worth--you were too slow and your 1/4 is really not contributing much to your side of the field. Anyway, sorry, thinking out loud, again I'm not really a blue player...
As far as big threats, I like Spellheart Chimera. Lower cmc means I can cast it earlier and end the game before my opponent can get on their feet.
I still have to edit my deck after some matches I had on Tuesday, and in the meantime will trade and build my deck for next Friday (this Friday is draft). Then I'll post a list.
Lol. Chained to the Rocks maybe? I like that card; 1 mana removal is good. I run 3 in addition to 3 end hostilities and burn. But it requires Mountains. Doesn't deal with planeswalkers either. I don't run nyx fleece ram like Lars but I've found that gain lands + Pearl lake ancient has done work to keep me in it to win it in some games.
Good. I originally ran 3, then after its usefulness went up to 4. +3+3 can win tight games and is a useful battle trick in a deck with limited removal. Hexproof mode comes in handy a lot (this is the most common mode, I think, so much targeted removal etc and we have creatures like prophet or zegana that you don't want to lose), and the bounce works when you're in a tight spot. I don't think I'm ever unhappy to see it. In my experience, even when it's a dead draw the turn you pull it, within 1 or 2 it will see play. But now that said, it may be worth dropping to 3 again to explore other possibilities.
3 Sylvan Caryatid
3 Prophet of Kruphix
2 Prime Speaker Zegana
2 Polukranos, Eater of Worlds
3 Cyclonic Rift
2 Primeval Bounty
4 Plasm Capture
1 Elixir of Immortality
4 Simic Charm
4 Horizon Chimera
1 Prognostic Sphinx
2 Inspiration
2 Urban Evolution
24 Lands
Here is the list I played last FNM; a couple of minor changes from the deck I posted earlier. Took second, beating Orzhov aggro 2-0, Esper Humans 2-0, RG monsters 2-0 and losing 0-2 to Big Boros (I made bad plays and also sideboarded poorly, but learned). What's funny is I was originally going to fit in another prognostic sphinx, but couldn't find the card in time so I stuck another cyclonic rift MD which ended up being a great change. The card won me more than a couple of games and I think I will leave the 3 MD. I don't think there was a point where Divination would have done me better than Inspiration... If I go Land>Land, Caryatid>Land I don't want to Divination, I want to hold open for Capture, Chimera, or Inspiration. Then again, if I go Land>Land, Omenspeaker> Land I probably do. Inspiration hasn't been so clunky as to warrant a change yet so I'll just leave it for now. Jace might be better. I might drop a chimera for another sphinx. Aetherling looks good too. I don't think I have enough to go the devotion route. I need to play more before making some of these larger changes, but right now I am OK with the deck.
Oops, yes I forgot to include Urban Evolution. My numbers are off, it should be 38 nonlands, counting 2x Urban Evolution I think the card is great but I've cut it down from 4 to 3 to 2 after it sat in my hand too many games. I like the earlier boost Inspiration gives. I run Inspiration over Divination because Divination is a sorcery and I originally didn't want to tapout T3(I started building this deck with more counterspells than I'm running now). I still prefer the instant speed to play it EOT. I think divination works in UW decks because of their need to dig for something to rush out by T4, Jace or Supreme Verdict. I don't experience that, but I will keep it in mind during games to see if it is something I want. Now that I'm thinking of it, though, dropping Inspiration for Jace, Architect of Thought might be good. If we had Kiora already She would do well in the spot too. You may be right about Chimera and Plasm Capture. Though, you are only telling me what you don't like about the deck and not what you would add in their place or move around. What do you think? I actually never feel overloaded with Chimera; in fact I'm almost always glad to see it. Plasm Capture... That may be another story. I'll keep that in mind in testing as well to see how useful it is as a 4 of. If I dropped 1 plasm capture I'd probably give the slot to another Cyclonic Rift or maybe Bow of Nylea.
Also don't worry, I won't cut Caryatid. that was more of a lulzy suggestion.
@LeoninKha that is interesting you say that..Why? I have actually been interested in that thread/deck for some time, though I wanted to see how far I could go with U/G and see the necessity of adding an additional color. So far it doesn't seem necessary but BANT does seem like a good time. I am not willing to invest in all the cards necessary at this point tho, with BOTG coming out soon.
3 Sylvan Caryatid
3 Prophet of Kruphix
2 Prime Speaker Zegana
2 Polukranos, Eater of Worlds
2 Cyclonic Rift
2 Primeval Bounty
4 Plasm Capture
1 Elixir of Immortality
4 Simic Charm
2 Curse of the Swine
4 Horizon Chimera
1 Prognostic Sphinx
2 Inspiration
23 Lands
61 is Elixir. My sideboard varies but there is no secret tech there. More Rifts, gainsays, additional counters.
Last FNM I went 1-0-1 v. USA Control, 2-1-0 v. GR Devotion/Monsters, 1-1-1 v. Esper Control, and 0-2 v. Maze's End (ARGHHH). There were many MUD/Wb/WW played but I didn't run into them myself. Placed 9th/22. I'm wondering how my game is against aggro, though with Bounty, Elixir and Horizon I've had past wins against Red aggro variants. I've played the deck at 3 other similar sized tourneys and it's been getting better.
23 Lands might be too low, I think. Curse of the Swine wasn't as necessary as I thought it would be, but not having removal makes me nervous. I might go -2 COTSwine -3 Caryatid +2 Vorel +3 Gyre Sage. Or maybe I should really get the additional land in there...
Edit:
Actually I'll probably go -2 COTSwine +1 Land +1 Prognostic Sphinx
There are a few cards that I am liking that I don't see mentioned in this thread:
Elite Arcanist
This + Cyclonic Rift is some great hijinx. Or you can stick burn on it, or a counterspell. Also, this can have some great synergy with Guttersnipe The issue with this is the 4cmc, which means you may have to hold the card in hand for a few turns before you can play it and still have mana available. Also has synergy with Ral Zarek
Guttersnipe is also a good card in theory considering the breakdown of the deck, but I'm thinking that by the time you'll want to play it, you'd rather have something that's more threatening on board. Maybe Young pyromancer is a better choice?
So a big issue is leaving mana open and being able to have something on the board. I'm not convinced the weird is the way to go.. it's a good card, but if I were to use it, I'd think I'd want to play it in response to say a Kalonian Tusker or Call Token--because I may not want to expend a counter/burn on such a cheap card... however at that point in the game, do you really want to tap out or only leave one mana open? I guess you could let it hit you once or twice, then bring it out, but by then your opponent already has some advantage and has gotten their mana's worth--you were too slow and your 1/4 is really not contributing much to your side of the field. Anyway, sorry, thinking out loud, again I'm not really a blue player...
But I like Hypersonic Dragon IMO Flash is HUGE in the strategy of this deck. I will try running 4 myself. It can speed up cards like Divination Anger of the Gods and Flames of the Firebrand or even a game winning Lava Axe 4/4 still leaves it a bit vulnerable, but is nothing to shake a stick at.
As far as big threats, I like Spellheart Chimera. Lower cmc means I can cast it earlier and end the game before my opponent can get on their feet.
I still have to edit my deck after some matches I had on Tuesday, and in the meantime will trade and build my deck for next Friday (this Friday is draft). Then I'll post a list.