Anyway i've played some games vs the new Eldrazi deck (i'm playing a GB version so i tested a bit with my others deck), and i have to say that is a bane for our deck, somehow worst than Tron. They have too many creatures over 4 toughness, and the mana/creatures combo make the perfect curve. T1 Inquisition/relic , T2 land Strangler, T3/4 land Herder/Sower/Conduit could mean a T4/5 Ulamog. That's Gross. We have counters, we have path, but several of those creatures triggers at casting, that's the problem.
Probably the most problematic of the creatures is Oblivion Sower, a 5/8 that steal 4 cards and play all the lands we have in exile (we abuse of fetchlands in first 2-3 turns, and the fact that they run 4 relic in main means we're gonna exile them before other spells).
I have 0 ideas of how to face this deck, probably we have to be lucky, just like we have to be now with tron.
I was about to ask about that. As is, my sideboard is (keep in mind I'm currently on Kiki Control)
(Sorry for formatting, not sure how to do that.) Between the meta shifting and a desire to just accept some decks as a lost cause, I want to change my board up a little. I had a friend in town for a bit who plays RG Tron- we tested a bit, and I won something like 1 out of 12 games against him, and that was purely because of my combo on turn 5. I'm thinking about cutting Crumble and/or Relic and throwing in more removal, which could really help against the random midrange decks such as Eldrazi or Junk, as well as helping with aggro as a bonus, or maybe adding a second Clique (I run 1 mainboard). Thing is, I've no idea what additional removal I can add against Eldrazi. I reaalllly don't want to stoop to Condemn or Azorius Charm, and Gideon Jura and Detention Sphere also feel weird. Ideas?
the weakest part of the eldrazi deck is their mana base, its like standard jund we can't win if they cast spells, I'd say run something that hits them tron and amulet, I'm thinking spreading sea's or ghost quarter, I'll probably add crucible quarter as it can lock tron and amulet out while making eldrazi at least mildly fair.
Best removal option is probably more mass removal for them, fighting blight hearder in a 1 for 1 style dosn't sound like a good way to win.
How many of you are on board with the anticipate? I'm still feeling that think twice as card advantage is far more important than card selection (unless the selection is insane in the case if dtt) that's why we dont play serum visions over think twice and serum visions is even better at hitting land drops while holding up removal.
Hey, I have this idea floating around in my head and I wanted your guy's help as I have little experience with blue moon. I'm trying to build a u/r twin/blue moon hybrid deck and was wondering what your most important cards are. (The solid role players that is)
I'm friends with emercool IRL. I am a blue player, I do better when I have the ability to play at instant speed and the deck does not allow me to use the skill I have earned by doing so for a long time. I believe it is better to stick to a deck style you know and are good with than to jump from archetype to archetype. ::edit because it didn't quote::
Why don't your Grinder-friends don't play your deck ? It seems like you crush them every time you play against them...
When it comes to aggro decks, we have no hope of racing them and our only option is to beat them with our combo. Thankfully, we are much more defensive than UR and RUG twin and will survive much longer to assemble the combo.
this isn'ttrue at all, iI've raced agro plenty of times you just have to view all of your creature combo prices as winter flames and run a bit more removal eventually your restoration angels will gain you enough value in combat to win.
I also wanted to bring up helix versus boros charm. Helix is an always will be amazing, but in this deck it seems like boros charm is a potential game changer/win. In metas full of abrupt decay it saves your combo, it protects your Geist beats and it gives extra reach to close out games. What are your guys thoughts on it?
I think Valorous Stance is better. It can protect your creature or act like removal. If Boros was able to deal 4 damage to a creature or player, I would definitely be playing it.
if decay is giving you trouble might I recommend dropping a twin and possibly a geist (4 serum visions will find the three of and cuts down akword double geist hands) for some restoration angel action, also I'd try. Cryptic in the main as it feels criminal to play giest at all without at least one to tap there team and draw a card or bounce a snap to do it again next turn, then again your list seems hyper burn focused so I'm not really sure how to approach it. P.s. have you tested avenue mindsensor out of the board? I'm curious as to how it is vs. grafdigers cage.
I guess what I like about boros charm is it works well with geist specifically. Lets you swing with geist when you need to. Protects your combo, allows the angel to sneak in for double damage and can straight give your deck a bit more reach with burn to the face or planeswalker.
This is my current list and SB. I am testing it on cockatrice with some degree of success. Junk variants are difficult because of abrupt. I am 50-50 with pod and have had some epic matches.
I think I need to change out the Cryptic in my SB for something else. I almost never side them in. Maybe Helix's or Grim Lavamancers. Or even just some negates.
Maybe I'm a bit slow, but how does Resto interact well with Twin?
it let's you combo with pestermite/deciever by taping the angel blinking the twidle creature and untaping angel also rpetitavley blinks snapcaster and saves geist every turn, this is also obvious by now but it also let's you make an angel at end of opponents turn and untaps you with the. Copy and another witch can get past an opposing resto or colanade blocker.
II'vebeen doing fairly well with this list recently and am 100% satisfied with the main as it stands, witch I might add Ihave never been about any deck iI ever played before Iwould rrecommend you try it out. My reasoning for more pestermites is deceiver exar h sucks at killing people and trading for delvers and combo fine if you jam a clique first, resto is to good to miss out on as it interacts well with all my creatures and with twin. Cryptic is good with geist and good with manana...you know what cryptic is just good and it it wasn't for resto I would play 3 it dose literally everything and even the tap is amazing when you factor in geist. My only real complaint at the moment is that i dont like the molten rains in my board but I want to hedge against scapeshift I may drop them and add another counterflux, wear//tear, and see one spellskite. Also I dont believe the new fate cards are playable including stance I tested it proxies when it was spoiled and would always have prefers izzet charm (practicly the same card except one is good vs delver and counters pod/scapeshift from time to time and the other kills ryno they also fit the same slot so dont cut paths for them or you may find that voice kills you faster than you thought. Lastly the gethhe's are not a budjet. Consideration red can easily be fetched with strand and helps play around blood moon. Lastly I recommend if you want to try my list you dont tweak for preference e then say its bad it I've tested more deciever less pester more path with helix without helix more snares no snares this is what Iaarrived at and my last 2 fnms (I have a rather competitive store) I drew into second last time without dropping a game though I played the guy to pass time and crushed him in 3 separate games. Trust me the list is good just play very carefully and dont get imatiant the combo is a synergy the deck takes advantage of not the main win con.
Being more anti-bolt is great, but i'm thinking about losing the bell ringers and use 2 pestermites instead. I like the ability to attack and gain a little more tempo than bell ringer can offer. Or, cutting the bell ringers and use another vendilion clique and dig. Its 2 different paths to take i know, but just food for thought.
I'd say, his biggest weakness is costing 8 mana. The nice think with Grave Titan is, that he brings 3 bodies, which can be used as blockers. A 1of maybe is okay, but I think the more competitive players won't run it. On FNMs for pure awesomeness you surely could run 1. It's not a bad card... ...its just: When we hit 8 mana, we probably allready won.
You're right that his weakness is being 8 mana. It means both he comes down later and is harder to protect with backup counter-magic. I don't think the multiple-bodies thing matters much... once you land ugin, you'll never have to block anything again. It's probably more relevant that he would take several turns to kill the opponent instead of 2-3, so they could draw an out or a combo.
To be fair, the usual win-cons (colonnade and WSZ) are all pretty mana-intensive. Colonnade often means having 9 mana (5 to activate, 4 for cryptic backup), and WSZ you want to cast for AT LEAST x=3 or 4, often also with cryptic backup, which takes 10+ mana.
I agree that the most competitive players would skip him or run grave titan instead, but feel that as you said, for pure fun and awesomeness you could get away with a 1-of Ugin at FNM (or even a larger event. I mean really... if you're pure spike, chances are you're not taking esper control to a large event anyway).
would just like to say I am a pure spike and have taken this to larger events to have a decent game against anyone I played "even beat gr from g1 with the snap beat and v clique away the pyroclasm plan with mindsencir at the first opportunity, otherwise known as become a bad agro deck. I would however say to never take this deck to a large tournament for a difrent reason, the mental fatigue from playing 8-9 rounds is insane, you will not be able to optimally play this deck for that long at a larger event and that's why I personally have moved a bit twords other decks though at a smaller tournament with a good build this deck can crush the event.
If you read what I said, I pointed out that it is a low impact reactive card, and that while it is EXCELLENT in the burn matchup, in most other matchups it's basically a small improvement type card. I don't object to the 1-of sideboard timely reinforcements, I myself ran it fairly recently. However, unless you want three slots devoted explicitly to burn over and above additional sideboarded leylines, I have to feel you may just want to play something different in the metagame. It's not that timely reinforcements isn't crazy good when it's good, it's that it's very, very narrow. I prefer my sideboard to have a large number of powerful answers that have broad applications rather than very narrow answers. Timely Reinforcements feels like playing legacy decks against a standard deck when you cast it and then snap it back against burn, but I'd rather those two timely reinforcements be a baneslayer and an Elspeth against, say, Jund, Value Pod, or Junk midrange.
i agree entirely with your philosophy, however I think you massively underestimate timley. The card is oppressive to just about anything that plays creatures pod included as it will buy you quite a lot of time baring a pontif and that's all you really need to get an oppone t to over extend into a board wipe. You will also likely make a trade or two with it as pod can't afford to take the turn off just because of some 1/1's. This goes for any non affinity creature deck timely is just plain good.
Had a horrible night. Went 0-3. Still in disbelief at some of the draws and hands that I had. Overall I played well, just crappy luck.
Match 1 - Junk/Rhino Pod. 1-2
The only two mental mistakes I felt like I made the whole night came in this matchup, but don't think they cost me the game (outlook was already bleak). I pathed a Voice on their turn instead of mine giving him a token, and in another game Doom Bladed a token first, then hitting the Voice with a Path. Should have done it the other way around. Regardless of that mistake, he had like 5 dudes on the board attacking and I was almost already dead. Lessons from this matchup... kill Voices on my turn (I did one other time). Sin Collector is also a *****, pulling relevant cards out of my hand and then smacking me in the face the next turn. In 3 games I drew 3 paths and a Doom Blade, and none of my 3 verdicts even after casting 2 Think Twice and DTT'ing once.
Match 2 - Some BR Vampire/Zombie deck. 0-2
I'm still pissed about this game. I did not see a single Path in either game, or the 2nd. Sideboarded in 2 Celestial Purges (freaking boss against this deck) and swapped my Doom Blade for a Smother, so I had 7 spot removal cards all 100% relevant for this matchup game two and 5 in game one. Didn't see any of them. Had 2 Verdicts in my hand in game two, but he beat me with a Lavaclaw Reaches, so those were useless. I should have owned this match, but fell on my face so hard with crap draws. I even mulled to 5 in game two in hopes to see a Leyline (couldn't keep 5 lands, a Cryptic, and Verdict in opening hand against a fast deck). He was running IoK and Bolts which beat me down game one.
Match 3 - Jeskai Control. 0-1-1
Burned me out game one. Game two brought in Teferi, Leyline's and Utter End to deal with a potential Keranos. Was mana screwed, but drew a Leyline. He taps out for DTT, then I drop Leyline with the opening he gave me. Thought I was in a good spot to avoid all the burn and potential Keranos targeting, then next turn when I'm tapped out he casts Sowing Salt to take my Watery Graves, leaving me with a Tech Edge, a Plains, and Hollowed Fountain. Didn't see that coming. Meanwhile Teferi and a Cryptic were burning a hole in my hand and he kills me with a Colonnade.
Take away: Celestial Purge is now a permanent sideboard item considering how many black creatures the now popular pod decks run, and the amount of red decks running around. Doom Blade is not good, Go for the Throat would be better.
Edit: In hindsight I could have brought in the Purges instead of the Utter End to deal with Keranos, but since he never cast one nothing lost there.
I'd actually argue that doom blade, go for the throat, and smother are all fairly bad at the moment. I feel that we need a more reliable kill spell that hits rhino and an overgrown inkmoth nexsus, I realize I have been pushing hard for the extra removal but I'm not sure what is viable at the moment since they all miss magor stapels at the moment. Perhaps a few edict effects could be used and we just have to hope we can respond to pyromancer trigers or have the other kill spell.
Best removal option is probably more mass removal for them, fighting blight hearder in a 1 for 1 style dosn't sound like a good way to win.
02 spell snare
04 lightng bolt
03 path to exile
02 izzet charm
03 remand
02 electrolyze
02 cryptic command
02 dig through time
03 splinter twin
02 snapcaster mage
03 geist of saint traft
04 pestermite
02 deceiver exarch
02 vendilion clique
02 restoration angel
02 hallowed fountain
01 sacred foundry
04 flooded strand
03 scalding tarn
02 island
01 plains
01 mountain
04 sulfur falls
02 glacial fortress
02 counterflux
02 dispel
02 batterskull
02 anger of the gods
01 path to exile
01 engendered explosives
01 spellskite
01 wear//tear
03 molten rain
II'vebeen doing fairly well with this list recently and am 100% satisfied with the main as it stands, witch I might add Ihave never been about any deck iI ever played before Iwould rrecommend you try it out. My reasoning for more pestermites is deceiver exar h sucks at killing people and trading for delvers and combo fine if you jam a clique first, resto is to good to miss out on as it interacts well with all my creatures and with twin. Cryptic is good with geist and good with manana...you know what cryptic is just good and it it wasn't for resto I would play 3 it dose literally everything and even the tap is amazing when you factor in geist. My only real complaint at the moment is that i dont like the molten rains in my board but I want to hedge against scapeshift I may drop them and add another counterflux, wear//tear, and see one spellskite. Also I dont believe the new fate cards are playable including stance I tested it proxies when it was spoiled and would always have prefers izzet charm (practicly the same card except one is good vs delver and counters pod/scapeshift from time to time and the other kills ryno they also fit the same slot so dont cut paths for them or you may find that voice kills you faster than you thought. Lastly the gethhe's are not a budjet. Consideration red can easily be fetched with strand and helps play around blood moon. Lastly I recommend if you want to try my list you dont tweak for preference e then say its bad it I've tested more deciever less pester more path with helix without helix more snares no snares this is what Iaarrived at and my last 2 fnms (I have a rather competitive store) I drew into second last time without dropping a game though I played the guy to pass time and crushed him in 3 separate games. Trust me the list is good just play very carefully and dont get imatiant the combo is a synergy the deck takes advantage of not the main win con.