Anyone have an updated deck list? I haven't updated mine in a few sets and would love to bring it a little more current with all the new toys from the last few sets.
Dread Wanderer is alright, but I prefer Bloodsoaked Champion. The hoops for his recursion are a bit easier to jump through, he can heven trigger his own raid ability.
I run her, mostly because she kills planeswalkers, but she can be of some value in decks like the black devotion deck.
I run some multicolor planeswalkers and two per colors, but not the strongest ones (No Mind Sculpter, no Champion of the Sun, etc.), since they are already tough to deal with, so I don't have go overboard with their value.
I dislike the MTGO Cubes because they are usually too full of planeswalkers, especially the Modern Cube.
I ran Bant Tamiyo for about half a year, because I openend one and wanted to try her out. She did not impress any of us. I've since given the Bant slot back to Roon of the Hidden Realm, who sees lots of play, because Bant/Azorius blink is popular archetype.
I run a card for each shard/wedge, because I like my color symmetry too much. They are meant as bombs a player would want to splash, if he's already in two of the colors (or to cheat into play). It works for us, but I'll admit, that's probably only because my cube is slower/weaker than the average non-pauper/peasant cube (even though the power creep has been real this last year).
5 Black Tokens for 4 mana, albeit over threes turns is a nice deal. The demon isn't probably the most useful, but it can just be sacked like all our creatures. I want to try it out, nut sure about what to cut yet.
I always liked Murderous Redcap, both for combo and aristocrats value, but he failed to impress for a while now I and so I replaced it with Ravenous Chupacabra in the last update since I didn't want to cut Nekratal nor Skin Renderer.
I liked the punch out markers well enough for Limited, but they don't keep long enough for me to not just throw them away afterwards. So I haven't kept any for Cube or EDH.
Do any of you see yourself running Damping Sphere in the sideboard?
It's a sweet new tool, but I don't see myself making space for it. It feels like win more against Tron. Storm is a different story, but there I rather have Rest in Peace, because it also hates on other decks.
I can't shake the feeling JTMS might actually be a trap and the deck was way more solid before the unban. I just feel like right now I'm bending over backwards to resolve and protect Jace and by that I've lost more than I gained.
I expect to be wrong about this, though. It's probably becaue he never ran completely away with a game for me.
I've also toyed with idea of going back to the more creature-centric version from two(?) years ago: Walls, Finks, 1-2 Snapcaster, 1-3 Resto Angels and two JTMS, of course. It still runs the land disruption package, has an easier time protecting Jace from attackers and is a bit more on the proactive side. The downside is of course less wraths and cryptics, because the 4-slot is stacked already. I'm not a competetive brewer, so there might be no benefit with this line of thought, but back then I liked how the resto deck played.
Since Tron is on the rise at my FNM (and because I like griefing people) I put Bribery back in my sideboard and had some fun with it, but I don't think it's generally a sensible thing to do.
I too did like the inclusion of Teferi, but his mana cost makes me think he might arrive too late at the party most of the time. But when he does, it's sweet.
A friend of mine begged me to include Oath and Forbidden Orchard when they were both reprinted. I didn't think a two card combo would be feasible in my 720 cube with no tutors (and at a power level that see's no Eldrazi titans et. al.), but I wanted to indulged him for at least one update cycle. To be fair he pulled it of thrice now, drafting the deck without it being a train wreck. And when the deck works IT WORKS. I drafted it a few times on cube tutor now myself, a Temur control shell with maybe some off color fatties seems the best place for the deck. So I think Oath will be staying for a while.
As for Lu Xun, I like the evasion and the draw ability, but there so many other blue four drops I'd rather run, so he's never been a consideration for me so far.
I don't think I've ever taken a formal oath, but I feel a little bit scholary: I've a degree in software engineering and almost went to get my PhD in the field after, but took up a normal job offer instead.
Mutavault is sweet and me being cheap is the only reason I'm not running it. But since tribal isn't really a thing in my cube, Mishra's Factory is doing a great impression of it.
I ran Ayli for a while now, but she will be replaced with the next update. She is a solid creature, but her abilities rarely matter and I've grown bored with her. And while the aristocrats theme in my cube can work in WB, it's more a BG or BR archetype.
Which answers the second the question: Yes, I run an aristocrats. It's a bit on the too cute side of archetypes, but it's not a trap and so much fun when it comes together.
Is a UW Miracles deck really still in need of 4 colonnades?
They are great, but still the most clunky part of the mana base. With Jace, more snapcasters and the angels the deck packs certainly more finisher than the typical UW control of last week.
I was happy with the place the deck was in and I'm also not looking for a complete revamp of the decklist. My first thought was just replacing JAoT and grumbling that I only have one JtMS right now. I didn't even consider miracles until Annihilator brought them up. (But that's why I'm not a competetive deck brewer).
This my current list, but it's still missing a few toys from WAR and MH1, haven't had time to update. Im thinking about getting Dreadhorde Invasion, Liliana, Dreadhorde General and Yawgmoth, Thran Physician in there.
I run some multicolor planeswalkers and two per colors, but not the strongest ones (No Mind Sculpter, no Champion of the Sun, etc.), since they are already tough to deal with, so I don't have go overboard with their value.
I dislike the MTGO Cubes because they are usually too full of planeswalkers, especially the Modern Cube.
I run a card for each shard/wedge, because I like my color symmetry too much. They are meant as bombs a player would want to splash, if he's already in two of the colors (or to cheat into play). It works for us, but I'll admit, that's probably only because my cube is slower/weaker than the average non-pauper/peasant cube (even though the power creep has been real this last year).
5 Black Tokens for 4 mana, albeit over threes turns is a nice deal. The demon isn't probably the most useful, but it can just be sacked like all our creatures. I want to try it out, nut sure about what to cut yet.
I liked the punch out markers well enough for Limited, but they don't keep long enough for me to not just throw them away afterwards. So I haven't kept any for Cube or EDH.
It's a sweet new tool, but I don't see myself making space for it. It feels like win more against Tron. Storm is a different story, but there I rather have Rest in Peace, because it also hates on other decks.
Would a Ponza heavy meta be a reason to run it?
I expect to be wrong about this, though. It's probably becaue he never ran completely away with a game for me.
I've also toyed with idea of going back to the more creature-centric version from two(?) years ago: Walls, Finks, 1-2 Snapcaster, 1-3 Resto Angels and two JTMS, of course. It still runs the land disruption package, has an easier time protecting Jace from attackers and is a bit more on the proactive side. The downside is of course less wraths and cryptics, because the 4-slot is stacked already. I'm not a competetive brewer, so there might be no benefit with this line of thought, but back then I liked how the resto deck played.
Since Tron is on the rise at my FNM (and because I like griefing people) I put Bribery back in my sideboard and had some fun with it, but I don't think it's generally a sensible thing to do.
I too did like the inclusion of Teferi, but his mana cost makes me think he might arrive too late at the party most of the time. But when he does, it's sweet.
As for Lu Xun, I like the evasion and the draw ability, but there so many other blue four drops I'd rather run, so he's never been a consideration for me so far.
I don't think I've ever taken a formal oath, but I feel a little bit scholary: I've a degree in software engineering and almost went to get my PhD in the field after, but took up a normal job offer instead.
Which answers the second the question: Yes, I run an aristocrats. It's a bit on the too cute side of archetypes, but it's not a trap and so much fun when it comes together.
They are great, but still the most clunky part of the mana base. With Jace, more snapcasters and the angels the deck packs certainly more finisher than the typical UW control of last week.
I was happy with the place the deck was in and I'm also not looking for a complete revamp of the decklist. My first thought was just replacing JAoT and grumbling that I only have one JtMS right now. I didn't even consider miracles until Annihilator brought them up. (But that's why I'm not a competetive deck brewer).
Which again makes Opt and Think Twice more interesting, because endstepping angels and terminusing manlands is a good thing.