Hey theres, in response to your message on my own Tolsimir list, I figured I'd share some of my thoughts in building my own version of the deck. Though I do know that mine has a slightly different focus on what it tries to do, but at the same time its still the first draft I made.
For one, I don't prioritize the life gain aspect of Tolsimir that much myself and just let it be incidental advantage. This does play also into my opinion on running Dawn of Hope, but aside from that I feel the card provides mostly draw 'after the fact'. And naturally I do prefer drawing cards for free over having to pay mana for them, so I opted for Runic Armasaur as my choice of additional card over Dawn.
Also, I'm not too sure on Foe-Razer Regent in the deck. Yes, it seems like a good fighting pay off, but it only does work when creatures survive the fight and nothing actually for the fight itself. So the minimal thing it would do is being a 7 mana removal spell since it fights when it ETB's. I'd rather run an anthem effect for less that improve my fighting odds right away.
When the new Tolsimir was spoiled I was eager to build something with him, as my first venture into building EDH decks did center around wolves and werewolves. At the time I couldn't make it work well enough due to card density and my own experience with the format. But now it looks like an interesting time to try it again and see what we can do.
Much like Tolsimir and Voja are indicating themselves, Tolsimir, Friend to Wolves wants to be more a Wolf/Elf hybrid deck than a true Wolf tribal one. As the ramp provided by the Elves give the opportunity to kick Wolfbriar Elemental multiple times or sink a lot of mana into Wren’s Run Packmaster, while also providing enough sources to Champion the Packmaster.
When it comes to tribal decks I generally don’t like the idea of running Changelings to fill out slots, though in this deck they become more essential due to their multiple creature types. While both Wolf and Elf are the most important ones, they also enable me to run Turntimber Ranger without having to dilute the deck with unnecessary Ally creatures and help to get additional triggers with Wolf-Skull Shaman, making it a potential inclusion as well. I ended up taking out Howl of the Night Pack since it actually wants ramp based spells instead of mana dorks.
Mirage Mirror and Mirrorpool have been added to double up on key creatures for a bit. Since I’ll be running some of these I also ended up adding Eldrazi Displacer to get more ETB triggers going, though I might switch to Conjurer’s Closet if it proves to be less viable. Cloudstone Curio could be a future upgrade here as well.
The other maybe notable inclusions are Eerie Interlude and Scapegoat, which do have a slight defensive purpose and can help to get some more ETB triggers going as well. But they notably do target multiple creatures and actually give a potential nice synergy with Silverfur Partisan.
All of this put together resulted in me making the following list/deck:
As mentioned, Eldrazi Displacer is currently occupying my test slot for the deck, since I still have to see if it can perform well enough in this shell. Other then that Doubling Season is a card that potentially could get replaced, it does the welcome job of doubling our tokens but the other part of the card is not really that relevant, making me wonder if it’s worth keeping it in.
The new Arlinn is a card I considered as well, but in the end I felt the 6 CMC was a bit too high for what she brings to the table.
While my collection lacks original duals, fetches and most of the fast mana rocks, I think the one card that I'd like to have is Wheel of Fortune. Definitely something Edgar Markov could make some good use of and isn't over the top costed yet. So it's one of my goals to see if I can set enough aside to acquire one this year.
It's something I want to add down the line but Vamp Tutor is sadly a more expensive card to get.
Did end up taking Identity Thief out of the deck, opting to go for Slither Blade as just a low costed unblockable creature to use.
Still considering to do the same with Kozilek as well, just to increase the chance of more explosive starts. Invisible Stalker could be turned into a one drop unblockable as well, but the hexproof might be useful so keeping at least that one in for now.
I was trying to build my own version of Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow for a little while, but not really enjoying the lists that I already saw floating around with a ton of taking turns spells. But once I spotted Dies_to_Doom_Blade's list on here, I felt that this was more the kind of direction I was looking for. Only thing is that my budget wasn't allowing for several of the higher priced cards (I got Scroll Rack as an exception as it's too key to the deck), but since my meta is slightly more casual this should be less of an issue and I can always upgrade my version to get closer to the other list down the line.
Since I needed to make some adjustments already due to the lack of owning certain cards, I also lowered the amount of Stax pieces to make it feel less oppressive in my playgroups. Personally, I just feel its better to slowly build up these pieces than to be forced to down tune it since the groups are more casual.
Being a slightly more casual version of the deck, there are a few more 'weird' inclusions that are more than likely to be considered less optimal. But like said my playgroups are more casual and having some fun and interesting interactions just adds to our games.
Isochron Scepter
I don't have Top and personally don't enjoy the card as much either, so this is my 'alternative' to that. The main targets I look to put under it are Brainstorm, Mystical Tutor. Trickery Charm and Boomerang. Allowing for top deck manipulation or bouncing.
Leashling
Six CMC might be a bit too much, but Yuriko doesn't mind it. Either way, it's a way to put a drawn card back on top of my library again should it be needed later in the game.
Archfiend of Ifnir
I don't have a Toxic Deluge right now or it probably would be replacing this, Massacre is another potential alternative but with Yuriko drawing and some cycling/discarding this might still do a bit of work. It's a card I'm testing in the deck right now but something I might replace if it doesn't do enough.
Lazav, the Multifarious
A card that probably gets cut down the line, but I had a copy of it that I wanted to try out. Likely to copy something unblockable to swing in untouched.
Phage the Untouchable
Primarily just a nice top deck to pull on a Yuriko trigger, though while it does cost a fair bit of mana to do you can use Lazav with this for unexpected death. And Lazav does help getting around that awkward BBBB of Phage.
Conch Horn
Puts a drawn card back on top of the deck, setting up for doing some more damage. And can be brought back with Reclaimer as well.
Plaguecrafter & Merciless Executioner
Resets Yuriko into the Command Zone while also taking care of some potential blockers. Only downside is they have no evasion.
This is definitely an interesting way to build Yuriko and where I was already trying to make a deck with her, I'm going to use this as a base to build my version off. As I don't have budget for the more expensive card nor do I have the fetches and fast mana. The groups I'm in aren't fully competitive so I can afford it slowing down slightly and just be lighter on the stax effects as well for now, but will likely pick them up the remaining stax pieces and have them around as a potential sideboard.
Emmara was a remnant of my previous Ghave build and I decided to cut her and her support package from the deck. Instead I feel that aside from getting out Teysa, it’s key to get out some of the enchantments (card draw ones in particular). Since I’m not able to invest more into proper tutors fort he deck at this moment, I looked at finding alternatives and ended up deciding to play around with Lost Auramancers as something to try. Hex Parasite and Vampire Hexmage act as enablers, but work also as removal so this doesn’t make them entirely dead cards without the Auramancers.
The deck is quite taxing on life points so I brought in Fumigate as an alternative sweeper to help bits with that. Martial Coup does feel more versatile, but I’ve mostly played it for the sweeping effect and in that I get more out of Fumigate.
Switched out Essence Warden for Suture Priest as another little test. Suture Priest can add some more incidental damage but might also draw more removal. So will have to see how this affects things.
Hydra Omnivore just didn’t pull weight for me, so replaced it with Corpse Augur for more drawing power. And since I had a slot to spare I sleeved up Brindle Shoat as an additional token dropper.
I tend to include the occasional end the game button/combos into my deck, just as a means to close out stalled games especially when one player has been out for a little while. But I won't tutor for it or play it out in other situations, for me the decks have other win conditions and I enjoy winning through those far more. My playgroups know that these combos are in the deck and will target or stop them when they deem necessary, so they have no problems with them being there but not using them to win all the time probably makes it less of an issue as well.
After contemplating building Zada for a while, I've finally gone and started working on a version of the deck myself. The intended gameplan is to win through drawing cards and using Psychosis Crawler and Firestorm to get there.
I'm currently sitting at 99 cards for the deck and trying to decide what to run for the final slot, with the main options being either Rile or Make Mischief. Though the damage might be a tad too risky and thus I'm also considering Reckless Charge for the option of a hasty swing.
The deck can definitely be streamlined a lot compared to what I currently run, I’m just more on a budget and this has been a deck that has gone through various different builds over time, as I used it to just experiment with cards. That said, the Teysa direction it is taking now definitely is a fun one and might warrant me digging a little deeper into it.
I have made two changes to the deck so far, I overlooked Protean Hulk as an inclusion so that went in replacing Rishkar, Peema Renegade, as was less impressed with it in this build. Imperious Oligarch was also taken out, as Tithe Taker just has more to offer.
Things to improve are probably more tutors to help get Teysa out more reliably, since she is quite a key piece. Additionally, adding a Grave Pact package could help as well, I just deal with enough reanimation in my meta that I am slightly avoiding this myself.
Had a fun win last weekend with my Edgar Markov deck playing a game against Meren, Ghave and Roon, though had a fairly bad start. Went down to five on mulligans and forced to start off with an tapped Isolated Chapel as my second land was a Vault of the Archangel. Pull a Sol Ring off the top instead of a land, so play both the Vault and Ring as my only castable options. Sol Ring doesn’t stick and before it’s my turn again Chapel gets stripped as well, pretty much setting me back a lot. Enough for the others to focus on each other, as I have barely anything on board for several turns.
Ghave is the first one to go at the hands of Meren and Roon just ends up ruining my game plan even more with several Propaganda effects keeping me from turning any vamps sideways due to being low on mana sources. Fortunately I can slowly cast my cheap vamps to build something, but since Meren is the only to threaten the Roon player it’s been little use sending things in that direction.
After Meren dumps several cards into the graveyard it’s looking like he’s going to take the game, Roon feels he has me on lock down and to have a chance he Flickers my Bojuka Bog and tells me it’s up to me to decide whom wins. Which with Massacre Wurm in Meren’s graveyard makes an easy decision, as not exiling his graveyard means my board is gone during his next turn.
Roon’s flyers take care of Meren after that and then he starts chipping away at my remaining life total. By then I got a Blood Artist out, but not enough creatures to use my Ashnod’s Altar to get close to doing enough damage through its triggers. He does take out the Altar, but I get down Goblin Bombardment the next turn before hitting a batch of land draws.
I got roughly two turns left before his angels kill me, with him pretty much attacking and using flicker effects to dig for cards. His face shows that he has pulled a few good cards during one of those draws, so taps Ancient Tomb and other lands to cast his Archangel of Thune, before passing his turn.
My pull off the top is Goblin War Drums which doesn’t do much for me at that point, I have no other draw going so I just pass back after playing the Drums.
Starting his turn Roon plays the fetch that he draws for the turn and cracks it to go find another blue source. Flicks through his cards obviously trying to decide what to cast, moving two cards tot he front and then announces he’s going to combat. Gaining priority I sac my board to Goblin Bombardment and using those triggers along with Blood Artist ones to deal exactly enough damage to take him out.
He thought I didn’t have enough creatures to deal enough, only counting the Blood Artist for potential triggers, but was more bummed when he realized that if he had fetched after combat that he would have had the game. As the lifegain on the Archangel would have kept me from sneaking in a potential win. And probably not casting the Archangel would have helped him as well, as it was the damage of the fetch and Ancient Tomb that allowed me to get there.
With the upcoming release of Allegiances, I decided to give Ghave the much needed overhaul in order to make it more fun for me to play. I didn’t like the pile of combos build that it was turning into and the spoiler season gave me enough new goodies to take this in a new direction. It’s still very much a work in progress as I tweak the list and decide on which remnants of my old deck I want to keep around. As always suggestions for the new deck are welcome.
Font of Agonies is also an interesting card to consider, cheap to cast and with the deck already wanting to deploy Necropotence quickly it will be easy to rack up counters for it. Other then that only Judith and Vindictive Vampire are cards I might test out in my Edgar deck.
A low as possible curve and a fair bit of draw are quite key to Edgar being able to churn out vampires and getting in that damage. If you are really worried about getting milled out, I'd suggest Feldon's Cane as an alternative. Much easier to cast and trigger, might not be repeatable but with Edgar you should have enough time with a single reshuffle.
Added a little bit more fixing with getting a copy of Steam Vents for the deck, though I don't plan on running any fetches it's going to be helpful when having Niv in your hand. Same goes for Cephalid Coliseum, while the pinging is supposed to happen to the opponent, having a little extra card draw handy is always nice.
To me Zuran Spellcaster is just a better fit to the deck than Fervent Paincaster, as the deck is heavier on blue already and Spellcaster isn't restricted by Exert.
For one, I don't prioritize the life gain aspect of Tolsimir that much myself and just let it be incidental advantage. This does play also into my opinion on running Dawn of Hope, but aside from that I feel the card provides mostly draw 'after the fact'. And naturally I do prefer drawing cards for free over having to pay mana for them, so I opted for Runic Armasaur as my choice of additional card over Dawn.
Also, I'm not too sure on Foe-Razer Regent in the deck. Yes, it seems like a good fighting pay off, but it only does work when creatures survive the fight and nothing actually for the fight itself. So the minimal thing it would do is being a 7 mana removal spell since it fights when it ETB's. I'd rather run an anthem effect for less that improve my fighting odds right away.
When it comes to tribal decks I generally don’t like the idea of running Changelings to fill out slots, though in this deck they become more essential due to their multiple creature types. While both Wolf and Elf are the most important ones, they also enable me to run Turntimber Ranger without having to dilute the deck with unnecessary Ally creatures and help to get additional triggers with Wolf-Skull Shaman, making it a potential inclusion as well. I ended up taking out Howl of the Night Pack since it actually wants ramp based spells instead of mana dorks.
Mirage Mirror and Mirrorpool have been added to double up on key creatures for a bit. Since I’ll be running some of these I also ended up adding Eldrazi Displacer to get more ETB triggers going, though I might switch to Conjurer’s Closet if it proves to be less viable. Cloudstone Curio could be a future upgrade here as well.
The other maybe notable inclusions are Eerie Interlude and Scapegoat, which do have a slight defensive purpose and can help to get some more ETB triggers going as well. But they notably do target multiple creatures and actually give a potential nice synergy with Silverfur Partisan.
All of this put together resulted in me making the following list/deck:
1x Tolsimir, Friend to Wolves
Creature (34)
1x Avacyn's Pilgrim
1x Avian Changeling
1x Beastcaller Savant
1x Boreal Druid
1x Chameleon Colossus
1x Changeling Titan
1x Eldrazi Displacer
1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1x Elvish Archdruid
1x Elvish Harbinger
1x Elvish Mystic
1x Eternal Witness
1x Harabaz Druid
1x Karametra, God of Harvests
1x Kessig Cagebreakers
1x Llanowar Elves
1x Master of the Wild Hunt
1x Mirror Entity
1x Priest of Titania
1x Reclamation Sage
1x Runic Armasaur
1x Silverfur Partisan
1x Thunderfoot Baloth
1x Tolsimir Wolfblood
1x Trostani, Selesnya's Voice
1x Turntimber Ranger
1x Watchwolf
1x Wirewood Symbiote
1x Witchstalker
1x Wolf-Skull Shaman
1x Wolfbriar Elemental
1x Woodland Changeling
1x Wren's Run Packmaster
1x Young Wolf
1x Chord of Calling
1x Crop Rotation
1x Eerie Interlude
1x Eladamri's Call
1x Enlightened Tutor
1x Noxious Revival
1x Path to Exile
1x Scapegoat
1x Swords to Plowshares
Sorcery (4)
1x Austere Command
1x Eldritch Evolution
1x Finale of Devastation
1x Regrowth
Enchantment (10)
1x Anointed Procession
1x Aura Shards
1x Beastmaster Ascension
1x Doubling Season
1x Elemental Bond
1x Growing Rites of Itlimoc
1x Marshal's Anthem
1x Mirari's Wake
1x Parallel Lives
1x Sylvan Library
Artifact (6)
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Mirage Mirror
1x Selesnya Signet
1x Sol Ring
1x Talisman of Unity
1x Thornbite Staff
1x Brushland
1x Canopy Vista
1x Command Tower
17x Forest
1x Gavony Township
1x Krosan Verge
1x Mirrorpool
1x Mosswort Bridge
1x Naya Panorama
5x Plains
1x Reliquary Tower
1x Riftstone Portal
1x Scattered Groves
1x Scavenger Grounds
1x Temple Garden
1x Wooded Bastion
The new Arlinn is a card I considered as well, but in the end I felt the 6 CMC was a bit too high for what she brings to the table.
1 Elvish Harbinger
1 Thunderfoot Baloth
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Chord of Calling
1 Finale of Devastation
1 Howl of the Night Pack
1 Wood Elves
1 From Beyond
1 Sword of the Animist
1 Metallic Mimic
Did end up taking Identity Thief out of the deck, opting to go for Slither Blade as just a low costed unblockable creature to use.
Still considering to do the same with Kozilek as well, just to increase the chance of more explosive starts. Invisible Stalker could be turned into a one drop unblockable as well, but the hexproof might be useful so keeping at least that one in for now.
Ninja Noying
Since I needed to make some adjustments already due to the lack of owning certain cards, I also lowered the amount of Stax pieces to make it feel less oppressive in my playgroups. Personally, I just feel its better to slowly build up these pieces than to be forced to down tune it since the groups are more casual.
So here's what my current list looks like:
1x Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow
Creature (32)
1x Arcbound Reclaimer
1x Archfiend of Ifnir
1x Augury Owl
1x Cloud of Faeries
1x Dimir Infiltrator
1x Draco
1x Drift of Phantasms
1x Invisible Stalker
1x Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1x Lazav, the Multifarious
1x Leashling
1x Looter il-Kor
1x Merciless Executioner
1x Merfolk Looter
1x Mistblade Shinobi
1x Mothdust Changeling
1x Nightscape Familiar
1x Ninja of the Deep Hours
1x Ornithopter
1x Phage the Untouchable
1x Plaguecrafter
1x Sage Owl
1x Sakashima the Impostor
1x Sidisi's Faithful
1x Siren Stormtamer
1x Skullsnatcher
1x Slither Blade
1x Spire Owl
1x Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive
1x Throat Slitter
1x Walker of Secret Ways
1x Wingcrafter
1x Boomerang
1x Brainstorm
1x Chain of Vapor
1x Dig Through Time
1x Dispel
1x Insidious Dreams
1x Lim-Dul's Vault
1x Mage's Guile
1x Mana Leak
1x Misdirection
1x Muddle the Mixture
1x Mystical Tutor
1x Negate
1x Nexus of Fate
1x Snuff Out
1x Swan Song
1x Trickery Charm
Artifact (11)
1x Conch Horn
1x Crystal Shard
1x Damping Sphere
1x Dimir Signet
1x Isochron Scepter
1x Mox Amber
1x Orb of Dreams
1x Scroll Rack
1x Sol Ring
1x Talisman of Dominance
1x Umezawa's Jitte
1x Arcane Adaptation
1x Mystic Remora
Land (32)
1x Barren Moor
1x Choked Estuary
1x Command Tower
1x Darkwater Catacombs
1x Drowned Catacomb
1x Fetid Pools
14x Island
1x Lonely Sandbar
1x River of Tears
1x Sunken Hollow
5x Swamp
1x Tainted Isle
1x Temple of Deceit
1x Underground River
1x Watery Grave
Sorcery (5)
1x Diabolic Intent
1x Rags / Riches
1x Sickening Dreams
1x Temporal Trespass
1x Treasure Cruise
Being a slightly more casual version of the deck, there are a few more 'weird' inclusions that are more than likely to be considered less optimal. But like said my playgroups are more casual and having some fun and interesting interactions just adds to our games.
I don't have Top and personally don't enjoy the card as much either, so this is my 'alternative' to that. The main targets I look to put under it are Brainstorm, Mystical Tutor. Trickery Charm and Boomerang. Allowing for top deck manipulation or bouncing.
Leashling
Six CMC might be a bit too much, but Yuriko doesn't mind it. Either way, it's a way to put a drawn card back on top of my library again should it be needed later in the game.
Archfiend of Ifnir
I don't have a Toxic Deluge right now or it probably would be replacing this, Massacre is another potential alternative but with Yuriko drawing and some cycling/discarding this might still do a bit of work. It's a card I'm testing in the deck right now but something I might replace if it doesn't do enough.
Lazav, the Multifarious
A card that probably gets cut down the line, but I had a copy of it that I wanted to try out. Likely to copy something unblockable to swing in untouched.
Phage the Untouchable
Primarily just a nice top deck to pull on a Yuriko trigger, though while it does cost a fair bit of mana to do you can use Lazav with this for unexpected death. And Lazav does help getting around that awkward BBBB of Phage.
Arcbound Reclaimer
Just a way to get back a removed/countered Scroll Rack or put Draco back on top of the deck.
Conch Horn
Puts a drawn card back on top of the deck, setting up for doing some more damage. And can be brought back with Reclaimer as well.
Plaguecrafter & Merciless Executioner
Resets Yuriko into the Command Zone while also taking care of some potential blockers. Only downside is they have no evasion.
- Identity Thief
+ Slither Blade
The deck is quite taxing on life points so I brought in Fumigate as an alternative sweeper to help bits with that. Martial Coup does feel more versatile, but I’ve mostly played it for the sweeping effect and in that I get more out of Fumigate.
Switched out Essence Warden for Suture Priest as another little test. Suture Priest can add some more incidental damage but might also draw more removal. So will have to see how this affects things.
Hydra Omnivore just didn’t pull weight for me, so replaced it with Corpse Augur for more drawing power. And since I had a slot to spare I sleeved up Brindle Shoat as an additional token dropper.
1 Zada, Hedron Grinder
Creatures -[20]-
1 Beetleback Chief
1 Chancellor of the Forge
1 Dualcaster Mage
1 Emrakul's Hatcher
1 Goblin Chirurgeon
1 Goblin Goliath
1 Goblin Instigator
1 Goblin Matron
1 Hanweir Garrison
1 Iron Myr
1 Krenko, Mob Boss
1 Legion Warboss
1 Mogg War Marshal
1 Neheb, the Eternal
1 Psychosis Crawler
1 Runaway Steam-Kin
1 Siege-Gang Commander
1 Skirk Prospector
1 Treasonous Ogre
1 Young Pyromancer
Artifacts -[5]-
1x Cloudstone Curio
1x Expedition Map
1x Ruby Medallion
1x Skullclamp
1x Sol Ring
1 Jaya Ballard
Sorceries -[18]-
1 Cathartic Reunion
1 Dragon Fodder
1 Faithless Looting
1 Gamble
1 Heat Shimmer
1 Hordeling Outburst
1 Inner Fire
1 Kari Zev's Expertise
1 Krenko's Command
1 Mana Geyser
1 Maximize Velocity
1 Mizzix's Mastery
1 Past in Flames
1 Reality Scramble
1 Renegade Tactics
1 Shreds of Sanity
1 Twinflame
1 Winds of Change
Lands -[35]-
1 Forgotten Cave
1 Hanweir Battlements
1 Homeward Path
29 Mountain
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Sandstone Needle
1 Accelerate
1 Battle Hymn
1 Blazing Shoal
1 Boiling Blood
1 Brightstone Ritual
1 Chaos Warp
1 Crimson Wisps
1 Desperate Ritual
1 Electrodominance
1 Expedite
1 Firestorm
1 Fury Charm
1 Otherworldly Outburst
1 Seething Song
1 Spawning Breath
1 Stun
Enchantments -[3]-
1 Impact Tremors
1 Outpost Siege
1 Possibility Storm
I have made two changes to the deck so far, I overlooked Protean Hulk as an inclusion so that went in replacing Rishkar, Peema Renegade, as was less impressed with it in this build. Imperious Oligarch was also taken out, as Tithe Taker just has more to offer.
Things to improve are probably more tutors to help get Teysa out more reliably, since she is quite a key piece. Additionally, adding a Grave Pact package could help as well, I just deal with enough reanimation in my meta that I am slightly avoiding this myself.
Ghave is the first one to go at the hands of Meren and Roon just ends up ruining my game plan even more with several Propaganda effects keeping me from turning any vamps sideways due to being low on mana sources. Fortunately I can slowly cast my cheap vamps to build something, but since Meren is the only to threaten the Roon player it’s been little use sending things in that direction.
After Meren dumps several cards into the graveyard it’s looking like he’s going to take the game, Roon feels he has me on lock down and to have a chance he Flickers my Bojuka Bog and tells me it’s up to me to decide whom wins. Which with Massacre Wurm in Meren’s graveyard makes an easy decision, as not exiling his graveyard means my board is gone during his next turn.
Roon’s flyers take care of Meren after that and then he starts chipping away at my remaining life total. By then I got a Blood Artist out, but not enough creatures to use my Ashnod’s Altar to get close to doing enough damage through its triggers. He does take out the Altar, but I get down Goblin Bombardment the next turn before hitting a batch of land draws.
I got roughly two turns left before his angels kill me, with him pretty much attacking and using flicker effects to dig for cards. His face shows that he has pulled a few good cards during one of those draws, so taps Ancient Tomb and other lands to cast his Archangel of Thune, before passing his turn.
My pull off the top is Goblin War Drums which doesn’t do much for me at that point, I have no other draw going so I just pass back after playing the Drums.
Starting his turn Roon plays the fetch that he draws for the turn and cracks it to go find another blue source. Flicks through his cards obviously trying to decide what to cast, moving two cards tot he front and then announces he’s going to combat. Gaining priority I sac my board to Goblin Bombardment and using those triggers along with Blood Artist ones to deal exactly enough damage to take him out.
He thought I didn’t have enough creatures to deal enough, only counting the Blood Artist for potential triggers, but was more bummed when he realized that if he had fetched after combat that he would have had the game. As the lifegain on the Archangel would have kept me from sneaking in a potential win. And probably not casting the Archangel would have helped him as well, as it was the damage of the fetch and Ancient Tomb that allowed me to get there.
To me Zuran Spellcaster is just a better fit to the deck than Fervent Paincaster, as the deck is heavier on blue already and Spellcaster isn't restricted by Exert.