So it's good against most tall and cheaty creatures (bouncing Emrakul only after she Annihilates us is not the best defense), and much less useful against smaller and wider creatures like Mentor, Pyromancer, Stoneforge, and Deathrite. You make a decent argument for it, but the consistency and filtering that Copter gives is worth a lot too, not to mention the extra attack vector in a sorcery-proof flier. I'm probably happy letting it hang out in my sideboard for now.
Of course that bouncing Emarakul its not the best defence, but if you have more than 6 permanents you can easily bounce it, sacrifice 6, keep 1/2 threaths and win the game from there; basically harbinger would be giving you the chance to win an unwinnable situation (sorta like Image does). Happend more than a few time testing IRL against S&T.
I get you guys, I was extremely skeptical about even playing harbinger on the first place, i started testing 2 on main until i realize that it solve almost all problems the deck has against creature decks. It shines against all delvers and it gives you a way out when they do t1 delver on the play and it flips, it gives us decent matchup (or at least a chance when they combo fast) against anything that try to cheat Marit Lage into play (Lands, 4c Loam, Maveric, BG Depths). Also knowing that an opossing fatty it's not going to pressure you (like Gurgmag or Mandrils) let's you get all agressive with TNN. You can also **** Reanimator and S&T really bad in the right situations (happend a lot of times). And where all of that don't apply, its a decent merfolk to cast T2 (having 3 Thougness with a Lord make it very easy to connect a hit t3 against non-island decks, the same with 4 thoughtness con t4) and it can be pitched to FoW.
It short, it's a solid card that i think merfolk need right now (of course that it may not be necessary in a local meta with lot of creatureless decks).
The list has already 8 cards that you can't exile to FoW, adding more would be complicated for the deck consistency. I wouldn't change harbinger, it does a different and necessary function to the deck, it gives us the tempo we need to fight delver decks. The flex slots where Copter could come in would be Clique, but it's too awesome in most matchups, against combo it's a treath that prevent them from going off and against fair decks it stops that sorcery answer to your board. Maybe if the meta shifts radically and we no longer need things like harbinger, vial or chalice, it could come to the mainboard.
Hi i want to share the list i play IRL and on MTGO. The slots are the result of extensive testing and deckbuilding, with it i have been winning and toping on most local tournaments and make several 5-0 and 4-1 on MTGO. The sideboard may change a little if i know what meta to expect, but on general basis it would stay the same.
Lands 20:
11 Island
4 Mutavault
4 Cavern of Souls
1 Mishra's Factory
Creatures 28:
4 Cursecatcher
4 Harbinger of the Tides
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
4 Silvergill Adept
4 True-Name Nemesis
2 Vendilion Clique
2 Phantasmal Image
Would love to hear your opinion guys, not english native so forgive any grammar errors.
Spells 12:
4 Aether Vial
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Force of Will
Sideboard 15:
2 Misdirection
2 Venser, Shaper Savant
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
3 Dismember
2 Grip of Phyresis
2 Chill
1 Cursed Totem
2 Grafdigger's Cage
A competent D&T pilot should almost never lose a match, but can drop a game (30-70). Don't develop delusions that the matchup is anywhere close to even just because you play against bad players.
Elves is far more winnable, much thanks to Chalice. More points of interaction, and our fair game dominates their fair game. We have no such advantages in the D&T matchup.
I beg to differ, if the Taxes is playing Sword of Fire and Ice and he tutor it, it is going to be an extremely hard game. But if he does not search/have the Sword, TNN plus Lords + Tidal Warrior makes the match pretty even. And post sideboard you have things like Manriki-Gusari, Dismember, etc.
Against elves, even if you land a Chalice on time, they can search for a Reclamation Sage and **** you up. You need to do Chalice, FoW and put a good clock.
Hi. I didin't play folks since True-name nemezis was printed. Did deck changed a lot? I know the best version is "the most comfortable played by pilot" but tell me should I change something in decklist?
3 Merrow Reejerey
4 Cursecatcher
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
4 Silvergill Adept
2 True-Name Nemesis
2 Phantasmal Image
4 Daze
4 Force of Will
1 Umezawa's Jitte
4 Aether Vial
4 Standstill
4 Mutavault
3 Wasteland
13 Island
4 Tnn's are a must.
Merfolk it's too slow now for using Standstill efficiently, but you can try them on a grindy metagame (i would also recommend using 4 Mishra's Factory alongside them).
Cavern of Souls is almost a Core card right now (Playing an uncounterable TNN on Turn 3 wins a lot of games).
Aether Vial is expendable now.
Wasteland has lost a lot of power against Deathrite Shaman.
Since Wasteland has gotten worse, Daze has also been afected.
Basically, the deck has shifted from a Tempo strategy to a more Agro/Midrange plan, it' less interested on screwing the opponent and more focused on developing it's board. Of course it's up to you to use the list that makes you feel comfortable, if you like playing the old style merfolk go ahead, but i would strongly recommend switching Reejereys for TNNs.
Hi, i wanted to share the list that made me won my local league (we play a series of tournaments, top 8 of the league play an especial tournament at the end of the year, i won both the league and the final tournament) and read your thoughts/critics.
First, a little context. My meta is full of Delver variations (Grixis, 4 colour, UR) and Taxes. Other prominent decks are Elves, 3/4 Colour Stoneforge variations, Nic Fit, UW Miracles, TES, S&T Variations (Reanimator, Omnitell, Sneak&Show), Shardless BUG and Burn. Sometimes a wild Enchantress or Jund appears. There is not a single Eldrazi.
Here is my current list:
Lands 20
10 Island
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Mutavault
2 Wasteland
Creatures 28
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Cursecatcher
4 True-Name Nemesis
4 Silvergill Adept
3 Phantasmal Image
3 Tidal Warrior
2 Vendilion Clique
Spells 12
4 Force of Will
3 Chalice of the Void
3 Aether Vial
2 Daze
Sideboard 15
SB: 3 Misdirection
SB: 2 Hibernation
SB: 2 Dismember
SB: 1 Umezawa's Jitte
SB: 1 Manriki-Gusari
SB: 1 Chalice of the Void
SB: 1 Echoing Truth
SB: 2 Sower of Temptation
SB: 2 Chill
Here i will try to explain some unorthodox cards selection.
Mainboard:
- 2 Wasteland: Wasteland is a dead card in a lot of situations, but you need a way to interact with troublesome lands. Plus screwing with their mana when you got a good tempo hand (Vial, Daze) it's always great.
- 3 Tidal Warrior: This guy can be de MVP of the game or just a 1/1 merfolk, the idea it's that in the games you need him it's awesome (against non-blue decks), and in the games you don't (most blue based decks) it's just another hitter (with a lot hidden uses). For more in-depth about Tidal Warrior, search Greg Hatch's review about him (like the deck tech video on SCG).
- 2 Vendillion Clique: I just love this card on Merfolk, it accomplishes everything you want to do, it's a heavy hitter with evasion that can protect you from the cards that wreck you (Mass Removals, uncounterable spells, key combo cards). Depending on the meta (and the manabase i'm using) i may play 3. Plus, i think the most enjoyable play i've ever made in a game of Magic was responding to a Terminus miracle trigger with Clique and putting it on the bottom of the library, it was sublime.
- 3 Chalice: Chalice it's a forced choice in my metagame (Delvers Variations, Elves, Storm, Burn, etc), plus it's an awesome card. I only run 3 copies on the main because you really don't want to draw 2 copies on game 1 in a lot of matchups (Almost anything with a high curve). The 4th copy obviusly comes against all of the low curve decks.
- 3 Aether Vial: Vial it's awesome... when you play it on Turn 1 and you don't draw 3 of them. You can survive drawing 2 of them (even if you didn't play one on turn 1), but if you draw 3 you are totally screwed. You may justify playing 4 in a more tempo oriented list (like the old ones with 4 Wastes and 4 Dazes) but on this particular approach i found that 3 are great.
- 2 Daze: Don't get me wrong, i love Daze; but in a meta full of Deathrite Shamans and Abrupt Decays, i can't justify playing a lot of them (i also wanted to minimize the dead draws after turn 4/5). Plus if you don't have the full tempo package (4 Wastes and 4 Vials) Dazes are awkward in a lot of situations, playing only 2 copies gives you the garanty that if they get stucked in your hand, you are almost always going to be able to use them as fodder for Force of Will.
Sideboard:
- 3 Misdirection: Probably the best card you have against Abrupt Decay's decks, it's extremely difficult to play around. It's also a card that can single-handed win you de match against Shardless Bug (misdirecting a Hymn to Tourach or a Ancestral Visions wins you the game most of the times).
- 2 Hibernation: The card that gives you a chance against Elves on the draw (when you are on the play, a Chalice on Turn 2 can shut them down). Almost impossible to play around for them.
- 2 Dismember: For meta reasons, i find more realiable and flexible this than Submerge, though the 4 lifes are painful sometimes.
- 1 Umezawa's Jitte: Good against a lot of decks and tutorable with Phantasmal Image against Stoneforge.
- 1 Manriki-Gusari: Tutorable with Phantasmal Image against Stoneforge.
- 1 Chalice of the Void: Explained on Main Section.
- 1 Echoing Truth: Excelent against tokens (Young Pyromancer, Monastery Mentor, Entreat the Angels, Empty the Warrens) and the only salvation you have if they managed to resolve a Moat or an Ensnaring Bridge.
- 2 Sower of Temptation: Value card that dodges Abrupt Decay and steals the Bomb that they play with Show and Tell. It's also useful in grindy matchups when your opponents has 1 cost removals and you are not siding out the Chalices (Like against Esper Stoneblade).
- 2 Chill: Best card against Burn, excelent against UR Delver and TES. Useful against various Combos.
Forgive any grammar errors, not english native, and thanks for reading.
I find it odd that you'd put Manriki in your board before Pithing Needle. Sure it does better against Equipment, but there are so many activated abilities out there on non-equipment cards. Even if I were wading into a meta full of Jittes, I'd sooner commit more Needles to my sideboard than a single Manriki. (That's an exaggeration but it would take an unrealistically skewed meta for me to add a Manriki.)
Having Needles "usually never do anything forever" is definitely not my experience.
I'd also argue that Needle is anything but purely reactive. Against Sneak and Show you can run it out on turn 1 and shut off half of their ways of cheating cards into play. Against ANT you can turn off LEDs or Polluted Deltas before they even hit the field. It takes experience and format knowledge to identify likely targets and shut them off in a proactive manner, but the ability to do so at all gives Needle much of its power.
I already stated that is pretty good against Sneak Attack. The one that lack format knowledge it's aparently you, because against Storm, Pithing Needle it's almost useless, LED it's a mana abiity. Manriki it's a tutorable equipment destructor, with Needle, if you name Jitte they will just get Batterskull o some Sword, if you name Stoneforge, they will search for Jitte/Sword and play it manually, and if you draw it after the artifact is in play and equiped, it's probably going to be useless. I understand the flexibility of Needle, but i feel that it does not solve any threat for good (we don't need to stop their fetchlands) and it does not contribute to the game plan. And yes, even in the case when it's pretty good, it's purely reactive (which it's not a bad thing against Sneak Attack)
Have you toyed with Back to Basics? This card can win you games all by itself against Shardless BUG and aggro Loam (not to mention 12 Posts, MUD, Eldrazi, Jund).
gigou2, I am playing 10 non-basic lands and no Vials, and even if you are playing Vials, you won't want them vs BUG. I don't think that Back to Basics it's a viable option here, besides, i can imagine a large number of situation when it does almost nothing against BUG like being instantly removed by a Abrupt Decay, facing Deathrite and a basic Swamp, etc. all while you also get hurt.
They Show and Tell an Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, you opt for Gilded Drake, you now have the Emrakuel, and they have a 3/3 flier...hmmm, this doesn't work does it, target and all...???...but I Harbinger of the Tides Emrakuel's all the time in Modern...online, https://youtu.be/3KC2Y_-NPuw?t=1m58s
Ok, quick check of the rules, yes, Emrakuel can be the target of colored permanents, and all is well. Gilded Drake works perfectly well to combat Show and Tell decks.
xafen, I would prefer something like Sower of Temptation (which also is useful in other match ups) if you are determined to fight Show and Tell that way.
I like Back to Basics because it hit a large number of deck against which we are weak (I forgot to mention Lands as another deck that can potentially get hosed by it.)
Another card that does this is Relic of Progenitus. But unlike Back to Basics whose effect on the game can range from very bad to very good, Relic is always just solid. It comes in against the obvious graveyard decks (Dredge, Reanimator, ANT, Lands) but I also bring it in against fair decks to shrink a Goyf/Knight of the Reliquary or mess with Deathrite Shamans and Punishing Fires. The opportunity cost is very low since it cycles in the worst case scenario.
Next is Warping Wail. Again, a super versatile card. This card is fantastic against the notoriously hard Death and Taxes matchup. Casting this on whatever they try to put their equipment on is a huge tempo swing and their Moms don't have a word to say about it. My local meta is full of Goblins and this matchup was horrendous before we had Warping Wail to kill Goblin Piledriver. Other notable creatures it hits: All of Infect’s creatures, (almost) All of D&T'S creatures, (almost) all creatures in Elves, Grim Lavamancer, Monastery Swiftspear, Dryad Arbor, Young Pyromancer, Delver of Secrets, Dark Confidant, Goblin Lackey, Goblin Piledriver, Vendilion Clique, Eldrazi Mimic, Veteran Explorer [WW exiles!]. What did I miss?
Pithing Needle is more narrow but it offers an answer to some of the most fearsome and hard to interact with cards for our decks in Thespian Stage (eyeing a Dark Depth), Sneak Attack and Sword of Fire and Ice/Umezawa's Jitte. For this reason I feel like it's a necessary evil and I don't see myself leaving the house without one.
In my eye, these are our most important sideboard cards. And note that Back to Basic's effectiveness is greatly reduced in the presence of Deathrite Shaman but Relic, Warping Wail and Pithing Needle all mess with him.
gigou2 i agree about Relic, it's awesome almost always and very flexible. About Warping Wail, i like the card a lot, but paying 2 manas for killing a 1 drop or an expensive Envelop seems like a big lose of tempo for little gain, anyway, it's really flexible and worth considering for 2/3 MD (and in a meta with lot of Goblins it should be auto-include). I don't like Pithing Needle because it's purely reactive and usually never do anything forever (almost every deck you want to use Needle against it's going to board or already have in MD a way to remove it). Against Thespian Stage/Dark Depths you can use Tidal Warrior, Wasteland, Submerge and/or Harbinger of the Tides. And in the case of Equipments i think Manriki-Gusari does a far better job in my opinion. I think i would only run it on SB if i knew the metagame i am going to face it's populated with Sneak and Show decks.
It depends if the Storm deck you are playing against it's TES or ANT (or Doomsday! :P). TES has Empty the Warrens Maindeck, Tendrils on the SB and Burning Wish in the MD. ANT has Tendrils and Past in Flames on MD and no Burning Wish, they will always combo with Ad Nauseum/Past in Flames + Tendrils, Empty the Warrens is on the SB, to only be used after board.
It matters in wich disruption you want to emphasize, against TES, Chalice on 0 is ussualy great, not so much against ANT. Graveyard Hate against ANT is pretty good, but against TES it's almost useless (unless it allows you to cantrip, then it's probably worth it, since there is a small chance they have to combo with Past in Flames or use the retro of Cabal Therapy). Also putting pressure on ANT it's ussualy a really good idea, since their Ad Nauseum it's not as smooth and harmless as the one TES play, this could matter in a situation where hitting with mutavault for 2/3 damage could be more harmful than staying with mana up for something like Warping Wail that it's just going to be removed or played around.
So just curious, what didn't you like about Vial? It's pretty much considered a staple.
(@Fanattic, remember when you were wondering about 3.9 average Vials or Adepts? :p)
Curby, playing and testing for a long time with 4 vials got me to the conclusion that i was losing more frequently for drawing 2/3 vials than winning for doing Vial T1, so i stopped playing 4 vials (except when i played a version with Standstill, the card advantage and the chance of doing t1 Vial t2 Standstill surpassed the liability of drawing multiple Vials), also since the printing of Cavern of Souls and the cut of Wastelands because of TNN, Vial has not been that fundamental to the shell.
I have been experimenting a lot with 3 Vials with good results, but in this aproach i decided to cut them off entirely. I could use the 2 flex slots and cut a Tidal or something to make room for the 3 Vials, but i think they would bring more troubles than solutions, in a list with 4 Chalice, it's quite posible to make a T2 Chalice, and then, Vial just becomes completely useless unless you played it on T1 (and the chances of drawing useless Vials plus Useless Chalices because you already resolved one, withouth having solid card advantage, could be disastrous). They are also a liablity against Shardless BUG and 4c Loam most of the time , which are the decks that consistently beat me.
Hi guys, i am having problems against Shardless BUG, i tried lot of cards and strategys but it still seems a hard match up for me. If i go to the atrittion war (Ninja of the deep hours, Standstill, etc) i don't put enough pressure and get beaten by some weird singleton that shut down my deck (like Night of Souls Betrayal). If i try a more agresive aproach, discard plus mass removal does the job. Any ideas on SB cards that could help? Besides things that are obviusly auto-include, like Relic of Progenitus or Dismember/Submerge. I was thinking about using Sower of Temptation (Card advantage + pression + hard to kill) but it is probably only useful against BUG in my Metagame (maybe against Miracles also), so i was looking for good cards post SB that are flexible for other match ups, any sugestion is useful.
Also, 4c Loam is giving me a hard time when i fail to interact with their Punishing Fire. I was thinking of using Surgical Extraction, but it would probably only be useful against Loam and Reanimator (which are only 2 decks in my metagame); another option is of course, boarding more Relics, but they are not a permanent solution to the problem. Any thoughts on that?
My metagame is usually composed by Shardless BUG, Miracles, Elfs, DnT, Maveric, Burn, 4c Loam, TES, Reanimator, Stoneblade and UR/Grixis Delver. I resolved the problem of Elves being an unwinnable match playing Chalice MD (wich is also great against Delver decks and a lot of other decks) plus Hibernation and Graffdiger post SB. Against DnT, Tidal Warrior plus TNN makes the match even (ussualy favuorable).
This is my current list:
Lands 20:
10 Island
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Mutavault
2 Mishra's Factor
Creatures 30:
4 Cursecatcher
4 Tidal Warrior
4 Silvergil Adept
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
4 True-Name Nemesis
2 Harbinger of the Tides (currently under test)
2 Phantasmal Image
2 Vendillion Clique
Spells 8:
4 Force of Will
4 Chalice of the Void
2 Flex slots
Right now i am testing:
1 Island (20 lands withouth Vial seemes a little low; and Island, Island, Cavern + TNN are one of the best plays of the deck in my opinion)
1 Misdirection (5th FoW, sometimes better, sometimes worse, incredible against BUG, worst case scenario, you exile it with FoW)
Sideboard 15:
2 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Manriki-Gusari
2 Umezawa's Jitte
2 Hibernation
2 Sumberge
4 Flex slots (wich i would like to be things against BUG and Loam)
Please don't suggest big changes in the MD (like using Standstill, Vial, Wasteland, Merrow, Cosi's, etc.), this are all thing that i have already considered, tested and played. I am comfortably with the style of play of my current MD list and i am achieving good results in tournaments (ussualy only losing frequently against BUG and 4c Loam)
Enligsh it's not my native language, so please forgive any grammar errors.
Of course that bouncing Emarakul its not the best defence, but if you have more than 6 permanents you can easily bounce it, sacrifice 6, keep 1/2 threaths and win the game from there; basically harbinger would be giving you the chance to win an unwinnable situation (sorta like Image does). Happend more than a few time testing IRL against S&T.
It short, it's a solid card that i think merfolk need right now (of course that it may not be necessary in a local meta with lot of creatureless decks).
Lands 20:
11 Island
4 Mutavault
4 Cavern of Souls
1 Mishra's Factory
Creatures 28:
4 Cursecatcher
4 Harbinger of the Tides
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
4 Silvergill Adept
4 True-Name Nemesis
2 Vendilion Clique
2 Phantasmal Image
Would love to hear your opinion guys, not english native so forgive any grammar errors.
Spells 12:
4 Aether Vial
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Force of Will
Sideboard 15:
2 Misdirection
2 Venser, Shaper Savant
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
3 Dismember
2 Grip of Phyresis
2 Chill
1 Cursed Totem
2 Grafdigger's Cage
I beg to differ, if the Taxes is playing Sword of Fire and Ice and he tutor it, it is going to be an extremely hard game. But if he does not search/have the Sword, TNN plus Lords + Tidal Warrior makes the match pretty even. And post sideboard you have things like Manriki-Gusari, Dismember, etc.
Against elves, even if you land a Chalice on time, they can search for a Reclamation Sage and **** you up. You need to do Chalice, FoW and put a good clock.
4 Tnn's are a must.
Merfolk it's too slow now for using Standstill efficiently, but you can try them on a grindy metagame (i would also recommend using 4 Mishra's Factory alongside them).
Cavern of Souls is almost a Core card right now (Playing an uncounterable TNN on Turn 3 wins a lot of games).
Aether Vial is expendable now.
Wasteland has lost a lot of power against Deathrite Shaman.
Since Wasteland has gotten worse, Daze has also been afected.
Basically, the deck has shifted from a Tempo strategy to a more Agro/Midrange plan, it' less interested on screwing the opponent and more focused on developing it's board. Of course it's up to you to use the list that makes you feel comfortable, if you like playing the old style merfolk go ahead, but i would strongly recommend switching Reejereys for TNNs.
First, a little context. My meta is full of Delver variations (Grixis, 4 colour, UR) and Taxes. Other prominent decks are Elves, 3/4 Colour Stoneforge variations, Nic Fit, UW Miracles, TES, S&T Variations (Reanimator, Omnitell, Sneak&Show), Shardless BUG and Burn. Sometimes a wild Enchantress or Jund appears. There is not a single Eldrazi.
Here is my current list:
Lands 20
10 Island
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Mutavault
2 Wasteland
Creatures 28
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Cursecatcher
4 True-Name Nemesis
4 Silvergill Adept
3 Phantasmal Image
3 Tidal Warrior
2 Vendilion Clique
Spells 12
4 Force of Will
3 Chalice of the Void
3 Aether Vial
2 Daze
Sideboard 15
SB: 3 Misdirection
SB: 2 Hibernation
SB: 2 Dismember
SB: 1 Umezawa's Jitte
SB: 1 Manriki-Gusari
SB: 1 Chalice of the Void
SB: 1 Echoing Truth
SB: 2 Sower of Temptation
SB: 2 Chill
Here i will try to explain some unorthodox cards selection.
Mainboard:
- 2 Wasteland: Wasteland is a dead card in a lot of situations, but you need a way to interact with troublesome lands. Plus screwing with their mana when you got a good tempo hand (Vial, Daze) it's always great.
- 3 Tidal Warrior: This guy can be de MVP of the game or just a 1/1 merfolk, the idea it's that in the games you need him it's awesome (against non-blue decks), and in the games you don't (most blue based decks) it's just another hitter (with a lot hidden uses). For more in-depth about Tidal Warrior, search Greg Hatch's review about him (like the deck tech video on SCG).
- 2 Vendillion Clique: I just love this card on Merfolk, it accomplishes everything you want to do, it's a heavy hitter with evasion that can protect you from the cards that wreck you (Mass Removals, uncounterable spells, key combo cards). Depending on the meta (and the manabase i'm using) i may play 3. Plus, i think the most enjoyable play i've ever made in a game of Magic was responding to a Terminus miracle trigger with Clique and putting it on the bottom of the library, it was sublime.
- 3 Chalice: Chalice it's a forced choice in my metagame (Delvers Variations, Elves, Storm, Burn, etc), plus it's an awesome card. I only run 3 copies on the main because you really don't want to draw 2 copies on game 1 in a lot of matchups (Almost anything with a high curve). The 4th copy obviusly comes against all of the low curve decks.
- 3 Aether Vial: Vial it's awesome... when you play it on Turn 1 and you don't draw 3 of them. You can survive drawing 2 of them (even if you didn't play one on turn 1), but if you draw 3 you are totally screwed. You may justify playing 4 in a more tempo oriented list (like the old ones with 4 Wastes and 4 Dazes) but on this particular approach i found that 3 are great.
- 2 Daze: Don't get me wrong, i love Daze; but in a meta full of Deathrite Shamans and Abrupt Decays, i can't justify playing a lot of them (i also wanted to minimize the dead draws after turn 4/5). Plus if you don't have the full tempo package (4 Wastes and 4 Vials) Dazes are awkward in a lot of situations, playing only 2 copies gives you the garanty that if they get stucked in your hand, you are almost always going to be able to use them as fodder for Force of Will.
Sideboard:
- 3 Misdirection: Probably the best card you have against Abrupt Decay's decks, it's extremely difficult to play around. It's also a card that can single-handed win you de match against Shardless Bug (misdirecting a Hymn to Tourach or a Ancestral Visions wins you the game most of the times).
- 2 Hibernation: The card that gives you a chance against Elves on the draw (when you are on the play, a Chalice on Turn 2 can shut them down). Almost impossible to play around for them.
- 2 Dismember: For meta reasons, i find more realiable and flexible this than Submerge, though the 4 lifes are painful sometimes.
- 1 Umezawa's Jitte: Good against a lot of decks and tutorable with Phantasmal Image against Stoneforge.
- 1 Manriki-Gusari: Tutorable with Phantasmal Image against Stoneforge.
- 1 Chalice of the Void: Explained on Main Section.
- 1 Echoing Truth: Excelent against tokens (Young Pyromancer, Monastery Mentor, Entreat the Angels, Empty the Warrens) and the only salvation you have if they managed to resolve a Moat or an Ensnaring Bridge.
- 2 Sower of Temptation: Value card that dodges Abrupt Decay and steals the Bomb that they play with Show and Tell. It's also useful in grindy matchups when your opponents has 1 cost removals and you are not siding out the Chalices (Like against Esper Stoneblade).
- 2 Chill: Best card against Burn, excelent against UR Delver and TES. Useful against various Combos.
Forgive any grammar errors, not english native, and thanks for reading.
I already stated that is pretty good against Sneak Attack. The one that lack format knowledge it's aparently you, because against Storm, Pithing Needle it's almost useless, LED it's a mana abiity. Manriki it's a tutorable equipment destructor, with Needle, if you name Jitte they will just get Batterskull o some Sword, if you name Stoneforge, they will search for Jitte/Sword and play it manually, and if you draw it after the artifact is in play and equiped, it's probably going to be useless. I understand the flexibility of Needle, but i feel that it does not solve any threat for good (we don't need to stop their fetchlands) and it does not contribute to the game plan. And yes, even in the case when it's pretty good, it's purely reactive (which it's not a bad thing against Sneak Attack)
gigou2, I am playing 10 non-basic lands and no Vials, and even if you are playing Vials, you won't want them vs BUG. I don't think that Back to Basics it's a viable option here, besides, i can imagine a large number of situation when it does almost nothing against BUG like being instantly removed by a Abrupt Decay, facing Deathrite and a basic Swamp, etc. all while you also get hurt.
xafen, I would prefer something like Sower of Temptation (which also is useful in other match ups) if you are determined to fight Show and Tell that way.
gigou2 i agree about Relic, it's awesome almost always and very flexible. About Warping Wail, i like the card a lot, but paying 2 manas for killing a 1 drop or an expensive Envelop seems like a big lose of tempo for little gain, anyway, it's really flexible and worth considering for 2/3 MD (and in a meta with lot of Goblins it should be auto-include). I don't like Pithing Needle because it's purely reactive and usually never do anything forever (almost every deck you want to use Needle against it's going to board or already have in MD a way to remove it). Against Thespian Stage/Dark Depths you can use Tidal Warrior, Wasteland, Submerge and/or Harbinger of the Tides. And in the case of Equipments i think Manriki-Gusari does a far better job in my opinion. I think i would only run it on SB if i knew the metagame i am going to face it's populated with Sneak and Show decks.
I fail to see how Gilded Drake could be useful.
It depends if the Storm deck you are playing against it's TES or ANT (or Doomsday! :P). TES has Empty the Warrens Maindeck, Tendrils on the SB and Burning Wish in the MD. ANT has Tendrils and Past in Flames on MD and no Burning Wish, they will always combo with Ad Nauseum/Past in Flames + Tendrils, Empty the Warrens is on the SB, to only be used after board.
It matters in wich disruption you want to emphasize, against TES, Chalice on 0 is ussualy great, not so much against ANT. Graveyard Hate against ANT is pretty good, but against TES it's almost useless (unless it allows you to cantrip, then it's probably worth it, since there is a small chance they have to combo with Past in Flames or use the retro of Cabal Therapy). Also putting pressure on ANT it's ussualy a really good idea, since their Ad Nauseum it's not as smooth and harmless as the one TES play, this could matter in a situation where hitting with mutavault for 2/3 damage could be more harmful than staying with mana up for something like Warping Wail that it's just going to be removed or played around.
Curby, playing and testing for a long time with 4 vials got me to the conclusion that i was losing more frequently for drawing 2/3 vials than winning for doing Vial T1, so i stopped playing 4 vials (except when i played a version with Standstill, the card advantage and the chance of doing t1 Vial t2 Standstill surpassed the liability of drawing multiple Vials), also since the printing of Cavern of Souls and the cut of Wastelands because of TNN, Vial has not been that fundamental to the shell.
I have been experimenting a lot with 3 Vials with good results, but in this aproach i decided to cut them off entirely. I could use the 2 flex slots and cut a Tidal or something to make room for the 3 Vials, but i think they would bring more troubles than solutions, in a list with 4 Chalice, it's quite posible to make a T2 Chalice, and then, Vial just becomes completely useless unless you played it on T1 (and the chances of drawing useless Vials plus Useless Chalices because you already resolved one, withouth having solid card advantage, could be disastrous). They are also a liablity against Shardless BUG and 4c Loam most of the time , which are the decks that consistently beat me.
Also, 4c Loam is giving me a hard time when i fail to interact with their Punishing Fire. I was thinking of using Surgical Extraction, but it would probably only be useful against Loam and Reanimator (which are only 2 decks in my metagame); another option is of course, boarding more Relics, but they are not a permanent solution to the problem. Any thoughts on that?
My metagame is usually composed by Shardless BUG, Miracles, Elfs, DnT, Maveric, Burn, 4c Loam, TES, Reanimator, Stoneblade and UR/Grixis Delver. I resolved the problem of Elves being an unwinnable match playing Chalice MD (wich is also great against Delver decks and a lot of other decks) plus Hibernation and Graffdiger post SB. Against DnT, Tidal Warrior plus TNN makes the match even (ussualy favuorable).
This is my current list:
Lands 20:
10 Island
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Mutavault
2 Mishra's Factor
Creatures 30:
4 Cursecatcher
4 Tidal Warrior
4 Silvergil Adept
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
4 True-Name Nemesis
2 Harbinger of the Tides (currently under test)
2 Phantasmal Image
2 Vendillion Clique
Spells 8:
4 Force of Will
4 Chalice of the Void
2 Flex slots
Right now i am testing:
1 Island (20 lands withouth Vial seemes a little low; and Island, Island, Cavern + TNN are one of the best plays of the deck in my opinion)
1 Misdirection (5th FoW, sometimes better, sometimes worse, incredible against BUG, worst case scenario, you exile it with FoW)
Sideboard 15:
2 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Manriki-Gusari
2 Umezawa's Jitte
2 Hibernation
2 Sumberge
4 Flex slots (wich i would like to be things against BUG and Loam)
Please don't suggest big changes in the MD (like using Standstill, Vial, Wasteland, Merrow, Cosi's, etc.), this are all thing that i have already considered, tested and played. I am comfortably with the style of play of my current MD list and i am achieving good results in tournaments (ussualy only losing frequently against BUG and 4c Loam)
Enligsh it's not my native language, so please forgive any grammar errors.