how bad of an idea is it to do like a UR splash white fish. With so many madness enablers, it seems like these decks are missing out on some great synergies.
Of course there are some problems with this list. Is Grunt worth splashing? I think yes as he will hose aggro decks that depend on Goyf and mystic enforcer. Troll Ascetic still poses a bit of a problem, but that's what counter magic is for. Korlash also needs to be countered.
A natural question comes up: if you are going to do these colors, why not include Lightning Angel? It's a great, efficient beater but, if so, then we start heading towards making a post Rav angel fire deck and that's not what this thread is about.
If I were to stick with UW, I like wistful thinking as long as Riptide pilferer and maybe piracy charm are in the deck too. That's a pretty solid discard strategy in addition to counter magic.
Thrumming Stone! That plus all the beacons is silly. Now, if only you could thin your deck to about 16 cards and BAM! Ripple into near obscene amounts of damage.
Could that actually work? When does ripple happen vs when does the beacon go back to your library? The possibilities are mind-boggling.:o
But having permanents on the board really is a different matter especially for fish. How was your playtest anyway?
no play testing done yet, just finished trying out a WG gro deck that severely disappointed me. As soon as this baby is built though, it's off to the races.
Before people balk at perilous research, please consider its plus side: way faster than visions, very tricky (ie in combat, on those pesky cumulative upkeepers), puts a ton of junk in the yard to be recycled with grunt, and with such a low mana curve, who needs the extra land especially if its a flagstones.
Why not use elvish champion instead of coat of arms? Its tenth legal and doesn't help your opponent as much as coat could. It's also a threat vs a "do-nothing-by-itself" card.
Delay, rune snag and remand might make better counter spells too. Unsummon and remove soul are questionable. What creatures are you really afraid of? Your creatures will be better (hopefully).
war hammer is pretty good, especially vs aggro match ups
You have great acceleration, but nothing to really do with it.
Imagine a troll ascetic equipped with a loxodon warhammer. not to shabby. Your counter spells then go towards stopping wrath effects. Gaining 6 life a turn while bringing the beats with troll! Put that elf mana to use playing and equipping.
other than that, some pump spells might be nice for surprise wins (well, not really a surprise, I mean its green)
You could probably use bottled cloister to avoid the muse's drawback. Of course, that would destroy any chance of using counter magic. Instead, bounce cards would be good. They fill the opponent's hands and hopefully keep those threats away from you.
I agree with wall of shards. Its great to hide behind. Pretty unlikely that any aggro player could burn it and if so, that's less burn at you face.
However, oriss, samite guardian's best ability is obviously her grandeur. So, if you plan to include her, you would want to four pack and have a strategy that included her chant like ability.
It seems like this deck is between two worlds. You have small threats and big control-style beaters. I would say that this deck lacks focus.
If you really want to go rescue, you need more early drops. Nothing is worse than two rescue creatures in hand and no creatures on the board. So, I would suggest you focus on setting up a early strategy and get rid of those big, nigh-unplayable threats.
Let's say that in this hypothetical situation, I have three white mana available during my opponent's second or third turn. Can I use Scout's Warning to play Serra Avenger during my opponent's turn before my fourth turn?
4x Jotun Grunt
3x Vexing Sphinx
4x Looter il-Kor
3x Reckless Wurm
Spells:
4x Fiery Temper
4x Incinerate
4x Psionic Blast
4x Delay
4x Rune Snag
3x Wistful Thinking or Goblin Lore
3x Browbeat or Perilous Research
4x Gemstone Mine
4x Shivan Reef
2x Adarkar Wastes
2x Battlefield Forge
2x Terramorphic Expanse
1x Plains
2x Island
1x Mountain
2x Faerie Conclave
Of course there are some problems with this list. Is Grunt worth splashing? I think yes as he will hose aggro decks that depend on Goyf and mystic enforcer. Troll Ascetic still poses a bit of a problem, but that's what counter magic is for. Korlash also needs to be countered.
A natural question comes up: if you are going to do these colors, why not include Lightning Angel? It's a great, efficient beater but, if so, then we start heading towards making a post Rav angel fire deck and that's not what this thread is about.
If I were to stick with UW, I like wistful thinking as long as Riptide pilferer and maybe piracy charm are in the deck too. That's a pretty solid discard strategy in addition to counter magic.
Other thoughts or comments?
3x Vexing Sphinx
3x Gathan Raiders
4x Looter il-Kor
4x Reckless Wurm
Spells:
4x Delay
4x Rune Snag
4x Incinerate
4x Psionic Blast
4x Fiery Temper
3x Perilous Reseach or *gasp* Goblin Lore
3x Browbeat
4x Gemstone Mine
4x Shivan Reef
2x Faerie Conclave
2x Keldon Megaliths
2x Terramorphic Expanse
3x Island
Thoughts? Comments?
Could that actually work? When does ripple happen vs when does the beacon go back to your library? The possibilities are mind-boggling.:o
no play testing done yet, just finished trying out a WG gro deck that severely disappointed me. As soon as this baby is built though, it's off to the races.
4x Looter il-Kor
2x vexing sphinx
4x Spiketail Hatchling
4x Jotun Grunt
2x Serra Avenger
spells:
4x Psionic Blast
4x Unstable Mutation
4x Mana Tithe
4x Rune Snag
4x perilous research
4x delay or remand
4x Adarkar Wastes
4x Nimbus Maze
4x hallowed fountain
2x flagstones of trokair
2x faerie conclave
3x island
1x plains
Before people balk at perilous research, please consider its plus side: way faster than visions, very tricky (ie in combat, on those pesky cumulative upkeepers), puts a ton of junk in the yard to be recycled with grunt, and with such a low mana curve, who needs the extra land especially if its a flagstones.
Delay, rune snag and remand might make better counter spells too. Unsummon and remove soul are questionable. What creatures are you really afraid of? Your creatures will be better (hopefully).
war hammer is pretty good, especially vs aggro match ups
...maybe troll ascetic... I hear he is pretty good.
You have great acceleration, but nothing to really do with it.
Imagine a troll ascetic equipped with a loxodon warhammer. not to shabby. Your counter spells then go towards stopping wrath effects. Gaining 6 life a turn while bringing the beats with troll! Put that elf mana to use playing and equipping.
other than that, some pump spells might be nice for surprise wins (well, not really a surprise, I mean its green)
good luck!
I agree with wall of shards. Its great to hide behind. Pretty unlikely that any aggro player could burn it and if so, that's less burn at you face.
4x Wall of Shards
4x dreamborn muse
Spells:
4x Glimpse the unthinkable
4x muddle the mixture (pretty much just to transmute)
4x twincast
2x traumatize
4x boomerang
4x repeal
4x millstone
2x bottled cloister
4x orzhov signets (or whatever balances)
I think the synergy between Keldon Marauders, Calciderm, and the rescue creatures is good.
However, oriss, samite guardian's best ability is obviously her grandeur. So, if you plan to include her, you would want to four pack and have a strategy that included her chant like ability.
Why so many one of's? Akroma, angel of wrath > angel of salvation and Razia, boros Archangel 99.9% of the time.
It seems like this deck is between two worlds. You have small threats and big control-style beaters. I would say that this deck lacks focus.
If you really want to go rescue, you need more early drops. Nothing is worse than two rescue creatures in hand and no creatures on the board. So, I would suggest you focus on setting up a early strategy and get rid of those big, nigh-unplayable threats.
Edit: Try this:
4x sacred foundry
2x boros garrison
4x battlefield forge
2x flagstones of trokair
2x ghitu encampment
4x gemstone mines
2x plains
2x mountain
4x calciderms
2x stone cloakers
2x dust elemental
4x icatian javelineers
2x whitemane lion
4x keldon marauders
4x soltari priest
4x lightning helix
4x rift bolt
4x incinerate
4x brute force
Thanks for the help!