Could you develop about a few spicy cards and numbers you have in your main and side ? I'm interested in the non-obvious choices.
I like you trimmed Gifted Aetherborn, I'm currently at 3 copies. 4 unfortunately leads to games where they rot in hand.
No question that Gifted Aetherborn is a good card. Unfortunately, the early BB can be difficult. It's great in going through ground stalls early and halting a big creature though, but those things don't happen in the first two turns anyway. The life gain is amazing if pulled of early, though. We all know that. I just wanted to try something different in my sideboard while it's still early. Bloodcrazed Paladin has been good versus both control and sideboarded hate like Golden Demise. It can also fill in to create a big threat after big trades against red. Once you get past 3 toughness, it gets difficult for them. Bishop of Rebirth I wanted to test against removal heavy and control decks, but unfortunately I don't draw it enough to have anything to say.
I think the Duskborne Skymarcher wants Radiant Destiny to be good enough. When you get ascend, the Skymarcher has vigilance, so it can both attack & buff a creature before damage. It's also very important to grow it, and it unfortunately doesn't correctly with Metallic Mimic. So with only the 4 Legion Lieutenant, I feel it's a bit underwhelming. It's actually a card I might want to trim to 0-2 copies, and rather have 4 Vicious Conquistador + 4 Skymarcher Aspirant locked in the main.
I don't run Metallic Mimic because it's such a nonbo for a deck that has so many one drops. It doesn't do much on turn 2 either. I think that card is great for more token-dedicated builds that run a lot of Queen's Commission and Call to the Feast. My logic with wanting a lot of early fliers is for a lot of chip in damage early and then finish the opponent off with Sanctum Seeker triggers. Playing 4 makes a turn 4 to turn 5 double Sanctum Seeker possible, should you need all that extra damage.
I run Fatal Push which helps stem the tide against Heart of Kiran. To be honest, I want to run three copies. The 4 and 5 cc flying creatures, you can outrun. You're casting your first Sanctum Seeker by that time already, and hopefully with a lot of earlier threats during the prior turns to go for that sacrificial run FTW. Unfortunately, Whirler Virtuoso is, in fact, troublesome. I think primarily for all creature based decks. Card just stalls.
Agree. Duskborne Skymarcher went from 2 to 3 to 4 in my current build. Even playing it turn 1 to a turn 2 Legion Lieutenant works in keeping the pressure with a 2/2 flyer early. I actually like seeing the 1/1 more in my opening hand than Skymarcher Aspirant, as I'd rather draw more blood early than actually trade in the first few turns.
The only thing I'm unsure about right now is Radiant Destiny. Don't get me wrong. I think it's a great card, but I really, really am considering playing two copies of Twilight Prophet to get extra late game reach (ascend is so easy with this vampires) and an evasive threat that doesn't die to Abrade. I could also use some recommendations with my sideboard plan. Thanks in advance!
Will test this list out over the next two weekends and post results here. Personally, I feel like more land is really just necessary to activate Profane Procession and The Scarab God consistently, so I ran with the controllish 26. I also wanted to manage the enchantment count slighty to curve a little nicer against mostly creature decks in the format while still creeping towards Ascend a little better.
I get the reach that Marionette Master provides with the sac outlets and I've always been into the go wide approach of tokens. Why aren't we running Angel of Invention? Too slow? Curious to know before I sleeve up, since I already have all the components anyway.
Thinking of testing this out since most of the standard cards I have left are in UB anyway. Pretty much just need to get the Ixalan cards plus two more copies of The Scarab God. Input would be much appreciated, especially before the weekend hits. Thanks!
Thinking of going for a slightly slower approach, but with payoff in the late game. Curator of Mysteries adds another flying threat that also allows you to cycle through your deck and craft your hand. I like Cryptic Serpent, but its lack of evasion made me want to play one less.
I instead put in a copy ofThe Locust God to reward card draw and cycling, which the deck has plenty of. With drawing/cycling a little more relevant now, playing 4 copies of Censor just made a bit more sense. It's either play a threat on the second turn with Riddleform or Force Spike something and play Enigma Drake safely the following turn.
With slightly less speed but more evasive creatures, maybe we could branch off to this sort of direction with the deck.
I think Chart a Course is a whole lot more flexible than Strategic Planning. As mentioned in the OP, it allows you to discard if your deck requires such an ability. Strategic Planning doesn't offer that same flexibility, as you're limited to "milling" only the cards you've looked at. What if you wanted to discard an extra land card or a third copy of a planeswalker in hand? I feel it's very good card selection for two mana, and needing to play a pirate to make it "good" is unnecessary.
My only actual concern with the card is that standard already has a lot of great blue card draw/filtering/cyclers. With Opt, Censor, Supreme Will, Glimmer of Genius, and Hieroglyphic Illusions already available, which ones will end up getting used and which ones get the shaft?
Granted, it's not THE answer against aggro decks. But I wouldn't call this card as BAD against aggro. You can opt to not blink out and just block, people.
Does the fact that it was stated that of the new guildmechanics would work with the old ones still hold true in Gatecrash? So if Dimir's keyword from RAV was Transmute would the damage + mill keyword be considered working well together?
#s 1, 2, 3, in my opinion work very well together. The last two kind of don't make sense at least not as obvious as the first three..
I guess in a sense transmute searches your own library while the damage plus mill eats at your opponents library so there is a connection there (both deal with library) but it is very lose in my opinion. Detain and forcast don't hold anything really in common.
Transfigure? They futuresighted that ability anyway.
No question that Gifted Aetherborn is a good card. Unfortunately, the early BB can be difficult. It's great in going through ground stalls early and halting a big creature though, but those things don't happen in the first two turns anyway. The life gain is amazing if pulled of early, though. We all know that. I just wanted to try something different in my sideboard while it's still early. Bloodcrazed Paladin has been good versus both control and sideboarded hate like Golden Demise. It can also fill in to create a big threat after big trades against red. Once you get past 3 toughness, it gets difficult for them. Bishop of Rebirth I wanted to test against removal heavy and control decks, but unfortunately I don't draw it enough to have anything to say.
I don't run Metallic Mimic because it's such a nonbo for a deck that has so many one drops. It doesn't do much on turn 2 either. I think that card is great for more token-dedicated builds that run a lot of Queen's Commission and Call to the Feast. My logic with wanting a lot of early fliers is for a lot of chip in damage early and then finish the opponent off with Sanctum Seeker triggers. Playing 4 makes a turn 4 to turn 5 double Sanctum Seeker possible, should you need all that extra damage.
I run Fatal Push which helps stem the tide against Heart of Kiran. To be honest, I want to run three copies. The 4 and 5 cc flying creatures, you can outrun. You're casting your first Sanctum Seeker by that time already, and hopefully with a lot of earlier threats during the prior turns to go for that sacrificial run FTW. Unfortunately, Whirler Virtuoso is, in fact, troublesome. I think primarily for all creature based decks. Card just stalls.
Here's my current build:
4 Duskborne Skymarcher
4 Legion Lieutenant
4 Adanto Vanguard
2 Gifted Aetherborn
3 Mavren Fein, Dusk Apostle
1 Forerunner of the Legion
4 Sanctum Seeker
3 Legion's Landing
2 Call to the Feast
2 Fatal Push
2 Cast Out
2 Radiant Destiny
4 Unclaimed Territory
2 Shefet Dunes
1 Ifnir Deadlands
6 Plains
6 Swamp
4 Duress
2 Moment of Craving
2 Dusk/Dawn
2 Bloodcrazed Paladin
1 Bishop of Rebirth
2 Yahenni, Undying Partisan
2 Lost Legacy
The only thing I'm unsure about right now is Radiant Destiny. Don't get me wrong. I think it's a great card, but I really, really am considering playing two copies of Twilight Prophet to get extra late game reach (ascend is so easy with this vampires) and an evasive threat that doesn't die to Abrade. I could also use some recommendations with my sideboard plan. Thanks in advance!
2 The Scarab God
4 Twilight Prophet
4 Ravenous Chupacabra
Enchantments:
2 Search for Azcanta
1 Profane Procession
2 Ixalan’s Binding
3 Baffling End
4 Fatal Push
1 Vraska’s Contempt
2 Pull from Tomorrow
4 Opt
3 Supreme Will
Sorceries:
2 Fumigate
4 Plains
3 Swamp
2 Island
3 Drowned Catacomb
3 Glacial Fortress
4 Concealed Courtyard
3 Fetid Pools
3 Irrigated Farmlands
1 Arch of Orazca
I get the reach that Marionette Master provides with the sac outlets and I've always been into the go wide approach of tokens. Why aren't we running Angel of Invention? Too slow? Curious to know before I sleeve up, since I already have all the components anyway.
3 Duskborne Skymarcher
4 Legion Lieutenant
3 Adanto Vanguard
3 Gifted Aetherborn
3 Mavren Fein, Dusk Apostle
1 Forerunner of the Legion
4 Sanctum Seeker
1 Twilight Prophet
3 Call to the Feast
2 Radiant Destiny
2 Cast Out
4 Concealed Courtyard
4 Unclaimed Territory
3 Shefet Dunes
2 Ifnir Deadlands
6 Plains
5 Swamp
3 Duress
2 Dusk/Dawn
1 Bishop of Rebirth
2 Authority of the Consuls
2 Kambal, Consul of Allocation
1 Silent Gravestone
2 Lost Legacy
2 Bloodcrazed Paladin
3 The Scarab God
2 Hostage Taker
4 Fatal Push
2 Walk the Plank
1 Vraska’s Contempt
2 Bontu’s Last Reckoning
4 Glimmer of Genius
3 Opt
3 Censor
3 Disallow
2 Essence Scatter
2 Supreme Will
4 Fetid Pools
4 Aether Hub
4 Evolving Wilds
6 Island
4 Swamp
3 Duress
2 Gonti, Lord of Luxury
2 Negate
1 Spell Pierce
3 Gifted Aetherborn
2 Doomfall
1 Vraska's Contempt
1 Yahenni's Expertise
I instead put in a copy ofThe Locust God to reward card draw and cycling, which the deck has plenty of. With drawing/cycling a little more relevant now, playing 4 copies of Censor just made a bit more sense. It's either play a threat on the second turn with Riddleform or Force Spike something and play Enigma Drake safely the following turn.
With slightly less speed but more evasive creatures, maybe we could branch off to this sort of direction with the deck.
3 Curator of Mysteries
3 Cryptic Serpent
1 The Locust God
4 Riddleform
4 Opt
4 Hieroglyphic Illumination
4 Censor
2 Spell Pierce
4 Lightning Strike
4 Shock
4 Spirebluff Canal
3 Evolving Wilds
8 Island
4 Mountain
3 Negate
2 Nimble Obstructionist
2 Magma Spray
2 Abrade
1 Dual Shot
3 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
2 Sweltering Suns
My only actual concern with the card is that standard already has a lot of great blue card draw/filtering/cyclers. With Opt, Censor, Supreme Will, Glimmer of Genius, and Hieroglyphic Illusions already available, which ones will end up getting used and which ones get the shaft?
And then you get DQ'ed via deck check for playing 16 cards in your sideboard.
Transfigure? They futuresighted that ability anyway.