Saw in Pauper Mono Blue Delver they are running Curse of Chains in SB. Seems like a really good "removal" spell for mono blue. It doesn't kill the creature and put them in the GY, it leaves them on board doing nothing until Living End hits. Thoughts?
I really like black splash for Fatal Push, Dismember, and Collective Brutality. It's the early creatures that threaten us the most. Fatal Push should prolong long enough and Dismember is for those early Gurmag/Tasigur/Hollow Ones. Since I run 4x Leyline of Sanctity, Collective Brutality allows me an outlet to discard them for value.
The other splash that I like is Red, for Bolt, Faithless Looting, and Kari Zev's expertise. I don't feel like we've really explored that splash hard enough.
Agree, I don't think there is room for Serum Vision or Opts, our Cyclers are our cantrips. The deck is really just U/x control but instead of Colonnades, Platinum Emperions, or Planeswalkers backed up by Snaps we use As Foretold/Living End. However, As Foretold does some more interesting things if left in play. The other direction you could take is the Magic Aids guys version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvlKwtBwEWU where he goes the combo//reanimator route. Which might not be so bad.
Blue Moon seems like a good comparison and they run 3 Cryptic Commands, sometimes 2. I think we need to find a splash the gives us a way to answer an early threat but Cryptic is so good mid to late game that I think 3 is the right number. It's like how G/b tron splashes for Push. Use those black mana sources for Push/Collective Bruts
Can someone help me understand the splash of black mana sources? Is it to hard cast living end?
The idea is to cast living end off the as foretold ability. Suspending LE is not even remotely a plan for this deck. The black splash would be for potential removal and casting Architects of Will.
I am aware that you cast Living End off As Foretold...its the whole point of the thread... but Quartz is running black mana sources and no black sideboard cards. So if it is just to hard cast Architects then it seems less important to run black sources.
Nimble Obstructionist is also a decent hard cast too. Flash allows you to hold up for counter magic and then drop a threat end of opponents turn. We can really only hard cast Curators so having a 2nd hard cast creature is great. Can be fetched with Drift.
I tried Restore Balance, but I feel like most of the time I have LE or AV that I would rather cast off of Foretold, and if I suspend Restore Balance, I end up regretting it 6 turns later. We usually have more cards in hand than our opponent and lands are usually equal so it essentially kills their creatures which doesn't help us if it comes before a LE. Maybe I am missing something with it, but I haven't found a benefit to Restore Balance.
I have since swapped back to mono blue version, if feel like Hurkyl's Recall serves same purpose as Stony Silence, I have added Pithing Needles to stop Spellbombs/Relics and I feel like Path's fetching them lands is counter to my 4 Spreading Seas / 4 Field of Ruin package that I LOVE LOVE LOVE to run.
Additional U/w tech, I have added Fragmentize to SB for the Artifact GY hate. I also think that Azorius Charm might have a 1-2 of in MB in place of Spreading Seas. Burn also seems to be a difficult matchup, so I have added 2 Sun Droplet to SB thoughts?
Hi, I have been testing a U/w version as well and have really liked the way Path to Exile has performed. I don't think my mana base is quite right but have had very few problems with it. I have started to main 2 Spreading Seas in place of Mana Leak, when combined with Field of Ruin it has slowed my opponent down long enough to find my combo pieces + drawing a card is huge. Let me know your thoughts. Thanks.
The other splash that I like is Red, for Bolt, Faithless Looting, and Kari Zev's expertise. I don't feel like we've really explored that splash hard enough.
I am aware that you cast Living End off As Foretold...its the whole point of the thread... but Quartz is running black mana sources and no black sideboard cards. So if it is just to hard cast Architects then it seems less important to run black sources.
4 Curator of Mysteries
1 Nimble Obstructionist
3 Street Wraith
4 Striped Riverwinder
Spells
4 Ancestral Vision
4 As Foretold
4 Cryptic Command
4 Living End
3 Path to Exile
4 Remand
1 Spell Pierce
3 Spell Snare
1 Bojuka Bog
3 Field of Ruin
4 Flooded Strand
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Hallowed Fountain
2 Island
1 Plains
4 Seachrome Coast
1 Snow-Covered Island
3 Tolaria West
2 Condemn
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Dispel
1 Engineered Explosives
4 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Pact of Negation
1 Path to Exile
2 Stony Silence
1 Surgical Extraction
1 Tormod's Crypt
I have since swapped back to mono blue version, if feel like Hurkyl's Recall serves same purpose as Stony Silence, I have added Pithing Needles to stop Spellbombs/Relics and I feel like Path's fetching them lands is counter to my 4 Spreading Seas / 4 Field of Ruin package that I LOVE LOVE LOVE to run.
4x Field of Ruin
1x Mystic Gate
1x Bojuka Bog
11x Island
4x Tolaria West
Sorcery
4x Ancestral Vision
4x Living End
Creature
1x Drift of Phantasms
2x Architects of Will
4x Curator of Mysteries
3x Street Wraith
4x Striped Riverwinder
3x Cryptic Command
2x Mana Leak
4x Remand
Enchantment
4x As Foretold
4x Spreading Seas
2x Hurkyl's Recall
4x Leyline of Sanctity
2x Nimble Obstructionist
3x Pithing Needle
2x Ratchet Bomb
2x Swan Song
3x Field of Ruin
4x Flooded Strand
3x Glacial Fortress
1x Hallowed Fountain
5x Island
2x Plains
3x Tolaria West
Sorcery
4x Ancestral Vision
4x Living End
2x Architects of Will
4x Curator of Mysteries
1x River Serpent
3x Street Wraith
4x Striped Riverwinder
Instant
3x Cryptic Command
4x Path to Exile
4x Remand
Enchantment
4x As Foretold
2x Spreading Seas
2x Timely Reinforcements
3x Nimble Obstructionist
3x Fragmentize
2x Spreading Seas
2x Stony Silence
2x Swan Song
1x Tormod's Crypt