Hello all, I've recently been playing a deck based off of a channel fireball deck of the day from a few days back, I've been really enjoying it (mainly due to the fact that I love casting Reality Smasher) and was wondering if anyone around the forums has been running a similar list.
I have been having a good amount of success with it on MTGO as it seems many lists are unequipped to deal with both the annoying 2/1 fliers and the massive 5/5/ and 4/4 bodies of the bigger eldrazi. The cfb posted list had 2 Jace, Unraveler of Secrets and Hangarback Walker in the board to help shore up control matches but I think the Warping Wail is a useful toolbox against WWx decks with their hordes of x/1's and a way to counter Languish out of control decks. I've found more success personally in going under the control decks of the format in terms of mana curve and playing he cheap counterspells.
3-0'd with this deck (went 6-1 in games) having pretty garbage creatures, but an incredible removal suite, felt like a hardcore control deck which was strange for RB which generally seems aggressive, had huge synergy with discard and madness and even cute shenanigans with the Prophet and gorger letting me throw all my vampires into play and draw cards for free. No legitimate bombs unlike some decks I've had but this is the first one i've 3-0'd with since starting to play again. I found out where the bombs went during my second match when my opponent played Elusive TormentorMarkov Dreadknight and Nahiri, the Harbinger in various games but he somehow couldn't fight through my wall of removal.
I think it's a bad decision to make the assumption that you're going to put the person to your left into a color because you passed him a decent card since that's relying on them making the mistake that they won't fit their draft to signals and are going to blindly stick with their first few picks. I think both of these are defensible picks against each other, but it's worth nothing that Altered ego being green is much more forgivable of a splash for blue since green has the best fixing in the format.
Planeswalkers warp constructed a ridiculous amount and are essentially a free win in any limited boardstate. I just lost a G2 with one of the sweetest decks I have ever drafted to an opponent who later told me he opened Nahiri and Sorin in his packs. G1 neither showed up and he got trounced, G2 i narrowly lost to sorin and though it would be doable to win, G3 he played T4 Nahiri, T6 or 7 sorin and the game was just over. I can't believe the luck of some people in limited.
Just lost a game two with one of the sickest land recursion engine The Gitrog Monster decks I have ever played in limited, even having good early plays like Dead Weight and Tooth Collector to stabilize and things like Groundskeeper, Stoic BuilderMacabre Waltz , Autumnal Gloom for delirium payoff and to keep the engine going. I was even able to splash white for Declaration in Stone and Silverstrike with 2xFork in the Road and Weirding Wood which helped ramp me and fuel the frog monster. G1 my opponent does nothing and gets destroyed, G2 I narrowly lose to a Sorin, Grim Nemesis. I feel like knowing his bomb I should be fine, just clear the board and beatdown early. Then G3 he plays T4 Nahiri, the Harbinger, T6 or 7 Sorin and the game becomes extremely painful. He tells me he opened both which i don't know is better or worse than if someone passed one to him. Probably the most sad i've been playing magic since starting again after 5-6+ years.
I think it might have just been a long stretch of them getting good draws to my mediocre ones, although i don't think the matchup is great, i beat a few today that seemed to have average draws. Kind of annoying since everyone and their mother seems to be running W/x humans nowadays on MTGO. I've been trying out 3x Radiant Purge in the sideboard with good results as it can take care of Fevered Visions which destroys control decks and does double duty by taking out manlands at instant speed, something i've noticed this deck has issues with. With the upside of getting rid of random dumb things like The Gitrog Monster and Olivia, Mobilized for War. I tried out Myth Realized for a bit in the 1-drop slot with less than great results in most matchups although it does get BW control pretty good. Is anyone using this type of deck still running Thing in the Ice? I cut it and haven't missed it but it might be a decent SB card for when most decks take out their removal G2 against you. I updated my original post with my current decklist.
I like the list Dusk, Overwhelming Denial and Swift Reckoning are interesting cards, but do you find that their being conditional makes you less consistent than something like Declaration in Stone and Void Shatter? In the meanwhile i've been trying out Bygone Bishop instead of Thing in the Ice in my original list, which seems a bit promising. There just seems to be too much removal in standard right now for a slow card like thing to be consistent.
Luckily between Anticipate, Epiphany at the Drownyard and card draw from Thraben Inspector I have almost never gotten mana screwed in my games. If anything I've gotten flooded a few times when i use multiple anticipates to sift through spells i don't need at the moment and then hit multiple lands in a row.
I've added my thoughts on some of the 30 or so matches i've played with this deck on mtgo, i'll keep updating especially when I play my league matchups but I think i've played a few games against all the T1 and T2 decks in standard so far. And yeah thanks for the Displacement Wave hint, that might just be better than Hallowed Moonlight in situations where it really counts, plus it can be a one sided wrath if you have a sphnx out and has the potential to nuke planeswalkers!
Oh, awesome for some reason i thought sphinx was in dragons of tarkir this whole time and yeah i think they run clip wings in the SB as tech against other Ormehndahls
I really like Jace, Unraveler of Secrets he makes grindy control matches a bit easier and soaks up damage from aggro decks. I'd stick a couple Gideons in the deck if I could as well, since he is much easier to cast then sphinx with countermagic backup and is a legitimate win condition (got blown out by a clip wings today in a game that went to time vs. GW tokens). I've considered removing the sphinxes and Thing in the Ice's and using some of the eldrazi like Reality Smasher and Thought-Knot Seer but i believe this changes the fundamental nature of the decklist. I think these might be useful sideboard cards as Reality Smasher just destroys opponents hands when they try to deal with him, especially with counterspell backup. The seer would provide useful hand disruption.
Obviously though this creates issues with the manabase and with no allied pain lands (i.e) Adarkar Wastes this would likely make the deck much less consistent. I've toyed with the idea of running 4x Void Shatter along with some amount of Spell Shrivel as the permission package and maybe 4x Corrupted Crossroads or even Mage-Ring Network to facilitate colorless cards.
I think this deck might really take off after the rotation especially if allied color manlands somehow get printed. The only cards it really loses are: the sphinx, narset and Ojutai's Command of which i have been consistently underwhelmed with the command and Narset. Sphinx however is a superstar and will be a big loss for the list. I think UW with eldrazi as threats might be the way to head come Kaldadesh rotation. (Dependent on what happens in eldritch moon)
I have updated the current decklist i'm using in my post and the sideboard I believe Hallowed Moonlight is a must in a meta filled with GW tokens and BW control constantly trying to push out Hangarback Walker and Secure the Wastes obviously though the SB is very dependant on your local scene. I'll personally be replacing the clerics with something else as I have run into zero mono R sligh decks out of the matches i've played so far. I'll add some gamelogs once I join a league.
That mono U rise from the tides generally only works with Brain in a Jar since you can get the zombies out at instant speed EOT when you have an opening. Even then, it's slow and very prone to disruption, most standard decks seem to have enough redundant threats that relying solely on counterspells is rough.
I have been running the following list from the OP for a few days in the tournament practice room on MTGO after not playing the game for around 6 or so years and have been absolutely loving it!
4 Dimensional Infiltrator
4 Rattlechains
4 Eldrazi Skyspawner
2 Silumgar Sorcerer
3 Whirler Rogue
3 Thought-Knot Seer
4 Reality Smasher
2 Deepfathom Skulker
3 Spatial Contortion
2 Spell Shrivel
3 Clash of Wills
Lands (26)
4 Foundry of the Consuls
4 Shivan Reef
4 Yavimaya Coast
3 Westvale Abbey
11 Island
4 Dispel
3 Sidisi's Fathful
4 Negate
3 Warping Wail
1 Thought-Knot Seer
I have been having a good amount of success with it on MTGO as it seems many lists are unequipped to deal with both the annoying 2/1 fliers and the massive 5/5/ and 4/4 bodies of the bigger eldrazi. The cfb posted list had 2 Jace, Unraveler of Secrets and Hangarback Walker in the board to help shore up control matches but I think the Warping Wail is a useful toolbox against WWx decks with their hordes of x/1's and a way to counter Languish out of control decks. I've found more success personally in going under the control decks of the format in terms of mana curve and playing he cheap counterspells.
In the 6-drop slot, I'm not too sure what to do, originally having Drowner of Hope there but also swapping between Endbringer and Deepfathom Skulker.
2 Insolent Neonate
1 Falkenrath Gorger
1 Sinister Concoction
3 Murderous Compulsion
1 Ember-Eye Wolf
1 Gibbering Fiend
1 Senseless Rage
2 Tormenting Voice
1 Vampire Noble
1 Fiery Temper
1 Breakneck Rider
1 Convicted Killer
2 Gisa's Bidding
1 Mad Prophet
1 Inner Struggle
1 Dance With Devils
1 Twins of Maurer Estate
1 Gatstaf Arsonists
7 Swamp
9 Mountain
1 Geistblast
1 Inner Struggle
1 Rush of Adrenaline
Obviously though this creates issues with the manabase and with no allied pain lands (i.e) Adarkar Wastes this would likely make the deck much less consistent. I've toyed with the idea of running 4x Void Shatter along with some amount of Spell Shrivel as the permission package and maybe 4x Corrupted Crossroads or even Mage-Ring Network to facilitate colorless cards.
I think this deck might really take off after the rotation especially if allied color manlands somehow get printed. The only cards it really loses are: the sphinx, narset and Ojutai's Command of which i have been consistently underwhelmed with the command and Narset. Sphinx however is a superstar and will be a big loss for the list. I think UW with eldrazi as threats might be the way to head come Kaldadesh rotation. (Dependent on what happens in eldritch moon)
I have updated the current decklist i'm using in my post and the sideboard I believe Hallowed Moonlight is a must in a meta filled with GW tokens and BW control constantly trying to push out Hangarback Walker and Secure the Wastes obviously though the SB is very dependant on your local scene. I'll personally be replacing the clerics with something else as I have run into zero mono R sligh decks out of the matches i've played so far. I'll add some gamelogs once I join a league.
9 Island
6 Plains
2 Port Town
4 Prairie Stream
3 Westvale Abbey
Creatures (8)
3 Thraben Inspector
3 Reflector Mage
2 Sphinx of the Final Word
Other Spells (24)
4 Anticipate
1 Negate
3 Declaration in Stone
3 Scatter to the Winds
2 Void Shatter
3 Planar Outburst
1 Part the Waterveil
1 Quarantine Field
1 Clash of Wills
2 Epiphany at the Drownyard
3 Secure the Wastes
2 Jace, Unraveler of Secrets
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
3 Dispel
2 Horribly Awry
3 Negate
3 Radiant Purge
2 Displacement Wave
1 Linvala, the Preserver
1 Quarantine Field