If I have a Leyline of Singularity out, and my opponent is attempting to combo off using Second Sunrise, would he have a chance to activate his eggs as they're coming in, to avoid them dying to the Legendary rule? Or would he just lose all his eggs?
I have always liked the old extended Trix deck, and for a while, I have been trying to bring it back in Legacy. Here is what I have thusfar. Any suggestions would be amazing.
Seems like it could be playable in control, as an end of turn play (an alternative to Nephalia Drownyarding someone when you have mana to play with.) There's been some talk about it by far better magic players than myself, but it hasn't really shown up. With the ability to clog the board, gain life, or ramp up some mana (especially with a Ponder) it seems like it could be a great card for control, or it could just be janky.
Just went 3-1 with this deck at FNM, it's a constant work in progress. I'm getting tired of seeing Mana Leak as a dead card late, so I dropped one for a Negate, might even go 2/2 some day. Thoughts?
@Xexen: What are the ratchet bombs for MB if you're running Lingering Souls? Also, you may want to consider a Lilianna, if only because Sun Titan brings her back. In Sun Titan builds, Haunted Fengraf is also a surprisngly relevant card.
Batterskull is an amazing card in Esper control. But as you mentioned being a 1 of hurts it being the only artifact. If you are going to run it, my suggestion is run it in the SB and bring it in g2, or board it out g2 if you decide to try it in the md. Personally, I don't like SCM in Esper, as most of the cards already have FB so you don't really need to target anything, unless your looking to get a cheap For Alch off. And as it seems to be a topic in this thread right now, Mana Leak has lost so much oomph in the meta game for a dedicated control deck, that even if you can target it with Snappy, it's probably late in the game and won't do much good anyways. Just my thoughts.
Im going down to 3 SCMs, 1 BSkull as of now, trying that out with my playtest group on wednesday. I look forward to seeing aggro break itself on me.
I like Leak personally, If there were a 2 CMC Counter that was more reliable, I'd run it, but I dont think there ever will be again. Obviously late game it's an issue, but vs certain matchups I can swap it out for Flashfreeze/Purge
Ask yourself this, if Phryexian Arena was in standard would U/B be playing it? I may be wrong but I don't think so, the life loss becomes too relevant just to get 1 extra card a turn when for 1 more mana you could have 2 extra cards per turn with less drawback
I would play Arena, personally, because it costs 3, isn't a creature, and I just personally like the card.
Also, one nice thing about Bloodgift is that if you have them at 1, or 1 from Lethal, you can target them with the draw ability. Surprisingly relevant.
This is the deck I've been running for the last 2 weeks. Currently has a record of 11-1. I'm not a Lingering Souls fan personally, and havent seen the need for it against anything except maybe Delver Control.
I'm a little worried about it though, because I'm not having resounding victories except against WRR and Pod.
Thoughts, comments, critiques, etc desired.
New Developments
Took out the 2 O Rings last night, replaced with Lingering Souls. Got far more milage out of the card than I ever would have expected. Of course this leaves me with little response to PWs/Tempered Steel/etc but I can probably beat those decks in other ways. Lingering Souls is pretty good at killing PWs in a pinch, and Celestial Purge kills a bunch of the relevant PWs (just not Karn, really). Also dropped a Plains for a Nephalia Drownyard, because if Im going to devote any effort to milling, 2 is much better than 1
Another thought I have had is Batterskull. The fact that it recurs and is just always a threat and a protective measure are very compelling, but it does cost 5, and is the only artifact in the deck, meaning that any artifact hate will shut it down.
And to answer specific questions:
The reason for the 1-of Sever is because with Flashback (even of 7) it's still 2 Exiles. Great for spirits and for mono black zombies. Too expensive to have more than 1 though imo.
The 1-of Think Twice is because I can only have so many draw spells(5 is my current suite), and I prefer Forbidden Alchemy over Think Twice. If anyone can give me a specific reason, or suggestions as to why I should change my draw suite, I'd love to hear it.
The split between BSZ and Day is thus: Many many times I have cast BSZ for 3, to kill a wave of spirits or a snapcaster, or so on. BSZ also recycles, which is more relevant than you might think. The Days exist because they dont recycle, so I can Snapcaster them. Finally, I am pretty evenly split on Black and White mana, so having spells that cost both can be helpful.
This is the deck I've been running for the last 2 weeks. Currently has a record of 11-1. I'm not a Lingering Souls fan personally, and havent seen the need for it against anything except maybe Delver Control.
I'm a little worried about it though, because I'm not having resounding victories except against WRR and Pod.
It does not have deathtouch, then loses all abilities, becomes a 4/4 U/R Dragon with flying and deathtouch.
It's just like the RTR Jace splash, with Jace as a Planeswalker, but different art.
4 Dark Ritual
3 Chain of Vapor
4 Donate
1 Personal Tutor
3 Intuition
4 Force of Will
2 Ponder
2 Brainstorm
1 Thoughtseize
1 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Lim-Dul's Vault
2 Daze
1 Spell Pierce
2 Stifle
4 Illusions of Grandeur
2 Nefarious Lich
Artifacts
3 Sapphire Medallion
Planeswalkers
2 Jace, The Mind Sculptor
Lands
1 Swamp
2 Island
4 Underground Sea
4 Watery Grave
1 Gemstone Mine
1 Lake of the Dead
4 Marsh Flats
1 Flooded Strand
3 Flusterstorm
4 Nix
8 ???
Seems like it could be playable in control, as an end of turn play (an alternative to Nephalia Drownyarding someone when you have mana to play with.) There's been some talk about it by far better magic players than myself, but it hasn't really shown up. With the ability to clog the board, gain life, or ramp up some mana (especially with a Ponder) it seems like it could be a great card for control, or it could just be janky.
Thoughts?
1 Consecrated Sphinx
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
3 Snapcaster Mage
Planeswalkers (5)
1 Gideon Jura
2 Liliana of the Veil
2 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
Instants (15)
2 Dissipate
3 Forbidden Alchemy
1 Go for the Throat
2 Tragic Slip
1 Tribute to Hunger
3 Mana Leak
2 Negate
Sorceries (8)
1 Black Sun's Zenith
2 Day of Judgment
3 Lingering Souls
1 Sever the Bloodline
1 Unburial Rites
2 Curse of Death's Hold
Artifacts (1)
1 Batterskull
Lands (25)
2 Darkslick Shores
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Glacial Fortress
3 Island
4 Isolated Chapel
2 Nephalia Drownyard
3 Plains
3 Swamp
1 Bloodline Keeper
3 Celestial Purge
2 Flashfreeze
1 Karn Liberated
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Ratchet Bomb
1 Surgical Extraction
1 Timely Reinforcements
2 Witchbane Orb
Just went 3-1 with this deck at FNM, it's a constant work in progress. I'm getting tired of seeing Mana Leak as a dead card late, so I dropped one for a Negate, might even go 2/2 some day. Thoughts?
Im going down to 3 SCMs, 1 BSkull as of now, trying that out with my playtest group on wednesday. I look forward to seeing aggro break itself on me.
I like Leak personally, If there were a 2 CMC Counter that was more reliable, I'd run it, but I dont think there ever will be again. Obviously late game it's an issue, but vs certain matchups I can swap it out for Flashfreeze/Purge
I would play Arena, personally, because it costs 3, isn't a creature, and I just personally like the card.
Also, one nice thing about Bloodgift is that if you have them at 1, or 1 from Lethal, you can target them with the draw ability. Surprisingly relevant.
New Developments
Took out the 2 O Rings last night, replaced with Lingering Souls. Got far more milage out of the card than I ever would have expected. Of course this leaves me with little response to PWs/Tempered Steel/etc but I can probably beat those decks in other ways. Lingering Souls is pretty good at killing PWs in a pinch, and Celestial Purge kills a bunch of the relevant PWs (just not Karn, really). Also dropped a Plains for a Nephalia Drownyard, because if Im going to devote any effort to milling, 2 is much better than 1
Another thought I have had is Batterskull. The fact that it recurs and is just always a threat and a protective measure are very compelling, but it does cost 5, and is the only artifact in the deck, meaning that any artifact hate will shut it down.
And to answer specific questions:
The reason for the 1-of Sever is because with Flashback (even of 7) it's still 2 Exiles. Great for spirits and for mono black zombies. Too expensive to have more than 1 though imo.
The 1-of Think Twice is because I can only have so many draw spells(5 is my current suite), and I prefer Forbidden Alchemy over Think Twice. If anyone can give me a specific reason, or suggestions as to why I should change my draw suite, I'd love to hear it.
The split between BSZ and Day is thus: Many many times I have cast BSZ for 3, to kill a wave of spirits or a snapcaster, or so on. BSZ also recycles, which is more relevant than you might think. The Days exist because they dont recycle, so I can Snapcaster them. Finally, I am pretty evenly split on Black and White mana, so having spells that cost both can be helpful.
As a result, the deck now looks like this:
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
4 Snapcaster Mage
1 Gideon Jura
2 Liliana of the Veil
2 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
2 Black Sun's Zenith
1 Blue Sun's Zenith
1 Curse of Death's Hold
2 Day of Judgment
2 Dissipate
3 Forbidden Alchemy
4 Mana Leak
2 Lingering Souls
1 Sever the Bloodline
1 Think Twice
3 Tragic Slip
1 Tribute to Hunger
1 Unburial Rites
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Island
4 Isolated Chapel
2 Nephalia Drownyard
2 Plains
3 Swamp
1 Bloodline Keeper
3 Celestial Purge
2 Flashfreeze
1 Karn Liberated
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Ratchet Bomb
2 Timely Reinforcements
1 Tragic Slip
1 Witchbane Orb
Topics of specific interest to me: Batterskull, Dropping Snapcaster Mage to 3 of, The draw spells I use Think Twice/Forbidden AlchemyBlue Sun's Zenith, Lingering Souls, Unburial Rites and the bombs, Go for the Throat, Mana Leak:Auto-4of?
Thank you so much to everyone who gives and has given input of any kind. You are why I succeed.
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
4 Snapcaster Mage
1 Gideon Jura
2 Liliana of the Veil
2 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
2 Black Sun's Zenith
1 Blue Sun's Zenith
1 Curse of Death's Hold
2 Day of Judgment
2 Dissipate
3 Forbidden Alchemy
4 Mana Leak
2 Oblivion Ring
1 Sever the Bloodline
1 Think Twice
3 Tragic Slip
1 Tribute to Hunger
1 Unburial Rites
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Island
4 Isolated Chapel
1 Nephalia Drownyard
3 Plains
3 Swamp
1 Bloodline Keeper
3 Celestial Purge
2 Flashfreeze
1 Karn Liberated
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Ratchet Bomb
2 Timely Reinforcements
1 Tragic Slip
1 Witchbane Orb
This is the deck I've been running for the last 2 weeks. Currently has a record of 11-1. I'm not a Lingering Souls fan personally, and havent seen the need for it against anything except maybe Delver Control.
I'm a little worried about it though, because I'm not having resounding victories except against WRR and Pod.
Thoughts, comments, critiques, etc desired.