Mana Drain
Card does what I want it to do which is control the game and timed correctly, it offers such a tempo swing that it can be game breaking.
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- TechnicolorMage
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Member for 12 years, 4 months, and 13 days
Last active Sat, Apr, 25 2020 02:33:40
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Quoting Prid3 but the comment is directed more at Murx:
If you don't own them, don't go out and buy them unless you have cash to burn. The card isn't mandatory for the deck by any stretch as black has lots of good 4 drops that one can play instead. Let's not kid ourselves though, in some metas, the card just wrecks tables and in others, it just dies with little benefit (it's never ZERO benefit because it means someone used removal on your card and something else of yours has a better chance of living).
I play it because I OWN them. I play in a creature heavy meta, the card is positioned well in a devotion shell, the art and flavor are also bad-ass.
Card is definitely a meta call
My other group is a 4 man FFA that is powerful in a very different way.
The two groups never crossover and the gameplay is radically different which makes both groups excellent to belong to.
Of course, now were all social distancing.....
This is why I am confused by your all in glass cannon approach, but then again, maybe that is all you wanted to showcase and I should shut up now
1 Card disadvantage in a deck that might not be able to make it up if Henge is removed or not seen, plus no way to recur any cards
2 Life loss. 12 of your lands lose life, 8 of them continue to do so. If you don't see Henge it's too much
3 Heart of Kiran seems like an afterthought. I would rather see something that draws cards like Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner or Elemental Bond
I personally think Gruul Stompy plays better magic, even if it can't cheat Henge out as fast.
Steelbane Hydra hydra doesn't seem worth it to me, good players will play around it so it just becomes a hydra that can be chumped all day long. I would rather the instant speed of beast within or just accept problematic enchantments or artifacts are beyond your control.
I am also not totally sold on Gargos, Vicious Watcher. I have heard arguments that it helps you rebuild faster after a wrath and that the fight mechanic is welcome removal, but I am not convinced yet.
so there are 6 cards you could cut, or of course you could just trim some other cards too
Finally saw some different hands. I certainly didn't win every game, but I was competitive in all and that is pretty much what we ask for from our decks. Sometimes you just can't drain the table fast enough and then people drop battlecruiser and well, all the lifegain the world isn't going to repel that kind of firepower. Plus devotion decks tend to draw the ire of the table. Plaguecrafter saw action and it definitely pulled its weight, great suggestion Prid3. Like any card with an ETB ability, it's at its peak when we have an active Nightmare shepherd.
Nightmare shepherd The more I play this card, the more I realize how awesome it is. Even without an active sac outlet, you can now block as you wish with other creatures just to have them die and double up on their ETB abilities. I really appreciate the flying ability on the card as well. I used to play Batman but Sexy Villain has pretty much rendered her obsolete in this build, so having a flier helps keep people at bay, at least in the early to mid game.
Do you use Yarok, the desecrated in your Gates builds? Sometimes I have a hard time generating ENOUGH zombies to take on the table
Thank you, this is the type of answer that clearly illustrates the reasons behind your card choices.
Kenrith looks fun and I have been dying to play him for awhile and clearly shines when you have access to five colors.
Do you find that Arboreal Grazer loses some value if you have no way to drop it on turn one?
You face land destruction decks don't you? Maze's End struggles if you only play one gate in the "off" colors, also hurts Field of the dead making it trickier to activate. Isn't it better to spread out those guildgates more evenly?
Does Fires of invention really bring that much to the deck? I love the card in control shells but you aren't really playing control here.
I do realize this is just a hastily put together example you fleshed out. More than anything, I am always looking for the reasoning behind why others choose different cards.
Too clunky, too slow, and requires too much set up for the pay off...
Can you flesh out an entire list? I am surprised you don't have room for a card like Primeval Titan who really speeds up Maze's End and all but guarantees victory if you live to untap with it (as it does find a total of 4 lands if it untaps)
I have never tried fires of invention Gates decks before, although I vaguely recall a list floating around somewhere....
Re-reading what I wrote I realize I was on two trains of thought. I was lumping too many different creatures together and now look foolish. I guess what I was trying to say more than anything else is Defile works if you need to spot remove small to medium creatures. It's not good at removing creatures with 7 toughness or more because we don't drop lands as quick enough to make it worthwhile. Obviously stuff with protection isn't going to fly with any targeting spell.
Cards like In Garruk's Wake are too slow for anything other than budget decks. I already own damnation and Toxic Deluge and will test both of those cards next time. If I am sweeping the board in a devotion deck, I am probably losing anyways, so maybe it doesn't really matter. In reality, I should probably just jam a couple of copies Innocent blood or exsanguinate and call it a day.
Alas, gone are the simple days of O-ring and bounce shenanigans. My meta plays too much enchantment removal making cards like Oubliette temporary at best.
Appreciate the suggestions, more than anything, I was really just giving a small anecdotal report of the testing of a few new cards in my particular devotion shell and meta....cheers!
Luminarch Ascension is the best card in the deck and it is not even close. Both game I played I won off the back of this card. In the first game, I actually added two more sweepers and controlled the board and road my angels to victory. I did the same thing game two but tutored for Purphorous, god of the forge and closed the game out even more quickly. An active Ascension TRUMPS anything else the deck can do.
Purph > Cathars' Crusade > Divine visitation
I dropped one copy of Generous Gift for Council's Judgment - virtually irrelevant tbh, play what you own
I used a playset of Idyllic Tutor instead of my usual Enlightened Tutor. The latter is better but play the ones you own.
4 Deafening Clarion plus 6 more wraths is where I want to be in my meta, YMMV
This deck is crushing my meta in a color combination that that I would never have thought would work as a control deck.
Leyline of the void was an allstar and I opened with it turn one in 4/5 games. It allows for some sick plays in terms of devotion.
Nykthos, Shrine to nyx is disgusting but the deck can still easily win without it. 2/2 split with Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Yarok's Fenlurker was at its best being recycled via Volrath's Stronghold but 4 copies is too many - shave some as needed
Woe Strider was fine if unspectacular. It never escaped. I could see a 2/2 split with Viscera Seer.
Bolas's Citadel never got to live the dream since I never drew it and had one rot in my hand due to mana screw.
Defile wasn't so much of a let down as it was very situational. We don't drop lands quick enough for it to matter against Eldrazi Titans, Progenitus, blightsteel or creatures with 7 toughness. I would rather not over commit and play sweepers such as Damnation or Toxic Deluge
and then rebuild my board. That being said, I had a timely defile with 6 swamps out that did change the outcome of a game by removing a key threat before it could take over the board.
Never saw Ayara or Tymaret. I really drew the same 5 hands each game, which included obliterators and dark rituals.
This deck needs to be played some more if only for a bit of variation in starting hands.
The deck folds to land destruction for obvious reasons. It also folds to faster combo, but if you play in a creature heavy meta, this deck can be a lot of fun and win games you would otherwise lose. That being said, Maze's End puts the table on a clock and you will get the hairy eyeball and be punished if you can't defend yourself.
4 Arboreal Grazer
4 Gatebreaker Ram
2 Wayward Swordtooth
3 Consecrated Sphinx
3 Golos, Tireless Pilgrim
4 Primeval Titan
4 Gate Colossus
4 Explore
4 Gates Ablaze
4 Circuitous Route
2 Crackling Perimeter
4 Guild Summit
2 Boros Guildgate
2 Dimir Guildgate
4 Forest
1 Gateway Plaza
2 Golgari Guildgate
2 Gruul Guildgate
2 Izzet Guildgate
2 Maze's End
2 Orzhov Guildgate
2 Rakdos Guildgate
1 Reliquary Tower
2 Selesnya Guildgate
2 Simic Guildgate
Stuff I thought would work well but was clunky or suffered from "it worked well once, so it must be good" syndrome.
Reliquary Tower - One game I drew so many cards off Consecrated Sphinx I was happy to see it. In reality, you are too busy grabbing EVERY gate you can, you don't care or have time to waste on the tower - play another forest, Arboreal Grazer will thank you.
Crackling Perimeter - With a bunch of gates on the field it can pressure life totals for anyone not gaining incremental life. In practice, only once have I seen it do more than 9 damage to the table, I rarely draw it, and I always have better things to dedicate my mana towards. Play anything else or just cut if you want to lower the total cards.
Wayward Swordtooth Only good if you draw a ton of cards. You can't turn it on fast enough in this deck to be a reliable defender and all your lands matter spells already put them directly into play making the card superfluous at best, if not downright bad.
The next two cards to test are Elvish Rejuvenator and Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath. Uro is a much better card so this one is budget dependant for the average player. $0.10 vs $30.00+
It is important to note: While I play this as a Temur deck, you could very easily play 4-5 colors. In doing so you would have access to the full gambit of cards that Magic has to offer.
With regards to Reclamation Sage I tend to only run one from days past. However, you know your meta better than we do and perhaps you need multiples? I mean it isn't really toolbox deck so I wouldn't fault anyone for running more than one copy