MTG Salvation

OK OK OK....let's every loosen their sphincters no point in resorting to name calling - we are all adults here (or should be acting the part regardless).

Look, you can ask anyone in this thread - I am one of the most stubborn when it comes to deck changes. Why? Honestly, because I dont like change. That means I have to adjust my strategies, my card counts, my way of thinking, everything, and I hate that. BUT, with that said, you have to look at the meta before dissing any card choice. If there arent a lot of counter/control type decks, the Shatter might work just fine.

However, from a general perspective, like if I were going to a PTQ or some other unknown format, Scepter of Fugue is better. I used to run one Mindshatter MD, I loved it so much, then two more in the board. That was even after scepter came out. Then I realized that paying 7 mana to bust their hand in one fell swoop simply wasnt worth it, or that getting rid of 2-3 cards wasnt worth it. Think of the Scepter as kind of a "pay as you go" investment that pays off at high interest. Shatter is like playing the stock market - sometimes you clean the bank, and sometimes ya crash. "Sometimes" is not a good word for pro-play.

But hey, like I said, if Shatter is working for you in your meta, play it. If you are going outside of your meta, I would at least consider the arguments and reasoning presented for Scepters. I changed my deck for it, and love it.
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So with that all said lemme show the deck I played at the regional and tell y'all a little story afterwords.



I am not going to bore y'all with details, but I went 3-3. How you ask? My deck simply hated me Saturday. Almost every single time I lost...it was because I got (wait for it...) mana screwed! How does that happen with 27 lands? I have no clue, but if you figure it out, please tell me. There was one game, I drew 9 cards on 4 land...and didnt see another land. I would table shuffle, hand shuffle, cut shuffle, I tried everything. The funny thing is, my starting hands (I only mulled like twice all day) were BEAUTIFUL. Like 3 lands, a mulldrifter, a Negate, a WoR - stuff like that; after that, it just wouldnt give me anything else. It just wasnt a good day for me to play magic apparently. Here are my round breakdowns:

1: Boat - this is the 9 cards on 4 lands. We went to time and he finished me on t5 with a Ramgang after PtEing my WoR and I had no answer for it. (2-0 him)

2: Blightning - against a guy I knew. My SB chewed him up. (2-0 me)

3: 5c Lark Control - interesting deck I had never seen before. He demolished me early with Fulminators, got board control and kept it. Second game, I got t1 Needle and called a halt to Fulminators, didnt see more than 5 lands. (2-0 him)

4: B/W Tokens - I got paired up somehow, as this guy was in the top 10 seats already. Couldnt complain any, went 2-1 in this one. I just ran out of gas and made a SB error by not taking out the Needles g3 that shut his Ajanis down, and he took them out, so they were pretty much worthless. (2-1 him)

5: B/W Tokens - kinda felt sorry for this guy. When he saw what I was playing, he told me he had played 3 5cc decks already, making me the fourth. I think he was running an odd version of the deck, or having an off day - this was pretty much a bye. I hate to say that, but it was. (2-0 me)

6: 5cc - Very odd version of the deck. Was missing some key lands, had Charnelhoard Wurm and Nuckles in it. I had to deck him out g1. Second game, I got my SB like clockwork and dominated. Had a Halo against Scepter, BMD, AND Cruel out on him. He made some mistakes and didnt blow any of them up. I finally won after getting a BMD through. (2-0 me)

So, I guess I cant complain too much. I broke even in the pairings. I just honestly think if I would not have gotten mana screwed I would have at least made Top 8. Oh well eh?

Card MVPs:
Runed Halo
MD Purge
Pithing Needle

I have no clue what changes I am going to make yet. I will keep y'all posted.

the wrath of god + walls main deck make no sense at all, its anti-synergistic.
walls are a HOUSE vs doran since they beat for 6 if they are dumb enough to attack into them.
also, i really think runed halo is great in the current format especially since it REALLY helps vs blightning and other random stuff.

Quote from strangeuniverse

the wrath of god + walls main deck make no sense at all, its anti-synergistic.
walls are a HOUSE vs doran since they beat for 6 if they are dumb enough to attack into them.
also, i really think runed halo is great in the current format especially since it REALLY helps vs blightning and other random stuff.

Accually it works kinda well. I main board only 1 *** and sideboard another but a *** on Turn 4 and a wall on turn 5 works out very well then if you have a turn 6 broodmate even better. Though ***ing ur own walls isnt nice but might be needed againist Kithkin or BW Tokens.

And most Doran decks now beat for 6 with exalted as Ainu says if not more(They also play Nameless and PtE to kill the Wall).

Okay, so I`m going to give this monster a whirl. I`m usually not a control player but something about this list just appeals to me.

I`ve been slowly collecting all the right peices and I think I`m just a couple of cards off, mainly -1 Mulldrifter and -1 Volcanic Fallout. I can`t find my Drifters and someone borrowed my fallouts....so now I`ve got 3.

Heres my list.



I know I know, there are some strange choices in there but they are what I have to work with at the moment. Trying to find my last Mulldrifter and Volcanic Fallout. They are around here somewheres....I think?

The singleton Punish Ignorance is in place of a 3rd Broken Ambitions. I would rather have a hard counter late in the game than a maybe counter. Yes I know BA is mainly for early stuff, and I`m sure I`ll switch it up later but its a work in progress, and besides I`ve never sleeved up the deck so ....give me a break please.

The Oona is there cause shes such a ***** and I`ve had her played against me enough to know what kind of a beatstick she is to someone who can`t get rid of her. The same goes wit the singleton Shriekmaw. Also a target for the Ultimatum later on.

The tower is there just to be there no particular reason. I just like having no maximum hand size is all.

The sideboard choices are to as yet be finalized, but just know that theres a whole lot of red in my meta, so if youve got better ideas, shoot.

There it is, be gentle, but don`t let that stop you. Cause it probably wont. PEACE OUT!

And yes I know its 61 cards. Thats never been an issue with me so don`t bother harping on it. I`ll be okay.

How about Cancel as your hard counter instead of Punish Ignorance? If thats what you're looking for late game

That was the idea. +3 life. I totally forgot about cancel tho I dont think I would use it.

Gotta find my BA`s. For some reason , my cards get gone thru for extended and lowandbehold....geeeee,I wonder if hes gonna use this.....snag this snag that.

And Resounding Thunder over Banefire? I know basicaly both are uncounterable, one being an instant. But one of them can be for alot more than just 6. Thats what sold me as a 1 of. Ive used banefire to great results in other decks,as I`m sure others have, and theres only a few things as satisfying as banefire for +10ormore ftw.

Why does no one side board or main board twincast for the mirror??

Quote from strangeuniverse

the wrath of god + walls main deck make no sense at all, its anti-synergistic.
walls are a HOUSE vs doran since they beat for 6 if they are dumb enough to attack into them.
also, i really think runed halo is great in the current format especially since it REALLY helps vs blightning and other random stuff.

You would actually be surprised how offset they are. When you need to clean the board because the critters are too big to Fallout, you really dont mind busting your wall because the choice is pretty much: "clear the board or die." Plus, good ol Cruel can pop it right back into your hand if you need it later.

Often, I found I was at plenty of life if I did have to *** the board, so I didnt mind so much. It gave me enough of an edge not to worry about it at all. I really like the whole "clear the board, cast WoR" thing. It rocks the house.

Quote from CATS

What gripes me about Scepter is that a single Pithing Needle shuts down all 4 copies of it, as well as Jace, Ajani, Vexing Shusher and who knows what usually gets sided in for the mirror and you can´t get rid of it aside from cryptic bounce and counter on replay, which is not always easy to pull off.

Yea that does suck. So much in fact I thought about putting Bant Charms back into the board. Could be sweet against the mirror since it can also counter a counter when not busting needles.

Quote from mikey k159

I'm not sure, I still don't like celestial purge maindeck all that much, but they are in my sb and are pretty good.

To me... Runed halo is nice, but I don't like it that much, I know why its good, I just don't feel comfortable with it. I also like plumeveil better than WOR because its an instant... But I guess that's personal preference.

MD Purge is AMAZING. Pretty much any competitive deck out there will lose something important to Purge:

Fae: Bitterblossom
5cc: BMDs, Scepters
Boat: FoD, Ajani V., SGCs
BW Token: Bitterblossom, Flitters, Scullers
Blightning: pick something

You really should try them. It was a last minute change for me that I was kind of nervous about, but once I started playing them, they simply owned people in the face. I sided them out like once I think, but very much regretted it as I could have used it to win the game. So I put them back in g3.

Runed Halo, same story. It simply owns anything in the face really. They are ALMOST a universal card. There are some decks though that you dont need them against (emphasizing need vs. general use), so that keeps them from being a MD add for me.
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I am still making some changes. I will post a new list soon.

what about fulminator mage in the sb?

so far nassif's list's worst matchups for me have been: blightning + random jank.
faeries are a bye, i mean this deck has all the answers for them in the main.

Quote from strangeuniverse

faeries are a bye, i mean this deck has all the answers for them in the main.

That couldn't be further from the truth. The matchup has gotten much closer than it has in the past, but it's still a toss up. It is by no means a bye, and is by no means an easy match.

Quote from midgard serpent

That couldn't be further from the truth. The matchup has gotten much closer than it has in the past, but it's still a toss up. It is by no means a bye, and is by no means an easy match.

This is truth

The Fae?!!! NEVER an easy match, and I hate to see them coming! "Tap all you lands during your upkeep..." BLAHK stupid Fae...... grrrrr....... I think I am about 50/50 against them - but I dont play against them as much as I used to because people are getting away from them.

Blightning on the other hand, I lost to it the first time I played against it, after that, my board simply owns it. t2 Halo vs. Blightning is ummmm....yea...bad for them to say the least. As long as you see faster sweep and life gainers than they do hand control, your fine.

One question... Is it often that you get mana flooded with this deck? Myself I playtested about 10 matches(best 2/3) last night (I know thats not alot but its a start) and out of the matches played there were definitely times where I drew more land than business spells. Does this happen regularly with others or am I an oddballgoofnut? Not that i didnt appreciate the mana, but iI think I would have liked to have that volcanic fallout to take out the stillmoon than that vivid land.

oonas grace is fine as a singleton once i have 13lands in play i really find much more than that is not necessary

I run Oona's Grace as a 61st card and 26 lands. It has helped me draw in to the next turn cruel before when I have had a fist full of lands. With all the draw in the deck 61 cards has never been an issue.

My 61 Card Cruel Contol Deck:



I'm not sure about taking out the Path to Exile and leaving the Terror in MD. Also i have to say that i'm using the Shivan Reef and the Flooded Grove because i still don't have another cascade bluff and Sunken Ruins (actually working on those)

My meta includes, 2 Boat brew, 2 Fae, 2 more 5CC, Kithkins Mono white and Vengeant version, 2 Bant, Some Blightning and Randoms.

Also i'm still having problems with bant and Boatbrew MU's. For those decks with Bane Fire MD, i'm trying to find some answer in 1 Runed Halo MD, but no sure what to take out instead of it.

Comments will be apreciated.

Blightning's thoughtseizes/blightnings burn + haste guys are hard to deal w/ especially if they get to thoughtseize/blightning you before you can rune halo or counter anything.

If they take relevant spells, you can lose very quickly.
Faeries is easy for sheezy, if you have a wall of reverence its GG for them cuz they cant even get through with their tokens until they play a scion and you can like X-for-1 them with fallout when they get good numbers on you.

In any case, how can they win when their Mistbind clique is met with a Broken ambitions?
Their mistbind cant get thru our plumeveils even... The only outs they have are terror or 1-for-2 w/ Agony warp? GG?

I only want to face faeries, I don't know what type of problems you guys have w/ them... I do not seem to have those problems.

Quote from strangeuniverse

Blightning's thoughtseizes/blightnings burn + haste guys are hard to deal w/ especially if they get to thoughtseize/blightning you before you can rune halo or counter anything.

If they take relevant spells, you can lose very quickly.
Faeries is easy for sheezy, if you have a wall of reverence its GG for them cuz they cant even get through with their tokens until they play a scion and you can like X-for-1 them with fallout when they get good numbers on you.

In any case, how can they win when their Mistbind clique is met with a Broken ambitions?
Their mistbind cant get thru our plumeveils even... The only outs they have are terror or 1-for-2 w/ Agony warp? GG?

I only want to face faeries, I don't know what type of problems you guys have w/ them... I do not seem to have those problems.

Then, no offense bro, but your Fae players are for crap. WoR is no where near GG for a good Fae player when you are gaining four and getting hit for 12, or they will get rid of it.

First turn Thoughtseize, third turn Vendilion Clique is usually all they need to gain control over YOU and get rid of the pesky wall before you even have an untapped land.

They may suffer through an occassional Fallout, but a couple of Scions, which a smart player will hold and bust out two at once on your turn after you have suffered a Mistbinding - and the Fallouts, not to mention all other removals, are worthless. Fae is NEVER a good MU - ever.

i guess i been playing against fae players who did not have THE NUTS every damn game. like thoughseize/vendilly/mistbind/2 scions and a bitterblossom.

Quote from strangeuniverse

i guess i been playing against fae players who did not have THE NUTS every damn game. like thoughseize/vendilly/mistbind/2 scions and a bitterblossom.

That is the nuts yes, but they usually dont even have to see all that. Usually a t1 Seize is enough to really put the hurt on...and they will hold out to cast the rest of it.

That isnt a rare hand, a little uncommon maybe, but certainly not "the nuts." (If we define the nuts as the "perfect" hand.) They run all those as 4-ofs with CD, they will see it, and with all the counter capability they have, they can usually out counter us.

So either they dont know how to play Fae, or you just get really lucky against them with 5cc, so I assume its them.

I've heard of alot of 5cc players dropping cryptic all together. and what about running obelisk of alara? I play 1 obelisk in my 5cc and I win every time It hits play. That with banefire is a pretty quick win

Thoughts?

Quote from Tegil

I've heard of alot of 5cc players dropping cryptic all together.
Thoughts?

My thought is that those people are so wrong it's ridiculous. There is no reason whatsoever to take it out. I mean...what in the world are they playing in it's place?

Couldn't tell you, there was a Ancestral tourny in whitesbourg kentucky (t2 format) And Some of the 5cc that Top8 dropped cryptic all together, A friend of mine was telling me they hated tapping 3 blue mana +1 to have it get gutteral'd. I dont think anyone plays gutteral main deck. But they were just tired of spending so much mana to have it 1 mana countered.

I have a question, these are the counter spells / removal i run. Should i replace Remove soul with Negate. I have a really hard time dealing with AjaniV. However its really nice when my opponent plays a big fatty and i can remove soul. but i figure thats what path is for? (sorry this post is so crappy im in class and teacher keeps walking by :D)