Hi All, I've had a bit of a break from Geist but I'm back after a sabbatical playing Twin. Merfolk is my main deck - so im not that amazing with Geist - but I have put a decent amount of time play testing - mostly on cockatrice (I have the deck in paper as well).
Some points i'd like to discuss and get feedback on from you guys are as follows:
1. Serum Visions and land count (I run 3x Visions and 24 Land)
25 lands seems optimal but I really like Visions to find relevant cards for a given game state and also control the amount of lands that we draw.
2. Counter spell package. As good as Cryptic Command is - I side it out a ton (vs dispel decks, super aggro decks etc). Other problems are that we play a pretty greedy mana base - 3 blue is just not always going to happen. Another problem is that it's often a clunky card for this deck? Mana Leak is a necessary evil (logic Knot is surpisingly awesome in my testing and rarely dead - early you use it as a force spike (with fetches/visions in the gy and late it outshines mana leak). I think remand is more of a Twin card and not great in this shell - I like the split of 3 Mana Leak/2 Logic Knot - what do you think?
3. 1-of's. I like Boros Charm and Valorous Stance as additional ways to protect your creatures and the flexibility for killing Lilli (Charm) and more fatty answers (Stance). Could easily be cut though. Chandra has been really good. 4 cmc planeswalker! - not too expensive but still has a ton of power and synergy with Geist. Disables lone blockers (with a ping to the dome), the ultimate is game winning, 0 is also good.
Spreading Seas is pretty effective if you have a good clock going. It wins me games as a Merfolk player - however I do have four copies and bring in Tec Edges from the side. Just be aware that they often can O' stone to get rid of them - so I think Ghost Quarter into sowing salts is probably better? All in all Spreading Seas is an MVP against any Tron and/or three colour deck (that doesnt run U) - also B/W tokens as they have a key WWW spell.
I totally understand what Great Nate is saying re. Anticipate and card selection in Combo decks vs. Geist decks. All the same though - missing land drops and/or getting stuck on 2 mana for a couple of turns is absolute death for this deck. Im getting to the point were keeping a hand with 1 spell is almost a viable keep (although I'll usually mull it). I've been testing 2x Anticipate 25 lands and it seems better but without a lot more testing Im still not sure. Is going to 26 lands something people have tried? Maybe 26 lands and 2x Anticipate - I dunno?!
For people that have played this deck a lot longer than me - is this mana screw really a problem or have just had a lot of variance - perhaps i'm mulling wrong? What rough % of games do you lose due to dying to your own draws/mana screw?
All in all at this stage it's a massive turn-off for playing the deck - I want to lose by being outplayed not because my stupid ass deck fugs me in the backside..
Ive recently picked up Geist after playing other U aggro/controlly decks like Merfolk and Delver and like it a lot - although I think Merfolk is the best of the three for me personally (due to much more familiarity with the deck over the others no doubt).
Ive picked up the grate nate version which I think is pretty strong - although Ive been testing Kitchen Finks dropping Thudermaw and reducing Clique numbers and making the mana base a bit more white. One big problem with Geist is that when I look over my notes I see - lost due to mana screw really often. I try to mulligan two landers but often I end up in a worse position - how many of you Geist players die after being stuck on two mana - missing land drops etc. It appears to be a really big problem with this deck - let me know if im doing something wrong here?
Im very keen to try some sort of instant speed library manipulation like Anticipate or Telling Time - is this a reasonable idea?
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Modern
Bant Eldrazi
UW Control
U Merfolk
Legacy
Merfolk
UR Delver
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Some points i'd like to discuss and get feedback on from you guys are as follows:
1. Serum Visions and land count (I run 3x Visions and 24 Land)
25 lands seems optimal but I really like Visions to find relevant cards for a given game state and also control the amount of lands that we draw.
2. Counter spell package. As good as Cryptic Command is - I side it out a ton (vs dispel decks, super aggro decks etc). Other problems are that we play a pretty greedy mana base - 3 blue is just not always going to happen. Another problem is that it's often a clunky card for this deck? Mana Leak is a necessary evil (logic Knot is surpisingly awesome in my testing and rarely dead - early you use it as a force spike (with fetches/visions in the gy and late it outshines mana leak). I think remand is more of a Twin card and not great in this shell - I like the split of 3 Mana Leak/2 Logic Knot - what do you think?
3. 1-of's. I like Boros Charm and Valorous Stance as additional ways to protect your creatures and the flexibility for killing Lilli (Charm) and more fatty answers (Stance). Could easily be cut though. Chandra has been really good. 4 cmc planeswalker! - not too expensive but still has a ton of power and synergy with Geist. Disables lone blockers (with a ping to the dome), the ultimate is game winning, 0 is also good.
//Lands
4 Celestial Colonnade
4 Flooded Strand
3 Scalding Tarn
1 Arid Mesa
2 Hallowed Fountain
2 Steam Vents
1 Sacred Foundry
2 Island
1 Plains
1 Mountain
1 Eiganjo Castle
2 Ghost Quarter
//Counters
3 Mana Leak
2 Logic Knot
//Removal
4 Path to Exile
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Electrolyze
2 Lightning Helix
1 Boros Charm
1 Valorous Stance
//Draw/Filter
3 Serum Visions
//Creatures
4 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Snapcaster Mage
3 Restoration Angel
2 Vendilion Clique
1 Chandra, Pyromaster
//Sideboard
SB: 2 Stony Silence
SB: 2 Celestial Purge
SB: 2 Negate
SB: 2 Dispel
SB: 2 Wear // Tear
SB: 2 Engineered Explosives
SB: 1 Rending Volley
SB: 1 Keranos, God of Storms
SB: 1 Jace, Architect of Thought
Bant Eldrazi
UW Control
U Merfolk
Legacy
Merfolk
UR Delver
Bant Eldrazi
UW Control
U Merfolk
Legacy
Merfolk
UR Delver
Bant Eldrazi
UW Control
U Merfolk
Legacy
Merfolk
UR Delver
For people that have played this deck a lot longer than me - is this mana screw really a problem or have just had a lot of variance - perhaps i'm mulling wrong? What rough % of games do you lose due to dying to your own draws/mana screw?
All in all at this stage it's a massive turn-off for playing the deck - I want to lose by being outplayed not because my stupid ass deck fugs me in the backside..
Bant Eldrazi
UW Control
U Merfolk
Legacy
Merfolk
UR Delver
Ive picked up the grate nate version which I think is pretty strong - although Ive been testing Kitchen Finks dropping Thudermaw and reducing Clique numbers and making the mana base a bit more white. One big problem with Geist is that when I look over my notes I see - lost due to mana screw really often. I try to mulligan two landers but often I end up in a worse position - how many of you Geist players die after being stuck on two mana - missing land drops etc. It appears to be a really big problem with this deck - let me know if im doing something wrong here?
Im very keen to try some sort of instant speed library manipulation like Anticipate or Telling Time - is this a reasonable idea?
Bant Eldrazi
UW Control
U Merfolk
Legacy
Merfolk
UR Delver