Quick Deck Statistics
Preferred Environment: Multiplayer
Casual/Competitive: Yes?
Average CMC: 2.59
Deck MVP: Ghostly Flicker
Strengths: Utility, Resiliency, Inevitability, Affordability
Weaknesses: Mana Denial, Graveyard Hate, Fast Metagames
Here's a link to the deck (sans its commander) c/o DeckStats.net for those that would like to gold fish a few hands. Merieke v35
In the spirit of d0su's Pauper Dreamcrusher, I've been working on an Esper Pauper build for the local EDH group using only commons to see how it fares against regular EDH decks. It is a traditional toolbox control deck that really excels in the late game once it has its mana base set up. Its end game is centered around using Ghostly Flicker and the blue spellmancers (Archaeomancer, Scrivener, and Mnemonic Wall) as well as other ETB creatures to generate a ton of value casting it over & over.
A few notes on individual cards:
Rimewind Taskmage is a little slow but combos with Merieke and can act as a Gideon's Lawkeeper the rest of time. Freed from the Real has similar uses in the deck. As with a lot of commons that untap things, I was looking for them to be repeatable (hence no instants or sorceries) as well as useful even when I didn't have Merieke out. So far Freed from the Real and Rimewind Taskmage are the only ones I've found that fit that bill. In combination with Merieke they have a lot of potential. In regard to Merieke's untap trigger, I did some digging and found a rules thread on this subject from about a year ago. Here's what Bimmerbot said to close out the thread:
Quote from bimmerbot »
The delayed trigger that would destroy the targeted creature when Merieke untaps is not created until the ability resolves. If Merieke untaps while that ability is on the stack, the creature will not be destroyed. Once the control ability resolves, the delayed trigger will look for the trigger event, but not before.
So you can respond to the initial activation by untapping Merieke and targeting another creature as many times as possible gaining control (and keeping) of all the creatures targeted. But if Merieke untaps, dies, or you lose control after all those activations resolve ALL the creatures taken in this manner go away. Very cool. Thanks GlenG for pointing that out. Here's a more recent post regarding Merieke's ability from the Judge's Blog.
Comments certainly welcomed.
Why aren't you playing more cards that can untap Merieke?
As with a lot of commons that untap things, I was looking for them to be repeatable (hence no instants) as well as useful even when Merieke wasn't in play. So far Freed from the Real, and Rimewind Taskmage are the only ones I've found that fit that bill. Stonybrook Angler is a good substitute for Taskmage if you are not running Snow-Covered lands. Ghostly Flicker on the opponent's end step going into your turn can serve as another means to 'untap' Merieke.
Have you tried Dispeller's Capsule?
I've always shied away from Dispeller's Capsule because it required having double white up if you wanted to cast & activate on the same turn which can be fairly challenging early.
Aren't Merchant Scroll and Strip Mine uncommon? Merchant Scroll from Homelands is common according to the Gatherer which is what I and most of the other Pauper players here in the Variants subforum defer to for commonality issues. Strip Mine is uncommon according to the Gatherer. It was the one "gimme" I gave myself when I initially built the deck so that I would have an answer to problematic utility lands. If you insist on playing without it swapping it for an additional basic land should suffice.
Is Feldon's Cane necessary?
Because this deck can't win quickly on its own Feldon's Cane is there to protect from graveyard hate in longer games. Having to rebuild after using it is challenging but can be done. By that point in the game you should have a boat load of land out so what's left of your library will be mostly business. Losing a few cards to early graveyard hate is okay as the deck has some redundancy built in but late game it can be much more painful. Additionally I have found it to be helpful in recovering from heavy discard or mass land destruction strategies.
* - While Feldon's Cane has been cut from the latest build it still may have a role to play in the deck. It's certainly a card you should keep on hand if needed for your meta.
2016-0222 - http://deck.tk/6lPw6yJb
- Mind Stone
- Dimir House Guard
+ Prismatic Lens
+ Snow-Covered Island (#13)
2015-1203 - http://deck.tk/2Zaz6gaZ
- Twisted Abomination
- Faith's Fetters
+ Grixis Panorama
+ Mind Stone
2015-0725 - http://deck.tk/6nSx3mzQ
- Grim Harvest
- Mind Stone
- Seat of the Synod
- Vault of Whispers
- Ancient Den
+ Orzhov Signet
+ Azorius Signet
+ Darksteel Citadel
+ Snow-Covered Island
+ Snow-Covered Plains
2015-0115 - http://deck.tk/2jJj8XtA
- Doom Blade
- Cadaver Imp
- Rush of Knowledge
- Snow-Covered Island
+ Victim of Night
+ Mind Stone
+ Dimir Signet
+ Dimir Aqueduct
2014-0928 - http://deck.tk/3SF72Czq
- Death Denied
- Snow-Covered Island x2
- Snow-Covered Swamp
+ Reaping the Graves
+ Dismal Backwater
+ Tranquil Cove
+ Scoured Barrens
I had an opportunity to play the deck last night at the LGS. In my first game with the deck, I went up against Braids, Conjurer Adept, Isamaru, Hound of Konda, and Sedris, the Traitor King. Sedris went infinite early with Basalt Monolith & Rings of Brighthearth and tried to 1 shot all of us with Exsanguinate. I had Muddle the Mixture to prevent that from happening. Everyone else quickly put Sedris in their crosshairs after that. Isamaru sent a lot of his leveled up creatures his way and I O-Ringed his Monolith. Sedris with nothing left in the tank conceded soon after. In the end Isamaru won it with Reverse the Sands and alpha strike. I was able to hold out a few turns in top deck mode but I transmuted Drift of Phantasms for the wrong card and was eventually overtaken. I was able to get Freed from the Real on Merieke and cycle thru several of my opponents' creatures before the enchantment was destroyed. Great fun.
In a 2nd game a 5th player joined us running Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite. Isamaru developed early board presence with a few levers and Crusade. Elesh Norn came out and wipe out some of those creatures away. Braids took care of Elesh Norn. Planar Cleansing cleared the board midway through and everyone redeveloped from there. Braids later played Body Double copying Iona, Shield of Emeria and naming white which prompted the concession of both the white players. Later Sedris went down to one life from Ad Nauseam and then attempted to combo off with Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker. I had Unmake for Kiki with his Pestermite on the stack. Soul Manipulation really shined in this game. Recurred it several times with Scrivener.
I'm looking forward to playing it some more on Friday and maybe the weekend. I'll report back with more later.
I can tell you guys first hand this is a great deck, he went toe to toe with 3 non-pauper decks and won one game, and did very well in the other game. What I found most interesting is some of the cards in his deck, I had never seen in any list, yet they were very powerful. IE Soul Manipulation, incredible card!!! It stopped me at least once or twice and the mono blue guy many more times.
Thanks for the suggestions Brunhill. Many of those cards are uncommons and I'm on a strict commons-only diet with the exception of Merieke. I'm enjoying the challenge of constructing a deck that's only made up of commons in a format full of bomb rares. Hopefully it sheds more light on cards that don't normally see a lot of play and lets newer players see that you don't need to spend gobs of money on the game to compete and hold your own.
Of the commons you mentioned many of them were in the initial list I started testing. I have a soft spot for Dismantling Blow and wanted to use it in the deck put I felt Revoke Existence's exile effect was a little more powerful for the format. It can deal with indestructible artifacts where the others cannot. If I need a second, Dismantling Blow is certainly at the top of the list. Rewind is certainly good as well but I felt the other counters were a little better and kept them over Rewind in the end.
Twiddle was a one time effect and not big enough to be considered. Pestermite, another one time effect, was tested but was replaced by Rhystic Study. I looked at Galvanic Alchemist as well but felt Stonybrook Angler was a better stand alone creature. There's something to be said for redundancy but Galvanic Alchemist paired with any other creature in the deck results in an expensive pseudo vigilance which isn't that amazing. That said there are several cards on my list above that are on my watch list in terms of performance. If they don't work out I'll have more slots to play with.
oups, my bad, didnt realise it was common only, this is why i had suggest unco as well!
(maybe you could give a try with Norritt, the guy is incredibly usefull in my own Meriki... and is a common)
and by the way, you put a very interesting list together here!
You may not need it, but Journey to Nowhere is a nice common exile effect.
Also, I've never understood why Strip Mine is considered legal. Is the Antholigies edition (where strip mine's rarity is "special") what makes it considered to be a common? It hasn't actually been printed as a common, but I still see people running it in pauper lists :\.
Thanks for the recommendation. Journey is in my box of extra cards for the deck. Right now O-Ring & Unmake are doing a great job in that respect. Plus the deck has 3 other cards that exile cards in a player's graveyard.
Not 100% sure about the legality of Strip Mine in Pauper but land destruction is something I would like to have access to in case I run up against something that gives me problems. Maze of Ith is the only one I can think off the top of my head that but I'm sure there are many others that might fit that bill.
I actually let each activation of Merieke resolve before untapping her insuring the creature would die to Merieke's triggered ability but that is an interesting question. I'll double check that in the Rules forum and follow up. EDIT: So I did some digging and found a rules thread on this subject from about a year ago. Here's what Bimmerbot said to close out the thread:
Quote from bimmerbot »
The delayed trigger that would destroy the targeted creature when Merieke untaps is not created until the ability resolves. If Merieke untaps while that ability is on the stack, the creature will not be destroyed. Once the control ability resolves, the delayed trigger will look for the trigger event, but not before.
So you can respond to the initial activation by untapping Merieke and targeting another creature as many times as possible gaining control (and keeping) of all the creatures targeted. But if Merieke untaps, dies, or you lose control after all those activations resolve ALL the creatures taken in this manner go away. Very cool. Thanks GlenG for pointing that out.
Tidewater Minion is something I looked at when testing. As with a lot of commons that untap things, I was looking for them to be repeatable (hence no instants) as well as useful even when Merieke wasn't in play. So far Freed from the Real and Stonybrook Angler are the only ones I've found that fit that bill.
I saw part of that game and heard about the soul manipulation tricks. Nasty stuff, and the enlightening look at Merike + Freed combo seems nuts in Pauper.
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I've had an opportunity to play several more games with the deck and I am really liking it a lot. It is very much a deck geared for multi-player EDH games rather than 1-on-1 games. The few 1-on-1 games I have played were a beating. Against non-pauper EDH decks it's a little more challenging to develop your position against a single opponent.
Recent highlights from multi-player games include Overrule versus a lethal Fireball after using Merieke to take control of all his creatures, Shred Memory & Bojuka Bog crushing a reanimator strategy's dreams, and Death Denied refilling my hand with seven creatures to pull ahead versus another UW deck.
Mine Excavation has proven to be a worthwhile addition. At this point the one card I'm looking at replacing when M13 comes out is Twisted Abomination to keep Scrivener in along with Archaeomancer and Mnemonic Wall. Both Scrivener and Mnemonic Wall have been really strong assets for the deck's overall strategy. Twisted Abomination is good at every stage of the game but that slot might be better served with additional spell recursion. Time and testing will tell.
I checked the ruling on Reverse the Sands, in the game we played a few weeks ago, I believe it may have been played incorrectly.
12/1/2004: You can't split up a life total when you redistribute it. For example, suppose that in a two-player game your life total is 5 and your opponent's life total is 15 when Reverse the Sands starts to resolve. You can choose to (a) leave the life totals as they are or (b) make your life total 15 and your opponent's 5. You can't choose to make your life total 20 and your opponent's 0.
Your opponent could not have assigned your life total to 1, he could have only traded life totals. (Am I remembering correctly he set your life totals to 1?)
Berit is a strong pauper commander. Good job on the deck list. A few questions:
1) You seem to favor the "small" draw effects like Brainstorm over for instance Rush of Knowledge (you should have the biggest dude most of the time), yet include Train of Thought etc. Could you elaborate a bit on your draw selection philosophy?
2) You rely on 6 counters to protect Berit? Why no Diplomatic Immunity, Neurok Stealthsuit etc?
3) Do you find that cards such as Sea Gate Oracle and Mnemonic Wall are acceptably costed? I think their effects are overpriced, and the body thrown in is of little use, making it... still overpriced.
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1) I suppose my philosophy is more about finding the right card rather than drawing a whole bunch. I chose cards like Brainstorm, Impulse, and Forbidden Alchemy to help me dig and find the exact card I might need for a given situation. In most cases in response to another player's spell being cast. Forbidden Alchemy additionally develops my graveyard so the recursion spells are relevant sooner potentially. Under ideal situations Brainstorm combines with a shuffle effect that allows me to get rid of two cards I might not need at the time improving my hand for the better. I have been on the fence about cards like Ponder and Preordain. Neither offer anything tremendous at sorcery speed but because of their cost they are a little more versatile than bigger draw spells. Early game if I need to use them to help smooth out my mana they're great. Late game, after I've thinned out my deck a bit more, they help dig for a removal or utility spell I might need. Rush of Knowledge is very powerful but less versatile. It would be a late game card and require that I have something significant in play in order to make it worthwhile (3cc or higher probably).
2) The counter magic is there primarily to prevent big things from effecting my strategy or the game in general. Playing a counter heavy deck in multiplayer is fairly challenging but even more so when its a multicolor pauper deck. In order to fit in more counters I'd have to sacrifice removal slots and I'm very tight on those as well. Giving Merieke shroud would prevent me from using Freed from the Real and Stonybrook Angler to untap her.
3) Granted the creatures aren't much to write home about. It is Pauper after all. But all of them were selected to gain a small incremental advantage when cast. Occasionally they go on the beat down or absorb some damage from opponents. Over the long game they die and are recurred and I gain a little more advantage. Unfortunately in Pauper there aren't many options if you want to recur instants or sorceries so I have to take what I can get within my colors.
//EDIT: Played a few multiplayer games with the deck last night and tested out a few new cards. I added Dismantling Blow and Ashes to Ashes to the deck dropping Preordain and Ponder. While Ponder and Preordain were good at what they did I decided I'd rather have a bit more removal than search or draw. Dismantling Blow is a great compliment to Revoke Existence. There's a good amount of artifacts in my meta so having a second removal spell is a great help. Dismantling Blow's kicker is great for padding my hand late game. Ashes to Ashes is a strong card but I never got to cast it last night.
I will be traveling to GP Atlanta this weekend. Look for the guy in the black hat with the Imperial emblem on it. Say hi and check out some of my tokens in person.
Updated the original post with the new list with a few old and new additions.
With the release of Magic 2013 I added Archaeomancer and Murder swapping out Twisted Abomination and Chill to the Bone respectively. Additionally Urdjur's questions regarding the deck's card drawing philosophy made me reconsider a few late game bombs like Rush of Knowledge and Foresee. Rush is cheaper in most cases than Train of Thought. Foresee isn't going to draw a lot of cards but it will do a great job of digging mid or late game when I'm looking for a silver bullet.
There are still a few more things I would like to squeeze into the deck but at this time I'm not certain what to cut. Additional counter magic (Arcane Denial, Negate, and/or Rewind) as well as recursion (Disturbed Burial & Feldon's Cane) are at the top of the list. Rush of Knowledge has me considering Brainspoil as well but I'd rather not cut an actual creature kill spell for it.
Can't wait to test the new build out tomorrow at the LGS. I'm excited about the changes since M13.
I like your improvements overall. I'm reworking my own Winged Coatl pauper and will probably do a major update soon. It's amazing how these pauper lists can actually hold their own in most regular EDH games. It seems we've taken leaves from each others books - I'm strongly considering the 1 mana draw spells for my deck, since they do smoothe out the curve. They are probably more viable in 2-color than in 3, where the good removal is less plentiful and you'd rather dig for the 2 decent options you have than play a 3rd subpar one.
I'm surprised how useless big dorks are even in pauper. I thought there would be some merit to running Ulamog's Crusher at least. There's not really. Removal still costs 3 and EDH remains a utility creature format.
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Thanks. I played a few games the at the local game store Wednesday and was very happy with the changes. Pauper lists definitely can hang with the other EDH decks out there if they are properly tweaked for the meta you're in.
I haven't been too impressed with any of the bigger vanilla creatures available for Pauper either. Even Crusher doesn't seem to have enough unless you have a consistent way of cheating him into play super early.
Good luck with your Winged Coatl build. Looking forward to seeing the updated list.
Faith's Fetters was a logical upgrade to Temporal Isolation. I had been holding onto the Temporal Isolation because of its ties to Mystical Teachings and the Teachings lists that did well at PT Yokohama back in the day. In most EDH games though you generally will encounter M11 Titans or Eldrazi which Temporal Isolation does not help against. Faith's Fetters additionally gives the deck another way to deal with potential non-creature threats (Planeswalkers & utility lands).
Pilgrim's Eye was fairly underwhelming when drawn mid or late game after I already had my mana base established. Feldon's Cane provides some additional protection against graveyard hate for long games.
I've started testing another batch of changes I'm really excited about. Swapped out Momentary Blink for Ghostly Flicker and dropped Eyeblight's Ending for Stonehorn Dignitary. Ghostly Flicker has a lot of potential with most of the creatures the deck runs. It can also be combined to retain control of a creature taken by Merieke after she untaps.
Not sure how well Stonehorn Dignitary will work out but it seems fun. It's definitely a late game card in most cases. A second white creature also opens up the possibility of using Mine Excavation's conspire ability late game without needing to have control of an opponent's white creature. Minor and possibly a "win-more" situation but I like the possibilities.
Thanks! Let me know how you like it once you have it built.
//EDIT: Had an opportunity to play a very long game, thanks in no small part to a Karn Liberated's ultimate, with the new build earlier tonight and I was very pleased with it.
Ghostly Flicker was very strong with many of the creatures in the deck as expected. Merchant Scroll is even stronger with its inclusion in the deck giving you the opportunity mid or late game to do some really fun things. Especially if you have at least one of the "spell mancers" in play (Archaeomancer, Scrivener, or Mnemonic Wall). Stonehorn Dignitary is better than I had expected. Even mid-game he can be used to buy you a turn to further develop your board position. It doesn't seem like much but sometimes just one more land in play and one more card in your hand makes all the difference.
There were a few times where I was second guessing the decision to drop Eyeblight's Ending over Rend Flesh for these new changes. I will have to see how future games play out as to which one ultimately stays in the deck.
//DOUBLE EDIT: Holy cow! I just stumbled upon Rimewind Taskmage when looking at snow cards for another deck. Seems like a strong upgrade to Stonybrook Angler if I were to switch to Snow-Covered basics. What does everybody think?
I'm not sure Rimewind Taskmage is an upgrade to Stonybrook Angler. Roughly half your mana could be snow. That means hitting on average 8 land drops until you can use Rimewind's ability :/
Have you considered Vedalken Aethermage? It could replace Scrivener while keeping your effective "spell mancer" count the same, but giving you the option to fetch Angler or Trinket Mage too.
Also, Merchant Scroll is pauper legal only by Gatherer's definitions and Strip Mine is pauper legal only by candlekeep/magiccards. So it seems a bit greedy to run both
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I'm not sure Rimewind Taskmage is an upgrade to Stonybrook Angler. Roughly half your mana could be snow. That means hitting on average 8 land drops until you can use Rimewind's ability :/
That's what my own testing has been revealing. It's disappointing but it might still have some potential in a different deck somewhere down the line.
Have you considered Vedalken Aethermage? It could replace Scrivener while keeping your effective "spell mancer" count the same, but giving you the option to fetch Angler or Trinket Mage too.
I considered him but felt I didn't have enough Wizards to justify using him. Aethermage seems a lot better in a deck that's running Izzet Chronarch and Anarchist in addition to the mono-blue spell mancers.
Also, Merchant Scroll is pauper legal only by Gatherer's definitions and Strip Mine is pauper legal only by candlekeep/magiccards. So it seems a bit greedy to run both
True. I built the deck to have something to play versus non-Pauper EDH decks at my LGS and Strip Mine was the one "gimme" in the initial decklist so I would have something against problematic utility lands. If I were playing the deck versus actual Pauper EDH decks (uncommon general & all) I obviously would have to make a few changes.
1 Merieke Ri Berit
//Creatures 12
1 Vedalken Aethermage
1 Dimir Infiltrator
1 Rimewind Taskmage
1 Pilgrim's Eye
1 Trinket Mage
1 Sea Gate Oracle
1 Drift of Phantasms
1 Crypt Rats
1 Archaeomancer
1 Salvager of Secrets
1 Mnemonic Wall
1 Mulldrifter
//Card Draw & Search 12
1 Brainstorm
1 Preordain
1 Ponder
1 Impulse
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Night's Whisper
1 Read the Bones
1 Secrets of the Golden City
1 Compulsive Research
1 Foresee
1 Deep Analysis
1 Mystical Teachings
//Bounce, Removal, Utility 17
1 Executioner's Capsule
1 Diabolic Edict
1 Victim of Night
1 Eyeblight's Ending
1 Murder
1 Unmake
1 Ashes to Ashes
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Shred Memory
1 Revoke Existence
1 Forsake the Worldly
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Echoing Truth
1 Capsize
1 Freed from the Real
1 Ghostly Flicker
1 Dawn Charm
1 Mine Excavation
1 Remember the Fallen
1 Grim Discovery
1 Reaping the Graves
//Countermagic 8
1 Overrule
1 Arcane Denial
1 Counterspell
1 Muddle the Mixture
1 Faerie Trickery
1 Soul Manipulation
1 Perplex
1 Traumatic Visions
//Mana Fixing 8
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Expedition Map
1 Armillary Sphere
1 Prismatic Lens
1 Dimir Signet
1 Orzhov Signet
1 Azorius Signet
1 Darksteel Ingot
//Land 38
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Esper Panorama
1 Grixis Panorama
1 Ash Barrens
1 Command Tower
1 Path of Ancestry
1 Rupture Spire
1 Transguild Promenade
1 Dimir Aqueduct
1 Dimir Guildgate
1 Dismal Backwater
1 Submerged Boneyard
1 Azorius Guildgate
1 Tranquil Cove
1 Halimar Depths
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Strip Mine
1 Darksteel Citadel
1 Snow-Covered Plains
5 Snow-Covered Swamp
13 Snow-Covered Island
Preferred Environment: Multiplayer
Casual/Competitive: Yes?
Average CMC: 2.59
Deck MVP: Ghostly Flicker
Strengths: Utility, Resiliency, Inevitability, Affordability
Weaknesses: Mana Denial, Graveyard Hate, Fast Metagames
Here's a link to the deck (sans its commander) c/o DeckStats.net for those that would like to gold fish a few hands. Merieke v35
In the spirit of d0su's Pauper Dreamcrusher, I've been working on an Esper Pauper build for the local EDH group using only commons to see how it fares against regular EDH decks. It is a traditional toolbox control deck that really excels in the late game once it has its mana base set up. Its end game is centered around using Ghostly Flicker and the blue spellmancers (Archaeomancer, Scrivener, and Mnemonic Wall) as well as other ETB creatures to generate a ton of value casting it over & over.
A few notes on individual cards:
Rimewind Taskmage is a little slow but combos with Merieke and can act as a Gideon's Lawkeeper the rest of time. Freed from the Real has similar uses in the deck. As with a lot of commons that untap things, I was looking for them to be repeatable (hence no instants or sorceries) as well as useful even when I didn't have Merieke out. So far Freed from the Real and Rimewind Taskmage are the only ones I've found that fit that bill. In combination with Merieke they have a lot of potential. In regard to Merieke's untap trigger, I did some digging and found a rules thread on this subject from about a year ago. Here's what Bimmerbot said to close out the thread:
So you can respond to the initial activation by untapping Merieke and targeting another creature as many times as possible gaining control (and keeping) of all the creatures targeted. But if Merieke untaps, dies, or you lose control after all those activations resolve ALL the creatures taken in this manner go away. Very cool. Thanks GlenG for pointing that out. Here's a more recent post regarding Merieke's ability from the Judge's Blog.
Comments certainly welcomed.
Why aren't you playing more cards that can untap Merieke?
As with a lot of commons that untap things, I was looking for them to be repeatable (hence no instants) as well as useful even when Merieke wasn't in play. So far Freed from the Real, and Rimewind Taskmage are the only ones I've found that fit that bill. Stonybrook Angler is a good substitute for Taskmage if you are not running Snow-Covered lands. Ghostly Flicker on the opponent's end step going into your turn can serve as another means to 'untap' Merieke.
Have you tried Dispeller's Capsule?
I've always shied away from Dispeller's Capsule because it required having double white up if you wanted to cast & activate on the same turn which can be fairly challenging early.
Aren't Merchant Scroll and Strip Mine uncommon?
Merchant Scroll from Homelands is common according to the Gatherer which is what I and most of the other Pauper players here in the Variants subforum defer to for commonality issues. Strip Mine is uncommon according to the Gatherer. It was the one "gimme" I gave myself when I initially built the deck so that I would have an answer to problematic utility lands. If you insist on playing without it swapping it for an additional basic land should suffice.
Is Feldon's Cane necessary?
Because this deck can't win quickly on its own Feldon's Cane is there to protect from graveyard hate in longer games. Having to rebuild after using it is challenging but can be done. By that point in the game you should have a boat load of land out so what's left of your library will be mostly business. Losing a few cards to early graveyard hate is okay as the deck has some redundancy built in but late game it can be much more painful. Additionally I have found it to be helpful in recovering from heavy discard or mass land destruction strategies.
* - While Feldon's Cane has been cut from the latest build it still may have a role to play in the deck. It's certainly a card you should keep on hand if needed for your meta.
Feldon's Cane -> Elixir of Immortality
Unmake & Eyeblight's Ending -> Swords to Plowshares & Path to Exile
Victim of Night -> Go for the Throat
Murder -> Hero's Downfall
Oblivion Ring -> Detention Sphere
Crypt Rats -> Supreme Verdict
Compulsive Research -> Thirst for Knowledge
Foresee -> Fact or Fiction
Patrician's Scorn -> Austere Command
Faerie Trickery -> Dissipate
Freed from the Real -> Pemmin's Aura
Prismatic Lens -> Sol Ring
Mana base:
Upgrading the ETB tapped lands with similar versions that don't enter tapped seems pretty obvious.
Arcane Sanctum & Dromar's Cavern are inexpensive upgrades to Rupture Spire & Transguild Promenade.
The Guildgates can be swapped out for their respective Ravnica Shocklands & the Tarkir Gainlands for the M10/Innistrad Checklands. Boreal Shelf & Frost Marsh add to your snow permanents if you want to keep Rimewind Taskmage in the deck. Temple of the False God and utility lands like Minamo, School at Water's Edge, Volrath's Stronghold, and Academy Ruins are also strong considerations.
2018-0707 - http://deck.tk/3BnE1ndn
- Scrivener
+ Salvager of Secrets
2018-0113 - https://deckstats.net/deck-14964617-211679922340dd979eea291518c55056.html
- Divination
+ Secrets of the Golden City
2017-0902 - http://deck.tk/22xQ5Oig
- Feldon's Cane
- Fate Forgotten
- Patrician's Scorn
- Snow-Covered Plains
- Scoured Barrens
- Orzhov Guildgate
+ Night's Whisper
+ Divination
+ Forsake the Worldly
+ Path of Ancestry
+ Submerged Boneyard
+ Ash Barrens
2016-0222 - http://deck.tk/6lPw6yJb
- Mind Stone
- Dimir House Guard
+ Prismatic Lens
+ Snow-Covered Island (#13)
2015-1203 - http://deck.tk/2Zaz6gaZ
- Twisted Abomination
- Faith's Fetters
+ Grixis Panorama
+ Mind Stone
2015-0725 - http://deck.tk/6nSx3mzQ
- Grim Harvest
- Mind Stone
- Seat of the Synod
- Vault of Whispers
- Ancient Den
+ Orzhov Signet
+ Azorius Signet
+ Darksteel Citadel
+ Snow-Covered Island
+ Snow-Covered Plains
2015-0526 - http://deck.tk/2hWR7wmO
- Dismantling Blow
- Snow-Covered Plains
+ Fate Forgotten
+ Snow-Covered Island
2015-0115 - http://deck.tk/2jJj8XtA
- Doom Blade
- Cadaver Imp
- Rush of Knowledge
- Snow-Covered Island
+ Victim of Night
+ Mind Stone
+ Dimir Signet
+ Dimir Aqueduct
2014-0928 - http://deck.tk/3SF72Czq
- Death Denied
- Snow-Covered Island x2
- Snow-Covered Swamp
+ Reaping the Graves
+ Dismal Backwater
+ Tranquil Cove
+ Scoured Barrens
2014-0718 - http://deck.tk/1nFL3bJ5
- Forbidden Alchemy
+ Read the Bones
2014-0514 - http://deck.tk/136v4aVT
- Gravedigger
- Sanctum Gargoyle
+ Overrule
+ Snow-Covered Island
2014-0423 - http://deck.tk/0c9P7Sff
- Snow-Covered Island
+ Patrician's Scorn
2014-0405 - http://deck.tk/253L0xXj
- AEther Spellbomb
- Rend Flesh
+ Snow-Covered Island
+ Doom Blade
2014-0322 - http://deck.tk/3XOU3xEm
- Courier's Capsule
- Snow-Covered Island
+ Ponder
+ Preordain
2014-0111 - http://deck.tk/9XtF22G2- Sanctum Gargoyle
- Courier's Capsule
- AEther Spellbomb
- Executioner's Capsule
- Death Denied
- Rend Flesh
+ Preordain
+ Ponder
+ Read the Bones
+ Doom Blade
+ Dust to Dust
+ Patrician's Scorn
2013-0824 - http://deck.tk/1jbS4RjL
- Rhystic Study
+ Pilgrim's Eye
2013-0805 - http://deck.tk/4bkr0cHK
- Dimir Aqueduct
- Azorius Chancery
- Orzhov Basilica
+ Snow-Covered Island
+ Grim Discovery
+ Dawn Charm
2013-0701 - http://deck.tk/5dBu90du
-2 Snow-Covered Island
-1 Snow-Covered Swamp
+ Azorius Chancery
+ Dimir Aqueduct
+ Orzhov Basilica
2013-05-23 - http://deck.tk/1hp42UNV
- Grim Discovery
+ Remember the Fallen
2013-05-10 - http://deck.tk/9TLK3q7X
- Divination
+ Grim Discovery
2013-04-01 - http://deck.tk/6l6X27q0
- Echoing Decay
+ Echoing Truth
2013-02-18 - http://deck.tk/6Mdj6CeJ
- Prophetic Prism
- Doom Blade
- Stonybrook Angler
- Stoic Rebuttal
- Basic Lands
+ Twisted Abomintation
+ Eyeblight's Ending
+ Rimewind Taskmage
+ Traumatic Visions
+ Snow-Covered Basic Lands
2013-01-28 - http://deck.tk/60cc3gY0
+ Dimir Guildgate
+ Orzhov Guildgate
+ Island
- Dimir Aqueduct
- Orzhov Basilica
- Swamp
2012-11-01 - http://deck.tk/6BwR87H9
+ Vedalken AEthermage
+ Echoing Decay
+ Divination
+ Compulsive Research
+ Stoic Rebuttal
+ Island
- Dimir Signet
- Orzhov Signet
- Azorius Signet
- Darksteel Pendant
- Overrule
- Kabira Crossroads
2012-09-29 - http://deck.tk/2Flb77JX
+ Azorius Guildgate
+ Transguild Promenade
- Azorius Chancery
- Shimmering Grotto
2012-08-22 - http://deck.tk/3Ay78m2a
+ Arcane Denial
- Stonehorn Dignitary
2012-08-04 - http://deck.tk/2qPh1K3V
+ Stornhorn Dignitary
+ Ghostly Flicker
- Momentary Blink
- Eyeblight's Ending
2012-07-26 - http://deck.tk/6Mxv0i3I
+ Feldon's Cane
+ Faith's Fetters
- Pilgrim's Eye
- Temporal Isolation
2012-07-10 - http://deck.tk/6gTv0Q0C
+ Rush of Knowledge
+ Foresee
- Train of Thought
- Consult the Necrosages
2012-07-07
+ Archaeomancer
+ Murder
- Chill to the Bone
- Twisted Abomination
2012-06-27 - http://deck.tk/84Jm2aJ4
- Ponder
- Preordain
+ Ashes to Ashes
+ Dismantling Blow
Initial build: http://deck.tk/2bpl813i
In a 2nd game a 5th player joined us running Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite. Isamaru developed early board presence with a few levers and Crusade. Elesh Norn came out and wipe out some of those creatures away. Braids took care of Elesh Norn. Planar Cleansing cleared the board midway through and everyone redeveloped from there. Braids later played Body Double copying Iona, Shield of Emeria and naming white which prompted the concession of both the white players. Later Sedris went down to one life from Ad Nauseam and then attempted to combo off with Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker. I had Unmake for Kiki with his Pestermite on the stack. Soul Manipulation really shined in this game. Recurred it several times with Scrivener.
I'm looking forward to playing it some more on Friday and maybe the weekend. I'll report back with more later.
..
Azusa - Derevi - Glissa - Mizzix - Sharuum - Wanderer - Wort
Hakim, Loreweaver
Autumn Willow
Yomiji, Who Bars the Way
Hanna, Ship's Navigator
Chromium
Skyfire Kirin
Of the commons you mentioned many of them were in the initial list I started testing. I have a soft spot for Dismantling Blow and wanted to use it in the deck put I felt Revoke Existence's exile effect was a little more powerful for the format. It can deal with indestructible artifacts where the others cannot. If I need a second, Dismantling Blow is certainly at the top of the list. Rewind is certainly good as well but I felt the other counters were a little better and kept them over Rewind in the end.
Twiddle was a one time effect and not big enough to be considered. Pestermite, another one time effect, was tested but was replaced by Rhystic Study. I looked at Galvanic Alchemist as well but felt Stonybrook Angler was a better stand alone creature. There's something to be said for redundancy but Galvanic Alchemist paired with any other creature in the deck results in an expensive pseudo vigilance which isn't that amazing. That said there are several cards on my list above that are on my watch list in terms of performance. If they don't work out I'll have more slots to play with.
(maybe you could give a try with Norritt, the guy is incredibly usefull in my own Meriki... and is a common)
and by the way, you put a very interesting list together here!
Hakim, Loreweaver
Autumn Willow
Yomiji, Who Bars the Way
Hanna, Ship's Navigator
Chromium
Skyfire Kirin
You may not need it, but Journey to Nowhere is a nice common exile effect.
Also, I've never understood why Strip Mine is considered legal. Is the Antholigies edition (where strip mine's rarity is "special") what makes it considered to be a common? It hasn't actually been printed as a common, but I still see people running it in pauper lists :\.
Not 100% sure about the legality of Strip Mine in Pauper but land destruction is something I would like to have access to in case I run up against something that gives me problems. Maze of Ith is the only one I can think off the top of my head that but I'm sure there are many others that might fit that bill.
Did you steal all of them at once by responding to each uptap by tapping her again before gaining control of the creatures?
Suggestion: Tidewater Minion, Cerulean Wisps
So you can respond to the initial activation by untapping Merieke and targeting another creature as many times as possible gaining control (and keeping) of all the creatures targeted. But if Merieke untaps, dies, or you lose control after all those activations resolve ALL the creatures taken in this manner go away. Very cool. Thanks GlenG for pointing that out.
Tidewater Minion is something I looked at when testing. As with a lot of commons that untap things, I was looking for them to be repeatable (hence no instants) as well as useful even when Merieke wasn't in play. So far Freed from the Real and Stonybrook Angler are the only ones I've found that fit that bill.
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EDH:
GW: Selvala, Let us help YOU.
UB: Mirko Vosk, when outmatched cheat
BW: Vish Kal, The Arbiter of Reanimation
UG: Prime Speaker Zegana, the science of sorcery
RB: Malfegor, Traitor's Haven
UW: Daxos, Control-Fort-Tron
BG: Pharika, Goddess of Stax
RW: Gisela, Boros Control
RG: Ruric Thar, a Primal Surge deck
RU: Niv-Mizzet the Firemind, Spellslinger?!?!
B:(Pauper) Mikaeus the Unhallowed
R: Kurkesh, Onakke Ancient: The Power of Engineering
Recent highlights from multi-player games include Overrule versus a lethal Fireball after using Merieke to take control of all his creatures, Shred Memory & Bojuka Bog crushing a reanimator strategy's dreams, and Death Denied refilling my hand with seven creatures to pull ahead versus another UW deck.
Mine Excavation has proven to be a worthwhile addition. At this point the one card I'm looking at replacing when M13 comes out is Twisted Abomination to keep Scrivener in along with Archaeomancer and Mnemonic Wall. Both Scrivener and Mnemonic Wall have been really strong assets for the deck's overall strategy. Twisted Abomination is good at every stage of the game but that slot might be better served with additional spell recursion. Time and testing will tell.
Your opponent could not have assigned your life total to 1, he could have only traded life totals. (Am I remembering correctly he set your life totals to 1?)
..
Azusa - Derevi - Glissa - Mizzix - Sharuum - Wanderer - Wort
And knowing is some part of the battle. I forget how much.
1) You seem to favor the "small" draw effects like Brainstorm over for instance Rush of Knowledge (you should have the biggest dude most of the time), yet include Train of Thought etc. Could you elaborate a bit on your draw selection philosophy?
2) You rely on 6 counters to protect Berit? Why no Diplomatic Immunity, Neurok Stealthsuit etc?
3) Do you find that cards such as Sea Gate Oracle and Mnemonic Wall are acceptably costed? I think their effects are overpriced, and the body thrown in is of little use, making it... still overpriced.
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"At least for those who can play cards, their present incarnation is not quite wasted."
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1) I suppose my philosophy is more about finding the right card rather than drawing a whole bunch. I chose cards like Brainstorm, Impulse, and Forbidden Alchemy to help me dig and find the exact card I might need for a given situation. In most cases in response to another player's spell being cast. Forbidden Alchemy additionally develops my graveyard so the recursion spells are relevant sooner potentially. Under ideal situations Brainstorm combines with a shuffle effect that allows me to get rid of two cards I might not need at the time improving my hand for the better. I have been on the fence about cards like Ponder and Preordain. Neither offer anything tremendous at sorcery speed but because of their cost they are a little more versatile than bigger draw spells. Early game if I need to use them to help smooth out my mana they're great. Late game, after I've thinned out my deck a bit more, they help dig for a removal or utility spell I might need. Rush of Knowledge is very powerful but less versatile. It would be a late game card and require that I have something significant in play in order to make it worthwhile (3cc or higher probably).
2) The counter magic is there primarily to prevent big things from effecting my strategy or the game in general. Playing a counter heavy deck in multiplayer is fairly challenging but even more so when its a multicolor pauper deck. In order to fit in more counters I'd have to sacrifice removal slots and I'm very tight on those as well. Giving Merieke shroud would prevent me from using Freed from the Real and Stonybrook Angler to untap her.
3) Granted the creatures aren't much to write home about. It is Pauper after all. But all of them were selected to gain a small incremental advantage when cast. Occasionally they go on the beat down or absorb some damage from opponents. Over the long game they die and are recurred and I gain a little more advantage. Unfortunately in Pauper there aren't many options if you want to recur instants or sorceries so I have to take what I can get within my colors.
//EDIT: Played a few multiplayer games with the deck last night and tested out a few new cards. I added Dismantling Blow and Ashes to Ashes to the deck dropping Preordain and Ponder. While Ponder and Preordain were good at what they did I decided I'd rather have a bit more removal than search or draw. Dismantling Blow is a great compliment to Revoke Existence. There's a good amount of artifacts in my meta so having a second removal spell is a great help. Dismantling Blow's kicker is great for padding my hand late game. Ashes to Ashes is a strong card but I never got to cast it last night.
I will be traveling to GP Atlanta this weekend. Look for the guy in the black hat with the Imperial emblem on it. Say hi and check out some of my tokens in person.
With the release of Magic 2013 I added Archaeomancer and Murder swapping out Twisted Abomination and Chill to the Bone respectively. Additionally Urdjur's questions regarding the deck's card drawing philosophy made me reconsider a few late game bombs like Rush of Knowledge and Foresee. Rush is cheaper in most cases than Train of Thought. Foresee isn't going to draw a lot of cards but it will do a great job of digging mid or late game when I'm looking for a silver bullet.
There are still a few more things I would like to squeeze into the deck but at this time I'm not certain what to cut. Additional counter magic (Arcane Denial, Negate, and/or Rewind) as well as recursion (Disturbed Burial & Feldon's Cane) are at the top of the list. Rush of Knowledge has me considering Brainspoil as well but I'd rather not cut an actual creature kill spell for it.
Can't wait to test the new build out tomorrow at the LGS. I'm excited about the changes since M13.
I'm surprised how useless big dorks are even in pauper. I thought there would be some merit to running Ulamog's Crusher at least. There's not really. Removal still costs 3 and EDH remains a utility creature format.
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"At least for those who can play cards, their present incarnation is not quite wasted."
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I haven't been too impressed with any of the bigger vanilla creatures available for Pauper either. Even Crusher doesn't seem to have enough unless you have a consistent way of cheating him into play super early.
Good luck with your Winged Coatl build. Looking forward to seeing the updated list.
Faith's Fetters was a logical upgrade to Temporal Isolation. I had been holding onto the Temporal Isolation because of its ties to Mystical Teachings and the Teachings lists that did well at PT Yokohama back in the day. In most EDH games though you generally will encounter M11 Titans or Eldrazi which Temporal Isolation does not help against. Faith's Fetters additionally gives the deck another way to deal with potential non-creature threats (Planeswalkers & utility lands).
Pilgrim's Eye was fairly underwhelming when drawn mid or late game after I already had my mana base established. Feldon's Cane provides some additional protection against graveyard hate for long games.
Not sure how well Stonehorn Dignitary will work out but it seems fun. It's definitely a late game card in most cases. A second white creature also opens up the possibility of using Mine Excavation's conspire ability late game without needing to have control of an opponent's white creature. Minor and possibly a "win-more" situation but I like the possibilities.
//EDIT: Had an opportunity to play a very long game, thanks in no small part to a Karn Liberated's ultimate, with the new build earlier tonight and I was very pleased with it.
Ghostly Flicker was very strong with many of the creatures in the deck as expected. Merchant Scroll is even stronger with its inclusion in the deck giving you the opportunity mid or late game to do some really fun things. Especially if you have at least one of the "spell mancers" in play (Archaeomancer, Scrivener, or Mnemonic Wall). Stonehorn Dignitary is better than I had expected. Even mid-game he can be used to buy you a turn to further develop your board position. It doesn't seem like much but sometimes just one more land in play and one more card in your hand makes all the difference.
There were a few times where I was second guessing the decision to drop Eyeblight's Ending over Rend Flesh for these new changes. I will have to see how future games play out as to which one ultimately stays in the deck.
//DOUBLE EDIT: Holy cow! I just stumbled upon Rimewind Taskmage when looking at snow cards for another deck. Seems like a strong upgrade to
Stonybrook Angler if I were to switch to Snow-Covered basics. What does everybody think?
Have you considered Vedalken Aethermage? It could replace Scrivener while keeping your effective "spell mancer" count the same, but giving you the option to fetch Angler or Trinket Mage too.
Also, Merchant Scroll is pauper legal only by Gatherer's definitions and Strip Mine is pauper legal only by candlekeep/magiccards. So it seems a bit greedy to run both
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That's what my own testing has been revealing. It's disappointing but it might still have some potential in a different deck somewhere down the line.
I considered him but felt I didn't have enough Wizards to justify using him. Aethermage seems a lot better in a deck that's running Izzet Chronarch and Anarchist in addition to the mono-blue spell mancers.
True. I built the deck to have something to play versus non-Pauper EDH decks at my LGS and Strip Mine was the one "gimme" in the initial decklist so I would have something against problematic utility lands. If I were playing the deck versus actual Pauper EDH decks (uncommon general & all) I obviously would have to make a few changes.