With the advent of Land Tax being legal in Legacy, I want to port my favorite casual deck into Legacy.
For those who aren't aware what Parfait is, it is a mono-white control deck that used Scroll Rack and Land Tax as a means to draw and filter your hand. With the help of Enlightened Tutor to find it's pieces, supporting cards and other control elements, achieving a lock isn't hard to achieve.
I think the best way to abuse Land Tax (along with Scroll Rack) is with Armageddon.
You resolve Armageddon, your opponent drops a land on his/her turn, on your turn, Land Tax triggers.
Sol land and Mox Diamond helps you get to the higher casting cost spells (such as Armageddon). The best Sol land you can use is Crystal Vein since it has that self sacrifice that you can control.
The rest of the deck can be built around cheap/free spells. Miracle cards are awesome here (and they work well with Scroll Rack).
Any comments and suggestions are welcome
PARFAIT by (nameless one) & WeaponX
Parfait - par·fait (pär-f)
n.
1. A dessert made of cream, eggs, sugar, and flavoring frozen together and served in a tall glass.
2. A dessert made of several layers of different flavors of ice cream or ices, variously garnished and served in a tall glass.
Introduction
Parfait is a white-based control deck that utilizes Land Tax to gain card advantage in junction with Scroll Rack to turn that advantage into quality. Scroll Rack also benefits from Land Tax's shuffle effect to shuffle away unneeded cards that are "scrolled" back to the library.
Intro – Why Play Parfait?
Nothing beats rock. Perhaps that is a phrase you have heard before. I know I have and not just on account of watching the Simpsons. But you know what, Bart was on to something even if Lisa did take advantage of him. Parfait is essentially mono white rock. While there are many a build option that can stem from what is the parfait engine the meat and potatoes of the deck is control. So why play parfait?
The simplest reason to play parfait is in the numbers. Why worry about a meta game when you can come in with a deck that will give you a 50% opportunity against any given deck. That is something not many decks can attest to.
A second reason to play the deck is inevitability. Traditionally parfait loves the long game. The longer the game goes the more advantage the deck generates and as a result the more likely a win will be inevitable.
The third reason may be slightly controversial, but white is one of the, if not the strongest colours in the game. I hear you blue players saying no to that already. To you card draw wins games. And I agree. The parfait engine gives white access to the only thing it doesn’t do, draw cards. That means the deck can now draw the best removal, permanents, etc, in the game that traditionally white is unable to do.
And for brevity let us stop at a fourth reason to tie that last two reasons together: the hate cards. As a white player we have access to enlightened tutor which allows us to find silver bullets that traditionally are either enchantments or artifacts. This translates into an ability to play main deck hate against the field further bolstering an ability to win. Because of our draw engine “bad cards” in the main are readily turned into good cards thus negating the only downside to running a specific hate card in the main.
And a final reason, or rather the golden rule:It is easier to win when your opponent is running a deck with numerous dead cards.
Ok, so now by this point we know we want to run this extremely powerful deck. We want our games to be 50/50 at worst. We like the idea that we can main deck hate, essentially meta game for a field in the main deck. We love that we can play some of the strongest spells in the format. The cherry on top is we get card draw in white.[quote]
Extended Context
The first known successful iteration of a Tax/Rack deck was piloted by Randy Buehler in the form of White Weenie with the said draw engine:
The low mana curve of White Weenie was perfect with Land Tax as the deck can run with minimal lands on the field. With low land count, Land Tax can be kept active while the opponent keeps playing land so it can cast answers to the Weenie threat. The deck soon became an Extended powerhouse.
Classic Control
Following Tax/Rack Success in Extended, few players tried porting the deck to Type 1. The lists turned from aggro to aggro-control to control. The first known iteration of a control-based Tax/Rack was published by Darren di Batista, featuring a list created by Raphael Caron and Parfait as we know it was born:
Instead of the aggro-base with a draw engine, Parfait used the Tax/Rack engine to efficiently find answer spells or silver bullets that were effective against the meta of its time. The name Parfait came from the word French word parfait which means perfect.
The Perfect Mix
The original Parfait decks had components that can deal with early, mid and late game.
For the early game, it had answers in the form of cheap and efficient removal and life gain. The removal is self-explanatory. The life gain is there so that the deck can stabilize for the mid and late games.
As the deck stabilize, the mid game of the deck revolves around finding silver bullets against opposing decks either by using the Tax/Rack engine or using Enlightened Tutor. Once the opponent has been effectively controlled, the deck can set up for the late game into a win.
The deck utilizes a comboesque win, using Planar Birth to recur discarded Plains (discarded through the clean up step with extra cards in hand) to power up Sacred Mesa. Parfait was one of the first control decks to have a "I win" button.
Caught in the Split
Back in its time, Tax/Rack was considered one of the best card advantage engine (it didn't just drew cards, it also had a built in card selection). It was considered so powerful that when the Type 1- Type 1.5 split happened (birth of the Legacy format), the combo had to be neutered in the "powerless" format. With this reasoning, Land Tax was banned in Legacy for almost a decade.
Eventually, the power level of the format increased and more two card combos started showing up. This created discussions and arguments on the validity of Land Tax in the format. The DCI finally showed leniency on the card and on June 20, 2012; Land Tax finally became Legacy legal. Now the quest to find the right deck for Land Tax begins.
A lot of players tried adding Land Tax to existing lists such as U/W Miracle Decks. In the end, it did not work out since the requirements to 'break' Land Tax cannot simply be met in a mana hungry deck. To make things worse, the format has become more efficient on spending its mana. With decks that can run and win on 0-2 lands. To make Land Tax work in the format, the list has to be built around the card. Here is where Parfait comes in.
In with the Old
In order to port the old Parfait lists to the current Legacy meta, we have to compare the before and now. Here are the notable changes from the old to the current:
Aggro creatures becoming more efficient in terms of effect/power vs. mana cost.
The prevalence of utility creatures.
The dependence (and abuse) of graveyards.
The birth of Storm.
The advent of Planeswalkers.
Multitude of two-card, game ending combos (both win and lock)
Cheap and efficient removal
With the knowledge above and the principles of Parfait, it can then be determined on how to shape a new Parfait list.
Parfait Revival
Parfait is a [control] deck that revolves around an engine. In order for it to work, it has to be built around the engine. But in order for it to be successful, it has to work without the engine.
These cards are the reason why Parfait is Parfait.
Like any engine decks, Parfait needs to be built around to break symmetry and to make it efficient. The old lists achieved this by utilizing the following:
Run cheap game changing spells (usually in the form of removal).
Use means to reduce land count to fewer than your opponent.
Use mana resistors to force your opponent to play more lands than you (and to slow them).
Use cheap artifact mana sources.
In order for the archetype to be successful, it also needs to work without having Tax/Rack active. This was achieved by using Enlightened Tutor (not only to find Tax/Rack pieces but also to find hate pieces). Cards that have X-for-one effects were also used to maximize each use of the cards (such as Wrath of God). Scroll Rack can also be used to fix consistency
Primer
The old Parfait lists followed a certain shell:
Draw Engine (Tax/Rack & Back up) [7-9]: This is where Land Tax and Scroll Rack go in. Back in its Type 1 days, Jayemdae Tome and Library of Alexandria would be used as back up. But with the current card selection Legacy has right now, there are better option that are also legal in the format; Sensei's Divining Top comes to mind.
Swords to Plowshares[4]: This has been a staple removal in Classic formats, although Path to Exile could be an alternative depending on how the list is tackled.
Silver Bullets[8-10]: They are cards/permanents that nullify different strategies, whether it be against creatures (Humility/Moat), graveyard strategies (Rest in Peace), spell-based (Trinisphere) among other things
Tutor/Utility[8-10]: Tutor refers to Enlightened Tutor (although they used to be restricted in Type 1.). Utility refers to non-permanent spells (the ones you cannot tutor for) that help and support either the Tax/Rack engine or compliments to the silver bullets.
Win Condition[3-5]: Every deck needs to win a legitimate way. These only have a few slots due to the comboesque win conditions used by Parfait.
Mana Artifacts[5-8]: They reduce the dependence to lands as a means of mana source. This means that Land Tax can be kept active.
Lands[18-20] (Plains [10-15]): They are still an essential mana source but they can also be used for utility.
The problem with the count between mana artifact and lands is that the Alpha Moxen are banned in the format. Finding the right proportion between the two is currently open for discussion.
There are many ways to build parfait, aggro and control being the main ones, but I am focusing on control as it has the most inherit synergy with the parfait engine and how the deck generally wants to play the game. Remember how I mentioned that it is easier to win when your opponent has numerous dead cards in their deck? Now you will see that theory in action.
Here are a couple of sample lists that can be used as guidelines for building the decks. Most of these are theoretical lists before Land Tax was actually Legacy legal:
Land Tax/Scroll Rack
This is the heart of the parfait engine. Both enable for card quality in their own way. Together however they provide an obscene card advantage engine that would make a blue player drool. Tax also has the benefit of finding lands when needed. This becomes one of the strong points of the deck. While the engine is powerful, it doesn’t have to be the focus; The is game will determine that.
Wrath of God
A staple for years. Board cluttered full of guys trying to pick a fight? Direct them to the man upstairs and see what his complaint department has to say about the matter. Some times you just need to kill some guys and wrath does it quite efficiently. Not much more to be said about it.
Orim’s Chant
One of the reasons you can have 50/50 matchups all day. Well placed chants can stop combo in their tracks. Looks like your are trying for some big play, chant you. Sure hope for your sake it was an instant speed big play. Against control matchups it lets you force spells through. This allows you to stick important spells/permanents when you need to. To top off the trifecta it is an answer for swarm strategies and some scary emrakuls in that you can stave off an attack for a turn which often times can be enough.
Oblivion Ring
Swiss army knife in the main deck? Yes Please. It is a tutorable answer to many cards in the format and with the advent of show and tell decks, is a solid play against the unknown being able to hit emrakul, griselbrand, and omniscience to name a few. Bottom line, if there is a problem, O ring is a solution.
Path to Exile
One could call this a metagame choice, but in practice it is simply the best spot removal spell this deck can hope for. It tends to put opponents in awkward positions and takes advantage of many players choosing to play with greedy mana bases and limited or no basics.
Enlightened Tutor
Why yes we would love to find and play one card in our deck that simply wins the game for us. This card finds what you need. It also allows us to play a single copy of some cards that can single handedly negate entire strategies.
Solitary Confinement
Simply put, some decks can never deal with this card. Red decks are a prime example. With this in play you can only lose to non targeting loss of life or a card that says “win the game”. Simply put, things come up Milhouse.
Ghostly Prison
The horde getting you down? Stick them in lock up so only a few with parole can venture out. Creature decks then win by attacking tend to win because of the numbers game and the benefits attached to that. Taxing a player helps force them into the long game parfait wants to play. Taxing leads to more lands in play and as a result you can land tax/scroll rack more.
Zuran Orb
This one seems obvious. It lets us keep using land tax. It makes the game go longer because of the life gain. It’s an artifact we can tutor for. Auto include.
Ivory Tower
Zuran Orbs friend. Tower on the stack, resolve land tax, gain 6+ life… It is just hard for some aggressive strategies to compete with that kind of life swing and your investment is only 1 mana.
Humility
This is the great equalizer. If every creature in play is a 1/1 with no abilities it makes all those incremental life gains worth so much more. You attack me with a 1/1 Emrakul, I suppose I will choose to sacrifice a land to gain 2, negate this and the next attack, and allow myself to tax/rack again. Swarm strategies are also much less exciting when all creatures are 1/1’s and the bulk of the deck is geared towards creature hate.
Blood Moon
Prey on the meta. Negate as many cards as possible. Blood Moon fits right on in here. Your 3 colour opponent may suddenly have a hard time beating you when he only has access to red mana. This holds true even with 2 and 1 colour mana bases that decided they wanted to be greedy. Limit the cards your opponent can play and you limit their chance to win.
Trinisphere
Looks odd on the surface as it can hurt us. But we want to play it because it hurts the opponent more. To top it off, it also forces tempo decks and others to play lands so that we can keep taxing and generate more advantage. The plus for us is that we have some mana rocks that, if on this plan, can be played first keeping us in the drivers seat while keeping or engine on line.
Pithing Needle
Since the control version being discussed does not present a clock pithing needle gives an answer to planeswalkers. Along side o rings we now have a few ways to deal with a card type that is potentially the most detrimental to us.
Mox Diamond/ Mox Opal
Speaking of mana rocks… Mox Diamond seems the more obvious one. It plays very nicely with land tax after all. Mox Opal is the more interesting choice. The reasoning being that late game Mox Diamond is an awful top deck. Mox Opal is a way to try to mitigate some of the late game. It is mana in this deck without the card disadvantage. While the deck plays off of that disadvantage, late game those lands are better suited for use with Scroll Rack.
Rest in Peace/Helm of Obedience
Meat and potatoes time. This is the main win condition of the deck. RiP is strong enough on its own so why not turn a main deckable card into a win con. Helm of Obedience is also quite strong in this deck on its own. The best way I can even highlight that is by saying reanimator plays Iona naming white, and I have beat that play with helm being a potential mill win con or a creature win con.
Goblin Charbelcher
This is a familiar parfait win condition as the deck does tend to pull all of its land out of its deck. In the build presented it has added strength in that when you have that ten card library, it can still threaten leathal damage because of the plateaus. It also gives a colourless answer to cards like Iona that can otherwise present a problem.
Plains/Plateau
Mana so you can play the deck. Plateaus for Charbelcher and Blood Moon and potential sideboard cards. Everyone plays wasteland, well we don’t care. Blanking cards in decks just adds to our power.
Swords to Plowshares
This is the card usually chosen for removal. Here it has to be relegated to a maybe. Life generally doesn’t matter, especially when RIP/Helm is the main win condition. However we live in a field of Dark Confidants, Sylvan Library, Ad Nauseum, etc that use life as a resource. Why help out their game plan? Parfait isn’t putting a clock on so that added life gain can potentially be your downfall. I would say this is better suited to an aggressive build then the control build I have presented.
Elspeth, Knight-Errant
This is probably the better win condition to have main if not on the belcher plan. The main reason, diversity. Since the main plan is targeted and artifact/enchantment based, having a different route to win with is exceptionally strong. This also relates to the deck being very malleable and thus shapeable to a meta. With the red splash I prefer it in the sideboard so that potential board plans may only be geared towards the artifact/enchantment base of the deck.
Undiscovered Paradise
Fits the parfait plan well. It does open us up to non basic hate however. I think it’s strongest when splashing for three or more colours though. That allows for running a minimal amount of non basics and thus avoid non basic hate while still ensuring Land Tax activations. It does however go against Trinisphere type plans as we cannot develop our mana base if we are constantly playing undiscovered paradise.
Terminus
I feel this may actually come down to preference. Personally I don’t like that I have to constantly manipulate my library to get the miracle benefit of it. With a blue splash however comes the ability to actually draw it on an opponents turn and make more use of the miracle cost which is the strength of the card. Also if swarm decks are common place (read merfolk and goblins) in your area then not actually killing the creatures in question can become a liability.
Energy Field
Strictly not as powerful as Solitary Confinement. It does however have great synergy with our win condition, namely Rest in Peace. This is best run with a blue splash otherwise solitary should be the go to.
Daze
Only a maybe because it requires a blue splash. At the same time, it’s the main reason to run blue. Allows for some more control options, helps land tax trigger. Really quite a lot of benefit for the deck with little downside. Should probably be capped at 3 if played.
Tithe
Potentially Land Tax 5-8. This is strongest with splashes that require duals to be played. Otherwise Land Tax on its own with Mox Diamond is usually enough for colour fixing.
Chains of Mephistopheles
This is probably the best reason for black to be run, especially if there are a lot of blue based decks in your meta. Since the only card draw parfait actually has is the draw step this can easily help beat any deck that wants to draw cards. If on this plan just be sure to watch out for Dark Confidant and the like that don’t “draw” cards.
Armageddon
This card fits the parfait plan to a point. That said to play it in parfait requires it to be built around. The best fit for this would be an aggressive build where four mana is the late game and the reliance on the parfait engine is purly to refill ones hand.
Firestorm
Similar to Armageddon in a way. The aggressive build is going to have the most profitable use of this card. This becomes a finisher as you can take the creatures you are using for pressure to multiply the devastation of firestorm. The other option is as a sideboard card for control decks, although there are generally better options available for the sideboard.
Firespout
A strong option for swarm heavy and Delver of Secrets/Nimble Mongoose meta games. Between a splash colour and Mox Diamond it is easy to cast Firepout for full benefit. It can be an option over Wrath of God and the like, but is best utilized as a supplement.
Supression Field
This is one of the more interesting cards. It has potential in the main deck and in the side board. While it makes some of our spells more expensive it easily helps beat opposing decks reliant on fetch lands and planeswalkers.
Blind Obedience
A solid effect especially against some decks. But notably also a win condition and helps with the long game that parfait is usually after. The problem comes with how many to run and where they are best put. This does seem suited for control matchups as a way for us to put on some pressure.
Ghost Quarter
If you truly want to play a wasteland effect I put this forward as the better solution. Worst case you have a fetchland for your own deck that also adds mana. To top it off also allows you to shuffle your deck. Otherwise it will do what wasteland does, deal with problem lands with the plus of keeping the main engine active.
Powder Keg
Not much really needs to be said about the keg. It is good at what it does and is tutorable. The only thing that may be a concern is where it fits into a given 75. I think this is best labeled a metagame card as a result. It is generally always good to have but it is also not necessary all the time. I can therefore only offer advice; Consider your meta and the role this card would take in your 75. Weigh that against cards you may already be playing. Decide and don’t look back.
Silence
Chant’s brother. This loses out to the versatility that Orim’s Chant brings. That said it is still a very strong card and one of the easiest ways white can beat combo. If more Chants are required this is the go to card. Relegated to side board in most cases unless in heavy combo metas where it is more beneficial to run it main.
Cataclysm
Potentially one of the strongest cards that can be played alongside the parfait engine. This card needs to be built around however and is going to perform best alongside blue with its cheap counterspells and cards like divert. It is also important to note that maximizing the effect of this card involves creatures to be played. Creatures of note, should this plan intrigue you, include Meddling Mage and Tethered Griffin.
Ethersworn Cannonist
This is easily the main consideration for creatures. Currently I feel it is best in the board as it goes against the strength of parfait, notably blanking as many spells as possible. It does however offer a clock that we normally don’t have and helps against storm. It is conveniently also an artifact so we can tutor for it. This may come down to a meta choice coupled with deck design. Worth consideration in any case.
Strategy
The deck plays out in a straight forward manner. The usual game plan is to play a Land Tax and follow it up with a scroll rack. It is this card advantage engine that the deck is based on. It is also this engine that allows the deck to find answers or hate cards without having to resort to Enlightened Tutor. Naturally there is nothing wrong with using Enlightened Tutor to find missing pieces of the main engine, but the main focus of them is to help find silver bullets as needed.
The main win condition of the deck presented is the combination of Rest in Peace and Helm of Obedience. These two cards allow you to exile a players library for one mana (7 mana total including pieces and activation). Sometime this can be done fast against decks that are not packing disruption or destruction while against control matchups it is better to lead off with an Orim’s Chant before trying to win.
The second win condition presented is Goblin Charbelcher. This is because late game game after using Land Tax a lot it is possible to remove all the basic lands from the deck. It is also around this time that your library will be small. This is the reason for playing Plateau. First and foremost it is a plains, so if drawn it is still helpful for us. Late game however when we have that ten card library they allow for lethal activations with a minimal library.
Brainstorm
Brainstorm has natural synergy with Land Tax. The problem with Brainstorm is mana cost. You are going to be knee deep in Blue if you are relying on early Brainstorms. That means your manabase probably has some strange combinations of plains and islands, and perhaps a few fetchlands, and perhaps even a Tundra or two. The awkwardness stems from potentially needing to play both a first turn Land Tax and possibly Brainstorming early, yet having mostly basic lands. The longer the game goes the more value can be extracted from Brainstorm (shuffling away extra lands and digging deeper into an already thinned deck), so keep that in mind when analyzing opening hands and lines of play.
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
If Brainstorm has strong synergy with Land Tax, certainly Jace does as well. It has direct synergy with Land Tax, a pseudo Scroll Rack. Jace is a natural finisher for a control deck of this caliber, and also has the ability of controlling creatures on the battlefield.
Daze
As my teammate Kevin Cron pointed out, Daze is insane with Land Tax, since it works like Zuran Orb, to return the land you already played to hand to guarantee Land Tax triggers.
RED
Blood Moon
Blood Moon is an excellent Tutor target, and highly synergistic in any Land Tax deck. Blood Moon neuters fetchlands, and can singlehandedly win matchups. It is a strong consideration for any W/R Land Tax deck.
Firestorm
Firestorm is an enormously attractive option, just as it was in the Extended decks of old. It’s a great outlet for Land Tax and will clear an opposing board. This is probably a staple for any W/R Aggro deck revival.
Seismic Assault
Fool’s gold in my opinion. Not only is it too difficult to reliably cast, but it’s a poor use of your card advantage compared to putting back into your deck with Scroll Rack or Jace/Brainstorm.
No Doubt you are curious about how this deck performs against the field. This is the section for you then. Keep in mind that nothing is truly concrete so the matchup analysis may be vague. The purpose is to illustrate strengths of our deck and weakness that we can potentially exploit. The flip side being that weaknesses in our deck can also be shown.
Abrupt Decay and disruption are going to be the main issues here. Land tax helps against Hymn to Tourach and Scroll Rack helps keep key cards hidden. The targeted discard will most likely let them see how many cards you have that they have to deal with. That’s where Abrupt Decay comes in as their answer to a lot of our permanents. Chant followed by Blood Moon on its own can often be enough to seal the game.
Zuran Orb, Ivory Tower, Trinisphere, Solitary Confinement. All of these are hell for a mono red player. After board they may have ways to deal with all the artifact sources of hate we have, but then we get to add in enchantment hate which they can never deal with. Warmth deals with there deck until we can Confinment lock them.
Sometimes this comes down to the nut draw. Orim’s Chant is going to be your friend here for the most part as the reanimation play is generally telegraphed. Otherwise a fast Rest in Peace is usually needed. Helm of Obedience is still good here without RiP as any creature you get off of it is going to be devastating. Charbelcher here also gives a potential way to deal with Iona. And yet again, any deck that wants to combo or otherwise be fast can get crippled by an early Trinisphere.
Nothing beats rock. But what happens when its rock vs rock? Such is the jund matchup. Luckily we are the bigger rock. We beat creature based strategies. It is that simple. We also possess the tools needed to attack all aspects of junds strategy. Chant’s can be the weakest cards here, but also help you land cards like Blood Moon that help to negate a lot of cards the jund player may attempt to play. Trinisphere here also isn’t bad as it does take away some of the advantage cascade generates and makes a lot of junds spells less cost effective.
This can be a race if you want to play it as such. You are quite free to try to combo as fast as possible here. Just be aware of how much mana your opponent can generate if going this route, but for the most part you should be able to combo before they can do much. Otherwise Blood Moon is our best answer especially when couped with Humility. Ghostly Prision and Trinisphere don’t do much in this match up. Chant however can do lots by stopping eldrazi from being cast or more importantly, stop eldrazi from attacking.
Since this deck is based on a cute interaction between cards, and creature based, we immediately have game. Main deck pithing needle on karakas or vial helps until we can drop a humility which shuts down the deck. It is the prevelance of decks like this that help make a case for suppression field.
As just a general sweeping statement to cover all flavours of elves, Humility and Trinisphere are probably the best cards we have, especially in conjuction with each other. Blood Moon is only important with regards to Gaea’s Cradle as it is the best option they have to help get past both cards. That said most other taxing effects are simply awful here as elves can generate mana quite readily. Other then that we already possess a lot of creature hate to keep them down. Abrupt Decay is going to be the most problematic card if they are into black. For the most part if you can limit elves to a card a turn at best you should be fine. This is also a good reason for Orim’s Chant. While Decay can deal with most forms of hate we will put out, Orim’s Chant ensures that even if the hate is dealt with they will still be out a turn.
I feel like this is an auto win barring an extremely fast pull from the affinity player while we also have nothing. Trinisphere on its own is strong here. Also is the fact that affinity is forced to play numerous bad cards to take advantage of affinity. Chant’s, Ghostly Prision, Blood Moon, and similar cards that prey on affinity’s weaknesses are all stars. This match up is further made better by affinity running out of gas very fast. Our top decks should therefore always be better. If you play to get past affinity’s first onslaught, your victory should be assured.
Again I will attempt to lump these together on account of similar card pools. Discard, counterspells, and planeswalkers are the issues. Solitary confinement is a catch all answer here with regards to discard and potentially planeswalker. Pithing Needle and Oblivion Ring also show there mettle here. That leaves counterspells. Thankfully some can be played around, but for those critical plays we have Orim’s Chant. Timely Reinforcements from the board is quite strong here as is Elspeth. It gives us more ways to win while still making a lot of our cards still extremely devastating. And no surprise here, but Blood Moon continues to shine against decks with horrendous mana bases.
This can come down to the die roll and as a result can be one of our worst matchups. We do have main board cards against storm in general in cards like Trinisphere, Orim’s Chant, and Solitary Confinement. These cards allow us to win game one. Chant is useful as it can stop combo immediately if not counterd. It can potentially also top combo if countered. Trinisphere makes chaining mana into spells much more difficult and most of the storm players cards much less efficient. Confinement shines yet again in this instance by preventing us from being targeted by both win conditions and discard. This matchup is one of the few that will be closer to 60/40 and that is on account of these decks being able to potentially win before we can play anything. Given that that it not always the case however this is far from an auto loss. And since decks like belcher have the option of attacking, that plan gets beaten with Ghostly Prison.
This can be one of the more interesting matchups because maverick does have main deck answers to us. That said, a lot of those answers are also creatures and that’s how we like it. Humility can deal with the bulk of maverick on its own. Otherwise as mentioned, we love facing creature decks since we can very easily deal with them. Otherwise nothing but answers against maverick.
The shortest blurb for a primer. They have no clock, so combo win. Blood Moon helps to deal with any possible answers they have. They also deal with creatures so Goblin Charbelcher is the best secondary win condition and should win on the turn it is cast.
My main worry is that the engine is near-useless against two of the biggest decks in the format. You simply will not have less lands in play than RUG Delver and keeping an artifact and an enchantment on the board vs Maverick seems difficult.
Luminarch seems the best win-con, but I would definitely think about adding more Solitary as it seems designed to go with each of Tax and Rack by themselves.
Against Canadian, you will have less lands but there's when Mox Diamonds come in. They will help you trigger Land Tax. Even if you don't have Scroll Rack, one trigger off of it is going to be enough. Naturally you'll have a strong cards against creatures and you will have more answers to their creatures than them having permission.
As for Maverick, on top of your strong anti-aggro suite, you will find Cursed Totem very useful.
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Thanks for spiderboy4 of High~Light_Studios for the kick ass avatar.
Thanks for DarkNightCavalier of HotPS for the exceptional signature.
I am convinced that WotC is "dumbing" the game because of all the stupid posts they come across on MTG-related forums
Ahhh. I missed the Diamonds. What about Terminus over ***?
I will make the switch in a heartbeat. The reason why *** is there over Terminus is because I copy/pasted it from my notepad on my iPhone and that list is pre-Innistrad block.
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Thanks for spiderboy4 of High~Light_Studios for the kick ass avatar.
Thanks for DarkNightCavalier of HotPS for the exceptional signature.
I am convinced that WotC is "dumbing" the game because of all the stupid posts they come across on MTG-related forums
I've been playing parfait since it's creation in T1 back in 1999. I'm a friend of it's creator and we played many many games back then. While i like your version, i'm going for a more traditional build with argivian find, powder keg and entreat the angels as a kill condition. Back then, we used to kill with sacred mesa, but it was very slow. entrea the angels is way faster and can seal the deal even if you don't full board control.
I've been playing parfait since it's creation in T1 back in 1999. I'm a friend of it's creator and we played many many games back then. While i like your version, i'm going for a more traditional build with argivian find, powder keg and entreat the angels as a kill condition. Back then, we used to kill with sacred mesa, but it was very slow. entrea the angels is way faster and can seal the deal even if you don't full board control.
Because powder keg doesn't destroy enchantments, so you're still having land tax on board after you killed those pesky creatures.
As for an updated list, i'll try to get something together today. I haven't been toying with parfait since last year ( i thought, back then, they would unban it). Miracle cards have been showing up since and they surely fits the parfait archetype pretty well. I'll have to adjust my list with it. I'm still undecided if i go straight mono-W or the tainted-parfait route.
The primary enchantment hate you'll be getting from mav/nic fit is going to be creature based. With that in mind, why not up the humility count? I don't think ghostly prison is as effective as to be even a 2-of in this deck as swarm-based strategies really aren't that prevalent atm. Maverick is the closest to swarm that is prevalent and humility hurts it more than prison.
The primary enchantment hate you'll be getting from mav/nic fit is going to be creature based. With that in mind, why not up the humility count? I don't think ghostly prison is as effective as to be even a 2-of in this deck as swarm-based strategies really aren't that prevalent atm. Maverick is the closest to swarm that is prevalent and humility hurts it more than prison.
Heck, why not just play a Tome md? You have the tutors.
Right now, two decks worry me. Affinity and RUG Delver. Both will be perfectly happy to beat your face in on one land.
Heck, why not just play a Tome md? You have the tutors.
Right now, two decks worry me. Affinity and RUG Delver. Both will be perfectly happy to beat your face in on one land.
Well, Parfait isn't a land denial strategy (think Stax) type of deck. It "could go" into LD mode in opportune times if you include Wasteland + crucible lock. Aginst Mav, Needle + Humility/Moat (I would probably do 1/1, 1/2, 2/1, 2/2 split) or maybe a Main deck Cursed Totem and Wrath of God.
Well, Parfait isn't a land denial strategy (think Stax) type of deck. It "could go" into LD mode in opportune times if you include Wasteland + crucible lock. Aginst Mav, Needle + Humility/Moat (I would probably do 1/1, 1/2, 2/1, 2/2 split) or maybe a Main deck Cursed Totem and Wrath of God.
Actually... the deck I would be really worried about is Reanimator--> Iona; White.
No, what I mean is that if an Affinity player opens land, Mox, Drum, go, he will never have to play another land for the rest of the game, kinda destroying the point of Land Tax. Along the same lines, a RUG Delver player would be happy to negate your Land Tax by running off one land. Both those decks don't have basics to search for.
No, what I mean is that if an Affinity player opens land, Mox, Drum, go, he will never have to play another land for the rest of the game, kinda destroying the point of Land Tax. Along the same lines, a RUG Delver player would be happy to negate your Land Tax by running off one land. Both those decks don't have basics to search for.
Yes, but against those decks, you really only need 1 Tax trigger. Scroll rack online against the decks would be great, but you only need a combination of Mox Diamond, Sol Land and 2 plains to make the deck work.
I was saying you just drop a lock peice and go into toolbox mode.
Vs. Affinity: I.e., hit a big target with path on turn 2, or chant during upkeep, then drop a Moat or Etutor > for enchant on turn 3.
while i like the orim's chant route, i've tested it for a long time and it nerver performed as well as expected. This is why i've decided to go another route of parfait. A route that leads towards miracle !
No, what I mean is that if an Affinity player opens land, Mox, Drum, go, he will never have to play another land for the rest of the game, kinda destroying the point of Land Tax. Along the same lines, a RUG Delver player would be happy to negate your Land Tax by running off one land. Both those decks don't have basics to search for.
That is why i run 3 powder keg. Even if it's 1 for 1, the keg is reusable via argiviand find.
Yes, but against those decks, you really only need 1 Tax trigger. Scroll rack online against the decks would be great, but you only need a combination of Mox Diamond, Sol Land and 2 plains to make the deck work.
I was saying you just drop a lock peice and go into toolbox mode.
Vs. Affinity: I.e., hit a big target with path on turn 2, or chant during upkeep, then drop a Moat or Etutor > for enchant on turn 3.
except there are no "big targets" except MoE and the entire deck flies and ignores Humility...
mordraid, the new list looks pretty solid. I think a Cage would be more flexible than Relic in the main though. 3 Powder Keg looks weird a hell in the main, but it's definitely a good call.
On the sb I would go for some more gy hate, a COP: Red, and probably a Canonist or two.
mordraid, the new list looks pretty solid. I think a Cage would be more flexible than Relic in the main though. 3 Powder Keg looks weird a hell in the main, but it's definitely a good call.
.
I was torn between relic of progenitus and grafdigger cage. I opted for the relic because if opponent doesn't do anything with the graveyard, it cantrips itself. Otherwise, i strongly agree that the grafdigger cage is way better.
Powder keg may seems weird at first, but at 1 counter (free to tap, unlike engineered explosives) it can deal with many problematic things. Delver of secrets, noble hierarch, goblin welder, mother of runes, nimble mongoose, goblin lackey, etc. It can also deals with opposing pithing needle if need be. All that, plus the bonus of never touching your enchantments !
Recurring powder kegs with argivian find is all you need to do against many decks in legacy right now, apart from combo.
I was torn between relic of progenitus and grafdigger cage. I opted for the relic because if opponent doesn't do anything with the graveyard, it cantrips itself. Otherwise, i strongly agree that the grafdigger cage is way better.
Powder keg may seems weird at first, but at 1 counter (free to tap, unlike engineered explosives) it can deal with many problematic things. Delver of secrets, noble hierarch, goblin welder, mother of runes, nimble mongoose, goblin lackey, etc. It can also deals with opposing pithing needle if need be. All that, plus the bonus of never touching your enchantments !
Recurring powder kegs with argivian find is all you need to do against many decks in legacy right now, apart from combo.
I would play Cage still though, because it shuts off GSZ. That makes it another out vs Pridemage and a serious hamper vs Maverick and the Rock in general. Not to mention it shuts down NO (not hugely relevant right now, but still nice).
I totally agree about Powder Keg. I guess I didn't make it clear, but I meant to be praising you for thinking up such a perfect card for this deck that people rarely think of.
I think I'm going to try out testing your deck with some friends, mainly against Affinity (a matchup I'm still worried about), Maverick, Delver, and Gristel.
Have you had any sb thoughts? I like what aaronc123 is thinking on the sb, but I prefer your maindeck mordraid. My first impression would be:
1 Luminarch Ascension (vs creatureless CounterTop and BUG)
1 COP: Red
3 easy grave hate (if you go with Cage md, maybe a second cage and two Crypt?)
1 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Cursed Totem (Maybe a second since it hit Gristel?)
1 Wheel of Sun and Moon
2 Runed Halo
3 Leyline of Sanctity (I originally had 2-3 Canonist and 1-2 COP but 3 Leyline is better I think)
1 Pithing Needle
1 Moat/Humility
I've been thinking about your mana base and I'm not thrilled with it. The singleton Den is interesting, but I'm unsure how practical it would be. Unlike a Seat in UW decks, you don't need to be playing around hate. I also think Karakas would be quite good. Maybe trade the Factories for Cities, and the other two non-basics for Karakas?
I'll be testing with the land change I mentioned, Cage over Relic, and the sb I have posted. I'll let y'all know what happens.
Yeah karakas should be in there in place of the ancient den. Mishra's factories however are really great. They got sinergy with terminus and also with humility. I wouldn't remove them.
The sideboard could look a little like this:
2x tormod's crypt
2x grafdigger cage
3x leyline of sanctity
1x circle of protection: red
2x cursed totem
1x seal of cleansing
1x nevermore
1x powder keg
1x pithing needle
1x ???
Do you really need 4 Orim`s Chant in main? They were core on Vintage Parfait but there is less counters in legacy. You could run 0-2 in main and rest in sideboard.
Exactly. Also, argivian find can reccur the ones that get countered.
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For those who aren't aware what Parfait is, it is a mono-white control deck that used Scroll Rack and Land Tax as a means to draw and filter your hand. With the help of Enlightened Tutor to find it's pieces, supporting cards and other control elements, achieving a lock isn't hard to achieve.
Here is my current list (pre Innistrad Block):
12 Plains
4 Crystal Vein
3 Wasteland
3 Mox Diamond
1 Mistveil Plains
Engine:
4 Land Tax
3 Scroll Rack
1 Zuran Orb
1 Crucible of Worlds
4 Enlightened Tutor
4 Orim's Chant
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Ghostly Prison
2 Isochron Scepter
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Runed Halo
1 Armageddon
1 Humility
1 Pithing Needle
1 Solitary Confinement
1 Wrath of God
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1 Goblin Charbelcher
1 Luminarch Ascension
I think the best way to abuse Land Tax (along with Scroll Rack) is with Armageddon.
You resolve Armageddon, your opponent drops a land on his/her turn, on your turn, Land Tax triggers.
Sol land and Mox Diamond helps you get to the higher casting cost spells (such as Armageddon). The best Sol land you can use is Crystal Vein since it has that self sacrifice that you can control.
The rest of the deck can be built around cheap/free spells. Miracle cards are awesome here (and they work well with Scroll Rack).
Any comments and suggestions are welcome
These cards are the reason why Parfait is Parfait.
Like any engine decks, Parfait needs to be built around to break symmetry and to make it efficient. The old lists achieved this by utilizing the following:
In order for the archetype to be successful, it also needs to work without having Tax/Rack active. This was achieved by using Enlightened Tutor (not only to find Tax/Rack pieces but also to find hate pieces). Cards that have X-for-one effects were also used to maximize each use of the cards (such as Wrath of God). Scroll Rack can also be used to fix consistency
The problem with the count between mana artifact and lands is that the Alpha Moxen are banned in the format. Finding the right proportion between the two is currently open for discussion.
Here are a couple of sample lists that can be used as guidelines for building the decks. Most of these are theoretical lists before Land Tax was actually Legacy legal:
Stephen Menendian's Stax-like build
11 Plains
1 Mistveil Plains
4 Wasteland
Spells:
1 Crucible Of Worlds
1 Goblin Charbelcher
1 Isochron Scepter
4 Mox Diamond
4 Scroll Rack
1 Smokestack
4 Trinisphere
1 Humility
4 Land Tax
1 Moat
2 Oblivion Ring
1 Rule of Law
1 Sacred Mesa
4 Abeyance
3 Argivian Find
4 Enlightened Tutor
3 Orim's Chant
4 Swords to Plowshares
Stephen Menendian's Suggested List Post Unbanning Circa June 2012
4 Mox Diamond
15 Plains
4 Wasteland
Spells:
4 Land Tax
3 Scroll Rack
4 Enlightened Tutor
1 Zuran Orb
1 Humility
1 Solitary Confinement
3 Oblivion Ring
4 Path to Exile/Swords to Plowshares
3 Terminus
4 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Goblin Charbelcher
2 Batterskull
3 Argivian Find
3 Orim’s Chant
Hatebear-Based Parfait:
10 Plains
4 Undiscovered Paradise
4 Wasteland
Creatures:
4 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Mother of Runes
4 Glowrider
4 Ethersworn Canonist
4 Aven Mindcensor
4 Mox Diamond
4 Scroll Rack
4 Land Tax
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Batterskull
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
(nameless one's) Parfait Revival:
4 City of Traitors
4 Ghost Quarter
4 Lotus Vale
2 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
2 Sensei's Divining Top
2 Helm of Obedience
3 Pithing Needle
4 Mox Diamond
4 Scroll Rack
2 Oblivion Ring
3 Rest in Peace
4 Land Tax
4 Enlightened Tutor
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Terminus
4xLeyline of Sanctity
4x Trinisphere
3x Aura of Silence
2x Ghostly Prison
2x Karmic Justice
Thanks for spiderboy4 of High~Light_Studios for the kick ass avatar.
Thanks for DarkNightCavalier of HotPS for the exceptional signature.
Luminarch seems the best win-con, but I would definitely think about adding more Solitary as it seems designed to go with each of Tax and Rack by themselves.
Level 1 Judge
Currently Playing:
W Death and Taxes
BGR ScapeWish Nic Fit
BGR Punishing Nic Fit
As for Maverick, on top of your strong anti-aggro suite, you will find Cursed Totem very useful.
Thanks for spiderboy4 of High~Light_Studios for the kick ass avatar.
Thanks for DarkNightCavalier of HotPS for the exceptional signature.
Level 1 Judge
Currently Playing:
W Death and Taxes
BGR ScapeWish Nic Fit
BGR Punishing Nic Fit
I will make the switch in a heartbeat. The reason why *** is there over Terminus is because I copy/pasted it from my notepad on my iPhone and that list is pre-Innistrad block.
Thanks for spiderboy4 of High~Light_Studios for the kick ass avatar.
Thanks for DarkNightCavalier of HotPS for the exceptional signature.
And I will be adding a Grafdigger's Cage in the main.
Thanks for spiderboy4 of High~Light_Studios for the kick ass avatar.
Thanks for DarkNightCavalier of HotPS for the exceptional signature.
I've been playing parfait since it's creation in T1 back in 1999. I'm a friend of it's creator and we played many many games back then. While i like your version, i'm going for a more traditional build with argivian find, powder keg and entreat the angels as a kill condition. Back then, we used to kill with sacred mesa, but it was very slow. entrea the angels is way faster and can seal the deal even if you don't full board control.
I agree with you on Path.
Why Power Keg over Ratchet Bomb or Engineered Explosives though?
Also, how about an up-to-date list to play with, (no)?
Because powder keg doesn't destroy enchantments, so you're still having land tax on board after you killed those pesky creatures.
As for an updated list, i'll try to get something together today. I haven't been toying with parfait since last year ( i thought, back then, they would unban it). Miracle cards have been showing up since and they surely fits the parfait archetype pretty well. I'll have to adjust my list with it. I'm still undecided if i go straight mono-W or the tainted-parfait route.
Don't forget you can run 1 pithing needle and 1 Runed Halo main as well. Deals with Mav.
Thank you mchief111, great sig
Lvl 37 Planeswalker
Current:
Legacy:
:symu::symb::symr::symw::symg: TES |
Vintage:
:symb::symu: Titan Dredge | :symb::symu::symw: Bomberman
Modern:
:symu::symr: Kiki-Twin | :symr::symg: Tron
Standard:
Wip
EDH:
:symb::symu::symw: Zur
Heck, why not just play a Tome md? You have the tutors.
Right now, two decks worry me. Affinity and RUG Delver. Both will be perfectly happy to beat your face in on one land.
Level 1 Judge
Currently Playing:
W Death and Taxes
BGR ScapeWish Nic Fit
BGR Punishing Nic Fit
Well, Parfait isn't a land denial strategy (think Stax) type of deck. It "could go" into LD mode in opportune times if you include Wasteland + crucible lock. Aginst Mav, Needle + Humility/Moat (I would probably do 1/1, 1/2, 2/1, 2/2 split) or maybe a Main deck Cursed Totem and Wrath of God.
vs. Delver, Chant + stick and or Zuran Orb + Story Circle, Runed Halo can help immensly.
Actually... the deck I would be really worried about is Reanimator--> Iona; White.
Here is my interpretation:
12 Plains
4 City of Traitors
3 Wasteland
1 Karakas
Creatures
2 Painter's Servant
Instants
4 Enlightened Tutor
4 Path to Exile
4 Orim's Chant
Artifacts
3 Scroll Rack
1 Zuran Orb
1 Pithing Needle
2 Isochron Scepter
1 Crucible of Worlds
3 Mox Diamond
2 Grindstone
1 Moat
1 Humility
1 Luminarch Ascension
4 Land Tax
2 Runed Halo
2 Oblivion Ring
1 Story Circle
Planeswalkers
1 Elspeth Knight-Errant
3 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Moat
1 Humility
1 Circle of Protection: Red
1 Cursed Totem
1 Wheel of Sun and Moon
1 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Tormod's Crypt
1 Pithing Needle
1 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Silence
1 Swords To plowshares
Thank you mchief111, great sig
Lvl 37 Planeswalker
Current:
Legacy:
:symu::symb::symr::symw::symg: TES |
Vintage:
:symb::symu: Titan Dredge | :symb::symu::symw: Bomberman
Modern:
:symu::symr: Kiki-Twin | :symr::symg: Tron
Standard:
Wip
EDH:
:symb::symu::symw: Zur
No, what I mean is that if an Affinity player opens land, Mox, Drum, go, he will never have to play another land for the rest of the game, kinda destroying the point of Land Tax. Along the same lines, a RUG Delver player would be happy to negate your Land Tax by running off one land. Both those decks don't have basics to search for.
Level 1 Judge
Currently Playing:
W Death and Taxes
BGR ScapeWish Nic Fit
BGR Punishing Nic Fit
Yes, but against those decks, you really only need 1 Tax trigger. Scroll rack online against the decks would be great, but you only need a combination of Mox Diamond, Sol Land and 2 plains to make the deck work.
I was saying you just drop a lock peice and go into toolbox mode.
Vs. Affinity: I.e., hit a big target with path on turn 2, or chant during upkeep, then drop a Moat or Etutor > for enchant on turn 3.
Thank you mchief111, great sig
Lvl 37 Planeswalker
Current:
Legacy:
:symu::symb::symr::symw::symg: TES |
Vintage:
:symb::symu: Titan Dredge | :symb::symu::symw: Bomberman
Modern:
:symu::symr: Kiki-Twin | :symr::symg: Tron
Standard:
Wip
EDH:
:symb::symu::symw: Zur
4x land tax
2x oblivion ring
1x luminarch ascension
1x solitary confinement
1x story circle
1x moat
1x seal of cleansing
1x humility
3x mox diamond
3x scroll rack
3x powder keg
1x zuran orb
1x relic of progenitus
1x pithing needle
Instants:
4x path to exile
3x argivian find
3x enlightened tutor
3x terminus
1x entreat the angels
Planeswalker:
1x Elspeth, knight errant
Lands:
15x plains
3x mishra's factory
1x serra's sanctum
1x mistveil plains
1x ancient den
Still working on the sideboard, but for now i focus mainly on the first 60.
That is why i run 3 powder keg. Even if it's 1 for 1, the keg is reusable via argiviand find.
except there are no "big targets" except MoE and the entire deck flies and ignores Humility...
mordraid, the new list looks pretty solid. I think a Cage would be more flexible than Relic in the main though. 3 Powder Keg looks weird a hell in the main, but it's definitely a good call.
On the sb I would go for some more gy hate, a COP: Red, and probably a Canonist or two.
Level 1 Judge
Currently Playing:
W Death and Taxes
BGR ScapeWish Nic Fit
BGR Punishing Nic Fit
Ignores Humility? I think you mean Moat.
My Kamigawa cube.
My Mirage Cube
Level 1 Judge
Currently Playing:
W Death and Taxes
BGR ScapeWish Nic Fit
BGR Punishing Nic Fit
I was torn between relic of progenitus and grafdigger cage. I opted for the relic because if opponent doesn't do anything with the graveyard, it cantrips itself. Otherwise, i strongly agree that the grafdigger cage is way better.
Powder keg may seems weird at first, but at 1 counter (free to tap, unlike engineered explosives) it can deal with many problematic things. Delver of secrets, noble hierarch, goblin welder, mother of runes, nimble mongoose, goblin lackey, etc. It can also deals with opposing pithing needle if need be. All that, plus the bonus of never touching your enchantments !
Recurring powder kegs with argivian find is all you need to do against many decks in legacy right now, apart from combo.
I would play Cage still though, because it shuts off GSZ. That makes it another out vs Pridemage and a serious hamper vs Maverick and the Rock in general. Not to mention it shuts down NO (not hugely relevant right now, but still nice).
I totally agree about Powder Keg. I guess I didn't make it clear, but I meant to be praising you for thinking up such a perfect card for this deck that people rarely think of.
I think I'm going to try out testing your deck with some friends, mainly against Affinity (a matchup I'm still worried about), Maverick, Delver, and Gristel.
Have you had any sb thoughts? I like what aaronc123 is thinking on the sb, but I prefer your maindeck mordraid. My first impression would be:
1 Luminarch Ascension (vs creatureless CounterTop and BUG)
1 COP: Red
3 easy grave hate (if you go with Cage md, maybe a second cage and two Crypt?)
1 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Cursed Totem (Maybe a second since it hit Gristel?)
1 Wheel of Sun and Moon
2 Runed Halo
3 Leyline of Sanctity (I originally had 2-3 Canonist and 1-2 COP but 3 Leyline is better I think)
1 Pithing Needle
1 Moat/Humility
I've been thinking about your mana base and I'm not thrilled with it. The singleton Den is interesting, but I'm unsure how practical it would be. Unlike a Seat in UW decks, you don't need to be playing around hate. I also think Karakas would be quite good. Maybe trade the Factories for Cities, and the other two non-basics for Karakas?
I'll be testing with the land change I mentioned, Cage over Relic, and the sb I have posted. I'll let y'all know what happens.
Level 1 Judge
Currently Playing:
W Death and Taxes
BGR ScapeWish Nic Fit
BGR Punishing Nic Fit
12x Plains
4x Crystal Vein
3x Mox Diamond
3x Wasteland
1x Mistveil Plains
Engine:
4x Land Tax
3x Scroll Rack
1x Crucible of Worlds
1x Zuran Orb
4x Enlightened Tutor
4x Orim's Chant
4x Path to Exile
3x Terminus
2x Argivian Find
2x Armageddon
2x Ghostly Prison
2x Oblivion Ring
1x Humility
1x Pithing Needle
1x Solitary Confinement
2x Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1x Goblin Charbelcher
It's promising against aggro. But everything else, I'm still working in it.
Thanks for spiderboy4 of High~Light_Studios for the kick ass avatar.
Thanks for DarkNightCavalier of HotPS for the exceptional signature.
The sideboard could look a little like this:
2x tormod's crypt
2x grafdigger cage
3x leyline of sanctity
1x circle of protection: red
2x cursed totem
1x seal of cleansing
1x nevermore
1x powder keg
1x pithing needle
1x ???
Exactly. Also, argivian find can reccur the ones that get countered.