In development since Time Spiral came out, Death and Taxes is in essence a fancy name for White Weenie with a bag of tricks. It is those tricks that make it a more annoying opponent than many decks are prepared to deal with. "Taxes" refers to the disruption provided by the choice of tricks, as you can delay or even "turn off" elements of your opponent's strategy while your creatures deliver damage. The specific taxes you levee can be arranged to suit your metagame, and should be tailored for it. While the original concept and White Weenie frame was mine, there have been a great number of people who have helped. Thank you all.
There are certain base cards that you should try to avoid removing. They are the heart and soul of what makes Death and Taxes work. Here they are:
Mother of Runes - Has become one of the centerpieces of the deck. It can make an attacker unblockable, nullify an opponent's attacker, and protect your guys against removal. The net result is a smoothing agent to make the deck more consistent. And she draws out turn 1 Force of Will like a champ. I would play 8 if I could. Stoneforge Mystic - Fills a lot of roles. It gets around countermagic to seal the deal early if you Vial it in. It can save you in the mid-late game. It breaks card parity. It is a mini search engine. Jotun Grunt - New players and green splashers are often quick to dismiss this one if their metagame tends toward aggro and tribal. And it can occasionally be a short-lived creature. But it is fabulous when it faces Tarmogoyfs or any deck that relies on its graveyard. And it is the only creature in the deck that is big enough and cheap enough to stand up to Zoo on its own. Aggressive and disruptive is key. Serra Avenger - She hates lightning bolts. But otherwise is a super creature. Flying is a big deal against a lot of decks. And she loves holding equipment and not tapping. The only non-disruptive creature in the deck is here for good reason. Flickerwisp - This is probably the single most effective weapon in the deck. It is another aggressive and disruptive card in one. Pretty much every deck has permanents that don't do well against a Flickerwisp. It is nearly always a 2 for 1, and is particularly good off a Vial. Be sure to check out the Flickerwisp Tricks section for examples of its application. Mangara of Corondor - The original focus of the deck and just as potent today. You can remove a permanent and recur the effect. Opponents fear this card, and having it online is typically game. Be sure to check out the section detailing its application. Aether Vial - The entire reason I built Death and Taxes in the first place was in attempt to break this card following the tepid reception to an article I wrote. It is indispensable. Swords to Plowshares - This is another card I would play more of if I could. Path to Exile is no substitute. Rishadan Port - In most cases this card is better in this deck than Wasteland. That is saying a lot. Karakas - As long as Mangara is worth having, so is this. It even has defensive uses these days. Plains - I felt that I needed to stress the advantage of having plenty of basic lands in a deck. Some people dismiss the idea. I enjoy beating them after denying them a color.
There are a lot of other cards that, perhaps have been used at some point, and yet do not make my current 75. Most are good against a particular metagame, and could come back. With a lot of help from T3hwooki3, these are some with what they do and in some cases the reasons why most players are not using them:
Creatures with aggressive characteristics:
-Though these guys can have phenomenal abilities, their primary function is not to provide tempo advantage or disruption. They are here to improve our clock.
1CC: Isamaru, Hound of Konda-OK for aggressive versions. It still has some nifty interactions with Karakas, but a vanilla 2/2 for 1 just does not cut it anymore.
Savannah Lions&Elite Vanguard-Strictly worse than Pootch aside from being able to play multiples at once. Isamaru's niche is that he can block Goblin Lackeys all day and produce a pseudo Fog effect with Karakas. These two aren't terrible but if aggression's your thing, there are simply better options.
Steppe Lynx-Terrible without fetchlands. Terrible in 'vanilla' D&T in that we don't run fetchlands. If you're utilizing Sensei's Divining Top however, less terrible but probably unnecessary.
2CC: Soltari Priest-Priest is perfect for heavy red metagames, when BFT is not enough.
Silver Knight-When Goblins were everywhere, this guy really shined.
Epochrasite-When coming in off of a Vial or returning from death he's a 4/4. With the prevalence of StP and Pridemage he's a lot less attractive.
Kor Firewalker-His ability can't be needled and can help you race against goblins or Burn. Being a 2/2 is an important advantage because he takes down a goblin on most defenses and he also fits the Vial spot better than BFT.
3CC: Pianna, Nomad Captain-First suggested by Amoebasinger, Pianna's interaction with Karakas and pump effect has earned him some consideration.
Soltari Champion-An interesting choice. Essentially a different flavor of Pianna. Doesn't pump itself when attacking, and can't be saved with Karakas. His evasive ability makes him a solid candidate for equipment.
Stillmoon Cavalier-This guy contends for our 3-drop spot against creatures that are arguably the 'core' of D&T. Still, his pro:StP and attractive equipment-wearing abilities aren't terrible. In a Deadguy/Pox/Weenie environment he could shine...
4CC: Exalted Angel-Ostensibly costs you 7 over time. You'll hardly even waste a Vial to sneak one out, and you won't be hardcasting her. She's a hard sell for her mana investment. But lists looking for something different could accommodate her with a higher land count.
Creatures with useful abilities:
-These critters offer either disruptive, defensive, or tempo-oriented abilities along with being able to turn sideways.
1CC: Martyr of Sands-Ridiculous lifegain for Vanilla D&T. She's essentially a speed bump into life in increments of 3. Not a bad sideboard card if your meta is flooded with mono-red.
Burrenton Forge-Tender-Good against Goblins, Burn, and Dredge. Decent against Zoo and Tempo Threshold. It's awful against everything else.
Icatian Javelineers-Has seen better days in standard being that the field was awash in x/1s like Dark Confidant. Outclassed by almost anything else, he could find a home in the right meta.
Goldmeadow Harrier-Good against Emrakul decks. Decent against everything. Just a bit weak.
Children of Korlis-Has some cool interactions with Sword of Light and Shadow, and is helpful against storm decks, but it is very narrow.
Glittering Lynx-Similar to Knight of the Holy Nimbus in that it's difficult to kill. No other abilities and relatively weak p/t make it nigh unplayable.
Weathered Wayfarer-An excellent 1-drop for a deck that is begging for one. But this same deck needs to be doing something useful with turn 2 mana, and does not play fetchlands to abuse it anyway. Has the useful duty of recycling Wastelands with Jotun Grunt.
2CC: Knight of the White Orchid-Less than stellar without Fieldmist Borderpost and the like. A great source of deck thinning aside from the caveat that you must have less lands than your opponent for his ability to trigger.
Knight of the Holy Nimbus-With our mana-denial strategy, and to a lesser extent Cataclysm he's a hard dude to kill. Negates exalted, shrinks Goyf, kills Lackeys outright, and sticks around post-combat more often than not. If you're desperate for a 2-drop, he's really a last resort.
Ethersworn Canonist-A turn 2 Canonist has won many D&T players games against combo. She's a respectable attacker and can be kept as an artifact with Cataclysm and fetched with E-tutor.
Spectral Lynx-Kitty's evasion against aggressive decks has earned him a home in some Deadguy lists. There's no reason he can't earn slots in D&T if the meta demands it.
Samurai of the Pale Curtain-Hoses dredge, Stax, some versions of Landstill. Most opponents can simply ignore it though.
True Believer-Uses against storm combo, black discard, direct damage. Not nearly as appealing as it seems on paper.
Leonin Arbiter-Has applications against fetchlands, Natural Order, and random stuff. But the banning of Mystical Tutor and Survival of the Fittest have narrowed it
considerably. Combined with its poor interaction with the Mystic we use, it is a dead end.
Leonin Relic-Warder - It looks like a gem on paper, but it has the tendency to be clunky in operation because there needs to be a target in play when you cast him or he is just a bear.
Eight-and-a-Half-Tails-In lists packing 17 or more white sources he can be used strategically to dodge removal and push through damage. He also combos with Karakas just like Isamaru. We typically have better options, but his abilities are attractive at the very least.
3CC: Glowrider-annoys blue decks and is gigantic against storm combo, but the cost is high and it is awful against tribal.
Aven Mindcensor-hoses fetchlands and Natural Order better than Leonin Arbiter, but is typically a turn too slow.
Kitchen Finks-Popular solution for anti-aggro, especially Zoo. But at that price, it is not the game-breaker we would need it to be.
Stonecloaker-Lots of good interactions and disruption. Lost a lot of its lustre with the rules change for combat damage though. A bit expensive at 3.
Tivadar of Thorn-Goblins are very popular. Goblins are also one of our favorable matchups. Only necessary if you expect to see little green men all day. And only in the sideboard at that.
4CC: Hokori, Dust Drinker-It can provide a one-sided Winter Orb for a control-heavy meta, but at 4, is too expensive most of the time.
Commander Eesha-Barely playable at 4, she can block anything all day and survive. Now if she had vigilance, she might make the cut.
Spells:
-This encompasses both utility and removal spells available to the discerning D&T player.
1CC: Path to Exile-Has applications against, well just about everything. But it is not good in any D&T list attempting to use the mana-denial strategy.
Oust - This has become a favorite of mine. When you are denying mana, your opponents really don't want to be drawing the creature again.
Sunlance-3 damage to target merfolk/goblin/elf/lavamancer isn't terrible. Sorcery-speed vs. instant-speed is the selling point here. If you're rolling with the mana-denial strategy and don't want to run PtE, Lance' might be an option.
Orim's Chant&Silence-These have been proper storm hate for a long time, but storm has decreased in popularity and done a better job of handling these cards recently.
Mana Tithe-White Force Spike is a highly controversial card. Lists trying to abuse it should pack as much tempo-oriented control spells as possibly to maximize its effectiveness. Has positive interaction with Hokori, mana-denial, Canonist, Clysm', and Geddon' strategies.
Tithe-Nets you at least 1 plains when you need it. Not bad in lists with a higher curve or mana-intensive requirement.
2CC: Abeyance-The poor man's Orim's Chant, Abeyance offers us nothing Chant can't do better. It cantrips and supplements Chant/Silence in the board against metas saturated with combo.
Disenchant-Straightforward artifact/enchantment removal. Pretty baseline in comparison to Tutor package.
Tariff-When Natural Order Progenitus decks and Reanimator were heavily in the metagame, this was an occasional solution.
Revoke Existence-Same as Disenchant, except it prevents the unlikely recurring of pesky artifacts/enchantments.
Gilded Light-A turn too slow against combo, but not terrible against burn. A hard sell in the main/side with so many better options.
3CC: Wing Shards-It is nasty against Progenitus and does the job against Emrakul if all else fails. It is also handy against Goblins, Zoo, and Merfolk. But the casting cost is heartbreakingly difficult to muster when it matters most.
Retribution of the Meek-This was used against Progenitus before equipment became a staple of the deck. Also quite handy against Goyfs, and decks abusing Lords.
Tivadar's Crusade-Complete overkill against Goblins. Seek this spell's namesake if you need additional anti-goblin hate.
4CC: Cataclysm-still the best method to dig you out or put you ahead against a variety of opponents - just not against aggro-control. Interacts favorably with Flagstones of Trokair, Mana Tithe and Rishadan Port/Wasteland allowing you to maintain control post-Clysm'.
Wrath of God-Blows up dudes, but at 4 mana is a bit expensive for D&T. However, sideboarded ***s have been a Weenie strategy for time immemorial.
Day of Judgement-Same as *** except they can regenerate, which is almost nonexistent in Legacy. Also, if you're running *** and have access to DoJs you can run a split to avoid Extirpate though that's not as likely to happen.
Armageddon-Again, a Weenie strategy that's been around forever. But that was ages ago, you'd really have to build around it in order to abuse it.
*NOTE*-Free spells? Should they have their own heading? I'm of course talking about 'traps' or any sort of pact-type spell that's free when conditions are met. Chalice of the Void-Brutal sideboard hate against a variety of decks. Switches D&T's role entirely though.
Mindbreak Trap-Storm combo hate with the ability to make elves play fair, but overall rather narrow.
Leyline of Sanctity-Turn 0 answer against Tendrils and mono-red. A bit narrow, but fills the niche spot nicely in the right environment.
Artifacts and Enchantments:
-These are cards that are (typically) sorcery-speed with requiring a time investment to have an immediate effect.
1CC: Sensei's Divining Top-An old standby for VCA and card parity. Has had a hard time competing for slots since D&Ts inception. If you're using it, you should be abusing it with fetchlands.
Basilisk Collar-Pseudo-removal for the Mystic package. Competes for a spot against much more versatile equipment.
Relic of Progenitus-Great anti-graveyard hate in the sideboard. Absolutely backbreaking if you can get it out in time.
Porphyry Nodes-Obscenely slow anti-aggro sideboard tech. Has seen some love in standard some years back, but hard to implement in the current Legacy environment.
Meekstone-Fetchable hate against aggro and giant beasties.
2CC: Thorn of Amethyst-Cheaper than Glowrider, more resilient to being blown up than Glowrider, all while being tutorable. Not a bad 1-of in your board if you're looking to supplement your answers against combo.
Sphere of Resistance-This one is similar to the Thorn, but it also works against Elves and Aluren at the price of slowing you down as well.
Isochron Scepter-Suggested as a sideboard card for E-tutor. Can occasionally imprint removal/Chant-like spells. Requires significant testing to find a home in D&T.
Journey to Nowhere a bit of an odd one in Legacy, though it has uses. In toolbox builds packing E-tutor it offers up another way of dealing with problematic creatures like Emrakul, the Aeons Torn with a less versatile approach. Unlike Oblivion Ring it can't get rid of Goblin Charbelcher.
Powder Keg-The original colorless removal. Not bad against armies of tokens. Strictly sideboard material in an E-tutor suite.
Serenity-When Aura of Silence is not enough against Raffinity. Has applications against Belcher, Merfolk, and Goblins if you get it out in time.
3CC: Oblivion Ring-Highly versatile removal with Flickerwisp shenanigans. Has seen better days.
Sword of Body and Mind-Strictly speaking this is the worst sword to use in your Mystic package. However, it has shown some positive results. In a field where you want more blue protection simply run another SoFI. Any decks packing green are likely relying on Tarmogoyfs beating your face in, and we're not in the business of making that easier on them by dumping 10 cards into their gy.
Ensnaring Bridge-This card has applications similar to Meekstone, and has the benefit of not requiring you to either tap the opponent's creatures or take a hit from each.
Lands:
-These fuel our spells while occasionally offering useful abilities to supplement our gameplan.
Plains-You want a bare minimum of 15 white sources in 'vanilla' D&T. Going under this will make you susceptible to mana-screw.
Eiganjo Castle-Any lists running a high legend count can consider this, but also examine the prevalence of Wasteland effects in your meta first.
Flagstones of Trokair-Not a bad idea if you run Cataclysm somewhere in your 75. You want at least 2 with a maximum of 3 mainboard lest you invite disaster with double flagstones opening 7.
Mishra's Factory-Stricly for aggressive versions of D&T not running the mana-denial strategy. Can roll in under Humility and pick up equipment.
Horizon Canopy-Great as a 2-of in G/W builds. Could possibly have a home in Vanilla D&T, but terrible as your only white sources against aggro.
There are now three distinct flavors of Death and Taxes: White, White/green, and White/green/black.
Being a mono-colored deck, it lacks the raw power of some of the many-color decks that you will be facing. But it gets to use more of its lands to further disrupt the opponent's gameplan. In this particular version, there is some extra removal and the creatures also tend to be less aggressive and more disruptive. Taken together it plays more like control than any of the current splash versions.
The main difference is that you trade in the extra mana disruption for some choice creatures like Gaddock Teeg and Qasali Pridemage. You also have the option of Tarmogoyf and Knight of the Reliquary for a very aggressive version. The manabase becomes a bit unstable this way, but not too bad by Legacy standards. The decks play very similar.
Here is another recent version in 3 colors that took three colors at a Star City Games Open.
This is the deck Brian Fisher piloted to 3rd place at SCG Indianapolis. You can see that much of the core disruptive creatures of the deck have been replaced with more aggressive ones. And there are a few shaved numbers of cards that should be present in higher numbers for full benefits. The gain is in access to lots of powerful effects like discard and draw. This one is more PT Junk with Mangara and Mystic than it is D+T.
I. What makes it special?
At the time of this draft, there are a number good decks in virtually every color combination using some of the same basic principles that this deck does. Efficient creatures, Aether Vial, and equipment has become a popular strategy for good reason. Death and Taxes can be picked out by the presence of Mangara of Corondor. But he is only a representative of an entire strategy. This deck makes use of tricks without devotion of design space. That is, the entire deck works without using any tricks and every card works fine on its own. But there are many tricks of timing and rules manipulation to employ. These tricks provide the control features and are what win you games. I am going to try to provide something close to an exhaustive list.
You are going to find that opponents will stop at nothing to rid themselves of Mangara once they understand what he can do.
1. How does the Mangara soft lock work?
You tap him and return him with Karakas or "flicker" him from play with the Flickerwisp while his ability is on the stack. Do not tap Mangara and ask "OK?". You have to respond with the unsummon effect before you ask for a response or a savvy opponent will simply do nothing and you will not get a chance to.
2. If you are removing mana sources, do it on your own turn whenever possible.
3. If you are trying to maximize instead, consider something like this:
-a. block a Nimble Mongoose
-b. tap to remove an attacking Tarmogoyf from the game
-c. use Karakas or Flickerwisp to circumvent Mangara removing himself from the game
1. Vial it in to save Mangara or Grunt from themselves.
2. Hardcast it to "untap" one of your creatures after combat.
3. Vial it in to "Port" an opponent's land on their upkeep or (even better) at your own end of turn step.
4. Hardcast it targeting your own land to make it essentially only cost two mana.
5. Hardcast it to remove a blocker.
6. Vial it in to prevent an opposing creature from attacking for a turn.
7. Vial it in to take out Counterbalance so you can cast a spell.
8. Vial it in to counter a removal spell from your opponent.
9. Vial it in to temporarily remove Standstill.
10. Hardcast it to make a Phyrexian Dreadnought look silly.
11. Hardcast it removing Vial, Chalice, or Engineered Explosives to remove all counters. {snicker}
12. Hardcast it targeting Stoneforge Mystic to get extra equipment.
13. Hardcast it targeting another Flickerwisp to have the other Flickerwisp remove a permanent for the entire next turn.
14. Vial it in to rescue your chump blocker.
15. Hardcast it to switch your Oblivion Ring, Runed Halo, or Leonin Relic-Warder from one card to another.
16. Hardcast it to essentially take out a Mox Diamond (or Chrome Mox).
17. Vial it in to abuse the hell out of Oblivion Ring, Journey to Nowhere, Leonin Relic-Warder, or similar cards. Here's how:
e. Oblivion Ring's second ability resolves, returning the Siege-Gang Commander to play, which, of course never left in the first place - so nothing happens.
stack = 1. remove SGC
f. Oblivion Ring's first ability then resolves, removing Siege-Gang Commander from the game never to return.
g. At the end of your turn, Flickerwisp's delayed trigger returns Oblivion Ring to play, removing another nonland permanent from the game as normal.
1. With a Stonecloaker and a Leonin Relic-Warder, you can respond to the Warder's first trigger with flashing in the Stonecloaker in much the same fashion the Flickerwisp-Oblivion Ring trick works, only you don't need a Vial if you can spend the five mana. If you then return the Warder to your hand, the target you chose with it will never return, the Stonecloaker will be in play, and the Warder will be back in your hand. If you have a Vial@2, you could do the entire thing at instant speed including removal of a card from a graveyard.
2. Vial in a Warder to disable Standstill.
3. Vial in a Warder to remove a Mishra's Factory worker even after it is no longer an artifact.
Thanks to T3hwo0ki3 for putting this section together. Stonecloaker's seen better days before WoTC removed damage on the stack. However, he's not without his myriad uses:
He flashes in for 2W or vials in for 3. So we can effectively play him whenever either of those conditions are met.
-His first triggered ability has two separate uses:
1)He can save one of your creatures from imminent death by dodging removal or allowing you to block a big critter you have no right blocking.
2)He also allows us to abuse our utility creatures.
-All while being able to selectively shrink Tarmogoyfs and Knights of the Reliquary for potential combat blowouts.
The best part of all of that?
In nearly all of those situations we end up with a 3/2 flier at instant speed, possibly EOT. That simply means that unless you're saving an Avenger or Wisp, he's going to be a more aggressive creature than you just had in play with evasion.
1. You can keep a big beastie from killing you with Children of Korlis and any other creature eqiupped with a Sword of Light and Shadow. Burrenton Forge-Tender can also accomplish this (and does not require you to take the damage first), but only against something red like Progenitus.
2. If you are facing an opponent who has a Life from the Loam engine, you can get rid of it if you set your Vial to 2 and put a Grunt onto the battlefield at his end of turn step.
3. Use Stonecloaker to save your creature from spot removal or lethal damage.
II. Weaknesses
1. Combo. That has been a complaint throughout the life of this deck, but you can have a good (not great) combo matchup by including some of the following: Mindbreak Trap, Ethersworn Canonist, Glowrider, and Orim's Chant. I recommend only the Canonist and Orim's Chant (or Silence).
2. Not particularly fast. This is partly in the same realm as the combo problem, as that is where it is most glaring since your hate is a stall tactic, and you can't alpha strike to make it hurt the most.
3. Still bad against Landstill. There are some people who have managed to make this a good matchup with specialty cards, but in most cases it is dreadful.
What it is relatively strong against
1. Merfolk - The equipment is a tough ride for the fish. And you are better equipped to handle their vial than they are to handle yours.
2. Tempo-Threshold - You match their early game nearly as well, and your late game is greatly superior.
3. NO-Pro-Counter/Top - You have some decent tools for Progenitus, and you are generally well-prepared for this deck.
4. Goblins - Mom and Mystic are excellent recent additions to improve this already good matchup.
5. Bant - Survival Bant, NoPro Bant, and just plain Bant are all good matchups for D+T.
What it is about even against
1. Zoo - Almost always good grinding games. Sometimes they go well, sometimes not.
2. Aggro-Loam - You have to handle Seismic Assault (Revokers are perfect). But outside of that, you have some really good tools.
3. Reanimator - Vial and Karakas combine to shut down Iona. But turn 2 shroud 7/11 is still a tall order to beat.
4. Lands - You have a certain amount of hate, but you have to really know the deck in g1 to make it work. A good SB helps after that.
What it is relatively weak against
1. Landstill - You are not usually fast enough to kill him before the card advantage begins to pour in, and those versions running Pernicious Deed can be a particular struggle. Not unwinnable, but your late-game strength is reduced if you don't have Cataclysm, Hokori, or other specific cards. Turn 1 Aether Vial makes this a lot easier.
2. Storm combo - Worst matchup. Either you have the hate or you don't. Chant and especially Canonist are extremely good here, but you have to leave mana open for Chant and still somehow resolve threats early.
3. Board control decks - They thrive on aggro-control and that means this deck as well. However, Mangara, Stoneforge Mystic, and Flickerwisp can all be effective countermeasures.
III. Tips on gameplay
A. When do I reveal which creature I am vialing into play?
After the opponent agrees that the Aether Vial activation resolves. Not before. This can be an extremely important part of your tricks, so don't tip your hand by rushing through. The judge should side with an opponent who complains that he was not given a chance to respond to a vial actvation.
B. What is the best time to play Stoneforge Mystic? Unless your Vial is at two with no better play, wait until your hand is depleted in most cases. The exception might be an opportunity to sneak an attacker through with a Sword (since it has to connect to have its full effect).
C. How do I unsummon or "flicker" a creature carrying a Jitte during combat so that the creature does not take damage, and yet the Jitte gets counters?
You can't.
D. Know how to play Karakas. If the opponent can kill lands, a lost Port is less of a hassle than Karakas. If you have two, try to get him to waste a card on the first one. Play Plains before Karakas unless you have two legendary lands in the opening hand. If you have only Plains out, and the opponent plays Wasteland, you can use your own Wasteland on it, leaving him no target. Or just hit it while it is tapped. I see opponents using Wasteland on my Ports frequently, especially if I landed a turn 1 Vial. This is always good for us.
E. The creatures in D+T are there to provide disruption and also aggression. So you played a couple of opponents where Flickerwisp was nothing special? It happens. Just don't be hasty and start reworking the deck after only a few matches. They are all going to be mediocre from time to time. Adjust them in the main/sideboard to suit.
F. If you have Isamaru and Karakas in your opening hand, use a Plains to play Isamaru instead. Save the Karakas for after they decide whether or not to FoW. They can not respond to you playing a land on turn two.
G. Birds of Paradise and Noble Hierarch can hurt you a lot. Hit them with Sword to Plowshares turn one. Same goes for Chrome Mox and Mox Diamond. If you have Oblivion Ring or Flickerwisp, either is a very good target.
H. As with all aggro control decks, your strategy is going to be radically different depending on the opponent. Unlike most aggro control decks, much of the control comes from the creatures themselves. So while the Counter-Top player has to decide whether to lay down a turn two Counterbalance or Tarmogoyf (control or aggro), you will need to figure out if you want to cast Stoneforge Mystic or a Jotun Grunt (card advantage or aggro, but both creatures).
I. Remember that Mangara's ability removes him on resolution. That means that if you target, say, a Tropical Island and the opponent responds by using his own Wasteland on it, Mangara stays in play as long as you did not already use Karakas or Stonecloaker or Flickerwisp or something on it.
J. If you target a permanent with Mangara and the opponent invalidates the target (unsummons it, sacrifices it, gives it protection, etc.)in response Mangara does not remove himself as long as you did not use Karakas already.
K. Be sure to TAKE YOUR TIME when announcing that you will be using Karakas or Vialing in a Flickerwisp to save Mangara. Give your opponent an opportunity to blow a Lightning Bolt on him or make some similar mistake. You must retain priority, but until you say that you are passing it or make some other action, you still have it.
L. Play Cataclysm wisely. Pay close attention to your lands. It is a good way to get rid of extra copies of Karakas. Rishadan Port is very strong after a Cataclysm, so try to retain one. Hold on to lands once you reach four unless you have a reason not to. Don't play Cataclym if you can't handle your opponent's best creature. Ethersworn Canonist is an artifact and a creature. It can be kept as either. Flickerwisp gives you a lot of options for manipulation of what sticks around after a cataclysm, especially if you use it on an Oblivion Ring.
M. Stonecloaker can return itself or any other creature you control. You select the creature upon resolution of the ability. You can use Stonecloaker more than once in succession to remove more than one card from graveyards if you have mana and/or Vials to manage it.
IV. Matchups
Merfolk (updated 3/3/11)
-Very good matchup
-You are control
-Your goals are to keep their Vials inactive and get an Avenger or Flickerwisp attacking with equipment on it. It is really that simple. You can usually survive even two Standstills since what they really need is removal, and they have so little of it. Coralhelm Commander is a decent foil against you, but little else he has matters if you are keeping up on tempo. Creature-heavy versions suffer more from Cataclysm. He only ever wins if he gets ahead on tempo. Don't forget this. The guy with the active Vial usually wins, so you may have to call Aether Vial with a Revoker.
-The best cards for this are mostly in the main - flying creatures, equipment, cheap removal. But more cheap removal is good. Bring it all in. In my recent testing matches against Merfolk, I went 14-8.
Tempo Threshold (updated 2/21/11)
-Very good matchup
-You are control
-Your goals are to prevent an early Nimble Mongoose from killing you, and make good plays until you inevitably win. If you get some combination of SoFI and Mom preventing his removal from taking out critters, and you are slow rolling, be aware that he might be saving them for your head. Keep him off a color. Ports get used on green mana sources.
-The best cards are your mana denial, Grunts and removal. Add more if you have it.
New Horizons (updated 2/21/11)
-Very good matchup
-You are aggro or control
-Your goals are to take advantage of the glaring deficiencies of that deck. He has no flying creatures (or perhaps just Vendilion) He has limited removal. His creatures are all dependent on grave yard size. He has few or no basic lands. You will benefit from all these characteristics since it makes pretty much all of your deck's strengths relevant. Just about the only thing to be concerned with is Engineered Explosives.
-The best cards are mostly in the main, but extra grave yard hate and removal is good.
Goblins (updated 2/21/11)
-Very good matchup
-You are (usually) control
-Your goals are to get a Serra Avenger or Flickerwisp equipped with a Sword of Fire and Ice. Other versions of this scenario involve a flier with any equipment with Mother of Runes active or a Protection from Red guy from the side board. Use Cataclysm to punish him for overextending.
-Green splash improves this matchup considerably. Pridemages and bigger creatures make all the difference.
- The best cards are protection from red creatures, Absolute Law, and your equipment. Bring in extra removal.
CounterTop (including Natural Order-Progenitus) (updated 2/21/11)
-Pretty good matchup
-You are aggro
-Your goals are to not let him get you with a weak board and a Counterbalance + Top in play or to activate Jace with impunity or to sweep you out with Firespout. Don't overcommit. If you are attacking every turn and have as many relevant cards in hand as you think your opponent has, hold up a bit. This matchup is very skill-intensive. Vial is key. Just play your game. Make his Tops, Ponders, and Brainstorms use mana to search for lands instead of business as often as possible. As with all 3 and 4-color decks, keep him off a color. It is a bit complicated which is the best to deny him. Firespout is a sorcery and has that variable cost to consider. Do you have fliers or a ground crew? Green is my choice in the Progenitus versions, as they don't usually have Firespout and need that double green to get the big man with NO. Note that Cataclysm kills planeswalkers.
-The best cards are Mangara, Aether Vial, Revoker, Grunt, Gaddock Teeg, Oblivion Ring
Aggro Bant (including Natural Order-Progenitus) (updated 2/21/11)
-Fairly good matchup
-You are aggro or control
-Your goals are different for different versions, and you want to be aware of which you are playing. For Progenitus builds, try to keep him off of green mana, especially main phase. If he gets it g1, you can really only have racing it as an option. You will want a Sword of Light and Shadow for this. If it is just the creature build, beware of opposing Jittes. If he does not have Stoneforge Mystics and Jittes, you really should never lose to his "fair" creatures.
-The best cards are mostly in the main, but the extra Grunt and creature removal are good here. For Progenitus versions, Runed Halo, Wing Shards, Ensnaring Bridge, Tariff, Retribution of the Meek, and Meekstones are your outs. I think I would include the tutors to fetch them.
Dredge (updated 2/21/11)
-average matchup
-You are control
-Your goals are to disrupt that grave yard, plain and simple. If you are facing this deck and are using Burrenton Forge-Tenders in the main, bravo. Sacrifice them to prevent him from getting zombie tokens from Bridges from Below. I try to wait until I can get two Bridges. In game 1, you are occasionally in good shape if you have just 1 Jotun Grunt recycling his grave yard. The Lion's Eye Diamond variant is a bit easier in this case, as it tends to have fewer options once you remove all the dredgers from his yard, and there are fewer blockers. But I prefer to face the non-LED version because you can use Relics instead of Crypts due to their decreased speed. Equipment can be important to race with if he got a slow start. Flickerwisp removes zombies permanently. Mana denial is more important than you may think. You are not necessarily dead without grave yard hate. Games 2 and 3 give you many more chances to take control. And you are usually in a good position to capitalize on it quickly.
-The best cards are the grave yard hate package including the tutors.
Lands
-average matchup
-You are definitely aggro
-Your goals are to prevent his measures from being fully successful while delivering a constant stream of damage. These games usually come down to who knows his deck (and the opponent's deck) better, so you had better practice it plenty. Game one is all about slowing down his engine until you get either superior board position or Mangara lock. He has outs for Mangara lock, but they are weak. He can Waste his own lands or sacrifice them to Zuran Orb when you target them. Superior board position indicates that you have Ports for his Mazes and he can't make his Factories big enough to matter. Neither of these measures is anything like an absolute for you. In fact, Jotun Grunt is the only thing that can mess with his engine at all, and it is weak. You will have to do things like Ring his Exploration, Flicker his Mox Diamond, Port or even Waste green mana sources (even though he can get them back) to limit his ability to Loam. If you are attacking this whole time, these measures can slow Lands down enough to get it done. Keep in mind that his best answer for your threats is Intuition into Engineered Explosives or something similar. That is a big investment in mana for him, and not a perfect solution anyway. Even recursion of his explosives is complicated by your disruption. So keep him on his heels.
Game two, you are in a far stronger position. You can still do all the things you were relying on for game one, but your focus has changed. What you truly want now is to land a good piece of disruption early on and ride it all the way. Wheel of Sun and Moon on turn two is a huge problem for him and should be your number one tutor target in the early game. Don't be hasty with Cataclysm. Wait until you get the most from it. One more thing; these matches can go very long and you have a big upper hand in games two and three. Don't be afraid to scoop 'em up game one if you are unlikely to win it.
-monowhite is usually better here.
-board out all the 1 cc creatures, at minimum one weapon, most of your creature removal. Board in 4 Enlightened Tutor, 1 Jotun Grunt, 1 Wheel of Sun and Moon, Crypts, Relics, whatever you have for GY, Aura of Silence, Pithing Needle, all Cataclysms.
Zoo (updated 3/3/11)
-average matchup
-You are definitely control
-Your goals are to neutralize his ability to attack you while you get a creature to connect with a weapon. This commonly involves some combination of Mother of Runes to protect the armed creature. If you can get a sword equipped with a decent life total, you have a really good shot at victory. Sword of Light//Shadow on a Serra Avenger is the best scenario, but all the weapons come in handy from time to time. The matchup is hard to nail down. A single Jotun Grunt is a great way to buy time. But two Grunts early on usually results in a dead card. Mangara is occasionally a fantastic game breaker, but is equally as often just an expensive lightning rod. Flickerwisp sometimes 2-1's with Mystic and then seals the deal with unblockable damage, but occasionally just untaps something and dies to a Lavamancer. Wastelands and Ports can deny him a critical color (I always like green best here), but if Zoo gets mana flooded, all you did was delay yourself. This is why I recommend sticking to the equipment focus. It is more consistent, although with monowhite about 40-50% of my wins are the direct result of mana denial. Kitchen Finks is a card that can buy you some time and perhaps card advantage. It is specifically for this matchup, and works nicely with Cataclysm and Flickerwisp. Lots of cheap removal is absolutely critical here. Don't mess around with 1 land hands even if you have a Vial. You can not afford to miss a land drop early on.
-Green splash, apparently can be either easier or harder than monowhite depending on the build. Tarmos are great. Pridemages amd Knights are not.
-The best cards are removal, Grunts, and all the equipment and especially Mother of Runes. In my recent testing matches I went 12-9 against Zoo.
GWB control and aggro-control builds
-average to hard matchup
-You are usually aggro
-Your goals are to equip Sword of Light and Shadow and win. Just about all your disruption is relevant in this one. Revokers have plenty of targets. Mana Denial is important for either Green or Black on his main phase for best results. Confidants have to die on sight.
-Green splash is not as good as monowhite in this one.
-Mangara, Grunts, Flickerwisp, Mom...all important
ANT or TES (updated 2/21/11)
-bad matchup
-You are control
-Your goals are to get lucky and draw enough hate (or Tutors to get it) to disrupt their plan long enough to deal lethal. This matchup recently changed significantly. I will have to rewrite much of the matchup analysis. Don't forget that Revokers can name Lion's Eye Diamond, Lotus Petal, or Chrome Mox.
-Expected: The best cards are Orim's Chant, Ethersworn Canonist, Runed Halo, Gaddock Teeg, Thorn of Amethyst, and of course Enlightened Tutor to fetch most of them.
I dislike jitte here, it is hard to eguip once in play. I think there could be something better for this slot. Another creature or something else.
You need some serious countermagic. 4 Force of will + 4 Force spike would fit right in there. They help you to protect your creatures, and force them through opposing counters. Force spike is also amazing vs aggro, which is your hard matchup. And great after winter orb or Hokori.
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Daze could almost be as good, if not better than Force Spike since it would cost the same with Augustin out and also plays up that land returning deal.
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Currently offering 2 non-foil Kolighan's Command for a Date Stamped foil!
Counterspells are frustratingly bad in my experience with this deck. If Glowrider is out, I still have to pay 1 for each Glowrider in play when I play Force of Will with the alternate cost.
I tried Armageddon and found it distasteful. I do not tend to have overwhelming creatures and therefor, no clear advantage. Then I discovered the love of Hokori, and it is working better now.
Still, Daze might be a good choice, since the opponent will always be scraping the most out of their land.
Daze Also allows you to re-play your lands, they come into play untapped
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The Sage is occupied with the unspoken
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edit: rather dont answer this.... stupid question. +1 def, no echo so stays in play easier.... carry on
As far as counters stretch, there have been some creatures printed that can counter a spell for one if you tap them: Disruptive Student comes to mind, and his onslaught equivalent... that morph thing.
Anyhow, the taxing is cool, might you consider something from prophecy to play? I cant realy list the cards right now, but Exile looks like a damn good replacement for swords if they dont have the mana, which is the meaning of the deck. Rhystic spells are just begging to be used like this.
Viroid's made some very good suggestions. Disruptive Pitmage is the morph equivalent.
I think you can go down to 2-3 Jitte (max) and 3 Chrome mox, and DEFINITELY add in Thirst for Knowledge and Daze. Both great with Augustin, and Daze helps with Orb/Hokori, and TFK is good for pitching the late game Chrome Moxes and Vials, and it's just all around awesome, right?
I like the Karakas a lot here... but maybe (don't shoot me, I hate it too) you could try Leyline of Singularity? I know, I know, the card is the second worst leyline, and it sucks in multiples, and sucks if you don't RUN it in multiples (won't be able to put it into play for free)... but considering a lot of your stuff is legendary anyway... The point is it will help vs. aggro a bit (also your Vials destroy theirs, preventing them from bypassing the Orb/Hokori) by destroying Double Piledriver, SiegeGang becomes worthless, and stopping double Warchief... and the all-too-commong double/triple Werebear or Mongoose.
And the main reason is Karakas, of course Oh, and hey, you can pitch excess ones to Thirst for Knowledge as well then. (Compulsive Research is definitely worse here).
Hmm... I know that Glowrider will make Thirst for Knowledge less good... but you're paying 1W for your Swords now and 3 for your Jittes, etc... so I think the good that it will do will outweigh the antisynergy with Glowrider.
Oh, and hey, the Ravnica bounce lands (Azorius Chancery for you) are great with Orb/Hokori. The land itself is great to untap, and the bouncing another land is good to replay (untapped). The downside, of course, is that it SCREAMS Wasteland me - NOW! EDIT: Ooh you can untap it with Cloud of Faeries too
Hey, shouldn't you be using a Minamo, School at Water's Edge, or is that just somewhat crappy when you're trying to avoid wasteland / creatures would untap anyway / don't tap the things that aren't going to untap to do so.... eh?
While netdecking and testing VileHorror i thought about Biorhythm. Sure its really expensive, off-color and crappy but still you're always the one with creatures while playing VH. That made me think.
While netdecking and testing VileHorror i thought about Biorhythm. Sure its really expensive, off-color and crappy but still you're always the one with creatures while playing VH. That made me think.
That said, I like your ideas (god, don't ever let me play against this...)
Seriously, though, Leyline of Singularity (yuck) may actually be decent in this type of deck. Most of your stuff is legendary, it hoses many aggro decks by denying them multiple copies of beatstick-type guys, and allows you to bounce the creature of your choice with Karakas...including your Cloud of Faeries, if you need to.
And yes, no incantatrix for you. Or anyone. That class makes puppies cry. Mostly because they are the former Big Bads who have been Baleful Polymorphed into said puppies. By you. Because you're an incantatrix.
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I suppose it's true. Though the logistics implied in a human/Great Wyrm Prismatic Dragon pairing makes me shudder.
...Something tells me that even should all arcane casters in the world unite, that the Grease spell would NOT be sufficient.
Excellent. It is such a pleasure to know I can count on you people for some meaningful input.
1. Minamo, tried it. I took it out simply because the basic land count is getting a bit unstable and I had yet to use it's ability.
2. Azorius Chancery, now THAT is a good idea. I am only fearful that it is dangerous to slow this deck down any further, but I am pretty sure I will be trying this out seriously. Good call Stephen.
3. Exile seems like an odd recommendation. Swords to Plowshares is superior in my experience, and still a lot cheaper.
4. Disruptive Pitmage et al may not work out. I just can't see paying 3 for a 1/1 with that ability.
5. Leyline of Singularity is very interesting, but I think the investment to make it decent (4 of that and 4 Karakas) is a bit prohibitive. That sounds like another deck, although an interesting one.
6. Thirst for Knowledge is a cool card, but again, I have been using Court Hussar to fill that role. And I am considering Spire Owl as well. You have to remember that non-creature spells are a liability and must be kept to a minimum. Creatures evade Glowrider and benefit from Aether Vial. Under these unusual circumstances, choices like Hokori over Winter Orb make good sense.
7. Opposition has possibilities, however. I have to play against Goblins to really test this, though. I don't really know if I will have enough creatures that can't attack well to make this matter. I have been thinking about Meloku as a finisher and a big rear end. This might be a working pair. Or does Meloku just win on its own?
8. What do you folks think of Viseling? I have been forcing opponents to discard a lot, and this could prove a good source of offense. Are there any creatures that do this ability and don't suck?
9. Smokestack. Yeah. I have been kicking this idea around. I am afraid that they will be sacrificing permanently tapped lands while Hokori is in play. My experience with stax is limited to playing against it. Shouldn't I be concerned about sacrificing my own permanants (and not being able to afford it)?
10. Currently, I have Capashen Unicorn for defense, but I am not confident in it.
******************************
so...
-Azorius Chancery - thumbs up
-Capahen Unicorn in sb needs a replacement - Seal of Cleansing?
-Meloku main - I like the idea of having a lot of legendary blokes if I have Karakas. Plus, with Hokori in play, pay 1, return a perma-tapped land, replay it. Good times.
-Viseling - even worth consideration?
-Minamo, probably not since I am going with the Chancery.
Please give me opinions on these changes.
******************************
I will be editing the opening post. BTW, tried this against solidarity and rolled it 3 times in a row. This looks very promising.
Finn you're my hero! I love how that ended up turning out.
While we're on the idea of "tap for 2" lands, I started thinking back to Karoo and Coral Atoll - but you don't/won't need more than 4, and you want to have the Azorius Chancery over them - colored mana is stronger. (Lotus Vale and Scorched Ruins need to get the hell away from the deck... BACK! BACK I SAY! [they beg to be Wastelanded even more]) So anyway my suggestion now is Soldevi Excavations. True you lose an untapped Island, but you get the mana back immediately. Which means you can have an Island out and play the Post, then play Cloud of Faeries with it, and untap the land itself and another land (hopefully a chancery ;)) netting two mana for 1WUU.
My qualm is the Jitte. YUCK. I'd never run 4 outside of Type 2, and even then, I'd want to keep one in the board. In Legacy, I like 2 maindeck, with 1 in the board, or a maximum of 3 mainboard if you think that it is extra synergistic in some fashion.
And Faeries' errata to their old ways help you a lot with being able to Vial them out... and net 2 to 4 mana while your opponant is stuck untapping one land per tern... sick!
Can you type up an ideal play for us please?
Maybe
Turn 1 - Aether Vial
Turn 2 - StP some crap, or if you had a Chrome Mox, play a Jitte or something good. Play an Azorius Chancery.
Turn 3 - Replay the land. Tap the chancery, land, and mox for WWUU, vial in a Faerie, tap for WUU more... WWWUUU cast Augustin for 2WU. Cast a Glowrider for 1W. Let the tax collecting begin.
Sea Drake might not be a good idea with the Chancery, but you should be fine, especially with only 3... it's not like this is Faerie Stompy.
While netdecking and testing VileHorror i thought about Biorhythm. Sure its really expensive, off-color and crappy but still you're always the one with creatures while playing VH. That made me think.
You might have noticed this but i thought i'd give it a go, also i dont play legacy so dont know much about combos or anything. You could go at the end of opponents turn ill bounce my hokori with karaka so I get to untap and they dont. Then you simply play it again and build up enough mana for something like arbiter.
I play alot of deck with Vail in then and Vails are only strong when you protect them. If some removal comes though your locks you will be set back... far back.
@FATALAssassin - yes, thank you. That is the plan.
@Magician of thought - This is true about the Vial. The thing with it is, you can't build a deck around it alone. That is why Goblins works so well with it - it's only one of three ways to cheat on the cost of a Goblin. I also have some other stuff as well, Augustin in particular, but Moxes and now Chancery are both good in that role, especially with CLoud of Fairies. I have not had a problem missing the vials too much so far. Oh, and I not use The Rack with mana denial.
@Isamaru - There are a lot of good openings. A heckuvalot. Perhaps I can recount some.
control opening with creatures:
Turn 1 - Land, Vial; Turn 2 - Chancery, something; Turn 3 - Vial in Faeries, Augustin, Hokori, smile.
or aggro:
Turn 1 - Land, Mox, Jitte; Turn 2 - Chancery, Cloud of Faeries, equip
or aggro-control:
Turn 1 - Land, Mox, Jitte; Turn 2 - Glowrider
But the openings are not as impressive as the mid-late game. Hokori soft lock is very good, and gets better when other parts are added like Glowrider, Augustine, or Karakas (especially with Vial).
I tested this morning again on MWS. It was a little depresing. With Mage in the sb, the land deck did well versus me. It is all.I.ever.play.against.anymore..................
And so very boring. It takes 40 minutes every time. And I can't get accurate data since it is all I see.
Oh - you're running into it a lot too!? egh I seem to be running into it as well... and yes, it takes 20-30 minutes just to play one game! It's quite annoying... sigh. Back to Basics or Tsabo's Web FTW! hehe
They had Mage in the sideboard or you did...? How can lands that don't untap hurt you so much? I have noticed that Jitte is sadly trumped by Maze of Ith :(...
If you are worried about Tangle Wire and Trinisphere being slow at 3, try putting in City of Traitors (would probably die too much though) or Ancient Tomb (wayyy too much pain) because they can even be untapped with the Faeires... sadly the Faeries will stop netting you mana under a Trinisphere if you don't vial em in... also some of your other spells are sucky then (like Chrome Mox, Vial, etc.) and worse yet... each copy is redundant, unlike stax, who can just play them and sac them to stax... so it's probably not worth using Trinisphere...
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While netdecking and testing VileHorror i thought about Biorhythm. Sure its really expensive, off-color and crappy but still you're always the one with creatures while playing VH. That made me think.
You're trying to play Tax instead of Stax? Nice ;).
I would suggest runing any combination of Ancient Tomb and City of traitors in order to play costly creatures faster, it also works well with Faerie.
Also, Daze, Fow, Force Spike or any random counterspell seems to be the key.
Other Stax cards, like Trinisphere, Wire, Sphere or Resistance and Chalice seem to be worth consider.
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Whenever enchanted land becomes tapped, everyone goes WHHEEE
your mom uses the stack
Someday all lands will be controlled by all players and all creatures will be equal.
Daze is strongest here... especially under winter orb (synergy there) and it also works well because they'll be having trouble paying for things under the orb already. One sided goodness :).... Replaying your lands untapped... sadly I think thats why City of Traitors wont be as effective here.
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While netdecking and testing VileHorror i thought about Biorhythm. Sure its really expensive, off-color and crappy but still you're always the one with creatures while playing VH. That made me think.
Given any thought to Spiketail Hatchling? Cheaper and more evasive than the Disruptive Student/Pitmage, and while you have to sacrifice it to actually counter a spell, just by being in play it makes opponents keep an extra untapped if they really want a spell to get through. I've always loved the card :D.
That was my good idea. Now, for my stupid idea: Rishadan Cutpurse. Ha-ha! Not good, but could certainly be fun.
Yes, can't believe we didn't think of Spiketail Hatchling - he's AWESOME to Vial out in response to a spell Although it doesn't help by returning land to be replayed under an Orb/Hokori, it doesn't cost an additional 1 with Glowrider out.
As for the Rishadan Cutpurse, I think it may cost a bit too much for its effect, sadly
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While netdecking and testing VileHorror i thought about Biorhythm. Sure its really expensive, off-color and crappy but still you're always the one with creatures while playing VH. That made me think.
Spiketail hatchling sure is awesome. Vialing it out for a responce to a spell makes your opponent cry. That is always good thing to do
Any chance we'd get the most updated list?
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claiming nothing,
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I'm going to suggest a card I hate: Rootwater Thief. I hate it because it wrecks some of the decks I love to play. Therefore, it could be a very good addition to this list. Its ability does cost mana...but it's cheap for what it does. Plus, if you're bouncing your Hokori before you untap, its mana requirement is nil anyway.
For a more expensive card, when Time Spiral becomes legal, I highly recommend Teferi....god, that guy's gonna convert me to blue for SURE.
And yes, no incantatrix for you. Or anyone. That class makes puppies cry. Mostly because they are the former Big Bads who have been Baleful Polymorphed into said puppies. By you. Because you're an incantatrix.
Quote from Yukora »
This is Deraxas we're talking about.
Remember, the girl that just killed an aspect of herself before literally consuming her?
Yeah, I don't see her handling a pissing match in any way other than a duel.
Quote from RedDwarfian »
Yes mistress...
Quote from About epic-level D&D »
There are only so many epic, psuedonatural barbarian/blackguard half-dragon akutenshai vampire balor paragons they can throw at you, right?
Quote from Concerning breeding habits of humans in fantasy games »
I suppose it's true. Though the logistics implied in a human/Great Wyrm Prismatic Dragon pairing makes me shudder.
...Something tells me that even should all arcane casters in the world unite, that the Grease spell would NOT be sufficient.
1. Ancient Tomb, City of Traitors are apparently a nono. I would have to cut the Wastelands to do that, and I am not prepared to give them up.
2. Rishidan Cutpurse, and other Pirates are not going to work. The opponent can just sacrifice permatapped lands. Spelltithe Enforcer is a similar card I was giving attention to, but the same problem exists.
3. Spiketail Hatchling, now there is a good idea. A Daze that can hold a Jitte and flies gets the thumbs up from me. Just what to cut...
4. I have been rethinking the inclusion of Kataki, War's Wage. Not so good with some of my cards, but so good against certain opponents. Maybe in the sb.
5. Rootwater Thief actually had been in earlier (years earlier) versions of this deck, and it was feared. I am not likely to reintroduce it, however, since its ability is so hard to use when I am forcing even myself to pay extra. I think we must remain focused on the taxation aspect, or the deck is doomed. As it is, I am not convinced there are enough cards in existence that bring up this part of the game.
Oh, and by the way, AoK, you are so lovely for calling me evil. When it comes to deckbuilding, I'm sure we all take that as a compliment.
6. Man-O-War has been superb and is definitely the direction the deck needs to go. It is a tempo shift, and my opponent's creatures are made hard to resummon by the remainder of the deck. I have bumbed it to four.
7. Sea Drake is often the hammer stroke, but I am wondering if there isn't something better. I am drifting towards Somnophore.
8. Finally, like any good thread, I will be updating the opening post with whatever version I am currently backing.
And yes, no incantatrix for you. Or anyone. That class makes puppies cry. Mostly because they are the former Big Bads who have been Baleful Polymorphed into said puppies. By you. Because you're an incantatrix.
Quote from Yukora »
This is Deraxas we're talking about.
Remember, the girl that just killed an aspect of herself before literally consuming her?
Yeah, I don't see her handling a pissing match in any way other than a duel.
Quote from RedDwarfian »
Yes mistress...
Quote from About epic-level D&D »
There are only so many epic, psuedonatural barbarian/blackguard half-dragon akutenshai vampire balor paragons they can throw at you, right?
Quote from Concerning breeding habits of humans in fantasy games »
I suppose it's true. Though the logistics implied in a human/Great Wyrm Prismatic Dragon pairing makes me shudder.
...Something tells me that even should all arcane casters in the world unite, that the Grease spell would NOT be sufficient.
Mistblade shinobi actually isn't bad. Returning something like cloud of faeries into your hand, then replaying it, untapping a karoo and a normal land for a free unsummon and creature. You might want to consider it and/or Ninja of the deep hours
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There are certain base cards that you should try to avoid removing. They are the heart and soul of what makes Death and Taxes work. Here they are:
Mother of Runes - Has become one of the centerpieces of the deck. It can make an attacker unblockable, nullify an opponent's attacker, and protect your guys against removal. The net result is a smoothing agent to make the deck more consistent. And she draws out turn 1 Force of Will like a champ. I would play 8 if I could.
Stoneforge Mystic - Fills a lot of roles. It gets around countermagic to seal the deal early if you Vial it in. It can save you in the mid-late game. It breaks card parity. It is a mini search engine.
Jotun Grunt - New players and green splashers are often quick to dismiss this one if their metagame tends toward aggro and tribal. And it can occasionally be a short-lived creature. But it is fabulous when it faces Tarmogoyfs or any deck that relies on its graveyard. And it is the only creature in the deck that is big enough and cheap enough to stand up to Zoo on its own. Aggressive and disruptive is key.
Serra Avenger - She hates lightning bolts. But otherwise is a super creature. Flying is a big deal against a lot of decks. And she loves holding equipment and not tapping. The only non-disruptive creature in the deck is here for good reason.
Flickerwisp - This is probably the single most effective weapon in the deck. It is another aggressive and disruptive card in one. Pretty much every deck has permanents that don't do well against a Flickerwisp. It is nearly always a 2 for 1, and is particularly good off a Vial. Be sure to check out the Flickerwisp Tricks section for examples of its application.
Mangara of Corondor - The original focus of the deck and just as potent today. You can remove a permanent and recur the effect. Opponents fear this card, and having it online is typically game. Be sure to check out the section detailing its application.
Aether Vial - The entire reason I built Death and Taxes in the first place was in attempt to break this card following the tepid reception to an article I wrote. It is indispensable.
Swords to Plowshares - This is another card I would play more of if I could. Path to Exile is no substitute.
Rishadan Port - In most cases this card is better in this deck than Wasteland. That is saying a lot.
Karakas - As long as Mangara is worth having, so is this. It even has defensive uses these days.
Plains - I felt that I needed to stress the advantage of having plenty of basic lands in a deck. Some people dismiss the idea. I enjoy beating them after denying them a color.
There are a lot of other cards that, perhaps have been used at some point, and yet do not make my current 75. Most are good against a particular metagame, and could come back. With a lot of help from T3hwooki3, these are some with what they do and in some cases the reasons why most players are not using them:
Creatures with aggressive characteristics:
-Though these guys can have phenomenal abilities, their primary function is not to provide tempo advantage or disruption. They are here to improve our clock.
1CC:
Isamaru, Hound of Konda-OK for aggressive versions. It still has some nifty interactions with Karakas, but a vanilla 2/2 for 1 just does not cut it anymore.
Savannah Lions&Elite Vanguard-Strictly worse than Pootch aside from being able to play multiples at once. Isamaru's niche is that he can block Goblin Lackeys all day and produce a pseudo Fog effect with Karakas. These two aren't terrible but if aggression's your thing, there are simply better options.
Steppe Lynx-Terrible without fetchlands. Terrible in 'vanilla' D&T in that we don't run fetchlands. If you're utilizing Sensei's Divining Top however, less terrible but probably unnecessary.
2CC:
Soltari Priest-Priest is perfect for heavy red metagames, when BFT is not enough.
Silver Knight-When Goblins were everywhere, this guy really shined.
Knight of Meadowgrain-First-strike and lifegain.
Epochrasite-When coming in off of a Vial or returning from death he's a 4/4. With the prevalence of StP and Pridemage he's a lot less attractive.
Kor Firewalker-His ability can't be needled and can help you race against goblins or Burn. Being a 2/2 is an important advantage because he takes down a goblin on most defenses and he also fits the Vial spot better than BFT.
3CC:
Pianna, Nomad Captain-First suggested by Amoebasinger, Pianna's interaction with Karakas and pump effect has earned him some consideration.
Soltari Champion-An interesting choice. Essentially a different flavor of Pianna. Doesn't pump itself when attacking, and can't be saved with Karakas. His evasive ability makes him a solid candidate for equipment.
Stillmoon Cavalier-This guy contends for our 3-drop spot against creatures that are arguably the 'core' of D&T. Still, his pro:StP and attractive equipment-wearing abilities aren't terrible. In a Deadguy/Pox/Weenie environment he could shine...
4CC:
Exalted Angel-Ostensibly costs you 7 over time. You'll hardly even waste a Vial to sneak one out, and you won't be hardcasting her. She's a hard sell for her mana investment. But lists looking for something different could accommodate her with a higher land count.
Creatures with useful abilities:
-These critters offer either disruptive, defensive, or tempo-oriented abilities along with being able to turn sideways.
1CC:
Martyr of Sands-Ridiculous lifegain for Vanilla D&T. She's essentially a speed bump into life in increments of 3. Not a bad sideboard card if your meta is flooded with mono-red.
Burrenton Forge-Tender-Good against Goblins, Burn, and Dredge. Decent against Zoo and Tempo Threshold. It's awful against everything else.
Icatian Javelineers-Has seen better days in standard being that the field was awash in x/1s like Dark Confidant. Outclassed by almost anything else, he could find a home in the right meta.
Goldmeadow Harrier-Good against Emrakul decks. Decent against everything. Just a bit weak.
Children of Korlis-Has some cool interactions with Sword of Light and Shadow, and is helpful against storm decks, but it is very narrow.
Benevolent Bodyguard-Supplements Mom and stops Bridge from Below. Not a bad 1-drop in a field awash with dredge.
Glittering Lynx-Similar to Knight of the Holy Nimbus in that it's difficult to kill. No other abilities and relatively weak p/t make it nigh unplayable.
Weathered Wayfarer-An excellent 1-drop for a deck that is begging for one. But this same deck needs to be doing something useful with turn 2 mana, and does not play fetchlands to abuse it anyway. Has the useful duty of recycling Wastelands with Jotun Grunt.
2CC:
Knight of the White Orchid-Less than stellar without Fieldmist Borderpost and the like. A great source of deck thinning aside from the caveat that you must have less lands than your opponent for his ability to trigger.
Knight of the Holy Nimbus-With our mana-denial strategy, and to a lesser extent Cataclysm he's a hard dude to kill. Negates exalted, shrinks Goyf, kills Lackeys outright, and sticks around post-combat more often than not. If you're desperate for a 2-drop, he's really a last resort.
Ethersworn Canonist-A turn 2 Canonist has won many D&T players games against combo. She's a respectable attacker and can be kept as an artifact with Cataclysm and fetched with E-tutor.
Spectral Lynx-Kitty's evasion against aggressive decks has earned him a home in some Deadguy lists. There's no reason he can't earn slots in D&T if the meta demands it.
Samurai of the Pale Curtain-Hoses dredge, Stax, some versions of Landstill. Most opponents can simply ignore it though.
True Believer-Uses against storm combo, black discard, direct damage. Not nearly as appealing as it seems on paper.
Leonin Arbiter-Has applications against fetchlands, Natural Order, and random stuff. But the banning of Mystical Tutor and Survival of the Fittest have narrowed it
considerably. Combined with its poor interaction with the Mystic we use, it is a dead end.
Leonin Relic-Warder - It looks like a gem on paper, but it has the tendency to be clunky in operation because there needs to be a target in play when you cast him or he is just a bear.
Kataki, War's Wage-anti-Affinity and Stax, usually unnecessary with our tutorable Aura of Silence in the board.
Eight-and-a-Half-Tails-In lists packing 17 or more white sources he can be used strategically to dodge removal and push through damage. He also combos with Karakas just like Isamaru. We typically have better options, but his abilities are attractive at the very least.
3CC:
Glowrider-annoys blue decks and is gigantic against storm combo, but the cost is high and it is awful against tribal.
Aven Mindcensor-hoses fetchlands and Natural Order better than Leonin Arbiter, but is typically a turn too slow.
Kitchen Finks-Popular solution for anti-aggro, especially Zoo. But at that price, it is not the game-breaker we would need it to be.
Stonecloaker-Lots of good interactions and disruption. Lost a lot of its lustre with the rules change for combat damage though. A bit expensive at 3.
Tivadar of Thorn-Goblins are very popular. Goblins are also one of our favorable matchups. Only necessary if you expect to see little green men all day. And only in the sideboard at that.
4CC:
Hokori, Dust Drinker-It can provide a one-sided Winter Orb for a control-heavy meta, but at 4, is too expensive most of the time.
Commander Eesha-Barely playable at 4, she can block anything all day and survive. Now if she had vigilance, she might make the cut.
Spells:
-This encompasses both utility and removal spells available to the discerning D&T player.
1CC:
Path to Exile-Has applications against, well just about everything. But it is not good in any D&T list attempting to use the mana-denial strategy.
Oust - This has become a favorite of mine. When you are denying mana, your opponents really don't want to be drawing the creature again.
Sunlance-3 damage to target merfolk/goblin/elf/lavamancer isn't terrible. Sorcery-speed vs. instant-speed is the selling point here. If you're rolling with the mana-denial strategy and don't want to run PtE, Lance' might be an option.
Orim's Chant&Silence-These have been proper storm hate for a long time, but storm has decreased in popularity and done a better job of handling these cards recently.
Mana Tithe-White Force Spike is a highly controversial card. Lists trying to abuse it should pack as much tempo-oriented control spells as possibly to maximize its effectiveness. Has positive interaction with Hokori, mana-denial, Canonist, Clysm', and Geddon' strategies.
Tithe-Nets you at least 1 plains when you need it. Not bad in lists with a higher curve or mana-intensive requirement.
2CC:
Abeyance-The poor man's Orim's Chant, Abeyance offers us nothing Chant can't do better. It cantrips and supplements Chant/Silence in the board against metas saturated with combo.
Disenchant-Straightforward artifact/enchantment removal. Pretty baseline in comparison to Tutor package.
Tariff-When Natural Order Progenitus decks and Reanimator were heavily in the metagame, this was an occasional solution.
Revoke Existence-Same as Disenchant, except it prevents the unlikely recurring of pesky artifacts/enchantments.
Gilded Light-A turn too slow against combo, but not terrible against burn. A hard sell in the main/side with so many better options.
3CC:
Wing Shards-It is nasty against Progenitus and does the job against Emrakul if all else fails. It is also handy against Goblins, Zoo, and Merfolk. But the casting cost is heartbreakingly difficult to muster when it matters most.
Retribution of the Meek-This was used against Progenitus before equipment became a staple of the deck. Also quite handy against Goyfs, and decks abusing Lords.
Tivadar's Crusade-Complete overkill against Goblins. Seek this spell's namesake if you need additional anti-goblin hate.
4CC:
Cataclysm-still the best method to dig you out or put you ahead against a variety of opponents - just not against aggro-control. Interacts favorably with Flagstones of Trokair, Mana Tithe and Rishadan Port/Wasteland allowing you to maintain control post-Clysm'.
Wrath of God-Blows up dudes, but at 4 mana is a bit expensive for D&T. However, sideboarded ***s have been a Weenie strategy for time immemorial.
Day of Judgement-Same as *** except they can regenerate, which is almost nonexistent in Legacy. Also, if you're running *** and have access to DoJs you can run a split to avoid Extirpate though that's not as likely to happen.
Armageddon-Again, a Weenie strategy that's been around forever. But that was ages ago, you'd really have to build around it in order to abuse it.
*NOTE*-Free spells? Should they have their own heading? I'm of course talking about 'traps' or any sort of pact-type spell that's free when conditions are met.
Chalice of the Void-Brutal sideboard hate against a variety of decks. Switches D&T's role entirely though.
Mindbreak Trap-Storm combo hate with the ability to make elves play fair, but overall rather narrow.
Leyline of Sanctity-Turn 0 answer against Tendrils and mono-red. A bit narrow, but fills the niche spot nicely in the right environment.
Ravenous Trap-Hate against graveyard-dependent lists with the ability to target specific cards like Bridge from Below or Rite of Flame against combo.
Artifacts and Enchantments:
-These are cards that are (typically) sorcery-speed with requiring a time investment to have an immediate effect.
1CC:
Sensei's Divining Top-An old standby for VCA and card parity. Has had a hard time competing for slots since D&Ts inception. If you're using it, you should be abusing it with fetchlands.
Basilisk Collar-Pseudo-removal for the Mystic package. Competes for a spot against much more versatile equipment.
Relic of Progenitus-Great anti-graveyard hate in the sideboard. Absolutely backbreaking if you can get it out in time.
Porphyry Nodes-Obscenely slow anti-aggro sideboard tech. Has seen some love in standard some years back, but hard to implement in the current Legacy environment.
Meekstone-Fetchable hate against aggro and giant beasties.
2CC:
Thorn of Amethyst-Cheaper than Glowrider, more resilient to being blown up than Glowrider, all while being tutorable. Not a bad 1-of in your board if you're looking to supplement your answers against combo.
Sphere of Resistance-This one is similar to the Thorn, but it also works against Elves and Aluren at the price of slowing you down as well.
Mask of Memory-Feeds Grunt, offers card selection.
Isochron Scepter-Suggested as a sideboard card for E-tutor. Can occasionally imprint removal/Chant-like spells. Requires significant testing to find a home in D&T.
Journey to Nowhere a bit of an odd one in Legacy, though it has uses. In toolbox builds packing E-tutor it offers up another way of dealing with problematic creatures like Emrakul, the Aeons Torn with a less versatile approach. Unlike Oblivion Ring it can't get rid of Goblin Charbelcher.
Powder Keg-The original colorless removal. Not bad against armies of tokens. Strictly sideboard material in an E-tutor suite.
Ratchet Bomb-Same as above.
Absolute Law-Anti Goblins, Zoo, and Firespout.
Serenity-When Aura of Silence is not enough against Raffinity. Has applications against Belcher, Merfolk, and Goblins if you get it out in time.
3CC:
Oblivion Ring-Highly versatile removal with Flickerwisp shenanigans. Has seen better days.
Sword of Body and Mind-Strictly speaking this is the worst sword to use in your Mystic package. However, it has shown some positive results. In a field where you want more blue protection simply run another SoFI. Any decks packing green are likely relying on Tarmogoyfs beating your face in, and we're not in the business of making that easier on them by dumping 10 cards into their gy.
Ghostly Prison-Sideboard hate against tokens and aggro.
Ensnaring Bridge-This card has applications similar to Meekstone, and has the benefit of not requiring you to either tap the opponent's creatures or take a hit from each.
Lands:
-These fuel our spells while occasionally offering useful abilities to supplement our gameplan.
Plains-You want a bare minimum of 15 white sources in 'vanilla' D&T. Going under this will make you susceptible to mana-screw.
Eiganjo Castle-Any lists running a high legend count can consider this, but also examine the prevalence of Wasteland effects in your meta first.
Flagstones of Trokair-Not a bad idea if you run Cataclysm somewhere in your 75. You want at least 2 with a maximum of 3 mainboard lest you invite disaster with double flagstones opening 7.
Mishra's Factory-Stricly for aggressive versions of D&T not running the mana-denial strategy. Can roll in under Humility and pick up equipment.
Horizon Canopy-Great as a 2-of in G/W builds. Could possibly have a home in Vanilla D&T, but terrible as your only white sources against aggro.
4 Wasteland
4 Rishadan Port
4 Karakas
11 Plains
Creatures
4 Mother of Runes
3 Phyrexian Revoker
3 Stoneforge Mystic
3 Jotun Grunt
4 Serra Avenger
4 Flickerwisp
3 Mangara of Corondor
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Oust
Artifacts
4 Aether Vial
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Jotun Grunt
1 Oust
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Runed Halo
1 Aura of Silence
1 Wheel of Sun and Moon
1 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Relic of Progenitus
3 Ethersworn Canonist
4 Enlightened Tutor
Being a mono-colored deck, it lacks the raw power of some of the many-color decks that you will be facing. But it gets to use more of its lands to further disrupt the opponent's gameplan. In this particular version, there is some extra removal and the creatures also tend to be less aggressive and more disruptive. Taken together it plays more like control than any of the current splash versions.
4 Aether Vial
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Umezawa's Jitte
Creatures
4 Mother of Runes
2 Jotun Grunt
4 Qasali Pridemage
3 Stoneforge Mystic
3 Gaddock Teeg
4 Flickerwisp
4 Knight of the Reliquary
3 Mangara of Corondor
4 Swords to Plowshares
Lands
2 Horizon Canopy
4 Savannah
4 Wasteland
4 Windswept Heath
2 Forest
2 Plains
4 Karakas
2 Pithing Needle
4 Ethersworn Canonist
3 Krosan Grip
2 Oust
2 Condemn
2 Jotun Grunt
The main difference is that you trade in the extra mana disruption for some choice creatures like Gaddock Teeg and Qasali Pridemage. You also have the option of Tarmogoyf and Knight of the Reliquary for a very aggressive version. The manabase becomes a bit unstable this way, but not too bad by Legacy standards. The decks play very similar.
Here is another recent version in 3 colors that took three colors at a Star City Games Open.
4 Aether Vial
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
Creatures
3 Mother of Runes
4 Dark Confidant
2 Qasali Pridemage
3 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Mangara of Corondor
Other
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Thoughtseize
1 Forest
1 Plains
1 Swamp
2 Bayou
3 Savannah
2 Scrubland
2 Verdant Catacombs
3 Wasteland
4 Windswept Heath
3 Karakas
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
4 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Extirpate
2 Path to Exile
2 Duress
3 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Bojuka Bog
This is the deck Brian Fisher piloted to 3rd place at SCG Indianapolis. You can see that much of the core disruptive creatures of the deck have been replaced with more aggressive ones. And there are a few shaved numbers of cards that should be present in higher numbers for full benefits. The gain is in access to lots of powerful effects like discard and draw. This one is more PT Junk with Mangara and Mystic than it is D+T.
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I. What makes it special?
At the time of this draft, there are a number good decks in virtually every color combination using some of the same basic principles that this deck does. Efficient creatures, Aether Vial, and equipment has become a popular strategy for good reason. Death and Taxes can be picked out by the presence of Mangara of Corondor. But he is only a representative of an entire strategy. This deck makes use of tricks without devotion of design space. That is, the entire deck works without using any tricks and every card works fine on its own. But there are many tricks of timing and rules manipulation to employ. These tricks provide the control features and are what win you games. I am going to try to provide something close to an exhaustive list.
You are going to find that opponents will stop at nothing to rid themselves of Mangara once they understand what he can do.
1. How does the Mangara soft lock work?
You tap him and return him with Karakas or "flicker" him from play with the Flickerwisp while his ability is on the stack. Do not tap Mangara and ask "OK?". You have to respond with the unsummon effect before you ask for a response or a savvy opponent will simply do nothing and you will not get a chance to.
2. If you are removing mana sources, do it on your own turn whenever possible.
3. If you are trying to maximize instead, consider something like this:
-a. block a Nimble Mongoose
-b. tap to remove an attacking Tarmogoyf from the game
-c. use Karakas or Flickerwisp to circumvent Mangara removing himself from the game
1. Vial it in to save Mangara or Grunt from themselves.
2. Hardcast it to "untap" one of your creatures after combat.
3. Vial it in to "Port" an opponent's land on their upkeep or (even better) at your own end of turn step.
4. Hardcast it targeting your own land to make it essentially only cost two mana.
5. Hardcast it to remove a blocker.
6. Vial it in to prevent an opposing creature from attacking for a turn.
7. Vial it in to take out Counterbalance so you can cast a spell.
8. Vial it in to counter a removal spell from your opponent.
9. Vial it in to temporarily remove Standstill.
10. Hardcast it to make a Phyrexian Dreadnought look silly.
11. Hardcast it removing Vial, Chalice, or Engineered Explosives to remove all counters. {snicker}
12. Hardcast it targeting Stoneforge Mystic to get extra equipment.
13. Hardcast it targeting another Flickerwisp to have the other Flickerwisp remove a permanent for the entire next turn.
14. Vial it in to rescue your chump blocker.
15. Hardcast it to switch your Oblivion Ring, Runed Halo, or Leonin Relic-Warder from one card to another.
16. Hardcast it to essentially take out a Mox Diamond (or Chrome Mox).
17. Vial it in to abuse the hell out of Oblivion Ring, Journey to Nowhere, Leonin Relic-Warder, or similar cards. Here's how:
a. Play Oblivion Ring.
b. With it's removal trigger on the stack (targeting, say, a Siege-Gang Commander), activate Aether Vial.
stack = 1. remove SGC (O-ring trigger) 2. Vial activation
c. Vial resolves. Vial in the Flickerwisp. Put its ability on the stack targeting your own Oblivion Ring.
stack = 1. remove SGC 2. remove O-ring (wisp trigger)
d. Flickerwisp's ability resolves removing Oblivion Ring. Oblivion Ring's second ability goes on the stack.
stack = 1. remove SGC 2. return SGC (O-ring trigger)
e. Oblivion Ring's second ability resolves, returning the Siege-Gang Commander to play, which, of course never left in the first place - so nothing happens.
stack = 1. remove SGC
f. Oblivion Ring's first ability then resolves, removing Siege-Gang Commander from the game never to return.
g. At the end of your turn, Flickerwisp's delayed trigger returns Oblivion Ring to play, removing another nonland permanent from the game as normal.
1. With a Stonecloaker and a Leonin Relic-Warder, you can respond to the Warder's first trigger with flashing in the Stonecloaker in much the same fashion the Flickerwisp-Oblivion Ring trick works, only you don't need a Vial if you can spend the five mana. If you then return the Warder to your hand, the target you chose with it will never return, the Stonecloaker will be in play, and the Warder will be back in your hand. If you have a Vial@2, you could do the entire thing at instant speed including removal of a card from a graveyard.
2. Vial in a Warder to disable Standstill.
3. Vial in a Warder to remove a Mishra's Factory worker even after it is no longer an artifact.
Thanks to T3hwo0ki3 for putting this section together. Stonecloaker's seen better days before WoTC removed damage on the stack. However, he's not without his myriad uses:
He flashes in for 2W or vials in for 3. So we can effectively play him whenever either of those conditions are met.
-His first triggered ability has two separate uses:
1)He can save one of your creatures from imminent death by dodging removal or allowing you to block a big critter you have no right blocking.
2)He also allows us to abuse our utility creatures.
Optimally, while their ability is on the stack, windmill a Cloaker' down to return one of these to your hand:
Leonin Relic-Warder
Kitchen Finks
Phyrexian Revoker
Mangara of Corondor
Flickerwisp
Jotun Grunt
Stoneforge Mystic
Or simply recycle them for a rainy day.
-His second triggered ability lets us graveyard snipe:
Exiling troublesome GY cards such as Bridge from Below, Rite of Flame, a Dread Return, Life from the Loam, reanimation targets, Goblin Welder targets, pesky artifacts against decks packing Academy Ruins, etc.
-All while being able to selectively shrink Tarmogoyfs and Knights of the Reliquary for potential combat blowouts.
The best part of all of that?
In nearly all of those situations we end up with a 3/2 flier at instant speed, possibly EOT. That simply means that unless you're saving an Avenger or Wisp, he's going to be a more aggressive creature than you just had in play with evasion.
1. You can keep a big beastie from killing you with Children of Korlis and any other creature eqiupped with a Sword of Light and Shadow. Burrenton Forge-Tender can also accomplish this (and does not require you to take the damage first), but only against something red like Progenitus.
2. If you are facing an opponent who has a Life from the Loam engine, you can get rid of it if you set your Vial to 2 and put a Grunt onto the battlefield at his end of turn step.
3. Use Stonecloaker to save your creature from spot removal or lethal damage.
1. Combo. That has been a complaint throughout the life of this deck, but you can have a good (not great) combo matchup by including some of the following: Mindbreak Trap, Ethersworn Canonist, Glowrider, and Orim's Chant. I recommend only the Canonist and Orim's Chant (or Silence).
2. Not particularly fast. This is partly in the same realm as the combo problem, as that is where it is most glaring since your hate is a stall tactic, and you can't alpha strike to make it hurt the most.
3. Still bad against Landstill. There are some people who have managed to make this a good matchup with specialty cards, but in most cases it is dreadful.
What it is relatively strong against
1. Merfolk - The equipment is a tough ride for the fish. And you are better equipped to handle their vial than they are to handle yours.
2. Tempo-Threshold - You match their early game nearly as well, and your late game is greatly superior.
3. NO-Pro-Counter/Top - You have some decent tools for Progenitus, and you are generally well-prepared for this deck.
4. Goblins - Mom and Mystic are excellent recent additions to improve this already good matchup.
5. Bant - Survival Bant, NoPro Bant, and just plain Bant are all good matchups for D+T.
What it is about even against
1. Zoo - Almost always good grinding games. Sometimes they go well, sometimes not.
2. Aggro-Loam - You have to handle Seismic Assault (Revokers are perfect). But outside of that, you have some really good tools.
3. Reanimator - Vial and Karakas combine to shut down Iona. But turn 2 shroud 7/11 is still a tall order to beat.
4. Lands - You have a certain amount of hate, but you have to really know the deck in g1 to make it work. A good SB helps after that.
What it is relatively weak against
1. Landstill - You are not usually fast enough to kill him before the card advantage begins to pour in, and those versions running Pernicious Deed can be a particular struggle. Not unwinnable, but your late-game strength is reduced if you don't have Cataclysm, Hokori, or other specific cards. Turn 1 Aether Vial makes this a lot easier.
2. Storm combo - Worst matchup. Either you have the hate or you don't. Chant and especially Canonist are extremely good here, but you have to leave mana open for Chant and still somehow resolve threats early.
3. Board control decks - They thrive on aggro-control and that means this deck as well. However, Mangara, Stoneforge Mystic, and Flickerwisp can all be effective countermeasures.
III. Tips on gameplay
A. When do I reveal which creature I am vialing into play?
After the opponent agrees that the Aether Vial activation resolves. Not before. This can be an extremely important part of your tricks, so don't tip your hand by rushing through. The judge should side with an opponent who complains that he was not given a chance to respond to a vial actvation.
B. What is the best time to play Stoneforge Mystic? Unless your Vial is at two with no better play, wait until your hand is depleted in most cases. The exception might be an opportunity to sneak an attacker through with a Sword (since it has to connect to have its full effect).
C. How do I unsummon or "flicker" a creature carrying a Jitte during combat so that the creature does not take damage, and yet the Jitte gets counters?
You can't.
D. Know how to play Karakas. If the opponent can kill lands, a lost Port is less of a hassle than Karakas. If you have two, try to get him to waste a card on the first one. Play Plains before Karakas unless you have two legendary lands in the opening hand. If you have only Plains out, and the opponent plays Wasteland, you can use your own Wasteland on it, leaving him no target. Or just hit it while it is tapped. I see opponents using Wasteland on my Ports frequently, especially if I landed a turn 1 Vial. This is always good for us.
E. The creatures in D+T are there to provide disruption and also aggression. So you played a couple of opponents where Flickerwisp was nothing special? It happens. Just don't be hasty and start reworking the deck after only a few matches. They are all going to be mediocre from time to time. Adjust them in the main/sideboard to suit.
F. If you have Isamaru and Karakas in your opening hand, use a Plains to play Isamaru instead. Save the Karakas for after they decide whether or not to FoW. They can not respond to you playing a land on turn two.
G. Birds of Paradise and Noble Hierarch can hurt you a lot. Hit them with Sword to Plowshares turn one. Same goes for Chrome Mox and Mox Diamond. If you have Oblivion Ring or Flickerwisp, either is a very good target.
H. As with all aggro control decks, your strategy is going to be radically different depending on the opponent. Unlike most aggro control decks, much of the control comes from the creatures themselves. So while the Counter-Top player has to decide whether to lay down a turn two Counterbalance or Tarmogoyf (control or aggro), you will need to figure out if you want to cast Stoneforge Mystic or a Jotun Grunt (card advantage or aggro, but both creatures).
I. Remember that Mangara's ability removes him on resolution. That means that if you target, say, a Tropical Island and the opponent responds by using his own Wasteland on it, Mangara stays in play as long as you did not already use Karakas or Stonecloaker or Flickerwisp or something on it.
J. If you target a permanent with Mangara and the opponent invalidates the target (unsummons it, sacrifices it, gives it protection, etc.)in response Mangara does not remove himself as long as you did not use Karakas already.
K. Be sure to TAKE YOUR TIME when announcing that you will be using Karakas or Vialing in a Flickerwisp to save Mangara. Give your opponent an opportunity to blow a Lightning Bolt on him or make some similar mistake. You must retain priority, but until you say that you are passing it or make some other action, you still have it.
L. Play Cataclysm wisely. Pay close attention to your lands. It is a good way to get rid of extra copies of Karakas. Rishadan Port is very strong after a Cataclysm, so try to retain one. Hold on to lands once you reach four unless you have a reason not to. Don't play Cataclym if you can't handle your opponent's best creature. Ethersworn Canonist is an artifact and a creature. It can be kept as either. Flickerwisp gives you a lot of options for manipulation of what sticks around after a cataclysm, especially if you use it on an Oblivion Ring.
M. Stonecloaker can return itself or any other creature you control. You select the creature upon resolution of the ability. You can use Stonecloaker more than once in succession to remove more than one card from graveyards if you have mana and/or Vials to manage it.
IV. Matchups
Merfolk (updated 3/3/11)
-Very good matchup
-You are control
-Your goals are to keep their Vials inactive and get an Avenger or Flickerwisp attacking with equipment on it. It is really that simple. You can usually survive even two Standstills since what they really need is removal, and they have so little of it. Coralhelm Commander is a decent foil against you, but little else he has matters if you are keeping up on tempo. Creature-heavy versions suffer more from Cataclysm. He only ever wins if he gets ahead on tempo. Don't forget this. The guy with the active Vial usually wins, so you may have to call Aether Vial with a Revoker.
-The best cards for this are mostly in the main - flying creatures, equipment, cheap removal. But more cheap removal is good. Bring it all in. In my recent testing matches against Merfolk, I went 14-8.
Tempo Threshold (updated 2/21/11)
-Very good matchup
-You are control
-Your goals are to prevent an early Nimble Mongoose from killing you, and make good plays until you inevitably win. If you get some combination of SoFI and Mom preventing his removal from taking out critters, and you are slow rolling, be aware that he might be saving them for your head. Keep him off a color. Ports get used on green mana sources.
-The best cards are your mana denial, Grunts and removal. Add more if you have it.
New Horizons (updated 2/21/11)
-Very good matchup
-You are aggro or control
-Your goals are to take advantage of the glaring deficiencies of that deck. He has no flying creatures (or perhaps just Vendilion) He has limited removal. His creatures are all dependent on grave yard size. He has few or no basic lands. You will benefit from all these characteristics since it makes pretty much all of your deck's strengths relevant. Just about the only thing to be concerned with is Engineered Explosives.
-The best cards are mostly in the main, but extra grave yard hate and removal is good.
Goblins (updated 2/21/11)
-Very good matchup
-You are (usually) control
-Your goals are to get a Serra Avenger or Flickerwisp equipped with a Sword of Fire and Ice. Other versions of this scenario involve a flier with any equipment with Mother of Runes active or a Protection from Red guy from the side board. Use Cataclysm to punish him for overextending.
-Green splash improves this matchup considerably. Pridemages and bigger creatures make all the difference.
- The best cards are protection from red creatures, Absolute Law, and your equipment. Bring in extra removal.
CounterTop (including Natural Order-Progenitus) (updated 2/21/11)
-Pretty good matchup
-You are aggro
-Your goals are to not let him get you with a weak board and a Counterbalance + Top in play or to activate Jace with impunity or to sweep you out with Firespout. Don't overcommit. If you are attacking every turn and have as many relevant cards in hand as you think your opponent has, hold up a bit. This matchup is very skill-intensive. Vial is key. Just play your game. Make his Tops, Ponders, and Brainstorms use mana to search for lands instead of business as often as possible. As with all 3 and 4-color decks, keep him off a color. It is a bit complicated which is the best to deny him. Firespout is a sorcery and has that variable cost to consider. Do you have fliers or a ground crew? Green is my choice in the Progenitus versions, as they don't usually have Firespout and need that double green to get the big man with NO. Note that Cataclysm kills planeswalkers.
-The best cards are Mangara, Aether Vial, Revoker, Grunt, Gaddock Teeg, Oblivion Ring
Aggro Bant (including Natural Order-Progenitus) (updated 2/21/11)
-Fairly good matchup
-You are aggro or control
-Your goals are different for different versions, and you want to be aware of which you are playing. For Progenitus builds, try to keep him off of green mana, especially main phase. If he gets it g1, you can really only have racing it as an option. You will want a Sword of Light and Shadow for this. If it is just the creature build, beware of opposing Jittes. If he does not have Stoneforge Mystics and Jittes, you really should never lose to his "fair" creatures.
-The best cards are mostly in the main, but the extra Grunt and creature removal are good here. For Progenitus versions, Runed Halo, Wing Shards, Ensnaring Bridge, Tariff, Retribution of the Meek, and Meekstones are your outs. I think I would include the tutors to fetch them.
Dredge (updated 2/21/11)
-average matchup
-You are control
-Your goals are to disrupt that grave yard, plain and simple. If you are facing this deck and are using Burrenton Forge-Tenders in the main, bravo. Sacrifice them to prevent him from getting zombie tokens from Bridges from Below. I try to wait until I can get two Bridges. In game 1, you are occasionally in good shape if you have just 1 Jotun Grunt recycling his grave yard. The Lion's Eye Diamond variant is a bit easier in this case, as it tends to have fewer options once you remove all the dredgers from his yard, and there are fewer blockers. But I prefer to face the non-LED version because you can use Relics instead of Crypts due to their decreased speed. Equipment can be important to race with if he got a slow start. Flickerwisp removes zombies permanently. Mana denial is more important than you may think. You are not necessarily dead without grave yard hate. Games 2 and 3 give you many more chances to take control. And you are usually in a good position to capitalize on it quickly.
-The best cards are the grave yard hate package including the tutors.
Lands
-average matchup
-You are definitely aggro
-Your goals are to prevent his measures from being fully successful while delivering a constant stream of damage. These games usually come down to who knows his deck (and the opponent's deck) better, so you had better practice it plenty. Game one is all about slowing down his engine until you get either superior board position or Mangara lock. He has outs for Mangara lock, but they are weak. He can Waste his own lands or sacrifice them to Zuran Orb when you target them. Superior board position indicates that you have Ports for his Mazes and he can't make his Factories big enough to matter. Neither of these measures is anything like an absolute for you. In fact, Jotun Grunt is the only thing that can mess with his engine at all, and it is weak. You will have to do things like Ring his Exploration, Flicker his Mox Diamond, Port or even Waste green mana sources (even though he can get them back) to limit his ability to Loam. If you are attacking this whole time, these measures can slow Lands down enough to get it done. Keep in mind that his best answer for your threats is Intuition into Engineered Explosives or something similar. That is a big investment in mana for him, and not a perfect solution anyway. Even recursion of his explosives is complicated by your disruption. So keep him on his heels.
Game two, you are in a far stronger position. You can still do all the things you were relying on for game one, but your focus has changed. What you truly want now is to land a good piece of disruption early on and ride it all the way. Wheel of Sun and Moon on turn two is a huge problem for him and should be your number one tutor target in the early game. Don't be hasty with Cataclysm. Wait until you get the most from it. One more thing; these matches can go very long and you have a big upper hand in games two and three. Don't be afraid to scoop 'em up game one if you are unlikely to win it.
-monowhite is usually better here.
-board out all the 1 cc creatures, at minimum one weapon, most of your creature removal. Board in 4 Enlightened Tutor, 1 Jotun Grunt, 1 Wheel of Sun and Moon, Crypts, Relics, whatever you have for GY, Aura of Silence, Pithing Needle, all Cataclysms.
Zoo (updated 3/3/11)
-average matchup
-You are definitely control
-Your goals are to neutralize his ability to attack you while you get a creature to connect with a weapon. This commonly involves some combination of Mother of Runes to protect the armed creature. If you can get a sword equipped with a decent life total, you have a really good shot at victory. Sword of Light//Shadow on a Serra Avenger is the best scenario, but all the weapons come in handy from time to time. The matchup is hard to nail down. A single Jotun Grunt is a great way to buy time. But two Grunts early on usually results in a dead card. Mangara is occasionally a fantastic game breaker, but is equally as often just an expensive lightning rod. Flickerwisp sometimes 2-1's with Mystic and then seals the deal with unblockable damage, but occasionally just untaps something and dies to a Lavamancer. Wastelands and Ports can deny him a critical color (I always like green best here), but if Zoo gets mana flooded, all you did was delay yourself. This is why I recommend sticking to the equipment focus. It is more consistent, although with monowhite about 40-50% of my wins are the direct result of mana denial. Kitchen Finks is a card that can buy you some time and perhaps card advantage. It is specifically for this matchup, and works nicely with Cataclysm and Flickerwisp. Lots of cheap removal is absolutely critical here. Don't mess around with 1 land hands even if you have a Vial. You can not afford to miss a land drop early on.
-Green splash, apparently can be either easier or harder than monowhite depending on the build. Tarmos are great. Pridemages amd Knights are not.
-The best cards are removal, Grunts, and all the equipment and especially Mother of Runes. In my recent testing matches I went 12-9 against Zoo.
GWB control and aggro-control builds
-average to hard matchup
-You are usually aggro
-Your goals are to equip Sword of Light and Shadow and win. Just about all your disruption is relevant in this one. Revokers have plenty of targets. Mana Denial is important for either Green or Black on his main phase for best results. Confidants have to die on sight.
-Green splash is not as good as monowhite in this one.
-Mangara, Grunts, Flickerwisp, Mom...all important
ANT or TES (updated 2/21/11)
-bad matchup
-You are control
-Your goals are to get lucky and draw enough hate (or Tutors to get it) to disrupt their plan long enough to deal lethal. This matchup recently changed significantly. I will have to rewrite much of the matchup analysis. Don't forget that Revokers can name Lion's Eye Diamond, Lotus Petal, or Chrome Mox.
-Expected: The best cards are Orim's Chant, Ethersworn Canonist, Runed Halo, Gaddock Teeg, Thorn of Amethyst, and of course Enlightened Tutor to fetch most of them.
I dislike jitte here, it is hard to eguip once in play. I think there could be something better for this slot. Another creature or something else.
You need some serious countermagic. 4 Force of will + 4 Force spike would fit right in there. They help you to protect your creatures, and force them through opposing counters. Force spike is also amazing vs aggro, which is your hard matchup. And great after winter orb or Hokori.
and acts without effort.
Teaching without verbosity,
producing without possessing,
creating without regard to result,
claiming nothing,
the Sage has nothing to lose.
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I tried Armageddon and found it distasteful. I do not tend to have overwhelming creatures and therefor, no clear advantage. Then I discovered the love of Hokori, and it is working better now.
Still, Daze might be a good choice, since the opponent will always be scraping the most out of their land.
and acts without effort.
Teaching without verbosity,
producing without possessing,
creating without regard to result,
claiming nothing,
the Sage has nothing to lose.
Your beef with the chalice is something i dont understand. Vials should come out early, before the chalice anyhow.
Might i ask why exactly you are playing Court Hussar instead of things like Raven familiar?
edit: rather dont answer this.... stupid question. +1 def, no echo so stays in play easier.... carry on
As far as counters stretch, there have been some creatures printed that can counter a spell for one if you tap them: Disruptive Student comes to mind, and his onslaught equivalent... that morph thing.
Anyhow, the taxing is cool, might you consider something from prophecy to play? I cant realy list the cards right now, but Exile looks like a damn good replacement for swords if they dont have the mana, which is the meaning of the deck. Rhystic spells are just begging to be used like this.
I think you can go down to 2-3 Jitte (max) and 3 Chrome mox, and DEFINITELY add in Thirst for Knowledge and Daze. Both great with Augustin, and Daze helps with Orb/Hokori, and TFK is good for pitching the late game Chrome Moxes and Vials, and it's just all around awesome, right?
I like the Karakas a lot here... but maybe (don't shoot me, I hate it too) you could try Leyline of Singularity? I know, I know, the card is the second worst leyline, and it sucks in multiples, and sucks if you don't RUN it in multiples (won't be able to put it into play for free)... but considering a lot of your stuff is legendary anyway... The point is it will help vs. aggro a bit (also your Vials destroy theirs, preventing them from bypassing the Orb/Hokori) by destroying Double Piledriver, SiegeGang becomes worthless, and stopping double Warchief... and the all-too-commong double/triple Werebear or Mongoose.
And the main reason is Karakas, of course Oh, and hey, you can pitch excess ones to Thirst for Knowledge as well then. (Compulsive Research is definitely worse here).
Hmm... I know that Glowrider will make Thirst for Knowledge less good... but you're paying 1W for your Swords now and 3 for your Jittes, etc... so I think the good that it will do will outweigh the antisynergy with Glowrider.
Oh, and hey, the Ravnica bounce lands (Azorius Chancery for you) are great with Orb/Hokori. The land itself is great to untap, and the bouncing another land is good to replay (untapped). The downside, of course, is that it SCREAMS Wasteland me - NOW! EDIT: Ooh you can untap it with Cloud of Faeries too
Hey, shouldn't you be using a Minamo, School at Water's Edge, or is that just somewhat crappy when you're trying to avoid wasteland / creatures would untap anyway / don't tap the things that aren't going to untap to do so.... eh?
Celebrating 3 years of open-minded acceptance, indispensable help, great advice, and incalculably-creative deck-design... Thanks for all the magic!
Celebrating 3 years of open-minded acceptance, indispensable help, great advice, and incalculably-creative deck-design... Thanks for all the magic!
That said, I like your ideas (god, don't ever let me play against this...)
Seriously, though, Leyline of Singularity (yuck) may actually be decent in this type of deck. Most of your stuff is legendary, it hoses many aggro decks by denying them multiple copies of beatstick-type guys, and allows you to bounce the creature of your choice with Karakas...including your Cloud of Faeries, if you need to.
"I am in the arcane, and the arcane is in me."
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Deraxas, Dark Maiden of Shimia,, still oddly obsessed with a mindmage.
1. Minamo, tried it. I took it out simply because the basic land count is getting a bit unstable and I had yet to use it's ability.
2. Azorius Chancery, now THAT is a good idea. I am only fearful that it is dangerous to slow this deck down any further, but I am pretty sure I will be trying this out seriously. Good call Stephen.
3. Exile seems like an odd recommendation. Swords to Plowshares is superior in my experience, and still a lot cheaper.
4. Disruptive Pitmage et al may not work out. I just can't see paying 3 for a 1/1 with that ability.
5. Leyline of Singularity is very interesting, but I think the investment to make it decent (4 of that and 4 Karakas) is a bit prohibitive. That sounds like another deck, although an interesting one.
6. Thirst for Knowledge is a cool card, but again, I have been using Court Hussar to fill that role. And I am considering Spire Owl as well. You have to remember that non-creature spells are a liability and must be kept to a minimum. Creatures evade Glowrider and benefit from Aether Vial. Under these unusual circumstances, choices like Hokori over Winter Orb make good sense.
7. Opposition has possibilities, however. I have to play against Goblins to really test this, though. I don't really know if I will have enough creatures that can't attack well to make this matter. I have been thinking about Meloku as a finisher and a big rear end. This might be a working pair. Or does Meloku just win on its own?
8. What do you folks think of Viseling? I have been forcing opponents to discard a lot, and this could prove a good source of offense. Are there any creatures that do this ability and don't suck?
9. Smokestack. Yeah. I have been kicking this idea around. I am afraid that they will be sacrificing permanently tapped lands while Hokori is in play. My experience with stax is limited to playing against it. Shouldn't I be concerned about sacrificing my own permanants (and not being able to afford it)?
10. Currently, I have Capashen Unicorn for defense, but I am not confident in it.
******************************
so...
-Azorius Chancery - thumbs up
-Capahen Unicorn in sb needs a replacement - Seal of Cleansing?
-Meloku main - I like the idea of having a lot of legendary blokes if I have Karakas. Plus, with Hokori in play, pay 1, return a perma-tapped land, replay it. Good times.
-Viseling - even worth consideration?
-Minamo, probably not since I am going with the Chancery.
Please give me opinions on these changes.
******************************
I will be editing the opening post. BTW, tried this against solidarity and rolled it 3 times in a row. This looks very promising.
While we're on the idea of "tap for 2" lands, I started thinking back to Karoo and Coral Atoll - but you don't/won't need more than 4, and you want to have the Azorius Chancery over them - colored mana is stronger. (Lotus Vale and Scorched Ruins need to get the hell away from the deck... BACK! BACK I SAY! [they beg to be Wastelanded even more]) So anyway my suggestion now is Soldevi Excavations. True you lose an untapped Island, but you get the mana back immediately. Which means you can have an Island out and play the Post, then play Cloud of Faeries with it, and untap the land itself and another land (hopefully a chancery ;)) netting two mana for 1WUU.
My qualm is the Jitte. YUCK. I'd never run 4 outside of Type 2, and even then, I'd want to keep one in the board. In Legacy, I like 2 maindeck, with 1 in the board, or a maximum of 3 mainboard if you think that it is extra synergistic in some fashion.
And Faeries' errata to their old ways help you a lot with being able to Vial them out... and net 2 to 4 mana while your opponant is stuck untapping one land per tern... sick!
Can you type up an ideal play for us please?
Maybe
Turn 1 - Aether Vial
Turn 2 - StP some crap, or if you had a Chrome Mox, play a Jitte or something good. Play an Azorius Chancery.
Turn 3 - Replay the land. Tap the chancery, land, and mox for WWUU, vial in a Faerie, tap for WUU more... WWWUUU cast Augustin for 2WU. Cast a Glowrider for 1W. Let the tax collecting begin.
Sea Drake might not be a good idea with the Chancery, but you should be fine, especially with only 3... it's not like this is Faerie Stompy.
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The Rack Comes to mind.
I play alot of deck with Vail in then and Vails are only strong when you protect them. If some removal comes though your locks you will be set back... far back.
@Magician of thought - This is true about the Vial. The thing with it is, you can't build a deck around it alone. That is why Goblins works so well with it - it's only one of three ways to cheat on the cost of a Goblin. I also have some other stuff as well, Augustin in particular, but Moxes and now Chancery are both good in that role, especially with CLoud of Fairies. I have not had a problem missing the vials too much so far. Oh, and I not use The Rack with mana denial.
@Isamaru - There are a lot of good openings. A heckuvalot. Perhaps I can recount some.
control opening with creatures:
Turn 1 - Land, Vial; Turn 2 - Chancery, something; Turn 3 - Vial in Faeries, Augustin, Hokori, smile.
or aggro:
Turn 1 - Land, Mox, Jitte; Turn 2 - Chancery, Cloud of Faeries, equip
or aggro-control:
Turn 1 - Land, Mox, Jitte; Turn 2 - Glowrider
But the openings are not as impressive as the mid-late game. Hokori soft lock is very good, and gets better when other parts are added like Glowrider, Augustine, or Karakas (especially with Vial).
I tested this morning again on MWS. It was a little depresing. With Mage in the sb, the land deck did well versus me. It is all.I.ever.play.against.anymore..................
And so very boring. It takes 40 minutes every time. And I can't get accurate data since it is all I see.
They had Mage in the sideboard or you did...? How can lands that don't untap hurt you so much? I have noticed that Jitte is sadly trumped by Maze of Ith :(...
If you are worried about Tangle Wire and Trinisphere being slow at 3, try putting in City of Traitors (would probably die too much though) or Ancient Tomb (wayyy too much pain) because they can even be untapped with the Faeires... sadly the Faeries will stop netting you mana under a Trinisphere if you don't vial em in... also some of your other spells are sucky then (like Chrome Mox, Vial, etc.) and worse yet... each copy is redundant, unlike stax, who can just play them and sac them to stax... so it's probably not worth using Trinisphere...
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I would suggest runing any combination of Ancient Tomb and City of traitors in order to play costly creatures faster, it also works well with Faerie.
Also, Daze, Fow, Force Spike or any random counterspell seems to be the key.
Other Stax cards, like Trinisphere, Wire, Sphere or Resistance and Chalice seem to be worth consider.
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That was my good idea. Now, for my stupid idea: Rishadan Cutpurse. Ha-ha! Not good, but could certainly be fun.
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As for the Rishadan Cutpurse, I think it may cost a bit too much for its effect, sadly
Celebrating 3 years of open-minded acceptance, indispensable help, great advice, and incalculably-creative deck-design... Thanks for all the magic!
Any chance we'd get the most updated list?
and acts without effort.
Teaching without verbosity,
producing without possessing,
creating without regard to result,
claiming nothing,
the Sage has nothing to lose.
For a more expensive card, when Time Spiral becomes legal, I highly recommend Teferi....god, that guy's gonna convert me to blue for SURE.
"I am in the arcane, and the arcane is in me."
Official Matron Mother of Clan Planar Chaos
Awesome Avatar and signature by DarkNightCavalier
Deraxas, Dark Maiden of Shimia,, still oddly obsessed with a mindmage.
1. Ancient Tomb, City of Traitors are apparently a nono. I would have to cut the Wastelands to do that, and I am not prepared to give them up.
2. Rishidan Cutpurse, and other Pirates are not going to work. The opponent can just sacrifice permatapped lands. Spelltithe Enforcer is a similar card I was giving attention to, but the same problem exists.
3. Spiketail Hatchling, now there is a good idea. A Daze that can hold a Jitte and flies gets the thumbs up from me. Just what to cut...
4. I have been rethinking the inclusion of Kataki, War's Wage. Not so good with some of my cards, but so good against certain opponents. Maybe in the sb.
5. Rootwater Thief actually had been in earlier (years earlier) versions of this deck, and it was feared. I am not likely to reintroduce it, however, since its ability is so hard to use when I am forcing even myself to pay extra. I think we must remain focused on the taxation aspect, or the deck is doomed. As it is, I am not convinced there are enough cards in existence that bring up this part of the game.
Oh, and by the way, AoK, you are so lovely for calling me evil. When it comes to deckbuilding, I'm sure we all take that as a compliment.
6. Man-O-War has been superb and is definitely the direction the deck needs to go. It is a tempo shift, and my opponent's creatures are made hard to resummon by the remainder of the deck. I have bumbed it to four.
7. Sea Drake is often the hammer stroke, but I am wondering if there isn't something better. I am drifting towards Somnophore.
8. Finally, like any good thread, I will be updating the opening post with whatever version I am currently backing.
Somnophore- That sounds like it would work okay. It's a bit pricey, unless you have the Flying Pope in play. Another (but slightly dumb) option is...
Mistblade Shinobi.
"I am in the arcane, and the arcane is in me."
Official Matron Mother of Clan Planar Chaos
Awesome Avatar and signature by DarkNightCavalier
Deraxas, Dark Maiden of Shimia,, still oddly obsessed with a mindmage.
and acts without effort.
Teaching without verbosity,
producing without possessing,
creating without regard to result,
claiming nothing,
the Sage has nothing to lose.