I'm writing this as much to sort out my thoughts as I am to get other opinions on this archetype. I've had success with this recently on MTGO 8-4's.
The idea is that you commit to blue early, allowing you easier access to volition reins, CA, and decent flying creatures. People normally won't want to commit to a card like volition reins early on because of the color requirements.
Green also provides CA, while allowing you to play wall of tanglecord, and Acid Web spider. a few plated sea striders, or equipment, and you can stop your opponent from profitably attacking. Stall early, Draw cards, and Win late with Neurok Invisimancer, fliers, or with whatever bombs you drew.
Picks specific to this archetype (or, pick these higher than normal if you're trying to build a UG control deck):
1 drops: Horizon spellbomb - A tutorable divination? Yes please. Darksteel axe - now your walls stop x/2's from attacking.
2 drops: Wall of tanglecord - Hard to beat, and no one wants to waste a shatter on it. Plated sea strider - Again, hard to kill, no one wants to waste removal on it, and this one stops all the 1-toughness guys. Disperse - A good trick, it also synergizes with the etb 3-drops.
Mana myr - every deck needs a few, right?
3 drops: Trinket mage - A tutor for the tutorable divination? Yes please. It's basically a 3 for 1 if you grab a horizon spellbomb. Picking up a 1cc equipment is normally a good idea too. Neurok Invisimancer - A fragile win condition, but a good one. Unanswered, it wins games, especially with the aforementioned axe. Normally you need two to get one to stick. It's etb ability basically gives it haste though, so it's normally good for two damage even if it dies. Sylvok replica - you should probably be taking these anyway. Halt order - Optional 2 for 1. This card is underdrafted. It's good to have mana open for this when you have a spellbomb on the field. If you don't get to counter anything, you still haven't wasted any mana.
5 drops: Acid web spider - This guy is just impossible to get around. He beats most removal that's not arrest or tumble magnet. Molder beast - A win condition. He works pretty well with sylvok replica and Neurok invisimancer Sky eel School - Another underdrafted flier. Hold some lands so he can cycle one!
6 drops: Alpha tyrranax - Optional. Very good with invisimancer. Very hard to beat. Volition Reins - All that CA helps you hit 6 on time. This is your catchall answer to the bomb that your opponent will play. This is also the reason you may be in this archetype. This is a good first pick, and is frequently passed because people refrain from committing too early. Getting two of these is VERY GOOD.
Of course, these aren't the only cards. Play your bombs, other removal, equipment, flight spellbombs, etc. Put together your Arbalest and Soliton if you want to try. There's a lot of flexibility. One benefit is that it's very easy to splash another color, even though this deck plays mostly colored cards. Trinket mage -> Horizon spellbomb means that you have at least 3 sources of the splash if you only play one land. A few more notes: Avoid cards that aren't good without metalcraft, like Lumengrid drake. I suppose he's playable, but you get the point. If you're light on fliers, make sure to pick up those Wing puncture's and Ezuri's Archers.
Some facts of magic:
-Terror is an emotion which, when experienced, results in death.
-The pox was a disease notorious for having killed one-third, rounded up, of Europe’s population. Smallpox, on the other hand, killed only a single person.
-A person riding a horse cannot be stopped by foot soldiers, large animals, walls, archers, or even catapults.
Funny think, I played a GU deck on a draft yesterday on MTGO and went 3-0 without loosing a single game.
I open an Ezuri, Renegade Leader pack1 (with absolutely rubish around it) and took it. After that I decided to value a little higher the "elf" and get 3 Ezuri Archer. Now I did not use my big "rare" guy once in all my games but the Archer have been amazing.
1-drop meaning they can go to 1-3 damage in the early game.
1-drop meaning that your oponnent will never use a removal spel on it.
It trade with almost every flyer
it trade with most of the early infect guys
It really shine in this "Control" archetype because it really shut down your opponent. I had also 2 trinket mage and an axe + a couple of equipment and he wins a couple of game by itself.
The rest of the time he hold the ground until I played my Scrapdiver Serpent which was always game over.
If you play him the equipment have a lot more value but I was really impress by this guy.
Most people play green for the "infect" card and was able to get amazing cards and clearly underestimated quite late (like the spider which destroy an equipment ...)
I agree with your assessment. From my experience, it is also not too hard to pick up soliton + heavy arbelest in the archtype, since the deck is kinda of slow, and since you are already playing blue.
I also like Tangle Angler in the deck. Because its good defensively and offensively.
I'm not a huge fan of G/U since the lack of removal combined with the lack of speed leave you a bit vulnerable if things don't go your way.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
--
(I'm on on this site much anymore. If you want to get in touch it's probably best to email me: dom@heffalumps.org)
Forum Awards: Best Writer 2005, Best Limited Strategist 2005-2012
5CB PotM - June 2005, November 2005, February 2006, April 2008, May 2008, Feb 2009
MTGSalvation Articles: 1-20, plus guest appearance on MTGCast #86!
<Limited Clan>
With violition reins, bonds of quicksilver, slice in twain, elf replica, rust tick and tumble magnet you should be able to answer stuff that your walls can't block. It should also be fairly easy to splash any arrests, revoke existance, galvanic blasts and arc trails that fall in your lap.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
My EDH decks, check in and leave a comment. Always looking for new input.
But every single one of those, except Bonds of Quicksilver, is a pretty high pick, and you can't count on getting those all the time. Bonds also isn't a very good removal spell, so the one removal you can reliably get, also isn't very good, and you WILL be hurting for removal in UG, this is pretty much the case for every single UG archetype ever in like Magic history. Instead, UG usually wins through some mixture of tempo and card advantage.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Check out my pauper cube! and thanks to PurpleD @ [<--- Left Play Design <---] for making this awesome banner!
This seems kinda weak; you're basically just relying on powerful (blue/artifact) uncommons to win you the game. In fact, what does the green really contribute, other than a bit of fat? Why not just take Neurok Replica + fliers and pick up another colour with more to offer?
Horizon Spellbomb is also very quickly becoming my least favourite of the five. It leaves you way behind on tempo if you crack it early on and doesn't synergize well with most of the sacrifice effects because it costs so much. Panic and Flight both have very relevant effects in combat and Necrogen is at least cheap. I guess it's ok if your deck is slow as heck, but it isn't nearly as good as Divination usually is.
I agree with the assessment that the removal in UG in general is lacking; however, green has artifact removal... arguably better than creature removal in scars. The trick to playing this is to conserve your removal spells. Your 2-drop blockers should be able to stem the tide. There really isn't much that gets by those two. They essentially negate much of your opponent's deck. In addition, volition reins is removal for whatever you need to remove. Opening one is an incentive to get into this archetype. You can win without one, but it really is an important component.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Some facts of magic:
-Terror is an emotion which, when experienced, results in death.
-The pox was a disease notorious for having killed one-third, rounded up, of Europe’s population. Smallpox, on the other hand, killed only a single person.
-A person riding a horse cannot be stopped by foot soldiers, large animals, walls, archers, or even catapults.
The trick to playing this is to conserve your removal spells.
That's fine as far as dealing with a random Steel Hellkite goes, but when my opponent opens on Myrsmith into Glint Hawk Idol I'm going to make my special sad face.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
--
(I'm on on this site much anymore. If you want to get in touch it's probably best to email me: dom@heffalumps.org)
Forum Awards: Best Writer 2005, Best Limited Strategist 2005-2012
5CB PotM - June 2005, November 2005, February 2006, April 2008, May 2008, Feb 2009
MTGSalvation Articles: 1-20, plus guest appearance on MTGCast #86!
<Limited Clan>
i've found that green and blue are the weakest colors in Scars by a large margin. the primary virtue I could see to this archetype is easier card selection as green and blue metalcraft stuff is underpicked and you can keep getting it quite late into most packs.
however...i see this deck just lacking the firepower to take on the best archetypes in the format. Invisimancers are not really enough to get their on their own and there's little else in this archetype thats good at getting damage through.
Maybe I should have put Bellowing Tanglewurm in the 5 drop spot. He's quite the finisher; works the same as invisimancer most of the time.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Some facts of magic:
-Terror is an emotion which, when experienced, results in death.
-The pox was a disease notorious for having killed one-third, rounded up, of Europe’s population. Smallpox, on the other hand, killed only a single person.
-A person riding a horse cannot be stopped by foot soldiers, large animals, walls, archers, or even catapults.
The idea is that you commit to blue early, allowing you easier access to volition reins, CA, and decent flying creatures. People normally won't want to commit to a card like volition reins early on because of the color requirements.
Green also provides CA, while allowing you to play wall of tanglecord, and Acid Web spider. a few plated sea striders, or equipment, and you can stop your opponent from profitably attacking. Stall early, Draw cards, and Win late with Neurok Invisimancer, fliers, or with whatever bombs you drew.
Picks specific to this archetype (or, pick these higher than normal if you're trying to build a UG control deck):
1 drops:
Horizon spellbomb - A tutorable divination? Yes please.
Darksteel axe - now your walls stop x/2's from attacking.
2 drops:
Wall of tanglecord - Hard to beat, and no one wants to waste a shatter on it.
Plated sea strider - Again, hard to kill, no one wants to waste removal on it, and this one stops all the 1-toughness guys.
Disperse - A good trick, it also synergizes with the etb 3-drops.
Mana myr - every deck needs a few, right?
3 drops:
Trinket mage - A tutor for the tutorable divination? Yes please. It's basically a 3 for 1 if you grab a horizon spellbomb. Picking up a 1cc equipment is normally a good idea too.
Neurok Invisimancer - A fragile win condition, but a good one. Unanswered, it wins games, especially with the aforementioned axe. Normally you need two to get one to stick. It's etb ability basically gives it haste though, so it's normally good for two damage even if it dies.
Sylvok replica - you should probably be taking these anyway.
Halt order - Optional 2 for 1. This card is underdrafted. It's good to have mana open for this when you have a spellbomb on the field. If you don't get to counter anything, you still haven't wasted any mana.
4 drops:
Slice in Twain - Always awesome.
Darkslick Drake - Flying, and cycles.
5 drops:
Acid web spider - This guy is just impossible to get around. He beats most removal that's not arrest or tumble magnet.
Molder beast - A win condition. He works pretty well with sylvok replica and Neurok invisimancer
Sky eel School - Another underdrafted flier. Hold some lands so he can cycle one!
6 drops:
Alpha tyrranax - Optional. Very good with invisimancer. Very hard to beat.
Volition Reins - All that CA helps you hit 6 on time. This is your catchall answer to the bomb that your opponent will play. This is also the reason you may be in this archetype. This is a good first pick, and is frequently passed because people refrain from committing too early. Getting two of these is VERY GOOD.
Of course, these aren't the only cards. Play your bombs, other removal, equipment, flight spellbombs, etc. Put together your Arbalest and Soliton if you want to try. There's a lot of flexibility. One benefit is that it's very easy to splash another color, even though this deck plays mostly colored cards. Trinket mage -> Horizon spellbomb means that you have at least 3 sources of the splash if you only play one land. A few more notes: Avoid cards that aren't good without metalcraft, like Lumengrid drake. I suppose he's playable, but you get the point. If you're light on fliers, make sure to pick up those Wing puncture's and Ezuri's Archers.
What do you think?
-Terror is an emotion which, when experienced, results in death.
-The pox was a disease notorious for having killed one-third, rounded up, of Europe’s population. Smallpox, on the other hand, killed only a single person.
-A person riding a horse cannot be stopped by foot soldiers, large animals, walls, archers, or even catapults.
More facts of magic
I open an Ezuri, Renegade Leader pack1 (with absolutely rubish around it) and took it. After that I decided to value a little higher the "elf" and get 3 Ezuri Archer. Now I did not use my big "rare" guy once in all my games but the Archer have been amazing.
1-drop meaning they can go to 1-3 damage in the early game.
1-drop meaning that your oponnent will never use a removal spel on it.
It trade with almost every flyer
it trade with most of the early infect guys
It really shine in this "Control" archetype because it really shut down your opponent. I had also 2 trinket mage and an axe + a couple of equipment and he wins a couple of game by itself.
The rest of the time he hold the ground until I played my Scrapdiver Serpent which was always game over.
If you play him the equipment have a lot more value but I was really impress by this guy.
Most people play green for the "infect" card and was able to get amazing cards and clearly underestimated quite late (like the spider which destroy an equipment ...)
My 2 coppers ...
I also like Tangle Angler in the deck. Because its good defensively and offensively.
(I'm on on this site much anymore. If you want to get in touch it's probably best to email me: dom@heffalumps.org)
Forum Awards: Best Writer 2005, Best Limited Strategist 2005-2012
5CB PotM - June 2005, November 2005, February 2006, April 2008, May 2008, Feb 2009
MTGSalvation Articles: 1-20, plus guest appearance on MTGCast #86!
<Limited Clan>
Dralnu
Isperia
Check out my pauper cube!
and thanks to PurpleD @ [<--- Left Play Design <---] for making this awesome banner!
Limited is awesome, join us at [Limited]!
Horizon Spellbomb is also very quickly becoming my least favourite of the five. It leaves you way behind on tempo if you crack it early on and doesn't synergize well with most of the sacrifice effects because it costs so much. Panic and Flight both have very relevant effects in combat and Necrogen is at least cheap. I guess it's ok if your deck is slow as heck, but it isn't nearly as good as Divination usually is.
Pulling a liquid metal coating completely covers fro the light removal and in a draft environment blue's soft removal can sometimes be better anyway.
-Terror is an emotion which, when experienced, results in death.
-The pox was a disease notorious for having killed one-third, rounded up, of Europe’s population. Smallpox, on the other hand, killed only a single person.
-A person riding a horse cannot be stopped by foot soldiers, large animals, walls, archers, or even catapults.
More facts of magic
That's fine as far as dealing with a random Steel Hellkite goes, but when my opponent opens on Myrsmith into Glint Hawk Idol I'm going to make my special sad face.
(I'm on on this site much anymore. If you want to get in touch it's probably best to email me: dom@heffalumps.org)
Forum Awards: Best Writer 2005, Best Limited Strategist 2005-2012
5CB PotM - June 2005, November 2005, February 2006, April 2008, May 2008, Feb 2009
MTGSalvation Articles: 1-20, plus guest appearance on MTGCast #86!
<Limited Clan>
however...i see this deck just lacking the firepower to take on the best archetypes in the format. Invisimancers are not really enough to get their on their own and there's little else in this archetype thats good at getting damage through.
-Terror is an emotion which, when experienced, results in death.
-The pox was a disease notorious for having killed one-third, rounded up, of Europe’s population. Smallpox, on the other hand, killed only a single person.
-A person riding a horse cannot be stopped by foot soldiers, large animals, walls, archers, or even catapults.
More facts of magic