In all seriousness, T2 wins are EASY with T1 Bird... WOW.
Could you elaborate a little?
Sure: T1 drop Artificer's Assistant
T2 Drop Sram/Paladin - Win.
Every time you cast an artifact you get to scry first THEN draw. I went off turn 2, hit storm 38 before I found my Grapeshot, and only hit 4 cards I didn't want while comboing. I ended the game with 2 retracts and about 8 random artifacts still in hand... All you need is a couple of cheerios and you can go. I didn't have a Mox or a retract when I started the combo, and only had 3 Cheerios in hand.
Ben Reilly here. I didn't realize that this thread existed but I want to participate in this discussion more often if possible. Also, thank you for all the kind words. There's been some discussion about my list so I thought I'd clear a few things up.
The big deck that I was worried about going into the weekend was Mardu. Out of all popular decks it is probably the worst matchup. For this weekend I preboarded the 2nd Nox and the Paradoxical outcome. I liked this a lot, it evened out a lot of bad matchups that I ended up seeing and honestly we can afford to lose some points because our good matchups are so good.
This is my first time using this sight so I'm not quite sure how to reply to multiple different people so I'm just going to comment on things that stand out...
G-Grid is relatively new for me. I did not like it in other people's lists for a long time but now I'm under the impression that it is essential. First of all, we need access to a 2nd win condition in the 75 because of cards like though knot seer. I'd prefer if it is not a second grapeshot because you never know when someone is going to cast Surgical or something like that. For me this used to be Lab maniac to great effect. However I have a new sideboard plan for Mardu and Jeskai that has been testing really well. I board out grapeshot and board in grids. Those matchups are so tough because they are so filled with interaction. With grid we have a way to grind out their clocks. Jeskai has a hard time winning if we keep their snapcasters and v cliques at bay. If they are forced to animate a colonnade to increase their clock it pinches their mana enough so that we can sneak a combo through. More often than not they have been dead to 4 damage a turn. The same is true against Mardu, as you can kill their pyromancer and kind of wait out a paradoxical outcome. Previously in boarding for these matchups I found myself cutting 3-4 equipment which is a lot. With my current plan I only take out 2-3.
Cutting grapeshot does not mean that we cut a 1 turn kill either. A few people have asked me about this. When you are comboing off chances are you draw your whole deck, once you get to this point cast all of your equipment, deal 10, mox, retract, play them again and deal 10. If you have a sram out you will have to kill it first so that you don't deck yourself. If you are missing any peices you can Nox your mox or retract to be sure that you have enough. Often times you are comboing later than turn 2 in these matchups so mana usually isn't an issue.
Looking forward I have a few cards that I am trying to fit into the deck again. 4th Serum definitely sticks out, along with a 3rd repeal. Both of those cards are super powerful. If you haven't been convinced about repeal yet I would try it out. It acts as a cycler, a thoughtcast, and a removal spell and there is almost no cost to it in the main. It ends up being boarded out a lot for more specific hate. It also is essential to have main in the current meta where meddling mage and leyline find themselves in the main board of some of the top decks.
A lot of people have been discussing AA as a card in the deck. I wasn't high on it, but if so many people are liking the card I might consider it now. I find that a large enough portion of my games have been won because I seem like a Jeskai deck and it changes my opponent's early game decisions so I can sneak though a win. AA kind of gives that up, but is worth at least trying.
I see people on Leave and Hurkyl's instead of Paradoxical. I've tried all three and they are all playable. Leave seems slightly worse than Hurkyl's to me, as the big benefit of hurkyl's is to bounce their chalice. The graveyard ability is decent, the main benefit that I found was being able to keep one equipment behind and equipped to a creature to survive bolt. Paradoxical as a one of main does a lot of work in fixing some bad matchups, and in terms of retract #5+ repeal does a great job of bridging the gap. If I were to give a personal preference order to that slot in the main right now it would be paradoxical > repeal #3 > Hurkyl's > Leave.
A lot of people have been discussing AA as a card in the deck. I wasn't high on it, but if so many people are liking the card I might consider it now. I find that a large enough portion of my games have been won because I seem like a Jeskai deck and it changes my opponent's early game decisions so I can sneak though a win. AA kind of gives that up, but is worth at least trying.
In my testing, it makes it impossible to miss your combo. With AA down, you can comfortably go off on turn 2 even if you don't have the ideal hand. Every equipment digging 2 deep is CRAZY good. Serum just gets you to a combo piece. Birds can do that, plus keep a single land-land draw from fizzling you.
That's what I did. There are almost no moments when Serum vision digs deeper. It does cantrip, but... Also, allows us something for Paradise Mantle to land on when we start so we have a spare mana mid-combo. That flexibility is not to be undervalued. Bird, Paladin, Mox, Land, Land, 0, 0 and you can go off no matter what you draw pretty much.
That's what I did. There are almost no moments when Serum vision digs deeper. It does cantrip, but... Also, allows us something for Paradise Mantle to land on when we start so we have a spare mana mid-combo. That flexibility is not to be undervalued. Bird, Paladin, Mox, Land, Land, 0, 0 and you can go off no matter what you draw pretty much.
That's what I did. There are almost no moments when Serum vision digs deeper. It does cantrip, but... Also, allows us something for Paradise Mantle to land on when we start so we have a spare mana mid-combo. That flexibility is not to be undervalued. Bird, Paladin, Mox, Land, Land, 0, 0 and you can go off no matter what you draw pretty much.
That's still a rather specific hand.
It is, but it's not super rare by turn 2. Especially on the draw. And that's the turn 2 kill.
As i playtested with Artificer's Assistant instead of serum vision and i love it. In fact i put three in the mainboard and what i love is even on turn t2 if i get a mox and i have like 2 cheerios left i can tap and cast the Artificer's Assistant and then cast the 0's and its scry draw, which is great for thinning out the deck. In fact i think this helps solidify the t2, and t3 kills much easier.
What about the hands where t1 sv helps you find that 2nd land or the enablers? AA doesn’t help with that. So as it makes the god t2 hands better does it make mulling worse?
What about the hands where t1 sv helps you find that 2nd land or the enablers? AA doesn’t help with that. So as it makes the god t2 hands better does it make mulling worse?
Maybe. But you can always drop a Cheerio as a scry, which can mitigate that.
So, here's the big question: How do we make it harder to disrupt us? The biggest weakness of this deck is G2 & G3 if you don't go off EARLY we're easy to disrupt. Every removal ever hist us... How do we start solving that?
In all seriousness, T2 wins are EASY with T1 Bird... WOW.
Affinity
GR Eggs GR
UR Storm UR
BR Hollow One BR
WUR Cheerios WUR
G Mono-Green Control G
Could you elaborate a little?
Modern - Cheeri0s (building), Belcher (building), Lantern (building), UW Control (building)
RIP Magic Duels. Wizards will regret what they did to you.
Sure: T1 drop Artificer's Assistant
T2 Drop Sram/Paladin - Win.
Every time you cast an artifact you get to scry first THEN draw. I went off turn 2, hit storm 38 before I found my Grapeshot, and only hit 4 cards I didn't want while comboing. I ended the game with 2 retracts and about 8 random artifacts still in hand... All you need is a couple of cheerios and you can go. I didn't have a Mox or a retract when I started the combo, and only had 3 Cheerios in hand.
Affinity
GR Eggs GR
UR Storm UR
BR Hollow One BR
WUR Cheerios WUR
G Mono-Green Control G
is he talking about Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle or Artificer's Assistant
Yes, Artificer's Assistant (sorry, just learned how to link cards). It has a similar effect to what Whir of Invention had on Lantern imo.
Affinity
GR Eggs GR
UR Storm UR
BR Hollow One BR
WUR Cheerios WUR
G Mono-Green Control G
Ben Reilly here. I didn't realize that this thread existed but I want to participate in this discussion more often if possible. Also, thank you for all the kind words. There's been some discussion about my list so I thought I'd clear a few things up.
The big deck that I was worried about going into the weekend was Mardu. Out of all popular decks it is probably the worst matchup. For this weekend I preboarded the 2nd Nox and the Paradoxical outcome. I liked this a lot, it evened out a lot of bad matchups that I ended up seeing and honestly we can afford to lose some points because our good matchups are so good.
This is my first time using this sight so I'm not quite sure how to reply to multiple different people so I'm just going to comment on things that stand out...
G-Grid is relatively new for me. I did not like it in other people's lists for a long time but now I'm under the impression that it is essential. First of all, we need access to a 2nd win condition in the 75 because of cards like though knot seer. I'd prefer if it is not a second grapeshot because you never know when someone is going to cast Surgical or something like that. For me this used to be Lab maniac to great effect. However I have a new sideboard plan for Mardu and Jeskai that has been testing really well. I board out grapeshot and board in grids. Those matchups are so tough because they are so filled with interaction. With grid we have a way to grind out their clocks. Jeskai has a hard time winning if we keep their snapcasters and v cliques at bay. If they are forced to animate a colonnade to increase their clock it pinches their mana enough so that we can sneak a combo through. More often than not they have been dead to 4 damage a turn. The same is true against Mardu, as you can kill their pyromancer and kind of wait out a paradoxical outcome. Previously in boarding for these matchups I found myself cutting 3-4 equipment which is a lot. With my current plan I only take out 2-3.
Cutting grapeshot does not mean that we cut a 1 turn kill either. A few people have asked me about this. When you are comboing off chances are you draw your whole deck, once you get to this point cast all of your equipment, deal 10, mox, retract, play them again and deal 10. If you have a sram out you will have to kill it first so that you don't deck yourself. If you are missing any peices you can Nox your mox or retract to be sure that you have enough. Often times you are comboing later than turn 2 in these matchups so mana usually isn't an issue.
Looking forward I have a few cards that I am trying to fit into the deck again. 4th Serum definitely sticks out, along with a 3rd repeal. Both of those cards are super powerful. If you haven't been convinced about repeal yet I would try it out. It acts as a cycler, a thoughtcast, and a removal spell and there is almost no cost to it in the main. It ends up being boarded out a lot for more specific hate. It also is essential to have main in the current meta where meddling mage and leyline find themselves in the main board of some of the top decks.
A lot of people have been discussing AA as a card in the deck. I wasn't high on it, but if so many people are liking the card I might consider it now. I find that a large enough portion of my games have been won because I seem like a Jeskai deck and it changes my opponent's early game decisions so I can sneak though a win. AA kind of gives that up, but is worth at least trying.
I see people on Leave and Hurkyl's instead of Paradoxical. I've tried all three and they are all playable. Leave seems slightly worse than Hurkyl's to me, as the big benefit of hurkyl's is to bounce their chalice. The graveyard ability is decent, the main benefit that I found was being able to keep one equipment behind and equipped to a creature to survive bolt. Paradoxical as a one of main does a lot of work in fixing some bad matchups, and in terms of retract #5+ repeal does a great job of bridging the gap. If I were to give a personal preference order to that slot in the main right now it would be paradoxical > repeal #3 > Hurkyl's > Leave.
In my testing, it makes it impossible to miss your combo. With AA down, you can comfortably go off on turn 2 even if you don't have the ideal hand. Every equipment digging 2 deep is CRAZY good. Serum just gets you to a combo piece. Birds can do that, plus keep a single land-land draw from fizzling you.
Affinity
GR Eggs GR
UR Storm UR
BR Hollow One BR
WUR Cheerios WUR
G Mono-Green Control G
WBG Elves WBG
Cheeri0s
EDH:
RG Omnath, Locus of Rage RG || GWUB Atraxa, Praetors' Voice GWUB
R Zo-Zu the Punisher R || WU Brago, King Eternal WU
UB Gisa and Geralf UB || BGW Ghave, Guru of Spores BGW
That's what I did. There are almost no moments when Serum vision digs deeper. It does cantrip, but... Also, allows us something for Paradise Mantle to land on when we start so we have a spare mana mid-combo. That flexibility is not to be undervalued. Bird, Paladin, Mox, Land, Land, 0, 0 and you can go off no matter what you draw pretty much.
Affinity
GR Eggs GR
UR Storm UR
BR Hollow One BR
WUR Cheerios WUR
G Mono-Green Control G
That's still a rather specific hand.
It is, but it's not super rare by turn 2. Especially on the draw. And that's the turn 2 kill.
Affinity
GR Eggs GR
UR Storm UR
BR Hollow One BR
WUR Cheerios WUR
G Mono-Green Control G
FYI, change the red text from my quote. I just got a warning for it...
Affinity
GR Eggs GR
UR Storm UR
BR Hollow One BR
WUR Cheerios WUR
G Mono-Green Control G
i would play 4 of and drop the serum visions
Maybe. But you can always drop a Cheerio as a scry, which can mitigate that.
Affinity
GR Eggs GR
UR Storm UR
BR Hollow One BR
WUR Cheerios WUR
G Mono-Green Control G
Affinity
GR Eggs GR
UR Storm UR
BR Hollow One BR
WUR Cheerios WUR
G Mono-Green Control G
Affinity
GR Eggs GR
UR Storm UR
BR Hollow One BR
WUR Cheerios WUR
G Mono-Green Control G
I'm starting to think that a Paladin/Sram MUST be present no matter what... Is that it? I think most of my losses come down to mulligan decisions.
Affinity
GR Eggs GR
UR Storm UR
BR Hollow One BR
WUR Cheerios WUR
G Mono-Green Control G