So I'm revisiting my views on Serum Visions. Over the weekend I found myself siding them out not that irregularly against faster decks in favour of more interaction. On the other hand there were also 1-landers which I was able to keep (and win with) because the land came with a Visions. If I cut my three Visions I think I might add another Anger of the Gods, another Think Twice and possibly one more Electrolyze. This would allow me to keep drawing cards, as well as giving a little more flood insurance? Plus I lost to Abzan Company in the semi-final and if I'd had one more sweeper I think I'd have been a pretty heavy favourite there.
The other card I wasn't sold on was Inquisition of Kozilek. The card is fine, and did some reasonable work, I just never felt like it was really great, just an ok role player.
EDIT: I've reconsidered what I'd sub cards out for. Another Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet seems like a good start, along with another Anger of the Gods and another Think Twice
My question is about overwhelming denial. And since I'm on my phone I can't really tag it all to well but pretty much would this not be a good one of, if not two of in main deck? I'm currently running one but I haven't seen it too much. I can post my deck list in a few but I'm curious why I haven't seen it too much. Is it just not as good as I thought it to be?
I think Overwhelming Denial is ok, the biggest issue it faces is being super clunky for the first few turns. Once games start going long we tend to do well anyway, and its no Cryptic so I'm not sure....
i see what you're saying. I think 1 of for me right now is okay. I wouldn't really run 2+ unless I'm against a mirror matchup. I may end up taking it out actually once I do get my 3rd cryptic.
UUU Merfolk UUU "Above the waves you may be mighty indeed, but down here you belong to me."
-Empress Galina
UBR Cruel Control UBR "The essence of every world, every spell, and every thought is power. Nothing else matters, because nothing else exists."
-Nicol Bolas
Hey, I've gone back to my old cruel control list from last year and did some retinkering of it and feel like I've found a good list. Last two weeks of FNM have gone 3-1 where I've felt competitive in almost every game. Here's the list:
Recap of what I remember from this FNM:
1-2 Big Zoo
Game one took a huge hit when he discarded Loxodon Smiter to Kolaghan's Command
Managed to get game 2 and lost game 3 to ghor-clan rampager ability that I couldn't counter.
2-0 4 color bring to light
Managed to have shadow of doubt show up both games and was able to cast it at opportune times to not allow him to value from his gifts when he needed it.
2-0 Naya Burn
I don't know how, but managed to get there. Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet came down both games, first game around turn 9 or 10 and second game on turn 4.
Note: Second game opponent had to mull to 5 and kept a no-lander hoping to hit one.
2-0 Abzan Company
Last week I went 0-2 with this being my only loss, but last week I had Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet in the side and no Anger of the gods in the side.
Again, shadow of doubt came up huge in this match as I was able to draw into it both games and restrict his ability to go off.
First game had to play, chump a voice token with, and rebuy with kolaghan's commandgrave titan to chump a second voice token.
Second game was able to anger of the gods to wipe a voice and birds and was able to cast then Snap back Cruel Ultimatum
Overall I'm happy with the deck list, I feel like Think twice is where the draw wants to be so I can leave spell snare/pierce mana open turn 1 and be able to end of turn draw if they do nothing worthwhile turn 2.
The only thing that I would change is replacing one crytic with a boardwipe, be it damnation or anger if the gods as some matchups get pretty hairy. Other than that the list looks very solid. With 4 snaps, 1 logic knot and 4 think twice tasigur becomes pretty anemic but grave Titan perfectly fills the shoes. Congrats on your performances!!
Last few weeks I've had middling success with Zoo, Hatebears, and Storm. Went back to Cruel Control this week (my favorite). Only had enough players for 3 rounds this week. I went 2-1, good enough for second.
2-1 against Naya Burn. Counterspells and early Tasigurs did big work.
0-2 against G/R mana destruction. Not much to do against turn 2 stone rains, mwonvuli acid mosses, and blood moons. This guy was the worst. He was getting off crippling early combos and still complaining to everybody that his draws were bad.
2-0 against some kind of tokens deck. I was running Anger of the Gods mainboard today, so she was never able to get off the ground.
I definitely want 2 Kalitas now. I'd happily make room for him. Cruel Ultimatum made several good appearances.
It was very clear to me that I need a better source of card draw. I like Serum Visions for its convenience, mana cost, and filtration, but at some point I just want card advantage. Dare I bite the bullet and buy a playset of Ancestral Visions? Seems to be working for other people.
I also need a way to deal with enchantments in the sideboard. Any ideas?
That is true, my decklist is on the bottom of the last page and I play no Ancestral or Serum Vision. It has been performing great with just think twice. the decklist may have changed slightly since my last post, but otherwise its still been going strong against merfolk, jund,a temur list, and just losing to a scapeshift at my last FNM.
14 U for turn 1 spell snare
22 U for turn 4 cryptic command
14 R for turn 1 lightning bolt
19 R for turn 3 anger of the gods
18 B for turn 4 languish
However because its very hard to fulfill all the mana requirements even with access to fetches so I'll just make a budget manabase that tries to match the ratios.
5 Island
3 Swamp
2 Mountain
2 wandering fumarole
2 lavaclaw reaches
3 shivan reef
3 sulfurous springs
3 chocked estuary
1 sunken hollow
2 evolving wilds
This mana base is budget but pretty consistent with the ratios being: 17 U, 14 R, 14 B. The first things I would try to pick up are 4 polluted delta, 4 bloodstained mire, 2 watery grave, 2 steam vents, 1 blood crypt, 1-2 sulfur falls, 2-3 creeping tar pit in this order. Once you have these then your manabase can look something like:
4 polluted delta
4 bloodstained mire
2 watery grave
2 steam vents
1 blood crypt
2 drowned catacombs
1 sulfur falls
1 wandering fumarole
2 creeping tar pit
3 island
2 swamp
1 mountain
This mana base is somewhat looking more standard to the optimized lists and very consistent. 21 U, 17 B, 14 R
Best of luck!!
So I've been doing some testing with Chandra, Pyromaster as a fourth planeswalker. Kind of wish her plus ability shocked instead of pinged, but the 0 ability does work if I have Ultimatum mana and need to dig and the pinging is great for picking off Bobs, Snaps, Delvers, etc. Really effective against 1 toughness creatures, obviously, but she also makes bolts strong enough to kill off Loxodon Smiters and 3/4 Goyfs and that ult will, at best, win the game if it resolves an Ultimatum and at worst have you draw three cards and bounce three permanents off of a triple cryptic. Tomorrow's my first FNM with her in the build and I'm getting some new tech to go along with the Damnation I got for doing a playmat commission, I'll post some results tomorrow along with an updated version of my list.
Side note, has anyone considered trying the new Liliana once she drops? I definitely feel like she'd be pretty good with a build that's running the full set of Snapcasters.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
-Modern- UUBBBRR Cruel Control BRG BRgBurn BR URStorm
-Commander- B Chainer, Dementia Master - Reanimator U Teferi, Temporal Archmage - Calimari Tribal [Retired] GB Ishkanah, Grafwidow - Delirium/Tokens
Grave hate is the only thing that concerns me with New Lili, but other than that I think she's great. I might proxy her up on release along with Snaps and try it out at FNM, I'll report back on that if I do.
Fortune's Favor looks cute as a one-of, seems like most of the time your opponent will give you a 2-2 split or, at worst, try to juke you by putting lands and a spell you don't need face down and something important face up. I've got my eye on it.
Also, I have a question for you guys. How do you guys deal with Leyline of Sanctity and other similarly annoying enchantments and what do you side out against them? Every time I play against my group's Esper player, the difficulty of the game goes from Fair to Legendary as soon as T0 Leyline of Sanctity happens and I usually find myself digging like a madman for Bolas or waiting for an opening to bounce it with Cryptic.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
-Modern- UUBBBRR Cruel Control BRG BRgBurn BR URStorm
-Commander- B Chainer, Dementia Master - Reanimator U Teferi, Temporal Archmage - Calimari Tribal [Retired] GB Ishkanah, Grafwidow - Delirium/Tokens
Pretty much bounce with cryptic, Cyclonic Rift and hope.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Level 1 Judge
Level 2 in progress...
UUU Merfolk UUU "Above the waves you may be mighty indeed, but down here you belong to me."
-Empress Galina
UBR Cruel Control UBR "The essence of every world, every spell, and every thought is power. Nothing else matters, because nothing else exists."
-Nicol Bolas
Whats up my cruel friends! I will be updating the primer with SOI and EMN cards. Any cards from Eldritch Moon that you guys are looking to test?
Let me know.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Level 1 Judge
Level 2 in progress...
UUU Merfolk UUU "Above the waves you may be mighty indeed, but down here you belong to me."
-Empress Galina
UBR Cruel Control UBR "The essence of every world, every spell, and every thought is power. Nothing else matters, because nothing else exists."
-Nicol Bolas
Cards I'd like to play but think aren't good enough: Fortune's Favor - come on WotC, Fact or Fiction wasn't that busted... right? This card seems like it is close to being good without actually getting there. Unsubstantiate - a (probably) worse Remand with some flexibility. Not actually that useful for us but worth noting that this does catch Thrun, the Last Troll and Abrupt Decay on the stack as it doesn't actually counter! Succumb to Temptation - instant speed draw two for three is actually not bad, I just don't think this is what we need Galvanic Bombardment - This seems really good, and if I played standard I'd be building a control deck with four of these. Unfortuantely having to play four is what makes me very unlikely to want it here
An aside on Delerium. There are two other cards that I think could be strong in Grixis if we could play them optimally: Whispers of Emrakul - hey look they printed an easier to cast Hymn to Tourach! Scour the Laboratory - Jace's Ingenuity makes some lists and this could be even better!
The real issue of course is that we aren't going to hit Delerium
UUU Merfolk UUU "Above the waves you may be mighty indeed, but down here you belong to me."
-Empress Galina
UBR Cruel Control UBR "The essence of every world, every spell, and every thought is power. Nothing else matters, because nothing else exists."
-Nicol Bolas
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The other card I wasn't sold on was Inquisition of Kozilek. The card is fine, and did some reasonable work, I just never felt like it was really great, just an ok role player.
EDIT: I've reconsidered what I'd sub cards out for. Another Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet seems like a good start, along with another Anger of the Gods and another Think Twice
UUBBBRR
UUBBBRR
Cruel in The house!
Level 2 in progress...
UUU Merfolk UUU
"Above the waves you may be mighty indeed, but down here you belong to me."
-Empress Galina
UBR Cruel Control UBR
"The essence of every world, every spell, and every thought is power. Nothing else matters, because nothing else exists."
-Nicol Bolas
1 Grave Titan
2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
4 Snapcaster Mage
1 Vendilion Clique
Spells:
2 Cruel Ultimatum
3 Cryptic Command
2 Kolaghan's Command
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Logic Knot
4 Remand
1 Shadow of Doubt
1 Spell Pierce
3 Spell Snare
3 Terminate
4 Think Twice
1 Blackcleave Cliffs
1 Blood Crypt
2 Bloodstained Mire
4 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Darkslick Shores
3 Island
4 Polluted Delta
2 Steam Vents
2 Sulfur Falls
1 Sunken Ruins
1 Swamp
2 Watery Grave
2 Anger of the Gods
1 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
1 Bribery
2 Dispel
2 Dreadbore
2 Fulminator Mage
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Keranos, God of Storms
1 Negate
1 Rakdos Charm
1 Surgical Extraction
Obviously, I wish the Bloodstained Mires were Scalding Tarn, but I do not own any
Recap of what I remember from this FNM:
1-2 Big Zoo
Game one took a huge hit when he discarded Loxodon Smiter to Kolaghan's Command
Managed to get game 2 and lost game 3 to ghor-clan rampager ability that I couldn't counter.
2-0 4 color bring to light
Managed to have shadow of doubt show up both games and was able to cast it at opportune times to not allow him to value from his gifts when he needed it.
2-0 Naya Burn
I don't know how, but managed to get there. Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet came down both games, first game around turn 9 or 10 and second game on turn 4.
Note: Second game opponent had to mull to 5 and kept a no-lander hoping to hit one.
2-0 Abzan Company
Last week I went 0-2 with this being my only loss, but last week I had Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet in the side and no Anger of the gods in the side.
Again, shadow of doubt came up huge in this match as I was able to draw into it both games and restrict his ability to go off.
First game had to play, chump a voice token with, and rebuy with kolaghan's command grave titan to chump a second voice token.
Second game was able to anger of the gods to wipe a voice and birds and was able to cast then Snap back Cruel Ultimatum
Overall I'm happy with the deck list, I feel like Think twice is where the draw wants to be so I can leave spell snare/pierce mana open turn 1 and be able to end of turn draw if they do nothing worthwhile turn 2.
Please let me know what you think of the list
2-1 against Naya Burn. Counterspells and early Tasigurs did big work.
0-2 against G/R mana destruction. Not much to do against turn 2 stone rains, mwonvuli acid mosses, and blood moons. This guy was the worst. He was getting off crippling early combos and still complaining to everybody that his draws were bad.
2-0 against some kind of tokens deck. I was running Anger of the Gods mainboard today, so she was never able to get off the ground.
I definitely want 2 Kalitas now. I'd happily make room for him. Cruel Ultimatum made several good appearances.
It was very clear to me that I need a better source of card draw. I like Serum Visions for its convenience, mana cost, and filtration, but at some point I just want card advantage. Dare I bite the bullet and buy a playset of Ancestral Visions? Seems to be working for other people.
I also need a way to deal with enchantments in the sideboard. Any ideas?
BURCruel ControlRUB
GWHatebearsWG
GWRBushwacker BlitzRWG
RUStormUR
GWTronWG
GWUBRSliversRBUWG
GWUBR"PostModern" Restore BalanceRBUWG
BURCruel ControlRUB
GWHatebearsWG
GWRBushwacker BlitzRWG
RUStormUR
GWTronWG
GWUBRSliversRBUWG
GWUBR"PostModern" Restore BalanceRBUWG
14 U for turn 1 spell snare
22 U for turn 4 cryptic command
14 R for turn 1 lightning bolt
19 R for turn 3 anger of the gods
18 B for turn 4 languish
However because its very hard to fulfill all the mana requirements even with access to fetches so I'll just make a budget manabase that tries to match the ratios.
5 Island
3 Swamp
2 Mountain
2 wandering fumarole
2 lavaclaw reaches
3 shivan reef
3 sulfurous springs
3 chocked estuary
1 sunken hollow
2 evolving wilds
This mana base is budget but pretty consistent with the ratios being: 17 U, 14 R, 14 B. The first things I would try to pick up are 4 polluted delta, 4 bloodstained mire, 2 watery grave, 2 steam vents, 1 blood crypt, 1-2 sulfur falls, 2-3 creeping tar pit in this order. Once you have these then your manabase can look something like:
4 polluted delta
4 bloodstained mire
2 watery grave
2 steam vents
1 blood crypt
2 drowned catacombs
1 sulfur falls
1 wandering fumarole
2 creeping tar pit
3 island
2 swamp
1 mountain
This mana base is somewhat looking more standard to the optimized lists and very consistent. 21 U, 17 B, 14 R
Best of luck!!
I had played this deck for some time a year or so ago, but I had almost forgotten about it until I saw my buddy streaming a.... sub-par list.
I'm looking for a starting point and you seem to be having success.
Thanks!
RGOmnath, Locus of ManaRG
URThe Locust godUR
Modern
UWMiraclesUW
Legacy
BGIce Station Zebra (Living Fins)BG
UBRGrixis ControlUBR
RGLandsRG
Side note, has anyone considered trying the new Liliana once she drops? I definitely feel like she'd be pretty good with a build that's running the full set of Snapcasters.
UUBBBRR Cruel Control
BRG BRgBurn
BR URStorm
-Commander-
B Chainer, Dementia Master - Reanimator
U Teferi, Temporal Archmage - Calimari Tribal [Retired]
GB Ishkanah, Grafwidow - Delirium/Tokens
Grave hate is the only thing that concerns me with New Lili, but other than that I think she's great. I might proxy her up on release along with Snaps and try it out at FNM, I'll report back on that if I do.
Fortune's Favor looks cute as a one-of, seems like most of the time your opponent will give you a 2-2 split or, at worst, try to juke you by putting lands and a spell you don't need face down and something important face up. I've got my eye on it.
Also, I have a question for you guys. How do you guys deal with Leyline of Sanctity and other similarly annoying enchantments and what do you side out against them? Every time I play against my group's Esper player, the difficulty of the game goes from Fair to Legendary as soon as T0 Leyline of Sanctity happens and I usually find myself digging like a madman for Bolas or waiting for an opening to bounce it with Cryptic.
UUBBBRR Cruel Control
BRG BRgBurn
BR URStorm
-Commander-
B Chainer, Dementia Master - Reanimator
U Teferi, Temporal Archmage - Calimari Tribal [Retired]
GB Ishkanah, Grafwidow - Delirium/Tokens
Level 2 in progress...
UUU Merfolk UUU
"Above the waves you may be mighty indeed, but down here you belong to me."
-Empress Galina
UBR Cruel Control UBR
"The essence of every world, every spell, and every thought is power. Nothing else matters, because nothing else exists."
-Nicol Bolas
Let me know.
Level 2 in progress...
UUU Merfolk UUU
"Above the waves you may be mighty indeed, but down here you belong to me."
-Empress Galina
UBR Cruel Control UBR
"The essence of every world, every spell, and every thought is power. Nothing else matters, because nothing else exists."
-Nicol Bolas
Fortune's Favor - come on WotC, Fact or Fiction wasn't that busted... right? This card seems like it is close to being good without actually getting there.
Unsubstantiate - a (probably) worse Remand with some flexibility. Not actually that useful for us but worth noting that this does catch Thrun, the Last Troll and Abrupt Decay on the stack as it doesn't actually counter!
Succumb to Temptation - instant speed draw two for three is actually not bad, I just don't think this is what we need
Galvanic Bombardment - This seems really good, and if I played standard I'd be building a control deck with four of these. Unfortuantely having to play four is what makes me very unlikely to want it here
An aside on Delerium. There are two other cards that I think could be strong in Grixis if we could play them optimally:
Whispers of Emrakul - hey look they printed an easier to cast Hymn to Tourach!
Scour the Laboratory - Jace's Ingenuity makes some lists and this could be even better!
The real issue of course is that we aren't going to hit Delerium
Level 2 in progress...
UUU Merfolk UUU
"Above the waves you may be mighty indeed, but down here you belong to me."
-Empress Galina
UBR Cruel Control UBR
"The essence of every world, every spell, and every thought is power. Nothing else matters, because nothing else exists."
-Nicol Bolas