MTG Salvation

Lost my top 8 win and in in the MOCS playoff a hearthcrushing fashion, there goes my hope to revisit that tournament One thing I know for sure is that GDS is actually still really good, but I also should have played Faithless Looting in here https://t.co/t8oog02f22

Kanister today on Twitter

I was going to talk about the same thing. Yesterday, MTGO grinder and pro player Kanister(Piotr Glogowski) played GDS and it made it seem very good. He lost his win and in by passing through a Fatal Push that was targeted by Snapcaster Mage, and was going to kill a Dark Confidant which ultimately costed him the game(He says he F6 through it but it could as well be a missplay, not sure).
There were a lot of games where he could have used Faithless Looting technology, and like paulo says above, he says he should have played it in at least a few copies.

He hadn't read the Ben Friedman Brainstorm article yet, and we brought it up in the chat and he seemed to like the idea. I for one will jam Faithless Looting in my next games with GDS for sure.

PS: The Grim Lavamancer/Young Pyro route seems to be working for MTGO, for me it's good news since Liliana and Jace are prohibitevely expensive.

Quote from SanityLost »

Looting sounds like a valuable addition to me, too. So how to integrate it within common lists? Maybe running a 2-2 split on Looting and SV?

Here's the list I ran at FNM last week, to my first ever 3-0 (UR Breach, RG Eldrazi, Taking Turns). This was my first time playing with Faithless Looting, which proved to be key in 2 games (out of 7 that night).

Some notes:

• Landbase is a bit shaky because I don't have Scalding Tarns. I think I'll remove 2 Marsh Flats and 1 Blood Crypt, and play 3 Flooded Strands in place.
• I forgot my Dismembers at home, so I played a 1/1 split of Terminate and Dreadbore. I honestly can't decide which setup is better.
• I think I should be playing at least 1 K Command main, but can't decide what to remove (I don't want to go lower than the current amount of removal).

Quote from SanityLost »

@Bube: Thanks for sharing and grats on your 3-0. Nice list u got there, I see you run Opt over SV. Is there a particular reason for that?

Thanks

I’ve always been a fan of Opt in the deck, because of the reasons mentioned before: it allows me to hold up blue, and plays nice with Snapcaster. I’ve more than once Stubborn Denial’ed a T1 play from my opponent because I had Opt in hand, instead of Visions. I think that makes it very valuable. Also, whatever the meta, we almost always have to play protect the queen, because of our low density of threats. I never want to let my guard down with a main phase Visions.

I’ve actually had similar reservations for the sorcery speed Faithless Looting, but that’s usually a last ditch effort where you’re looking to trade dead cards with useful ones. I didn’t feel that it was in the same category as the blue cantrips.

I think to use 3 SV, 2 Scour and 3 Looting and the "same" list of the Dylan Donegan GP Hartford

Quote from emilan87 »

I would like to suggest that you cut x1 Stubborn Denial and move it to the sideboard to get x1 K Command on the main deck

As for the Dismember or Terminate/Dreadbore split for me it has worked like marvels having 1/1 Dismember/Terminate

Cutting a SD for Kommand makes sense, I'll try that this week. As for Dismember/Terminate, I used to play like that a few months ago but I can't bring myself to go down to 0 Dreadbore with the current meta of Jund and blue decks running Jace. As always, I'm extremely overthinking this

Quote from Bube »

Quote from emilan87 »

I would like to suggest that you cut x1 Stubborn Denial and move it to the sideboard to get x1 K Command on the main deck

As for the Dismember or Terminate/Dreadbore split for me it has worked like marvels having 1/1 Dismember/Terminate

Cutting a SD for Kommand makes sense, I'll try that this week. As for Dismember/Terminate, I used to play like that a few months ago but I can't bring myself to go down to 0 Dreadbore with the current meta of Jund and blue decks running Jace. As always, I'm extremely overthinking this

Jund and blue decks playing Jace are such a low percentage of the meta. Being able to instant speed your kill spell is super important in a deck like this, more so than something like Jund.

On a side note for the Terminate/Dismember debate, I've been VERY impressed with dismember in Jund Death's Shadow. Being able to move your life total down by 4 at will felt SO powerful. It helps power out fast Death's Shadows, and is great vs blood moon decks. Once there is a blood moon out, it's really hard to alter your life totals with your fetchlands turned off, making DS not as potent. Dismember has swung me a lot of games just by being able to pay 4 life, and still being castable through a Blood Moon. But Jund DS is much more of an aggro/combo deck than Grixis.

Maybe Claim Fame for to use with the Looting is a good choice?

Quote from emilan87 »

Quote from brosterman »

Jund and blue decks playing Jace are such a low percentage of the meta. Being able to instant speed your kill spell is super important in a deck like this, more so than something like Jund.

On a side note for the Terminate/Dismember debate, I've been VERY impressed with dismember in Jund Death's Shadow. Being able to move your life total down by 4 at will felt SO powerful. It helps power out fast Death's Shadows, and is great vs blood moon decks. Once there is a blood moon out, it's really hard to alter your life totals with your fetchlands turned off, making DS not as potent. Dismember has swung me a lot of games just by being able to pay 4 life, and still being castable through a Blood Moon. But Jund DS is much more of an aggro/combo deck than Grixis.

I totally agree on this one. I would not main deck Dreadbore in this current meta... 2 Dismembers gives you a very quick scalation for your shadow that takes you opponent by surprise. So its like a tech card with removal package included

Ok, you've both sold me on Dismember. I think it supports the deck's aggro stance better.

Hey all! I played a 16 man local 1k tournament and finished 5th (3-1-2) with GDS. Here's the build I played, along with a tournament report. I anticipated a lot of spell based combo and aggro decks (usually the case here), but there were a lot of creature decks.


Round 1 - Ad Nauseam (2-0)
In both games, I hit him hard with discard. G1 I had 2 DS and 1 Angler on T4, he played a Phyrexian Unlife to extend the game, but I continued beating. G2 he never got anything down, I had 2 DS again, he conceded on T5.

Round 2 - Mardu Pyromancer (2-1)
G1: I got hit hard with discard in the first few turns, on a shaky mulligan to 5. Never came back, conceded on T4.
G2: I started with discard, got a T2 DS, followed by T3 Liliana the Last Hope. I also drew a lot of my sideboard cards like Izzet Staticaster and E.Explosives. Kept the board clean (Staticaster + LtLH was devastating), got a few more creatures and pushed through.
G3: This went similar to G2, except I mulled down to 3 (DS, Street Wraith, land), and opponent mulled to 4. I started with discard, drew really well and had another T3 Liliana. Ticked her up while getting an Angler, started beating down. I was about to ultimate Liliana when opp drew an EE, cast it on 3. Seeing that she wouldn't survive the next turn, I ticked down Liliana, hoping to get a TBR and flashback with Snapcaster to end the game quickly - the first card I milled was TBR. I was so excited that I forgot to return a creature from the graveyard. I immediately attacked with Angler, Snap-TBR for the win.

Round 3 - Humans (2-0)
G1: Opponent had a hand full of Kitesail Freebooters and Phantasmal Images. He picked apart my hand pretty well but none were very effective (I lost a Thought Scour, which delayed my Tasigur, and a Stubborn Denial), but I managed to get threats down T3-4. He had a full board with Hierarchs, Freebooters and Images (one which copied my Tasigur), but an attack with Tasigur and 2 8/8 DSs with a TBR did the trick.
G2: My opening hand had 2 Pushes, 1 Bolt, 1 DS and and Inquisition. I T1 IoK, discarded a Freebooter, he played a second Freebooter. I constantly kept his board clean, attacked patiently with DS. T5 (or maybe T6) was very interesting: I only had a TBR in hand, which he knew about, and which would present lethal next turn. He played a Dire Fleet Daredevil and Inquisitoned me from my graveyard, discarding TBR. I still had control of the game, but the game would go on. However, I top decked a Snapcaster, and Snap-TBR'ed for the win.

Round 4 (Jeskai Control) and Round 5 (Mardu Pyromancer) were both intentional draws after locking in Top 8. I finished 1st in the Swiss rounds.

Top 8 Quarterfinals - Affinity (1-2)
G1: He had a slow start, and I kept his board pretty clean. A combination of Angler and DS did the trick.
G2: Opponent played a T1 Thoughtseize and got my K.Command. I never drew my 3rd land, and he hit hard and fast early in the game before I could do much.
G3: I started off with a Thoughtseize, and saw his hand of Spire of Industry, Mox Opal, Vault Skirge, 2 Etched Champion, Spell Pierce. I wanted to get an Etched Champion, but saw that if I got Vault Skirge, he wouldn't have any plays for quite a long time. He indeed durdled a lot, draw-go'd or played some weak top decks like an Ornithopter (which I removed), but I just couldn't get a large threat down. I also made a HUGE mistake: I had EE, which I could have played before the turn he played his second Etched Champion, but I was scared of losing to Cranial Plating (I had a Ceremonious Rejection in hand, but only 3 lands). Next turn, with the second Champion in play, I played a DS (again, instead of EE), aiming to close next turn with TBR (also in hand). Next turn, he got me down to 4, and cast a Galvanic Blast for the win. Very disappointing.

What do you think the Faitlhess Looting in MB?

Quote from paulotheodoro »

What do you think the Faitlhess Looting in MB?

I like it so much, I would advise you to try it as soon as possible I played Mardu Pyromancer for a while, and saw how powerful Looting is - you almost always have some sort of dead draws, especially in game 1, and this allows you to filter them out.

Early game, it allows you to find a land or threat, late game it turns that unnecessary land or discard spell you topdecked into a usable card. I also leave them in post-sideboard, since it allows you to find your sideboard cards faster as well (a lot of post-sideboard games depend on who gets to their sideboard cards first).

It also fuels delve just as Thought Scour does.

Though not as advantageous as discarding Lingering Souls in Mardu Pyromancer, you also have Snapcaster to flashback any spells you discarded.

All in all, it “raises” the threat density of the deck, which turns out to be a much needed boost.

One negative thing this build has (with Looting and 2 main Bolts) is that you are more dependent on red, which necessiates more conscious fetches. You can stall a lot if you don’t think ahead. Don’t be afraid to fetch Steam Vents as land 1 or 2 if you need to.

Very good! thanks for the feedback. some questions: I do not like 4 Snaps with 17 terrain, I also like 4 zombie fish, and I'm tempted to use 3 Looting, but I do not know if we would have 4 Serum Visions. I'm still very lost in this new version with Looting I think.

Reducing number of Snapcasters is fine in my opinion, but I like him too much to play anything but 4

4 Anglers are also ok, a lot of people have gone for that lately.

However, I think Looting and Visions play different roles in the deck. Faithless Looting is card neutral, causes you to lose cards in your hand, but gives immediate draw - ideally, you wouldn’t do this more than once a game, and it mostly depends on the cards in your hand.

On the other hand, Serum Visions replaces itself and sets you up for future turns - this is valuable pre-emptively, as it allows you to modify what you’re drawing. Multiples aren’t as bad as with Looting.

I wouldn’t play more than 2 Lootings, and never play less than 4 Serum Visions (or Opt, whichever you prefer).

True, I think I'm going to try a list just like yours, but I'm going to take a snap and put on a Stuborn Denial, I think three better on a list of 17 terrains, given that it's a "three cost" spell.

Quote from marlboro92 »

One quick note, loothing is not card neutral, is card disadvantage

That's correct, yes. It's only "neutral" when you flash it back.

Flooded seems well, now Snap is so important to replace it.

So with the recent praises of faithless looting, I was hoping for some advice on what to cut for it. Here's my list:

I was also hoping for some advice on my sideboard.
Thanks in advance.

Cut the Opts.

I'm testing Friedman's Bauble and Looting list and liking it so far. Even before adding Looting, I'm already on the Bauble train. But if you expect a lot of fair grindy decks in your meta, the 18-land with KCommands maybe the better choice. Looting also complimented Bauble well as it is a bad topdeck late game and Looting allows you to bin it along with dead discards, Stubs or extra lands. I'm currently playing 3 copies of Looting but may drop to 2. It's amazing just how the deck can consistently power out Anglers.