When it comes to traditional style teachings decks, there are a couple different shells that come to mind. The first shell is the standard UBx build. This wins games via Pristine Talisman plus Evincar's Justice to slowly kill the opponent or just having the opponent deck themselves. There is also the Snow-Go variants of the deck. These get their name from the card Skred and often win with Sprout Swarm or Battlefield Scrounger. A key element that both these shells have in common is that they often play little to no creatures, and rarely rely on them to win.
This is where Grim Teachings comes into play. This is what I would consider to be the third style of teachings decks, and is the least popular among the three. Instead of trying to slowly win the game with non-creature spells, this is a teachings deck that is focused on playing creatures. The goal of the deck is to grind games using the teachings engine and cards like Grim Harvest paired up with value creatures such as Mulldrifter, Archaeomancer and more. It is important to note that because of this engine, this deck often has two roles that it can play. It can attack on an axis involving the teachings engine, or it can attack on an angle involving synergies or loops with creatures.
History
Teachings as an archetype has been a part of the pauper format for quite some time. However, its origins did not start there. Teachings first saw play in while the card was in Standard, Block, and Extended. A card that eventually started showing up was Grim Harvest as a tool to recur powerful ETB creatures like Shriekmaw as well as protect your win conditions. Most of the teachings lists in pauper were either UBx or Snow-go, and grim teachings never really found a place in the format, despite having seen play in the past. Hopefully, this primer can shed light on the archetype.
Color Combinations
The majority of Grim Teachings shells are either UB (dimir) or UBR (grixis) shells. Both of these shells are fine options, however grixis requires that you have a solid mana base. The majority of creatures played in the deck are in blue and black, and red is mostly for utility in removal and sideboard options.
It is important to note that I have tried playing green and white in the past in this deck. Earlier versions were playing 4-5 colors. However, these hurt consistency, and in the current pauper environment, it's not worth going over 3 colors.
Teachings Engine Targets
Teachings is a deck that requires you prepare for the meta. You have to know what to expect, and as a result need to adjust your deck accordingly. This section will give you some of the options that you could play in a shell like this.
One of the few counters that is exclusive to this style of teachings. Being able to counter a creature and get one of your own can be a huge upside. This card can also just be an instant speed disentomb or a regular counter. It's quite flexible in that sense. You can also use it to set up loops with Archaeomancer.
This is Counterspell #5. It's a fringe card, but is an option. Keep in mind that this is a meta call if you play it. It can be quite poor in fast metas. However, it does have the upside of being good against cards like Capsize.
A nice instant speed counter. This is a meta call if you decide to play it mainboard, however it can be quite powerful to have in your main given the right circumstances.
Having tutorable edicts can be quite useful in a variety of situations. While this does give the opponent life, we can use this card on ourselves if we need to gain life. Often times, giving the opponent life is not going to change the outcome of the match and is extremely unlikely to hurt us. Other options for instant speed edicts are things like Diabolic Edict if you really don't want to give players life.
Edicts can be quite powerful in the right meta. Chainer's Edict is arguably one of the best edicts that pauper has to offer. Despite it being a sorcery speed spell, this card can be quite powerful, especially in the late game.
An extremely clean and efficient removal spell. This kills 99% of the format, and can be quite useful in a variety of scenarios. The biggest issue with this card is that the mana cost can be difficult.
A card that is comparable to Terminate. This kills the majority of creatures in the format, however it misses things like Gurmag Angler, Dinrova Horror, as well as the entirety of the Mono-Black Control deck. The trade off is that it is much nicer on your mana.
One of the best cantrips available in the pauper format. It is often uncommon to see cantrips in teachings style decks, however, having the ability to smooth out your draws early on can have upsides for a control deck. It helps with lowering the curve, and making the deck a bit more streamline.
A powerful card draw spell that gets better the later the game goes. Some of the downsides with this card is that it forces you to play 4 copies and can be susceptible to graveyard hate.
A fringe spell that I have grown accustomed to. In the right shell, this is often a 3 mana instant speed divination. You can also use it as an alternate win condition to mill your opponent with Archaeomancer loops.
This card has nice synergy with Grim Harvest and Archaeomancer. It's solid card selection, and in the late game it can be flashed back to see more cards if needed.
The Backbone of this deck. This card allows you to get back creatures and slowly grind out the opponent with them over the course of the game. This can effectively render your opponent's removal to be useless, and can also prevent your opponent from wanting to attack into your creatures.
Arguably one of the best finishers in the format. Being able to set up loops involving Grim Harvest and Ghostly Flicker can often close the door. This is a very powerful and flexible card that has a wide variety of applications.
A great way to stabilize against creature decks. Not only can this be a reset button for your life total, but it can also act as a time walk buying you multiple turns.
A card that has been apart of the teachings archetype for ages. Being able to remove any problematic permanents can be quite useful in a variety of matchups. It can also be used to lock players out of the game by bouncing all their lands if you get to 12+ mana.
Creatures
Grim Teachings is a deck built around exploiting creatures. Let's talk about the possibilities.
One of the most important creatures in the deck. This is a must include if you play the archetype. Being able to get back crucial spells allows you to have a very powerful endgame. This card can has great synergy with Grim Harvest and Soul Manipulation and allows you to set up some powerful loops. It also combos with Ghostly Flicker which is arguably one of the best finishers.
Another version of Archaeomancer. This is another option that the deck can play if it is preferred. It is also important to note that there is a third effect like this in Izzet Chronarch, however it is arguably the worst out of the three.
One of the best creatures in pauper. This has so much value packed all into one card. Mulldrifter is a must include in a shell like this, as it offers synergy with cards like Soul Manipulation, Ghostly Flicker, and of course Grim Harvest. It is important to note that you can create a loop with Grim Harvest by constantly evoking this card.
Arguably one of the best two drops. Having a 1/3 body is great against aggressive decks, and the ability to cantrip is huge. A great include for a strategy like this.
Another option for a deck like this. It is arguable that Augur of Bolas is a better option than this. However, if you want to play a more creature heavy build, this is an option you could play.
The monarch is one of the most powerful mechanics to enter the pauper format in recent memory. Being able to draw an extra card every turn for free is a big deal. This can slowly take over a game, and in certain instances, even steal them. It is important to note that if you lose the monarch, you can get it back by either targeting Thorn of the Black Rose with Ghostly Flicker or getting it back and casting it again with Grim Harvest or Soul Manipulation. As a control deck, I feel it is important to be able to interact with an effect like this, as the monarch is powerful enough to steal games from some of the best decks in the format. It is highly recommended that you look into this card, and consider it for either main board or sideboard applications.
This is an option if you want to go wide and make a lot of tokens. I'm not sure if this is needed for the deck to function, however it is quite fun to make a lot of goblins with Ghostly Flicker.
This is another application for making tokens. Unlike Beetleback Chief, this only makes 1 token, however it can be sacrificed for mana, which is quite nice. You can also sac the token to trigger Grim Harvest if you so choose. Once again, this is not a necessity for the archetype, but a fun inclusion.
If you want a large beater, this is arguably the best candidate for the deck. Once again, this is not needed for the archetype, and it can be sort of a nonbo with cards like Archaeomancer. However, if you like big threats, this is the best option for the deck.
Another option for large threats. Unlike Gurmag Angler, the cost of this card cannot be reduced via the delve mechanic. However, it can be a nice finisher if combined with Archaeomancer and Ghostly Flicker.
A card strictly for the UB builds of this archetype. It's a decent sweeper, and you can loop it with Grim Harvest.
Lands and Mana Base Construction
This section will be covering cards you can play for your mana base. It will also be addressing tips on how to build a 3 color mana base properly.
Khan Lands
These lands are a must include in a control deck like this. They are some of the best duels in the pauper format. It is important to note that you shouldn't over do these. Something in the range of 6-7 should be your maximum.
Bouncelands
Bouncelands are great for control strategies like ourselves. However, when going into 3 colors it should be cautioned that you don't play too many bouncelands as these can hurt your mana. Depending on how many colors you play, you should have somewhere between 2-4 bouncelands.
Fetchlands
If you are playing 3 colors, this is a must include. Being able to get your colors on time is really important when playing any 3 color strategy. A great card for pauper mana bases, and a must include in 3 color shells like this.
Basics
With any pauper deck, you should be playing some number of basics. In these shells, I would suggest a bare minimum of 8 basics. Playing more than 8 is totally acceptable, but you should not go under this limit.
Utility Lands
Most teachings lists have a couple flex slots for utility lands. Some options you can play in Grim Teachings are Bojuka Bog as graveyard hate, Radiant Fountain as life gain, and Mortuary Mire as a way to recur creatures with Ghostly Flicker. It is important to address that unless you have a heavy burn meta, Radiant Fountain should not be played in 3 color builds.
Tips on Building a proper 3 color Mana Base
A key concept to understand when building any 3 color mana base in pauper is the following: "Three colors are not competitive if the mana is too slow, or all colors are equally represented". When playing 3 colors, you need to make sure your mana is fast enough that you can play your spells on time. Too many tap-lands can hurt you. Additionally, your deck must be structured in such a way to indicate that there is an order of importance when it comes to colors. In the Grixis list shown in the sample decklists tab, the color hierarchy is Blue > Red > Black. It also plays more untapped lands than tapped ones. You need to keep both of these in mind when making your mana base.
Sideboard Options
Sideboarding is crucial to doing well in any format. This section will address various sideboard options that this deck can play.
This is great for fighting various red spells that might cause us trouble. Not only is this a great sideboard card for decks like burn and goblins / RDW, but it also can act as removal against potent creatures like Kiln Fiend, Nivix Cyclops, and Atog. A solid option overall.
If you're playing red, this is a must include in the board. Blue is arguably the best color in pauper, and having a 1 mana answer to any problematic blue card is great.
A great form of graveyard hate. While this does have the ability to hit us if we need to pop it, we are often okay with that. When we bring this in, we care much more about the opponent's yard than our own, and can play around this quite well.
Another great form of graveyard hate. This can be cracked for no mana, and doesn't hit our own graveyard. While it does lack the ability to slowly eat at our opponent's graveyard like relic, it can still be quite powerful.
A weird card, however it is great vs burn. If you are on the Grixis version of Grim Teachings, you'll most likely have to use this over Pristine Talisman as you can't afford to run talisman in a 3 color deck. It is also worth noting that this does combo with Evincar's Justice as an alternate win condition.
In certain meta games, it might be incorrect to play this card mainboard. However, it is a nice sb option because it can remove any problematic permanent by bouncing it. If this is in the sideboard, I like to think of it as a echoing truth with the upside of buyback.
This is a cute card to have with Grim Harvest. I don't think it should be played, but it has been used in previous versions.
Tips, Tricks, and Advice
This section will cover tips and tricks with the deck, as well as general advice when playing it.
Grim Harvest allows for some nice resiliency. Let's set up a scenario. You have Grim Harvest in your hand, a creature in the graveyard, and a creature on the field. If your creature that is in play is about to die, you can cast grim harvest targeting the creature in your graveyard, and then when the creature in play dies, you can trigger Grim Harvest and get it back to your hand.
Soul Manipulation is a very powerful card that should not be underestimated. It is arguably the pauper version of Kolaghan's Command, and has great synergy in a deck like this. One of the best tricks you can do with this card is combine it with Archaeomancer. You can counter a creature with it, getting back Archaeomancer from your graveyard. This allows you to have a follow up turn of casting Archaeomancer targeting Soul Manipulation to set it up all over again. In certain instances, you can even kill your own Archaeomancer to repeatedly set the loop up again.
When playing this deck it is crucial to know what your game plan is going to be. Are you going to start attacking on an axis involving creatures, or are you going to use the teachings engine? Your end game ultimately involves winning with creatures, however it's important to know what your line should be.
When building this deck for your meta, not only do you have to take your spells into consideration, but also your creatures. There are two axis to this deck, and you need to account for both.
It is important to note that this deck can have multiple angles of attack when it comes to winning the game. We don't always need to win with damage. If you are playing cards like Comparative Analysis or Deep Analysis, you can use these in conjunction with Ghostly Flicker and two Archaeomancer to deck your opponent.
Graveyard hate is a thing that comes in against this deck, however there are many ways to beat it. One of these involves the card Evincar's Justice. If you play Evincar's Justice and either Pristine Talisman or Luxa River Shrine you can use this as an alternate win condition. It is also important to note that you can just naturally fight through relics / spellbombs, however if for some reason your opponent boards something crazy like 3-4 relics, justice is a decent option. You can also use Capsize as a way to wipe their board, allowing you to eventually remove their hate.
Sample Decklists
Here is the current list I am playing at the moment.
This section will be addressing this deck's matchups against the field, and possible sideboard cards to bring in against them. I will be referencing the current list that I am playing, which is shown in the 'Sample Decklist' tab. There are not many resources on this deck, so hopefully I can offer some insight into it. Keep in mind that this is just a guide. You don't need to follow it verbatim. I don't even follow this 100% myself and only use it as a reference. You should take play / draw into consideration, as well as what you know about their list.
Because we play red, we get access to a plethora of options for this matchup. Lightning bolt and Flame Slash are nice removal. We have to be careful about Spellstutter Sprite, but with Electrickery we can time this properly to sweep their board. This is close to a 45-55 matchup. We are slightly disadvantaged, but can still win.
Edicts are bad in this matchup, and protecting the monarch is tricky against instant speed stutters. Flicker is often a win more, and can be a dead card early on. We can win games without it.
UR Delver
Izzet Delver is slightly better for us than Mono U Delver. Their mana is slower, and they have dead cards in things such as lightning bolt and Skred. This is about a 50 - 50 matchup.
Edicts are bad in this matchup, and protecting the monarch is tricky against instant speed stutters. Flicker is often a win more, and can be a dead card early on. We can win games without it. This is about the same boarding wise as Mono U Delver. You can also consider boarding in Hydroblast for opposing copies of Pyroblast if you so choose.
Murassa Tron
This is a tricky matchup. Tron often has a better end game than any other control deck. As a result, we are the underdog in this matchup. This is about a 40-60 matchup for us. We are not favored.
Removal is not great in this matchup. We would much prefer countermagic or graveyard hate. The best card in the matchup is Thorn of the Black Rose. If this can resolve, and we keep the monarch long enough, you will eventually pull ahead of the tron player.
Dinrova Tron
Once again, we are not favored against tron. However, I find Dinrova tron more manageable than Murassa. This is still a 40-60 matchup, but it can be won.
The biggest factor in this matchup is the monarch. If they fail to resolve an early Palace Sentinels we can often pull ahead and win. Still, this can be a tricky matchup if they resolve it. It's about a 55 - 45 matchup with us being slightly favored.
In certain instances I will consider bringing in things like Capsize, or even Luxa River Shrine. It really depends on what build they are on.
Elves
We have a mainboard Electrickery along with cheap 1 mana removal. If things go our way, we can win this matchup quite easily. Post board we get more sweepers, allowing us to have the capability of just wrecking the elves player. This is about a 60 - 40 matchup.
Capsize removes any problematic cards like Spidersilk Armor, and justice can sometimes be an instant win. Edicts / flicker are not needed, and the monarch is tough to protect.
Affinity
Having cards like Flame Slash and Terminate allows us to have a solid suite of removal against the affinity pilot. Postboard we get things like Gorilla Shaman which can just win games. Outside of nut draws from the affinity player, I've found this to be a favorable matchup. It's about 60-40.
This is a great matchup. We are a heavy favorite. I would consider this to be an 80 - 20 matchup. Things have to go very poorly for us, and very well for the MBC player for us to lose this matchup.
We don't need flicker for this matchup. Most games they bring in gy hate for game 2. We just go on the justice / capsize route and make their hate useless.
Bogles
Game 1 this is a tricky matchup. we only have 1 edict and 1 Electrickery. However, post board we have access to three edicts which is quite useful. I would consider us to be unfavored game 1, but slightly favored for post board games.
This is a solid matchup for the most part. We have a ton of removal and counters for their creatures and we get even more post board. I would consider this to be a 70-30 matchup.
This is a bit trickier than Izzet Blitz. This deck has the ability to set up some crazy things. However, I still feel that it is a favorable matchup, we just need to play cautiously. This is about 60-40.
Flame Slash is basically a dead card in this matchup. It never kills their tribe, and at best it hits Augur of Bolas. Edicts are just better, and Nihil Spellbomb can randomly turn off their Circular Logics which is great. Pyroblast is also a reasonable card to play against them, as it can stop their countermagic as well as the combo if needed. Electrickery is not that impressive here, and Ghostly Flicker is not needed to win.
Mono White Heroic
This is a new deck that is starting to show up. I've only played this a couple times, but I found it to be a decent matchup. They don't have many ways to search for anything, and if you kill their creatures they can't really function. It feels similar to bogles, but has different axis it can function on.
Basically removal / bounce are what we want. Electrickery, Ghostly Flicker and Exclude are all pretty dead in the early game. We really just need to survive the early game, and then once we stabilize we can win in a plethora of different fashions.
Tortured Existence
This basically comes down to the namesake card Tortured Existence. If they resolve it, and start going off, it is tough for any deck to beat it. However, if we stop it from resolving, their deck can't function, and we can win in a plethora of different fashions. It is important to note that a well timed Crypt Incursion can buy us a ton of time. If we ever get the lock of double Archaeomancer plus Ghostly Flicker than we can lock them out of the game quite quickly.
Graveyard hate is great for a matchup like this. Capsize also gives us a tool to bounce a resolved tortured existence so we can counter it.
Burn
In the past, I've found this to be a tricky matchup. Since we don't have access to things like Pristine Talisman it was hard to stabilize against burn. I used to play white for Circle of Protection: Red but that's not really viable in the current meta.
They are now playing creatures like Thermo Alchemist and Firebrand Archer. We will often just remove these before they can impact our life total. They also have dead cards like Searing Blaze provided we play around them. Killing your own Augur of Bolas is a real thing. If we make sure to play around these, our burn opponent has about 10-12 non land cards that are dead depending on the list. This is great for us, as it allows us to 1 for 1 burn by killing their creatures, and eventually have a large Crypt Incursion either targeting their graveyard, or sometimes our own. I don't think we are favored in this matchup, however my data as of writing this shows me having a positive win percentage against burn going 9-2. It's important to note that your goal game 1 should be to stabilize via Crypt Incursion and then close the door by using Archaeomancer, Ghostly Flicker and either a life gain land or just being able to get enough counters to stop anything they can do.
This is a rough matchup for teachings. Historically it has been one of our tougher matchups. If you want to be better positioned against this archetype, having 4 mainboard Augur of Bolas can go a long ways. If you want to beat this archetype, you can build your deck to do so, however it can be tough as it can hurt you in other matchups. It's all about constructing your deck for a certain meta game.
I'm not sure if this boarding is 100% correct. Evincar's Justice is a great option for this matchup, however edicts tend to be lackluster. Still, they are better than 2-3 mana counters.
Red Deck Wins / Goblins
This is also a bit of a tricky matchup. If they come out fast enough, they can often kill you before you have time to stabilize. This is very similar to stompy, but their deck has reach with burn spells.
Counterspells are not great against a deck with a ton of 1 drops. Electrickery is bad against a deck with a bunch of 2 toughness creatures[/card], and Ghostly Flicker is bad in the early game. Evincar's Justice is a nice sweeper, Hydroblast is an all star, and Chainer's Edict, while not great, can at least kill their creatures.
UB Teachings
I find this to be a good matchup for us. They have no clock at all, and we get a lot of time to set up our flicker lock. We can fight through multiple counters, and eventually bolt them or deck them.
Removal is dead against them. Our goal is to just combo them out. Be careful when using monarch, as you don't want to deck yourself before you can kill them.
Snow-Go
I find this to be a fine matchup. While they do have a lot of counters, they offer no pressure, allowing us to slowly fight through their hate.
Basically, we just board out all of our removal, and bring in counters and ways to be disruptive / not die.
UR Puzzle
When I initially played against this matchup, I struggled quite a bit. However, I feel that I've learned the matchup well enough, that I know how to play it, and I think we are slightly favored.
In my experience, most lists will bring in some form of graveyard hate against you. Trying to combo them is usually not going to work out well for you, as they have many ways to disrupt it. Instead, your goal is to stop them from killing you, and then have them lose to decking themselves. They often see more cards than you, so staying slightly behind on cards is a good place to be. You should also try and hold your Comparative Analysis as this can allow you to mill them slightly faster.
Familiars Combo
There are a wide variety of flavors of familiars. Esper, Bant, Jeskai, Grixis, and even UW. However, in each case, we board roughly the same. I would say this is about a 55 - 45 match for us. We just need to kill their familiars, which forces them to play on a more fair axis. If we can get our teachings engine online, this allows us to assemble everything they need. Most of these decks have no removal, so we can get our flicker combo online without much disruption.
if you want to bring in things like Hydroblast against the jeskai shells, that is also an option. I have tried things like Nihil Spellbomb in the past to shut off their combo, but I don't think it is entirely needed. You can board it in though, it's a fine card.
UB Alchemy
This is a great matchup. They only have around 11 creatures on average, and we can kill their anglers quite easily.
I like to take out bad removal like flame slash, and instead bring in stuff like Chainer's Edict. Pyroblast is great, and Nihil Spellbomb can blow them out. I don't like Crypt Incursion because they can just exile creatures when delving, making it useless. Ghostly Flicker is usually not needed, and we can win without it. If you want to keep in Ghostly Flicker You can do it, but I just don't feel it is needed.
Slivers
This is also a decent matchup. We have a lot of removal for their creatures, and they often run out of ways to reload.
Electrickery is not great when they have 12 lords. I prefer Evincar's Justice as a sweeper. Once again, I don't feel we need Ghostly Flicker to win this matchup, and grim loops work just fine. I also like 1 Chainer's Edict over a Counterspell as counterspell can be dead in certain instances. The flashback on Chainer's Edict is quite nice.
UBx Flicker
I find this to be a favorable matchup. We have a better end game. It's close to around 60 - 40 in our favor. They need to draw really well to beat us.
This is a very favorable matchup. We don't care that they can gain life, and having sweepers mainboard and postboard are great. Their combo is also nearly impossible to resolve against a deck with as much removal as ours.
Spot removal is not at it's best against them, and edicts are awful. Most of their creatures cost around 1 mana, so Exclude is pretty poor as well. Evincar's Justice is great against them, and Capsize can bounce Spidersilk Armor.
BW Pestilence
This matchup comes down to whether or not they can resolve the monarch. If they do, it can be a close game. If they don't, we usually crush them.
Capsize is nice against them. You can randomly hit their bouncelands and slow them down. Chainer's Edict is also nice removal as it has flashback.
Freed Combo
If they land a Gigadrowse on you, this can be tricky. However, you can use cards like Ghostly Flicker to help combat this. I usually try to counter their cantrips and enchantments, and try to stop them from developing in the early game. If you can get more lands in play then them, it's hard for Gigadrowse to work. Against a good player, they can often sculpt a perfect hand and then Gigadrowse you, rendering your counter magic useless. Countering proactively is usually best, at least in my experience. I'm not sure who's favored overall, as I have very limited experience in this matchup.
Most of our removal is pretty dead against them so we side that out. Our creature counters are also dead, so we side those out as well. Pyroblast is great at stopping problematic cards, and Hydroblast while not great is better than our sorcery speed removal. Capsize can bounce problematic lands with enchantments on them, and Gorilla Shaman can destroy Lifespark Spellbomb while being a clock.
I think it is interesting. I'm not sure if it is fast enough in the current meta, which can be an issue at times. Try testing it and let me know how the games played out.
Cut some of the slower tap lands and black sources for islands. I'm not sure if the mana is 100% correct, but it does feel much faster and less clunky.
That's a fair point. I think the best way I can answer that is that this deck has existed before pulse tron shells became a thing. I wanted to write a primer about it this deck since I have been on it for about 3 ish years, and I wanted to discuss the archetype since there was not much light on it. One thing to note is that this deck has some angles of attack that tron does not have, and I think you can build it for a variety of applications. I feel like that argument of "why play x when y is better" can be applied to a variety of decks.
"Why play RDW when stompy is a better aggro deck?"
"Why play MBC when boros is a better midrange deck"
etc.
With that said, I do think tron in general has surpassed teachings as an archetype. Not just this specific style, but all of them. It has a monopoly on the late game, and I would argue that there is not deck that has a better late game than tron. Tron has been the premiere teachings deck since MM3, and I don't expect that to change anytime soon. I've been on record for saying this as shown here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Pauper/comments/6avacm/how_well_positioned_is_mono_black_control/
Bottom line is if you want to spike / win, just play Delver / Tron. I think those are the best two decks in the format. If you want to have fun or try something new, this deck is an option.
That's a fair point. I think the best way I can answer that is that this deck has existed before pulse tron shells became a thing. I wanted to write a primer about it this deck since I have been on it for about 3 ish years, and I wanted to discuss the archetype since there was not much light on it. One thing to note is that this deck has some angles of attack that tron does not have, and I think you can build it for a variety of applications. I feel like that argument of "why play x when y is better" can be applied to a variety of decks.
"Why play RDW when stompy is a better aggro deck?"
"Why play MBC when boros is a better midrange deck"
etc.
With that said, I do think tron in general has surpassed teachings as an archetype. Not just this specific style, but all of them. It has a monopoly on the late game, and I would argue that there is not deck that has a better late game than tron. Tron has been the premiere teachings deck since MM3, and I don't expect that to change anytime soon. I've been on record for saying this as shown here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Pauper/comments/6avacm/how_well_positioned_is_mono_black_control/
Bottom line is if you want to spike / win, just play Delver / Tron. I think those are the best two decks in the format. If you want to have fun or try something new, this deck is an option.
Sorry for my rather blunt comment. You did a great job with the primer of the deck! Would like to see this quality of primer also for other (more competitive;-)) decks.
That's a fair point. I think the best way I can answer that is that this deck has existed before pulse tron shells became a thing. I wanted to write a primer about it this deck since I have been on it for about 3 ish years, and I wanted to discuss the archetype since there was not much light on it. One thing to note is that this deck has some angles of attack that tron does not have, and I think you can build it for a variety of applications. I feel like that argument of "why play x when y is better" can be applied to a variety of decks.
"Why play RDW when stompy is a better aggro deck?"
"Why play MBC when boros is a better midrange deck"
etc.
With that said, I do think tron in general has surpassed teachings as an archetype. Not just this specific style, but all of them. It has a monopoly on the late game, and I would argue that there is not deck that has a better late game than tron. Tron has been the premiere teachings deck since MM3, and I don't expect that to change anytime soon. I've been on record for saying this as shown here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Pauper/comments/6avacm/how_well_positioned_is_mono_black_control/
Bottom line is if you want to spike / win, just play Delver / Tron. I think those are the best two decks in the format. If you want to have fun or try something new, this deck is an option.
Sorry for my rather blunt comment. You did a great job with the primer of the deck! Would like to see this quality of primer also for other (more competitive;-)) decks.
Raptor, what do you think about Dark bargain could be good to have one copy in the deck?
I don't think it's needed in the grixis shell, but I could see trying it in a UB shell possibly. It's an interesting card for sure. I do wonder if it's better than forbidden alchemy, but it's a cool card nonetheless.
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What is Grim Teachings?
Snow-Go variants of the deck. These get their name from the card Skred and often win with Sprout Swarm or Battlefield Scrounger. A key element that both these shells have in common is that they often play little to no creatures, and rarely rely on them to win.This is where Grim Teachings comes into play. This is what I would consider to be the third style of teachings decks, and is the least popular among the three. Instead of trying to slowly win the game with non-creature spells, this is a teachings deck that is focused on playing creatures. The goal of the deck is to grind games using the teachings engine and cards like Grim Harvest paired up with value creatures such as Mulldrifter,
Archaeomancer and more. It is important to note that because of this engine, this deck often has two roles that it can play. It can attack on an axis involving the teachings engine, or it can attack on an angle involving synergies or loops with creatures.
History
Teachings as an archetype has been a part of the pauper format for quite some time. However, its origins did not start there. Teachings first saw play in while the card was in Standard, Block, and Extended. A card that eventually started showing up was Grim Harvest as a tool to recur powerful ETB creatures like Shriekmaw as well as protect your win conditions. Most of the teachings lists in pauper were either UBx or Snow-go, and grim teachings never really found a place in the format, despite having seen play in the past. Hopefully, this primer can shed light on the archetype.
Color Combinations
The majority of Grim Teachings shells are either UB (dimir) or UBR (grixis) shells. Both of these shells are fine options, however grixis requires that you have a solid mana base. The majority of creatures played in the deck are in blue and black, and red is mostly for utility in removal and sideboard options.
It is important to note that I have tried playing green and white in the past in this deck. Earlier versions were playing 4-5 colors. However, these hurt consistency, and in the current pauper environment, it's not worth going over 3 colors.
Teachings Engine Targets
Teachings is a deck that requires you prepare for the meta. You have to know what to expect, and as a result need to adjust your deck accordingly. This section will give you some of the options that you could play in a shell like this.
Counterspells
Counterspell
Arguably the best counter in the pauper format. Being able to stop any spell for two blue mana is quite powerful.
Exclude
A solid counter for creature spells. Being able to draw cards is great.
Soul Manipulation
One of the few counters that is exclusive to this style of teachings. Being able to counter a creature and get one of your own can be a huge upside. This card can also just be an instant speed disentomb or a regular counter. It's quite flexible in that sense. You can also use it to set up loops with Archaeomancer.
Deprive
This is Counterspell #5. It's a fringe card, but is an option. Keep in mind that this is a meta call if you play it. It can be quite poor in fast metas. However, it does have the upside of being good against cards like Capsize.
Prohibit
This is also an option for Counterspell #5. It has more restrictions, but can be a fine card in the right meta.
Dispel
A nice instant speed counter. This is a meta call if you decide to play it mainboard, however it can be quite powerful to have in your main given the right circumstances.
Removal
Lightning bolt
One of the best burn spells ever printed. While this can go to the dome, it often us used to kill pesky creatures from our opponent. A solid card.
Flame Slash
One of the best removal spells available in pauper. Being able to kill 90% of the format for 1 red mana is quite powerful.
Firebolt
A great removal spell for aggressive creature decks. Flashback can be quite powerful in the correct circumstances.
Magma Spray
A great tool for undying creatures. In the right meta, this can be a useful card to include.
Disfigure
If you don't want to splash red for 1 mana instant speed removal spells, this is a great option.
Electrickery
A great tool for a meta involving creatures decks that go wide. This can be archetypes such as elves, or even delver strategies.
Echoing Decay
A great card for token strategies. It also has the ability to grant you 2 for 1's.
Evincar's Justice
A great sweeper. This card has limitations, but in the right meta it can be a powerhouse.
Devour Flesh
Having tutorable edicts can be quite useful in a variety of situations. While this does give the opponent life, we can use this card on ourselves if we need to gain life. Often times, giving the opponent life is not going to change the outcome of the match and is extremely unlikely to hurt us. Other options for instant speed edicts are things like Diabolic Edict if you really don't want to give players life.
Chainer's Edict
Edicts can be quite powerful in the right meta. Chainer's Edict is arguably one of the best edicts that pauper has to offer. Despite it being a sorcery speed spell, this card can be quite powerful, especially in the late game.
Terminate
An extremely clean and efficient removal spell. This kills 99% of the format, and can be quite useful in a variety of scenarios. The biggest issue with this card is that the mana cost can be difficult.
Doom Blade
A card that is comparable to Terminate. This kills the majority of creatures in the format, however it misses things like Gurmag Angler, Dinrova Horror, as well as the entirety of the Mono-Black Control deck. The trade off is that it is much nicer on your mana.
Ghastly Demise
A nice one of. This can be great for removing pesky creatures, and is only 1 mana. In the late game it kills pretty much anything.
Card Draw / Selection
Preordain
One of the best cantrips available in the pauper format. It is often uncommon to see cantrips in teachings style decks, however, having the ability to smooth out your draws early on can have upsides for a control deck. It helps with lowering the curve, and making the deck a bit more streamline.
Think Twice
A staple card draw spell in teachings. Being able to cycle it for 2 mana and then flash it back later is solid.
Accumulated Knowledge
A powerful card draw spell that gets better the later the game goes. Some of the downsides with this card is that it forces you to play 4 copies and can be susceptible to graveyard hate.
Comparative Analysis
A fringe spell that I have grown accustomed to. In the right shell, this is often a 3 mana instant speed divination. You can also use it as an alternate win condition to mill your opponent with Archaeomancer loops.
Forbidden Alchemy
This card has nice synergy with Grim Harvest and Archaeomancer. It's solid card selection, and in the late game it can be flashed back to see more cards if needed.
Miscellaneous
Grim Harvest
The Backbone of this deck. This card allows you to get back creatures and slowly grind out the opponent with them over the course of the game. This can effectively render your opponent's removal to be useless, and can also prevent your opponent from wanting to attack into your creatures.
Ghostly Flicker
Arguably one of the best finishers in the format. Being able to set up loops involving Grim Harvest and Ghostly Flicker can often close the door. This is a very powerful and flexible card that has a wide variety of applications.
Crypt Incursion
A great way to stabilize against creature decks. Not only can this be a reset button for your life total, but it can also act as a time walk buying you multiple turns.
Capsize
A card that has been apart of the teachings archetype for ages. Being able to remove any problematic permanents can be quite useful in a variety of matchups. It can also be used to lock players out of the game by bouncing all their lands if you get to 12+ mana.
Creatures
Grim Teachings is a deck built around exploiting creatures. Let's talk about the possibilities.
Archaeomancer
One of the most important creatures in the deck. This is a must include if you play the archetype. Being able to get back crucial spells allows you to have a very powerful endgame. This card can has great synergy with Grim Harvest and Soul Manipulation and allows you to set up some powerful loops. It also combos with Ghostly Flicker which is arguably one of the best finishers.
Mnemonic Wall
Another version of Archaeomancer. This is another option that the deck can play if it is preferred. It is also important to note that there is a third effect like this in Izzet Chronarch, however it is arguably the worst out of the three.
Mulldrifter
One of the best creatures in pauper. This has so much value packed all into one card. Mulldrifter is a must include in a shell like this, as it offers synergy with cards like Soul Manipulation, Ghostly Flicker, and of course Grim Harvest. It is important to note that you can create a loop with Grim Harvest by constantly evoking this card.
Augur of Bolas
Arguably one of the best two drops. Having a 1/3 body is great against aggressive decks, and the ability to cantrip is huge. A great include for a strategy like this.
Sea Gate Oracle
Another option for a deck like this. It is arguable that Augur of Bolas is a better option than this. However, if you want to play a more creature heavy build, this is an option you could play.
Thorn of the Black Rose
The monarch is one of the most powerful mechanics to enter the pauper format in recent memory. Being able to draw an extra card every turn for free is a big deal. This can slowly take over a game, and in certain instances, even steal them. It is important to note that if you lose the monarch, you can get it back by either targeting Thorn of the Black Rose with Ghostly Flicker or getting it back and casting it again with Grim Harvest or Soul Manipulation. As a control deck, I feel it is important to be able to interact with an effect like this, as the monarch is powerful enough to steal games from some of the best decks in the format. It is highly recommended that you look into this card, and consider it for either main board or sideboard applications.
Beetleback Chief
This is an option if you want to go wide and make a lot of tokens. I'm not sure if this is needed for the deck to function, however it is quite fun to make a lot of goblins with Ghostly Flicker.
Eldrazi Skyspawner
This is another application for making tokens. Unlike Beetleback Chief, this only makes 1 token, however it can be sacrificed for mana, which is quite nice. You can also sac the token to trigger Grim Harvest if you so choose. Once again, this is not a necessity for the archetype, but a fun inclusion.
Gurmag Angler
If you want a large beater, this is arguably the best candidate for the deck. Once again, this is not needed for the archetype, and it can be sort of a nonbo with cards like Archaeomancer. However, if you like big threats, this is the best option for the deck.
Dinrova Horror
Another option for large threats. Unlike Gurmag Angler, the cost of this card cannot be reduced via the delve mechanic. However, it can be a nice finisher if combined with Archaeomancer and Ghostly Flicker.
Crypt Rats
A card strictly for the UB builds of this archetype. It's a decent sweeper, and you can loop it with Grim Harvest.
Lands and Mana Base Construction
This section will be covering cards you can play for your mana base. It will also be addressing tips on how to build a 3 color mana base properly.
Khan Lands
These lands are a must include in a control deck like this. They are some of the best duels in the pauper format. It is important to note that you shouldn't over do these. Something in the range of 6-7 should be your maximum.
Bouncelands
Bouncelands are great for control strategies like ourselves. However, when going into 3 colors it should be cautioned that you don't play too many bouncelands as these can hurt your mana. Depending on how many colors you play, you should have somewhere between 2-4 bouncelands.
Fetchlands
If you are playing 3 colors, this is a must include. Being able to get your colors on time is really important when playing any 3 color strategy. A great card for pauper mana bases, and a must include in 3 color shells like this.
Basics
With any pauper deck, you should be playing some number of basics. In these shells, I would suggest a bare minimum of 8 basics. Playing more than 8 is totally acceptable, but you should not go under this limit.
Utility Lands
Most teachings lists have a couple flex slots for utility lands. Some options you can play in Grim Teachings are Bojuka Bog as graveyard hate, Radiant Fountain as life gain, and Mortuary Mire as a way to recur creatures with Ghostly Flicker. It is important to address that unless you have a heavy burn meta, Radiant Fountain should not be played in 3 color builds.
Tips on Building a proper 3 color Mana Base
A key concept to understand when building any 3 color mana base in pauper is the following: "Three colors are not competitive if the mana is too slow, or all colors are equally represented". When playing 3 colors, you need to make sure your mana is fast enough that you can play your spells on time. Too many tap-lands can hurt you. Additionally, your deck must be structured in such a way to indicate that there is an order of importance when it comes to colors. In the Grixis list shown in the sample decklists tab, the color hierarchy is Blue > Red > Black. It also plays more untapped lands than tapped ones. You need to keep both of these in mind when making your mana base.
Sideboard Options
Sideboarding is crucial to doing well in any format. This section will address various sideboard options that this deck can play.
Dispel
Dispel is a great card to include in the board. It's great vs blue decks, and can be quite versatile in general.
Hydroblast
This is great for fighting various red spells that might cause us trouble. Not only is this a great sideboard card for decks like burn and goblins / RDW, but it also can act as removal against potent creatures like Kiln Fiend, Nivix Cyclops, and Atog. A solid option overall.
Pyroblast
If you're playing red, this is a must include in the board. Blue is arguably the best color in pauper, and having a 1 mana answer to any problematic blue card is great.
Gorilla Shaman
A great sb hate card for affinity / artifact decks. If you're playing red, this is worth looking into.
Evincar's Justice
A great sweeper. This is often a mainboard worthy card, however it can also be a fine sideboard option if you don't have space for it in the main.
Electrickery
Another great sweeper. If you're not playing this in the main, but want a tutorable sweeper for post board games, this is a great option to include.
Chainer's Edict
If you want more edict effects for certain matchups and don't have enough space for the mainboard, these are a fine option to include.
Duress
A great option vs any combo or control deck. Being able to remove crucial spells from the opponents hand can be quite useful.
Relic of Progenitus
A great form of graveyard hate. While this does have the ability to hit us if we need to pop it, we are often okay with that. When we bring this in, we care much more about the opponent's yard than our own, and can play around this quite well.
Nihil Spellbomb
Another great form of graveyard hate. This can be cracked for no mana, and doesn't hit our own graveyard. While it does lack the ability to slowly eat at our opponent's graveyard like relic, it can still be quite powerful.
Zombie Outlander
A great card for stompy / elves decks. Being able to have an un-killable blocker in those matchups is great.
Luxa River Shrine
A weird card, however it is great vs burn. If you are on the Grixis version of Grim Teachings, you'll most likely have to use this over Pristine Talisman as you can't afford to run talisman in a 3 color deck. It is also worth noting that this does combo with Evincar's Justice as an alternate win condition.
Nausea
If you're not in red and can't play Electrickery, then this is an option.
Deep Analysis
A nice card for grindy matchups. Being able to draw 4 from one card is quite nice.
Annul
A nice card for artifacts / enchantments.
Capsize
In certain meta games, it might be incorrect to play this card mainboard. However, it is a nice sb option because it can remove any problematic permanent by bouncing it. If this is in the sideboard, I like to think of it as a echoing truth with the upside of buyback.
Cower in Fear
If you're on the UB shell, this is another option to play over Electrickery.
Thorn of the Black Rose
If you don't want to play this in your main, you also have the option to play it in your sideboard.
Bottle Gnomes
This is a cute card to have with Grim Harvest. I don't think it should be played, but it has been used in previous versions.
Tips, Tricks, and Advice
This section will cover tips and tricks with the deck, as well as general advice when playing it.
Sample Decklists
Here is the current list I am playing at the moment.
4 Mulldrifter
2 Archaeomancer
2 Augur of Bolas
1 Thorn of the Black Rose
Instants [22]
3 Terminate
3 Lightning Bolt
3 Mystical Teachings
4 Counterspell
1 Crypt Incursion
1 Grim Harvest
1 Soul Manipulation
1 Devour Flesh
1 Electrickery
1 Ghostly Flicker
1 Exclude
2 Comparative Analysis
4 Swiftwater Cliffs
2 Snow-Covered Mountain
2 Snow-Covered Swamp
5 Snow-Covered Island
1 Izzet Boilerworks
1 Dimir Aqueduct
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Bloodfell Caves
2 Dismal Backwater
4 Ash Barrens
Sorcery [6]
3 Flame Slash
3 Preordain
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Luxa River Shrine
2 Gorilla Shaman
3 Pyroblast
2 Hydroblast
1 Capsize
2 Evincar's Justice
2 Chainer's Edict
Here is a UB list played by obZen back in 2015
2 Crypt Rats
1 Mulldrifter
1 Twisted Abomination
Spells [32]
4 Innocent Blood
4 Accumulated Knowledge
4 Brainstorm
4 Counterspell
1 Crypt Incursion
1 Diabolic Edict
1 Disfigure
4 Exclude
1 Ghastly Demise
1 Grim Harvest
1 Logic Knot
3 Mystical Teachings
2 Think Twice
1 Wail of the Nim
4 Dismal Backwater
3 Evolving Wilds
8 Island
6 Swamp
3 Terramorphic Expanse
2 Diabolic Edict
3 Bottle Gnomes
1 Capsize
2 Duress
1 Evincar's Justice
1 Hydroblast
1 Jace's Erasure
1 Muddle the Mixture
1 Negate
2 Nihil Spellbomb
Matchup Analysis and Sideboarding
This section will be addressing this deck's matchups against the field, and possible sideboard cards to bring in against them. I will be referencing the current list that I am playing, which is shown in the 'Sample Decklist' tab. There are not many resources on this deck, so hopefully I can offer some insight into it. Keep in mind that this is just a guide. You don't need to follow it verbatim. I don't even follow this 100% myself and only use it as a reference. You should take play / draw into consideration, as well as what you know about their list.
4 Mulldrifter
2 Archaeomancer
2 Augur of Bolas
1 Thorn of the Black Rose
Instants [22]
3 Terminate
3 Lightning Bolt
3 Mystical Teachings
4 Counterspell
1 Crypt Incursion
1 Grim Harvest
1 Soul Manipulation
1 Devour Flesh
1 Electrickery
1 Ghostly Flicker
1 Exclude
2 Comparative Analysis
4 Swiftwater Cliffs
2 Snow-Covered Mountain
2 Snow-Covered Swamp
5 Snow-Covered Island
1 Izzet Boilerworks
1 Dimir Aqueduct
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Bloodfell Caves
2 Dismal Backwater
4 Ash Barrens
Sorcery [6]
3 Flame Slash
3 Preordain
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Luxa River Shrine
2 Gorilla Shaman
3 Pyroblast
2 Hydroblast
1 Capsize
2 Evincar's Justice
2 Chainer's Edict
Mono U Delver
Because we play red, we get access to a plethora of options for this matchup. Lightning bolt and Flame Slash are nice removal. We have to be careful about Spellstutter Sprite, but with Electrickery we can time this properly to sweep their board. This is close to a 45-55 matchup. We are slightly disadvantaged, but can still win.
IN: 3 Pyroblast
OUT: 1 Devour Flesh, 1 Thorn of the Black Rose, 1 Ghostly Flicker.
Edicts are bad in this matchup, and protecting the monarch is tricky against instant speed stutters. Flicker is often a win more, and can be a dead card early on. We can win games without it.
UR Delver
Izzet Delver is slightly better for us than Mono U Delver. Their mana is slower, and they have dead cards in things such as lightning bolt and Skred. This is about a 50 - 50 matchup.
IN: 3 Pyroblast
OUT: 1 Devour Flesh, 1 Thorn of the Black Rose, 1 Ghostly Flicker.
Edicts are bad in this matchup, and protecting the monarch is tricky against instant speed stutters. Flicker is often a win more, and can be a dead card early on. We can win games without it. This is about the same boarding wise as Mono U Delver. You can also consider boarding in Hydroblast for opposing copies of Pyroblast if you so choose.
Murassa Tron
This is a tricky matchup. Tron often has a better end game than any other control deck. As a result, we are the underdog in this matchup. This is about a 40-60 matchup for us. We are not favored.
IN: 3 Pyroblast 1 Hydroblast, 1 Relic of Progenitus, 1 Nihil SpellBomb
OUT: 1 Devour Flesh, 1 Electrickery, 1 Lightning bolt 3 Flame Slash
Removal is not great in this matchup. We would much prefer countermagic or graveyard hate. The best card in the matchup is Thorn of the Black Rose. If this can resolve, and we keep the monarch long enough, you will eventually pull ahead of the tron player.
Dinrova Tron
Once again, we are not favored against tron. However, I find Dinrova tron more manageable than Murassa. This is still a 40-60 matchup, but it can be won.
IN: 3 Pyroblast 1 Relic of Progenitus, 1 Nihil Spellbomb
OUT: 1 Devour Flesh, 1 Electrickery, 2 Lightning bolt 1 Flame Slash
Important to note that if they are playing pyroblast for some reason, you can bring in your own copies of hydroblast for game three.
Mono G Tron
This is actually a good matchup around 70-30. Mono green tron can run out of steam quite quickly, and we have the tools to pull ahead.
IN: 2 Chainer's Edict, 1 Nihil Spellbomb, 1 Capsize
OUT: 1 Electrickery, 3 Lightning Bolt
bolts and trickery kill literal nothing. Edicts, graveyard hate, and capsize are better.
RUG Tron
This is another favorable matchup, around 70-30. This version of Tron is lackluster, and it can run out of steam quite quickly.
IN: 3 Pyroblast 1 Nihil SpellBomb
OUT: 1 Electrickery, 1 Lightning bolt 2 Flame Slash
Electrickery / Lightning Bolt / Flame Slash are all mediocre. Pyroblast stops their mulldrifters, which is their best card in the matchup.
Boros
The biggest factor in this matchup is the monarch. If they fail to resolve an early Palace Sentinels we can often pull ahead and win. Still, this can be a tricky matchup if they resolve it. It's about a 55 - 45 matchup with us being slightly favored.
IN: 1 Evincar's Justice, 1 Hydroblast
OUT: 1 Devour Flesh 1 Terminate
In certain instances I will consider bringing in things like Capsize, or even Luxa River Shrine. It really depends on what build they are on.
Elves
We have a mainboard Electrickery along with cheap 1 mana removal. If things go our way, we can win this matchup quite easily. Post board we get more sweepers, allowing us to have the capability of just wrecking the elves player. This is about a 60 - 40 matchup.
IN: 2 Evincar's Justice, 1 Capsize
OUT: 1 Devour Flesh 1 Ghostly Flicker 1Thorn of the Black Rose
Capsize removes any problematic cards like Spidersilk Armor, and justice can sometimes be an instant win. Edicts / flicker are not needed, and the monarch is tough to protect.
Affinity
Having cards like Flame Slash and Terminate allows us to have a solid suite of removal against the affinity pilot. Postboard we get things like Gorilla Shaman which can just win games. Outside of nut draws from the affinity player, I've found this to be a favorable matchup. It's about 60-40.
IN: 2 Gorilla Shaman, 1 chainer's Edict, 1 Hydroblast, 1 Pyroblast
OUT: 1 Electrickery, 1 Ghostly Flicker, 2 Lightning Bolt, 1 Exclude
Mono Black Control
This is a great matchup. We are a heavy favorite. I would consider this to be an 80 - 20 matchup. Things have to go very poorly for us, and very well for the MBC player for us to lose this matchup.
IN: 1 Capsize, 1 Chainer's Edict, 1 Evincar's Justice, 1 Luxa River Shrine
OUT: 1 Electrickery, 1 Ghostly Flicker, 1 Lightning Bolt, 1 Devour Flesh
We don't need flicker for this matchup. Most games they bring in gy hate for game 2. We just go on the justice / capsize route and make their hate useless.
Bogles
Game 1 this is a tricky matchup. we only have 1 edict and 1 Electrickery. However, post board we have access to three edicts which is quite useful. I would consider us to be unfavored game 1, but slightly favored for post board games.
IN: 1 Capsize, 2 Chainer's Edict, 1 Pyroblast, 1 Nihil Spellbomb
OUT: 3 Terminate, 2 Flame Slash
Terminate and Flame Slash are dead cards. Edicts are great, pyro is at least live in being able to hit Slippery Bogle, Nihil Spellbomb at least cycles, and Capsize can bounce problematic auras.
Izzet Blitz
This is a solid matchup for the most part. We have a ton of removal and counters for their creatures and we get even more post board. I would consider this to be a 70-30 matchup.
IN: 2 HydroBlast, 1 Pyroblast, 2 Chainer's Edict
OUT: 1 Electrickery, 1 Ghostly Flicker, 1 Crypt Incusion, 1 Grim Harvest, 1 Lightning Bolt
We don't need Ghostly Flicker or Grim Harvest to win this matchup. Soul Manipulation is often enough, and our main goal is just shutting off their ability to combo us.
Inside Out Combo
This is a bit trickier than Izzet Blitz. This deck has the ability to set up some crazy things. However, I still feel that it is a favorable matchup, we just need to play cautiously. This is about 60-40.
IN: 2 Chainer's Edict, 1 nihil Spellbomb, 2 Pyroblast
OUT: 3 Flame Slash, 1 Electrickery, 1 Ghostly Flicker
Flame Slash is basically a dead card in this matchup. It never kills their tribe, and at best it hits Augur of Bolas. Edicts are just better, and Nihil Spellbomb can randomly turn off their Circular Logics which is great. Pyroblast is also a reasonable card to play against them, as it can stop their countermagic as well as the combo if needed. Electrickery is not that impressive here, and Ghostly Flicker is not needed to win.
Mono White Heroic
This is a new deck that is starting to show up. I've only played this a couple times, but I found it to be a decent matchup. They don't have many ways to search for anything, and if you kill their creatures they can't really function. It feels similar to bogles, but has different axis it can function on.
IN: 2 Chainer's Edict, 1 Capsize
OUT: 1 Electrickery, 1 Ghostly Flicker, 1 Exclude
Basically removal / bounce are what we want. Electrickery, Ghostly Flicker and Exclude are all pretty dead in the early game. We really just need to survive the early game, and then once we stabilize we can win in a plethora of different fashions.
Tortured Existence
This basically comes down to the namesake card Tortured Existence. If they resolve it, and start going off, it is tough for any deck to beat it. However, if we stop it from resolving, their deck can't function, and we can win in a plethora of different fashions. It is important to note that a well timed Crypt Incursion can buy us a ton of time. If we ever get the lock of double Archaeomancer plus Ghostly Flicker than we can lock them out of the game quite quickly.
IN: 1 Relic of Progenitus, 1 Nihil Spellbomb, 1 Capsize
OUT: 1 Electrickery, 1 Devour Flesh, 1 Flame Slash
Graveyard hate is great for a matchup like this. Capsize also gives us a tool to bounce a resolved tortured existence so we can counter it.
Burn
In the past, I've found this to be a tricky matchup. Since we don't have access to things like Pristine Talisman it was hard to stabilize against burn. I used to play white for Circle of Protection: Red but that's not really viable in the current meta.
They are now playing creatures like Thermo Alchemist and Firebrand Archer. We will often just remove these before they can impact our life total. They also have dead cards like Searing Blaze provided we play around them. Killing your own Augur of Bolas is a real thing. If we make sure to play around these, our burn opponent has about 10-12 non land cards that are dead depending on the list. This is great for us, as it allows us to 1 for 1 burn by killing their creatures, and eventually have a large Crypt Incursion either targeting their graveyard, or sometimes our own. I don't think we are favored in this matchup, however my data as of writing this shows me having a positive win percentage against burn going 9-2. It's important to note that your goal game 1 should be to stabilize via Crypt Incursion and then close the door by using Archaeomancer, Ghostly Flicker and either a life gain land or just being able to get enough counters to stop anything they can do.
IN: 2 Hydroblast, 1 Luxa River Shrine, 1 Capsize
OUT: 1 Electrickery, 1 Exclude, 2 Terminate
Electrickery, Exclude, and Terminate are fine cards, however they are not great against a deck with around 6-8 2 mana creatures. Hydroblast is an all star. If you can land an early Luxa River Shrine you can get out of burn range if you back it up with counters. Capsize can remove problem cards like Curse of the Pierced Heart if you don't want to waste a Hyrdroblast on it.
Stompy
This is a rough matchup for teachings. Historically it has been one of our tougher matchups. If you want to be better positioned against this archetype, having 4 mainboard Augur of Bolas can go a long ways. If you want to beat this archetype, you can build your deck to do so, however it can be tough as it can hurt you in other matchups. It's all about constructing your deck for a certain meta game.
IN: 2 Evincar's Justice, 2 Chainer's Edict
OUT: 1 Exclude, 1 Grim Harvest, 1 Ghostly Flicker, 1 Counterspell
I'm not sure if this boarding is 100% correct. Evincar's Justice is a great option for this matchup, however edicts tend to be lackluster. Still, they are better than 2-3 mana counters.
Red Deck Wins / Goblins
This is also a bit of a tricky matchup. If they come out fast enough, they can often kill you before you have time to stabilize. This is very similar to stompy, but their deck has reach with burn spells.
IN: 2 Evincar's Justice, 2 Hydroblast, 2 Chainer's Edict
OUT: 1 Exclude, 1 Ghostly Flicker, 1 Soul Manipulation, 2 Counterspell, 1 Electrickery
Counterspells are not great against a deck with a ton of 1 drops. Electrickery is bad against a deck with a bunch of 2 toughness creatures[/card], and Ghostly Flicker is bad in the early game. Evincar's Justice is a nice sweeper, Hydroblast is an all star, and Chainer's Edict, while not great, can at least kill their creatures.
UB Teachings
I find this to be a good matchup for us. They have no clock at all, and we get a lot of time to set up our flicker lock. We can fight through multiple counters, and eventually bolt them or deck them.
IN: 3 Pyroblast, 1 Nihil Spellbomb, 1 Relic of Progenitus, 1 Capsize, 1 Gorilla Shaman
OUT: 3 Flame Slash, 2 Terminate, 1 Devour Flesh, 1 Electrickery
Removal is dead against them. Our goal is to just combo them out. Be careful when using monarch, as you don't want to deck yourself before you can kill them.
Snow-Go
I find this to be a fine matchup. While they do have a lot of counters, they offer no pressure, allowing us to slowly fight through their hate.
IN: 3 Pyroblast, 2 Hydroblast, 1 Nihil Spellbomb, 1 Relic of Progenitus, 1 Luxa River Shrine, 1 Capsize
OUT: 3 Flame Slash, 3 Terminate, 1 Exclude, 1 Crypt Incursion, 1 Devour Flesh
Basically, we just board out all of our removal, and bring in counters and ways to be disruptive / not die.
UR Puzzle
When I initially played against this matchup, I struggled quite a bit. However, I feel that I've learned the matchup well enough, that I know how to play it, and I think we are slightly favored.
IN: 3 Pyroblast, 1 Nihil Spellbomb, 1 Luxa River Shrine, 2 Hydroblast, 2 Chainer's Edict
OUT: 3 Flame Slash, 1 Terminate, 1 Electrickery, 1 Exclude, 1 Crypt Incursion, 1 Ghostly Flicker, 1 Grim Harvest
In my experience, most lists will bring in some form of graveyard hate against you. Trying to combo them is usually not going to work out well for you, as they have many ways to disrupt it. Instead, your goal is to stop them from killing you, and then have them lose to decking themselves. They often see more cards than you, so staying slightly behind on cards is a good place to be. You should also try and hold your Comparative Analysis as this can allow you to mill them slightly faster.
Familiars Combo
There are a wide variety of flavors of familiars. Esper, Bant, Jeskai, Grixis, and even UW. However, in each case, we board roughly the same. I would say this is about a 55 - 45 match for us. We just need to kill their familiars, which forces them to play on a more fair axis. If we can get our teachings engine online, this allows us to assemble everything they need. Most of these decks have no removal, so we can get our flicker combo online without much disruption.
IN: 3 Pyroblast
OUT: 1 Electrickery, 1 Devour Flesh, 1 Crypt Incursion
if you want to bring in things like Hydroblast against the jeskai shells, that is also an option. I have tried things like Nihil Spellbomb in the past to shut off their combo, but I don't think it is entirely needed. You can board it in though, it's a fine card.
UB Alchemy
This is a great matchup. They only have around 11 creatures on average, and we can kill their anglers quite easily.
IN: 2 Chainer's Edict, 3 Pyroblast, 1 Nihil Spellbomb
OUT: 3 Flame Slash, 1 Electrickery, 1 Crypt Incursion 1 Ghostly Flicker
I like to take out bad removal like flame slash, and instead bring in stuff like Chainer's Edict. Pyroblast is great, and Nihil Spellbomb can blow them out. I don't like Crypt Incursion because they can just exile creatures when delving, making it useless. Ghostly Flicker is usually not needed, and we can win without it. If you want to keep in Ghostly Flicker You can do it, but I just don't feel it is needed.
Slivers
This is also a decent matchup. We have a lot of removal for their creatures, and they often run out of ways to reload.
IN: 1 Chainer's Edict, 2 Evincar's Justice
OUT: 1 Electrickery, 1Ghostly Flicker, 1 Counterspell
Electrickery is not great when they have 12 lords. I prefer Evincar's Justice as a sweeper. Once again, I don't feel we need Ghostly Flicker to win this matchup, and grim loops work just fine. I also like 1 Chainer's Edict over a Counterspell as counterspell can be dead in certain instances. The flashback on Chainer's Edict is quite nice.
UBx Flicker
I find this to be a favorable matchup. We have a better end game. It's close to around 60 - 40 in our favor. They need to draw really well to beat us.
IN: 3 Pyroblast, 1 Nihil Spellbomb, 1 Chainer's Edict
OUT: 3 Flame Slash, 1 Electrickery, 1 devour Flesh
I like cutting slash for edicts as we can flash these back. They also get around opposing Ghostly Flickers which is nice. Pyroblast is just a great card, and Nihil Spellbomb is good against undying, opposing Archaeomancers, and Reaping the Graves. If they are playing red, you can also consider things like Hydroblast.
Rally Gond
This is a very favorable matchup. We don't care that they can gain life, and having sweepers mainboard and postboard are great. Their combo is also nearly impossible to resolve against a deck with as much removal as ours.
IN: 2 Evincar's Justice, 1 Capsize
OUT: 1 Devour Flesh, 1 Terminate, 1 Exclude
Spot removal is not at it's best against them, and edicts are awful. Most of their creatures cost around 1 mana, so Exclude is pretty poor as well. Evincar's Justice is great against them, and Capsize can bounce Spidersilk Armor.
BW Pestilence
This matchup comes down to whether or not they can resolve the monarch. If they do, it can be a close game. If they don't, we usually crush them.
IN: 1 Capsize, 2 Chainer's Edict
OUT: Electrickery, 1 Terminate, 1 Devour Flesh
Capsize is nice against them. You can randomly hit their bouncelands and slow them down. Chainer's Edict is also nice removal as it has flashback.
Freed Combo
If they land a Gigadrowse on you, this can be tricky. However, you can use cards like Ghostly Flicker to help combat this. I usually try to counter their cantrips and enchantments, and try to stop them from developing in the early game. If you can get more lands in play then them, it's hard for Gigadrowse to work. Against a good player, they can often sculpt a perfect hand and then Gigadrowse you, rendering your counter magic useless. Countering proactively is usually best, at least in my experience. I'm not sure who's favored overall, as I have very limited experience in this matchup.
IN: 3 Pyroblast 1 Capsize 2Hydroblast, 2 Gorilla Shaman
OUT: 3 Flame Slash, 1 Electrickery, 1 Crypt Incursion, 1 Exclude, 1 Devour Flesh, 1 Soul Manipulation.
Most of our removal is pretty dead against them so we side that out. Our creature counters are also dead, so we side those out as well. Pyroblast is great at stopping problematic cards, and Hydroblast while not great is better than our sorcery speed removal. Capsize can bounce problematic lands with enchantments on them, and Gorilla Shaman can destroy Lifespark Spellbomb while being a clock.
Resources / References
Sample lists, articles, and threads of these lists from 2007 era can be seen here: http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/standard/14900_Innovations_Spotlight_on_States_Grim_Teachings.html
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/standard-type-2/standard-archives/75818-official-thread-ub-mystical-teachings-control
I haven't gotten in any testing yet, but what's your more-experienced gut suggest about the following shell -
3x Disfigure
2x Chainer's Edict
1x Victim of Night
2x Echoing Decay
3x Memory Lapse
3x Counterspell
1x Horobi's Whisper
2x Crypt Rats
1x Evincar's Justice
1x Traumatic Visions
Card Advantage (15)
3x Augur of Bolas
4x Peer Through Depths
1x Soulless Revival
3x Murmurs from Beyond
1x Archaeomancer
1x Mystical Teachings
1x Thorn of the Black Rose
1x Grim Harvest
3x Twisted Abomination
Lands (23)
2x Ash Barrens
4x Dismal Backwater
7x Island
6x Swamp
4x Terramorphic Expanse
15x We'll Get There...
edit1: -1 Mulldrifter, +1 Thorn of the Black Rose
edit2: -2 Dimir Aqueduct, +1 Island, +1 Swamp
I think it is interesting. I'm not sure if it is fast enough in the current meta, which can be an issue at times. Try testing it and let me know how the games played out.
4 Mulldrifter
2 Archaeomancer
2 Augur of Bolas
1 Thorn of the Black Rose
Instants [20]
3 Terminate
3 Lightning Bolt
3 Mystical Teachings
4 Counterspell
1 Crypt Incursion
1 Grim Harvest
1 Soul Manipulation
1 Devour Flesh
1 Electrickery
1 Ghostly Flicker
1 Exclude
4 Swiftwater Cliffs
1 Izzet Guildgate
2 Snow-Covered Mountain
2 Snow-Covered Swamp
5 Snow-Covered Island
2 Dimir Aqueduct
1 Bojuka Bog
2 Dismal Backwater
4 Ash Barrens
Sorcery [8]
3 Flame Slash
4 Preordain
1 Deep Analysis
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Luxa River Shrine
2 Gorilla Shaman
3 Pyroblast
2 Hydroblast
1 Capsize
2 Evincar's Justice
2 Chainer's Edict
4 Mulldrifter
2 Archaeomancer
2 Augur of Bolas
Instants [22]
3 Terminate
3 Lightning Bolt
1 Comparative Analysis
1 Forbidden Alchemy
3 Mystical Teachings
4 Counterspell
1 Crypt Incursion
1 Grim Harvest
1 Soul Manipulation
1 Devour Flesh
1 Electrickery
1 Ghostly Flicker
1 Exclude
4 Swiftwater Cliffs
1 Izzet Guildgate
2 Snow-Covered Mountain
2 Snow-Covered Swamp
7 Snow-Covered Island
2 Dimir Aqueduct
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Dismal Backwater
4 Ash Barrens
Sorcery [7]
3 Flame Slash
4 Preordain
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Luxa River Shrine
2 Gorilla Shaman
3 Pyroblast
2 Hydroblast
1 Capsize
1 Evincar's Justice
1 Firebolt
2 Chainer's Edict
Cut some of the slower tap lands and black sources for islands. I'm not sure if the mana is 100% correct, but it does feel much faster and less clunky.
http://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=18465&d=314764&f=PAU
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/other-formats/mtgo-pauper/developing/647850-primer-angler-delver
Modern: Sultai Death's Shadow
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/deck-creation-modern/773885-sultai-deaths-shadow-bug-aggro]
Legacy: Snake&Show
http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?27217-Deck-Sneak-and-Show
Discuss my Cube @ MTGsalvation:
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=207309
That's a fair point. I think the best way I can answer that is that this deck has existed before pulse tron shells became a thing. I wanted to write a primer about it this deck since I have been on it for about 3 ish years, and I wanted to discuss the archetype since there was not much light on it. One thing to note is that this deck has some angles of attack that tron does not have, and I think you can build it for a variety of applications. I feel like that argument of "why play x when y is better" can be applied to a variety of decks.
"Why play RDW when stompy is a better aggro deck?"
"Why play MBC when boros is a better midrange deck"
etc.
With that said, I do think tron in general has surpassed teachings as an archetype. Not just this specific style, but all of them. It has a monopoly on the late game, and I would argue that there is not deck that has a better late game than tron. Tron has been the premiere teachings deck since MM3, and I don't expect that to change anytime soon. I've been on record for saying this as shown here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Pauper/comments/6avacm/how_well_positioned_is_mono_black_control/
Bottom line is if you want to spike / win, just play Delver / Tron. I think those are the best two decks in the format. If you want to have fun or try something new, this deck is an option.
Sorry for my rather blunt comment. You did a great job with the primer of the deck! Would like to see this quality of primer also for other (more competitive;-)) decks.
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/other-formats/mtgo-pauper/developing/647850-primer-angler-delver
Modern: Sultai Death's Shadow
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/deck-creation-modern/773885-sultai-deaths-shadow-bug-aggro]
Legacy: Snake&Show
http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?27217-Deck-Sneak-and-Show
Discuss my Cube @ MTGsalvation:
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=207309
Non taken. It was a valid question.
I don't think it's needed in the grixis shell, but I could see trying it in a UB shell possibly. It's an interesting card for sure. I do wonder if it's better than forbidden alchemy, but it's a cool card nonetheless.