Well, I think that 3 Bonesplitter are overkill. I could see going to 2 if your meta has a lot of artifact hate, but my personal preference is 3 equipment. Mulldrifter is a card that lets you get back in the game against attrition decks by providing two cards and a 2/2 flying body, and alongside Cruise is great for hand refilling. I would definitely run Executioner's Capsule instead of Duress since that's the main reason for splashing Black anyways, and as a bomb, Guardian of the Guildpact is the best you can find. Alternatives include Seraph of Dawn and Shimmering Glasskite. Also I would run no less than 4 fetchlands.
Aren't 18 lands a bit too low? I'd run at least one more Evolving Wilds and swap the guildgates for the new Khans refuges, drop 1 Bonesplitter (since there's not much artifact hate maindeck and if anyone sides in we can just counter it), Daze and Snap unless you're going for a tempo version, in which case I'd suggest running more Man-o'-War. I think at least 2 Treasure Cruise are a must. Again, I'd also run Executioner's Capsule since it's one of the biggest selling points for splashing Black: having tutorable removal is just great. I'd take out the singleton Doom Blade since capsule is a fetcheable blade for 1 B more and you can crack it any time you want, and maybe a Duress for a second one. I'd also try dropping 1-2 counterspells and something else for some Mana Leak; although it's dead late game it's a very powerful play in the early turns, and significantly easier to cast in a three-color build.
Dropped the Aven Riftwatcher altogether since I found that chumpblocking with Doomed Traveler and it's token and the lifegain from the lands, the Sylvok Lifestaff and Last Breathing your creatures as a desperate measure are more than enough to keep you alive in the early game. I'm looking forward fitting in just 1 more Island and 1 Cenn's Enlistment. Didn't take any Desert out since they're such a house when paired with chumpblockers, Judge Unworthy, or simply in multiples, and it's a must have to fight Delver decks.
We don't have many wrath effects unfortunately. Since you're in black you can run Dry Spell, Nausea, Holy Light, Fade Away or even Evincar's Justice (you can even rebuy it lategame) or Crypt Rats if you consistently manage to get at least 2 black sources on the field. I would take out 2 Duress to the sideboard and replace the other two with Raven's Crime since pinpoint discard is more of a tapout control approachs, and I would fill the two other slots with Treasure Cruise since they play good with your high amount of cantrips and 1 CMC spells + fetches.
Echoing Decay is pretty good, but it really depends on your meta. It was a lot better as a sideboard option when Empty the Warrens was legal in the format.
Do you have access to the RUG Delver list? I've fighted monoblue Delver lists with both Desert and Aven Riftwatcher as stated in the primer. I can only assume RUG Delver is way slower and has less counterspells and backbreaking tempo plays than the mono blue one due to it having three colors, so you have the advantage of them not being as fast as the original one.
The problem is that a tri-color deck cannot run Desert without harming their mana base. As such, your best bet is to run a low curve of efficient creatures topped by Aven Riftwatcher and Trinket Mage which you can use to fetch your removal capsules. Keep in mind that they lose a lot of speed and efficiency: they no longer play Cloud of Faeries into Spellstutter Sprite resulting in your T2 play being countered and them having 2 flying power across two bodies. They can't play Spire Golem and they only run 1 Daze. However, they play 8 burn spells which can kill most of your creatures, so resolving Mulldrifter to get ahead on cards and bodies is key to winning the battle. You might as well consider creatures with Protection from Red like Weatherseed Faeries, Sea Sprite, Thermal Glider, Defender of Law or Freewind Falcon. Bait the counterspells, don't let them draw cards, and stick a game winning creature is the plan. If resolved, Guardian of the Guildpact will eat them alive.
I agree completely, so what would you say is the solid part of the shell? I face many decks and it can do well I say yes a bit slow at times a its shaky but I'm still working on the mana base.
I want edict. I love the discard when it comes up as I don't always need black.
After this, I would fill the land spots with some basics and no more than 6-7 Blue KTK Refuges (Tranquil Cove, Dismal Backwater). Good counterspells are Mana Leak and Counterspell, especially the former since you can find hard to cast Counterspell sometimes, so I'd first load up on those. The removal suite would need you to complement with things that can hit Black creatures. These options include Last Breath (destroys all MBC's creatures), Disfigure / Last Gasp, Judge Unworthy or Agony Warp for a potential 2-for-1. About creatures, if you find yourself reliably having double black available, I'd run between 2 and 4 Liliana's Specter and up to 2 Augur of Skulls for the disruption package, and 1-2 Crypt Rats (you already need 1 Black to cast them so you would just need another one and most pauper creatures have 2 toughness anyways). Finally, if you can manage to get in some Undying Evil you can get nasty uses out of Liliana's Specter, Augur of Skulls, Trinket Mage, Mulldrifter and Aven Riftwatcher.
Hey everyone, I am new to the pauper format and decided to pickup this deck. The list I am using is as followed (thanks Zephyr!)
Do you have a generic sideboard for an unknown meta? I have ideas of what I may want to include but would like to know what your guy's suggestions for an unknown meta might be.
Sorry for the late reply, and for not having advanced the matchup analysis as I have been busy with exams. A generic sideboard would be something akin to this:
You cover your weakness to green decks like stompy, infect and bogles with the Circles of Protection, while incidentally hitting Elves and Tron with splash damage (CoP: Green stops Fangren Marauder beats cold in it's tracks). Longbow, Crypt and Cane are part of the utility package: Cane is used against grindy attrition matches like MBC, Crypt against graveyard based decks like Dead Dog or Familiars, and Longbow against X/1's like Goblins, Elves and Delver. Disdainful Stroke hits MBC the hardest and also hits all of Tron's big spells. CoP: Red is against WeeFiends, Burn, and hits Goblins and Tron with splash damage too (Rolling Thunder gets negated). Hindering Light is used in Burn and MBC to protect your life total and your threats respectively while also maintaining the card advantage. Finally, Dust to Dust is fairly obvious against the Affinity and Metalcraft decks.
I will update the primer with those last matchups between this afternoon and tomorrow morning, so keep up to date! Meanwhile, this is the list I'm going to take for FNM
The deck is rock-solid and folds to nothing except Delver nut hands and Bogles G1. Since the printing of Treasure Cruise, we have a much better matchup against MBC, especially when coupled with cards like Squadron Hawk, Guardian of the Guildpact, Doomed Traveler and Flayer Husk and backed up by Countermagic. Coupled with the lifegain that 6 of our lands give us and that we can Last Breath one of our creatures in a pinch, the deck is really hard to beat from any angle other than dealing 20 damage before we stabilize (which shouldn't happen very often with the lifegain, chumpblockers, removal and counters). Quoting from both of my test buddies, who play a lot against and have piloted it from time to time it's just missing efficient, unconditional instant-speed removal to pair up with Last Breath or at least, sorcery-speed in order to feed TC (like Journey to Nowhere but a sorcery version of it, but I doubt we're getting removal that good, the triple-white cost in Unmake is just too harsh for us) to go over the top, and a value equipment like a Leonin Scimitar that drew a card or gained life upon combat damage to be really oppressive.
While we're waiting for the instant speed removal to happen someday, I'd like to include the third Treasure Cruise and the fourth Mulldrifter because they are really, really backbreaking against both enemy Cruise decks and grindy decks like MBC, but I'm pretty much puzzled as what to take out since everything is so tight. Help would be really appreciated. Any ideas?
Okay, the matchups section has been updated and the primer has been completely overhauled. It has got a facelift and the "Card Choices" section has been updated to reflect the changes in the metagame thanks to Treasure Cruise. My deck at the OP has been updated too. For reference, this is what I'm running now:
I'm looking forward adding the 4th Treasure Cruise, but I fear I will have to add 2-3 more fetchlands for that, and I can't afford more taplands, nor I can't afford to take out Kabira Crossroads and Desert, so this will be a tough situation. Aditionally, I'd like to add a second Bonesplitter and go up to 4 equipment for some added pressure (There have been times where I wanted to fetch a second one but couldnt) or as an insurance if the first one gets countered or broken.
On a completely different note, I'd like to ask for some help for those who have been testing Esperblade, Jeskaiblade or even Bantblade or are willing to do it. Please share your experiences, as I'm still refining and fine-tuning the classic UW version as you can see, and the primer would go much faster if someone offered input in the tri-colored versions. Thanks in advance!
Judge Unworthy doesn't make the cut anymore? I'm also surprised to see Sunlance back! Is Treasure Cruise that important to feed that you can't use Journey to Nowhere?
Since I don't run Aven Riftwatcher now and that it only targets attacking or blocking creatures, meaning combo creatures like Cloud of Faeries or Nivix Cyclops are out of reach, it has been only meh, although I can see myself swapping it back for Sunlance if I start running more 3 CMC cards. And yeah, it's very important to feed Cruise since it's the card defining the format right now, so we can't fall behind other Cruise decks. I'd like to even run the full playset but I think it might be hard with the current configuration. Maybe if we had something like Force of Will to what we could pitch dead Cruises... Right now I've switched to a Jeskaiblade version of the deck and the mana hasn't been an issue at all for now:
The burn suite is a really nice adition, since it feeds Cruise really good and can kill everything short of a Fangren Marauder (and Atog, but in order to survive a Flame Slash the Affinity pilot has to 2-for-1 himself), which if proven a problem I could simply slot back 1-2 copies of Afterlife. Slash in particular improves a lot the Affinity matchup. Lightning Bolt even doubles as reach if we have trouble closing a game (be it because of broken Bonesplitter, countered or killed Guardian of the Guildpact, etc), so they aren't completely dead against non-creature decks or Bogles. The tempo I maintain is basically the same (11 taplands opposed to the 10 I had in the UW version) or even greater since all my removal is 1 CMC. With the refuge lands I don't find it difficult at all to cast Counterspell and Deprive, and with the Burn spells Desert is not needed any more. The only thing I'm missing is the sheer lifegain from Kabira Crossroads, which cannot be slotted in due to the tricolor manabase, although an argument could be made to cut one fetchland in place of it, so the Burn matchup has become more difficult, thus I'll need 2-3 Aven Riftwatcher back in the mainboard. An argument could be made to slot 1-2 copies of Staggershock as 2-for-1 or even more reach that won't be dead against creatureless decks and/or Afterlife as unconditional removal.
I'll also need to reconstruct the sideboard taking into account Red. Since we're still super weak to Bogles, and Stompy and Infect give us troubles, 3 CoP: Green as always seem mandatory, and since Blue has been becoming so prevalent and Treasure Cruise is running rampant, 2-3 Pyroblast can also be included. More burn hate to take out the 4 dead Flame Slash in the form of both CoP: Red and Hindering Light seem good, and we could round the package with the Trinket toolbox plus some Dust to Dust for Affinity and Staggershock as a 2-for-1 against swarms and hate against Turbo Fog.
Any other ideas?
Matchup against creatureless decks has always been good because of counterspells, and card advantage engines like Squadron Hawk, Mulldrifter and Treasure Cruise allow me to keep the pressure going on. Lightning Bolt goes straight to their face, and Flame Slash kills whatever threat they might play.
Swapping Staggershock for Flame Slash is a tough choice; yes, shock is a 2-for-1 that can also go for 4 to the face, or kill a dude and dome them for 2, but is it worth taking such a powerful spell as Slash that deals with anything short of Tron creatures, and doubles as a removal that helps with the low Tempo taplands give?
About Circle of Protection: Green vs Standard Bearer: I previously ran Bearer as it's the more mainstream option, but these players won't board in any enchantment removal, so CoP: is practically a game over for them, whereas Bearer can be dealt with a Hornet Sting.
Ok, I've already swapped 1 fetchland and 1 Flame Slash for 1 Kabira Crossroads and 1 Staggershock. This leaves me at 4 fetches and 3 Slashes, and I'd want to add the second Staggershock as a singleton without any way to search for it won't do much. About the CoP: Red vs Standard Bearer I'll try swapping again and see what happens.
About Turbo Fog I'll try 1 Feldon's Cane (I took it out because of it's anti-synergy with Cruise) and 1-2 Dispeller's Capsule, which are a general catch-all answer against fringe but powerful decks like Pestilence, Acid Trip, Tortured Existence, and can do splash damage against Affinity and Bogles.
I needed a land that could gain me 2 life since just the one life I gain from khan refuges is one life too low, so I swapped the 5th fetch for the crossroads. About Staggershock, the times I've cast it I didn't feel it was a problem on the curve, especially since the Rebound trigger lets me have open mana for counterspells or instants on the next turn, and it's insane value, but other than a land (UR Control lists play 21 too and they don't have a problem with their Mulldrifter, flashback Firebolt or Staggershock) I don't know what to take out for the second one, since just a singleton without any means to find it is too irrelevant and might not even come up. Two seem a decent number.
About Missionary vs Riftwatcher you are right. I've preferred the Flying and higher toughness from Aven in order to not die to overloaded Electrickery, but I will certainly try. Finding the spots will be the problem though, as I think Trinket Mage still holds value even if it's only fixing, because in G2 and 3 it also fetches the hate from the side.
About the equipment, I'd like to run 4, since I'd like Husk because of the +1 toughness it provides.
Swapped 1 Seat of the Synod for 1 Bonesplitter. Every time I fetch for a land with Mage, it isn't for Seat, since I already need a blue source to cast it. A good point could be made for swapping 1 Bonesplitter and 1 Flame Slash for Staggershock in weenie / tokens and turbofog full metas, but I believe that 4 Bolts, 4 Slash is the optimal removal configuration. The lifegain from lands and counters and the interaction with lands and Deprive, alongside frying my own Sylvok Lifestaff equipped creatures from time to time seem to give enough time to try and race burn, but usually if they topdeck big spells like Fireblast or Flame Rift I'm usually in big trouble. One Slash and one Deprive could be taken out for two bigger removal spells like Exile against Tron or giant Atogs. What I'd want to include now are 4 Ponder, since with them both the card selection, shuffle outlets and Treasure Cruise feeding spells will be insane, but I don't know what to take out since everything's so tight.
About the SB:
- Standard Bearer: Fights Bogles, Stompy and Infect.
- Circle of Protection: Red: Fights Burn, Eye Candy, Goblins and can shield from Rolling Thunder against Tron.
- Hydroblast: Same as above while also destroying Goblins / Cyclops / Fiends already in play
- Pyroblast: Fights the mirror, Delver, Turbofog, MUC, Familiar Storm and counters Treasure Cruise, while being somewhat good against Eye Candy, and destroys Curse of the Bloody Tome.
- Dispeller's Capsule: Fights TortEx, Turbofog, Pestilence, Affinity, and splash damage againt Bogles, although somewhat slow. Also destroys Curse of the Bloody Tome and Spire Golem against Mono U matchups and kills Bonesplitter in the mirror
- Relic of Progenitus: Fights TortEx, Cruise decks, Dead Dog, Esper Familiars, and all kind of graveyard shenanigans I could stumble upon.
- Viridian Longbow: Fights Elves, Goblins, Weenies / Token and Delver.
Overall I'm missing some Tron hate which can be added MB with two big removal spells and the playset of Ponders MB, and if I could, I would run a little bit more of lifegain in the form of 1 Kabira Crossroads or something. Other than that, this is running like a Swiss clock for me.
Thanks to DNC from Heroes of the Plane Studios for the sig
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1 seat of the synod
1 vault of whispers
1 plains
1 swamp
6 island
1 orzhov guildgate
2 azorius guildgate
2 dimir guildgate
3 evolving wilds
4 squadron hawk
2 guardian of the guildpact
2 oblivion ring
4 brainstorm
4 ponder
4 counter spell
3 snap
1 daze
2 mulldrifter
4 trinket mage
3 duress
3 disfigure
1 doom blade
1 flayer husk
2 bone splitter
1 sylvok lifestaff
It plays better. Need 1 more land, more counter spells.
I love snap oh so much, it has been so useful.
This is my list right now:
4 Doomed Traveler
4 Squadron Hawk
4 Trinket Mage
2 Guardian of the Guildpact
3 Mulldrifter
Instant (15)
4 Brainstorm
2 Counterspell
3 Judge Unworthy
2 Last Breath
4 Mana Leak
3 Treasure Cruise
Equipment (3)
1 Flayer Husk
1 Sylvok Lifestaff
1 Bonesplitter
Land (22)
4 Tranquil Cove
2 Kabira Crossroads
3 Desert
4 Terramorphic Expanse
5 Island
2 Plains
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Ancient Den
Dropped the Aven Riftwatcher altogether since I found that chumpblocking with Doomed Traveler and it's token and the lifegain from the lands, the Sylvok Lifestaff and Last Breathing your creatures as a desperate measure are more than enough to keep you alive in the early game. I'm looking forward fitting in just 1 more Island and 1 Cenn's Enlistment. Didn't take any Desert out since they're such a house when paired with chumpblockers, Judge Unworthy, or simply in multiples, and it's a must have to fight Delver decks.
Thanks to DNC from Heroes of the Plane Studios for the sig
Check my Pauper Cube!
I am looking at ravens crime as a alt to duress.
I agree the one doom blade is meh. I kinda like capsule but I'm not sold on it yet.
4 guardian of the guildpact
4 trinket mage
2 mulldrifter
4 duress
3 disfigure
1 daze
4 counterspell
2 oblivion ring
4 ponder
4 brainstorm
1 halimar depths
1 plains
1 swamp
7 island
3 azorius guildgate
2 dimir guildgate
1 ancient den
1 vault of whispers
1 seat of the synod
1 flayer husk
1 bonesplitter
1 sylvok lifestaff
Ran really good last night, I still think ravens crime would be good. I need a wrath effect.
Thanks to DNC from Heroes of the Plane Studios for the sig
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If they get hosed I have a chance.
Guess that don't say much for my brew.
Thanks to DNC from Heroes of the Plane Studios for the sig
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They use leak instead of deprive.
I want desert for every deck lol. But colorless is bad for many decks.
Thanks to DNC from Heroes of the Plane Studios for the sig
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I want edict. I love the discard when it comes up as I don't always need black.
Jut noticed I forgot 3 evolving wilds in my list.
4 Trinket Mage
4 Brainstorm
2 Guardian of the Guildpact
3 Mulldrifter
2 Treasure Cruise
2 Executioner's Capsule
4 Evolving Wilds
1 Bonesplitter
1 Sylvok Lifestaff
1 Ancient Den
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Vault of Whispers
After this, I would fill the land spots with some basics and no more than 6-7 Blue KTK Refuges (Tranquil Cove, Dismal Backwater). Good counterspells are Mana Leak and Counterspell, especially the former since you can find hard to cast Counterspell sometimes, so I'd first load up on those. The removal suite would need you to complement with things that can hit Black creatures. These options include Last Breath (destroys all MBC's creatures), Disfigure / Last Gasp, Judge Unworthy or Agony Warp for a potential 2-for-1. About creatures, if you find yourself reliably having double black available, I'd run between 2 and 4 Liliana's Specter and up to 2 Augur of Skulls for the disruption package, and 1-2 Crypt Rats (you already need 1 Black to cast them so you would just need another one and most pauper creatures have 2 toughness anyways). Finally, if you can manage to get in some Undying Evil you can get nasty uses out of Liliana's Specter, Augur of Skulls, Trinket Mage, Mulldrifter and Aven Riftwatcher.
Thanks to DNC from Heroes of the Plane Studios for the sig
Check my Pauper Cube!
Do you have a generic sideboard for an unknown meta? I have ideas of what I may want to include but would like to know what your guy's suggestions for an unknown meta might be.
4 Doomed Traveler
4 Squadron Hawk
4 Trinket Mage
2 Guardian of the Guildpact
3 Mulldrifter
Instant (15)
4 Brainstorm
2 Counterspell
3 Judge Unworthy
2 Last Breath
4 Mana Leak
3 Treasure Cruise
Equipment (3)
1 Viridian Longbow
1 Sylvok Lifestaff
1 Bonesplitter
Land (22)
4 Tranquil Cove
2 Kabira Crossroads
3 Desert
4 Terramorphic Expanse
5 Island
2 Plains
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Ancient Den
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Viridian Longbow
2 Disdainful Stroke
2 Hindering Light
3 Circle of Protection: Green
2 Circle of Protection: Red
3 Dust to Dust
You cover your weakness to green decks like stompy, infect and bogles with the Circles of Protection, while incidentally hitting Elves and Tron with splash damage (CoP: Green stops Fangren Marauder beats cold in it's tracks). Longbow, Crypt and Cane are part of the utility package: Cane is used against grindy attrition matches like MBC, Crypt against graveyard based decks like Dead Dog or Familiars, and Longbow against X/1's like Goblins, Elves and Delver. Disdainful Stroke hits MBC the hardest and also hits all of Tron's big spells. CoP: Red is against WeeFiends, Burn, and hits Goblins and Tron with splash damage too (Rolling Thunder gets negated). Hindering Light is used in Burn and MBC to protect your life total and your threats respectively while also maintaining the card advantage. Finally, Dust to Dust is fairly obvious against the Affinity and Metalcraft decks.
Thanks to DNC from Heroes of the Plane Studios for the sig
Check my Pauper Cube!
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
4 Doomed Traveler
4 Squadron Hawk
4 Trinket Mage
3 Mulldrifter
2 Guardian of the Guildpact
Equipment (3)
1 Bonesplitter
1 Sylvok Lifestaff
1 Flayer Husk
Enchantment (2)
2 Journey to Nowhere
Instant (13)
4 Brainstorm
2 Counterspell
4 Mana Leak
3 Last Breath
2 Treasure Cruise
Land (23)
1 Ancient Den
3 Desert
6 Island
2 Kabira Crossroads
2 Plains
1 Seat of the Synod
4 Terramorphic Expanse
4 Tranquil Cove
1 Feldon's Cane
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Viridian Longbow
3 Circle of Protection: Green
2 Circle of Protection: Red
2 Disdainful Stroke
2 Hindering Light
3 Dust to Dust
The deck is rock-solid and folds to nothing except Delver nut hands and Bogles G1. Since the printing of Treasure Cruise, we have a much better matchup against MBC, especially when coupled with cards like Squadron Hawk, Guardian of the Guildpact, Doomed Traveler and Flayer Husk and backed up by Countermagic. Coupled with the lifegain that 6 of our lands give us and that we can Last Breath one of our creatures in a pinch, the deck is really hard to beat from any angle other than dealing 20 damage before we stabilize (which shouldn't happen very often with the lifegain, chumpblockers, removal and counters). Quoting from both of my test buddies, who play a lot against and have piloted it from time to time it's just missing efficient, unconditional instant-speed removal to pair up with Last Breath or at least, sorcery-speed in order to feed TC (like Journey to Nowhere but a sorcery version of it, but I doubt we're getting removal that good, the triple-white cost in Unmake is just too harsh for us) to go over the top, and a value equipment like a Leonin Scimitar that drew a card or gained life upon combat damage to be really oppressive.
While we're waiting for the instant speed removal to happen someday, I'd like to include the third Treasure Cruise and the fourth Mulldrifter because they are really, really backbreaking against both enemy Cruise decks and grindy decks like MBC, but I'm pretty much puzzled as what to take out since everything is so tight. Help would be really appreciated. Any ideas?
Thanks to DNC from Heroes of the Plane Studios for the sig
Check my Pauper Cube!
4 Squadron Hawk
4 Trinket Mage
4 Mulldrifter
2 Guardian of the Guildpact
Equipment (3)
1 Bonesplitter
1 Sylvok Lifestaff
1 Flayer Husk
Instant (12)
4 Brainstorm
4 Counterspell
2 Deprive
2 Afterlife
4 Sunlance
3 Treasure Cruise
1 Cenn's Enlistment
Land (23)
1 Ancient Den
1 Seat of the Synod
4 Terramorphic Expanse
4 Tranquil Cove
2 Kabira Crossroads
2 Desert
7 Island
2 Plains
1 Dispeller's Capsule
1 Viridian Longbow
1 Relic of Progenitus
3 Circle of Protection: Green
2 Circle of Protection: Red
2 Disdainful Stroke
2 Hindering Light
3 Dust to Dust
I'm looking forward adding the 4th Treasure Cruise, but I fear I will have to add 2-3 more fetchlands for that, and I can't afford more taplands, nor I can't afford to take out Kabira Crossroads and Desert, so this will be a tough situation. Aditionally, I'd like to add a second Bonesplitter and go up to 4 equipment for some added pressure (There have been times where I wanted to fetch a second one but couldnt) or as an insurance if the first one gets countered or broken.
On a completely different note, I'd like to ask for some help for those who have been testing Esperblade, Jeskaiblade or even Bantblade or are willing to do it. Please share your experiences, as I'm still refining and fine-tuning the classic UW version as you can see, and the primer would go much faster if someone offered input in the tri-colored versions. Thanks in advance!
Thanks to DNC from Heroes of the Plane Studios for the sig
Check my Pauper Cube!
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
2 Guardian of the Guildpact
4 Squadron Hawk
4 Mulldrifter
4 Trinket Mage
Instant (14)
4 Brainstorm
4 Counterspell
2 Deprive
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Flame Slash
3 Treasure Cruise
Equipment (3)
1 Bonesplitter
1 Sylvok Lifestaff
1 Flayer Husk
Land (22)
3 Swiftwater Cliffs
3 Tranquil Cove
4 Evolving Wilds
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Ancient Den
1 Great Furnace
1 Seat of the Synod
6 Island
1 Plains
1 Mountain
The burn suite is a really nice adition, since it feeds Cruise really good and can kill everything short of a Fangren Marauder (and Atog, but in order to survive a Flame Slash the Affinity pilot has to 2-for-1 himself), which if proven a problem I could simply slot back 1-2 copies of Afterlife. Slash in particular improves a lot the Affinity matchup. Lightning Bolt even doubles as reach if we have trouble closing a game (be it because of broken Bonesplitter, countered or killed Guardian of the Guildpact, etc), so they aren't completely dead against non-creature decks or Bogles. The tempo I maintain is basically the same (11 taplands opposed to the 10 I had in the UW version) or even greater since all my removal is 1 CMC. With the refuge lands I don't find it difficult at all to cast Counterspell and Deprive, and with the Burn spells Desert is not needed any more. The only thing I'm missing is the sheer lifegain from Kabira Crossroads, which cannot be slotted in due to the tricolor manabase, although an argument could be made to cut one fetchland in place of it, so the Burn matchup has become more difficult, thus I'll need 2-3 Aven Riftwatcher back in the mainboard. An argument could be made to slot 1-2 copies of Staggershock as 2-for-1 or even more reach that won't be dead against creatureless decks and/or Afterlife as unconditional removal.
I'll also need to reconstruct the sideboard taking into account Red. Since we're still super weak to Bogles, and Stompy and Infect give us troubles, 3 CoP: Green as always seem mandatory, and since Blue has been becoming so prevalent and Treasure Cruise is running rampant, 2-3 Pyroblast can also be included. More burn hate to take out the 4 dead Flame Slash in the form of both CoP: Red and Hindering Light seem good, and we could round the package with the Trinket toolbox plus some Dust to Dust for Affinity and Staggershock as a 2-for-1 against swarms and hate against Turbo Fog.
Any other ideas?
Thanks to DNC from Heroes of the Plane Studios for the sig
Check my Pauper Cube!
Swapping Staggershock for Flame Slash is a tough choice; yes, shock is a 2-for-1 that can also go for 4 to the face, or kill a dude and dome them for 2, but is it worth taking such a powerful spell as Slash that deals with anything short of Tron creatures, and doubles as a removal that helps with the low Tempo taplands give?
About Circle of Protection: Green vs Standard Bearer: I previously ran Bearer as it's the more mainstream option, but these players won't board in any enchantment removal, so CoP: is practically a game over for them, whereas Bearer can be dealt with a Hornet Sting.
Thanks to DNC from Heroes of the Plane Studios for the sig
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About Turbo Fog I'll try 1 Feldon's Cane (I took it out because of it's anti-synergy with Cruise) and 1-2 Dispeller's Capsule, which are a general catch-all answer against fringe but powerful decks like Pestilence, Acid Trip, Tortured Existence, and can do splash damage against Affinity and Bogles.
So I'd want to add:
+ 1 Staggershock
+ 1 Bonesplitter
+ 2 Aven Riftwatcher
In that order of priority. What should I cut out?
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About Missionary vs Riftwatcher you are right. I've preferred the Flying and higher toughness from Aven in order to not die to overloaded Electrickery, but I will certainly try. Finding the spots will be the problem though, as I think Trinket Mage still holds value even if it's only fixing, because in G2 and 3 it also fetches the hate from the side.
About the equipment, I'd like to run 4, since I'd like Husk because of the +1 toughness it provides.
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2 Bonesplitter
1 Sylvok Lifestaff
1 Flayer Husk
Creature (14)
2 Guardian of the Guildpact
4 Squadron Hawk
4 Mulldrifter
4 Trinket Mage
Instant (14)
2 Deprive
4 Counterspell
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Brainstorm
4 Flame Slash
3 Treasure Cruise
Land (21)
4 Swiftwater Cliffs
4 Tranquil Cove
4 Evolving Wilds
5 Island
1 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Great Furnace
1 Ancient Den
3 Standard Bearer
2 Circle of Protection: Red
2 Hydroblast
3 Pyroblast
2 Dispeller's Capsule
1 Feldon's Cane
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Viridian Longbow
Swapped 1 Seat of the Synod for 1 Bonesplitter. Every time I fetch for a land with Mage, it isn't for Seat, since I already need a blue source to cast it. A good point could be made for swapping 1 Bonesplitter and 1 Flame Slash for Staggershock in weenie / tokens and turbofog full metas, but I believe that 4 Bolts, 4 Slash is the optimal removal configuration. The lifegain from lands and counters and the interaction with lands and Deprive, alongside frying my own Sylvok Lifestaff equipped creatures from time to time seem to give enough time to try and race burn, but usually if they topdeck big spells like Fireblast or Flame Rift I'm usually in big trouble. One Slash and one Deprive could be taken out for two bigger removal spells like Exile against Tron or giant Atogs. What I'd want to include now are 4 Ponder, since with them both the card selection, shuffle outlets and Treasure Cruise feeding spells will be insane, but I don't know what to take out since everything's so tight.
About the SB:
- Standard Bearer: Fights Bogles, Stompy and Infect.
- Circle of Protection: Red: Fights Burn, Eye Candy, Goblins and can shield from Rolling Thunder against Tron.
- Hydroblast: Same as above while also destroying Goblins / Cyclops / Fiends already in play
- Pyroblast: Fights the mirror, Delver, Turbofog, MUC, Familiar Storm and counters Treasure Cruise, while being somewhat good against Eye Candy, and destroys Curse of the Bloody Tome.
- Dispeller's Capsule: Fights TortEx, Turbofog, Pestilence, Affinity, and splash damage againt Bogles, although somewhat slow. Also destroys Curse of the Bloody Tome and Spire Golem against Mono U matchups and kills Bonesplitter in the mirror
- Relic of Progenitus: Fights TortEx, Cruise decks, Dead Dog, Esper Familiars, and all kind of graveyard shenanigans I could stumble upon.
- Viridian Longbow: Fights Elves, Goblins, Weenies / Token and Delver.
Overall I'm missing some Tron hate which can be added MB with two big removal spells and the playset of Ponders MB, and if I could, I would run a little bit more of lifegain in the form of 1 Kabira Crossroads or something. Other than that, this is running like a Swiss clock for me.
Thanks to DNC from Heroes of the Plane Studios for the sig
Check my Pauper Cube!