new to the topic, but reading the primer and last comments i haven't found anyone arguing about the Red Splash.
do you guys think this is worth? at my local store we play almost weekly Paper Pauper tournaments and i've been using UR control since pre-KTK, but after Treasure Cruise ban i think other decks have been doing a lot better than UR control.
Last tournament i gave the CawBlade a spin, but with a red splash for removal in form of Firebolt, Lightning Bolt and Flame Slash (Electrickery SB), i think its better than going straight UW.
Can you post a list? Did you run something to justify the splash other than removal that can go to the face? Lightning Bolt and Flame Slash are pretty good cards that can be definitely run if you splash red, but with the two new white removal spells we got in BFZ splashing Red solely for removal is not worth the slower manabase. Do you run any other engine that merits playing red?
Can you post a list? Did you run something to justify the splash other than removal that can go to the face? Lightning Bolt and Flame Slash are pretty good cards that can be definitely run if you splash red, but with the two new white removal spells we got in BFZ splashing Red solely for removal is not worth the slower manabase. Do you run any other engine that merits playing red?
I can't remember the exactly 75, but was something like that
(i didn't have acess to many white cards because my pauper pool still in progress, my pool contains mostly Blue and Red cards)
Right now i have ordered plenty white cards to my pool, so now i can test the straight UW version.
I got pretty excited with this BFZ removal, this + Journey/Last Breath/Sunlance can solve any problem.
at my meta we got some problems with Familiar Combo, what are you guys strategy coming to this matchup?
any SB/game advices? i was thinking of adding some number of Stone Rain to the Jeskai Version in the sideboard.
Stone Rain helps against Tron and Familiars, but what I always do is counter / straight out kill Mnemonic Wall and always kill Cloud of Faeries and their Familiars or counter Ghostly Flicker in a pinch, although this is not advisable since they can get it back. Just be sure they can't bounce their creatures in response to the kill spell.
I see you're going for a removal heavy build in favor of less Counterspells. You should try balancing it out a bit (generally 5/5, loading up on Counterspell and Journey to Nowhere first before using other removal, then go up to 13-14 in the removal + counter suite having an equal split or picking either more counters or removal (I personally split them in an equal number). Journey to Nowhere can deal with Mnemonic Wall and every single creature you have problems with. Before Treasure Cruise was banned, the main reason to go Red besides efficient, instant speed removal in Lightning Bolt and cheap removal that could kill almost everything in Flame Slash, was that those very burn spells filled the yard very quickly so you could cast Cruise after Cruise. Now there's nothing that merits the slower manabase since even the removal is starting to get outclassed in White.
About SB, always run 3 Standard Bearer unless you're 100% sure that you won't be facing Bogles, as they're the only matchup besides Turbo Fog against which we don't have at least a 50-50 chance.
Thinking of it this way, Gideon's Reproach is basically an instant speed Flame Slash for just one more mana. If splashing Red was questionably worth it before, it certainly can't be now. Even with Lightning Bolt.
Stone Rain helps against Tron and Familiars, but what I always do is counter / straight out kill Mnemonic Wall and always kill Cloud of Faeries and their Familiars or counter Ghostly Flicker in a pinch, although this is not advisable since they can get it back. Just be sure they can't bounce their creatures in response to the kill spell.
I see you're going for a removal heavy build in favor of less Counterspells. You should try balancing it out a bit (generally 5/5, loading up on Counterspell and Journey to Nowhere first before using other removal, then go up to 13-14 in the removal + counter suite having an equal split or picking either more counters or removal (I personally split them in an equal number). Journey to Nowhere can deal with Mnemonic Wall and every single creature you have problems with. Before Treasure Cruise was banned, the main reason to go Red besides efficient, instant speed removal in Lightning Bolt and cheap removal that could kill almost everything in Flame Slash, was that those very burn spells filled the yard very quickly so you could cast Cruise after Cruise. Now there's nothing that merits the slower manabase since even the removal is starting to get outclassed in White.
About SB, always run 3 Standard Bearer unless you're 100% sure that you won't be facing Bogles, as they're the only matchup besides Turbo Fog against which we don't have at least a 50-50 chance.
At my meta we don't have any Bogles or Turbo Fog decks, so thats why i dont have any SB card against them (although i ordered some Patrician's Scorn to my Pool)
About the Red Splash, i think that your argument is valid, Treasure Cruise was the reason for so many cantrips/burn spells. Much like that card did to Legacy/Modern UR builds, was all about loaded graveyards waiting to delve some Cruises.
Thinking of it this way, Gideon's Reproach is basically an instant speed Flame Slash for just one more mana. If splashing Red was questionably worth it before, it certainly can't be now. Even with Lightning Bolt.
About Gideon's Reproach, i agree that this card will push out the red splash and let the deck be straight UW with a smoother and faster mana base.
Now what i want guys its some adivices since i have a pretty important tournament this weekend and i'm looking foward playing some CawBlade (UW or Jeskai). My meta consists of MBC, Blue Delver, Jeskai/Boros Kitty, Familiar Combo, White Weenie, Blue Weenie, Burn and Goblins.
What do you guys advice? (since, BFZ isn't out yet )
Annul doesn't seem like it will be particularly useful. I would swap it out for more Dispel and other things.
There will be a lot of red going around, so maxing out BEB seems like a good idea.
Having as many 1-mana counters available as possible will make disrupting familiars easier. I would suggest adding REB as well. It's also very good in other blue matchups.
Instead of Electrickery, which only has solid applications versus Delver, I would go for Viridian Longbow, which can be fetched, takes up less sideboard space, can target players, and can really keep weenies under control.
Stormbound Geist is effective versus Black Control as well as Delver. I would go for that.
Is the stormbound geist just to resist spot removal? If the deck is looking for racing material then I would add Vault Skirge, since it does amazing things with equipment.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Pauper: UB Wight Phantasm RB Burn UR Faerie Rites of Initiation
Stormbound Geist resists spot removal, but he also resists Edict effects, is not a good bounce target, blocks faeries and Golems all day, and can go on the offensive itself.
I don't like the idea of running Stormbound Geist as a foil to MBC at all. It costs 3 mana, and a double U at that. We're simply not that kind of deck (plus it won't do anything against Burn because they'll aim at you). To deter MBC I'd run Reinforcements as a way to get my creatures back, and Cenn's Enlistment somewhere in the 75 (preferably mainboard since it's a pretty decent finisher and you'll be one step ahead), and if you want to neuter it more, Hindering Light is another good candidate that's also good agains both Burn and the Kitty decks. If you opt for UW, here's a sideboard:
Feldon's Cane is fetcheable hate against MBC since it reshuffles your yard, allowing your creatures (and fetchlands to feed to Cenn's Enlistment) another shot at life. Relic of Progenitus is also fetcheable hate against Familiars (nuke the yard in response to Mnemonic Wall trying to grab Ghostly Flicker) and MBC's Gurmag Angler. Finally, Longbow deals with Goblins, Delver, and both Weenie decks, and it will put so much work in your meta that you might even want to consider cutting something in place of a second one. You can also consider two Circle of Protection: Red against Burn and Goblins instead of Hindering Light if you have MBC covered enough.
If you're running Jeskai, my suggestions are very similar to Upkeep's:
If you manage to hit your colors in time, this sideboard will simply crush your meta. A myriad of Viridian Longbow, Lightning Bolt, Flame Slash and Red Elemental Blast for Delver and Blue Weenie or Blue Elemental Blast for Goblins will ruin their day 24/7. MBC will get crushed by the card advantage given by Reinforcements, Squadron Hawk and Cenn's Enlistment, while your own burn spell eat at their face quickly that they can gain life. Be sure to include some Journey to Nowhere and to board in Relic of Progenitus though, as burn alone can't deal with Angler. White Weenie will fall under a barrage of burn spells and the Longbows, although sadly you don't have any blasts for them. And finally, Kitty deck will fall against BeB, both of them if it's Jeskai. Again, if you feel like Burn exerts too much pressure on you (which it does), feel free to swap something for two copies of CoP: Red.
As I see, Elemental Blasts are king in your meta and I would never, ever play less than 4 of each of them. Just beware of your opening hand and mulligan decisions if you run 3 colors, because access to all 3 fast enough will often determine if you win or you lose. Prioritize Blue and Red against quick decks as that means removal and counterspells against their hordes and Elemental Blasts later, and Blue and White against slow decks where you want to try and resolve Guardian of the Guildpact ASAP and go to town.
Card Advantage: Brainstorm + Artificer's Epiphany are pretty standard right now (using Artifacts Lands), so those are auto-include. Cenn's Enlistment is our late game Kill Condition that can flood our board with Kithkins at the cost of any land that wasn't going to be useful at late game.
Counterspells: Prohibit is good. Period. Condescend was my choise between Counterspell and Mana Leak because it still can be useful late game, given we will have many lands and useful at early game as it dont need double blue so fast. Bonus: Scry 2!
Removal: Split between Journey to Nowhere/Lightning Bolt/Firebolt. Not full on burns because there are always those pesky +3 toughness/Protection from Red creatures that need to know its place if it wasn't countered.
Sideboard: I got all of you guys advices and united them in one list:
3 BeB/4 ReB: Pretty strong given the meta that i presented you, lowered 1 BeB because of...
2 Hindering Light: Can be used on the Burn matchup too (even goblins), and are darn good against MBC's Corrupts and discards.
3 Reinforcements/1 Feldon's Cane: Our sideboard piece to grindy matchups like MBC, Blue Delver, Kitty and so on...
1 Viridian Longbow: X/1's nightmare. Auto-include. (maybe maindeck?)
1 Relic of Progenitus: My sideboard gem against Graveryard based combos (High Tide, Familiar, etc)
Now i want your opinion guys.
What do you think of my MD/SB?
A little nitpick, but you shouldn't run neither Reinforcements or Feldon's Cane against Delver, as it's an aggro matchup. Run ReB and Longbow against them and it'll go a lot smoother.
I would do some changes to your mainboard. Run either a 1-1 split of Guardian of the Guildpact and Cenn's Enlistment or flat out two Guardians since you have plenty of burn to finish the job. About the removal I would run this:
Also I would swap Condescend for Counterspell since you'll pretty much guaranteed to hit double blue most of the time, and it avoids those feelbad moments when Condescend isn't enough.
By the way, not only is Hindering Light good vs MBC's discard, but against it's entire removal suite. Remember you can also protect your Guardian of the Guildpact from Edict effects since the Edicts target you.
EDIT: If you know for sure your meta will be free of Gurmag Angler (some MBC builds don't run it) and 4+ toughness creatures overall, you can swap Journey to Nowhere for Twin Bolt as the card is a beast against Delver and all kind of weenies, providing you card advantage and reach all in one instant speed card.
A little nitpick, but you shouldn't run neither Reinforcements or Feldon's Cane against Delver, as it's an aggro matchup. Run ReB and Longbow against them and it'll go a lot smoother.
OK, that was only a observation, obviosly i woulndt side-in so many cards against them or any deck.
Quote from Zephyr Scarlet » »
I would do some changes to your mainboard. Run either a 1-1 split of Guardian of the Guildpact and Cenn's Enlistment or flat out two Guardians since you have plenty of burn to finish the job. About the removal I would run this:
why not Firebolt? I think that this card is DOPE, flashback makes this a very useful card early and lategame. I understand that Lightning Bolt is +1 dmg and instant and Flame Slash is +2 dmg, but hey, not so many ppl run 3+ toughness creatures.
Quote from Zephyr Scarlet » »
Also I would swap Condescend for Counterspell since you'll pretty much guaranteed to hit double blue most of the time, and it avoids those feelbad moments when Condescend isn't enough.
By the way, not only is Hindering Light good vs MBC's discard, but against it's entire removal suite. Remember you can also protect your Guardian of the Guildpact from Edict effects since the Edicts target you.
EDIT: If you know for sure your meta will be free of Gurmag Angler (some MBC builds don't run it) and 4+ toughness creatures overall, you can swap Journey to Nowhere for Twin Bolt as the card is a beast against Delver and all kind of weenies, providing you card advantage and reach all in one instant speed card.
A few hand tests proved that doble blue is kinda easy with this mana base, going back on Counterspells as you mentioned.
About Twin Bolt: doesn't it leave us open to Pro-Red creatures? Lost a game only to a single protection from red rebel bird, from a rebels deck that i forgot to mention. And that deck certainly will appear at the tournament.
Are you referring to Thermal Glider? You can stop it blocking with counters, Mulls or Hawks, but if you feel it's an issue, run Journey to Nowhere, although I feel sacrificing a better matchup against weenies and delver because of a single creature is not worth it.
About Firebolt vs Flame Slash if you feel 100% sure that there won't be absolutely any creature with 3+ toughness, then go ahead! I prefer Slash simply because it's a catch-all answer and can hit Gray Merchant of Asphodel, Spire Golem and Mnemonic Wall among others in your meta.
Now that the whole set has been spoiled, what are your thoughts on the new cards?
- Eldrazi Skyspawner: Creates an evasive body that can carry weapons and trade with Delvers while leaving behind another body that can be leveraged to ramp or simply carry weapons like it's big brother. Could vary from mediocre to pretty good in an environment without Crypt Rats. Definitely something to test out.
- Spell Shrivel: Costs 1 more than normal Prohibit but 1 less than kicked Prohibit. Prohibit is a hard counter, but this exiles, and 4 mana is a lot to play, essentialy acting like a Time Walk if the opponent actually has the mana and decides to pay for it to let it's removable 2-drop resolve. Bonus points for dodging Pyroblast. Will require further testing.
- Mire's Malice: Lackluster and overcosted when cast for 3B, also discard 2 is not nearly as relevant as draw 2 as evidenced by Mind Rot not seeing play. However, Divination doesn't see play either but Mulldrifter does, so the "reverse Mulldrifter" mode could be useful.
The deck is starting to thrive A LOT in it's newfound Instant speed. So much that I'm starting to consider running 4 Gideon's Reproach and only 3 Journey to Nowhere. I'd even run 4 Artificer's Epiphany if I could, but the Mulldrifters are generally better past turn 6-7, and I'm low on guys anyways. I can comfortably play without Guardian of the Guildpact using just Cenn's Enlistment for churning out guys, and I'll find it one way or the other with so many card draw. That said, sometimes I struggle a bit to Retrace it, so the 23rd land, probably a Radiant Fountain since lifegain is super helpful and I don't mind no-color lands, must be in. This is the single most important change for now, so I need to accomplish it first before I can even take the following into account, and I hope you guys can offer some insight in this.
About Artificer's Epiphany and Gideon's Reproach, I'm completely baffled. They have been performing so good and doing so much work, I'd run 4 if I could. They're absolute staples of the highest quality, and I'll tell you why: with so much Instant density, it becomes a lot easier to optimize the Mana use, something we couldn't do before. Anyone that has taken the deck for a spin has probably stumbled across a common problem on the earlier turns of the deck: "Do I Journey to Nowhere their 2-drop, or just leave mana open to counter whatever they drop on turn 3?". This problem is exacerbated by the fact that we run 8 lands that come into play tapped (Evolving Wilds and Tranquil Cove), which may cause us to be a bit slow in our starts. Reproach solves this very nicely, by simply giving you the option to cast your removal in your opponents turn if you don't counter anything relevant. It even has a minor and corner case upside that I came across today: you can target and destroy the creature you want even with Standard Flagbearer in play, since people won't attack with it most of the time. Epiphany rounds this out nicely by letting you cash it in for some cards if you didn't play anything relevant this turns. Remember those times when you had to choose between tapping out because you need more gas or leave open for a counter? No more now that Epiphany's here.
Having said that, and after I've managed to fit the 23rd land, I really want to test a pair of Pestermites. Yeah, I know it's a really odd choice at this point, but they add more Instant speed shenanigans to the deck. They can be used to blunt an assault by trading with an X/2 and tapping another guy down. They can surprise ambush flipped Delver. They can be cast off of 4 mana while untapping one of your lands in order to keep counter or removal mana up. They can be cast EOT against an opponent to bait counterspells / removal by tapping down enemy lands before you play your turn. They can untap a creature equipped with Viridian Longbow so that it has two shots against weenie decks. They can tap Midnight Guard mid-combo when its untap trigger goes off so we have one more turn. They can even be cast at the end of your turn if you do nothing productive with your mana, and they come with a respectable sized, evasive body to carry weapons into the red zone. So I think that this creature will complement quite nicely what is shaping to be a great deck set after set with all our new toys, and that it warrants testing as an utility and roleplaying creature.
I went back down to three equipment in order to fit in an extra Gideon's Reproach and a Cenn's Enlistment. I also moved the mana base around a lot, getting rid of Desert (I want to be able to play this online) and adding a full set of Tranquil Cove. I also took out the Pristine Talismans, which I am not too thrilled about, but needed to make space.
I am running almost the exact same list but with a few tweaks with great success. Switched to Custodi Squire as the finisher of choice: a loop of Custodi Squires is impossible to disrupt for MBC (which is the deck one should always keep in mind when choosing a finisher) short of Bojuka Bog or racing them with Gray Merchant of Asphodel / Corrupt / Crypt Rats damage. Against other decks it's still a ton of value and going Custodi Squire into Mulldrifter against decks where we don't need to constantly loop them often spells game over, as we drown them in CA and deploy two flying bodies on table that hit for 5 each turn without needing Equipment.
Squire is also really good at stopping attackers, and with a Flayer Husk strapped on, it's 4 toughness makes it a really solid wall of meat that is very hard to match in combat (outside of the usual 5/5's that is) and completely get rid of, as he won't stop coming. Here's my list right now:
As I said, the deck feels rock solid, and I'm confident that it has a pretty solid position in the metagame, as the only games I feel hard to win Bogles aside are decks that spew a lot of creatures each turn with Token generators and the like, so I included 2 copies of Holy Light in the board to deal with them while also helping against Delver, Elves and Goblins. A tough enemy to watch out for are the newly emerged Abzan Tortured Existence decks: we have the upper hand but if they manage to loop Qasali Pridemage / Wickerbough Elder it becomes a very uphill battle.
I'm happy with the mainboard right now, I'm only looking towards including 1 more Prohibit and optionally 2-3 copies of Impulse if I can, but I'd be OK with just the Prohibit sliding in.
On another different matter: is it worth slowing down the manabase with more EtBT lands to splash some Mortuary Mires as a Disentomb effect and 1-2 Executioner's Capsule as tutorable removal?
Custodi Squire seems too expensive to me, especially for a deck that wants to leave mana open on the opponents' turn. I feel like having one in the first few turns of the game would be pretty bad.
I feel like Affinity would be a rather tough matchup. What do you think?
I do like Cenn's Enlistment and I think it's a good card, but it's not as inevitable as Custodi Squire. Enlistment requires you to keep drawing more and more lands (which you also want in play to chain draw spells, leave up for multiple counters / removal or simply gain more life against aggresive decks to be out of range, which can be counterproductive) each time the MBC player wipes the board. At least in my experience, some of the matches I lost against it was because I didn't draw a land for 3 or 4 turns straight so I couldn't keep up. Moreover, the tokens are 1/1, so they don't really present a threat when not equipped, nor trade with anything, so they don't help to stabilize but barely manage to give you another turn by chumpblocking two guys.
On the other hand, Custodi Squire for just 1 more mana, which means he only comes a turn later than Enlistment, brings an evasive body that it's a threat on it's own, stabilizes the board the turn he comes down by blocking a lot of creatures (even ones with Flying, which Kithkins fail to do) on it's own, and can even trade with Gurmag Angler with just one Bonesplitter equipped, which is a feat none of our other creatures can accomplish. On top of it, he brings value with him: dropping this just to bring back a Mulldrifter or a Trinket Mage not only helps to stabilize the board, but also generates a ton of value. Add to the mix that you don't have to keep drawing specific lands to fuel him, and he becomes quite the threat to deal with. The first copy generates a ton of value, and the second one will steal the game unless you're vastly outnumbered or you're in burn range.
Affinity I'd say is a 50-50 with my current configuration. Half of the game is pretty much decided in the first 2 or 3 turns: if the Affinity pilot starts with something like Ancient Den into Ardent Recruit, follows up with Artifact land, a 1 CMC Artifact and Frogmite and drops Carapace Forger and Somber Hoverguard on turn 3, obviously you're in for a rough time. However, if you counter their 1-2 drops or they simply start durdling around with Chromatic Star and Chromatic Sphere then you're probably going to come ahead. After those critical turns it's simply a matter of wheter you can stabilize if Affinity is winning or if Affinity can refill and keep up the pressure if you're winning.
Our removal deals with them pretty good, as Journey to Nowhere will remove anything and Gideon's Reproach takes care of all they can dump on the table except Atog, but we still force two preemptive sacrifices if we target it, thus getting a 2-for-1, or we can respond to the sac if they try to go for it proactively. Prohibit deals with everything except Thoughtcast, Somber HoverguardMyr Enforcer (and Frogmite, but that's just a bear). Dust to Dust and Dispeller's Capsule from the board will cause havoc in their already shaky manabase, screw around their metalcraft, or simply act as extra removal against Myr Enforcer.
I temporarily took out a Prohibit, but I'm looking to include it again and take out something else, as it was just a "test cut" to test two copies of Custodi Squire without diluting the core too much.
Okay, well I think I'll remove an Aven Riftwatcher for now. This seems like the most obvious cut to make, since it's in the same card category. I'll be replacing a flying creature with a flying creature.
At this point I would swap Aven Riftwatcher for something else since you only have 1 copy now that can't be tutored. It serves purpose as an agro deterrent by gaining life and trading with creatures, so I would look into more answers or lifegain, something like Exile or more Gideon's Reproach.
On another note, what do you people think about Thought Vessel? Powers up the mana, gives us unlimited hand size (which is important since I'm almost always overflowing with cards and I have to be careful when playing Hawks or Draw twos) and plays well with Artificer's Epiphany.
I don't play with online downgrades. I think the Aven can stay for now, as I appreciate the lifegain and the extra body.
The problem with Mana Rocks is what to cut. I fit them in in the past, but the list seems tight as it is. I don't think a bit of ramp or a marginal ability like unlimited hand size is worth it when all you have to do is be careful.
new to the topic, but reading the primer and last comments i haven't found anyone arguing about the Red Splash.
do you guys think this is worth? at my local store we play almost weekly Paper Pauper tournaments and i've been using UR control since pre-KTK, but after Treasure Cruise ban i think other decks have been doing a lot better than UR control.
Last tournament i gave the CawBlade a spin, but with a red splash for removal in form of Firebolt, Lightning Bolt and Flame Slash (Electrickery SB), i think its better than going straight UW.
What is you guys thoughts on this red splash?
Also what do you guys think about Executioner's Capsule, Stinkweed Imp and some Flashback spells in the Black version of the deck?
Thanks to DNC from Heroes of the Plane Studios for the sig
Check my Pauper Cube!
I can't remember the exactly 75, but was something like that
(i didn't have acess to many white cards because my pauper pool still in progress, my pool contains mostly Blue and Red cards)
4 Mulldrifter
4 Squadron Hawk
4 Trinket Mage
Equipment (3)
1 Bonesplitter
1 Sylvok Lifestaff
1 Flayer Husk
Instant (15)
4 Brainstorm
1 Counterspell
3 Prohibit
3 Artificer's Epiphany
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Preordain
4 Firebolt
1 Flame Slash
Land (23)
4 Tranquil Cove
4 Swiftwater Cliffs
4 Evolving Wilds
3 Seat of the Synod
4 Island
2 Mountain
2 Plains
* Something like this piece of sh*t *
3 Curse of the Bloody Tome
3 Dispel
3 Blue Elemental Blast
2 Electrickery
2 Annul
Right now i have ordered plenty white cards to my pool, so now i can test the straight UW version.
I got pretty excited with this BFZ removal, this + Journey/Last Breath/Sunlance can solve any problem.
at my meta we got some problems with Familiar Combo, what are you guys strategy coming to this matchup?
any SB/game advices? i was thinking of adding some number of Stone Rain to the Jeskai Version in the sideboard.
I see you're going for a removal heavy build in favor of less Counterspells. You should try balancing it out a bit (generally 5/5, loading up on Counterspell and Journey to Nowhere first before using other removal, then go up to 13-14 in the removal + counter suite having an equal split or picking either more counters or removal (I personally split them in an equal number). Journey to Nowhere can deal with Mnemonic Wall and every single creature you have problems with. Before Treasure Cruise was banned, the main reason to go Red besides efficient, instant speed removal in Lightning Bolt and cheap removal that could kill almost everything in Flame Slash, was that those very burn spells filled the yard very quickly so you could cast Cruise after Cruise. Now there's nothing that merits the slower manabase since even the removal is starting to get outclassed in White.
About SB, always run 3 Standard Bearer unless you're 100% sure that you won't be facing Bogles, as they're the only matchup besides Turbo Fog against which we don't have at least a 50-50 chance.
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
At my meta we don't have any Bogles or Turbo Fog decks, so thats why i dont have any SB card against them (although i ordered some Patrician's Scorn to my Pool)
About the Red Splash, i think that your argument is valid, Treasure Cruise was the reason for so many cantrips/burn spells. Much like that card did to Legacy/Modern UR builds, was all about loaded graveyards waiting to delve some Cruises.
About Gideon's Reproach, i agree that this card will push out the red splash and let the deck be straight UW with a smoother and faster mana base.
Now what i want guys its some adivices since i have a pretty important tournament this weekend and i'm looking foward playing some CawBlade (UW or Jeskai). My meta consists of MBC, Blue Delver, Jeskai/Boros Kitty, Familiar Combo, White Weenie, Blue Weenie, Burn and Goblins.
What do you guys advice? (since, BFZ isn't out yet )
Annul doesn't seem like it will be particularly useful. I would swap it out for more Dispel and other things.
There will be a lot of red going around, so maxing out BEB seems like a good idea.
Having as many 1-mana counters available as possible will make disrupting familiars easier. I would suggest adding REB as well. It's also very good in other blue matchups.
Instead of Electrickery, which only has solid applications versus Delver, I would go for Viridian Longbow, which can be fetched, takes up less sideboard space, can target players, and can really keep weenies under control.
Stormbound Geist is effective versus Black Control as well as Delver. I would go for that.
How about something like this:
4 Blue Elemental Blast
1 Viridian Longbow
3 Stormbound Geist
3 Red Elemental Blast
MBC: Geist, Dispel
Delver: REB, Dispel, Longbow
Boros: BEB, Geist
Familiars: Dispel, REB
White Weenie: Longbow, Dispel (Guardian's Pledge)
Blue Weenie: REB, Longbow
Burn: Dispel, BEB, Geist (hard to get rid of, not sure if it belongs)
Goblins: BEB
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
UB Wight Phantasm
RB Burn
UR Faerie Rites of Initiation
Legacy:
R Burn
CG-Post
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
1 Feldon's Cane
1 Relic of Progenitus
4 Blue Elemental Blast
3 Reinforcements
3 Dispel
2 Hindering Light
Feldon's Cane is fetcheable hate against MBC since it reshuffles your yard, allowing your creatures (and fetchlands to feed to Cenn's Enlistment) another shot at life. Relic of Progenitus is also fetcheable hate against Familiars (nuke the yard in response to Mnemonic Wall trying to grab Ghostly Flicker) and MBC's Gurmag Angler. Finally, Longbow deals with Goblins, Delver, and both Weenie decks, and it will put so much work in your meta that you might even want to consider cutting something in place of a second one. You can also consider two Circle of Protection: Red against Burn and Goblins instead of Hindering Light if you have MBC covered enough.
If you're running Jeskai, my suggestions are very similar to Upkeep's:
4 Red Elemental Blast
3 Reinforcements
2 Viridian Longbow
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Feldon's cane
If you manage to hit your colors in time, this sideboard will simply crush your meta. A myriad of Viridian Longbow, Lightning Bolt, Flame Slash and Red Elemental Blast for Delver and Blue Weenie or Blue Elemental Blast for Goblins will ruin their day 24/7. MBC will get crushed by the card advantage given by Reinforcements, Squadron Hawk and Cenn's Enlistment, while your own burn spell eat at their face quickly that they can gain life. Be sure to include some Journey to Nowhere and to board in Relic of Progenitus though, as burn alone can't deal with Angler. White Weenie will fall under a barrage of burn spells and the Longbows, although sadly you don't have any blasts for them. And finally, Kitty deck will fall against BeB, both of them if it's Jeskai. Again, if you feel like Burn exerts too much pressure on you (which it does), feel free to swap something for two copies of CoP: Red.
As I see, Elemental Blasts are king in your meta and I would never, ever play less than 4 of each of them. Just beware of your opening hand and mulligan decisions if you run 3 colors, because access to all 3 fast enough will often determine if you win or you lose. Prioritize Blue and Red against quick decks as that means removal and counterspells against their hordes and Elemental Blasts later, and Blue and White against slow decks where you want to try and resolve Guardian of the Guildpact ASAP and go to town.
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3 Tranquil Cove
3 Swiftwater Cliffs
4 Evolving Wilds
3 Island
2 Plains
1 Mountain
3 Seat of the Synod
2 Ancient Den
1 Great Furnace
Creatures
4 Squadron Hawk
4 Trinket Mage
3 Mulldrifter
2 Guardian of the Guildpact
1 Bonesplitter
1 Sylvok Lifestaff
1 Flayer Husk
Card Advantage
4 Brainstorm
3 Artificer's Epiphany
1 Cenn's Enlistment
Counterspells
3 Prohibit
3 Condescend
Removal
2 Journey to Nowhere
3 Lightning Bolt
3 Firebolt
1 Viridian Longbow
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Feldon's Cane
3 Blue Elemental Blast
4 Red Elemental Blast
3 Reinforcements
2 Hindering Light
Card choices:
Lands: Pretty standard, very balanced colors and utility given the deck requirements;
Creatures: 3 Mulldrifters because i needed more space in the Main and Artificer's Epiphany + Brainstorm gives me enough Draw Engines. 2 Guardian of the Guildpact because its freaking good at any attrition matchup, our pauper True-Name Nemesis.
Card Advantage: Brainstorm + Artificer's Epiphany are pretty standard right now (using Artifacts Lands), so those are auto-include. Cenn's Enlistment is our late game Kill Condition that can flood our board with Kithkins at the cost of any land that wasn't going to be useful at late game.
Counterspells: Prohibit is good. Period. Condescend was my choise between Counterspell and Mana Leak because it still can be useful late game, given we will have many lands and useful at early game as it dont need double blue so fast. Bonus: Scry 2!
Removal: Split between Journey to Nowhere/Lightning Bolt/Firebolt. Not full on burns because there are always those pesky +3 toughness/Protection from Red creatures that need to know its place if it wasn't countered.
Sideboard: I got all of you guys advices and united them in one list:
3 BeB/4 ReB: Pretty strong given the meta that i presented you, lowered 1 BeB because of...
2 Hindering Light: Can be used on the Burn matchup too (even goblins), and are darn good against MBC's Corrupts and discards.
3 Reinforcements/1 Feldon's Cane: Our sideboard piece to grindy matchups like MBC, Blue Delver, Kitty and so on...
1 Viridian Longbow: X/1's nightmare. Auto-include. (maybe maindeck?)
1 Relic of Progenitus: My sideboard gem against Graveryard based combos (High Tide, Familiar, etc)
Now i want your opinion guys.
What do you think of my MD/SB?
I would do some changes to your mainboard. Run either a 1-1 split of Guardian of the Guildpact and Cenn's Enlistment or flat out two Guardians since you have plenty of burn to finish the job. About the removal I would run this:
2 Journey to Nowhere
3 Flame Slash
Also I would swap Condescend for Counterspell since you'll pretty much guaranteed to hit double blue most of the time, and it avoids those feelbad moments when Condescend isn't enough.
By the way, not only is Hindering Light good vs MBC's discard, but against it's entire removal suite. Remember you can also protect your Guardian of the Guildpact from Edict effects since the Edicts target you.
EDIT: If you know for sure your meta will be free of Gurmag Angler (some MBC builds don't run it) and 4+ toughness creatures overall, you can swap Journey to Nowhere for Twin Bolt as the card is a beast against Delver and all kind of weenies, providing you card advantage and reach all in one instant speed card.
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OK, that was only a observation, obviosly i woulndt side-in so many cards against them or any deck.
why not Firebolt? I think that this card is DOPE, flashback makes this a very useful card early and lategame. I understand that Lightning Bolt is +1 dmg and instant and Flame Slash is +2 dmg, but hey, not so many ppl run 3+ toughness creatures.
A few hand tests proved that doble blue is kinda easy with this mana base, going back on Counterspells as you mentioned.
About Twin Bolt: doesn't it leave us open to Pro-Red creatures? Lost a game only to a single protection from red rebel bird, from a rebels deck that i forgot to mention. And that deck certainly will appear at the tournament.
About Firebolt vs Flame Slash if you feel 100% sure that there won't be absolutely any creature with 3+ toughness, then go ahead! I prefer Slash simply because it's a catch-all answer and can hit Gray Merchant of Asphodel, Spire Golem and Mnemonic Wall among others in your meta.
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- Eldrazi Skyspawner: Creates an evasive body that can carry weapons and trade with Delvers while leaving behind another body that can be leveraged to ramp or simply carry weapons like it's big brother. Could vary from mediocre to pretty good in an environment without Crypt Rats. Definitely something to test out.
- Spell Shrivel: Costs 1 more than normal Prohibit but 1 less than kicked Prohibit. Prohibit is a hard counter, but this exiles, and 4 mana is a lot to play, essentialy acting like a Time Walk if the opponent actually has the mana and decides to pay for it to let it's removable 2-drop resolve. Bonus points for dodging Pyroblast. Will require further testing.
- Mortuary Mire: This seems pretty good to recur a dead Guardian of the Guildpact or even a dead / evoked Mulldrifter and is playable even if we're not playing Black. Seems like every set keeps giving us excuses to jam 1 Swamp, 1 Vault of Whispers, 2 Dismal Backwater and some Executioner's Capsule, lol.
- Mire's Malice: Lackluster and overcosted when cast for 3B, also discard 2 is not nearly as relevant as draw 2 as evidenced by Mind Rot not seeing play. However, Divination doesn't see play either but Mulldrifter does, so the "reverse Mulldrifter" mode could be useful.
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4 Mulldrifter
4 Squadron Hawk
4 Trinket Mage
Equipment (4)
2 Bonesplitter
1 Sylvok Lifestaff
1 Flayer Husk
4 Brainstorm
4 Counterspell
3 Prohibit
3 Artificer's Epiphany
3 Gideon's Reproach
Enchantment (4)
4 Journey to Nowhere
1 Cenn's Enlistment
Land (22)
4 Tranquil Cove
4 Evolving Wilds
2 Radiant Fountain
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Island
2 Ancient Den
2 Plains
The deck is starting to thrive A LOT in it's newfound Instant speed. So much that I'm starting to consider running 4 Gideon's Reproach and only 3 Journey to Nowhere. I'd even run 4 Artificer's Epiphany if I could, but the Mulldrifters are generally better past turn 6-7, and I'm low on guys anyways. I can comfortably play without Guardian of the Guildpact using just Cenn's Enlistment for churning out guys, and I'll find it one way or the other with so many card draw. That said, sometimes I struggle a bit to Retrace it, so the 23rd land, probably a Radiant Fountain since lifegain is super helpful and I don't mind no-color lands, must be in. This is the single most important change for now, so I need to accomplish it first before I can even take the following into account, and I hope you guys can offer some insight in this.
About Artificer's Epiphany and Gideon's Reproach, I'm completely baffled. They have been performing so good and doing so much work, I'd run 4 if I could. They're absolute staples of the highest quality, and I'll tell you why: with so much Instant density, it becomes a lot easier to optimize the Mana use, something we couldn't do before. Anyone that has taken the deck for a spin has probably stumbled across a common problem on the earlier turns of the deck: "Do I Journey to Nowhere their 2-drop, or just leave mana open to counter whatever they drop on turn 3?". This problem is exacerbated by the fact that we run 8 lands that come into play tapped (Evolving Wilds and Tranquil Cove), which may cause us to be a bit slow in our starts. Reproach solves this very nicely, by simply giving you the option to cast your removal in your opponents turn if you don't counter anything relevant. It even has a minor and corner case upside that I came across today: you can target and destroy the creature you want even with Standard Flagbearer in play, since people won't attack with it most of the time. Epiphany rounds this out nicely by letting you cash it in for some cards if you didn't play anything relevant this turns. Remember those times when you had to choose between tapping out because you need more gas or leave open for a counter? No more now that Epiphany's here.
Having said that, and after I've managed to fit the 23rd land, I really want to test a pair of Pestermites. Yeah, I know it's a really odd choice at this point, but they add more Instant speed shenanigans to the deck. They can be used to blunt an assault by trading with an X/2 and tapping another guy down. They can surprise ambush flipped Delver. They can be cast off of 4 mana while untapping one of your lands in order to keep counter or removal mana up. They can be cast EOT against an opponent to bait counterspells / removal by tapping down enemy lands before you play your turn. They can untap a creature equipped with Viridian Longbow so that it has two shots against weenie decks. They can tap Midnight Guard mid-combo when its untap trigger goes off so we have one more turn. They can even be cast at the end of your turn if you do nothing productive with your mana, and they come with a respectable sized, evasive body to carry weapons into the red zone. So I think that this creature will complement quite nicely what is shaping to be a great deck set after set with all our new toys, and that it warrants testing as an utility and roleplaying creature.
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 Aven Riftwatcher
1 Cenn's Enlistment
Removal (7)
4 Journey to Nowhere
3 Gideon's Reproach
Countermagic (6)
3 Prohibit
3 Counterspell
Draw (7)
4 Brainstorm
3 Artificer's Epiphany
1 Bonesplitter
1 Sylvok Lifestaff
1 Flayer Husk
Lands (22)
4 Plains
6 Island
2 Ancient Den
2 Seat of the Synod
4 Terramorphic Expanse
4 Tranquil Cove
2 Dispel
1 Dust To Dust
1 Feldon's Cane
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Viridian Longbow
3 Circle of Protection: Green
2 Circle of Protection: Red
2 Curse of the Bloody Tome
2 Prismatic Strands
I went back down to three equipment in order to fit in an extra Gideon's Reproach and a Cenn's Enlistment. I also moved the mana base around a lot, getting rid of Desert (I want to be able to play this online) and adding a full set of Tranquil Cove. I also took out the Pristine Talismans, which I am not too thrilled about, but needed to make space.
UGTurboFogGU
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Squire is also really good at stopping attackers, and with a Flayer Husk strapped on, it's 4 toughness makes it a really solid wall of meat that is very hard to match in combat (outside of the usual 5/5's that is) and completely get rid of, as he won't stop coming. Here's my list right now:
4 Squadron Hawk
4 Trinket Mage
4 Mulldrifter
2 Custodi Squire
Equipment (4)
2 Bonesplitter
1 Flayer Husk
1 Sylvok Lifestaff
Removal (7)
4 Journey to Nowhere
3 Gideon's Reproach
Card draw (7)
4 Brainstorm
3 Artificer's Epiphany
4 Counterspell
2 Prohibit
Land (22)
4 Tranquil Cove
4 Terramorphic Expanse
4 Island
4 Seat of the Synod
2 Plains
2 Ancient Den
2 Tranquil Cove
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Viridian Longbow
1 Dispeller's Capsule
3 Standard Bearer
2 Circle of Protection: Red
2 Holy Light
2 Hindering Light
2 Reinforcements
1 Dust to Dust
As I said, the deck feels rock solid, and I'm confident that it has a pretty solid position in the metagame, as the only games I feel hard to win Bogles aside are decks that spew a lot of creatures each turn with Token generators and the like, so I included 2 copies of Holy Light in the board to deal with them while also helping against Delver, Elves and Goblins. A tough enemy to watch out for are the newly emerged Abzan Tortured Existence decks: we have the upper hand but if they manage to loop Qasali Pridemage / Wickerbough Elder it becomes a very uphill battle.
I'm happy with the mainboard right now, I'm only looking towards including 1 more Prohibit and optionally 2-3 copies of Impulse if I can, but I'd be OK with just the Prohibit sliding in.
On another different matter: is it worth slowing down the manabase with more EtBT lands to splash some Mortuary Mires as a Disentomb effect and 1-2 Executioner's Capsule as tutorable removal?
Thanks to DNC from Heroes of the Plane Studios for the sig
Check my Pauper Cube!
Custodi Squire with a Flayer Husk "strapped on" is... quite the scary mental picture...
Custodi Squire seems too expensive to me, especially for a deck that wants to leave mana open on the opponents' turn. I feel like having one in the first few turns of the game would be pretty bad.
I feel like Affinity would be a rather tough matchup. What do you think?
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On the other hand, Custodi Squire for just 1 more mana, which means he only comes a turn later than Enlistment, brings an evasive body that it's a threat on it's own, stabilizes the board the turn he comes down by blocking a lot of creatures (even ones with Flying, which Kithkins fail to do) on it's own, and can even trade with Gurmag Angler with just one Bonesplitter equipped, which is a feat none of our other creatures can accomplish. On top of it, he brings value with him: dropping this just to bring back a Mulldrifter or a Trinket Mage not only helps to stabilize the board, but also generates a ton of value. Add to the mix that you don't have to keep drawing specific lands to fuel him, and he becomes quite the threat to deal with. The first copy generates a ton of value, and the second one will steal the game unless you're vastly outnumbered or you're in burn range.
Affinity I'd say is a 50-50 with my current configuration. Half of the game is pretty much decided in the first 2 or 3 turns: if the Affinity pilot starts with something like Ancient Den into Ardent Recruit, follows up with Artifact land, a 1 CMC Artifact and Frogmite and drops Carapace Forger and Somber Hoverguard on turn 3, obviously you're in for a rough time. However, if you counter their 1-2 drops or they simply start durdling around with Chromatic Star and Chromatic Sphere then you're probably going to come ahead. After those critical turns it's simply a matter of wheter you can stabilize if Affinity is winning or if Affinity can refill and keep up the pressure if you're winning.
Our removal deals with them pretty good, as Journey to Nowhere will remove anything and Gideon's Reproach takes care of all they can dump on the table except Atog, but we still force two preemptive sacrifices if we target it, thus getting a 2-for-1, or we can respond to the sac if they try to go for it proactively. Prohibit deals with everything except Thoughtcast, Somber Hoverguard Myr Enforcer (and Frogmite, but that's just a bear). Dust to Dust and Dispeller's Capsule from the board will cause havoc in their already shaky manabase, screw around their metalcraft, or simply act as extra removal against Myr Enforcer.
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
Thanks to DNC from Heroes of the Plane Studios for the sig
Check my Pauper Cube!
This puts me here:
4 Squadron Hawk
4 Trinket Mage
4 Mulldrifter
1 Aven Riftwatcher
2 Custodi Squire
Removal (7)
4 Journey to Nowhere
3 Gideon's Reproach
Countermagic (6)
3 Prohibit
3 Counterspell
Draw (7)
4 Brainstorm
3 Artificer's Epiphany
1 Bonesplitter
1 Sylvok Lifestaff
1 Flayer Husk
Lands (22)
4 Plains
6 Island
2 Ancient Den
2 Seat of the Synod
4 Terramorphic Expanse
4 Tranquil Cove
2 Dispel
1 Dust To Dust
1 Feldon's Cane
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Viridian Longbow
3 Circle of Protection: Green
2 Circle of Protection: Red
2 Curse of the Bloody Tome
2 Prismatic Strands
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
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EDH
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GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
On another note, what do you people think about Thought Vessel? Powers up the mana, gives us unlimited hand size (which is important since I'm almost always overflowing with cards and I have to be careful when playing Hawks or Draw twos) and plays well with Artificer's Epiphany.
Thanks to DNC from Heroes of the Plane Studios for the sig
Check my Pauper Cube!
The problem with Mana Rocks is what to cut. I fit them in in the past, but the list seems tight as it is. I don't think a bit of ramp or a marginal ability like unlimited hand size is worth it when all you have to do is be careful.
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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