I've been playing mono-blue tempo a lot in arena. It works great, and I love that you need to be smart about moves to win, but if you are, you win often.
I came across an interesting card though when I was doing dailies, and I really wanted to build off it. herald of secret streams
Mono blue tempo works mainly because you get to whittle down your opponent with unblockables or flyers. However, if you can't get your djinn out, its a struggle, since you're doing hardly any damage.
Merfolks are a great deck as well, but I hardly see herald of secret streams utilized.
I started a deck that might be able to take the best of all worlds. Using mono-blue tempo protect + card draw ( curious obsession + unblockable, and add in some explore mechanics for heavier hitters and faster mana ramp.
(edit *I think i was drunk when writing this - actually, just a wife talking to me with baby crying..let me try again)
This is just the beginning, I just wanted to get some feedback while building it out. Main problems I see is that even though I get some extra lands with enter the unknown and explore, there isn't much to spend it on. I could use a few more merfolk related counter makers, and step back from some of the counterspells and go a bit more aggro. Could lower the manabase as well (23 lands is a lot) because of all the explore and put in a few more merfolks creatures. Manabase itself needs to be refined a bit as well.
Thanks for checking this out. Would love some feedback!
I suggest a way to find Merfolk Branchwalker in -- you could use more turn 2 plays. Path of Discovery seems slow for what you want to do (swing in with unblockable creatures) so instead of that add in more Spell Pierce, Negate, and maybe Dive Down to protect your creatures. Emperor's Vanguard maybe as a finisher?
This isn't really a tempo deck. Your pretty much an explore deck that uses blue. With that said, even though you tried to take advantage of mono-blue's style. I can say this doesn't really work because mono-blue tempo's mana cost is just cheaper.
Running taplands here just slows the deck down, you for sure want to use breeding pool once it releases.
"To keep things 100, anything I state is an opinion and not intended to be a fact. Any and all suggestions I give are a 100% opinion. If you need further clarification take the conversation to a PM. I am not in the business of assuming things. I'm only interested in 1 business and that business serves 2 things, Cold L's and Hot Dub's."
what about bounce instead of essence shatter? which lets you build up more explores in the event that you run into someone without creatures. Also, more protect for herald.
This is more for aggro BO1. May not sound like an aggro deck and I do agree, but trying to lay the idea in there of adding +1 counters, I do think Jade Bearer can be swapped out for Llanowar Elves though I think that forces the turn 1 play, and then it becomes hard to get Siren Stormtamer in there.
"To keep things 100, anything I state is an opinion and not intended to be a fact. Any and all suggestions I give are a 100% opinion. If you need further clarification take the conversation to a PM. I am not in the business of assuming things. I'm only interested in 1 business and that business serves 2 things, Cold L's and Hot Dub's."
Really like the concept, but i fear that all this deckbuilding around Herald isn't justified when at the same time we can cast Sleep, with both offensive and defensive functions.
"To keep things 100, anything I state is an opinion and not intended to be a fact. Any and all suggestions I give are a 100% opinion. If you need further clarification take the conversation to a PM. I am not in the business of assuming things. I'm only interested in 1 business and that business serves 2 things, Cold L's and Hot Dub's."
-Stay Frosty
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I came across an interesting card though when I was doing dailies, and I really wanted to build off it. herald of secret streams
Mono blue tempo works mainly because you get to whittle down your opponent with unblockables or flyers. However, if you can't get your djinn out, its a struggle, since you're doing hardly any damage.
Merfolks are a great deck as well, but I hardly see herald of secret streams utilized.
I started a deck that might be able to take the best of all worlds. Using mono-blue tempo protect + card draw ( curious obsession + unblockable, and add in some explore mechanics for heavier hitters and faster mana ramp.
// 16 Creature
4 Herald of Secret Streams
4 Siren Stormtamer
4 Jadelight Ranger
4 Wildgrowth Walker
4 Path of Discovery
4 Curious Obsession
// 8 Instant
4 Assure // Assemble
2 Spell Pierce
2 Essence Scatter
9 Forest
8 Island
4 Hinterland Harbor
2 Woodland Stream
4 Enter the Unknown
(edit *I think i was drunk when writing this - actually, just a wife talking to me with baby crying..let me try again)
This is just the beginning, I just wanted to get some feedback while building it out. Main problems I see is that even though I get some extra lands with enter the unknown and explore, there isn't much to spend it on. I could use a few more merfolk related counter makers, and step back from some of the counterspells and go a bit more aggro. Could lower the manabase as well (23 lands is a lot) because of all the explore and put in a few more merfolks creatures. Manabase itself needs to be refined a bit as well.
Thanks for checking this out. Would love some feedback!
Running taplands here just slows the deck down, you for sure want to use breeding pool once it releases.
Path of Discovery and Enter the Unknown seem like cards that need to be cut in favor of Merfolk Branchwalker
-Stay Frosty
what about bounce instead of essence shatter? which lets you build up more explores in the event that you run into someone without creatures. Also, more protect for herald.
5 Island
4 Breeding Pool
4 Hinterland Harbor
9 Forest
Creatures (26)
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Merfolk Branchwalker
4 Jadelight Ranger
4 Herald of Secret Streams
4 Wildgrowth Walker
4 Siren Stormtamer
2 Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca
2 Hadana's Climb
2 Blink of an Eye
3 Assure \\ Assemble
2 Essence Scatter
2 Spell Pierce
2 Syncopate
3 Blinding Fog
1 Sleep
1 River's Rebuke
1 Tatyova, Benthic Druid
2 Negate
2 Plummet
2 Naturalize
This is more for aggro BO1. May not sound like an aggro deck and I do agree, but trying to lay the idea in there of adding +1 counters, I do think Jade Bearer can be swapped out for Llanowar Elves though I think that forces the turn 1 play, and then it becomes hard to get Siren Stormtamer in there.
7 Island
2 Woodland Stream
4 Hinterland Harbor
8 Forest
Creatures (23)
3 Tishana's Wayfinder
4 Merfolk Branchwalker
1 Jadelight Ranger
3 Herald of Secret Streams
4 Wildgrowth Walker
4 Siren Stormtamer
4 Jade Bearer
4 Curious Obsession
2 Blink of an Eye
4 River Heralds Boon
2 Essence Scatter
2 Negate
2 Spell Pierce
Plenty of other cards can get thrown in like Forerunner of Heralds, Shapers of Nature, Druid of the Cowl, Beast Whisperer, Vine Mare, Adventurous Impulse, Jace, Cunning Castaway, Vivien Reid, Song of Freyalise, etc...
-Stay Frosty
-Stay Frosty