I loved Growth Spiral because it digs either for lands or answers, and the ramp allow to draw-go on turn 3 with 4 mana up to counter something with Frilled Mystic. I'm going to bring this to my next FNM, but I'm asking myself a few questions :
- Lava Coil, even if it answers a lot of things in the format, is sorcery. Isn't Lightning Strike better ?
- Spell Pierce vs. Negate in the sideboard : seems better in a tempo shell, but isn't useful in control matchups, where you want to hardcounter even late wraths/Teferis.
- I actually prefer Curious Obsession to Chart a course because of the main-deck protection that allows the enchantment to stick. Going to see if it is worth it with the tests.
- Pteramander isn't so hard to adapt, turn 3-4 for 4 mana is quite frequent. Will replace it with Merfolk Branchwalker if it isn't good, but then the deck has no evasion.
- Mono Red is a bit fast for the deck... Is there any good lifegain in the colors ?
Will post the results of this week's testing, and we can discuss choices together
So i've been playing this deck for a bit on MTGA but I'm not a huge fan of red in this deck - Risk Factor has been straight up bad for me and the burn doesn't seem super worth. The biggest loss from cutting red comes in the form of Ionize, but i'm surviving without it. I've transitioned to a bant list, still playing the core of Pteramander, Guardian, and Mystic, but with essentially only counterspells and cantrips otherwise.
I'm not confident in Repudiate // Replicate right now, but it has won me a couple of games as a counter for Conclave Tribunal/Deputy of Detention (the latter of which is a real blowout against Guardian) and the Hydroid Krassis cast trigger, and it feels ok to make another Pteramander or Guardian for 3 if you're playing against heavy spot removal. Warrant // Warden is basically a time walk against aggro, and the sphinx beats face. I haven't lost once to RDW, and I've done pretty well against control decks with this volume of counterspells (13 total, plus 2 repudiate). Not sure what the sideboard would look like yet, but I think I'll put one together soon and try some BO3's
Also I'm kind of shocked the lists with red aren't jamming Quench. The card has been obscenely good for me, even when I was playing red.
Has anyone played this deck recently? The deck I was doing well with, came to a screeching halt when the meta switched from control/combo to midrange. I would like to take another look at [card]Deeproot Champion[card] but it fits into a totally different deck. GCG fits into a sit back and counter type deck. Deeproot fits into a drake type deck. Gonna start with the following core:
What do you guys think of Living Twister in a deck like this? Was thinking of building something similar with twister to help close out games using excess mana.
Been running this archetype with Living Twister for a few days.Living Twister is very powerful and has won me many games on its own. Being able to use up your excess lands to close out games and take out threats is very good, it also provides 5 toughness vs aggro. If your opponent is not able to remove it, it provides a clock by making every draw from your deck a source of damage.
Overall this deck has been OK, feels very strong with good draws. I've had some nice wins against mono blue, esper, and aggro, but it feels inconsistent. Not sure what this deck needs to be better. From my experience this deck has a hard time with big creatures like Carnage Tyrant and God-Eternal Kefnet, has a hard time with planeswalkers, has a hard time when our threats get removed and we lose tempo, and has some mana problems. Having enough blue sources for turn 1 Pteramander or Opt, having enough green for turn 2 Growth-Chamber Guardian, and having enough red for the majority of our deck especially our double red spells like Living Twister and Crackling Drake, can be a tad bit difficult.
Anyways I'd appreciate feedback on the deck and on Living Twister in this archetype.
Been running this archetype with Living Twister for a few days.Living Twister is very powerful and has won me many games on its own. Being able to use up your excess lands to close out games and take out threats is very good, it also provides 5 toughness vs aggro. If your opponent is not able to remove it, it provides a clock by making every draw from your deck a source of damage.
Overall this deck has been OK, feels very strong with good draws. I've had some nice wins against mono blue, esper, and aggro, but it feels inconsistent. Not sure what this deck needs to be better. From my experience this deck has a hard time with big creatures like Carnage Tyrant and God-Eternal Kefnet, has a hard time with planeswalkers, has a hard time when our threats get removed and we lose tempo, and has some mana problems. Having enough blue sources for turn 1 Pteramander or Opt, having enough green for turn 2 Growth-Chamber Guardian, and having enough red for the majority of our deck especially our double red spells like Living Twister and Crackling Drake, can be a tad bit difficult.
Anyways I'd appreciate feedback on the deck and on Living Twister in this archetype.
I'll look into it. I'm still most high on deeproot champion, but this deck idea seems sweet as well. Those 3 risk factors seem different in a non-burn deck. And you only have 2 counters maindeck? What has been your best matchup and worst?
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3 Pteramander
4 Growth-Chamber Guardian
4 Frilled Mystic
Spells (26)
4 Opt
4 Shock
3 Ionize
3 Dive Down
3 Risk Factor
3 Curious Obsession
4 Lava Coil
2 Growth Spiral
4 Breeding Pool
4 Hinterland Harbor
4 Steam Vents
3 Sulfur Falls
4 Stomping Grounds
3 Rootbound Crag
1 Forest
2 Niv-Mizzet, Parun
3 Essence Scatter
3 Negate
3 Broken Bond
1 Dive Down
1 Banefire
2 Repudiate // Replicate
I loved Growth Spiral because it digs either for lands or answers, and the ramp allow to draw-go on turn 3 with 4 mana up to counter something with Frilled Mystic. I'm going to bring this to my next FNM, but I'm asking myself a few questions :
- Lava Coil, even if it answers a lot of things in the format, is sorcery. Isn't Lightning Strike better ?
- Spell Pierce vs. Negate in the sideboard : seems better in a tempo shell, but isn't useful in control matchups, where you want to hardcounter even late wraths/Teferis.
- I actually prefer Curious Obsession to Chart a course because of the main-deck protection that allows the enchantment to stick. Going to see if it is worth it with the tests.
- Pteramander isn't so hard to adapt, turn 3-4 for 4 mana is quite frequent. Will replace it with Merfolk Branchwalker if it isn't good, but then the deck has no evasion.
- Mono Red is a bit fast for the deck... Is there any good lifegain in the colors ?
Will post the results of this week's testing, and we can discuss choices together
4 Pteramander
4 Growth-Chamber Guardian
4 Frilled Mystic
Spells - 25
4 Revitalize
4 Wizard's Retort
4 Opt
3 Growth Spiral
3 Quench
2 Spell Pierce
2 Warrant // Warden
2 Repudiate // Replicate
1 Depose // Deploy
I'm not confident in Repudiate // Replicate right now, but it has won me a couple of games as a counter for Conclave Tribunal/Deputy of Detention (the latter of which is a real blowout against Guardian) and the Hydroid Krassis cast trigger, and it feels ok to make another Pteramander or Guardian for 3 if you're playing against heavy spot removal. Warrant // Warden is basically a time walk against aggro, and the sphinx beats face. I haven't lost once to RDW, and I've done pretty well against control decks with this volume of counterspells (13 total, plus 2 repudiate). Not sure what the sideboard would look like yet, but I think I'll put one together soon and try some BO3's
Also I'm kind of shocked the lists with red aren't jamming Quench. The card has been obscenely good for me, even when I was playing red.
Pteramander
Deeproot Champion
Enigma Drake
With 2-3 slots open for either Hydroid Krasis or Frilled Mystic.
The goal of the deck would be to wreck combo/control game 1 then side completely into a midrange deck game 2. Not sure if it will be good tho.
4 Breeding Pool
4 Steam Vents
4 Stomping Ground
4 Sulfur Falls
3 Island
2 Mountain
2 Rootbound Crag
Sorceries
4 Chart a Course
3 Lava Coil
Instants
4 Opt
4 Shock
3 Risk Factor
2 Collision / Colossus
2 Dive Down
1 Ionize
1 Spell Pierce
1 Crushing Canopy
4 Pteramander
4 Growth-Chamber Guardian
2 Living Twister
2 Crackling Drake
2 Carnage Tyrant
2 Cindervines
3 Disdainful Stroke
1 Dive Down
1 Lava Coil
2 Negate
1 Tamiyo, Collector of Tales
2 Kasmina's Transmutation
1 Ral, Izzet Viceroy
Been running this archetype with Living Twister for a few days. Living Twister is very powerful and has won me many games on its own. Being able to use up your excess lands to close out games and take out threats is very good, it also provides 5 toughness vs aggro. If your opponent is not able to remove it, it provides a clock by making every draw from your deck a source of damage.
Overall this deck has been OK, feels very strong with good draws. I've had some nice wins against mono blue, esper, and aggro, but it feels inconsistent. Not sure what this deck needs to be better. From my experience this deck has a hard time with big creatures like Carnage Tyrant and God-Eternal Kefnet, has a hard time with planeswalkers, has a hard time when our threats get removed and we lose tempo, and has some mana problems. Having enough blue sources for turn 1 Pteramander or Opt, having enough green for turn 2 Growth-Chamber Guardian, and having enough red for the majority of our deck especially our double red spells like Living Twister and Crackling Drake, can be a tad bit difficult.
Anyways I'd appreciate feedback on the deck and on Living Twister in this archetype.
I'll look into it. I'm still most high on deeproot champion, but this deck idea seems sweet as well. Those 3 risk factors seem different in a non-burn deck. And you only have 2 counters maindeck? What has been your best matchup and worst?