Played against three decks tonight (3-0 due to bye, third game was a for fun game with a friend who showed up late).
First was against a young player, not really a match up worth mentioning as far as strategy or the deck is concerned. Actually lost a game due to extreme flooding. Was happy the kid could get a win.
Second was against Grixis Energy. Won the first game despite being on the draw. Second game also. First game, my board got out of hand with Scarab God. Second game was closer. Second game I actually boarded in Lost Legacy and hit Glorybringer. He got stuck on three lands for two turns which was enough for me to crush the game basically.
Edit: Forgot to mention that I won the second game against UW with a Nissa Ult. Felt pretty good.
Third was interesting. Friend apparently 3-0'd FNM with this U/W Eternalize deck running Procession. He destroyed me in the first game after he found Fumigate and eternalized a creature with two processions out.
Game 2 and Game 3 I took due to advantage from drawing cards off of the Glint-Sleeve Siphoner he couldn't block or kill in the early game and Negates and Lost Legacy to deal with problematic cards. Never saw my Deathgorge Scavengers, but never needed to. Deck felt good.
Had one sweet line where Flipping Hadana's climb gave me the black mana I was missing to activate a Scarab God I'd cast off of an Aether Hub on my last energy.
Yea. I've had a ton of games with Sultai where I really wished I had Blossoming Defense. I just don't know what to cut for it. Also, Hadana's Climb has been nuts! I was only running one, and every time I saw it on a reasonable position (even slightly bad), I either locked up the game or turned it around.
Gearing up for FNM tomorrow at my LGS. People the last few weeks have been hunting hard for Rekindling Phoenix, which leads me to expect various Monster builds as well as RBx Midrange builds showcasing the bird.
On a removal front, I am considering splashing white (GBw) to add in Cast Out and/or Ixalan's Binding for more flexible removal. The mana base doesn't look terrible thanks to the GW dual lands and WB fast land. Anybody have thoughts on or experience with this?
Gearing up for FNM tomorrow at my LGS. People the last few weeks have been hunting hard for Rekindling Phoenix, which leads me to expect various Monster builds as well as RBx Midrange builds showcasing the bird.
On a removal front, I am considering splashing white (GBw) to add in Cast Out and/or Ixalan's Binding for more flexible removal. The mana base doesn't look terrible thanks to the GW dual lands and WB fast land. Anybody have thoughts on or experience with this?
No experience, but if you're adding white, you should consider Siegehorn Ceratops. In a Constrictor deck, he has some serous upside potential. Only downside is that without fight mechanisms, most opponents will play around it. Walking Ballista can help us get there, but that's leveraging one resource for another, so the payout is not as good.
No experience, but if you're adding white, you should consider Siegehorn Ceratops. In a Constrictor deck, he has some serous upside potential. Only downside is that without fight mechanisms, most opponents will play around it. Walking Ballista can help us get there, but that's leveraging one resource for another, so the payout is not as good.
I've thought about Siegehorn, but the manabase gives me some pause. I'm already hoping to have G & B consistently within the first few turns to get my snake out, not sure how reliable banking on G & W now too would be. The synergy is super strong if it fires, though.
Hello. So odd. I thought I was the only one looking at Abzan. I went Abzan for this week using Siegehorn and a 2/1 split of Castout and Ixalan's Binding...with 2 more binding in the board for FNM tonight.
Here is the Abzan list I am considering. I playtested on Cockatrice with Siegehorn and it felt like a bit of a dead draw to be honest. The times I could play it, it was either ineffective or too late to matter.
I did a 2-off for both Cast Out and Binding. Also dropped 1 Push for a Moment of Craving (UW Heroic is popular at my LGS b/c its cheap).
Overall, I think I am a bit underwhelmed though. Maybe I suck a tuning mana bases for Tricolor Decks but I just feels nowhere near as consistent as vanilla G/B. On paper the Cast Out / Binding seems nice, but it hasn't done much for me and lacks the extra life gain from Vraska's Contempt. Also the fact that Binding is sorcery-speed cost me against Hazoret and Glorybringer a bit.
I also decided to revisit the Jund build I was considering previously. This drops Branchwalkers for Servants to help mana fix. Also drops Rishkar/Gearhulk synergy for raw value from Chandra and Glorybringer. This ends up being more of an energy build, using Snake to plus up Harnessed Lightning, Glint-Sleeve, and Servant, along with the usual Ballista goodness.
Haven't had a chance to brew up the SB yet, but would love any thoughts you guys mamy have.
I like your Abzan list...I went through many of the same card choices, but ended up wanting to tryout something with more counters options. In my current meta Verdurous Gearhulk was dying to Abrade too often. I know this is not what I would consider and optimized list, but here is what I'm taking tonight:
@VenOmsRage - I like it! By the book you would want 13 W sources for a Siegehorn Ceratops on T2. Counting 4 Aether Hubs as four sources, I only get 11. And without Attune, I think the Hubs are worse. Do you mull a 1 land 1 Hub hand? 2 Hubs only in an opening hand is really bad also. I think you need to get more heavily into duals or throw in some Servants.
@hoser2-I did get greedy on the manabase. Mulling a 1 land 1 hub hand depends greatly on what's in hand and if the land is dual. A 2 hub hand gets shipped. I mostly wanted to use this as a starting point then tweek the mana and/or sideboard. Thanks so much...value your opinion as I've read many of your posts!
Edit...I've swapped out the hubs for 2 plains, 1 concealed courtyard and 1 scattered groves. This prior to FNM starting.
I think its fairly useful in Snake decks b/c of the synergies, but I am starting to think it's greatest use is getting Eternalize creatures queued up for mid/late game shenanigans (for example, Earthshaker Khenra and Resilient Khenra from the RG Monster build that took 1st place at the GP). Most games I use it in Snake decks, I end up flipping a card that I don't want to go to my GY, so the card advantage part is negligible.
The Jund build that Craig Rocco ran caught my eye and has me thinking I may try a Jund explore build that may/may not have snake in it. The synergy is HUGE but there may not be room with all the other value I want to pack in (the Khenras, Cut/Ribbons, Etc.). I may just be a sucker for BGR decks :-D
I love it because it filters your draws and you very often end up with a turn 3 or 4 6/5. I've always gotten good value from dropping one, especially with a snake on the board.
I will say though that, even though I really dig it, the explore mechanic can feel like a "Hey you can draw a card, but not really" kind of thing. In the sense that if you get something you want to stay on top, you sorta wish you could get it now, you know?
I still like it. I think Jadelight Ranger is awesome.
Divination on a stick is good. Rogue Refiner replacement (less energy) is good. 4/3 for 3 is above rate P/T and allows to filter top of library. Allows for binning cards when lands are needed, if they are GY relevant cards, or if they are dead draws (good); drawing lands whether needed or not (good); and often providing a relevant body. The card is definitely good in a vacuum. With snek, the upside potential is even more so. 3-drop 6/5? Yes please.
Just a few quick thoughts. Regarding Abzan Constrictor...Siegehorn Ceratops was amazing with the snake. I had a game with 2 20/20 Ceratops and once I drew Rhonas the Indomitable to give them trample it was over. I went 3-1, the loss was to G/W cats, though my last win was against another G/W cats deck. Also, one win was a bye...so take things with a grain of salt. Over all I think Abzan constrictor can be good and is real fun to play, however, Sultai, is more in my wheelhouse.
Jadelight Ranger is a very good card. I overlooked the importance of the filtering and truly was missing it this past Friday. There are other ways to get the filtering, but this is on a body. The other option I'd consider is Search for Izcanta.
Just some thoughts. I wish this deck and its variants continued success.
Thanks for the report! I was wondering how it went.
Double G on t3 for Jadelight is a real constraint that makes splashing harder, particularly in this post-Attune world.
We tend to run so few noncreature spells that I think Bestiary is better than Search for us. As I understand it, the Grixis guys complain about whiffing with Search and they run fewer creatures.
Divination on a stick is good. Rogue Refiner replacement (less energy) is good. 4/3 for 3 is above rate P/T and allows to filter top of library. Allows for binning cards when lands are needed, if they are GY relevant cards, or if they are dead draws (good); drawing lands whether needed or not (good); and often providing a relevant body. The card is definitely good in a vacuum. With snek, the upside potential is even more so. 3-drop 6/5? Yes please.
This comparison bothers me a lot. It is absolutely not Divination. It's just filtering the top of your library. If the only cards you ever get to draw from it are lands, I need them to be awesome or have some utility for me to even want to compare it to a card drawing spell. Otherwise, I'm better off trying to bluff with an unknown card. Also, the whole "it gets to be a 6/5!" doesn't excite me nearly as much in this current format since it is dominated by early game removal.
Jadelight Ranger is an important card. Constrictor decks vary in their play style (that's one of the reason I like them). This card provides card filtering. Which honestly is an important part of the game today. The filtering alone is enough to warrant play, however, it becomes a much larger component in the Sultai version that runs The Scarab God...in this version, the filtering provides a conduit to put viable options into the graveyard to bring back with the God. If you'd like to witness this please watch any of Aaron Barich's matches you can for GP Memphis this past weekend. It doesn't work 100% of the time, but what does in this standard?
Obviously, I think Ranger is important...just my opinion though.
I could resist the allure of Snek no longer, so I sleeved up a sort of testbed build (a little bit of everything) for Monday Standard. It felt good and through three rounds (officially 4 including an initial bye) it was very good for me. The last two rounds were on video here starting at 1:53
Round 1: bye
Round 2: Grixis Control
Game 1: I survived a devastating Sweltering Suns to dribble across the finish.
Game 2: with my opponent on two Cancels, Nicol Bolas and 14 life, I dropped a Carnage Tyrant onto a board with a flipped Hadana's Climb. That was all she wrote.
Round 3: Mono-R (on video at 1:53)
G1: This janky build blasted me down to 1 with a Lathnu Hellion and a Kari Zev's Expertise before running out of gas and eventually succombing to a pair of Winding Constrictors and Hadana's Climb.
G2: With me down to 9 and board of only my tapped Ravenous Chupacabra, I dropped The Scarab God while represented Blossoming Defense and the Fatal Pushes I really had. Opponent took The Scarab God with Kari Zev's Expertise and put invigorated Rampage on it for the win.
G3: I was short of mana but after I got to drop a few Verdurous Gearhulks with two Constrictors out it got over quickly.
Round 4: BG Counters with Ripjaw Raptors (on video at 2:40)
G1: I fought through a bunch of Walking Ballistae and Ripjaw Raptors, but mostly a lack of G and U mana to grind the game out.
G2: After opponent mulliganed on the play and had no action, I slammed a Siphoner down on T2 into a Fatal Push (punt number one: I had Blossoming Defense and no T3 play, so no reason not to wait). More mana trouble and another punt throwing away a Constrictor into an obvious Blossoming Defense devolved into attacking down a Vraska. Eventually a 6/5 Hydra entered into a suicide pact with Vraska but the extra cards that a Siphoner drew me produced a lone Constrictor which ambled across the finish line.
I definitely need another land and another G source but the Hadana's Climb is insane.
First was against a young player, not really a match up worth mentioning as far as strategy or the deck is concerned. Actually lost a game due to extreme flooding. Was happy the kid could get a win.
Second was against Grixis Energy. Won the first game despite being on the draw. Second game also. First game, my board got out of hand with Scarab God. Second game was closer. Second game I actually boarded in Lost Legacy and hit Glorybringer. He got stuck on three lands for two turns which was enough for me to crush the game basically.
Edit: Forgot to mention that I won the second game against UW with a Nissa Ult. Felt pretty good.
Third was interesting. Friend apparently 3-0'd FNM with this U/W Eternalize deck running Procession. He destroyed me in the first game after he found Fumigate and eternalized a creature with two processions out.
Game 2 and Game 3 I took due to advantage from drawing cards off of the Glint-Sleeve Siphoner he couldn't block or kill in the early game and Negates and Lost Legacy to deal with problematic cards. Never saw my Deathgorge Scavengers, but never needed to. Deck felt good.
Had one sweet line where Flipping Hadana's climb gave me the black mana I was missing to activate a Scarab God I'd cast off of an Aether Hub on my last energy.
Sultai:
4 Bristling Hydra
4 Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
4 Jadelight Ranger
2 Servant of the Conduit
2 The Scarab God
4 Walking Ballista
4 Winding Constrictor
Spells
3 Blossoming Defense
4 Fatal Push
2 Vraska's Contempt
3 Hadana's Climb
4 Aether Hub
4 Blooming Marsh
4 Botanical Sanctum
4 Fetid Pools
3 Forest
2 Hashep Oasis
1 Ifnir Deadlands
1 Island
1 Swamp
2 Vraska's Contempt
2 Deathgorge Scavenger
3 Duress
4 Negate
2 Thrashing Brontodon
2 Unquenchable Thirst
A different sultai
1 Nissa, Steward of Elements
2 Hostage Taker
4 Jadelight Ranger
4 Merfolk Branchwalker
2 Ravenous Chupacabra
1 Rishkar, Peema Renegade
3 The Scarab God
1 Thrashing Brontodon
4 Walking Ballista
3 Wildgrowth Walker
4 Winding Constrictor
3 Blossoming Defense
2 Fatal Push
2 Vraska's Contempt
Land
4 Blooming Marsh
4 Botanical Sanctum
2 Drowned Catacomb
3 Evolving Wilds
2 Fetid Pools
6 Forest
1 Island
2 Swamp
1 Thrashing Brontodon
1 Wildgrowth Walker
1 Fatal Push
1 Nissa, Steward of Elements
1 Deadeye Tracker
2 Deathgorge Scavenger
2 Duress
2 Essence Scatter
2 Naturalize
2 Negate
Vanilla (can I call a GB deck vanilla? probably not.)
4 Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
4 Jadelight Ranger
3 Merfolk Branchwalker
2 Rishkar, Peema Renegade
3 Verdurous Gearhulk
4 Walking Ballista
4 Winding Constrictor
Spells
2 Blossoming Defense
4 Fatal Push
4 Vraska's Contempt
2 Aethersphere Harvester
4 Aether Hub
4 Blooming Marsh
5 Forest
2 Foul Orchard
2 Hashep Oasis
2 Ifnir Deadlands
5 Swamp
2 Carnage Tyrant
2 Deathgorge Scavenger
4 Duress
2 Gonti, Lord of Luxury
1 Lifecrafter's Bestiary
2 Thrashing Brontodon
2 Vraska, Relic Seeker
RNA Standard: Grixis Midrange, Jund Deathwhirler, Sultai Vannifar
GRN Standard: Red Midrange, Mono-Blue Tempo, Wr Aggro, Gruul Experimental Dinosaurs, Sultai Midrange, Jeskai Midrange
Modern: Bant Spirits
Forcing a single archetype in all formats: too many colors, bad mana.
On a removal front, I am considering splashing white (GBw) to add in Cast Out and/or Ixalan's Binding for more flexible removal. The mana base doesn't look terrible thanks to the GW dual lands and WB fast land. Anybody have thoughts on or experience with this?
B/G Rock BG | Jund BGR | Mardu Pyromancer BRW | Ponza RG | Burn RW
No experience, but if you're adding white, you should consider Siegehorn Ceratops. In a Constrictor deck, he has some serous upside potential. Only downside is that without fight mechanisms, most opponents will play around it. Walking Ballista can help us get there, but that's leveraging one resource for another, so the payout is not as good.
I've thought about Siegehorn, but the manabase gives me some pause. I'm already hoping to have G & B consistently within the first few turns to get my snake out, not sure how reliable banking on G & W now too would be. The synergy is super strong if it fires, though.
B/G Rock BG | Jund BGR | Mardu Pyromancer BRW | Ponza RG | Burn RW
Damn, that deck looks fun!
Modern: Infect, Elves, Bant Knightfall
I did a 2-off for both Cast Out and Binding. Also dropped 1 Push for a Moment of Craving (UW Heroic is popular at my LGS b/c its cheap).
Overall, I think I am a bit underwhelmed though. Maybe I suck a tuning mana bases for Tricolor Decks but I just feels nowhere near as consistent as vanilla G/B. On paper the Cast Out / Binding seems nice, but it hasn't done much for me and lacks the extra life gain from Vraska's Contempt. Also the fact that Binding is sorcery-speed cost me against Hazoret and Glorybringer a bit.
Lands
4x Aether Hub
4x Blooming Marsh
4x Concealed Courtyard
4x Forest
2x Hashep Oasis
1x Ifnir Deadlands
2x Swamp
3x Scattered Groves
Creature
4x Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
4x Jadelight Ranger
4x Merfolk Branchwalker
2x Rishkar, Peema Renegade
4x Verdurous Gearhulk
4x Walking Ballista
4x Winding Constrictor
2x Blossoming Defense
3x Fatal Push
2x Ixalan's Binding
2x Cast Out
1x Moment of Craving
2x Thrashing Brontodon
3x Duress
2x Golden Demise
2x Lifecrafter's Bestiary
2x Heroic Intervention
2x Deathgorge Scavenger
2x Vraska, Relic Seeker
I also decided to revisit the Jund build I was considering previously. This drops Branchwalkers for Servants to help mana fix. Also drops Rishkar/Gearhulk synergy for raw value from Chandra and Glorybringer. This ends up being more of an energy build, using Snake to plus up Harnessed Lightning, Glint-Sleeve, and Servant, along with the usual Ballista goodness.
Haven't had a chance to brew up the SB yet, but would love any thoughts you guys mamy have.
Lands
4x Aether Hub
4x Blooming Marsh
2x Canyon Slough
1x Sheltered Thicket
3x Forest
3x Swamp
1x Mountain
3x Rootbound Crag
3x Dragonskull Summit
4x Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
4x Jadelight Ranger
4x Servant of the Conduit
3x Glorybringer
4x Walking Ballista
4x Winding Constrictor
2x Blossoming Defense
2x Fatal Push
3x Harnessed Lightning
3x Vraska's Contempt
3x Chandra, Torch of Defiance
B/G Rock BG | Jund BGR | Mardu Pyromancer BRW | Ponza RG | Burn RW
4 Aether Hub
4 Blooming Marsh
2 Concealed Courtyard
2 Scattered Groves
2 Sunpetal Grove
3 Swamp
4 Forest
1 Plains
2 Field of Ruin
Creatures (22)
4 Walking Balista
4 Winding Constrictor
3 Siegehorn Ceratops
3 Kitesail Freebooter
3 Rishkar, Peema Renegade
3 Rhonas the Indomitable
2 Verdurous Gearhulk
4 Blossoming Defense
3 Fatal Push
3 Oath of Ajani
2 Cast Out
1 Ixalan's Binding
2 Vraska, Relic Seeker
2 Heroic Intervention
2 Aethershpere Harvester
2 Ixalan's Binding
2 Duress
2 Lost Legacy
2 Thrashing Brontodon
1 Liliana, Death's Majesty
1 Fumagte
1 Cast Out
I know this is 61 cards in the main, but i do that sometimes...I just didn't want to cut anything further.
Modern: Infect, Elves, Bant Knightfall
RNA Standard: Grixis Midrange, Jund Deathwhirler, Sultai Vannifar
GRN Standard: Red Midrange, Mono-Blue Tempo, Wr Aggro, Gruul Experimental Dinosaurs, Sultai Midrange, Jeskai Midrange
Modern: Bant Spirits
Forcing a single archetype in all formats: too many colors, bad mana.
Edit...I've swapped out the hubs for 2 plains, 1 concealed courtyard and 1 scattered groves. This prior to FNM starting.
Modern: Infect, Elves, Bant Knightfall
B/G Rock BG | Jund BGR | Mardu Pyromancer BRW | Ponza RG | Burn RW
That sultai list looks really fun. I think I'm going to run that at my next FNM. I was going to try grixis, but the Snake Deck is my boy!
I only have two Hadana's climb though, so I'm going to put in Scarab God instead of the third one just because I have it hehe.
Hadana's climb and Jadelight Ranger are the best cards in Rivals by a mile if you ask me.
The Jund build that Craig Rocco ran caught my eye and has me thinking I may try a Jund explore build that may/may not have snake in it. The synergy is HUGE but there may not be room with all the other value I want to pack in (the Khenras, Cut/Ribbons, Etc.). I may just be a sucker for BGR decks :-D
B/G Rock BG | Jund BGR | Mardu Pyromancer BRW | Ponza RG | Burn RW
I will say though that, even though I really dig it, the explore mechanic can feel like a "Hey you can draw a card, but not really" kind of thing. In the sense that if you get something you want to stay on top, you sorta wish you could get it now, you know?
I still like it. I think Jadelight Ranger is awesome.
Jadelight Ranger is a very good card. I overlooked the importance of the filtering and truly was missing it this past Friday. There are other ways to get the filtering, but this is on a body. The other option I'd consider is Search for Izcanta.
Just some thoughts. I wish this deck and its variants continued success.
Modern: Infect, Elves, Bant Knightfall
Double G on t3 for Jadelight is a real constraint that makes splashing harder, particularly in this post-Attune world.
We tend to run so few noncreature spells that I think Bestiary is better than Search for us. As I understand it, the Grixis guys complain about whiffing with Search and they run fewer creatures.
RNA Standard: Grixis Midrange, Jund Deathwhirler, Sultai Vannifar
GRN Standard: Red Midrange, Mono-Blue Tempo, Wr Aggro, Gruul Experimental Dinosaurs, Sultai Midrange, Jeskai Midrange
Modern: Bant Spirits
Forcing a single archetype in all formats: too many colors, bad mana.
This comparison bothers me a lot. It is absolutely not Divination. It's just filtering the top of your library. If the only cards you ever get to draw from it are lands, I need them to be awesome or have some utility for me to even want to compare it to a card drawing spell. Otherwise, I'm better off trying to bluff with an unknown card. Also, the whole "it gets to be a 6/5!" doesn't excite me nearly as much in this current format since it is dominated by early game removal.
Obviously, I think Ranger is important...just my opinion though.
Modern: Infect, Elves, Bant Knightfall
Reading comprehension is cool!
Dude chill
Round 1: bye
Round 2: Grixis Control
Game 1: I survived a devastating Sweltering Suns to dribble across the finish.
Game 2: with my opponent on two Cancels, Nicol Bolas and 14 life, I dropped a Carnage Tyrant onto a board with a flipped Hadana's Climb. That was all she wrote.
Round 3: Mono-R (on video at 1:53)
G1: This janky build blasted me down to 1 with a Lathnu Hellion and a Kari Zev's Expertise before running out of gas and eventually succombing to a pair of Winding Constrictors and Hadana's Climb.
G2: With me down to 9 and board of only my tapped Ravenous Chupacabra, I dropped The Scarab God while represented Blossoming Defense and the Fatal Pushes I really had. Opponent took The Scarab God with Kari Zev's Expertise and put invigorated Rampage on it for the win.
G3: I was short of mana but after I got to drop a few Verdurous Gearhulks with two Constrictors out it got over quickly.
Round 4: BG Counters with Ripjaw Raptors (on video at 2:40)
G1: I fought through a bunch of Walking Ballistae and Ripjaw Raptors, but mostly a lack of G and U mana to grind the game out.
G2: After opponent mulliganed on the play and had no action, I slammed a Siphoner down on T2 into a Fatal Push (punt number one: I had Blossoming Defense and no T3 play, so no reason not to wait). More mana trouble and another punt throwing away a Constrictor into an obvious Blossoming Defense devolved into attacking down a Vraska. Eventually a 6/5 Hydra entered into a suicide pact with Vraska but the extra cards that a Siphoner drew me produced a lone Constrictor which ambled across the finish line.
I definitely need another land and another G source but the Hadana's Climb is insane.
Here is what I played:
4 Winding Constrictor
1 Rishkar, Peema Renegade
4 Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
2 Merfolk Branchwalker
1 Ravenous Chupacabra
4 Jadelight Ranger
1 Bristling Hydra
1 The Scarab God
Enchantment
2 Hadana's Climb
Land
4 Botanical Sanctum
4 Blooming Marsh
4 Aether Hub
5 Forest
2 Swamp
4 Fetid Pools
1 Drowned Catacomb
1 Foul Orchard
3 Walking Ballista
3 Scrapheap Scrounger
2 Verdurous Gearhulk
Instant
3 Blossoming Defense
2 Fatal Push
2 Vraska's Contempt
2 Deathgorge Scavenger
1 Thrashing Brontodon
1 The Scarab God
2 Carnage Tyrant
2 Lifecrafter's Bestiary
1 Fatal Push
1 Essence Scatter
2 Vraska's Contempt
2 Negate
1 Vraska, Relic Seeker
RNA Standard: Grixis Midrange, Jund Deathwhirler, Sultai Vannifar
GRN Standard: Red Midrange, Mono-Blue Tempo, Wr Aggro, Gruul Experimental Dinosaurs, Sultai Midrange, Jeskai Midrange
Modern: Bant Spirits
Forcing a single archetype in all formats: too many colors, bad mana.