Don't forget that you can also use it aggresively, a flyer that's attack for 3 on 4th turn is nothing to scoff at, plus removing a blocker to alpha strike on 3rd turn is great too.
It seems to be the unfortunate reality that to get a good EtB trigger on a body you need to pay 3+ mana as the truly nasty targets are all at 5cc.
Sea Gate Oracle looks pretty good and so does Aether Adept. I was also looking at Trinket Mage. I wonder which one would be the better choice...
I really wanted to find something for white though (taking Seal of Cleansing out) and ideally wanted it to be around the 2cc and 3cc mark. I'll be giving Karmic Guide another go for now and see how she plays out (reanimator can use her too anyway).
Don't forget that you can also use it aggresively, a flyer that's attack for 3 on 4th turn is nothing to scoff at, plus removing a blocker to alpha strike on 3rd turn is great too.
This is the main purpose I've found for flickerwisp, and it's been great for it. The times where you get to blink and ETB guy or land is just upside.
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This is the main purpose I've found for flickerwisp, and it's been great for it. The times where you get to blink and ETB guy or land is just upside.
I find myself resetting planeswalkers with flickerwisp quite a bit. I love going down to 1 loyalty on one of the Ajanis and then refreshing it with the 'wisp.
Don't forget that you can also use it aggresively, a flyer that's attack for 3 on 4th turn is nothing to scoff at, plus removing a blocker to alpha strike on 3rd turn is great too.
This is true and I'm aware of the case, was just pointing out an issue I'd had with the card from a blink-exploitation standpoint.
Conjurer's Closet is a blink enabler, though a bit expensive. You do get your first blink the turn it comes into play, and a free blink every turn after. Similar to Venser in that regard.
EDIT: Also Equilibrium can be used as a blink enabler as well.
I love the closet. I always feel I want a second venser, and this one is less susceptible to dying. Very few things in the cube deal with artifacts well. Yeah, it's a "do nothing artifact," but if you don't have a creature to target with it at some point then you're losing the game anyway
I love the closet. I always feel I want a second venser, and this one is less susceptible to dying. Very few things in the cube deal with artifacts well. Yeah, it's a "do nothing artifact," but if you don't have a creature to target with it at some point then you're losing the game anyway
As an alternative to finding another low cast cip/etb creature, I'm looking to find one that does something when other creatures come into play (like a Soul Warden but something better).
I libe being able to use Erratic Portal aggressively to "tax" my opponent's board, and to be able to protect my threats from removal. Also, it's insane with Sneak Attack. It's more mana intensive as a pure blink card than Conjurer's Closet, but it does a lot more stuff stuff.
I'm surprised to hear that people are struggling to support this archetype, as it seems to be one of the decks that comes together easiest for us. I mean, just in white (540 powered) we have:
On a side note, Erratic Portal is just redonk. It's a tempo enabler, card advantage enabler, chump block enabler, and removal counterer in one colorless cheap to activate package.
The cip/etb guys are always in high demand here and many times the blink player comes out just a tad short of targets. I'd like to add a couple more and I do have high hopes for karmic guide.
The archetype is certainly great. Doesn't need a lot of specific support because almost all the pieces are already in most cubes. One great that hasn't been listed is Kaya, Ghost Assassin. Good overall WB card, but sweet for the blink decks as well.
And what do you think is better for the UW guild you think : Venser or Brago?
I also think Venser is stronger. Brago gets more in one shot, but does it a bit slower and is more fragile. The immediate blink Venser provides carries a lot of weight, and if your blinking starts to amass an army Venser functions as having two ultimates since the unblockable ability really takes advantage of cards like Blade Splicer or Cloudgoat Ranger.
I have always found blink to be more of a sub theme than a full blown archtype. It is usually something that my W/U control decks can do but aren't entirely dependent on,
Wtwlf123, I also wouldn't really consider cards that return a creature to my hand, Feldon or Recurring Nightmare to be blink cards; I appreciate why you do and how they contribute to the game plan. I guess I just stick to a stricter definition and that could be why I see it as more of a value engine than an archtype.
They're don't "blink", but they contribute to the same strategy. Like Show and Tell isn't an "Oath" effect, but they can go into the same decks, and be part of the same archetype.
Basically, any engine that can abuse ETB triggers is fine with me.
I too think of blink as more of a "reuse and abuse ETB triggers" than just a blink deck. That's especially true in cube where true blink effects are in limited supply.
These are nice to give the Blink deck an actual win condition if the value plan doesn't get going.
Oh man you're right on. Crystal Shard, Erratic Portal and Parallax Wave are in the cube for some reasons! I also run part of the combo package you've dressed. Never tried Body Double but Phyrexian Metapmorph, Phantasmal image and Karmic Guide can do the trick. Blink is a real deck in our cube as well! So fun and powerful!
Body Double is not bad, it can feel bad at times but you can build to make it work. Imperial Recruiter really raised it's stock for the blink reasons above, I'm tempted to give it a run since blue 5s outside of the non-creatures are nothing great after Meloku.
In my lower powered rare list (midrange focused), flicker/blink actually became overpoweringly good due to the high volume of ETB effects. It was less oppressive at higher power levels from my experience and I can see it being merely a footnote in a fully powered environment. The more midrange your list drifts, the more broken blink is as a fully supported archetype.
Well off the beaten path... I'm experimenting with an Astral Slide package in my current semi-nostalgic combo list. This really only works in conjunction with LFTL/Eternal Witness and cycling lands/Decree of Justice. So it's narrow and a bit clunky. I don't know if it sticks around for long, but I like the challenge of trying to draft it.
On a more conventional front, I recommend most of the cards Omirr85 listed. Especially happy to see Momentary Blink still getting some love. That is a card most cube managers abandoned a long time ago since it's technically a gold card (and there's limited space for those in cube), but it has a ton of play to it. Another card to consider if you want to go all in on the archetype is Ghostly Flicker. There's also Deadeye Navigator, which is slow to get going but utterly stupid once you're there. But the most powerful blink/flicker card by a country mile is Restoration Angel, not really because it blinks but because it's so far above the cure.
Has anyone every tried Snap and/or Withdraw? I feel like these two bouncespells seem to be most likely to use at your own stuff as well, while obviously being playable with out triggers to abuse. I dislike adding cards that are useless outside a dedicated blink deck.
They're two of my favorite creature-only bounce spells. I haven't tried them for blink decks, but I've played them both in tempo decks and they're solid. Before we had Silent Departure and Clutch of Currents (back when we ran creature-only bounce, that is) I liked those spells quite a bit.
But the most powerful blink/flicker card by a country mile is Restoration Angel, not really because it blinks but because it's so far above the cure.
Obviously I missed that one by mistake. It's in my cube for sure!
I also added Recruiter of the Guard recently. It does a fine job in that deck fetching up some critical combo pieces Snap is really nice, it was in there at some point!
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Sea Gate Oracle looks pretty good and so does Aether Adept. I was also looking at Trinket Mage. I wonder which one would be the better choice...
I really wanted to find something for white though (taking Seal of Cleansing out) and ideally wanted it to be around the 2cc and 3cc mark. I'll be giving Karmic Guide another go for now and see how she plays out (reanimator can use her too anyway).
This is the main purpose I've found for flickerwisp, and it's been great for it. The times where you get to blink and ETB guy or land is just upside.
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I find myself resetting planeswalkers with flickerwisp quite a bit. I love going down to 1 loyalty on one of the Ajanis and then refreshing it with the 'wisp.
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This is true and I'm aware of the case, was just pointing out an issue I'd had with the card from a blink-exploitation standpoint.
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I love the closet. I always feel I want a second venser, and this one is less susceptible to dying. Very few things in the cube deal with artifacts well. Yeah, it's a "do nothing artifact," but if you don't have a creature to target with it at some point then you're losing the game anyway
Interesting alternative to Erratic Portal.
As an alternative to finding another low cast cip/etb creature, I'm looking to find one that does something when other creatures come into play (like a Soul Warden but something better).
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On a side note, Erratic Portal is just redonk. It's a tempo enabler, card advantage enabler, chump block enabler, and removal counterer in one colorless cheap to activate package.
Repeatable
Crystal Shard
Erratic Portal
Eldrazi Displacer
Waterfront Bouncer
Mimic Vat
Feldon of the Third Path
Recurring Nightmare
1-Shot
Kor Skyfisher
Flickerwisp
Restoration Angel
Plus lots of other support cards like 1-shot bounce effects, clones, recruiters, and the narrow repeatable enablers like 'Lark, Alesha, SoL&S, etc.
Due to the quality of most of the archetype enablers, the deck doesn't require much of any dedicated support to work well.
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And what do you think is better for the UW guild you think : Venser or Brago?
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Wtwlf123, I also wouldn't really consider cards that return a creature to my hand, Feldon or Recurring Nightmare to be blink cards; I appreciate why you do and how they contribute to the game plan. I guess I just stick to a stricter definition and that could be why I see it as more of a value engine than an archtype.
Basically, any engine that can abuse ETB triggers is fine with me.
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Cheers,
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Edit: I forgot Restoration Angel!
Then I also support combo with multiple combination between these cards:
These are nice to give the Blink deck an actual win condition if the value plan doesn't get going.
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540> 360 Powered CubeOh man you're right on. Crystal Shard, Erratic Portal and Parallax Wave are in the cube for some reasons! I also run part of the combo package you've dressed. Never tried Body Double but Phyrexian Metapmorph, Phantasmal image and Karmic Guide can do the trick. Blink is a real deck in our cube as well! So fun and powerful!
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Well off the beaten path... I'm experimenting with an Astral Slide package in my current semi-nostalgic combo list. This really only works in conjunction with LFTL/Eternal Witness and cycling lands/Decree of Justice. So it's narrow and a bit clunky. I don't know if it sticks around for long, but I like the challenge of trying to draft it.
On a more conventional front, I recommend most of the cards Omirr85 listed. Especially happy to see Momentary Blink still getting some love. That is a card most cube managers abandoned a long time ago since it's technically a gold card (and there's limited space for those in cube), but it has a ton of play to it. Another card to consider if you want to go all in on the archetype is Ghostly Flicker. There's also Deadeye Navigator, which is slow to get going but utterly stupid once you're there. But the most powerful blink/flicker card by a country mile is Restoration Angel, not really because it blinks but because it's so far above the cure.
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They're two of my favorite creature-only bounce spells. I haven't tried them for blink decks, but I've played them both in tempo decks and they're solid. Before we had Silent Departure and Clutch of Currents (back when we ran creature-only bounce, that is) I liked those spells quite a bit.
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I also added Recruiter of the Guard recently. It does a fine job in that deck fetching up some critical combo pieces
Snap is really nice, it was in there at some point!
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