Great primer written by a great guy. I've been playing against Avvina for years and his attention to detail always shines through in his lists. This deck is trying to win at all phases of the game and I never count it out no matter the board state or politics attempted. Very fun to play against and I've enjoyed it the few times I've piloted it. Good work.
I'm not sure why the strongest color in the format gets arguably it's best 1 mana spell(thoughtseize) and it's cool. Yet giving one of the weakest colors 3 damage for one is out of the question.
A card that makes your opponent more powerful the more you dig for an answer isn't warping? A card that once 2 people have it get to say: "The rest of you are not playing this game." I'm all about sick value and card draw but there is no reason to not jam sphinx as soon and as often as possible. If someone answers it you can just bring it back and if nobody does a good blue deck will win the game in a turn around the table or two.
CS feels a lot like SP to me. It is an auto include in every blue deck so even if you manage to kill one sphinx someone else at the table is sure to have one. You can't just use removal either. It has to be an exile effect or the table will be focused on reanimating it back. I'm not a fan of the argument you can just run spot removal. Spot removal can be dead in your hands while the countermagic to stop removal will always be relevant. How much removal do we have to pack to ensure a sphinx doesn't make it around the table because the game is over if it does.
I know it has been beaten into the ground but Consecrated sphinx is STILL RUINING THE FORMAT. One player casts the card and passes, the next player clones it and those two players essentially make the other players irrelevant for the rest of the game. I fail to see how a 6 mana clone-able, tutor-able, non-legendary enter the infinite on a stick can be legal still.
I will never be tired of control personally. Something satisfying about your opponent scooping before you even have a win condition because they want some round time to have a shot against you in game 2 and possibly 3. The best advice I offer to someone who hates control is to play another format if the standard meta isn't going your way. I've played against a MBD at least one round of FNM for the past 5 months. I understand being frustrated and annoyed by a deck.
While EDH is an exciting format with a lot of playable cards I must stress the important of streamlining your deck. Cutting cards can be tough but consistency is the best way to make an EDH deck good. I would start by picking a style and sub-theme for the deck. For example my Oloro deck is a super friends control style with a proliferate theme. Hammer out how you want to win and focus on getting to those cards as quickly and consistently as possible. Once you have that skeleton, pick solid defense cards that will not be a dead draw no matter which turn of the game you are on.
Hatred is a solid/fun way for Oloro to win games. You mention not wanting to be a "dick" in your post, yet have curse of exhaustion in your list haha. I can't really give you too much advice as all playgroups are different. Personally I dont mind losing as long as my opponent does it cleanly and effectively. I get really annoyed when my opponents have more land than me, more cards in hand, have tutored 6 times, and still have no clue how to end the game.
This deck is one of the most fun and explosive decks you can play right now. Not to mention dirt cheap to build. I easily went 4-0 flying under all of my opponents at FNM last night with this list.
I jest. I will always run the strongest cards I have even if they look like they have been chewed on by a golden retriever. Let your playing do the talking, not your pocket book. =]
I'm not asking for Dimir to be standalone. I'm asking for there to at least be cards worthy of putting into the the shards colors. The only Dimir card in Esper control is Watery Grave.
I love duskmantle seer, but you have to build the entire deck around him. And while his ability is fun, the damage is at the cost of giving them card advantage. Allowing someone to draw a card with the payoff of random damage(typically 1 in 3 triggers will be a land) isn't very impressive. He's cleverly designed to remind you of bob but he's nowhere close.
I can't be the only one who has noticed how poorly designed the entire Dimir guild is can I? No playable cards in standard. The spoilers for dragonmaze are coming in and still nothing for the House Dimir. Our champion is a joke that fuels the most powerful deck in standard right now.
How is it that two of the most notoriously powerful colors in the multiverse managed to be so awful together? Transmute was awesome and would be even better if reprinted today. Cypher is too expensive, conditional, and requires blue(one of the most non-attack oriented colors in magic history) to attack to get any benefit. Whats up with this nonsense?
#LightningboltM15
Hatred is a solid/fun way for Oloro to win games. You mention not wanting to be a "dick" in your post, yet have curse of exhaustion in your list haha. I can't really give you too much advice as all playgroups are different. Personally I dont mind losing as long as my opponent does it cleanly and effectively. I get really annoyed when my opponents have more land than me, more cards in hand, have tutored 6 times, and still have no clue how to end the game.
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/heroic-blitz-16-11-13-1/
I jest. I will always run the strongest cards I have even if they look like they have been chewed on by a golden retriever. Let your playing do the talking, not your pocket book. =]
I love duskmantle seer, but you have to build the entire deck around him. And while his ability is fun, the damage is at the cost of giving them card advantage. Allowing someone to draw a card with the payoff of random damage(typically 1 in 3 triggers will be a land) isn't very impressive. He's cleverly designed to remind you of bob but he's nowhere close.
Because bouncing creatures when every creature played in standard has an enter the battlefield trigger.
Because edict, a 2 mana spell should cost 3.
I'm not sold
How is it that two of the most notoriously powerful colors in the multiverse managed to be so awful together? Transmute was awesome and would be even better if reprinted today. Cypher is too expensive, conditional, and requires blue(one of the most non-attack oriented colors in magic history) to attack to get any benefit. Whats up with this nonsense?