Regarding Deathblade, is there a current consensus on whether Bob or Geist of Saint Traft is better? and has anyone else had any experience with Baleful Strix? (this is for a European meta).
I am personally choosing Strix over Bob. He's Blue, he flies, he acts as creature removal, he guarantees you a card (unless he's countered), and he's amazing with Academy Ruins.
I'm 3-0 so far with this deck. RiP's have been really relevant some games and not at all in others (just like creature removal to be fair). I took out the Bitterblossom for another Vindicate, as CA from Bob is enough and you lose enough life with him in play anyway.
Yeah, just finished playing with Vials and am not a fan. The Mother of Runes' were good though, so going to try a bit with them in. Without Vials going to try this deck:
Yeah, which is why I'm trying not to cut them out. What do you think of replacing the 3 Thalia with a 4th Sculler and 2 Canonist? I know that doesn't help me with what to cut haha
Actually I don't care that much about Thalia - was considering swapping her for a 4th Tidehollow (which is also awesome with Vial).
I didn't put in E. Tutor because it's card disadvantage and tells them your next draw/what you're trying to play. Leyline's only good if you draw it, otherwise it sucks, and since I want to start my turn with an IoK or Thoughtseize, I don't want to be mulliganing for Leyline AND those.
Thanks for the thoughts though. You make good points about Elspeth... I just don't like equipment being my only 'real' win con.
No DRS in the deck because it is pretty much dead with the RiPs.
And honestly, RiP hoses so many decks - it's awesome every time I land one. I was even considering 4.
RUG Delver sucks without their GY.
So does BUG but they have Abrupt Decay - another reason to consider 4 Rest in Peace in the main board.
Jund loses DRS, goyf and Punishing Fire.
Esper loses Snapcaster/DRS.
Shardless loses goyf and DRS.
Maverick loses Knight of the Reliquary.
So does Junk, and DRS.
To name a few.
Hey guys, I decided to try a different route with my DGA deck and looking for advice on what to cut. My meta has a LOT of decks that in some way or another use the graveyard - DRS, goyfs, Punishing Fire decks, etc etc. I decided that just like creature removal can sometimes be a dead card those occurences are rare... just like graveyard hosing effects. Thus, I have decided to main board RiPs, removed my own DRS/Lingering Souls, and am trying out a Vial deck. However, I don't know what to cut and am 4 cards over. What would you cut/why? Thanks. I assume the most obvious are the 2 Liliana, the Top and the Elspeth, but I really like all of those cards...
First card that came to mind for me was Elspth, Knight-Errant because 1 on 1 she can take on Jace, and she can really win the game for you. She's not stronger than Jace though.
I've been playing a deck with Unearth, Baleful Strix, SFM, and Snapcaster. I'm considering dropping the Unearth for Mother of Runes, because her + Strix/SFM is so good, but man... Unearth has been really awesome too.
Alright, after playing the deck this weekend I finished with this:
2-0 G Infect
1-2 Enchantress
2-1 Jund
1-2 Storm g3 was close
0-2 Aluren g1 I should've won, but I didn't cast Blood Moon on turn 2. I was playing around a counterspell he didn't have, and didn't know what he was playing.
2-0 Reanimator
2-0 Dragon Stompy (without dragons, as he called it)
2-1 RDW
I also lost g1 to a D&T deck, but he left before we could finish the match.
Overall, the deck seems pretty good so far. Boros Charm's good, but I've only used it for 4 to the dome/for a token so I might look to cut it to a 1-of and think of alternative spells for Young Pyromancer - the 4 HAS been relevant though, so the card replacing it would need to be very relevant. I took out Silence, but kinda wish I hadn't vs. Storm, so could be a sideboard card.
My main issue was dealing with enchantments/artifacts. Considering some Disenchants in the sideboard over the Oblivion Rings I had, since we have a ton of creature removal anyway.
Yeah, YP's definitely a good card for this deck. A lot of people don't see his versatility, and I'm sure there's other situations I haven't encountered or thought of where he's great.
I don't like Petal because it's really only good at the start, and I think this deck always has a draw (non-land of course), be it in early or mid-late game. Have you tried Silence yet? I know it gets a lot of skepticism from people, but I've found it to be really good. I'm not a fan of Magma Jet because I find it eats too much mana for what it does. The 2 Tops have been more than enough card filter, and can be used to insta-draw if need be.
So far I've just tried Ancient Tomb instead of Wasteland, not with them, which is why the land count is low. I am considering moving to 21-22 land, but not sure which card(s) to cut. I'm not trying to make ramp too much of a focus, as I've been trying to keep it as part of a win condition, not the win condition.
I've mostly just played against fair decks so far, and Young Pyromancer's been great in several situations. I've bolted creatures/blocked with the token it created to take out the attacker. I've sent bolts/charms to the player while chumping with the tokens they created to win the game. I also used the tokens to keep equiping things to, which was relevant both offensively and defensively. I think you might've cut too many spells to use Young Pyromancer effectively - it's been pretty sweet (in fair matchups) so far for me.
Actually, if we're attacking their lands with those effects, we could probably just switch the Wastelands for Ancient Tombs and it wouldn't really affect how the deck works that much.
Well, the list I posted has 4 Mountains and 3 Plains. You could always just fetch those and leave the Plateaus for drawing. Nothing uses WW or RR in their casting cost.
I was actually considering taking out the Grim Lavamancer, and 2-3 other cards (Legion's Initiative and maybe a Boros Charm/Ajani Vengeant) for 3-4 Magus of the Moon or a 3/1 split with Blood Moon. With Mother of Runes to protect Magus and the removal to take out anything they MIGHT have on the board, that'd more than likely be game over against most decks. I see why you're thinking of going the 'fast' route - but I find that's more of an all-in kind of play, and this deck has so many forms of control (especially in the early game) that I don't think it's necessary. I guess we shall find out!
I am personally choosing Strix over Bob. He's Blue, he flies, he acts as creature removal, he guarantees you a card (unless he's countered), and he's amazing with Academy Ruins.
Land:
Total: 21
Creatures:
Total: 17
Spells:
Total: 22
I didn't put in E. Tutor because it's card disadvantage and tells them your next draw/what you're trying to play. Leyline's only good if you draw it, otherwise it sucks, and since I want to start my turn with an IoK or Thoughtseize, I don't want to be mulliganing for Leyline AND those.
Thanks for the thoughts though. You make good points about Elspeth... I just don't like equipment being my only 'real' win con.
And honestly, RiP hoses so many decks - it's awesome every time I land one. I was even considering 4.
RUG Delver sucks without their GY.
So does BUG but they have Abrupt Decay - another reason to consider 4 Rest in Peace in the main board.
Jund loses DRS, goyf and Punishing Fire.
Esper loses Snapcaster/DRS.
Shardless loses goyf and DRS.
Maverick loses Knight of the Reliquary.
So does Junk, and DRS.
To name a few.
It hoses more than enough decks to MB it.
Land:
Total: 21
Creatures:
Total: 19
Spells:
Total: 24
2-0 G Infect
1-2 Enchantress
2-1 Jund
1-2 Storm g3 was close
0-2 Aluren g1 I should've won, but I didn't cast Blood Moon on turn 2. I was playing around a counterspell he didn't have, and didn't know what he was playing.
2-0 Reanimator
2-0 Dragon Stompy (without dragons, as he called it)
2-1 RDW
I also lost g1 to a D&T deck, but he left before we could finish the match.
Overall, the deck seems pretty good so far. Boros Charm's good, but I've only used it for 4 to the dome/for a token so I might look to cut it to a 1-of and think of alternative spells for Young Pyromancer - the 4 HAS been relevant though, so the card replacing it would need to be very relevant. I took out Silence, but kinda wish I hadn't vs. Storm, so could be a sideboard card.
My main issue was dealing with enchantments/artifacts. Considering some Disenchants in the sideboard over the Oblivion Rings I had, since we have a ton of creature removal anyway.
I don't like Petal because it's really only good at the start, and I think this deck always has a draw (non-land of course), be it in early or mid-late game. Have you tried Silence yet? I know it gets a lot of skepticism from people, but I've found it to be really good. I'm not a fan of Magma Jet because I find it eats too much mana for what it does. The 2 Tops have been more than enough card filter, and can be used to insta-draw if need be.
I've mostly just played against fair decks so far, and Young Pyromancer's been great in several situations. I've bolted creatures/blocked with the token it created to take out the attacker. I've sent bolts/charms to the player while chumping with the tokens they created to win the game. I also used the tokens to keep equiping things to, which was relevant both offensively and defensively. I think you might've cut too many spells to use Young Pyromancer effectively - it's been pretty sweet (in fair matchups) so far for me.
I was actually considering taking out the Grim Lavamancer, and 2-3 other cards (Legion's Initiative and maybe a Boros Charm/Ajani Vengeant) for 3-4 Magus of the Moon or a 3/1 split with Blood Moon. With Mother of Runes to protect Magus and the removal to take out anything they MIGHT have on the board, that'd more than likely be game over against most decks. I see why you're thinking of going the 'fast' route - but I find that's more of an all-in kind of play, and this deck has so many forms of control (especially in the early game) that I don't think it's necessary. I guess we shall find out!
The deck would then look like this:
Land
Creatures
Spells