Illusionist's Bracers let Yasova take two creatures. When I was playing a version of this deck, I'd steal two creatures, sack one, and use Bazaar Trader on the other. Worked out pretty. It definitely helped that I also had Forgotten Ancient, and then once I got Prophet of Kruphix out and sacked Wonder it was all over.
Illusionist's Bracers only works for activated abilities, Yasova's is a trigger at the beginning of combat, you could use Strionic Resonator to copy it once per turn for 2 mana
The MVP of the deck was outpost siege. I can attribute to of my match wins to that card.
The sideboard is basically split in half. Against Abzan I took out lightning strikes and seekers and brought in the 3rd siege, 2x Mastery of the Unseen, 2x Mardu Charm, Elspeth, Utter End.
Against the devotion list I took out rabbles, 2x strike and sieges (he had show me multiple reclamation sages game 2, so I knew the sieges weren't a safe play) and brought in 2x End Hostilities, 1x Elspeth, 1x Cut, 2x Mardu Charm (he had a lot of counters in the main), Sarkhan, and Utter End.
Against the Naya deck i can't remember how I boarded, but I know i brought in Sarkhan, Elspeth, 2x End Hostilities, probably taking out the rabbles.
Overall the deck felt real good. I have tested against sultai control and that match-up is difficult, but that was before I had mastery of the unseen, so hopefully that card can help the match-up out.
looks like a great deck, how did the 4xseeker of the way work for you? i tend to find them being pretty terrible mid/late game. Also, how do you like 4xThoughtseize? i always want to find room to add those to every black deck, but i am not always sure how useful they are in every matchup (especially the Rx ones)
i agree that seeker of the way is super clunky... if you want early bear-blocker, lifelink, and late game impact... try soulfire grand master, with your 4x4 on crackling doom and lightning strike it should be able to gain a little extra life, and blocks Goblin Rabblemaster tokens for profit..... another card i like adding as a singleton is Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury, it can be a surprise 5 damage, or with your current dragon suite it can be a sudden boost to a single turn's attack.... otherwise it's very similar to stormbreath except it can't be stoke the flames'd
I have been looking into collateral damage as another sac outlet, it played ok but was never really pivotal... I also want to find room for a pharika, god of affliction so i can exile enemy grave, steal the toke, and then throw it at them
4 Crackling Doom is a must. That card is amazing and one of the reasons why Mardu has good matchups.
this! x4
crackling doom is such amazing removal, can't be stopped with "protection from x", indestructible, pump, hexproof/shroud, etc.... the 2 damage has also been key in some victories as a finishing blow, or killing a planeswalker
i agree that a really good 2-drop would be awesome... also a really good 3-drop like boros reckoner last season^^. i hope for the next set to bring some goodys for that slot.
i mean our 4-slot and 5-slot is awesome but the things under it are lackluster creature wise.
i'm just gonna take a moment to introduce you to my good friend Tymaret, the Murder King in the 2s slot~
now back to scheduled programming
Saw him at a local store for $0.30 each... picked up a playset. Right now, my deck is mostly red with decent white and only a splash black. If I go Tymaret route, I feel I need to totally rework things (chain to rocks out, brimaz out, swiftspear out. Bloodsoaked champ in, thoughtseize in, downfall in).
you really shouldn't have to rework the deck Tymaret isn't a card that has to be played on T2 to be effective. What makes it more attractive over Seeker is that you can play in on T2 and nearly have the same affect on the game while having some impact in long games, where Seeker is just a miserable as a toughtsieze. Although i find it strange that your running brimaz, or at least implying that you are.
When I went to RW splash black, I was just looking for something white that packed more punch than Seeker. He did ok when played, but never fantastic. Would much rather find a good white 1 or 2 drop, since I have so many 3cmc.
I think Tymaret could work in RWb, and as cheap as he is, I can give it a shot. I would just prefer something red, white, or RW.
i agree that a really good 2-drop would be awesome... also a really good 3-drop like boros reckoner last season^^. i hope for the next set to bring some goodys for that slot.
i mean our 4-slot and 5-slot is awesome but the things under it are lackluster creature wise.
i'm just gonna take a moment to introduce you to my good friend Tymaret, the Murder King in the 2s slot~
Hey guys, a friend of mine has picked up a mardu burn deck (with the deflecting palm + dictate of the twin gods combo) and I've found myself struggling against it. It's really backbreaking when he palms my Butcher and I take 5 to the face, same with rabblemaster. What are some cards I can bring in to my sideboard to help in this matchup? I've been thinking about bloodsoaked champion (a recurring threat is hard for him to stop), nyx-fleece ram, and brain maggot. Any other suggestions?
Add some deflecting palm of your own, it might kill the dictate deck on resolution depending on the board, also it's good against jeskai
Thanks for the response. I guess what I was missing is it seems like you have 1 Tymaret already in play on the battlefield and a second one in your hand which you are discarding and recalling. Awesome idea!
What are your thoughts on replacing Heliod with a Brimaz for even more tokens and another tough creature to answer? Alternatively, maybe a chained to the rocks for another cheap removal?
Thanks!
i did not often get 2 Tymaret at the same time, though it did happen... if i ever did get 2 at once and the stockpile though, then i'd typically just get 2 tokens and draw 2 cards rather than trying to keep 1 Tymaret in play
Heliod can be replaced with literally any non-land card and it'd be better, though i would not recommend any double white creatures, as the landbase does not support it very well, especially Brimaz considering you'd wanna play him turn 3. another lightning strike or moving Crackling doom #4 to maindeck are the obvious choices for this slot as far as removal, i don't particularly like Chained to the rocks as i feel like when people finally start playing the enchantment removal they should, chain will get worse.... also crackling doom is amazing~ no way to stop me from killing 1 of your creatures!(except counter spells)
How important is Elspeth and Nyx-Fleece Ram in your match-ups?
Nyx-Fleece Ram has been pretty good in most match ups as a guy no one wants to waste removal on, but who absorbs soooo much damage over the course of a game, more than 1 game against jeskai @ the GP became draw-go on both sides with me just gaining 1 life every turn and killing any threat they played... it was also an easy side out in the matches where it was not important, though it's never a dead card (except against BUx control decks).
Elspeth, Sun's Champion was definitely an all-star wincon most of the times even against the fast decks, just getting 3 guys and them using removal to kill her was fine (not optimal, but fine) most of the time, as those tokens enable hasty butcher of the horde(lots of times swinging into opposing planeswalkers) and burn damage/recursion off of Tymaret, the Murder King
And finally, when paired with necromancer's stockpile i got a sustainable card draw engine... Yes i know it's not efficient, but i only had to add 1 copy. With stockpile any creature you control can be sac'd for a token and a card, pretty sweet
This deck looks very interesting to me. Could you expand on the quoted bit, please? I don't understand how you get a token AND a card? The only zombie creature you have it Tymaret - so you discard him, get a token and then sac another creature to bring him back to hand. Are you saccing your tokens - essentially trading up?
Thanks!
that is exactly what i mean, basically any creature about to die can be sacrificed to get tymaret back, which can then be discarded for another token+card draw, or soldier and warrior tokens can be sacced to upgrade them to 2/2's instead of 1/1's (i don't tend to do this to the goblins as much because of them pumping rabblemaster, though it does happen at times if rabble isn't going to be attacking)... but at the end of any opponent's turn where i have free mana i will sac my zombie token, getting back tymaret, then discarding tymaret to get back the token and draw a card
played against jeskai heroic-combo yesterday while i was sitting around, won 2-1 with no sideboarding (only change to my originally posted list is i moved crackling doom #4 from sideboard to main over heliod) only time i lost was when he combo'd off, the 2 wins were 1 turn earlier thanks to tymaret
there is no more creature you can sit on til the time comes and just play it and be guaranteed a win like we used to with Aetherling, but how often does the format allow that really anyways?
Interesting deck! Could you provide more details regarding riding Tymaret, The Murder King to victory?
Sure, the typical early game when drawing tymaret, the murder king was just playing him as early as possible since he is the only aggressive 1/2 drop the deck has, so he allows for me to get in early damage (sometimes, not often of course) but also he is a great blocker/attack deterrent as his p/t allows him to trade with most 2/3 drops (mostly Goblin Rabblemaster or 80% of mono red), his mid and late game tend to be much better.... This is when he shines, most removal in the format seems to be 1-for-1 (all red burn, jeskai charm, mardu charm, abzan charm, hero's downfall, utter end, murderous cut, bile blight {more on this later}) and unless your opponent wants each removal spell they cast to also shock them for 2, they need to "waste" their first one on Tymaret. This gives me a slight advantage as the opponent now needs an additional removal spell at all times to maximize it's use.
In the event that tymaret is dead, your opponents removal spells now become something akin to pongify in that you get your tymaret back from the grave by sacrificing your already dying creature, thus starting the shocks all over again.
Another thing about tymaret is: control decks have few to no answers to him. A 2/2 that your opponent doesn't want to "waste" removal on, but is eventually forced to do so is pretty strong, then your threats for the rest of the game become "counter me, or tymaret is guaranteed to come back". This makes all your threats in a control match up auto 2-for-1 which spells doom for a control deck
Another facet is:he provides game ending or planeswalker ending reach. He allows you to lob your blocked or summoning sick creatures to get in for those last 2-6 points all in 1 turn. Or to finish off that sorin after he made his token
He provides protection from mass bile blighting whether in the grave or in play, he can sac the targeted creature or token to save the rest of the army
And finally, when paired with necromancer's stockpile i got a sustainable card draw engine... Yes i know it's not efficient, but i only had to add 1 copy. With stockpile any creature you control can be sac'd for a token and a card, pretty sweet
The main thing is, he breaks the current 1-for-1 trades and makes it more in our favor, even if it's just a tiny bit
(the only card in the deck that did nothing the entire time was Heliod... post tournament, i'd replace him with anything)
i'll go over some of what i remember
Day1 decks i played against:
Jeskai tempo/agro/burn
1-1
one of the decks i tested against the most, and felt the most comfortable playing was one of my losses... the round i lost i lost game 1 to an unanswered Goblin Rabblemaster on turn 3 with him on the play, followed by a turn 4 Goblin Rabblemaster, game 2 i lost after stabilizing to a deflecting palm when i started swinging back with a lifelinked Butcher of the horde to recover (tricky opponents)... other round was an easy win, nothing memorable.
black/blue control
1-0
one of the decks i was really hoping to play against more, rode Tymaret to victory 2 games in a row. game 2 was a blowout with Necromancer's Stockpile being an impossible to answer threat.
Black/Blue/Red control
1-0
again, rode the Tymaret train to funky town 2-0, no idea what he had red for as it seemed like a splash, and i never saw a single red card either game. opponent was playing Perilous Vault though (at least 3 of them, based on the results of a t1 thoughtseize), those were a little tough to get around, but i was able to push through with single threats the entire game then reach with tymaret for the last 4 points
mardu midrange
1-0
won game 1 off better draws, and game 2 off opponent getting mana screwed
mono red sligh
1-0
played a little against this deck during testing... didn't think it would be a real deck. used removal and early creatures to halt the early blood loss, then overwhelmed them with tokens, global lifegain, and fat fliers. game 2 was a blowout, turn 4 anger of the gods destroyed their board, and their hand was nearly empty... easy win
Black/White Warriors
1-0
was not expecting this deck at all... it seemed similar to red sligh, but slower, though their creatures get scarier as the game progresses, where red's creatures get less scary... anger was still a blowout g2
abzan midrange
1-1
i forget most of the details, but the round i lost was on the back of a bunch of discard from the opponent
Edit for Day2 matchups:
Black splash white aggro
1-0
Thought it was mono black til the end of game 2 when opponent revealed he didnt get white in either game, wouldnt mave made a difference though as i had downfalls for his sorins
Mardu midrange
0-1
Game 1 i was blown out by early rabblemasters (multiple) and couldnt get removal enough to deal with them, game 2 was stuck on 2-3 lands after muligan to 5, and had hand ripped apart by 4-5 discard spells on turns 1-4
Jeskai
2-0
Both rounds turned into draw go after anger of the gods clears the board and i sat and gained 9 life off 1 Nyx-fleece ram while stocking up on a hand full of spot removal, and beating with tymaret until i could double crackling doom for game
Abzan
2-0
For some reason games against abzan are hard to recall... I think the deck might be boring and always plays out the same
There was 1 more round on Day2 but i cannot remember what the deck was that i played... I think it was a black blue control deck that didnt put up much of a fight against the murder king's onslaught
Overall i was really hoping to play against more control decks, as that is where tymaret shines, but maybe he'll get his chance when the format develops some more
Illusionist's Bracers only works for activated abilities, Yasova's is a trigger at the beginning of combat, you could use Strionic Resonator to copy it once per turn for 2 mana
looks like a great deck, how did the 4xseeker of the way work for you? i tend to find them being pretty terrible mid/late game. Also, how do you like 4xThoughtseize? i always want to find room to add those to every black deck, but i am not always sure how useful they are in every matchup (especially the Rx ones)
4 brain maggot
3 tymaret, the murder king
4 goblin rabblemaster
1 merciless executioner
3 yasova dragonclaw
3 brutal hordechief
2 shaman of the great hunt
1 Kolaghan, the storm's fury
2 hero's blade
2 lightning strike
1 necromancer's stockpile
1 bow of nylea
3 hero's downfall
3 hordeling outburst
1 whip of erebos
1 liliana vess
3 bloodstained mire
3 forest
1 llanowar wastes
3 mountain
3 swamp
3 temple of abandon
3 temple of malady
3 temple of malice
3 wooded foothills
I have been looking into collateral damage as another sac outlet, it played ok but was never really pivotal... I also want to find room for a pharika, god of affliction so i can exile enemy grave, steal the toke, and then throw it at them
this! x4
crackling doom is such amazing removal, can't be stopped with "protection from x", indestructible, pump, hexproof/shroud, etc.... the 2 damage has also been key in some victories as a finishing blow, or killing a planeswalker
well, after checking what cards are available, these would be the best options:
deathbellow raider - the regen can be surprisingly handy at times
Eidolon of the Great Revel - would probably hurt you more than anyone
Jeering Instigator - early 2/1, or late threaten
Oreskos Swiftclaw - high damage, but fragile
Seeker of the Way - for reasons everyone knows
Sightless Brawler - early additional creature, late "removal"
Soldier of the Pantheon - some lifegain and he comes down on turn 1, gets through abzan cats
Spirit of the Labyrinth - same as Oreskos Swiftclaw with negligible ability (except against blue) and slightly more vulnerable
War-Name Aspirant - not a great turn 2 play, but pretty good once raid is triggered, also unable to be chump blocked isn't half bad
best choices seem like:
Seeker of the Way and War-Name Aspirant
i'm just gonna take a moment to introduce you to my good friend Tymaret, the Murder King in the 2s slot~
now back to scheduled programming
try cutting arc lightning, or chandra
Add some deflecting palm of your own, it might kill the dictate deck on resolution depending on the board, also it's good against jeskai
i did not often get 2 Tymaret at the same time, though it did happen... if i ever did get 2 at once and the stockpile though, then i'd typically just get 2 tokens and draw 2 cards rather than trying to keep 1 Tymaret in play
Heliod can be replaced with literally any non-land card and it'd be better, though i would not recommend any double white creatures, as the landbase does not support it very well, especially Brimaz considering you'd wanna play him turn 3. another lightning strike or moving Crackling doom #4 to maindeck are the obvious choices for this slot as far as removal, i don't particularly like Chained to the rocks as i feel like when people finally start playing the enchantment removal they should, chain will get worse.... also crackling doom is amazing~ no way to stop me from killing 1 of your creatures!(except counter spells)
Nyx-Fleece Ram has been pretty good in most match ups as a guy no one wants to waste removal on, but who absorbs soooo much damage over the course of a game, more than 1 game against jeskai @ the GP became draw-go on both sides with me just gaining 1 life every turn and killing any threat they played... it was also an easy side out in the matches where it was not important, though it's never a dead card (except against BUx control decks).
Elspeth, Sun's Champion was definitely an all-star wincon most of the times even against the fast decks, just getting 3 guys and them using removal to kill her was fine (not optimal, but fine) most of the time, as those tokens enable hasty butcher of the horde(lots of times swinging into opposing planeswalkers) and burn damage/recursion off of Tymaret, the Murder King
that is exactly what i mean, basically any creature about to die can be sacrificed to get tymaret back, which can then be discarded for another token+card draw, or soldier and warrior tokens can be sacced to upgrade them to 2/2's instead of 1/1's (i don't tend to do this to the goblins as much because of them pumping rabblemaster, though it does happen at times if rabble isn't going to be attacking)... but at the end of any opponent's turn where i have free mana i will sac my zombie token, getting back tymaret, then discarding tymaret to get back the token and draw a card
played against jeskai heroic-combo yesterday while i was sitting around, won 2-1 with no sideboarding (only change to my originally posted list is i moved crackling doom #4 from sideboard to main over heliod) only time i lost was when he combo'd off, the 2 wins were 1 turn earlier thanks to tymaret
Sagu Mauler - Hard to remove baring crackling doom and board wipe
Riddle of Lightning - hear me out on this one... a deck with both dig through time and treasure cruise...
Keranos, God of Storms - hard to remove (only perilous vault, erase,diecide, banishing light, and utter end), card advantage or slowly killing your opponent/creatures/planeswalkers
Crater's Claws - more burn for game?
Colossus of Akros - block til 10 mana, then 2 turn clock?
there is no more creature you can sit on til the time comes and just play it and be guaranteed a win like we used to with Aetherling, but how often does the format allow that really anyways?
Sure, the typical early game when drawing tymaret, the murder king was just playing him as early as possible since he is the only aggressive 1/2 drop the deck has, so he allows for me to get in early damage (sometimes, not often of course) but also he is a great blocker/attack deterrent as his p/t allows him to trade with most 2/3 drops (mostly Goblin Rabblemaster or 80% of mono red), his mid and late game tend to be much better.... This is when he shines, most removal in the format seems to be 1-for-1 (all red burn, jeskai charm, mardu charm, abzan charm, hero's downfall, utter end, murderous cut, bile blight {more on this later}) and unless your opponent wants each removal spell they cast to also shock them for 2, they need to "waste" their first one on Tymaret. This gives me a slight advantage as the opponent now needs an additional removal spell at all times to maximize it's use.
In the event that tymaret is dead, your opponents removal spells now become something akin to pongify in that you get your tymaret back from the grave by sacrificing your already dying creature, thus starting the shocks all over again.
Another thing about tymaret is: control decks have few to no answers to him. A 2/2 that your opponent doesn't want to "waste" removal on, but is eventually forced to do so is pretty strong, then your threats for the rest of the game become "counter me, or tymaret is guaranteed to come back". This makes all your threats in a control match up auto 2-for-1 which spells doom for a control deck
Another facet is:he provides game ending or planeswalker ending reach. He allows you to lob your blocked or summoning sick creatures to get in for those last 2-6 points all in 1 turn. Or to finish off that sorin after he made his token
He provides protection from mass bile blighting whether in the grave or in play, he can sac the targeted creature or token to save the rest of the army
And finally, when paired with necromancer's stockpile i got a sustainable card draw engine... Yes i know it's not efficient, but i only had to add 1 copy. With stockpile any creature you control can be sac'd for a token and a card, pretty sweet
The main thing is, he breaks the current 1-for-1 trades and makes it more in our favor, even if it's just a tiny bit
2 Nyx-Fleece Ram
3 Tymaret, The Murder King
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Butcher of the Horde
2 Stormbreath Dragon
1 Heliod, God of the Sun
planeswalkers 4
2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
2 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
Enchantments 2
1 Whip of Erebos
1 Necromancer's Stockpile
Sorcery 1
1 End Hostilities
Instants 12
3 Crackling Doom
1 Utter End
4 Hero's Downfall
2 Lightning Strike
2 Mardu Charm
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Nomad Outpost
2 Temple of Malice
3 Temple of Triumph
2 Temple of Silence
2 Caves of Koilos
2 Battlefield Forge
2 Mountain
3 Swamp
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2 Erase
3 Anger of the Gods
1 End Hostilities
1 Crackling Doom
2 Deflecting Palm
1 Stormbreath Dragon
3 Thoughtseize
2 Glare of Heresy
(the only card in the deck that did nothing the entire time was Heliod... post tournament, i'd replace him with anything)
i'll go over some of what i remember
Day1 decks i played against:
Jeskai tempo/agro/burn
1-1
one of the decks i tested against the most, and felt the most comfortable playing was one of my losses... the round i lost i lost game 1 to an unanswered Goblin Rabblemaster on turn 3 with him on the play, followed by a turn 4 Goblin Rabblemaster, game 2 i lost after stabilizing to a deflecting palm when i started swinging back with a lifelinked Butcher of the horde to recover (tricky opponents)... other round was an easy win, nothing memorable.
black/blue control
1-0
one of the decks i was really hoping to play against more, rode Tymaret to victory 2 games in a row. game 2 was a blowout with Necromancer's Stockpile being an impossible to answer threat.
Black/Blue/Red control
1-0
again, rode the Tymaret train to funky town 2-0, no idea what he had red for as it seemed like a splash, and i never saw a single red card either game. opponent was playing Perilous Vault though (at least 3 of them, based on the results of a t1 thoughtseize), those were a little tough to get around, but i was able to push through with single threats the entire game then reach with tymaret for the last 4 points
mardu midrange
1-0
won game 1 off better draws, and game 2 off opponent getting mana screwed
mono red sligh
1-0
played a little against this deck during testing... didn't think it would be a real deck. used removal and early creatures to halt the early blood loss, then overwhelmed them with tokens, global lifegain, and fat fliers. game 2 was a blowout, turn 4 anger of the gods destroyed their board, and their hand was nearly empty... easy win
Black/White Warriors
1-0
was not expecting this deck at all... it seemed similar to red sligh, but slower, though their creatures get scarier as the game progresses, where red's creatures get less scary... anger was still a blowout g2
abzan midrange
1-1
i forget most of the details, but the round i lost was on the back of a bunch of discard from the opponent
Edit for Day2 matchups:
Black splash white aggro
1-0
Thought it was mono black til the end of game 2 when opponent revealed he didnt get white in either game, wouldnt mave made a difference though as i had downfalls for his sorins
Mardu midrange
0-1
Game 1 i was blown out by early rabblemasters (multiple) and couldnt get removal enough to deal with them, game 2 was stuck on 2-3 lands after muligan to 5, and had hand ripped apart by 4-5 discard spells on turns 1-4
Jeskai
2-0
Both rounds turned into draw go after anger of the gods clears the board and i sat and gained 9 life off 1 Nyx-fleece ram while stocking up on a hand full of spot removal, and beating with tymaret until i could double crackling doom for game
Abzan
2-0
For some reason games against abzan are hard to recall... I think the deck might be boring and always plays out the same
There was 1 more round on Day2 but i cannot remember what the deck was that i played... I think it was a black blue control deck that didnt put up much of a fight against the murder king's onslaught
Overall i was really hoping to play against more control decks, as that is where tymaret shines, but maybe he'll get his chance when the format develops some more