- Chairwolf
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Last active Tue, Nov, 5 2019 21:09:28
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Feb 3, 2014Chairwolf posted a message on Launch Giveaway!My favorite card has always been Counterbalance. I just love that it turns deck-manipulation spells, like Brainstorm or Telling Time, into counterspells. I just like building around it. I'm a Blue mage at heart.Posted in: Announcements
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Leelue was apt in his description of this as like a suspend creature - however, a lot of suspend creatures have been finding their way out of my c/ube lately, maybe this is going the same way. That said, paying 1 mana for a 5/5 is pretty good no matter when it happens, provided it happens.
I don't play it, largely because it doesn't fit the themes of red in my c/ube. I think it's likely included more often than not because people are trying to diversify their red archetypes beyond aggro, which I can respect.
I think it's good enough if it finds two targets and hits face. I've heard it said that the baseline best way to draft peasant is to just pick as many Man o' Wars as you see (the point being, as many 2-for-1s as you can get) and this card fits that bill.
It's one of the top 5 best aggro cards in the c/ube, IMO, and therefore one of the best red cards. It's deceptively powerful, against anything. Two turns in, it's two Lava Spikes that also blanked a blocker. That's nuts.
Same 2-for-1 argument as before. Notably, ramp is bad in c/ube when you're playing all the best removal you can, so any threat that has to be dealt with twice is valuable.
Spells matter is great in peasant, and it tends to be a control archetype more than an aggro archetype, in my experience, and I think others have found the same.
I'm not super high on it either. Amonkhet in general was a set where I added a record number of cards to my c/ube, an then cut all of them. Unique cards, but the power level wasn't quite there. I think this guy fits that bill.
Brago also cheats on cumulative upkeep, so you're never really forced to sac the card.
At whatever power level you like to play at, it isn't fun when your deck doesn't do what you want it to do, whatever that thing may be. Anywhere from Werewolf tribal to storm.
Maybe I want to make a deck that wins with Form of the Dragon. That's pretty unique, yeah? But I'm still going to pump the deck full of tutors and ramp effects because if I don't cast that Form of the Dragon, neither I nor anyone else is going to get to experience this unique thing that I'm doing.
You can still make a strong deck that runs cards purely for synergy, or wins in an out-of-the-box way that no one expects. But if you limit yourself to cards that nobody plays, or you play everything with the barest possible synergy just for the sake of theme, I think that makes the gameplay less enjoyable, at least for me. Let's say I'm making a really garbage +1/+1 synergy deck. I could run Map the Wastes instead of Farseek, but would that really make the deck more enjoyable? I think what would be more enjoyable is accelerating into the cards that matter a whole turn earlier, like Kalonian Hydra or Master Biomancer or Doubling Season.
Here's what I think of the cards you've suggested already:
Opal Palace:
Yahenni, Undying Partisan: Her ability to become indestructible matters a lot less when the commander is Marchesa, leaving the card feeling pretty vanilla. However, it is a free, instant-speed sac outlet, which I think is strong if you have creatures you particularly want to recycle.
Noosegraf Mob, Novijen Sages: I think the mana costs are too high for what these cards do.
Deathbringer Thoctar: Compare to the above two six-drops, Deathbringer Thoctar I think can function as a really strong board clear and win condition for the deck.
Curse of Stalked Prey: Being limited to one player and requiring combat damage to be dealt I think makes this card very underwhelming. I think Marchesa's ability works similarly to this but I think is far better. I don't want to include a card if the only thing it does is what my commander already does, only worse.
Academy Elite, Drakestown Forgotten: These cards I think are examples of things that come in with counters, but don't really do anything besides have counters. Their activation costs are both too high for what they do.
Ring of Evos Isle, Ring of Valkas, Ring of Xathrid: The rings I think are too slow. Waiting a turn to add a counter to something means it will likely die before you get the counter and save it with Marchesa. If they're adding counters to dudes that already have counters, then you're playing them just for the buffs and they're not very efficient for that, either.
Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch: Cards that pay off for having +1/+1 counters I think are good here. It's a little awkward with Marchesa's ability, but if you have other things that give counters it's great.
Viral Drake: I would avoid proliferate here. You only need one counter for Marchesa to work, you don't need to invest that much mana into getting more.
Vigean Graftmage: While I think the ability is very weak, I like that its cost allows it to graft onto Marchesa if you play it on curve.
Simic Manipulator: Hard for me to evaluate, it depends a lot on how likely it is to evolve. The upside seems pretty high, though, so I think it's worth a try.
Simic Fluxmage: I like the idea but I can't help but think there's a better way to move counters around.
Helium Squirter: An interesting +1/+1 counter payoff card, I'm concerned the mana investment is too high but I could be wrong.
Dragon Blood: Again, I feel like there has to be better ways of getting counters on guys.
Here are some cards I would consider staples that you absolutely must have:
Unspeakable Symbol: The best way to get counters on your dudes, it also helps you manage your life total so dethrone is on.
Flayer of the Hatebound: An incredible win-condition when you're cycling creatures in and out of the 'yard.
Here are some cards I think you should consider:
Toothy, Imaginary Friend/Chasm Skulker: Both give themselves counters, both payoff for having counters.
Herald of Secret Streams/Oona's Blackguard: +1/+1 counter payoff cards.
Carrion Feeder/Flesh Carver: Give themselves counters, sac outlets to recycle your creatures.
Sage of Fables: Similar to Novijen Sages, but at a lower cost. Has its own downsides, of course.
Cytoplast Manipulator: Might be better than Simic Manipulator at what you're trying to do. I'd try them both out.
I would definitely play as hard to the "returning creatures" aspect of Marchesa as you can. It's good as board clear insurance, but there's so much more you can do with it. When it comes to +1/+1 counter themes, you're playing without Green or White, which are the best for if you're going big on counters, or going wide with creatures with counters, respectively. I think you'll get the most mileage out of the deck if your focus is on getting that one counter on creatures that are strong going into or out of the gy, and you can definitely still play with enough cards that utilize those counters for it to feel like a theme of the deck.
Given that we're using cipt lands, Path of Ancestry seems like one of the better ones. Perfect fixing and high upside.
I have no idea how Rith's Grove&co. vs. Transguild Promenade/Rupture Spire is a point of contention. They're both terrible even as far as budget lands are concerned so it seems like people are just looking for an excuse to argue.
I play it in Grenzo, myself.
Six mana is a lot, but she certainly does things. I wouldn't fault anyone for wanting to slot her in.
This feels really weird to say, but the deck feels overloaded on win conditions. Kamahl, Craterhoof, Helix Pinnacle, Tremors/Purph/Warstorm, Beastmaster, Monument, Triumph of the Hordes, the extra combat steps, genesis wave, and comet storm. This may be a case of needing to run the deck a few times to figure out which are the best, but my automatic assumption is that the ETB package, Craterhoof, Monument and Gen Wave would be plenty.
Xenagos (the creature) and Etali both seem a little out of place, and I think you could use a few cuts on the higher CMC side.
The two serve different purposes. Baubles provide a lot of incremental value over time, while Memory Jar is a card I mostly play when I'm going off. If you're playing Memory Jar to simply refill your hand over and over, the resources that your opponents gain are going to outpace your own. That said, I love Memory Jar in my own build, but I mostly only use it when I believe I'm going to win and the cards my opponents draw won't matter.
Forbidden Orchard is a phenomenal addition. It may fall outside of the OP's budget restriction, though.
I think you need to take a moment and chill, my dude. darrenhabib made a lot of great suggestions for your deck, but because he made a few suggestions you didn't like, you insult him and tell him to leave the thread? You had not even considered Hope of Ghirapur, a very obvious inclusion, before he suggested it, so he was definitely able to contribute to your deck.
It seems to me that you are building this deck towards a very specific local meta. I find it odd that you say the deck you are most concerned about is Arcum. Arcum does not hold a relevant meta share online. Your meta is certainly a competitive one, but when you talk about a tournament setting, I think of a very different set of decks being successful, like Breakfast Hulk, Shimmer Zur, or Thrasios/Vial. It's fine if that's not the meta you're building your deck toward, but you should consider the possibility that the reason you don't like the suggestions you're getting is not because they're not relevant to a competitive deck, but simply that they're not relevant to your own specific goals.
How recently have you played in this tournament setting? You mention having played a few years ago, at which time I remember glass-cannon combo being far and away the norm. However, in the online cEDH meta recently, I've been seeing plenty of interaction being played. Sure, blue decks no longer contain Mana Leak but they do contain Force of Will, Delay, Flusterstorm, Swords to Plowshares, and a number of other reactive spells.
I understand that 1-for-1 removal in a multiplayer situation is putting yourself at a disadvantage, however, it is a necessary evil to accept that occasionally, some decks will go off before you and you will need to provide an answer. To believe that your deck will always combo off first is arrogant, and to dismiss the games where someone else goes off before you as lost, I feel, will lose you valuable win%, which matters a lot in a tournament setting. Relying only on other players to answer cards for you is not a competitive mindset.
The most established Paradox Sisay list online plays interactive spells and even its own stax package. Sisay's fastest combo turn is slower than the fastest combo decks in the meta, so evolving your deck into a midrange combo list will net you wins.
Now, if you're not playing against other storm decks constantly in your local meta, the Stax package may not be for you. That's a personal call.
Now, as far as suggestions go, I would absolutely be playing Swords to Plowshares. Path giving out a free land isn't always great, and is extra downside on top of playing 1-for-1 removal, but if you ever do happen to run into Ooze or Hulk decks at least having the possibility to have Swords in hand is worth it.
Rhys the Redeemed is strictly better than Isamaru, Hound of Konda because he is castable for G/W and not just W.
Skyship Weatherlight is outdated. Inventors' Fair is the go-to tutor piece. It costs a land drop, but this is mitigated by playing Azusa, Lost But Seeking (which you should also be playing). As a side note, Azusa would also make Quirion ranger a better inclusion.
Actually, in addition to Quirion Ranger, Thousand-Year Elixir and some other suggestions you have lambasted as being uncompetitive are inclusions in the aforementioned cEDH Paradox Sisay list tuned to be played in optimized metas online.
Sejiri Steppe is a gimmick and a very dead card to have in the hand and should be dropped. Same goes for both the zero-mana buables. They aren't tutorable, and with access now to both Mox Opal and Mox Amber you shouldn't need to clog any of your deck slots with sub-par extenders - you should make enough mana to go infinite quite easily by just tapping Sisay.