Quote from Venomous72So has anyone been experimenting with any variations to this deck at all? Or is stock pretty much the only thing people are running still?
Wondering about things like Karn (yes I know he can't be tutored but a 4 of will be drawn into as you durdle with counters), splash of white for Path, red for Pyroclasm, or anything like that? I hear about people theorizing about these changes but I don't recall seeing people actually trying them and posting results.
I'd do it myself if I had MTGO or the cards in paper.
I've tried UB and UR, tested both for a bit, and played both in local tournaments. I also play 3 Trinket Mages, over Solemn, to get Pithing Needle and Relic (or Map) from the main, and have a few SB cards. The biggest incentive to splashing, for me, was to be able to run Engineered Explosives.
When I ran UB, I experimented with Dismember main and some Creeping Tarpits. The Dismembers were pretty good, but about as good as Repeal a lot of the time. The Tarpits never did anything. The splash rarely cost me much, I just added some Darkslick Shores and the Tarpits to the deck.
When I ran UR, I had fetches to support it. I had Pyroclasm in the side and Eye of Ugin, Emrakul, and 2 Gifts Ungiven in the main. The deck did alright, and truth be told, I lost to get into top 8 due to my own misplays. Pyroclasm wrecked Pod, and Engineered Explosives was okay versus Jund.
So my experience was that splashing can help shore up some match-ups. I think the stock list does well versus control decks, is okay against Jund and Pod, can win vs. Twin, and needs a miracle to win vs. Affinity or fast aggro. Speaking of which, I did also consider the miracle mechanic too, we ramp, scry, and draw cards. If we had a planeswalker that scry'd, I would seriously try it.
In general, I think other people have hit on it. The strength of this deck is that almost every card cantrips or scrys. That's powerful and it's hard to put in other stuff. At this point I think these cards are uncuttable:
4 Remand
2 Condescend
3 Repeal
3 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Mindslaver
2 Treasure Mage
That gives some room for innovation. I like Trinket Mage over Solemn Simulacrum myself, for example, but I don't think that's a big change to the game plan. It just adds some more flexibility for my local metagame, which is more diverse than MTGO.
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Nice work. Ratchet Bomb helped my deck quite a bit against a Selesnya populate deck, and I imagine it would do well against a deck relying on Brave the Elements.
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Pulled my first ever Thoughtseize, and then a Spear of Heliod and a Bow of Nylea. Very satisfied.
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KMC Perfect fits go on the card upside down (so insert the top of the card into the bottom of the Perfect Fit) and then you put that sleeved card into a KMC Matte sleeve like normal.
The KMC Perfect Fits are smaller than the KMC Mattes/Hyper Mattes, and are meant to be the inner sleeve in a double sleeved card.
http://www.amazon.com/KMC-pochettes-Barrier-Perfect-Sleeves/dp/B0007N7PB2
You can also use them with Dragon Shields.
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Also, my Thassa looks pretty.
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That sounds amazing. I want to do this.
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I'm planning on trying this in my mono U Tron deck.
I don't know who he would replace...probably one of the Wurmcoils I guess. Interested to see how it goes.
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That would be wonderful.
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I would for sure bring in 2 Scavenging Ooze. They are just so dang useful. It looks like you are going for Hexproof enchant, which if that is the case I would fully commit to it and see how it works.
Like 4 Ordeal of Nylea.
Splashing another color would really help. White is the most obvious I think. Fleecemane Lion is not super pricey right now, so picking up 4 wouldn't be too detrimental on the wallet. He is very easy to make monstrous as well. If you can afford a couple Temple Gardens those will help a lot, but Selesnya Guildgates should be fine too.
If you want to splash black, Reaper of the Wilds is, in my opinion, undervalued right now and I think she is going to be awesome when people start utilizing her. She can easily gain deathtouch or hexproof at instant speed, and she is tough enough to survive lightning strikes, and on top of that she is immune to doom blade and ultimate price.