I actually mulligan as often with this deck as I would with most others, but it's partly because I'll throw back a "meh" hand knowing that this deck can go down to 6, 5, even 4 cards and I still don't feel like I'm too far behind. As long as they're good cards of course.
I don't know if this is exactly related, but I don't remember the last time I played a Limited format where I've had so many games where I feel like I don't even get to play.
I haven't kept an actual count, but I'm pretty sure I've had to mulligan in a full half of the games I've played. I've mulliganed to 4 or 5 cards as many times in this format as I have in many other formats a month or so in. Maybe I've just had an awful string of bad luck in my draws the past couple weeks, but I feel like every other game is a total blowout where one player just never has any chance.
I'm not saying I can't win, I've pulled out enough games. But even many of the games I won felt like the other player was just going through the motions trying to stay in the game when they had no chance to get back in. It just seems like if you get off to an aggressive start or put the opponent behind early, there aren't many tools to get back into the game/come from behind.
I see your point about the bullets being dead in the wrong matchups, but I feel like they're strong enough when they're live, and our other cards are powerful enough that it's usually worth it. It's the same reason this deck mulligans so well - our individual threats/bullets are so powerful that we can afford to be down a card or two. Having those bullets available to Transmute into can make all the difference between winning or losing game 1 in a lot of the unfair matchups (I think they're pretty much all covered by at least one of my MD bullets), which often means winning/losing the match against those decks.
That said, I have noticed that I seem to be a little bit pre-boarded against the unfair matches, while having a somewhat rougher game against fair decks. Going forward, I think I'm going to cut 3 Force of Will and maybe 1 Grafdigger's Cage from the maindeck (likely moving the Cage to the board), and 1 Force of Will and 1 Misdirection (possibly 1 Abyss because it's kind of slow and I can't tutor it) from the board to start with. I would like something in the main deck to improve my matchup against the fair/creature decks. I've been looking at Ratchet Bomb, Lodestone Golem, maybe Staff of Nin, and I'm actually considering Splashing for Daretti, Scrap Savant. By the way, I don't think I mentioned that the Volcanic Island in the maindeck is there just to get Engineered Explosives up to 3. But since it's there, I've considered splashing for either Dack Fayden or Daretti. I feel like I do a pretty good job of stabilizing against most decks, but often just a little bit too late, and they just have to sneak one little thing through to finish me off. I'm not sure what exactly I'm missing to shore up those matchups, but I think something that gives a boost against those decks is just what I need.
Here's the list I'm at after some goldfishing, but no real testing against other decks yet. The mana works pretty well so far, but the Tomb may have to go. There are lots of white cards I would like for the sideboard, so I might need more white sources, maybe even a Plains and some Windswept Heaths.
What's the plan to deal with Gaea's Revenge? I guess hope there's only one creature and use Foul Tongue?
What about splashing green? Sultai Charm or Abzan Charm could both kill it, and both have a card draw mode. Sultai Charm also gives you maindeck artifact/enchantment removal.
Sorry that I don't have anything to add to the actual deck right now (though I am brewing), but I would just like to motion that this deck/color set be called Jesper.
I'll get this out of the way first, this is completely untested so far. It's my first draft, but I think there's something here. All five colors probably isn't right, but I want to try as much as I can to try and figure out which things to play.
[Manabase to be worked out. 25 land, might need to fit one more.]
Morph things are colorless too you guys! Herald lets you play them for 2!
The sideboard has basically all the best things to choose from. It's clearly Jund-based, splashing the other colors, but the things they offer are great. White's best contributions will be in the sideboard, particularly Mastery of the Unseen, but the board will have to wait until I test the main deck. Most of the Charms would fit in here, since most of them have removal as a mode, but having the entire card pool as an option makes it hard to find space.
I don't really have much else to say, since I haven't been able to do any testing yet, but I just wanted to see if anyone has suggestions before I take it for a run somewhere.
Edit: This MD is what I have in mind, with Teegs and Chokes in the sideboard: [cut]
I think I would try to fit a couple Qasali Pridemage in there. Minus one Revoker and one something.
Also I think I might switch the numbers on the fetches and go -1 Savannah +1 Forest.
All the silver bullets are my favorite part of the deck. They all work really well against at least one of the combo or really quick aggro decks, with plenty of overlap. All of them did something relevant today, and I don't think any of them were ever dead when I drew them.
Unfortunately, I neither ran well nor played well today, but it was still fun to be the only one playing Magic when it worked. I started out 0-3 against three Esper decks (Mentors, Mentors, and Stoneblade). I punted game three of round two, but otherwise I mostly just drew blanks at the wrong time. I got beat by the guy who told me I should try playing Null Rod instead of Cursed Totem. It was that kind of day.
Leylines are one thing I thought about, but it was kind of a last minute decision to play this deck again and I don't have any. The Helm is mainly for people who bring in Rest in Peace against me, because that was a pretty big card last time I was on Tezzeret. I also brought in twice today against MUD just for random value and because I had so many things to board out. It never came up, but I got enough mana that I if I found it I could have hit some big stuff.
I think I probably don't want the Forces main deck. I still want some kind of disruption in that spot, but I'm not sure what.
Yeah, I've actually been looking into something like this myself in the last few days, and now that I'm trying to work out an actual list I'm not sure the Protector/Raptor package actually fits here anyway. It's great for a value strategy like Abzan, but this deck doesn't seem to gain as much out of returning things from the yard. I do still like including Morph guys in the colorless discussion, but shoving those into this list doesn't appear to give as much as my first impression suggested.
Still, I'm hoping to get some actual testing in with some version of this deck, whether it's Grixis or Temur or Jund or even 4c.
ah, Idk looks like legacy players get price baited like crazy, Lady sun is %200 price increase
That doesn't mean anyone is actually paying that much for it. Some combination of speculator buyouts and dealers trying to create hype can make it look like things have spiked, but there are no real people that intend to buy the card for that price.
Based on my understanding of the deck, 4 Thalia and 4 Wasteland (and 4 MoM) is the essential core of Death and Taxes. If you're considering cutting that stuff, you're probably playing a somewhat different deck.
The main deck is pretty much locked in (tournament starts in 7 hours, not much time to make changes).
The posted sideboard is 13 cards. The last two are either 1 Damnation and 1 Toxic Deluge, or 2 Liliana of the Veil. I probably won't decide on that until last minute.
I guess I don't really have time to say anything about the deck besides posting the list, so there it is.
Is it good enough to bring in against decks running snapcaster mage? I supose it stops Elves from using natural order and green sun's zenith, but a lot of Elves decks run bayou for abrupt decay right?
I wouldn't consider bringing it in just to disrupt Snapcaster Mage. That's only turning off half of one card in their deck.
Against other decks that are very dependent on their graveyard or tutoring things from their library it's definitely worth it. Even if they can destroy it, you still buy the time it takes them to find their answer, and destroying the Cage often takes up their whole turn once they do find it. You can't ask for much more from a 1-drop.
You mean it's as fast as ANT? ANT wins by turn 3 with protection. When lantern establishes the lock it also has generally won. So your statement means the opposite of what you wanted to say.
No, not even close. ANT wins by turn 3. This waits until turn three to hopefully have a lock in place. Then it takes forever to actually win a game, leaving the opponent a whole lot of time to pull out some kind of answer. Also, answers are far more easy to come by in Legacy than in Modern.
I would bet large amounts of cash-money that Stasis becomes a real Legacy deck before Lantern does.
I haven't kept an actual count, but I'm pretty sure I've had to mulligan in a full half of the games I've played. I've mulliganed to 4 or 5 cards as many times in this format as I have in many other formats a month or so in. Maybe I've just had an awful string of bad luck in my draws the past couple weeks, but I feel like every other game is a total blowout where one player just never has any chance.
I'm not saying I can't win, I've pulled out enough games. But even many of the games I won felt like the other player was just going through the motions trying to stay in the game when they had no chance to get back in. It just seems like if you get off to an aggressive start or put the opponent behind early, there aren't many tools to get back into the game/come from behind.
That said, I have noticed that I seem to be a little bit pre-boarded against the unfair matches, while having a somewhat rougher game against fair decks. Going forward, I think I'm going to cut 3 Force of Will and maybe 1 Grafdigger's Cage from the maindeck (likely moving the Cage to the board), and 1 Force of Will and 1 Misdirection (possibly 1 Abyss because it's kind of slow and I can't tutor it) from the board to start with. I would like something in the main deck to improve my matchup against the fair/creature decks. I've been looking at Ratchet Bomb, Lodestone Golem, maybe Staff of Nin, and I'm actually considering Splashing for Daretti, Scrap Savant. By the way, I don't think I mentioned that the Volcanic Island in the maindeck is there just to get Engineered Explosives up to 3. But since it's there, I've considered splashing for either Dack Fayden or Daretti. I feel like I do a pretty good job of stabilizing against most decks, but often just a little bit too late, and they just have to sneak one little thing through to finish me off. I'm not sure what exactly I'm missing to shore up those matchups, but I think something that gives a boost against those decks is just what I need.
4 Rattleclaw Mystic
4 Den Protector
2 Hidden Dragonslayer
1 Stratus Dancer
4 Deathmist Raptor
4 Vile Aggregate
4 Herald of Kozilek
2 Wild Slash
2 Kolaghan's Command
2 Abzan Charm
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta
2 Cinder Glade
2 Smoldering Marsh
1 Sunken Hollow
2 Prairie Stream
2 Canopy Vista
2 Mountain
1 Swamp
1 Forest
1 Tomb of the Spirit Dragon
I still haven't made a sideboard yet, but here are some things I'm thinking about:
4 Rattleclaw Mystic
4 Den Protector
4 Deathmist Raptor
4 Vile Aggregate
4 Herald of Kozilek
2 Hidden Dragonslayer
1 Stratus Dancer
2 Kolaghan's Command
2 Wild Slash
2 Ruinous Path
[Manabase to be worked out. 25 land, might need to fit one more.]
Morph things are colorless too you guys! Herald lets you play them for 2!
The sideboard has basically all the best things to choose from. It's clearly Jund-based, splashing the other colors, but the things they offer are great. White's best contributions will be in the sideboard, particularly Mastery of the Unseen, but the board will have to wait until I test the main deck. Most of the Charms would fit in here, since most of them have removal as a mode, but having the entire card pool as an option makes it hard to find space.
I don't really have much else to say, since I haven't been able to do any testing yet, but I just wanted to see if anyone has suggestions before I take it for a run somewhere.
I think I would try to fit a couple Qasali Pridemage in there. Minus one Revoker and one something.
Also I think I might switch the numbers on the fetches and go -1 Savannah +1 Forest.
Unfortunately, I neither ran well nor played well today, but it was still fun to be the only one playing Magic when it worked. I started out 0-3 against three Esper decks (Mentors, Mentors, and Stoneblade). I punted game three of round two, but otherwise I mostly just drew blanks at the wrong time. I got beat by the guy who told me I should try playing Null Rod instead of Cursed Totem. It was that kind of day.
Leylines are one thing I thought about, but it was kind of a last minute decision to play this deck again and I don't have any. The Helm is mainly for people who bring in Rest in Peace against me, because that was a pretty big card last time I was on Tezzeret. I also brought in twice today against MUD just for random value and because I had so many things to board out. It never came up, but I got enough mana that I if I found it I could have hit some big stuff.
I think I probably don't want the Forces main deck. I still want some kind of disruption in that spot, but I'm not sure what.
Still, I'm hoping to get some actual testing in with some version of this deck, whether it's Grixis or Temur or Jund or even 4c.
That doesn't mean anyone is actually paying that much for it. Some combination of speculator buyouts and dealers trying to create hype can make it look like things have spiked, but there are no real people that intend to buy the card for that price.
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
3 Force of Will
3 Transmute Artifact
1 Thirst for Knowledge
3 Talisman of Dominance
3 Dimir Signet
4 Chalice of the Void
2 Thopter Foundry
1 Sword of the Meek
1 Trinisphere
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Pithing Needle
4 Baleful Strix
2 Wurmcoil Engine
3 Underground Sea
1 Volcanic Island
1 Island
1 Swamp
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Vault of the Whispers
1 Darkslick Shores
1 Academy Ruins
3 City of Traitors
4 Ancient Tomb
2 Flusterstorm
1 Force of Will
1 Misdirection
2 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Engineered Plague
1 Curse of Death's Hold
1 Cursed Totem
1 Helm of Obedience
1 The Abyss
1 Chains of Mephistopheles
1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
The main deck is pretty much locked in (tournament starts in 7 hours, not much time to make changes).
The posted sideboard is 13 cards. The last two are either 1 Damnation and 1 Toxic Deluge, or 2 Liliana of the Veil. I probably won't decide on that until last minute.
I guess I don't really have time to say anything about the deck besides posting the list, so there it is.
Against other decks that are very dependent on their graveyard or tutoring things from their library it's definitely worth it. Even if they can destroy it, you still buy the time it takes them to find their answer, and destroying the Cage often takes up their whole turn once they do find it. You can't ask for much more from a 1-drop.
I would bet large amounts of cash-money that Stasis becomes a real Legacy deck before Lantern does.