MTG Salvation

Yup, that was the gameplan for my previous build. Games just ended up dragging on and on until I could finally push through with Finks, or we simply went to time and drew. Now I can choose whether I want to apply pressure fast or grind it out depending on the matchup, feels far more comfortable to me than being stuck with the long game by default.

Christ the control mirror is a ***** though.

Yeah, Serum Visions does the job nicely. Being able to control my next draw helps a lot in a more tempo-oriented build.

I would cut Walls before I cut Finks. Detention Sphere is usually underwhelming, I definitely wouldn't run two (if any). Spreading Seas might do more work there. Maindeck Dispel could be a Negate perhaps. Sun Titan has nice synergy with a lot of these cards but I don't know if you also need the Sphinx alongside it. At least Titan has an ETB effect whereas Sphinx will probably just eat removal before it nets you any serious advantage.

Baneslayer in the side doesn't seem very relevant to me, especially not to the point where you'd need two of them. I'd sooner run Engineered Explosives against Infect / Spirits and Disdainful Stroke or Flashfreeze against Twin / Amulet.

Yeah, Bogles is painfully annoying. There's just not much to do against hexproof + totem armor. While I'm glad to see you got lucky against Amulet, I think it's mostly just that - saying the matchup is 'insanely' in our favor is a hell of a stretch I'm afraid. If you don't have Spell Snare on hand to stop their Summer Bloom, you're dead. If you don't have Negate for their Hive Mind, you're dead. I'm not saying it's impossible but luck is a major factor.

Went 2-1 at an 8-player tournament yesterday, beating Affinity and a Tribal Green Ramp deck, only losing to an Ojutai in the 5th round after time in the control mirror. I've recently switched to a more midrange-oriented build and am liking it a lot so far as it gets rid of that goddamn Mana Leak and tends to close games out much faster with Geist & old Elspeth. If you do end up having to grind, it holds its own just as well (the UW mirror ran Ojutai, Sphinx's Rev, Wall of Omens... about as grindy as it gets and I only lost by an inch).

I'm looking to cram another Shadow of Doubt in the mainboard but it's hard to find space for it. Elspeth is amazing, might try and go up to two. Flashfreeze needs to come back into the sideboard, might take out Timely Reinforcements as our Burn matchup is quite alright anyway and I wanna be able to stop Primeval Titan / Scapeshift / Blood Moon every single time they hit the stack.

Looks very close to my list, although i would definitely advocate for 3 or 4 Kitchen Finks, considering the amount of times they keep you alive long enough to stabilize and win the game.

Let us know how the Remands work out - I don't like them in place of hard counters but it seems you have plenty of those. Maybe consider a third Mana Leak or singleton Logic Knot in place of the 4th Spell Snare?

Detention Sphere is so-so, I'm not a huge fan and run Spreading Seas in its place - the more card draw we can get, the better. Maindeck Spellskite can work really well too, perhaps instead of the Aven Mindcensor.

I love Calciform Pools but have recently replaced them with a second Glacial Fortress for consistency's sake as I've found 5 colorless lands to be a bit much when I'm trying to get that turn 2 Shadow of Doubt in.

Quote from Khalim123 »

What are the good and bad match ups for this deck? Especially as compared to UWR control, Esper control and UW emeria control? (Since there's no primer, I would have to guess.)

The usual suspects are bad - Tron, Amulet... Twin isn't great. Bogles is a pain in the ass. Hatebears can be pretty tough as we need a lot of mana and they can be very restrictive in that respect.

Decks that eventually run out of gas are quite alright for us: Burn, Affinity, Merfolk, Zoo, the aggro stuff in general. Jund's alright.

I feel like most of our matchups improve immensely post-board in general.

Well i sure wish i hadn't taken that RIP out of sideboard before getting my ass handed to me by Living End. Supreme Verdict is definitely not enough to deal with them. Verdict + RIP however would have been nuts.

Living End / Abzan / Jund / Gifts / Storm / Grixis Delver / Grixis Control though?

Relic or RIP?

what, because of the singleton Sphinx's Revelation? why not call it Enlightenment Control? Wall Control?

Shadow of Doubt is amazing when it hits but I often find it surprisingly hard to have UU ready on turn 2.

I currently run 25 lands, including 3 fetches, 4 Ghost Quarters and a Calciform Pools. Lately I've been wondering whether I should cut the Pools for another fetch or Glacial Fortress / Prairie Stream. Pools is great late-game for that huge Sphinx or double Colonnade beatdown but I haven't found myself really ever needing it.

The Ghost Quarters have to stay in, even if they turn into a Tec Edge split. Considering a Crucible of Worlds in the side, even.

Opinions / advice?

Seeing as we're stuck with the lesser of two evils, which one should it be? Anticipate or Telling Time?

Crystal clear. Many thanks again for the insight, they're all valid points and I'll take them on board for the next iteration of my deck.

GQ has been a life-saver for me in fringe situations where Tec Edge wouldn't have been though, I will say. At one point I was tapped out against Burn with only a GQ open and they cast an Eidolon which surely would have spelled doom for me. I quartered my own Colonnade, fetched a basic Island, Spell Snared the Eidolon and proceeded to ride the game out comfortably. Rare case, but I think being able to hit our own lands shouldn't be entirely overlooked when considering whether to run GQ or Edge.

edit: I see that you just posted about this exact scenario when you said it saves us from a Blood Moon, occasionally.

Quote from Keezy23 »

Quote from whocansay »

Damn, that's a lot more than I expected. Purely as a fast clock I take it? How has he been performing against those decks, and do you feel 1 is enough if you're trying to put pressure on the opponent? Chances of having him in hand by turn 3 seem slim to me. Thanks for the input!

Yeah he's a good clock that punishes certain matchups for being aggressive with their mana, geist also works as a removal spell against burn sometimes.

Not sure I follow this part - you mean as a chump blocker?

edit: Also quite curious about the 3 Tec / 1 GQ split... GQ seems so much better against Bloom. Meta call?

Damn, that's a lot more than I expected. Purely as a fast clock I take it? How has he been performing against those decks, and do you feel 1 is enough if you're trying to put pressure on the opponent? Chances of having him in hand by turn 3 seem slim to me. Thanks for the input!