So i decided i will start building swans because i really liked it in testing. I have no trouble with cards being expensive, competetive cards always are :P. I can trade for almost everything i need so no big deal :). I was looking at 5cc a bit and it seems like an odd kind of deck. How does it control the flow of the game?
thanks for all the input guys. Yea swans looks like a lot of fun, so im testing it a bit on workstation. Tri color tap lands? you mean like the ones that are out currently that come into play tapped or something different?
ok thanks for all the advice guys. My friends and a few of the people on these forums seem to be saying that right now is a transitional period so i should try to trade for things that won't decrease in value with the cycling of the previous set. It seems as though planeswalkers will retain value well along with a few other things ive seen. Anyways im still going to build something to pilot anyways, and bant seems pretty fun. Suggestions?
and yes i was looking at the 5cc control deck and it looked interesting, but im generally used to playing more traditional draw go style control, does standard have any traditional control? and also, would you say the current meta is very fast or very slow?
Hi im an experienced magic player returning to the game i love. I havent played since the introduction of time spiral so i need some information to help get me up to speed. Ive looked through the forums but it seems like it may be a little outdated in terms of the current metagame. Im not too concerned with price, i have enough cards to trade up to anything i need. Could someone point out some of the better decks in the format currently or give me an idea about the meta. Also i prefer to play control or combo, but i can/will play anything. Thanks for your time guys, i look forward to hearing from you
again in my meta pickles is played and early castigate can help a little here. really i run 3x swamp and 2x islands and i board in shapeshifter but its not generally bery helpful. if you arent running sunlance you may want to consider as it hits sulfurs and morphed creatures. it is the only true bad matchup for this deck besides discard
castigate is not quite discard, you are getting anything u want out of their hand ( besides lands :P). As for persecute, getting turn three persecute off a heart is amazing against anything running mono color. In snow the howling mines are horrible as they allow your opponent the ability to find multiple threats for martyr whereas this deck only plays one real threat per turn, and uses all the mana to tap out or close to it for martyr later.
i don't know how solid running sacred mesa is on account of sulfur elementals running around, unless you are sure none are in your meta. I still dont think this deck needs 16 counterspells, and your draw spells just dont dig like compulsive research and careful consideration. I don't think that scrying card is as good in this deck if it is the one im thinking of :P. ( is it the buyback one or the scry1 then 2 then 3?
I'm assuming if you aren't running red you are either running MGA, scryb and force, or something with black in it. It would be kinda helpful if you actually said what you were playing...
For the green based decks the easiest answer is graveyard hate, and was actually played a bit when TS came around. Tormod's crypt/gaea's blessing is possible in SB I guess, but your easiest way to win is kill your opponent fast. MGA with a black splash is also possible with SB'd discard. Still not easy to reliably win though.
In a black based deck you have access to both discard and on color grave hate. Persecute naming white isn't a bad play;) You also have extirpate and other cards like that to keep your opponent from drawing into the engine again.
Thank you guys for naming out all of the problems with the deck, It makes my argument for black splash and castigate even better !!! Anyway, this is, imho the best deck in the format if played correctly, and the black splash makes it even stronger. getting the all important card out of their hand helps you alot. i realize the mwc version is very very good, but i just like the black better to rid of sulfur elementals, opposing discard, extirpate, or anything good we may just want out, and it's rfg so we dont get hit by recursion
well if you are running red, your best bet would be to play some sudden shock to stop martyr's abilities to gain life. other than that i don't see a way to get through very easily, you probably will lose.
scrying sheets requires 3 lands before it is activated, and usually i do othe things instead, like martyr and sac, coldsteel heart, *** or anything else. i mean i still run it to draw in my deck to, its amazing but, splashing one color isn't going to hurt and it helps alot versus anything running discard and extirpate. actually against most aggro decks people play here a quick *** is better because all of the creatures are > or = 2 CMC and they burn out FTW. I do agree however that lands are much better late game than the hearts, but maybe my meta is different with every other deck playing persecute and extirpate. I also agree on the ideas about story circle, but i still havent decided on sunscour. usually i have life gain to sustain myself so i cant decide.
i beg to differ on the subject of a splash, i have never run into problems finding black for extipate with 4 swamps and 4 coldsteel hearts. Getting a persecute out of other decks early game is crucial post sideboard so i keep mine in. Also, i tested the 26 lands, but with no card draw it seemed like way to much, nobody in my meta plays with land D so i just think the 23-24 lands and hearts are better as they are 1) any color i may need, 2) snow for that all important scrying sheet 3) mana accelerant for that turn 3 *** that ive heard is quite good
Well, I guess the first thing people ***** about is serra avenger. As I've found it, she's twice as good as akroma. She's half as big but costs 1/4th as much, and I've found that tapping the **** out is a bad thing to do with this deck. With akroma, you pay for things (first strike, trample, etc.) that you don't even need. Serra avenger allows me to start pushing damage across, yet still have most of my lands open for counter magic. On average, the deck wins 9 out of 10 times for me, so it's a build I'd suggest you try. Granted you may see flaws in it but, hey, it's probably better than what you're playing.
Why are you playing sixteen counterspells, and only 4 hardcounters that each cost 4 mana. you said yourself that you typically get only 2-3 mana in your opening hands. i run a less counter heavy version that runs 4 condemn, 4 fetters, 4 wrath, 3 azorius guildmages, and 4 court hussar. I dont get why nobody is running that little mage, she is very very good. Also, why repeal over condemn number 4 and fetters #4? this deck looks more like all you want to do is bounce and counter, but no deck has infinite counters, and eventually they will resolve a big threat. creature swarm and storm of any kind looks to be very bAd for you. Serra avenger looks decent but is very easily killed, while akroma isn't. Seems odd to play so counter heavy and only play them as your win cons. I cannot say how the deck plays because i havent made it, but it looks to be very unstable. Also your draw spells are instant but dont look very powerful, perhaps try compulsive research with akroma and ressurection.
One last thing, has anyone tried the new confiscate in this deck, taking your opponents teferi looks very good, and can negate the need to play your own.
and yes i was looking at the 5cc control deck and it looked interesting, but im generally used to playing more traditional draw go style control, does standard have any traditional control? and also, would you say the current meta is very fast or very slow?
4x wall of shards
4x condemn
4x wrath of god
4x proclamation of rebirth
4x coldsteel heart
2x millstone
2x muse vessel
2x pull from eternity
2x faith's fetters
28 other spells
3x mouth of ronom
12x snow-covered plains
5x snow-covered swamp
i don't know how solid running sacred mesa is on account of sulfur elementals running around, unless you are sure none are in your meta. I still dont think this deck needs 16 counterspells, and your draw spells just dont dig like compulsive research and careful consideration. I don't think that scrying card is as good in this deck if it is the one im thinking of :P. ( is it the buyback one or the scry1 then 2 then 3?
Thank you guys for naming out all of the problems with the deck, It makes my argument for black splash and castigate even better
Why are you playing sixteen counterspells, and only 4 hardcounters that each cost 4 mana. you said yourself that you typically get only 2-3 mana in your opening hands. i run a less counter heavy version that runs 4 condemn, 4 fetters, 4 wrath, 3 azorius guildmages, and 4 court hussar. I dont get why nobody is running that little mage, she is very very good. Also, why repeal over condemn number 4 and fetters #4? this deck looks more like all you want to do is bounce and counter, but no deck has infinite counters, and eventually they will resolve a big threat. creature swarm and storm of any kind looks to be very bAd for you. Serra avenger looks decent but is very easily killed, while akroma isn't. Seems odd to play so counter heavy and only play them as your win cons. I cannot say how the deck plays because i havent made it, but it looks to be very unstable. Also your draw spells are instant but dont look very powerful, perhaps try compulsive research with akroma and ressurection.
One last thing, has anyone tried the new confiscate in this deck, taking your opponents teferi looks very good, and can negate the need to play your own.