Ok I may look into Imp's Mischief then. I like Sorin Markov because he can remove utility creatures with his plus on the way to the mind slave. He seems to do pretty well for himself when I run into him. The main reason I am running Solemn Visitor is gaining 8 life with general is a nice swing and because of the constant board clears, if you can play him when they do not have anything to hit him with, its not too hard to keep him alive for another turn unless they have a haster (or something with flash). The emblem will cripple opponents who aren't spewing tons of tokens or free creatures (i think of Grenzo and Yisan when I think of creatures like that, so maybe they arent free but they can pump out dudes just as fast as the emblem takes them away, Genzo sometimes faster). His synergy with Bitterblossum and Assemble the Legion is just a bonus.
Agree that Moonlight is nice although so far there are games where I am being rushed down and spending 5 mana and 10 life just isnt feasibly responsible. I could get the one answer I need but usually it means I still have to wait until the following turn. I'd rather be forced to use my card draw spells on turns 2-4 and be able to smash the board on turns 4-6. Running a few games with just the 3 sign in blood stuff and I seem to not be needing a topdeck all that frequently. I do like Coercive Portal and run it in other decks. Might include just so I can get that effect more often in this but we will see when I need it.
I don't mind losing my artifacts as much. I mainly like Jokulhaupsing the board so I focus on enchantments, plainswalkers and zurgo which will stay alive and can close the game out from there.
There may be a misconception that this really isn't designed as Voltron. It is more supposed to be control (think Ruhan of the Fomori but in Dega\Mardu). Some rocks are nice to yes ramp because if you can get him out before they have answers great but I'd rather control the board and their hand so that they are reduced to top decking for answers on a limited clock or destroying all mana sources so that even if they do happen to have the answer in hand, they don't have the resources to use it.
Quick Changelog post. Made changes to initial deck in post.
+ Chromatic Lantern
+ Skullclamp
+ Aurelia, the Warleader
+ Price of Glory
+ Wear//Tear
+ Ajani, Caller of the Pride
- Coldsteel Heart
- Nevinyrral's Disk
- Disenchant
- Skeletal Scrying
- Thoughts of Ruin
- Despise
Additionally just had some interesting matches against another Anafenza deck(2-1). Board clears for days. Deck is running a lot smoother now (maybe it just needed a few virtual shuffles). Ajani, Caller of the Pride came to immediate use and won me game 3. I had 3 other board clears and probably had the game anyway but being able to end it that turn rather than wait and pray against a topdeck was definitely the way to go.
@Lexandur Thank you for all the suggestions. I did throw this together within 2 days between the last sealed I did Sunday night and my LGS Duel Commander Group on Wednesday. Ok to go through your list:
Wear//Tear -> Disenchant: Totally agree, in fact it was sitting in my maybe pile of things I found throughout the week.
Diabolic Edict/Terminate -> Utter End: I kind of like that Utter End both exiles as well as hits anything on the field (save lands). Was considering something like Dreadbore in this spot but you listed that later so I will get there.
Chromatic Lantern -> Mind Rot: Mind Rot was thrown in after my Wednesday night session where all my discard vanished on me for most of the night and I did a slight tweak. Totally 100% agree Chromatic Lantern is the right call here.
Dreadbore -> Desise: Despise was in the same line of thinking as Mind Rot and other then the fact I'd rather get rid of a planes walker before it hits the board and can be used, I agree the dreadbore is still a better option overall.
Coalition Relic -> Mardu Charm: Mardu Charm I like because of it's versitility. Also it is instant speed duress. I am testing to see if I like it or not. Coalition Relic is still a good call though and I may try and find a slot. One of those good cards I dont have but would not mind tracking one down.
Price of Glory -> Crackling Doom: I kept crackling doom in here over Diabolic Edict because it gets rid of their biggest creature as well, in case they have swarmed the board with dudes. Price of Glory is the perfect anti-control card I wanted and need. Totally forgot about it and another add when I can track one down.
Sun Titan -> Rakdos Charm: I don't really like the charm and Sun Titan was always on the edge for me. What kept bringing me back is the possibility of him being out after an Armageddon goes off so I can get my lands back. Also I am considering adding Ajani, Caller of the pride (flying and doublestrike seems good) as well as Liliana of the Veil and since they would be Titan targets, he might be worth keeping around? Still not sold on him but as an alternate win-con should I get him out and destroy all lands.
Skullclamp -> Nevinyrral's Disk: I totally agree clamps and bitterblossum are rediculous. I have a judge promo bitterblossum too but it likes to play hide and seek with me and have yet to see it :-/. I grabbed Nevinyrral's Disk for more board clear but after all the games I have played it definately isn't required so I will probably make the list. The Clamps also works with Assemble the Legion.
Chaos Warp -> Sorin, Solemn Visitor: Without general tucking in French I find these tucks less viable. Sorin is in the deck because it turns the 1/1 Fairy or Soldier tokens into 2/1 lifelinkers which seems to help with the Emo Draw that black tends to bring. Not to mention if you can get him to live for two turns his emblem can effectively shut opponents down. I really like that emblem and Sorin usually must be answered giving you time to do other things (gaining 8 off each commander swing is a bonus too)
Darksteel Ingot -> Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker: Ingot is another good mana rock on the consider list. I disagree on Sarkhan though. I have found him extremely useful as a planeswalker killer. Also he is another win-con with Obliterate because he survives as both a planeswalker and creature. His Flamtounge Kavu minus isn't shabby either. Don't care for his ult but that isn't why he is around.
Catastrophe -> Sorin Markov: Never knew about Catastrophe and really like it. In this deck I rarely use his initial minus. The plus for shocks and lifegain mixed with his ult winning games is why he is here. I can see cutting him still though. Mindslaving someone against this deck pretty much spells the end because of how quickly they can be killed with general damage.
Aurelia, the warleader -> Thoughts of ruin: While Aurelia is interesting and I'd consider a slot for her (or gisela blade of goldnight) for sure, I have had good success with thoughts of ruin. I agree its terrible to top deck with no hand, I seem to have it early game when I am holding onto a grip of answers. Dropping turn 4 commander and then clearing away all or most lands on turn 5 has rapped up the game for me so far. It might get removed for Catastrophe which (with mana rocks) will be consistent and better. If I was in magical moneyland I'd be running Ravages of War but that place rejected my visa.
Ajani, Caller of the pride -> Perish the thought: Like other discard options I threw it in to add more revealing of their hand I have mentioned this Ajani before. Still searching for one but totally want to add it once I get it.
Imp's Mischief: I saw that while researching cards and like it although spells cant target themselves so I don't think it can really stop counterspells because unless there is another spell on the stack for it to counter, there are no other viable targets. I think its too situational personnally and would end up as a semi-dead card in hand while you wait for anything to use it on.
Mardu Bannder -> Coldsteel Heart: I realized last night that Coldsteel makes you choose a color last night and immediately replaced it with the banner already. May end up doing Darksteel Ingot because it is also indestructible.
Again thank you for all the suggestions. Lots of good ones and we are definately in the same line of thinking. I am also wondering about Vandalblast. 1 drop artifact removal or 5 drop sweep of all opposing artifacts seems relavant. Decks that ramp with lots of rocks I could hold onto it or use it as spot removal if needed. Unlike my other sweeps it only affects opponents. Who knows if I will find a spot or like it at all in the long run... Just a thought.
@KriggY I didn't see any other Zurgo decks posted but I will look again. I have been considering adding more lands but my brain wonders if adding 2 more lands in total will really fix the problem. Seems like such a small tweek and would require me to cut 2 other items. I will do some tweaking and add some lands. If I add any, I am think 3 more (one of each basic).
Hello everyone! Long time reader, first time poster here but I figured I would come share a deck I have built and will be testing in my LGS french group. This deck is designed to be a hardcore control deck with many board sweeps, spot removal and hand disruption. Something to bear in mind while reading, this is intended to be a real life deck and I am not made of money. Some cards (i.e original duals, Bob, etc.) I don't want to spend the money on however this isn't meant to be budget so things like (Liliana of the Veil) I am planning on getting eventually because I feel it is worth the cash if/when I can afford it.
The main win cons commander damage or get something like Assemble the Legion out and then destroying the rest of the board. The massive amounts of board clears enable repeated commander hits to face if they do not answer him on their turn (or exile in response), his haste also enables you to wait for an opening and getting in for 7 damage when you can. A couple double enablers help with this but most have other uses (i.e. Boros Charm before Armageddon wins games pretty good).
So here are my first few matchups. I am still trying to work out the tweeks in the deck and figure out exactly what I should fetch when but here is how I did so far:
While Anafenza starts off fairly fast, she also dumps all her things onto board making her very suceptible to the many wrath effects we run. I seemed to be able to clear her off the board frequently to the point she is top decking and Anafenza costs too much to play leaving her with no blockers as Zurgo does the work.
This Grimgrin deck did not seem very optimized and seemed a bit slow. Zurgo's ability to hit board early when the way is clear (after clearing counters with disruption) and then wrath the board to get through proved effective both games.
Narset is a strange matchup. The best strategy seemed to be to MLD earlier than normal (even with nothing in play yourself). Cutting off her initial mana source usually has her struggle to recover and cast her as she'd like. If you can't disrupt her mana source, get rid of haste outlets pronto. Her hexproof leaves her immune to most of our instant speed removal (save for rout which I've had going in and out of the deck). 1 swing is all it takes sometimes for her to wrap up the game.
Child of Alara(Reanimator)2-2
This was a rough matchup that I didn't like. Deck consisted of Dig and pitch spells, dredge and self mills (hedron crab mostly) and then reanimations to pop lands. Not much I can do on a turn 1 counter of thoughtseize, turn 2 tutor, turn 3 flash (ashen rider exiling 2 of my lands) turn 4 dance of the dead exiling another. I am not concerned too much as this seems like a deck I'd never see IRL or at my LGS. Consisted of all original duals and such money cards that the $$ amount would be better spent into a proven better deck and I don't think anyone I know will drop that kind of money on this kind of deck. Blood Moon was a house as you'd expect and there was a game where he dredged for a while but couldn't hit any value creatures before dying to Zurgo.
This was a quick combo deck which wasnt hurt by wrath effects to the desired effect. This matchup engaged a good discussion with other posters below about lowering the curve of the deck as well as some good suggestions to help optimize. I'd like to test this matchup again. This goes back to gy manipulation being a bit of a hassle sometimes. I could add more removal of gy's but that still leaves me uncertain. I may be forced to run a Merciless Eviction or the like to exile undesirable boards but I do not like using a wrath that Zurgo cannot survive if he is on board.
I was excited to see how my deck would run against a known performer in french. My discard got there early and stuck him at 7 open mana and no cards in hand. I was a red mana short of Jokulhaups which would have sealed it but it didnt matter. While I was swinging in for win game 1 the user kicked me from the game. So that was a thing that happened.
Had no problem with this matchup. Deck seemed to have the wraths to clear the board and the evasiveness for the commander (got rogues passage both games) to really not care about blockers. Hexproof commanders are a pain especially one you cant have sac'd away. End Hostilities was an absolute value house in game 1 wrathing a Knight of the Reliquary with umezawa's jitte and Sword of Feast and Famine equipped. Love this card, such a value wrath sometimes.
Thoughts so far (post most recent changelog):
Decreasing the curve has definitely proven useful and the deck is really finding its groove now and I can tell it can be irritating to fight when clicking on all cylinders. Rouge's Passage and Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion are brutal and win their fair share of games. I am struggling a bit against reanimator's who can get a big baddie quickly (but who doesn't struggle against that seriously? Turn 2 or 3 Grizzy, Iona, Prime-time or Ashen Rider is pretty much game over unless you have counter magic or is it just me?). Kind of want to find a spot for mana tithe to disrupt these early game shenanigans that players tap out to do. Running more basics is resulting in getting hosed on colors more. May need to add Darksteel Ingot if it becomes too big of an issue.
Any thoughts or suggestions are more than welcome and please feel free to test the deck out for yourself!
Agree that Moonlight is nice although so far there are games where I am being rushed down and spending 5 mana and 10 life just isnt feasibly responsible. I could get the one answer I need but usually it means I still have to wait until the following turn. I'd rather be forced to use my card draw spells on turns 2-4 and be able to smash the board on turns 4-6. Running a few games with just the 3 sign in blood stuff and I seem to not be needing a topdeck all that frequently. I do like Coercive Portal and run it in other decks. Might include just so I can get that effect more often in this but we will see when I need it.
I don't mind losing my artifacts as much. I mainly like Jokulhaupsing the board so I focus on enchantments, plainswalkers and zurgo which will stay alive and can close the game out from there.
There may be a misconception that this really isn't designed as Voltron. It is more supposed to be control (think Ruhan of the Fomori but in Dega\Mardu). Some rocks are nice to yes ramp because if you can get him out before they have answers great but I'd rather control the board and their hand so that they are reduced to top decking for answers on a limited clock or destroying all mana sources so that even if they do happen to have the answer in hand, they don't have the resources to use it.
+ Chromatic Lantern
+ Skullclamp
+ Aurelia, the Warleader
+ Price of Glory
+ Wear//Tear
+ Ajani, Caller of the Pride
- Coldsteel Heart
- Nevinyrral's Disk
- Disenchant
- Skeletal Scrying
- Thoughts of Ruin
- Despise
Additionally just had some interesting matches against another Anafenza deck(2-1). Board clears for days. Deck is running a lot smoother now (maybe it just needed a few virtual shuffles). Ajani, Caller of the Pride came to immediate use and won me game 3. I had 3 other board clears and probably had the game anyway but being able to end it that turn rather than wait and pray against a topdeck was definitely the way to go.
Wear//Tear -> Disenchant: Totally agree, in fact it was sitting in my maybe pile of things I found throughout the week.
Diabolic Edict/Terminate -> Utter End: I kind of like that Utter End both exiles as well as hits anything on the field (save lands). Was considering something like Dreadbore in this spot but you listed that later so I will get there.
Chromatic Lantern -> Mind Rot: Mind Rot was thrown in after my Wednesday night session where all my discard vanished on me for most of the night and I did a slight tweak. Totally 100% agree Chromatic Lantern is the right call here.
Dreadbore -> Desise: Despise was in the same line of thinking as Mind Rot and other then the fact I'd rather get rid of a planes walker before it hits the board and can be used, I agree the dreadbore is still a better option overall.
Coalition Relic -> Mardu Charm: Mardu Charm I like because of it's versitility. Also it is instant speed duress. I am testing to see if I like it or not. Coalition Relic is still a good call though and I may try and find a slot. One of those good cards I dont have but would not mind tracking one down.
Price of Glory -> Crackling Doom: I kept crackling doom in here over Diabolic Edict because it gets rid of their biggest creature as well, in case they have swarmed the board with dudes. Price of Glory is the perfect anti-control card I wanted and need. Totally forgot about it and another add when I can track one down.
Skeletal Scrying -> Moonlight Bargain: I agree it has been underwhelming. Still not sold on Moonlight bargain either. I may just leave the 3 pay life draw cards in and just take Scrying out. Maybe add Erebos, God of the Dead back in as well.
Sun Titan -> Rakdos Charm: I don't really like the charm and Sun Titan was always on the edge for me. What kept bringing me back is the possibility of him being out after an Armageddon goes off so I can get my lands back. Also I am considering adding Ajani, Caller of the pride (flying and doublestrike seems good) as well as Liliana of the Veil and since they would be Titan targets, he might be worth keeping around? Still not sold on him but as an alternate win-con should I get him out and destroy all lands.
Skullclamp -> Nevinyrral's Disk: I totally agree clamps and bitterblossum are rediculous. I have a judge promo bitterblossum too but it likes to play hide and seek with me and have yet to see it :-/. I grabbed Nevinyrral's Disk for more board clear but after all the games I have played it definately isn't required so I will probably make the list. The Clamps also works with Assemble the Legion.
Chaos Warp -> Sorin, Solemn Visitor: Without general tucking in French I find these tucks less viable. Sorin is in the deck because it turns the 1/1 Fairy or Soldier tokens into 2/1 lifelinkers which seems to help with the Emo Draw that black tends to bring. Not to mention if you can get him to live for two turns his emblem can effectively shut opponents down. I really like that emblem and Sorin usually must be answered giving you time to do other things (gaining 8 off each commander swing is a bonus too)
Darksteel Ingot -> Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker: Ingot is another good mana rock on the consider list. I disagree on Sarkhan though. I have found him extremely useful as a planeswalker killer. Also he is another win-con with Obliterate because he survives as both a planeswalker and creature. His Flamtounge Kavu minus isn't shabby either. Don't care for his ult but that isn't why he is around.
Catastrophe -> Sorin Markov: Never knew about Catastrophe and really like it. In this deck I rarely use his initial minus. The plus for shocks and lifegain mixed with his ult winning games is why he is here. I can see cutting him still though. Mindslaving someone against this deck pretty much spells the end because of how quickly they can be killed with general damage.
Aurelia, the warleader -> Thoughts of ruin: While Aurelia is interesting and I'd consider a slot for her (or gisela blade of goldnight) for sure, I have had good success with thoughts of ruin. I agree its terrible to top deck with no hand, I seem to have it early game when I am holding onto a grip of answers. Dropping turn 4 commander and then clearing away all or most lands on turn 5 has rapped up the game for me so far. It might get removed for Catastrophe which (with mana rocks) will be consistent and better. If I was in magical moneyland I'd be running Ravages of War but that place rejected my visa.
Ajani, Caller of the pride -> Perish the thought: Like other discard options I threw it in to add more revealing of their hand I have mentioned this Ajani before. Still searching for one but totally want to add it once I get it.
Imp's Mischief: I saw that while researching cards and like it although spells cant target themselves so I don't think it can really stop counterspells because unless there is another spell on the stack for it to counter, there are no other viable targets. I think its too situational personnally and would end up as a semi-dead card in hand while you wait for anything to use it on.
Mardu Bannder -> Coldsteel Heart: I realized last night that Coldsteel makes you choose a color last night and immediately replaced it with the banner already. May end up doing Darksteel Ingot because it is also indestructible.
Again thank you for all the suggestions. Lots of good ones and we are definately in the same line of thinking. I am also wondering about Vandalblast. 1 drop artifact removal or 5 drop sweep of all opposing artifacts seems relavant. Decks that ramp with lots of rocks I could hold onto it or use it as spot removal if needed. Unlike my other sweeps it only affects opponents. Who knows if I will find a spot or like it at all in the long run... Just a thought.
@KriggY I didn't see any other Zurgo decks posted but I will look again. I have been considering adding more lands but my brain wonders if adding 2 more lands in total will really fix the problem. Seems like such a small tweek and would require me to cut 2 other items. I will do some tweaking and add some lands. If I add any, I am think 3 more (one of each basic).
1 Zurgo Helmsmasher
CREATURES (8):
1 Magister of Worth
1 Sun Titan
1 Academy Rector
1 Mother of Runes
1 Sire of Insanity
1 Stoneshaker Shaman
1 Spirit of the Labyrinth
1 Grand Abolisher
INSTANTS (6):
1 Mortify
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Hero's Downfall
1 Boros Charm
1 Wear // Tear
1 Enlightened Tutor
SORCERIES (23):
1 Toxic Deluge
1 Burning of Xinye
1 Obliterate
1 Hymn to Tourach
1 Distress
1 Wrath of God
1 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Austere Command
1 Castigate
1 Duress
1 Mind Shatter
1 Council's Judgment
1 End Hostilities
1 Catastrophe
1 Thoughtseize
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Armageddon
1 Dreadbore
1 Decree of Annihilation
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Night's Whisper
1 Damnation
1 Jokulhaups
1 Faithless Looting
1 Rakdos Signet
1 Boros Signet
1 Orzhov Signet
1 Chromatic Lantern
1 Expedition Map
1 Defensive Grid
1 Coercive Portal
ENCHANTMENTS (10):
1 Parallax Wave
1 Blood Moon
1 Land Tax
1 Dystopia
1 Rest in Peace
1 Parallax Nexus
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Assemble the Legion
1 Bitterblossom
1 Price of Glory
1 Dark Tutelage
PLANESWALKER (5):
1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
1 Ajani Vengeant
1 Ajani, Caller of the Pride
LANDS (40):
5 Swamp
5 Mountain
5 Plains
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1 Blood Crypt
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Nomad Outpost
1 Godless Shrine
1 Command Tower
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Rogue's Passage
1 City of Brass
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Dragonskull Summit
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Isolated Chapel
1 Shizo, Death's Storehouse
1 Windswept Heath
1 Temple of Silence
1 Temple of Malice
1 Temple of Triumph
1 Flagstones of Trokair
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Vault of the Archangel
The main win cons commander damage or get something like Assemble the Legion out and then destroying the rest of the board. The massive amounts of board clears enable repeated commander hits to face if they do not answer him on their turn (or exile in response), his haste also enables you to wait for an opening and getting in for 7 damage when you can. A couple double enablers help with this but most have other uses (i.e. Boros Charm before Armageddon wins games pretty good).
So here are my first few matchups. I am still trying to work out the tweeks in the deck and figure out exactly what I should fetch when but here is how I did so far:
Anafenza 4-2
While Anafenza starts off fairly fast, she also dumps all her things onto board making her very suceptible to the many wrath effects we run. I seemed to be able to clear her off the board frequently to the point she is top decking and Anafenza costs too much to play leaving her with no blockers as Zurgo does the work.
Grimgrin, Corpse-Born 2-0
This Grimgrin deck did not seem very optimized and seemed a bit slow. Zurgo's ability to hit board early when the way is clear (after clearing counters with disruption) and then wrath the board to get through proved effective both games.
Narset, Enlightened Master4-2
Narset is a strange matchup. The best strategy seemed to be to MLD earlier than normal (even with nothing in play yourself). Cutting off her initial mana source usually has her struggle to recover and cast her as she'd like. If you can't disrupt her mana source, get rid of haste outlets pronto. Her hexproof leaves her immune to most of our instant speed removal (save for rout which I've had going in and out of the deck). 1 swing is all it takes sometimes for her to wrap up the game.
Child of Alara(Reanimator)2-2
This was a rough matchup that I didn't like. Deck consisted of Dig and pitch spells, dredge and self mills (hedron crab mostly) and then reanimations to pop lands. Not much I can do on a turn 1 counter of thoughtseize, turn 2 tutor, turn 3 flash (ashen rider exiling 2 of my lands) turn 4 dance of the dead exiling another. I am not concerned too much as this seems like a deck I'd never see IRL or at my LGS. Consisted of all original duals and such money cards that the $$ amount would be better spent into a proven better deck and I don't think anyone I know will drop that kind of money on this kind of deck. Blood Moon was a house as you'd expect and there was a game where he dredged for a while but couldn't hit any value creatures before dying to Zurgo.
Selvala, Explorer Returned 1-3 or 2-2 i dont remember I was pretty tired
This was a quick combo deck which wasnt hurt by wrath effects to the desired effect. This matchup engaged a good discussion with other posters below about lowering the curve of the deck as well as some good suggestions to help optimize. I'd like to test this matchup again. This goes back to gy manipulation being a bit of a hassle sometimes. I could add more removal of gy's but that still leaves me uncertain. I may be forced to run a Merciless Eviction or the like to exile undesirable boards but I do not like using a wrath that Zurgo cannot survive if he is on board.
Maelstrom Wanderer 1-0
I was excited to see how my deck would run against a known performer in french. My discard got there early and stuck him at 7 open mana and no cards in hand. I was a red mana short of Jokulhaups which would have sealed it but it didnt matter. While I was swinging in for win game 1 the user kicked me from the game. So that was a thing that happened.
Sigarda, Host of Herons 2-1
Had no problem with this matchup. Deck seemed to have the wraths to clear the board and the evasiveness for the commander (got rogues passage both games) to really not care about blockers. Hexproof commanders are a pain especially one you cant have sac'd away. End Hostilities was an absolute value house in game 1 wrathing a Knight of the Reliquary with umezawa's jitte and Sword of Feast and Famine equipped. Love this card, such a value wrath sometimes.
Thoughts so far (post most recent changelog):
Decreasing the curve has definitely proven useful and the deck is really finding its groove now and I can tell it can be irritating to fight when clicking on all cylinders. Rouge's Passage and Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion are brutal and win their fair share of games. I am struggling a bit against reanimator's who can get a big baddie quickly (but who doesn't struggle against that seriously? Turn 2 or 3 Grizzy, Iona, Prime-time or Ashen Rider is pretty much game over unless you have counter magic or is it just me?). Kind of want to find a spot for mana tithe to disrupt these early game shenanigans that players tap out to do. Running more basics is resulting in getting hosed on colors more. May need to add Darksteel Ingot if it becomes too big of an issue.
Any thoughts or suggestions are more than welcome and please feel free to test the deck out for yourself!