Pharaoh trick: let their first strike damage go through when facing humans. Then kill their biggest beater with Pharaoh trigger before they can damage you.
I won’t be testing Pharaoh(s) til later this month. I’ll let you guys know if he flops or not
Has anyone done any testing with Vengeful Pharaoh in the main or the side as a form of creature control? I'm thinking it would be good against Hollow One, Tasigur, etc, that you can't Fatal Push. If you get one (or more) in your graveyard with a Mesmeric Orb out, it seems like it would decimate their army pretty quickly, and keep ending up back in the graveyard for you next turn.
I think I might shave a couple Fatal Push and try to slot 3 Pharaohs in and see how it goes
That’s certainly a spicy card there. Too bad you still take the damage, and if you draw into it then its basically dead. But you can atleast discard it with collective brutality.
Im considering taking my ashiok out for it just to see how it goes. Not many people would be expecting it.
You're not wrong. Best we have main board Game 1 is Crypt Incursion and hoping we've milled enough to make a difference. Also, Collective Brutality escalated to drain and take a instant/sorcery from hand can make a nice difference.
Steady Progress must be a meta call. I looked into its usefulness if the SB and in legacy it ticks up Chalice of the Void making it so you can cast your 1 or two drops easier. It could also be used to tick up Engineered Explosives or even mess with someones aether vial.
Still, its a ~very~ situational card but with potentially spicy possibilities.
Diligent Excavator seems to be the only partially decent mill creature but it isn't going to be milling as much as Manic Scribe on delerium. The 1 power is the only main upside but still isn't worth it as most creatures that kill us generally have 2 toughness or get pumped.
Had a recent interaction where I had Dack Fayden’s Emblem and I targeted my friends whole board with Comet Storm for 0. In response he gave all of his creatures shroud with Sylvan Safekeeper.
I advised that because I already targetted his creatures, I still gain control of them via the emblem and comet storm fizzles. He said it counters the emblem trigger as well.
Is Infinite Obliteration worth having in the sideboard as a counter to Emrakul? Removing him before he is played.
Against Emrakul, The Aeons Torn decks, I usually find it best to race to get them to mill Emrakul so you can exile it as soon as it hits the grave before it is cheated out/played. But the shuffle trigger is our greatest enemy and usually I lose game 1 to Emrakul decks.
If you're running white, Rest in Peace is your friend assuming they don't bounce it. If you want to seriously get rid of it before its played/milled you can run Hide // Seek.
I faced UW miracles/control with my UB mill build. I moved over my 2 extirpate from the side and also have 2 surgical in the main.
It was a bit hard for him to set up his miracles as Mesmeric Orb was making sure that he was milling the top cards of his library after brainstorming. My biggest concern at first was trying to not let Jace Ult.
Detention Sphere came in and got rid of my orbs, but I managed to draw into a Set Adrift targeting Jace. In response, he Snapped into negate, I cast Extirpate targeting negate stop him from countering.
I had a couple bad draws after (kept drawing Hedron crabs!) and then he beat me with Celestial Colonnade with 3 cards left in his deck.
Against UW control/miracles they'll be close matches as long as we can hold a extirpate/surgical for those kind of moments.
I haven't but have been considering running it over wall of omens. If you're running straight mill then it won't matter at all if they are gaining life.
@ Daeyel Card filtering, then his planeswalker form can "flashback" spells
@ShuckCreations I understand that all in is not too great for mill especially without ensnaring bridge. the deck I currently run isn't based upon sanity grinding, I just made it on a deck builder site to see how it'd run. Ive found that sanity grinding hits hard but it would need to run in a deck like the one linked below. http://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=427&d=145206
(not to say all sanity grind decks must be mono blue, I'm sure black works just as good because you gain glimpse/surgical)
Here's my take on sanity Grinding, not as much control as your deck, and the shelldocks help actually cast the creatures if you pick them up with the isle.
I won’t be testing Pharaoh(s) til later this month. I’ll let you guys know if he flops or not
That’s certainly a spicy card there. Too bad you still take the damage, and if you draw into it then its basically dead. But you can atleast discard it with collective brutality.
Im considering taking my ashiok out for it just to see how it goes. Not many people would be expecting it.
You're not wrong. Best we have main board Game 1 is Crypt Incursion and hoping we've milled enough to make a difference. Also, Collective Brutality escalated to drain and take a instant/sorcery from hand can make a nice difference.
Still, its a ~very~ situational card but with potentially spicy possibilities.
I like Nature's Claim. Seems like a solid card as we don't care how much life the opponent has. Makes me want to test natures claim in the SB.
After sideboarding, Smash to Smithereens becomes a thing but I'd have taken out my surgicals at that point.
@void_nothing
Thanks for the prompt reply!
Had a recent interaction where I had Dack Fayden’s Emblem and I targeted my friends whole board with Comet Storm for 0. In response he gave all of his creatures shroud with Sylvan Safekeeper.
I advised that because I already targetted his creatures, I still gain control of them via the emblem and comet storm fizzles. He said it counters the emblem trigger as well.
What happens to the board in this situation?
Against Emrakul, The Aeons Torn decks, I usually find it best to race to get them to mill Emrakul so you can exile it as soon as it hits the grave before it is cheated out/played. But the shuffle trigger is our greatest enemy and usually I lose game 1 to Emrakul decks.
Game 2, either Ravenous Trap or Nihil Spellbomb are good options to take from the sideboard.
If you're running white, Rest in Peace is your friend assuming they don't bounce it. If you want to seriously get rid of it before its played/milled you can run Hide // Seek.
It was a bit hard for him to set up his miracles as Mesmeric Orb was making sure that he was milling the top cards of his library after brainstorming. My biggest concern at first was trying to not let Jace Ult.
Detention Sphere came in and got rid of my orbs, but I managed to draw into a Set Adrift targeting Jace. In response, he Snapped into negate, I cast Extirpate targeting negate stop him from countering.
I had a couple bad draws after (kept drawing Hedron crabs!) and then he beat me with Celestial Colonnade with 3 cards left in his deck.
Against UW control/miracles they'll be close matches as long as we can hold a extirpate/surgical for those kind of moments.
@ShuckCreations I understand that all in is not too great for mill especially without ensnaring bridge. the deck I currently run isn't based upon sanity grinding, I just made it on a deck builder site to see how it'd run. Ive found that sanity grinding hits hard but it would need to run in a deck like the one linked below.
http://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=427&d=145206
(not to say all sanity grind decks must be mono blue, I'm sure black works just as good because you gain glimpse/surgical)
4 Flooded Strand
3 Island
4 Polluted Delta
3 Shelldock Isle
3 Swamp
3 Watery Grave
4 Ghastlord of Fugue
4 Godhead of Awe
4 Overbeing of Myth
4 Plumeveil
4 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
4 Sanity Grinding
4 Archive Trap
4 Remand
Here's my take on sanity Grinding, not as much control as your deck, and the shelldocks help actually cast the creatures if you pick them up with the isle.