Actually, I only run 9 creatures including Arjun, 2 of which are artifacts. On the other hand, I run 21 artifacts (although about half of these are mana rocks). Therefore, if I had to add a 3rd flash enabler, I'd run Shimmer Myr over Teferi. However, once I have a flash enabler out, the 2nd and 3rd ones are essentially dead cards, so I didn't think it was necessary to include Shimmer Myr which is more restricted that the other 2.
If i'm not wrong, your list has way more creatures than I run, so Teferi might be more useful for you that it is for me.
Because my first hand was also 1 land and I already took a mulligan :s Also, I had Worn Powerstone and Mana Crypt. If I had another land it would be great, but I had to Day's Undoing for my second land.
I didn't seem to have enough artifacts to make Shimmer Myr work, and Lab Man is easier on my poor fingers. The Puzzle Box wasn't holding up too well as a Arjun duplicate, being able to get a new hand only once a turn wasn't really enough. Im not too sure if I'll miss Boseiju, since I don't have too many clutch spells, but if I remove it, I might be able to fit in another utlity land like Tectonic Edge or something. Astral Cornucopia because it essentially cost 0 and can act as a free new hand with Arjun out.
Propaganda vs Crawlspace: Both have their merits (and I would run both if I had the space), but I see a lot of ramp decks to which 6+ mana, if they really want to attack you, is no big deal.
I tried replacing Teferi with Jhoira of the Ghitu - my rationale is that Jhoira can help me cast two cards from my current hand if I don't have flash. For example, if I had a hand with Sphinx's Tutelage and Vedalken Orrery, I could play the Tutelage and suspend the Orrery in response so I don't have to choose between either of them (since none of them have flash, to play one means shuffling the other into my deck). But I don't like having to wait 4 turns for whatever I exiled with Jhoira to show up.
I would have decked myself multiple times if not for discarding down to 7 at the end of each of my turns and using Elixir of Immortality/Kozilek, Butcher of Truth to shuffle my GY into the library. Niv-Mizzet and Sphinx's Tutelage took a horrible amount of clicking, and the MTGO client was being laggy so many of my clicks didn't get through. In this case, I really regretted leaving Laboratory Maniac out since it would have been pretty easy and required fewer clicks to deck myself
Or, I also played another game against Ezuri, Claw of Progress, The Mimeoplasm, and Gahiji, Honored One. Ezuri kept attacking me and only me, despite my only boardstate being Chasm Skulker (and no draw doublers) and everyone else only having 0-1 creatures to block with, for the reason that "I was playing blue". I didn't manage to find a sweeper in time and conceded at 10 life, since everyone else was close to 40 and only Ezuri had much of a board. Being focused early really ruins things for this deck. I also have trouble with indestructible/regenerating generals like Sliver Hivelord - since I need either Curse of the Swine, Confiscate or Vedalken Shackles (less useful since many indestructible things also have high P/T).
Since Anya thrives on your opponents having a low life total, I would add in cards that force your opponents to attack. Akroma could be Avatar of Slaughter. Grand Melee and Bedlam maybe?
You could look at Gisela, Blade of Goldnight lists for ideas, since they tend to follow a common strategy of trying to blow up everyone's life totals. Gisela herself should probably be in here as well.
Lastly, 36 lands and 6 artifact mana is too little for Boros, with practically no mana ramp and you trying to cast creatures with CMC of 5-6. I would also include more card draw (even Mind's Eye and Staff of Nin) since that is always a problem in Boros colours.
Edit: Instead of land destruction, you could run more boardwipes/wraths to really take advantage of Anya's indestructible? Though that would mean you need to run less creatures, or look for things like Balefire Dragon that are one-sided.
Swan Song: With many of my key spells costing 5-7 mana, 1 mana counters are great. Plus, Swerve is not so good against Return to Dust and modal spells :s
Crawlspace: replacing Propaganda with a fairly similar artifact.
I'm not decided on whether to replace Teferi/Lab Man with Shimmer Myr/Elixir of Immortality. The artifacts are cheaper, and cheap spells are always good to handcycle with Arjun (since I don't always have Omniscience or Dream Halls out). On the other hand, Lab Man wins me the game and Teferi protects against counters/removal on crucial turns (like the turn when I drop Omniscience). I think this may be a function of playing more 1v1 than multiplayer on MTGO - in 1v1, usually Sphinx's Tutelage/Diviner's Wand/Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind finish off the opponent fast enough to avoid me ever having to use Lab Man. I also have less counters and removal to worry about in 1v1.
What were your SB cards against Hive Mind Pact? Angel's Grace or something else? Memoricide/Jester's Cap would be too slow to stop a T3 pact and Nevermore would only be ok if you were on the play.
Mostly changes for Torpor Orb, replacing Windfall effects with guaranteed draw 7s, and removing random goodstuff for more focused stuff (also, less protection since I have added 2 ways to duplicate Arjun's effect). Steel Hellkite: Running a but light on creatures, and it's also a pretty good sweeper. Plus, I need more ways to hit problem non-creature permanents and this helps. Confiscate (for Gilded Drake): same as above (to help with enchants/artifacts/PWs), and to minimise ETBs. Everflowing Chalice: a 0 mana spell (even if I don't pay the kicker) is always useful to trigger Arjun. Capsize is coming back, because I got rid of Venser, Shaper Savant and I need to avoid milling myself to death. Maybe I should play something cheaper like Boomerang but with next to no recursion the buyback helps and keeps my hand large.
Hmmm... coulda sworn I succeeded in posting my deck list... Weird.
You Look To Be A Bit Hungry!, or, "Plain White Sauce Makes Your Teeth Go Gray" (I don't know why the deck is called this but I like it anyway lol)
~Lil Kalki
Didn't you call it that? Haha (: Or did you randomly select the name, after all it would fit the deck theme!
Very flavourful and thematic deck I must say. But why Tibor and Lumia?
Well, I almost exclusively play Akroma in 1v1 (for multiplayer, I usually use Barrin or Arjun), so Final Fortune and friends are quite useful. They could easily replace the more expensive double strike cards such as Berserker's Onslaught and Dictate of the Twin Gods. Cards that grant "double strike" without actually saying double strike are always useful (: I guess I could mitigate some of the risk by playing them on the second main phase, because if the opponent has an answer to Akroma, he probably would have used it before/during the combat step rather than after combat damage was dealt.
I've been playing Arjun since his release and love him, here are some of my notes as related to your list:
I have found redundancy to be key to Arjun. Just as you play Archive AND Thought Reflection, Orrery AND Leyline, I highly recommend Psychosis Crawler AND Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind. Niv-Mizzet should not be underestimated as a monster control card, taking out problem creatures left and right. Also, I run Mindmoil so my deck can still do it's thing even if the board has become adverse to creatures (like if there is a Lethal Vapors or Attrition out.
Boardwipes which are instant and don't kill Arjun are really solid. I'm referring to Fault Line and Magmaquake (in addition to the Cyclonic Rift and Starstorm you are already running.) I have considered Earthquake and Molten Disaster, but being sorceries limits them a bit in my mind.
I love Torpor Orb for this deck. Some decks roll over and die to Torpor Orb and my decklist only runs Snapcaster Mage as a card that would be affected. My league plays with point incentives that discourage infinite combos, so I tend not to play Deadeye Navigator / Peregrine Drake / Palinchron effects, so Orb doesn't hurt me there. Similarly, I play Grafdigger's Cage as another silver bullet against reanimator decks.
Also, Seize the Day has won me so many games, targeting my big Psychosis Crawler, Chasm Skulker, or Diviner's Wanded Arjun.
Finally, I play all three available bouncelands, Izzet Boilerworks, Dormant Volcano, and Coral Atoll. They allow me to make land drops while still maintaining a big full hand for Arjun. Plus they work wonders with cards like Time Spiral, Treachery, or Rewind.
Thanks! I forgot that Niv-Mizzet can hit creatures as well as players, so he can pull double duty as a sweeper. Will find space for him!
I suppose I can get rid of the protection for Arjun (Lightning Greaves, Deadeye Navigator) and add in the duplicate arjuns such as Mindmoil and Teferi's Puzzle Box. The draw effects stack, and Arjun gets expensive rather quickly.
Thanks for bringing up Day's Undoing, I find that the draw 7s like that and Wheel of Fortune are more reliable than Windfall and Jace's Archivist which depend on the opponent actually having cards.
I don't like getting 2-for-1ed with Strip Mine/Acidic Slime which tend to be very common on MTGO, so I won't go all in on the bouncelands. But I suppose I can try out Boilerworks as a start?
I don't know if it's the best idea for you, DBE, but I just removed my ETB effect creatures and added in a Torpor Orb and other goodies.
And here's what it looks like now:
~Lil Kalki
I think there is something wrong with your deck link, there is empty space between the URL tags so nothing I can click on Yup, I shall try out Torpor Orb. After taking out Palinchron a while back I don't use ETB so much anymore, and I already have a Barrin, Master Wizard deck that is all about the ETB. WOuld like to play differently (:
Have decided to keep the wheel effects, because all that draw (even if the opponent gets some) synergises well with my on draw effects. Psychosis Crawler is a cheaper, less mana intensive version of Niv-Mizzet which gives up the ability to act as a source of card draw. Cheaper is good as most of my deck is high CMC, and I think I already have enough draw.
A lot of decks depend on ETB effects, so I'd rather get rid of stuff permanently (and not have to worry about recursion). Hence Curse of the Swine.
Creatures die for having zero toughness (or for having more damage on them than their toughness) as a state based action, so Psychosis Crawler dies if it has zero toughness when states are checked. States are checked whenever any player gains priority, so as long as nobody gains priority, Psychosis Crawler won't die. And priority doesn't pass during the resolution of a spell or ability, so there's no opportunity for it to die during Arjun's ability.
Awesome, thanks! One more card to add (:
3/12/15: Temporarily trying some more wheel effects:
Congrats! (: I will be making some changes to add in Windfall, Wheel of Fortune, Jace's Archivist whatnot (though possibly not Reforge the Soul, as I don't have a reliable way to miracle it - no SDT) and see how this new direction goes...
All the triggered abilities are actually ruined though since they're triggered abilities instead of replacement effects, and triggers don't trigger off of things that are replaced.
Thanks for clearing that up, haha. Since we're on rules questions, does Psychosis Crawler actually work with Arjun? Isn't there a time between putting your cards on the bottom of the library and drawing that you actually have zero cards in hand, which would kill the Crawler immediately as it becomes a 0/0?
I'd be wary with Tomorrow, Azami's Familiar. It is a mandatory effect on each go, and replaces any and all draw effects (making Chasm Skulker, Jace's Erasure, Sphinx's Tutelage, et al. fairly irrelevant). I learned this the hard way. If anything, I might consider Archmage Ascension over Tomorrow, at least if you are looking more for a draw-refining mechanic than another creature. If you're looking for another creature instead, I'd reconsider the Magus of the Future cut.
~Lil Kalki
Worse than that, it negates Alhammaret's Archive and Thought Reflection, which I consider pretty essential to keeping a full grip with Arjun. However, more often that not I reach Arjun with a hand size of 3-4, which makes Tommorrow more useful to dig 9-12 cards down rather than 3-4. So far I've been more happy than frustrated to see it in hand... Worst come to worst, Venser, Shaper Savant can bounce it.
Of course, Tomorrow is less useful if my starting hand with Arjun out is larger (6-7 cards) or I already have a draw doubler out. I think some of the difference comes from your build being more "chaos" and running Wheel of Fortune-type effects, while I tend to stay away from these effects because personally I hate giving the opponent extra cards. I'm exploring whether adding more wheels helps, though, as they mostly cost 2-4 mana and fill a hole in my "hand fattening" segment where everything is either super cheap (e.g. Brainstorm, Ponder) or expensive (Consecrated Sphinx, Stroke of Genius). With more wheels, probably Tomorrow would be phased out.
Edit: hmmm, actually your build only has Jace's Archivist/Windfall to wheel. But it's still a direction I'm considering (:
If i'm not wrong, your list has way more creatures than I run, so Teferi might be more useful for you that it is for me.
21/12/15:
1 Shimmer Myr
1 Teferi's Puzzle Box
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Laboratory Maniac
1 Magmaquake
1 Island
1 Astral Cornucopia
I didn't seem to have enough artifacts to make Shimmer Myr work, and Lab Man is easier on my poor fingers. The Puzzle Box wasn't holding up too well as a Arjun duplicate, being able to get a new hand only once a turn wasn't really enough. Im not too sure if I'll miss Boseiju, since I don't have too many clutch spells, but if I remove it, I might be able to fit in another utlity land like Tectonic Edge or something. Astral Cornucopia because it essentially cost 0 and can act as a free new hand with Arjun out.
I tried replacing Teferi with Jhoira of the Ghitu - my rationale is that Jhoira can help me cast two cards from my current hand if I don't have flash. For example, if I had a hand with Sphinx's Tutelage and Vedalken Orrery, I could play the Tutelage and suspend the Orrery in response so I don't have to choose between either of them (since none of them have flash, to play one means shuffling the other into my deck). But I don't like having to wait 4 turns for whatever I exiled with Jhoira to show up.
I played a game yesterday against Omnath, Locus of Rage, Thraximundar (zombie tribal), and Phage the Untouchable. I had a slow start with my second land coming on T5, but thankfully Phage got a quick start with Torpor Orb so the table was focusing Phage. I did manage to get Sphinx's Tutelage out and a Wheel of Fortune to mill Phage guy, but he also ran Kozilek, Butcher of Truth so it was not much use. Later Phage guy dropped Ugin, the Spirit Dragon (more a response to Thraximundar's growing zombie horde though) and exiled my Tutelage and Arjun, but I had a Chaos Warp for his Torpor Orb. After that, I managed to land both Alhammarret's Archive and Mindmoil, then used Long-Term Plans to fetch Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind. Niv managed to clear out both Omnath and Borborygmos Enraged while pinging down both players, but in the end he ate a Ruinous Path from Thrax. After a little bit more digging, I managed to land Psychosis Crawler on the EoT before my turn (I had Leyline of Anticipation out) and finished off both remaining opponents with a 22/22 Crawler and playing a random spell to draw 40 cards off my 20-card hand.
I would have decked myself multiple times if not for discarding down to 7 at the end of each of my turns and using Elixir of Immortality/Kozilek, Butcher of Truth to shuffle my GY into the library. Niv-Mizzet and Sphinx's Tutelage took a horrible amount of clicking, and the MTGO client was being laggy so many of my clicks didn't get through. In this case, I really regretted leaving Laboratory Maniac out since it would have been pretty easy and required fewer clicks to deck myself
Or, I also played another game against Ezuri, Claw of Progress, The Mimeoplasm, and Gahiji, Honored One. Ezuri kept attacking me and only me, despite my only boardstate being Chasm Skulker (and no draw doublers) and everyone else only having 0-1 creatures to block with, for the reason that "I was playing blue". I didn't manage to find a sweeper in time and conceded at 10 life, since everyone else was close to 40 and only Ezuri had much of a board. Being focused early really ruins things for this deck. I also have trouble with indestructible/regenerating generals like Sliver Hivelord - since I need either Curse of the Swine, Confiscate or Vedalken Shackles (less useful since many indestructible things also have high P/T).
Ghostly Prison
Crawlspace
Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker
Sphere of Safety (if enchantment build)
Assemble the Legion (creates chump blockers)
Also something I forgot to mention: War's Toll. While you're at it, Fumiko the Lowblood.
Rage Reflection and True Conviction are too expensive when you have things like Berserkers' Onslaught, Gratuitous Violence. Use those instead.
You could look at Gisela, Blade of Goldnight lists for ideas, since they tend to follow a common strategy of trying to blow up everyone's life totals. Gisela herself should probably be in here as well.
Lastly, 36 lands and 6 artifact mana is too little for Boros, with practically no mana ramp and you trying to cast creatures with CMC of 5-6. I would also include more card draw (even Mind's Eye and Staff of Nin) since that is always a problem in Boros colours.
Edit: Instead of land destruction, you could run more boardwipes/wraths to really take advantage of Anya's indestructible? Though that would mean you need to run less creatures, or look for things like Balefire Dragon that are one-sided.
1 Swan Song
1 Buried Ruin
1 Shimmer Myr
1 Elixir of Immortality
1 Crawlspace
1 Mountain
1 Swerve
1 Riptide Laboratory
1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
1 Laboratory Maniac
1 Propaganda
1 Izzet Boilerworks
Swan Song: With many of my key spells costing 5-7 mana, 1 mana counters are great. Plus, Swerve is not so good against Return to Dust and modal spells :s
Crawlspace: replacing Propaganda with a fairly similar artifact.
I'm not decided on whether to replace Teferi/Lab Man with Shimmer Myr/Elixir of Immortality. The artifacts are cheaper, and cheap spells are always good to handcycle with Arjun (since I don't always have Omniscience or Dream Halls out). On the other hand, Lab Man wins me the game and Teferi protects against counters/removal on crucial turns (like the turn when I drop Omniscience). I think this may be a function of playing more 1v1 than multiplayer on MTGO - in 1v1, usually Sphinx's Tutelage/Diviner's Wand/Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind finish off the opponent fast enough to avoid me ever having to use Lab Man. I also have less counters and removal to worry about in 1v1.
1 Clever Impersonator
1 Jace’s Archivist
1 Gilded Drake
1 Deadeye Navigator
1 Voidmage Husher
1 Island
1 Mountain
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Windfall
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Rite of Replication
1 Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
1 Steel Hellkite
1 Teferi’s Puzzle Box
1 Confiscate
1 Mindmoil
1 Torpor Orb
1 Tolaria West
1 Izzet Boilerworks
1 Everflowing Chalice
1 Day’s Undoing
1 Fabricate
1 Capsize
Mostly changes for Torpor Orb, replacing Windfall effects with guaranteed draw 7s, and removing random goodstuff for more focused stuff (also, less protection since I have added 2 ways to duplicate Arjun's effect).
Steel Hellkite: Running a but light on creatures, and it's also a pretty good sweeper. Plus, I need more ways to hit problem non-creature permanents and this helps.
Confiscate (for Gilded Drake): same as above (to help with enchants/artifacts/PWs), and to minimise ETBs.
Everflowing Chalice: a 0 mana spell (even if I don't pay the kicker) is always useful to trigger Arjun.
Capsize is coming back, because I got rid of Venser, Shaper Savant and I need to avoid milling myself to death. Maybe I should play something cheaper like Boomerang but with next to no recursion the buyback helps and keeps my hand large.
I find that I am increasingly relying on a few key artifacts (Teferi's Puzzle Box as a duplicate Arjun, Alhammarret's Archive for draw doubling, Psychosis Crawler and Diviner's Wand as wincons, Vedalken Shackles and Torpor Orb as control, Propaganda could easily be a Crawlspace).That's why Fabricate is back and so is Tolaria West as a way to find Academy Ruins. Buried Ruin is on the waitlist.
In a roundabout way, maybe Arjun is becoming an artifact deck? Haha.
Didn't you call it that? Haha (: Or did you randomly select the name, after all it would fit the deck theme!
Very flavourful and thematic deck I must say. But why Tibor and Lumia?
Thanks! I forgot that Niv-Mizzet can hit creatures as well as players, so he can pull double duty as a sweeper. Will find space for him!
I suppose I can get rid of the protection for Arjun (Lightning Greaves, Deadeye Navigator) and add in the duplicate arjuns such as Mindmoil and Teferi's Puzzle Box. The draw effects stack, and Arjun gets expensive rather quickly.
Thanks for bringing up Day's Undoing, I find that the draw 7s like that and Wheel of Fortune are more reliable than Windfall and Jace's Archivist which depend on the opponent actually having cards.
I don't like getting 2-for-1ed with Strip Mine/Acidic Slime which tend to be very common on MTGO, so I won't go all in on the bouncelands. But I suppose I can try out Boilerworks as a start?
I think there is something wrong with your deck link, there is empty space between the URL tags so nothing I can click on Yup, I shall try out Torpor Orb. After taking out Palinchron a while back I don't use ETB so much anymore, and I already have a Barrin, Master Wizard deck that is all about the ETB. WOuld like to play differently (:
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Jace's Archivist
1 Windfall
1 Psychosis Crawler
1 Curse of the Swine
1 Ponder
1 Sea Gate Oracle
1 Tomorrow, Azami's Familiar
1 Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
1 Caldera Hellion
Have decided to keep the wheel effects, because all that draw (even if the opponent gets some) synergises well with my on draw effects. Psychosis Crawler is a cheaper, less mana intensive version of Niv-Mizzet which gives up the ability to act as a source of card draw. Cheaper is good as most of my deck is high CMC, and I think I already have enough draw.
A lot of decks depend on ETB effects, so I'd rather get rid of stuff permanently (and not have to worry about recursion). Hence Curse of the Swine.
Awesome, thanks! One more card to add (:
3/12/15: Temporarily trying some more wheel effects:
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Jace's Archivist
1 Windfall
1 Psychosis Crawler
1 Ponder
1 Sea Gate Oracle
1 Tomorrow, Azami's Familiar
1 Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
Congrats! (: I will be making some changes to add in Windfall, Wheel of Fortune, Jace's Archivist whatnot (though possibly not Reforge the Soul, as I don't have a reliable way to miracle it - no SDT) and see how this new direction goes...
Thanks for clearing that up, haha. Since we're on rules questions, does Psychosis Crawler actually work with Arjun? Isn't there a time between putting your cards on the bottom of the library and drawing that you actually have zero cards in hand, which would kill the Crawler immediately as it becomes a 0/0?
Worse than that, it negates Alhammaret's Archive and Thought Reflection, which I consider pretty essential to keeping a full grip with Arjun. However, more often that not I reach Arjun with a hand size of 3-4, which makes Tommorrow more useful to dig 9-12 cards down rather than 3-4. So far I've been more happy than frustrated to see it in hand... Worst come to worst, Venser, Shaper Savant can bounce it.
Of course, Tomorrow is less useful if my starting hand with Arjun out is larger (6-7 cards) or I already have a draw doubler out. I think some of the difference comes from your build being more "chaos" and running Wheel of Fortune-type effects, while I tend to stay away from these effects because personally I hate giving the opponent extra cards. I'm exploring whether adding more wheels helps, though, as they mostly cost 2-4 mana and fill a hole in my "hand fattening" segment where everything is either super cheap (e.g. Brainstorm, Ponder) or expensive (Consecrated Sphinx, Stroke of Genius). With more wheels, probably Tomorrow would be phased out.
Edit: hmmm, actually your build only has Jace's Archivist/Windfall to wheel. But it's still a direction I'm considering (: