Isei, I'm not sure how correct it is but I feel that game 1, the cantrips are used to set up your combo early on and find your reducers, so you want them in your opener as a turn one play. Post sideboard, peer just digs further mid combo, and can help find your empty or rituals when you need them, while Sleight is worse mid combo. Maybe going down one is correct, but so far I've liked seeing the peers in games 2 or 3. I do feel that I went a little too light on reducers though, so my sideboard plan is still not set in stone and maybe someone else can add their two cents.
Uktabi, I should clarify. Patience is definitely key, but yes they can totally play sweepers. If I had the option to get 8 to 10 goblins early on, I probably would have totally gone for it for that reason, but in counterspell heavy match ups I need to make sure I can get there before the combo is stopped and I'm left with nothing in hand to go off. It's definitely a concern though so if I feel they are holding a sweeper I'll try to make sure I can still have game later. In this scenario, I didn't have the empty right off the bat but I really got them with blood moon and felt no pressure, and felt I had more time than usual.
I'm not sold on Augur since you can't flash it back with past in flames. I really liked peer, and I think it's correct in a meta with a lot of discard and interaction. Scroll is great as a 5th gifts, so I do like that if the meta is less interactive. I personally will continue a 2-1 split of peer/scroll.
Hopefully you find something interesting or helpful!
Match 1: 4 Color Saheeli Combo
Game 1:
Mulligan to 6, keep a very mediocre hand on the draw but it has a sleight of hand and a couple Manamorphose with a Past in Flames, so figured it was good enough to keep. Hit nothing relevant off the Sleight, and after opponent casts a voice of resurgence, I draw a gifts and try to Manamorphose into something. I hit a Serum Visions, and top an electomancer. Opponent Eldrictch Evolutions his Voice into a Pia and Kiran, and I’m not really sure what he’s on at this point. He has a decent amount of pressure now, and he can just hold up mana to kill my Electromancer with the Pia so while he was tapped out I cast Electromancer and Manamorphose, hoping to hit a ritual but instead I end up casting a Baral with the hopes that he can only remove one of the enablers. Turned out he had a path, and the pressure was too much before I could draw out of it.
Game 2: -3 Remand, -3 Sleight of Hand, -1 Gifts Ungiven, -1 Electromancer, -1 Grapeshot
+3 Bolt, +2 Blood Moon, +2 Empty the Warrens, +1 Echoing Truth, +1 Shattering Spree
I kept a hand with double Peer through Depths, blood moon and lands. He plays Temple Garden - Oath of Nissa turn 1, and I still have no idea what he’s playing. Draw Baral, and opt not to play it into his likely removal. He drops a voice of resurgence, and I drop a Blood moon turn 3. He then plays Saheeli Rai with the Oath of NIssa, and I start to understand what his plan is. I draw gifts, but don’t quite have the pieces, but since he had tapped out for saheeli and I had him on only mountains I decide to go for it anyway. I manamorphose and draw a ritual, and cast gifts with the normal pile. He needs to give me manamorphose and past in flames to make sure that I couldn’t go off this turn, but I cast the manamorphose into peer through depths. I hit another manamorphose, draw a land and do the same with the second peer through depths, hitting a ritual. Drawing the land plus the ritual gave me 4 red, so I cast past through flames with one floating and go off.
Game 3:
Kept a decent hand with an electromancer, gifts, ritual and sleight of hand. Sleight into the 3rd land after the opponent hits their turn 1 Oath of Nissa again. Opponent was keeping white mana up, representing Path. I draw Baral and decide to play electromancer into it, and he paths it (ramping me). He taps out for Saheeli, and on my turn 3 I draw a ritual, and have 4 mana on the battlefield. I cast Baral – Ritual – Ritual – Gifts Ungiven with 3 mana floating and the rest is history.
2-1 Match 2: Eldrazi Tron
Game 1:
Keep a hand with electomancer, manamorphose, past in flames, lands and remand on the draw. Opponent plays Eldrazi Temple into Expedition map, and I decide to slam the electromancer after drawing a Gifts ungiven, to hopefully untap with it. Opponent had a dismember though, ruining my plans and plays Ghost Quarter. I draw nothing, and opponent cracks map for another Temple. I remand his Thought-Knot Seer, opponent has another temple in hand and drops a Matter Reshaper. I draw nothing again, and opponent resolves a Chalice of the Void X = 2. GG. It’s possible my opening hand wasn’t good enough, but I did have opportunities and instead drew lands or extra past in flames.
Keep a pretty good hand with a baral and multiple cantrips. With cantrips I’m able to sculpt my hand, and on turn 2 he misses his land drop, which lead me to believe he kept a hand with removal or something scary so I decide to play it safe. I wasn’t in danger of chalice yet, and my hand turn 3 was double manamorphose, gifts, ritual Shatterstorm with 2 islands and a mountain on the battlefield. Turn 4, opponent casts the 3rd land and is able to cast Thought Knot because of the temple but my hand is really good. He makes a mistake here and takes the Shatterstorm, when baral would have been the correct pick. Combo off next turn.
Game 3:
Keep a hand with double peer, ritual and a remand. Hold open the ability to remand or peer end of turn. Peer into a manamorphose, and keep holding up the remand until opponent tries to turn 4 chalice me. I had a peer and a couple of manamorphose with no remand for a second Chalice so I knew I had to try and go off this turn. On turn 4, opponent was tapped out after I remanded the chalice. I dropped my 4th land, and my hand was Peer, Ritual, Ritual, Manamorphose, Manamorphose, Past in Flames, Electromancer. I cast the ritual and manamorphose hitting another ritual. Even though I could past in flames, I had a weird feeling that the opponent could have surgical, so I starting playing very carefully. The manamorphoses hit lands but I get another manamorphose off the peer through depths. I manamorphose into serum visions, and hit a gifts ungiven with 11 mana available. I have a Past in Flames in hand already, so my gifts pile was ritual, ritual, manamorphose, sleight of hand. I normally would have gone for a grapeshot there, but again I wanted to play around surgical. I cast the past in flames, and sure enough opponent surgicals away my manamorphose. I cast my rituals and already have a storm count of over 20, and peer but don’t hit the grapeshot. Only real target was shattering spree so I take it. I decide to gifts again, and opponent scoops. I really doubted he had double surgical, but was playing super safe just in case, doing my best to draw the pieces naturally. It was a good thing that I hit the PIF, because surgical on PIF would have been game. Peer through depths was clutch this match, as being able to find and cast the manamophoses helped me draw the pieces before my opponent knew what to surgical.
2-1
Match 3: Burn
Game 1:
Didn’t see Eidelon. He has the swiftspear burn your face draw, so opponent does so. Had me down to 4 life turn 4, then suspends a rift bolt to tap out. My original hand had cantrips, so my hand on turn 4 was baral, ritual, ritual, gifts, remand with 4 lands on the battlefield. Gifts with 3 mana floating, loop for the win at 3 life after cracking my land.
Game 2: -3 Remand, -3 Sleight of Hand, - 1 Grapeshot, -1 electromancer, -1 Gifts Ungiven
+3 Leyline, +3 Bolt, +2 Empty the Warrens, +1 Echoing Truth
I probably oversideboard when I play burn, but it’s just such a bad matchup that I decide it’s worth it. I keep a medium hand on the strength of Leyline, he drops a relic. He bolts my first electromancer, and scoops soon after. I believe he had a hand full of burn spells, and didn’t bring anything to fight leyline, so one of those ‘got em’ scenarios.
2-0
Match 4: Jeskai Saheeli Control
Game 1:
Opponent is draw-going and in Jeskai, so I assume regular Jeskai Control. I kept a hand with no elctromancer, but I have remand, gifts, and past in flames in hand with plenty of rituals. I usually win control by being patient, building up lands and baiting them with an end of turn spell, into a win the following turn with counterspell backup. I’m patient, keep dropping lands and sculpting my hand, then eventually remand a blade splicer to see if he fights over it. He doesn’t, and eventually I have the win in hand. Since I have a past in flames and gifts already, I play Baral into his removal, and with a lightning helix on the stack, I cast my rituals into gifts. He counters the gifts, (tapping him out), but I have past in flames in hand and actually manamorphose’d into another electromancer. Combo off and win.
Game 2: -4 Sleight of Hand, -1 Gifts Ungiven, -1 Electromancer -1 Grapeshot
+2 Dispel, +2 Empty the Warrens, +1 Echoing Truth, +2 Blood Moon
(Didn’t see Saheeli game one or may have boarded differently)
I keep a hand with a gifts, a few manamorphose and blood moon. He plays a Rest in Peace, but I planned to be patient to resolve a big empty the warrens anyway. I play a turn two Electromancer to see if I can tap my opponent out with a path or something. He had a glacial fortress and a colorless land out at the moment, so I wanted to resolve a blood moon. He plays spellskite instead (which isn’t very good vs me), and was apparently stuck on two lands. Blood moon resolves and gets him pretty bad, and then I was just patient until I felt I could go off. He does eventually find blue mana and resolves a saheeli, but the Blood Moon lock was too strong and I eventually resolved a pretty big empty the warrens for the win.
2-0 Match 5: UW Death and Taxes:
Game 1:
Mull to 6, keep a decent one lander on the draw with a serum visions and a sleight of hand. I top a Scalding Tarn, but opponent resolves a Leonin Aribter turn 2. Turn 3 he ghost quarters my first land and I scoop.
Game 2:
-3 Sleight of Hand, -1 Grapeshot, -2 Remand, -1 Electromancer, -1 Gifts Ungiven
+1 Echoing Truth, +2 Empty the Warrens, +3 Bolt, +2 Blood Moon
I kept a Medium hand with a lot of rituals and a gifts. I think opponent accidentally f6’d through his turn, and I draw a remand so I decide to be patient and remand his first play. It was an arbiter, and I draw a baral off the remand. I cast a baral, and had enough mana in hand to grapeshot the arbiter and still gifts as long as baral lives, but he ended up tapping out for something else and I untap and win.
Game 3:
I keep a decent hand with a Blood Moon, bolt, reducer. He plays a Thalia, and I decide to bolt it rather than try and resolve double electromancer effects. Opponent taps out for a displacer, and I’m able to get them with a Blood Moon since they had no basics out. I Baral into Peer Through Depths, and get set up for a decent Empty the following turn since I was not under a terrible amount of pressure. Empty for a lot of golbins, and draw a gifts ungiven with 2 recuders on the field and a decent amount of land anyway for the following turn, so I had opponent way dead either way.
2-1
Overall, I think I played pretty well throughout the league but not perfect. I think I made a few mistakes sideboarding, and there were a couple games where there may have been better plays or options. If you are new to the deck, know that you need to be prepared to fight some serious hate, and knowing what your opponent will bring in against you is important.
I just 5-0ed a league with 2 Peer, 1 Scroll. (Also super excited because this is my first 5-0!) Peer was an absolute ALL STAR. There were a couple times where without it I never would have been able to go off. The fact that it can hit your rituals and finishers (empty/grapeshot) is clutch. I played around a surgical by using peer to find the pieces naturally.
Hi guys! Just some news from my recent testing. After a lot of of success with the Merchant Scroll list I've had some bad results at Mocs and leagues so decided to make some changes. I'm not saying that Merchant Scroll is bad but I found that sometimes it's a bit clunky. Sure if you have tons of mana and need Gifts Ungiven it's just perfect but if you need some gas or Past In Flames/Grapeshot/Empty The Warrens it's just useless.
So I decided to give a chance to Thought Scour even if I hate it. The result was "meh"...not good not bad. Sometimes I just mill myself lands I needed or enablers I was looking for. I really didn't like its randomness! Furthermore Thought Scour was the first card to cut post side due to obvious graveyard hate that I had to play against (Scavenging Ooze, Relic Of Progenitus,Rest in Peace,Surgical Extraction and so on).
When I saw decklists running Peer Through Depths I thought : "Why not?".
I used to play Peer Through Depths when I played Scapeshift before (and after ) Dig Through Time and knew it was good. I think that Peer Through Depths is more flexible than Merchant Scroll, it can grab more or less everything you need, expecially sideboard like Shattering Spree or Lightning Bolt.
I've cut the 8th enabler to play 3x Peer Through Depths. Don't know if it's just luck/good draws/good match ups faced but in 6 leagues played with this new decklist I did : three 5-0, two 4-1 and one 3-2.
Without Merchant Scroll I've added a second copy of Echoing Truth in my sideboard to have more chances to draw it or to see it with Peer Through Depths.
Out of curiosity, what were your match ups? I have yet to 5-0 with the scroll version, but have gone 4-1 multiple times. I have been main boarding one echoing truth out of paranoia after Travis Woo hit me with a main board leyline of the void online. May not be necessary but I liked a main board answer to random nonsense such as that. I'm going to try out peer based on your recommendation though, seems like it can be really good.
There's definitely a lot of removal, but I don't think removing the creatures from the deck is correct. There's a lot to play around with this deck, so sometimes you just have to hold a creature back for your combo turn. I've won through removal by being patient, and then in response to the removal spell flooding my rituals and going off.
Yeah, I have yet to have that problem of not being able to get over 20. Double grapeshot does it, plus remand is a fantastic tool since the storm triggers still go on the stack. Just be aware of your gifts piles and what your 'worst case scenario' is in the situation. When i've had at least 3 mana available with a mana reducer on the field, i've only found myself fizzling to double surgical extraction (still salty).
Uktabi, I should clarify. Patience is definitely key, but yes they can totally play sweepers. If I had the option to get 8 to 10 goblins early on, I probably would have totally gone for it for that reason, but in counterspell heavy match ups I need to make sure I can get there before the combo is stopped and I'm left with nothing in hand to go off. It's definitely a concern though so if I feel they are holding a sweeper I'll try to make sure I can still have game later. In this scenario, I didn't have the empty right off the bat but I really got them with blood moon and felt no pressure, and felt I had more time than usual.
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/626186#online
Hopefully you find something interesting or helpful!
Match 1: 4 Color Saheeli Combo
Game 1:
Mulligan to 6, keep a very mediocre hand on the draw but it has a sleight of hand and a couple Manamorphose with a Past in Flames, so figured it was good enough to keep. Hit nothing relevant off the Sleight, and after opponent casts a voice of resurgence, I draw a gifts and try to Manamorphose into something. I hit a Serum Visions, and top an electomancer. Opponent Eldrictch Evolutions his Voice into a Pia and Kiran, and I’m not really sure what he’s on at this point. He has a decent amount of pressure now, and he can just hold up mana to kill my Electromancer with the Pia so while he was tapped out I cast Electromancer and Manamorphose, hoping to hit a ritual but instead I end up casting a Baral with the hopes that he can only remove one of the enablers. Turned out he had a path, and the pressure was too much before I could draw out of it.
Game 2:
-3 Remand, -3 Sleight of Hand, -1 Gifts Ungiven, -1 Electromancer, -1 Grapeshot
+3 Bolt, +2 Blood Moon, +2 Empty the Warrens, +1 Echoing Truth, +1 Shattering Spree
I kept a hand with double Peer through Depths, blood moon and lands. He plays Temple Garden - Oath of Nissa turn 1, and I still have no idea what he’s playing. Draw Baral, and opt not to play it into his likely removal. He drops a voice of resurgence, and I drop a Blood moon turn 3. He then plays Saheeli Rai with the Oath of NIssa, and I start to understand what his plan is. I draw gifts, but don’t quite have the pieces, but since he had tapped out for saheeli and I had him on only mountains I decide to go for it anyway. I manamorphose and draw a ritual, and cast gifts with the normal pile. He needs to give me manamorphose and past in flames to make sure that I couldn’t go off this turn, but I cast the manamorphose into peer through depths. I hit another manamorphose, draw a land and do the same with the second peer through depths, hitting a ritual. Drawing the land plus the ritual gave me 4 red, so I cast past through flames with one floating and go off.
Game 3:
Kept a decent hand with an electromancer, gifts, ritual and sleight of hand. Sleight into the 3rd land after the opponent hits their turn 1 Oath of Nissa again. Opponent was keeping white mana up, representing Path. I draw Baral and decide to play electromancer into it, and he paths it (ramping me). He taps out for Saheeli, and on my turn 3 I draw a ritual, and have 4 mana on the battlefield. I cast Baral – Ritual – Ritual – Gifts Ungiven with 3 mana floating and the rest is history.
2-1
Match 2: Eldrazi Tron
Game 1:
Keep a hand with electomancer, manamorphose, past in flames, lands and remand on the draw. Opponent plays Eldrazi Temple into Expedition map, and I decide to slam the electromancer after drawing a Gifts ungiven, to hopefully untap with it. Opponent had a dismember though, ruining my plans and plays Ghost Quarter. I draw nothing, and opponent cracks map for another Temple. I remand his Thought-Knot Seer, opponent has another temple in hand and drops a Matter Reshaper. I draw nothing again, and opponent resolves a Chalice of the Void X = 2. GG. It’s possible my opening hand wasn’t good enough, but I did have opportunities and instead drew lands or extra past in flames.
Game 2:
-2 Sleight of Hand, -1 Gifts Ungiven, -1 Electromancer
+1 Echoing Truth, +1 Shattering Spree, +1 Shatterstorm, +1 Blood Moon
Keep a pretty good hand with a baral and multiple cantrips. With cantrips I’m able to sculpt my hand, and on turn 2 he misses his land drop, which lead me to believe he kept a hand with removal or something scary so I decide to play it safe. I wasn’t in danger of chalice yet, and my hand turn 3 was double manamorphose, gifts, ritual Shatterstorm with 2 islands and a mountain on the battlefield. Turn 4, opponent casts the 3rd land and is able to cast Thought Knot because of the temple but my hand is really good. He makes a mistake here and takes the Shatterstorm, when baral would have been the correct pick. Combo off next turn.
Game 3:
Keep a hand with double peer, ritual and a remand. Hold open the ability to remand or peer end of turn. Peer into a manamorphose, and keep holding up the remand until opponent tries to turn 4 chalice me. I had a peer and a couple of manamorphose with no remand for a second Chalice so I knew I had to try and go off this turn. On turn 4, opponent was tapped out after I remanded the chalice. I dropped my 4th land, and my hand was Peer, Ritual, Ritual, Manamorphose, Manamorphose, Past in Flames, Electromancer. I cast the ritual and manamorphose hitting another ritual. Even though I could past in flames, I had a weird feeling that the opponent could have surgical, so I starting playing very carefully. The manamorphoses hit lands but I get another manamorphose off the peer through depths. I manamorphose into serum visions, and hit a gifts ungiven with 11 mana available. I have a Past in Flames in hand already, so my gifts pile was ritual, ritual, manamorphose, sleight of hand. I normally would have gone for a grapeshot there, but again I wanted to play around surgical. I cast the past in flames, and sure enough opponent surgicals away my manamorphose. I cast my rituals and already have a storm count of over 20, and peer but don’t hit the grapeshot. Only real target was shattering spree so I take it. I decide to gifts again, and opponent scoops. I really doubted he had double surgical, but was playing super safe just in case, doing my best to draw the pieces naturally. It was a good thing that I hit the PIF, because surgical on PIF would have been game. Peer through depths was clutch this match, as being able to find and cast the manamophoses helped me draw the pieces before my opponent knew what to surgical.
2-1
Match 3: Burn
Game 1:
Didn’t see Eidelon. He has the swiftspear burn your face draw, so opponent does so. Had me down to 4 life turn 4, then suspends a rift bolt to tap out. My original hand had cantrips, so my hand on turn 4 was baral, ritual, ritual, gifts, remand with 4 lands on the battlefield. Gifts with 3 mana floating, loop for the win at 3 life after cracking my land.
Game 2:
-3 Remand, -3 Sleight of Hand, - 1 Grapeshot, -1 electromancer, -1 Gifts Ungiven
+3 Leyline, +3 Bolt, +2 Empty the Warrens, +1 Echoing Truth
I probably oversideboard when I play burn, but it’s just such a bad matchup that I decide it’s worth it. I keep a medium hand on the strength of Leyline, he drops a relic. He bolts my first electromancer, and scoops soon after. I believe he had a hand full of burn spells, and didn’t bring anything to fight leyline, so one of those ‘got em’ scenarios.
2-0
Match 4: Jeskai Saheeli Control
Game 1:
Opponent is draw-going and in Jeskai, so I assume regular Jeskai Control. I kept a hand with no elctromancer, but I have remand, gifts, and past in flames in hand with plenty of rituals. I usually win control by being patient, building up lands and baiting them with an end of turn spell, into a win the following turn with counterspell backup. I’m patient, keep dropping lands and sculpting my hand, then eventually remand a blade splicer to see if he fights over it. He doesn’t, and eventually I have the win in hand. Since I have a past in flames and gifts already, I play Baral into his removal, and with a lightning helix on the stack, I cast my rituals into gifts. He counters the gifts, (tapping him out), but I have past in flames in hand and actually manamorphose’d into another electromancer. Combo off and win.
Game 2:
-4 Sleight of Hand, -1 Gifts Ungiven, -1 Electromancer -1 Grapeshot
+2 Dispel, +2 Empty the Warrens, +1 Echoing Truth, +2 Blood Moon
(Didn’t see Saheeli game one or may have boarded differently)
I keep a hand with a gifts, a few manamorphose and blood moon. He plays a Rest in Peace, but I planned to be patient to resolve a big empty the warrens anyway. I play a turn two Electromancer to see if I can tap my opponent out with a path or something. He had a glacial fortress and a colorless land out at the moment, so I wanted to resolve a blood moon. He plays spellskite instead (which isn’t very good vs me), and was apparently stuck on two lands. Blood moon resolves and gets him pretty bad, and then I was just patient until I felt I could go off. He does eventually find blue mana and resolves a saheeli, but the Blood Moon lock was too strong and I eventually resolved a pretty big empty the warrens for the win.
2-0
Match 5: UW Death and Taxes:
Game 1:
Mull to 6, keep a decent one lander on the draw with a serum visions and a sleight of hand. I top a Scalding Tarn, but opponent resolves a Leonin Aribter turn 2. Turn 3 he ghost quarters my first land and I scoop.
Game 2:
-3 Sleight of Hand, -1 Grapeshot, -2 Remand, -1 Electromancer, -1 Gifts Ungiven
+1 Echoing Truth, +2 Empty the Warrens, +3 Bolt, +2 Blood Moon
I kept a Medium hand with a lot of rituals and a gifts. I think opponent accidentally f6’d through his turn, and I draw a remand so I decide to be patient and remand his first play. It was an arbiter, and I draw a baral off the remand. I cast a baral, and had enough mana in hand to grapeshot the arbiter and still gifts as long as baral lives, but he ended up tapping out for something else and I untap and win.
Game 3:
I keep a decent hand with a Blood Moon, bolt, reducer. He plays a Thalia, and I decide to bolt it rather than try and resolve double electromancer effects. Opponent taps out for a displacer, and I’m able to get them with a Blood Moon since they had no basics out. I Baral into Peer Through Depths, and get set up for a decent Empty the following turn since I was not under a terrible amount of pressure. Empty for a lot of golbins, and draw a gifts ungiven with 2 recuders on the field and a decent amount of land anyway for the following turn, so I had opponent way dead either way.
2-1
Overall, I think I played pretty well throughout the league but not perfect. I think I made a few mistakes sideboarding, and there were a couple games where there may have been better plays or options. If you are new to the deck, know that you need to be prepared to fight some serious hate, and knowing what your opponent will bring in against you is important.
Hope you enjoyed!
4 Baral, Chief of Compliance
3 Goblin Electromancer
Sorcery:
1 Empty the Warrens
2 Grapeshot
1 Merchant Scroll
2 Past in Flames
4 Serum Visions
4 Sleight of Hand
Instant:
4 Desperate Ritual
4 Gifts Ungiven
4 Manamorphose
2 Peer Through Depths
4 Pyretic Ritual
3 Remand
1 Flooded Strand
3 Island
1 Mountain
2 Polluted Delta
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Shivan Reef
4 Spirebluff Canal
2 Steam Vents
2 Empty the Warrens
2 Blood Moon
2 Dispel
1 Echoing Truth
3 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Lightning Bolt
1 Shattering Spree
1 Shatterstorm
Deck should be on Goldfish/Top 8 soon hopefully, but here was the list.
Matchups were:
4 Color Saheeli Combo (2-1)
Eldrazi Tron (2-1)
Burn (2-0)
Jeskai Saheeli Control (2-0)
UW Death and Taxes (2-1)
If people are interested I can probably do a write up in the next couple days. Let me know!
Out of curiosity, what were your match ups? I have yet to 5-0 with the scroll version, but have gone 4-1 multiple times. I have been main boarding one echoing truth out of paranoia after Travis Woo hit me with a main board leyline of the void online. May not be necessary but I liked a main board answer to random nonsense such as that. I'm going to try out peer based on your recommendation though, seems like it can be really good.