Seems like a lot of hoops to jump through for a fairly anemic payoff. My mind draws the comparison to Order of Midnight, which I think is just a better card in most decks and more consistently reliable in said decks.
Even if you do manage to get a 2/2 every turn... is there an existing deck that actually cares about that other than maybe Simic Flash (if that's even still a thing)?
If you think a turn five play that requires board support is going to stop mono-red cavalcade, then I will gladly face you in magic the gathering battle.
Because this will be the only card in the mono-black deck
Saying you've played since the mid '90s doesn't do anything to help your argument ( for the record I've played since '98 myself, since that seems to matter to you). If anything, you should have learned how to play against blue cards in all that time, so in my opinion you probably aren't playing correctly in a lot of your matchups. It isn't really like the archetypes you're complaining about play all that much differently than their historical analogues have, so a lot of the lessons you (should have) learned from playing back then are still relevant.
Just as there is a complicated strategy involved in playing around Wrath of God, you need to learn how to play against blue cards and in particular things like counterspells. For example, in this Standard format and the few directly preceding it, it is often correct to play into a counterspell when your opponent plays their fourth land and says go. You want this be a card they actively want to stop you from resolving so they don't just ignore it and EoT draw some cards; make them have to choose. You won't always be able to force their hand, but this is an example of a window of opportunity you have to apply pressure in a meaningful way. You might be able to cause them to miss land drops and have to play awkwardly for the next turn or two.
That's obviously just one scenario and there are many more to consider, but aside from that... play better decks and play better in general. I could sit here and write a novel about the things you can do that would be effective against me as a primarily blue-based control player, but I'll spare you from that. Just don't get mad that whatever brew you're working on is being bested by decks that have millions of hours of refinement invested in them by the majority of the player base. Blue is a very strong color and for most of Magic's existence that's been true, but it isn't unbeatable.
Ok so I lost to Thousand YEar storm...but should have easily won as I had Ionize in hand...but chose to play a creature...ugh. Then I beat Grixis control in dominating fashion. I will now test 3 Risk Factors...but I want to comment on your list. You hae 2 Dive down and 2 Ionize main...how in the world do you deal with any removal?
I have three Ionize main, for what it's worth. You can always play more counterspells if you want, but this configuration has worked quite well for me so far.
Removal is removal; sometimes they'll have it, sometimes they won't, and sometimes you'll be able to stop them even when they do. Guardian is your best bet at grinding through removal since you can get replacement copies pretty easy. In the matchups where you are facing piles of removal, bring in your Carnage Tyrants, Ral, and counterspells. Presumably most often these decks won't have a lot of creatures, so you can side out your removal and just be more threat dense.
I beat a Rakdos dude who was using every piece of burn he had to try and keep my guys off the table and because he eventually ran out of it, I drew a Pteramander to clock him for a few turns. Game two, he essentially scooped to my turn six Carnage Tyrant. He had brought in Drill Bit to try and disrupt my hand, but instead of taking the Tyrant on turn two, he took a Guardian. When he went to Drill Bit me on his turn six, I countered it and slammed the Tyrant on his face the turn after.
It's tough to say exactly how to play every match, but your guys are kind of expected to die against people packing 10+ removal spells. Your best bet is to try and get stuff into play early and protect your lead. Barring that, play somewhat conservatively if you have the time to do so. If you have Dive Down, consider playing a turn off curve so that you can always have it up.
Also, don't leave yourself vulnerable on critical turns by fighting over something that doesn't really matter in the long run. For example, don't counter a removal spell on your dude if your opponent could untap and slam Teferi or something like that. It's better to let one of your replaceable creatures die and keep the shields up to prevent anything truly problematic from happening.
So you don't feel like Risk Factor is card disadvantage? Dealing 4 is great but only if you are close to killing your opponent. How often did you feel it was better than a more versatile card like Strike.
Sorry, Im asking a lot of questions. Decks like this that arent mainstream tend to have fewer ppl working,, so just trying to explore all avenues
It's important to have something useful to do when your opponent does nothing of consequence on their turn. Unless things are going completely horrible, either side of Risk Factor should be good. They can only take four damage so many times before they have to start giving you cards instead and you have a lot of good things to draw into; either way the card resolves, it's usually good for you.
You can experiment with other cards if you want to (of course), but something like Lightning Strike seems significantly worse to me. That card is always just three damage... low floor, low ceiling. Risk Factor represents two spells, a mana sink (important when trying to leverage counterspells), something to do if you start flooding out, and ends up in some combination of damage, cards in hand, or your opponent using resources to stop it (countering either half or whatever).
Don't ever worry about asking questions; that's what drives conversation, after all 👍
I also came to the conclusion that there was perhaps one too many lands in the main and considering how many cards this deck tends to see, I felt comfortable cutting down to 23. I'm primarily a full-on control player, so I always like to play more lands than most people and I HATE missing land drops (hell, I've played as many as 29 in a Standard control deck before), so my own personal bias led me to stick with 24 for the longest time, where 23 is probably just fine too. The mana requirements are pretty stringent and I couldn't rationalize cutting any of the two-color lands, so Island was the only reasonable cut.
I also cut one Risk Factor as I was winning many games without even casting it, but I still like having the pressure it can create. Three copies still gives us reliability in drawing it if we want it and every copy we do see is effectively two, so there were some games where I was getting clogged on them.
In place of these two cuts, I added the fourth Pteramander and the fourth Lava Coil to the main. In the sideboard, the Lava Coil is obviously no longer there and I've also changed a number of cards around. Carnage Tyrant was overperforming every time I played it, so I went up to a third copy and cut a Niv-Mizzet for it. Niv is obviously strong, but in my experience Tyrant was more effective at doing what our deck wants to do most of the time. I also cut one Negate, one Banefire, and the last Shivan Fire to give us four open slots (Lava Coil moving to the main being the fourth) with which to place two Spell Pierce and two Crushing Canopy.
I felt like I wanted a bit more action against the mono-U decks since their post-board games often have them with a million one mana plays to protect their Curiously Obsessed dudes and will often only leave a single mana up for this purpose. Spell Pierce can force the issue on Shock or Coil, which is really all you need to do in that matchup. You aren't necessarily trying to race them or whatever; I'd say more often than not you can shift into the control role since you have actual removal and a Carnage Tyrant endgame that they can't possibly hope to beat if they don't have Tempest Djinn rollin'. Spell Pierce is also just a serviceable card against control decks if you see it early enough; much better than a Shock or Lava Coil, anyway.
The Crushing Canopy are in because I wanted some interaction for the number of punishing enchantments that are out there, namely Wilderness Reclamation, Rhythm of the Wild, and the red card advantage enchantments. The fact that it also doubles up as a way to pick off Doom Whisperers, Lyras, opposing Niv-Mizzets and Pteramanders, along with all the meaningful drakes threats is also nice.
Banefire ended up being a bit too situational and cutesy. It felt like kind of a throwaway sideboard slot, so it got the axe. I also decided to keep a split of Disdainful Stroke and Negate since against the control decks they both counter the most important cards, but Stroke can come in as an additional card against Golgari or other green midrange decks whereas Negate may often be dead.
If you check out Jeff Hoogland on youtube, yesterday he made some changes to his bant tempo deck, adding in Guardian...seems strong.
Yeah, Guardian is the real deal. I think without access to that card, almost specifically, this deck wouldn't really be possible. I think once a person sits down and plays games with it versus the other options they'll see the difference almost immediately.
What is a good replacement for the Carnage Tyrants in the SB? I assume they are for against control and you bring in Rootbound with them? Is Nullhide Ferox doable, or would it be too awkward with your own spells?
Few games I have played so far, it feels like Risk Factor is way too situational to work. You can't really afford to spent 3 mana do nothing in most games where you are trying to maneuver.
Yeah, Carnage Tyrants come in against basically any blue deck, along with the extra land. Nullhide is a beefy dude, but it doesn't play well with the other counterspells and card drawing you want in the deck, especially post-board. You can try it, but my instinct is to say that it isn't suited for this style of deck; too many non-creatures.
I've actually ended up shaving a Risk Factor because it was the card that most often was kind of "meh" and I wanted to find room for the fourth Pteramander, so it got the axe. That being said, I did have a game last night where my mono-U opponent allowed me to draw three cards while he was at 11 life and facing down two of my creatures and I drew a Shock and Lava Coil, which allowed me to clear his board of Tempest Djinn and a Curious 1/1 of some variety. So, it may not always do exactly what you want it to do, but in games of parity it can present a super awkward decision for your opponent, which is the idea.
I'll post a fully updated list later tonight when I have a bit more time, since I did end up changing a few things around.
Id agree that Risk Factor does not seem good here. I could see 4x lava coil or lightning strike. Also I feel like you want some number of broad counters bsides Frilled and divedown.
In modern/legacy ppl play Temur bc lightning bolt is so good. Without bolt is there a major reason to go red bsides loving the color combo?
At the moment there are a lot of little creatures running around and being able to pick them off for one mana with Shock is pretty important. Also, Lava Coil is pretty much the premier removal spell in the format and kills almost everything you want it to with a few exceptions. You could try straight UG or whatnot, but I suspect you would have a much harder time keeping the board clear enough to pressure your opponent with the creature suite as-is.
Plus, Ionize is such a back-breaker a lot of the time. The two damage tacked onto a counterspell is exactly what this deck wants and it's the card that Suffocating Blast always wanted to be. It's not uncommon to have two creatures in play, Ionize their play, and then untap and adapt both creatures and kill them; and you can threaten that line with them being at 10-12 life, depending on what creatures we're talking about. It's pretty insane.
So, what does this deck beat? I could play tempo decks all day, and enjoy my UB pirates deck and obviously mono blue is good...both beat control well, but they are also a lot lower to the ground than this. I doubt this wins vs aggro or midrange...so what does it beat?
I've literally beat every opponent I've played against so far, with the exception of one. Most of the decks I've played against are actually aggressive decks (elves, mono-u, mardu humans), with the occasional clunky control deck here or there.
The only thing I've lost to at this point was a Jund player and it was easily winnable had I not punted. I misclicked on paying two life for a Stomping Ground that would have allowed me to play Niv-Mizzet and because of that I came up a couple points short in the end.
Arglebargles has been reporting his own success with the deck as well and to be honest he's probably played against more variety of decks than I have at this point.
Against aggressive decks you have a lot of cheap removal and ways to get on the board to leverage it. Guardian frequently outclasses most aggro decks' threats once it's adapted and you also tend to see more cards than they do. Post board you get to bring in the Cannonades to help keep things under control and can pivot to a Niv-Mizzet deck, which will easily win you the game the majority of the time you get to that point.
Against midrange it really depends on what they're doing. If they don't have a lot of cheap removal, you can really lean on your countermagic to stay ahead on the board and use your own removal to clear a path. Frilled Mystic is a beating against these decks since you are often able to use it to counter a play at mana parity and increase your clock at the same time.
Personally, I think this deck has the tools to beat just about any deck that's a known quantity right now. That's not to say it's invincible, but all your matches are winnable with tight play and a pinch of luck (which you need in any given game of Magic anyway).
Great to see some people working on this type of deck. I tried a similar list with Deeproot Champion and the list felt bad. Lost to aggro and lost to control. I have been wanting to try growth chamber. Keep working!
Yeah, Deeproot Champion seems pretty medium to me. Great on turn two, but pretty mopey later in the game. At least Growth-Chamber Guardian can be a 4/4 without any other assistance if you rip it in the mid/late game.
The only development I've made today was replacing the Island in the board with the third Rootbound Crag. I felt like I wanted an extra green source to facilitate more reliable Frilled Mystics, but I also wanted it to be able to cast Niv-Mizzet in those games as well. Seeing as how we're maxed on UG lands as it is, Rootbound Crag was the next best option. Certainly fine in those slower matchups anyway where you aren't as pressed to have your mana come out perfect in the first three turns.
I won't have this ready to go for FNM this week, but I should have it the following week. So for now I'll just keep grinding on MTGO; can't wait to play it in paper, though!
- Pteramander is actually nuts. It's been so good that I've tried justifying the fourth copy somewhere in the deck, but I can't figure out what to cut for the life of me.
- I tried dumping one Stomping Ground for the fourth Pteramander, but I wasn't convinced this was right and have since reverted the change.
- Found myself in a couple of situations where ripping a burn spell (even a shock) would have won the game on the spot. Since we're maxed on Shock already and there isn't really anything else I would really want (Lightning Strike is pretty medium), I decided to cut one of the Disdainful Strokes in the board for a single Banefire. I haven't touched Stroke yet, so it seemed like the easiest cut and I still want the Island in the board for the moment. There's a chance it might come out and if so, I'll put the second Stroke back in if I haven't thought of anything better.
- Speaking of the sideboard, I trimmed two copies of Shivan Fire for two Fiery Cannonades. Played a couple matches today where it would have been extremely useful. Still won both of those, but Cannonade would have made it much simpler.
Didn't have a ton of time to play a million matches overall, but I did play against Elves, Mardu Humans, Mono-U, and Jund. Only lost to Jund, but it was super close. This is one match where I wanted another burn spell since Doom Whisperer is pretty hard to get around when the rest of the board is more or less at parity. Could have definitely won both games with Banefire. Also, my mana was a bit fickle and I didn't have triple red for Niv on turn six and didn't see it until several turns after. Based on how the game played out, my opponent had very little interaction (Rhythm of the Wilds makes that more difficult as a deckbuilding cost), so the Niv would have easily carried me to victory.
Overall, the deck has felt very strong. These particular adapt creatures are the real deal, no question about it. Openers with Pteramander and Chart a Course haven't lost yet, with the exception of one of my games against Jund, and Guardian is an amazing card all on its own. I'm excited to continue working on this and hopefully streamline it even more!
This looks like it has a hard time closing the game out. Is there a reason you aren't playing Enigma Drake?
It actually isn't too bad, in my experience. If you fall behind on the board it can be a bit problematic, but Pteramander is a huge flyer that most decks that present that problem aren't very well equipped to beat. For example, I just beat an elves player that had two Clancallers AND a Vanquisher's Banner in play and between trading off Guardians and using a couple removal spells I was able to contain it and fly over the top with two Pteramanders; I didn't even Adapt them until he was at 10 and I presented lethal in one turn. Certainly a close game, but I won in the end.
As for Enigma Drake, I feel like three mana is somewhat of an awkward spot for a creature in this deck because ideally you want to have something in play within the first two turns and then sit back and react according to what your opponent does. Tapping out on turn three isn't as appealing to me, but it could be worth trying out. There are also games (like the one I just mentioned) where I don't have a non-creature spell in my draw until my turn seven Opt... I think individually, the threats in the deck are good enough on their own and don't necessarily require jumping through hoops to make work, whereas the Drake needs some things to be going right to begin with.
I could see giving it a shot, but right now I haven't felt a need for it.
Based on the current meta state at least on Arena, maybe a few Fiery Cannonade in the board as aggro is super prevalent thus far. I find anything that generates a lot of tokens is a little harder to handle, got absolutely destroyed by a Saproling deck earlier.
Certainly a card I considered. I can definitely see the appeal.
Guardian gets much larger relatively quickly. It's the type of card that comes down early and punches your opponent square in the jaw if they start to let it do its thing. It also finds other copies of itself; an ability neither of the other cards can do.
Both of the cards you bring up aren't bad choices either, but I feel Guardian is better as the baseline threat.
Maybe going down 1 Breeding Pool or Stomping Ground and pull in a Carnage Tyrant or Niv-Mizzet, Parun as a heavy hitter or card draw/pinger. I think I'm leaning toward Carnage Tyrant just due to the hexproof factor, as the main deck has a pretty solid card draw and damage engine as it is. May shore up those games where you're behind on board and facing an opposing Tyrant or similar across the table.
I could definitely see that, though cutting a land for a six-drop seems a bit dubious. Maybe it's fine since you aren't likely to see the Tyrant until you're good and ready to cast it.
Even if you do manage to get a 2/2 every turn... is there an existing deck that actually cares about that other than maybe Simic Flash (if that's even still a thing)?
Because this will be the only card in the mono-black deck
Just as there is a complicated strategy involved in playing around Wrath of God, you need to learn how to play against blue cards and in particular things like counterspells. For example, in this Standard format and the few directly preceding it, it is often correct to play into a counterspell when your opponent plays their fourth land and says go. You want this be a card they actively want to stop you from resolving so they don't just ignore it and EoT draw some cards; make them have to choose. You won't always be able to force their hand, but this is an example of a window of opportunity you have to apply pressure in a meaningful way. You might be able to cause them to miss land drops and have to play awkwardly for the next turn or two.
That's obviously just one scenario and there are many more to consider, but aside from that... play better decks and play better in general. I could sit here and write a novel about the things you can do that would be effective against me as a primarily blue-based control player, but I'll spare you from that. Just don't get mad that whatever brew you're working on is being bested by decks that have millions of hours of refinement invested in them by the majority of the player base. Blue is a very strong color and for most of Magic's existence that's been true, but it isn't unbeatable.
I have three Ionize main, for what it's worth. You can always play more counterspells if you want, but this configuration has worked quite well for me so far.
Removal is removal; sometimes they'll have it, sometimes they won't, and sometimes you'll be able to stop them even when they do. Guardian is your best bet at grinding through removal since you can get replacement copies pretty easy. In the matchups where you are facing piles of removal, bring in your Carnage Tyrants, Ral, and counterspells. Presumably most often these decks won't have a lot of creatures, so you can side out your removal and just be more threat dense.
I beat a Rakdos dude who was using every piece of burn he had to try and keep my guys off the table and because he eventually ran out of it, I drew a Pteramander to clock him for a few turns. Game two, he essentially scooped to my turn six Carnage Tyrant. He had brought in Drill Bit to try and disrupt my hand, but instead of taking the Tyrant on turn two, he took a Guardian. When he went to Drill Bit me on his turn six, I countered it and slammed the Tyrant on his face the turn after.
It's tough to say exactly how to play every match, but your guys are kind of expected to die against people packing 10+ removal spells. Your best bet is to try and get stuff into play early and protect your lead. Barring that, play somewhat conservatively if you have the time to do so. If you have Dive Down, consider playing a turn off curve so that you can always have it up.
Also, don't leave yourself vulnerable on critical turns by fighting over something that doesn't really matter in the long run. For example, don't counter a removal spell on your dude if your opponent could untap and slam Teferi or something like that. It's better to let one of your replaceable creatures die and keep the shields up to prevent anything truly problematic from happening.
It's important to have something useful to do when your opponent does nothing of consequence on their turn. Unless things are going completely horrible, either side of Risk Factor should be good. They can only take four damage so many times before they have to start giving you cards instead and you have a lot of good things to draw into; either way the card resolves, it's usually good for you.
You can experiment with other cards if you want to (of course), but something like Lightning Strike seems significantly worse to me. That card is always just three damage... low floor, low ceiling. Risk Factor represents two spells, a mana sink (important when trying to leverage counterspells), something to do if you start flooding out, and ends up in some combination of damage, cards in hand, or your opponent using resources to stop it (countering either half or whatever).
Don't ever worry about asking questions; that's what drives conversation, after all 👍
4x Breeding Pool
4x Hinterland Harbor
1x Island
2x Rootbound Crag
4x Steam Vents
4x Stomping Ground
4x Sulfur Falls
Sorcery
4x Chart a Course
4x Lava Coil
1x Blink of an Eye
2x Dive Down
3x Ionize
4x Opt
3x Risk Factor
4x Shock
Creature
4x Frilled Mystic
4x Growth-Chamber Guardian
4x Pteramander
1x Beacon Bolt
3x Carnage Tyrant
1x Disdainful Stroke
1x Rootbound Crag
1x Negate
2x Spell Pierce
1x Niv-Mizzet, Parun
1x Ral, Izzet Viceroy
2x Fiery Cannonade
2x Crushing Canopy
I also came to the conclusion that there was perhaps one too many lands in the main and considering how many cards this deck tends to see, I felt comfortable cutting down to 23. I'm primarily a full-on control player, so I always like to play more lands than most people and I HATE missing land drops (hell, I've played as many as 29 in a Standard control deck before), so my own personal bias led me to stick with 24 for the longest time, where 23 is probably just fine too. The mana requirements are pretty stringent and I couldn't rationalize cutting any of the two-color lands, so Island was the only reasonable cut.
I also cut one Risk Factor as I was winning many games without even casting it, but I still like having the pressure it can create. Three copies still gives us reliability in drawing it if we want it and every copy we do see is effectively two, so there were some games where I was getting clogged on them.
In place of these two cuts, I added the fourth Pteramander and the fourth Lava Coil to the main. In the sideboard, the Lava Coil is obviously no longer there and I've also changed a number of cards around. Carnage Tyrant was overperforming every time I played it, so I went up to a third copy and cut a Niv-Mizzet for it. Niv is obviously strong, but in my experience Tyrant was more effective at doing what our deck wants to do most of the time. I also cut one Negate, one Banefire, and the last Shivan Fire to give us four open slots (Lava Coil moving to the main being the fourth) with which to place two Spell Pierce and two Crushing Canopy.
I felt like I wanted a bit more action against the mono-U decks since their post-board games often have them with a million one mana plays to protect their Curiously Obsessed dudes and will often only leave a single mana up for this purpose. Spell Pierce can force the issue on Shock or Coil, which is really all you need to do in that matchup. You aren't necessarily trying to race them or whatever; I'd say more often than not you can shift into the control role since you have actual removal and a Carnage Tyrant endgame that they can't possibly hope to beat if they don't have Tempest Djinn rollin'. Spell Pierce is also just a serviceable card against control decks if you see it early enough; much better than a Shock or Lava Coil, anyway.
The Crushing Canopy are in because I wanted some interaction for the number of punishing enchantments that are out there, namely Wilderness Reclamation, Rhythm of the Wild, and the red card advantage enchantments. The fact that it also doubles up as a way to pick off Doom Whisperers, Lyras, opposing Niv-Mizzets and Pteramanders, along with all the meaningful drakes threats is also nice.
Banefire ended up being a bit too situational and cutesy. It felt like kind of a throwaway sideboard slot, so it got the axe. I also decided to keep a split of Disdainful Stroke and Negate since against the control decks they both counter the most important cards, but Stroke can come in as an additional card against Golgari or other green midrange decks whereas Negate may often be dead.
Yeah, Guardian is the real deal. I think without access to that card, almost specifically, this deck wouldn't really be possible. I think once a person sits down and plays games with it versus the other options they'll see the difference almost immediately.
Yeah, Carnage Tyrants come in against basically any blue deck, along with the extra land. Nullhide is a beefy dude, but it doesn't play well with the other counterspells and card drawing you want in the deck, especially post-board. You can try it, but my instinct is to say that it isn't suited for this style of deck; too many non-creatures.
I've actually ended up shaving a Risk Factor because it was the card that most often was kind of "meh" and I wanted to find room for the fourth Pteramander, so it got the axe. That being said, I did have a game last night where my mono-U opponent allowed me to draw three cards while he was at 11 life and facing down two of my creatures and I drew a Shock and Lava Coil, which allowed me to clear his board of Tempest Djinn and a Curious 1/1 of some variety. So, it may not always do exactly what you want it to do, but in games of parity it can present a super awkward decision for your opponent, which is the idea.
I'll post a fully updated list later tonight when I have a bit more time, since I did end up changing a few things around.
At the moment there are a lot of little creatures running around and being able to pick them off for one mana with Shock is pretty important. Also, Lava Coil is pretty much the premier removal spell in the format and kills almost everything you want it to with a few exceptions. You could try straight UG or whatnot, but I suspect you would have a much harder time keeping the board clear enough to pressure your opponent with the creature suite as-is.
Plus, Ionize is such a back-breaker a lot of the time. The two damage tacked onto a counterspell is exactly what this deck wants and it's the card that Suffocating Blast always wanted to be. It's not uncommon to have two creatures in play, Ionize their play, and then untap and adapt both creatures and kill them; and you can threaten that line with them being at 10-12 life, depending on what creatures we're talking about. It's pretty insane.
I've literally beat every opponent I've played against so far, with the exception of one. Most of the decks I've played against are actually aggressive decks (elves, mono-u, mardu humans), with the occasional clunky control deck here or there.
The only thing I've lost to at this point was a Jund player and it was easily winnable had I not punted. I misclicked on paying two life for a Stomping Ground that would have allowed me to play Niv-Mizzet and because of that I came up a couple points short in the end.
Arglebargles has been reporting his own success with the deck as well and to be honest he's probably played against more variety of decks than I have at this point.
Against aggressive decks you have a lot of cheap removal and ways to get on the board to leverage it. Guardian frequently outclasses most aggro decks' threats once it's adapted and you also tend to see more cards than they do. Post board you get to bring in the Cannonades to help keep things under control and can pivot to a Niv-Mizzet deck, which will easily win you the game the majority of the time you get to that point.
Against midrange it really depends on what they're doing. If they don't have a lot of cheap removal, you can really lean on your countermagic to stay ahead on the board and use your own removal to clear a path. Frilled Mystic is a beating against these decks since you are often able to use it to counter a play at mana parity and increase your clock at the same time.
Personally, I think this deck has the tools to beat just about any deck that's a known quantity right now. That's not to say it's invincible, but all your matches are winnable with tight play and a pinch of luck (which you need in any given game of Magic anyway).
Yeah, Deeproot Champion seems pretty medium to me. Great on turn two, but pretty mopey later in the game. At least Growth-Chamber Guardian can be a 4/4 without any other assistance if you rip it in the mid/late game.
The only development I've made today was replacing the Island in the board with the third Rootbound Crag. I felt like I wanted an extra green source to facilitate more reliable Frilled Mystics, but I also wanted it to be able to cast Niv-Mizzet in those games as well. Seeing as how we're maxed on UG lands as it is, Rootbound Crag was the next best option. Certainly fine in those slower matchups anyway where you aren't as pressed to have your mana come out perfect in the first three turns.
I won't have this ready to go for FNM this week, but I should have it the following week. So for now I'll just keep grinding on MTGO; can't wait to play it in paper, though!
- Pteramander is actually nuts. It's been so good that I've tried justifying the fourth copy somewhere in the deck, but I can't figure out what to cut for the life of me.
- I tried dumping one Stomping Ground for the fourth Pteramander, but I wasn't convinced this was right and have since reverted the change.
- Found myself in a couple of situations where ripping a burn spell (even a shock) would have won the game on the spot. Since we're maxed on Shock already and there isn't really anything else I would really want (Lightning Strike is pretty medium), I decided to cut one of the Disdainful Strokes in the board for a single Banefire. I haven't touched Stroke yet, so it seemed like the easiest cut and I still want the Island in the board for the moment. There's a chance it might come out and if so, I'll put the second Stroke back in if I haven't thought of anything better.
- Speaking of the sideboard, I trimmed two copies of Shivan Fire for two Fiery Cannonades. Played a couple matches today where it would have been extremely useful. Still won both of those, but Cannonade would have made it much simpler.
Didn't have a ton of time to play a million matches overall, but I did play against Elves, Mardu Humans, Mono-U, and Jund. Only lost to Jund, but it was super close. This is one match where I wanted another burn spell since Doom Whisperer is pretty hard to get around when the rest of the board is more or less at parity. Could have definitely won both games with Banefire. Also, my mana was a bit fickle and I didn't have triple red for Niv on turn six and didn't see it until several turns after. Based on how the game played out, my opponent had very little interaction (Rhythm of the Wilds makes that more difficult as a deckbuilding cost), so the Niv would have easily carried me to victory.
Overall, the deck has felt very strong. These particular adapt creatures are the real deal, no question about it. Openers with Pteramander and Chart a Course haven't lost yet, with the exception of one of my games against Jund, and Guardian is an amazing card all on its own. I'm excited to continue working on this and hopefully streamline it even more!
Edit: Just saw this on TCGPlayer, lol:
It actually isn't too bad, in my experience. If you fall behind on the board it can be a bit problematic, but Pteramander is a huge flyer that most decks that present that problem aren't very well equipped to beat. For example, I just beat an elves player that had two Clancallers AND a Vanquisher's Banner in play and between trading off Guardians and using a couple removal spells I was able to contain it and fly over the top with two Pteramanders; I didn't even Adapt them until he was at 10 and I presented lethal in one turn. Certainly a close game, but I won in the end.
As for Enigma Drake, I feel like three mana is somewhat of an awkward spot for a creature in this deck because ideally you want to have something in play within the first two turns and then sit back and react according to what your opponent does. Tapping out on turn three isn't as appealing to me, but it could be worth trying out. There are also games (like the one I just mentioned) where I don't have a non-creature spell in my draw until my turn seven Opt... I think individually, the threats in the deck are good enough on their own and don't necessarily require jumping through hoops to make work, whereas the Drake needs some things to be going right to begin with.
I could see giving it a shot, but right now I haven't felt a need for it.
Certainly a card I considered. I can definitely see the appeal.
Both of the cards you bring up aren't bad choices either, but I feel Guardian is better as the baseline threat.
I could definitely see that, though cutting a land for a six-drop seems a bit dubious. Maybe it's fine since you aren't likely to see the Tyrant until you're good and ready to cast it.