I've been playing a rug list online, and I have found that mono black is only a bad match up with they resolve a Phyrexian Crusader. I use Gut Shot and and other burn spells to keep the other infecters at bay. Vapor snag/mana leak is what I use for the crusaders.... but maybe Beast Within might be an option.
Bummer to hear Klug, you and a few others are the only reason I come to this sub-forum. I normally do not like alters in my personal collection, but I do admire the talent that it takes to make them.
I just bought a Graveborn box from Walmart and I was in the process of opening it and I noticed that the box had 2 Avatar of Woe inside. (one on the front, and one on the back) From looking at the list I'm missing Blazing Archon. Has anyone else seen this before?
I've been playing this list online a lot and I've been having really good success. The only deck that I've been having problems with are Splinter Twin (w/dispel and Into the Roil main). I've recently added Torpor Orb and Demystify to the SB to help combat them. If anyone has any incite on this match-up I would be glad to try anything at this point.
Maybe looking at the block tempered steel decks would provide a good idea as well, I just haven't done it.
The reason you don't want to look towards the TS deck in block for inspiration is because JTMS is NOT in block. They run Blade Splicer and Hero of Bladehold, both are cards that lose badly if they are up against JTMS. Once JTMS rotates then those cards might have a chance at being good, but until then they'll just have to sit on the bench.
20 lands seems like a bit much to me. I'm running 18 right now and I almost never get land screwed since you can run the entire deck off of two lands and a Mox Opal.
Contested War Zone should never be considered a land that produces mana. I consider it as a pump spell for 1 mana. That being said, in the off chance that you do tap it for mana its to play a Tempered Steel to win the game.
FNM 1
AscensionTwin 2-1
I want to say that Shrine of Loyal Legion was the MVP of the match. Having that on 3 or 4 charge counters with a Tempered Steel in play is bonkers! It helped me avoid Pyroclasm and swing in for the win.
g/w Fauna toolbox 2-0
I didn't really see much from this guy, He played a Fauna Shaman and a few Vengevines, before he died both games.
Darkblade 2-0
Game 1 He played a turn 2 Stoneforge Mystic and fished out a Batterskull and then died before he could use it. Game 2 he did the same thing and fished out a Sword of War and Peace and I copied it with my Phyrexian Metamorph, next turn I equipped it to a Glint hawk and rode it to victory.
FNM 2
Soul Sisters 2-1
Game 1 and 3, I out aggro'd the life gain. Phyrexian Metamorph was really good in this match up also. Game 2 she went infinite life combo and I scooped.
G/W Soul Sisters 2-1
see above
Darkblade 2-0 (same guy from earlier)
Game 1 he got mana screwed. Game 2 he inquisition'd me took my Tempered Steel but I used Signal Pest and Contested War Zone to lock the game up.
Elves 2-0 Phyrexian Revokers naming his mana dorks really hurt him and Dispatch and Dismember removing key blockers/attackers won me the match.
I looked through all the pages with only a slight mention of Blade Splicer. What do you guys think about the card? I liked the card Master's Call and I still run it as my sweeper recovery or at the EOT and then drop a Tempered Steel on my turn for huge beats.
On a side note, in 1997 I sold most of my collection to a co-worker for $100 which included 10 revised Dual Lands, and bunch of other stuff. Well almost 15 years later when I decided to pick up magic again I ran into the very same co-worker from years ago. He was now looking to cash in his old cards. He ended up selling me 21 assorted revised Dual Lands for $300. I also picked up 6 Force of Will's, 2 Mox Diamond's and 6 Mishra's Factory's from Antiquities and few other cards for $100 all from his collection.
This is the newest version of my White Steel deck and I've been working on for the past month or so. I've been taking down caw-blade, U/B Tezz and Grixis Tezz, Valakut, Elves. I will admit that I've been totally blown out by KRed and sometimes, but I really like the Necropede's in that match-up. Last night I went 3-1, only losing to Grand Architect deck and I also played against u/b/r tezz, darkwing duck and elves.
The new additions to the deck have been the Stoneforge / sword package, which is just insane against a lot of match-ups. I've also added in 2 Molten-Tail Masticore for the late game reach this deck was missing. Molten-Tail also get huge with a Tempered Steel in play. I've increased my land count from 20 to 22 to support 8 fetches and the extra mana required for Molten-Tail. At first I was against the idea of running fetches in the deck but after some more testing I think it works for this build.
@Jimmy.
I considered the same thing when I was looking at this deck. I thought to myself, if I don't have Tempered Steel how do I win? How do I come back from an early sweeper? How do I defeat a Wurmcoil Engine or better creature?
My Solution was to run cards like Master's Call for added creatures that I can cast EOT to maximize attacking creatures or blockers. I also run a little removal in the form of Journey to Nowhere to deal with big scary monsters. Finally I run Hero of Bladehold and Contested War Zone for extra beats. I've used an Inkmoth Nexus pumped by 2 Contested War Zone to win with poison against a U/W Caw-go-blade who spent all of his sweeper to kill my creatures, he also killed my Tempered Steel with a Ratchet Bomb.
I tried running the full 8 fetches in my WW build, and I wasn't really impressed. I tried 4 and it was never needed by time I had one. So I don't think they are required.
16 Plains
4 Memnite
4 Signal Pest
4 Steel Overseer
4 Vault Skirge
4 Spellskite
3 Blade Splicer
4 Glint Hawk Idol
4 Dispatch
2 Dismember
3 Mox Opal
3 Timely Reinforcements
3 Celestial Purge
2 Hero of Bladehold
3 Torpor Orb
2 Shrine of Loyal Legions
2 Demystify
As a side note, I never really had any real problems with the Birthing Pod decks but Torpor Orb completely hoses them.
I've been playing this deck for a long time. This is the version I've been playing online and at FNM.
16 Plains
4 Memnite
4 Signal Pest
4 Steel Overseer
4 Vault Skirge
4 Spellskite
3 Blade Splicer
4 Glint Hawk Idol
4 Dispatch
2 Dismember
3 Mox Opal
3 Act of Aggression
3 Celestial Purge
4 Kor Firewalker
3 Phyrexian Metamorph
2 Shrine of Loyal Legions
The reason you don't want to look towards the TS deck in block for inspiration is because JTMS is NOT in block. They run Blade Splicer and Hero of Bladehold, both are cards that lose badly if they are up against JTMS. Once JTMS rotates then those cards might have a chance at being good, but until then they'll just have to sit on the bench.
Contested War Zone should never be considered a land that produces mana. I consider it as a pump spell for 1 mana. That being said, in the off chance that you do tap it for mana its to play a Tempered Steel to win the game.
This is the list I used.
4 Signal Pest
4 Glint Hawk
4 Memnite
3 Ornithopter
3 Vault Skirge
3 Porcelain Legionnaire
3 Phyrexian Revoker
3 Dispatch
3 Mox Opal
2 Shrine of Loyal Legions
14 Plains
4 Inkmoth Nexus
2 Contested War Zone
3 Glint Hawk Idol
2 Phyrexian Metamorph
2 Celestial Purge
2 Dismember
2 Divine Offering
2 Hex Parasite
1 Dispatch
1 Shrine of Loyal Legions
FNM 1
AscensionTwin 2-1
I want to say that Shrine of Loyal Legion was the MVP of the match. Having that on 3 or 4 charge counters with a Tempered Steel in play is bonkers! It helped me avoid Pyroclasm and swing in for the win.
Mirror Match 2-0
The main difference between the 2 decks is I ran Glint Hawks and Phyrexian Revokers MB and he ran Hex Parasites and Etched Champions.
g/w Fauna toolbox 2-0
I didn't really see much from this guy, He played a Fauna Shaman and a few Vengevines, before he died both games.
Darkblade 2-0
Game 1 He played a turn 2 Stoneforge Mystic and fished out a Batterskull and then died before he could use it. Game 2 he did the same thing and fished out a Sword of War and Peace and I copied it with my Phyrexian Metamorph, next turn I equipped it to a Glint hawk and rode it to victory.
FNM 2
Soul Sisters 2-1
Game 1 and 3, I out aggro'd the life gain. Phyrexian Metamorph was really good in this match up also. Game 2 she went infinite life combo and I scooped.
G/W Soul Sisters 2-1
see above
Darkblade 2-0 (same guy from earlier)
Game 1 he got mana screwed. Game 2 he inquisition'd me took my Tempered Steel but I used Signal Pest and Contested War Zone to lock the game up.
Elves 2-0
Phyrexian Revokers naming his mana dorks really hurt him and Dispatch and Dismember removing key blockers/attackers won me the match.
untested sample deck
4 Signal Pest
4 Vault Skirge
4 Porcelain Legionnaire
4 Blade Splicer
4 Steel Overseer
4 Hex Parasite
4 Tempered Steel
3 Mox Opal
2 Contested War zone
4 Inkmoth Nexus
4 Seachrome Coast
12 Plains
3 Journey to Nowhere
4 Spellskite
2 Phyrexian Revoker
4 Glint Hawk Idol
2 Tumble Magnet
Slightly Played unlimited Mox Jet $210
Minty unlimited Mox Sapphire $370
Near Mint unlimited Mox Pearl $250
Slightly Played unlimited Mox Emerald $210
Played unlimited Time Walk $210
Very Played Library of Alexandria $60
Minty Unlimited Time Vault $400
Minty Unlimited Ancestral Recall $600
Near Mint The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale $90
On a side note, in 1997 I sold most of my collection to a co-worker for $100 which included 10 revised Dual Lands, and bunch of other stuff. Well almost 15 years later when I decided to pick up magic again I ran into the very same co-worker from years ago. He was now looking to cash in his old cards. He ended up selling me 21 assorted revised Dual Lands for $300. I also picked up 6 Force of Will's, 2 Mox Diamond's and 6 Mishra's Factory's from Antiquities and few other cards for $100 all from his collection.
The new additions to the deck have been the Stoneforge / sword package, which is just insane against a lot of match-ups. I've also added in 2 Molten-Tail Masticore for the late game reach this deck was missing. Molten-Tail also get huge with a Tempered Steel in play. I've increased my land count from 20 to 22 to support 8 fetches and the extra mana required for Molten-Tail. At first I was against the idea of running fetches in the deck but after some more testing I think it works for this build.
4 Vector Asp
4 Ornithopter
4 Memnite
4 Signal Pest
4 Steel Overseer
4 Stoneforge Mystic
2 Molten-Tail Masticore
SPELLS 12
4 Tempered Steel
3 Master's Call
3 Mox Opal
2 Sword of Body and Mind
8 Plains
4 Inkmoth Nexus
4 Arid Mesa
4 Marsh Flats
2 Contested War Zone
3 Glint Hawk Idol
3 Necropede
3 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Revoke Existence
2 Divine Offering
1 Mortarpod
1 Bonehoard
I considered the same thing when I was looking at this deck. I thought to myself, if I don't have Tempered Steel how do I win? How do I come back from an early sweeper? How do I defeat a Wurmcoil Engine or better creature?
My Solution was to run cards like Master's Call for added creatures that I can cast EOT to maximize attacking creatures or blockers. I also run a little removal in the form of Journey to Nowhere to deal with big scary monsters. Finally I run Hero of Bladehold and Contested War Zone for extra beats. I've used an Inkmoth Nexus pumped by 2 Contested War Zone to win with poison against a U/W Caw-go-blade who spent all of his sweeper to kill my creatures, he also killed my Tempered Steel with a Ratchet Bomb.