Thank you for this article. It is by far the best piece on MTG finances I have read.
I am a player who was exposed to the game in 1994 and began to play competitively in 1995 as a pre-teen. Back when inflation was so low, $1.25 bought you a pizza slice, I remember cards like Hammer of Bogarden selling for $50.00 at the time. However, there was no MTG on the internet, and magazines like Scrye and Inquest offered strategy but by the time the issue got to your door, much of it was outdated.
In my opinion, the situation was exacerbated once information began to flow as freely as it does now. It's ridiculous to see price bubbles happen over the course of a morning a a PT. I quit standard after worlds of 2001 because I saw the game trending towards an ever higher price ceiling to remain competitive. I began collecting Legacy and Vintage (then called Type 1 and Type 1.5) so I could continue playing without shelling out hundreds every rotation. The idea was that i would pick up only what I need and be able to play to my heart's content. Card prices have since shot up so high, that very few LGS support these eternal formats, and one has to travel by car to go to tournament venues respectable enough to get tournament level testing and competition in. I am not 32 years old and have seen this system unravel. There is a reason this game has the longest longevity of a TCG in the market. But the greed is rampant, and it's become so prevalent that greed has now part of the system. Articles like "Packs to Power", pricing being dictated by internet giants, tournament series being taken over by 3rd party distributors... It's come so far that to an extent, to remove greed from the system would create a partial collapse. If StarCityGames were to drop their tournament series, it would be a huge blow to competitive play.
When they dropped Vintage tournaments, many players thought it was a death knell to Vintage and had quit. It took many years for Vintage to restructure itself back to a grassroots system to heal the rift and calm the fears that StarCityGames created by dropping the format. And it took enthusiasts like Nick Coss, Nick Detwiler, and more a lot of personal sacrifice and almost a decade of effort individually to resuscitate their respective regions vintage scenes for us to get an almost 500 player vintage champs this year. Nick Coss became a full time store owner and tournament organizer and helped create CardTitan.com to be able to bring a respectable venue to Legacy and Vintage. He very rarely gets to be a player because he's put most of the responsibility on his own shoulders to offer a sustainable Vintage scene to the northeast.
I highly doubt that there are enough champions of each respective format to encourage the kind of responsible gaming it would take to remove greed from the situation. Wizards continues to cut player support, local gaming stores continue to make up for those losses, the margins become thinner and thinner, all while the player base grows and more players require more alternate formats (like EDH, Multiplayer, Pauper, etc.) to make up for the fact that the officially supported formats are pricing out magic enthusiasts. Pauper is a perfect example of how alternate format growth is directly proportional to Standard's rising cost barrier to entry.
The sad thing is, there are many under-served neighborhoods in cities across the country where the youth will never be able to play the game, as it's more expensive than sports like football or baseball, where the cost of leagues fees and gear is either comprarable or even cheaper than MTg on an annual basis. At times, MTG can require a greater time commitment to stay competitive than said sports, when you account for rotations, drafting, and travel.
I knwo the game will continue to succeed, but I find it sad to think that my one year old may never get to enjoy the breadth or totality of my experience with this game when she gets older because the economics of it all may not make it feasible for her enjoy it in the same ways.
I wouldn't run either, but the ability to be able to blow it for 2 or 3 immediately would be the reason I'd run Explosives over ratchet bomb any day in a 3-color blue EDH deck.
He posted the reasons why, but here they are.
1) Punishes sweepers: playing Sharuum, you know people are going to aim fire and brimstone at your list, just because of the General you are playing. With the exception of Sharuum herself (who actually is least threatening while in play). Every creature you run should be a must-answer threat, as is most of your deck. People who play sweeper while blatantly trying to ruin your board wiill get punished while Karn is at the table, for each open mana you have available.
2) Keeps brokenness in check. The most efficient artifact ramp and accelerants are also the ceapest. Karn let's you keep all that nonsense in check, as over the course of the game, they will have their chance to become collateral damage.
3) Break up equipment shenanigans: I don't mind the damage aspect of equipment, but Karn will prevent people from untapping their lands with SoFaF, and prevent other nutty equipment tricks.
4) Eldrazi protection: this one is one of his more subtle applications. When people swing with Ulamog and Kozilek, the anihhilator triggers can become costly. Karn allows you to use Savaging Station as a way to blunt those triggers, by animating your cogs before the trigger so you can get them back.
5) Combat: Karn obviously allows you to swing with your artifacts, but he also allows you to defend yourself very well. Salvaging station damn near always has vigilence when attacking, as whatever blocks usually dies, untapping the Station. Also, an animated Darksteel Ingot can keep a lot of nonsense off your back. Lastly, there are some cards that you want to block but don't necessarily want to kill. Karn himself can defend against Academy Rector, Woodfall Primus, and other such cards that are better left alive.
6) Prevent artfact tap effects: sometimes, giving a freshly played artifact summoning sickness is the best way to not let things get out of hand. A well-timed activation on a Birthing Pod, and other busted effects, has saved my but more than once.
There are more ways that Karn has been stellar for me, but these are just some off the top of my head.
I was playing against Saffi, Bruna, and some other general (sorry Mike, but you literally had nothing that game). An opponent had an Elesh Norn in play (it might have been Bruna, but I don't remember). I had Karn and Salvaging Station in play with a few 1 drops scattered on the field and in my yard. I drew Metamorph and went infinate without Sharuum.
I played Metamorph copying Salvaging Station, and proceeded to start animating my artifacts, letting Elesh Norn kill them. With a lotus petal and sol ring in the yard, I had infinate mana, and infinate recursion triggers for my 0 and 1 drop artifacts. I used Nihil Spellbomb to draw my library till I hit my Bitter Ordeal for game, using floating mana from recycling lotus petal for the casting cost.
Most people who pilot Sharuum haven't played it long enough to see why they aren't the sacred cows many people assume them to be. Overall, changes like these make the entire deck more focused and streamlined, allowing the synergies to pull a lot of weight in the deck. Even when you don't get the fast starts you like, the deck will still do what you need it to, because as long as you have cards, those cards will work with each other, no matter what permutation you draw them in. I do have to say though... Elixir is a lot better than it looks, and very counter-intuitive, but it's soooooo good.
I haven't tried out Detention Sphere yet. Let me know how this continues to work out for you. I've though of it as a Ratchet Bomb with Vindicate-like applications (kill tokens, or disable a permanent). I'd like to hear more about your testing experience with this card.
I'm glad your GP experience went well. Things have start to go back to normal with regards to my work hours, so I'll post more update as I now have more time to sling the cardboard.
Adding in Palinchron will give you a win con, but it won't prevent or help you recover from a land wipe. I personally run a Venser and a Worldgorger Dragon in my list. The Worldgorger can help you go infinite, but it's main use is to protect me from wipes. With Winding Canyons or an Alchemist's refuge, you can flash him onto the battlefield in response to a wipe, at which point you are so far ahead, you just win. Worldgorger is a glass jaw card, but when played effectively, dodges the worst a table can hit you with, and with the right ETB creatures, can win you the game on the spot, when going for the combo
It's funny... The majority of my wins with Time Sieve didn't come from Thopter / Sword combo, but from Karn animating 1 drops, that I then sac to Tme Sieve, and stacking Salvaging Station triggers to get them back.
The deck offers so many lines of play... It truly is a pleasure to pilot.
I actually didn't play the Sphinx plan. I literally saw Sphinx every game. Some games I even threw it back from the opening hand and re-drew it. what made the games lopsided was that I also saw Artificer's intuition in half of my games. The specific game you're talking about, I sucked my teeth 'cuz and laughed over the stupidity of it. It was I game where I threw the sphinx and Karn liberated back with with the partial paris mulligan, drew a mana rock and the artificer's intuition, rifle shuffled the rest away, cut the deck 5 times, and rifle shuffled again. Mike cuts my deck, and what's the card I drew on my second turn... Sphinx. It would be my only relevent line of play for the next 2 turns (until I drew Mind's Eye). I only saw Trading posts in 2 games that night, and didn't once see Bazaar. I was looking to test multiple cards, and didn't see an even spread of them on Sunday.
This is the reason I despise Sensei's Divining Top. However, this is also the reason I would 100% play both Top and Sphinx if we were playing in a league for packs, like the guys and I used to. I wasn't testing the sphinx to see if it was good, it was to see if it would piss people off more than top, which it did. You're reaction that game and your response now further shows that this card is indeed more flagrant an offender than Blightsteel.
To be fair, in one of the games where I also drew into an early Sphinx, I called that before I got to my turn, the entire table would be at 10... and that's exactly what happened (I'm not sure if that was the same game as the game we were talking about above, it might have been.) It got killed and reanimated, cloned, and then metamorphed. I know I didn't win that game, but took 2 players off the table.
Now, when we head over to Long Island, if we play with those guys that came over from Game Table, I will make sure that Sphinx comes down on their ass faster than a Leyline... I owe them a swift departure. Some people just don't understand the concept of playing a civil game. My last time at the warehouse, one guy in particular asked me to play an "toned-down" deck, and then proceeds to take 20 minutes to masturbate long enough to find the cards to combo the table on turn 5, and then says it's getting late and has to take his friend home. Sharuum's been cleaning out her shotgun ever since, and that's the reason why I started playing her as frequesntly again. No post-highschool juvenille who frequents that store is going enjoy a game of EDH at the warehouse while I'm sitting at their table. You come into our "house" and proceed to disgust your hosts. Call me bitter, call me a jack***, call it what you want. I just don't have the patience for nonsense like that.
I apologize for not getting back on this sooner. Work and family concerns have kept me busy this week. Sandy has taken a toll on both....
As for using my feedback, I give my permission: It's all good. This thread has a high density of relevent information and experience, which shines through with most of the responses and questions, which is what compelled me to add my 2 cents. I really do appreciate the fact that you asked: in the age of net-decking, this is a rare occurrence, and is another sign that you sir, are a gentleman and a scholar.
That just made me smile :). When lists get so tight that improvements seem unlikely, interest can get stale. There have been months at a time where I haven't played the deck because I just didn't feel the need to. When I play Sharuum, I don't pick it up because I enjoy comboing out or spitting out play-after-play of rediculousness. I do so because sometimes, fun for me is being able to pick up a deck and pilot it at an extremely high level of competence, and the challenge isn't to win the table, but to play a perfect technical game of Magic (something that has only happened like twice in my 18 or 19 years of playing the game). I refuse to cut any of the cards I'm testing until I've played an exhaustive number of games because I don't just want to see if the cards are good. Sometimes, you need to understand nuances of their applications. It took me almost a year to understand how to properly use Bazaar of Baghdad in Vintage Bazzar-Stax, a card that I pushed very hard for inclusion, but I understood at the time that my game losses at the time didn't come from Bazaar, but how I used it. I promise to give you updates when I've made my decisions.
I won't be there... it's been a long time since I've played for a seat on the gravy train. After college, and now that I'm building my career, I mostly play Vintage tournaments now. But, if you ever come to an event in the NY/NJ area, let me know. I would love to get a game with 'ya. Good luck with school, and if you'd like me to provide resources for anything regarding my list, building concepts, decks I've referenced... anything, just PM me and let me know.
All the best,
Jostin
Magister Sphinx (testing was to see how offensive this card is over its normal slot, Blightsteel Colossus).
Sphinx of the Steel Wind
Myr Battlesphere (has been getting tested as a stronger, more flexible Hex Parasite, another example of stretching and overlapping utility of cards).
- Trading Post
- Fact of Fiction
- Bazaar of Baghdad
- Unburial Rites
Karn Liberated (which had been undergoing testing long before this last round of testing inclusions a few days ago)The cards I had swapped in to help accommodate those changes were:
Chromatic Lantern - to smooth my mana
Sword of the Meek / Thopter Foundry engine (Although both have been in the deck, I include this here to illustrate that I would be leaning harder on this synergy much harder than before)
The fetch-land engine
Oblivion Stone (over All is Dust due to the inclusion of more colored permanents being included.. seemed like a no-brainer).
Results in the order of oldest tested to newest tested:
Karn Liberated - has more than proven itself to be a worthy inclusion to the deck. In the few instances it was not relevant, it was still better than spine and at no point in time would I have wanted the spine over it (even wen there was another Karn Liberated on the table). It is the real deal. This has been consistent with testing over the last 2 months. It has earned its spot in the deck for the foreseeable future.
Myr Battlesphere - Has been proving itself over the last 3-4 weeks as a great way to contain planeswalkers on the table across multiple senarios. The idea for his inclusion was that if a player has more than one planeswalker in play, it offers me the most flexibility. For example:
Last night, it only got to kill one planeswalker in one game (I didn't see it very often, and most of the decks I faces with the deck didn't play their planeswalkers). I attacked my opponent (and not his planeswalker) and still got to kill the planeswalker and force the chump (I killed an opposing Karn Liberated that had to -3 to remove my Tawnos's Coffin... Great "chess" play: If he targets either the Coffin or the Battlesphere, he still loses his Karn because I had mana up to use the Coffin in response... Pawn still takes Rook).
In post-game discussions over Myr Battlesphere, more than one person admitted that having Myr Battlesphere on the table did prevent them from playing their planeswalker because of their inability to defend it well or from the poor EV in using the ability once just to risk it dying. I'm still not quite sold but Battlesphere is growing on me.
Magister Sphinx - Last night, this card caused groans every time it was played, and was directly responsible for Berderndern walking off the table in disgust. Everyone knew before the games started that I was going to play it to measure how far it rated on the "politically offensive scale" and this card was a 10. I happened to draw it almost every game, and it was responsible for more player death than any other card the entire night. I just need to get some things clear here.
I would never dispute that it isn't a powerful card. Back when I used to play EDH for packs, this card was a near-auto include. Here's the social problem with Sphinx.Sphinx of the Steel Wind - This card sat on its hands the entire night. I played against the following decks:
Adun Oakenshield (piloted by Itohernandez, who I consider to be an authority on the deck).
Saffi Eriksdotter piloted by Bederndern, who has another amazingly solid list and years of play experience. I consider his list to be one of best lists in the region.
Sen Triplets
Numot the Devastator
My Timewalking Riku of the Two Reflections list (which can be found at http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=329948&page=78.
Azusa, Lost but Seeking
Rasputin Dreamweaver
Nicol Bolas
Chainer, Dementia Master
Damia, Sage of Stone I forgot which thread here has my list
Bruna, Light of Alabaster
Animar, Soul of Elements
The Pro-green / Pro-red abilties were all but useless. Foundry and M. Sphinx diminish the usefulness of its lifelink. The vigilance wasn't amazing either. The best abilities were having first strike and flying on a body, and that's only because together, they beat almost any other keyword ability on a creature with a 6-toughness (or smaller) ass not named "First Strike" or "Deathtouch". In the 8 or so games I played, this card time and again could have been something else that also would not have mattered. As with all testing lots, I'll reserve taking final actions on them until I've played 50+ games, but this has been the disappointment I expected it to be.
Trading Post - in my 8-10 games last night, I only saw it twice and only had the opportunity to play it once. However the one time I played Sharuum over TP may have been a misplay.
Fact or Fiction - play-wise the card was "meh". Socially, it is a better card than most draw spells because it's interactive, so the 30-45 second people debate over how to split the piles doesn't have masturbatory feel that spinning a top or playing a straight draw 3 or draw 5 does. Hasn't solidified its relevance over any other card draw slot yet.
[CARD]
Bazaar of Baghdad[/CARD] - disappointed that I didn't draw or have the ability to tutor for this card at all yesterday. I was really hoping to see what this card could do, but that's the nature of 100 card singleton. Unburial Rites - Its only relevance was its inclusion in an Intuition pile with Sharuum (who had been tucked) and Phyrexian Metamorph . In this situation, I could have searched for a Jack of Spades and combo-ed off.
The fetch engine eased the tougher mana requirements as expected. Games didn't drag on, so I never felt like I was missing too many land drops.
Oblivion Stone - is getting replaced by All is Dust immediately. Even with running both Sphinxes, the deck still makes more than enough mana to cast this 7-drop and there were times that extra mana for the O-stone pop cost the table games that All is Dust could have won. My mana concerns turned out to be unwarranted.
Chromatic Lantern was an all-star last night, and was easily recognized as being stronger than Coalition relic and Thran Dynamo in this specific list. I will be looking to hunt down a foil one.
Despite the fact that everyone for the last few responses is on the Baloths bandwagon, I have to adamently disagree with this statement. The only thing that Rampaging Baloths directly replaces for Primeval Titan is his spot as a 6 drop on the curve. Just because Prime Time is banned doesn't mean that Avenger sucks. Hitting Avenger makes any land ramp (that you wouldn't want to draw into in the late game) live. It also make a helluva lot more tokens at once. I run lots of Time Walks (which naturally allow me to play more lands by taking extra turns), but not everyone does, so swapping Baloths over Avenger is more a replacement of preference than necessity.
The bigger thing I disagree with is the inclusion of Oboro and the suggestion that Oboro and lands like it deserve a spot in Riku lists. Riku one of the most mana-hungry decks a person can play in EDH. The though that you'd want to run a lands that promote stunting your curve in order to gain value stands in direct conflict with the fact Riku gets exponentially stronger and gains more lines of play as you increase the amount of mana you have on the table. Oboro is fundamentally wrong for the deck. The same arguements calling for Oboro and Undiscovered Paradise should be quelled by the fact that you never want to see either in your opening hand or before turn 6, much less use them for their landfall triggers that early.
As I said above, Baloths does create decent board presence. If one was to include Ravenous Baloths or some other synergy with beasts into the deck, I could see an arguement for one being better than the other, but as it stands, both creatures do the same thing and fill the same role, and neither is no longer amazing at doing so. If people are looking to find a way to recreate the kind of aggressiveness that the Primetime/ Avenger duo used to offer, I suggest looking in a completely new direction, because the direct swapping of them for any two other cards isn't going to make this happen without weakening other synergies in the deck. As long as I run Gaea's Craddle, Avenger will always be the stronger of the two in my list.
Cutting Card Types -
Counterspells and Answers - As you learn to squeeze the advantage out of every card in your deck, cards like Swords to Plowshares, Maze of Ith, Pact of Negation, Vindicate, which have limited use and do not feed into an engine or feedback loop of the deck, have wound up getting cut for cards that do (Even cards that can offer good utility like Engineered Explosives or Steel Hellkite come under increased scrutiny when analyzed in this way). The way cards feed into the specific engines of my deck are:
Also, when analyzing answers, one needs to take a step back and realize that your deck should be able to answer problematic board cards in the following manner.
Conditional Tutors - I have cut most of the unconditional tutors in the deck due to their inefficiency to create spell-generated feedback loops to best minimize variance and best increase consistency, as detailed above. As a long-time Vintage player, I have acquired hard-to-find cards like Imperial Seal, Grim Tutor, Mishra's Workshop, Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale, Bazaar of Baghdad, and other gems that allow me to tune my list as tightly as possible. I understand that these cards are expensive, and I don't even expect most Vintage players to own them so I won't preach that everyone should get them - it took me years to get them myself. However, if you are vested in the in the Vintage and/or EDH format and you have the means to acquire them without too much difficulty, then my all means please do. The will maintain their value because they are on the Reserved List. You will notice the improvement immediately. However, you will notice over time that using them also changes how and when you tutor for certain cards, and realizing these subtle changes will allow you to refine your particular list further.
Artifact Board Wipes - When I speak of board wipes, I am not speaking of using them defensively, but on offense. Of all the options available, Oblivion Stone has time-and-again been the best one. However, one great option that can leave up to 90% of your permanents unscathed is All is Dust . I've used both O-Stone and All is Dust to great effect, and interchange them both frequently. Due to the fact I am running testing cards that are more mana-intensive than their replacements, I am choosing to run with Stone. If the Sphinxes survive the first few rounds of scrutiny, then I'll see if I can graduate to the casting cost of All is Dust (They will die to this spell unlike their replacements, but that's why you are playing Sharuum).
Individual Cards
Cards that don't fall under the above criteria are discussed here below
Trinket Mage - People always call me crazy when they see this card absent from my list. The truth is, this card is a crutch that poses as a staple, than a staple that poses as a crutch. He is a narrow one-time tutor on a non-artifact body. 99% of the time, this card is played to get (in order of dependency):
Magister Sphinx and Sphinx of the Steel Wind - I am currently testing both because jack from NC swears by them. Magister Sphinx replaces Blightsteel Colossus as the card that encourages diplomatic play for the table (at least until each player can start playing their game). SotSW replaces Memnarch. I had previously cut both from the deck years ago, as one incurred too many groans, and the other just didn't offer enough (I was running Sundering Titan at the time, which was the deck's primary beatstick, not this guy). I don't mind that they cost 7 and 8 respectively. I loath the triple-colored costs of them both, making them a pain in the ass to cast. In fact, my running Unburial Rites is a concession to the fact they will have to be reanimated to gain value. However, now that I am running Cavern of Souls (and understanding that it will always be set to "Sphinx"), I am re-evaluating if they can pull their weight in the abscence of Sundering Titan.
Mycosynth Lattice and Darksteel Forge - Both of these cards are artifacts that don't immediately impact the board, but many lists run. I always run 1-2 such cards in the list if the allow me to extend the reach of my engines and feedback loops. Lattice does this; Forge does not. Currently, this slot is being taken my Rings of Brighthearth. Lattice is amazing as is rings, but Rings just happens to be the flavor of the month. Decks don't need to run them, but I personally appreciate the value both Lattice and Rings can offer my specific list.
Master Transmuter - was a holdover from when my list ran Sundering Titan. This, like Spine of Ish-Shah requires the deck to include multiple targets that would greatly benefit from this effect in order to gain enough utility. I have currently replaced it with Venser, the Sojourner and I like the change.
Crystal Shard and Erratic Portal - These cards should almost never used for their defensive applications, so I'm just throwing that argument out the window and focus on their offensive uses (meaning like the Giants, not a racist) which should be to generate ETB triggers and catch sloppy players sleeping when they tap out. Both cards do this with moderate to good effect, but Tawnos's Coffin does this amazingly well, if a bit more expensively, for both your and your opponent's creatures, making the Coffin's least effective use that of a Voyager's Staff. It's rules text allows it to double up on cards that creatures with ETB effects that generate counters (like Triskelavus). I am surprised to see this card isn't more widely used.
Deck Stats
Some facts to think about when analyzing my list my list
Feel free to post any commentary on the list. For anyone reading my posts, know that this list and the philosophies I've used to construct it, are the lens by which I view and respond to the replies on this thread.
Yeah... Last time that happened I was rocking my Zedruu List.
I wholeheartedly agree. However, cards that have no other virtual replacement in lists tend to fall under the staple category. When that happens, one should think of whether the applications of another card would work better for the deck as a whole. There are no virtual replacements for Crucible, Workshop, Mindslaver, Blightsteel, so if these cards aren't pulling weight, consider if they have other uses. Blightsteel itself has hopped in and out of lists due to the fact that, although I rarely use it, it prevents me from decking out of the game long enough to rebuy Elixer.
Thank you brother. Given you talent and your tendency for harsh critique, that means a lot. I am a procicient, but by no means an amazing player (I'm a better deck-builder), but I strive for perfect technically play, and I've been getting a lot better a minimizing mistakes. Perfect lists perform perfectly because they most minimize the margins of variance, leaving the fault of game losses resting solely on the shoulders of the pilot and the sub optimal choices he or she makes throughout the course of a game. Playing lists that punish you for mistakes has made me a better player (using my history of Bazaar Stax and my last few lists as an example).
I'm doing some errands this morning, but as soon as I get back, I'll edit my list post to include reasons for the steaks (cuts to some "Sacred Cows") in the deck.
EDIT: I just lost 1 1/2 hours of typed response due to a power surge... I'll have to do this another day.
Artifact Creatures (8)
(4) Phyrexian Metamorph
(5) Kudoltha Forgemaster
(5) Karn, Silver Golem
(6) Sharuum the Hegemon
(6) Duplicant
(7) Magister Sphinx*
(7) Myr Battlephere*
(8) Sphinx of the Steel Wind*
Mana Rocks - 14
(0) Lion's eye Diamond
(0) Mox Opal
(0) Mox Diamond
(0) Mana Crypt
(0) Lotus Petal
(0) Lotus Bloom
(1) Mana Vault
(1) Sol Ring
(2) Grim Monolith
(2) Dimir Signet
(2) Azorius Signet
(3) Darksteel Ingot
(3) Chromatic Lantern**
(5) Gilded Lotus
Draw Spells - 6
(3) Thirst for Knowledge
(3) Windfall
(3) Timetwister
(4) Fact or Fiction*
(5) Memory Jar
(5) Mind's Eye
Tutors - 7
(1) Entomb
(1) Expedition Map
(1) Vampiric Tutor
(2) Artificer's Intuition
(2) Demonic Tutor
(2) Transmute Artifact
(3) Intuition
Planeswalkers - 4
(4) Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
(5) Tezerret the Seeker
(5) Venser, the Sojourner
(7) Karn Liberated*
Utility Artifacts - 20
(0) Tormod's Crypt*
(1) Aether Spellbomb
(1) Dispeller's Capsule
(1) Elixer of Immortality
(1) Executioner's Capsule
(1) Nihil Spellbomb
(1) Sensei's Divining Top
(1) Voltaic Key
(1) Voyager's Staff
(2) Sword of The Meek**
(2) Thopter Foundry**
(2) Time Sieve
(3) Crucible of Worlds
(3) Ensnaring Bridge
(3) Rings of Brighthearth
(3) Sculpting Steel
(4) Tawnos's Coffin
(4) Trading Post**
(6) Mindslaver
(6) Salvaging Station
Other Sorceries - 5
(3) Bitter Ordeal
(5) Unburial Rites*
(6) Open the Vaults
(7) All is Dust
(7) Roar of Reclamation
Lands - 36
Fetch Engine** - 9
Flooded Strand
Godless Shrine
Hallowed Fountain
Marsh Flats
Polluted Delta
Scrubland
Tundra
Underground Sea
Watery Grave
Mana Acceleration - 4
Ancient Tomb
Crystal Vein
Gemstone Cavern
Mishra's Workshop
Artifact Lands - 4
Ancient Den
Darksteel Citadel
Seat of the Synod
Vault of Whispers
Rainbow Lands** - 5
City of Brass
Command Tower
Glimmervoid
Reflecting Pool
Tarnished Citadel
Mana Fixing - 4
Fetid Heath
Mystic Gate
Sunken Ruins
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Utility Lands - 10
Academy Ruins
Bazaar of Baghdad*
Buried Ruin
Cavern of Souls
Cephalid Coliseum
Inkmoth Nexus
Petrified Field
Phyrexia's Core
Strip Mine
Wasteland
* Denotes testing slots for the deck
** Denotes natural updates for the deck
My Bio:
Deck Building Methods and Philosophy
Dispeller's Capsule, Time Sieve, Thopter Foundry, Trading Post, or a Karn, Silver Golem activation in conjunction with Executioner's Capsule, Voyager's Staff, Aether Spellbomb, will all address this solution, while creating triggers or board changes that will feed many other synergies in this deck. Top can cheat extra draws with Voltaic Key and Rings, when animated and targeted by Coffin, or when animated.. sacked.. and revived by Salvaging Station. And, each of the other mentioned cards above all work with multiple other engines and feedback loops in the deck.
The same way that a tutors, draw spells, and card filtering in a combo deck create a system of feedback loops within a respectable curve to siphon a threshold of Dark rituals, kill conditions, and lethal storm count for a tendrils kill; each card in your deck should feed itself into as many systems as possible, at as many points in the game as possible (taking your curve into account), to create a machine that will consistently churn synergies to carry you into a win. The easier a combo deck accomplishes this, the more balanced the deck is. If you find that this same deck is very draw dependent, or that it is not "going off" consistently when going through the motions, the deck is not balanced and needs more tinkering.
Magister's Sphinx - replacing Blightsteel Colossus. This slot used to be occupied by Sundering Titan until its banning. My group hates both Sphinx and Blightsteel, but has a little more ire for the Sphinx. Because its a Sphinx, Cavern of Souls gets slightly more useful. People on these boards swear by it though, so I will try it again, but won't be surprised if I take it out, as it doesn't suit my play-style and drastically ups the deck's reliance on colored mana.
Sphinx of the Steel Wind - Replacing Master Transmuter. Transmuter was a holdover from when I used to play Sundering Titan, and lost a lot of value when that Titan got banned. I never liked this Sphinx outside of Vintage, as I feel it doesn't do enough to end games, feeling that the best ability is First Strike, being able to deny lifegain and death-touch during combat. I also don't like the triple colored casting cost on this guy.
Myr Battlesphere - Don't remember what got cut.
He's always a solid blink / reanimation target. With the abscence of Sundering Titan to slow down games for the rest of the table, Thopter Foundry has become the best go-to threat the deck can offer. This guy can fire off a Time Sieve activation on his own without Foundry help, as has a pretty decently sized ass. The main reason I'm testing him though, is to see how effective he is as planeswalker control. The attack trigger deals damage to the defending player, which can then be redirected to the planeswalker, but he still gets the power bonus to hit the opponent (or another planeswalker) with. Of all the niche cards I'm testing, I expect this one to be the most versatile.
Fact or Fiction - replacing Compulsive Research. I love CR as a draw spell, but now that I have cut the bouncelands and some Rainbow Lands for the Fetch engine (which was also a hold-over from running Sundering Titan), I know I can't guarantee that I will have, or will want to pitch a land to CR. It wasn't a problem when I was running the Rav. bounce-lands.
Karn Liberated - replacing Spine of Ish-Shah.
Read my post at the top of page 8 for my explanation.
Tormod's Crypt - replacing Bojuka Bog.
This deck needed another GY Removal effect. I ran the Bouncelands and Dromar's Caver specifically to buyback Bojuka Bog (Dromar's Cavern was fantastic in that deck). This deck needs multiple ways to cut Eldrazi off before the late game, and it gets a whole lot better because I run both Timewister and Time Spiral in the deck. As I mentioned earlier to Jack from NC, I prefer card draw over card filtering. Not only are they both amazing card draw spells, but they allow me to protect me from overextending my yard into the infinate GY removal effects that are run in my group, and hardly anyone ever counters one of these. Crypting a player in response to firing one of these off is a great way to proactively eliminate utility cards and lines of play from your opponent.
Unburial Rites - in due to balancing both Sphinxes into the deck for testing.
Both Sphinxes cost a lot of colored mana, and the last thing a person should do is answer that with a spell that will cost you more colored mana, but that's what I'm doing here. Obviously I'm not going to want to pay 7 most times that I want to play these, so I'll have to cheat them into play. This gets the nod over Reanimate solely due to having flashback. If I cut the Sphinxes, this is card is going back to being my coffee mug coaster. I hate playing things as a necessary evil, but you need to have the training wheels on a bike on order to see how it will perform under optimal conditions.
Bazaar of Baghdad - New inclusion I'm testing.
This deck obviously want to mill, so intuitively, you'd think this deserves a spot. I'm going to see if that's true. Baing how my deck's state of mana sources to non-mana sources was 50/50, in order to accomodate this, I had to cut an artifact for the Mana Rock slot, the BW signet, and make adjustments to lower the overall CMC of the deck and increase my Mana fixing just to make the testing more suitable for this manaless land taking up a land slot slot. I'm hoping it's worth the extra work.
Changes due to Deck Upgrades (denoted by **)
Sword of The Meek/Thopter Foundry: During
my last major overhaul, I cut this cute duo as I very rarely relied on it to win. During my list's Sundering Titan era, Sundering Titan would slow down games for those GBx decks that would Primeval out ridiculous amounts of ramp. I'd blow off multiple duals, neutering coffers not by destroying Urborg, but reducing the number of lands that coffers ramped using Urborg. That would allow slower decks and decks that happened to stumble early to be able to keep pace with everyone else in the game. During this time, Sharuum was the main kill condition with Bitter Ordeal as the back-up, as I would time Sieve (without going infinite) for just enough attack steps to take whatever players were left on the table. My cards would keep opponent's off-balance just enough to be able to take advantage of the early general damage they incurred. Now that ST is banned, I can no-longer ensure an even playing field for everyone at the table... so it's back to business as usual.
Trading Post is a card that I have heard nothing but praise for. It seems like it will be a core of the 99, and so I am treating it as such.
Fetch Engine: The deck started off with a fetch engine and one of each basic land. Over time, I cut the basics and shrunk the land base to 35 lands, opting to run more mana rocks for better explosiveness in the early game. One issue that I would find is that by getting Crucible/ Fetch online early, it I needed to hit a land drop, I wasn't guaranteed to hit it when digging for 3 or less cards at a time. That is when I started using the bouncelands. The bouncelands would allow me to run 35 mana sources while playing as if I had 38. They allowed me to make a land drop almost every turn of the game, even if they meant coming into play tapped. they also hedged my best against Mass LD, as keeping a non-bounceland in hand ensures that I could rebuild my mana base faster than my opponents. Once Sundering Titan became a main-stay I took all lands with basic types out of the deck. At the time, with 75% of my deck not requiring a color to be played, I could play almost every card in my deck through Land Equilibrium lock or under Back To Basics, utilizing my mana rocks for my colorless mana and color filtering, and using my land drops to aid in the color filtering. Even better, that ensures that Sundering Titan didn't touch any of my lands, which was important, because threats that good would often get cloned multiple times.
Rainbow Lands: I ran 8-9 of these, but took them out as some of these and the Rav bounce-lands had originally replaced the fetch engine.