So can someone explain to me why black vise is banned? It doesn't seem that unfair at all...? When was it banned and why?
Black Vise punishes control decks that try to win through card advantage. It forces those decks to either take huge amounts of damage or not execute the gameplan that allows them to win. Until recently, pure control didn't really have a large place in the meta, and it didn't need black vise to punish it further.
So as soon as damage is dealt he can tap his lands for the regeneration?
He would have to activate the ability to regenerate before damage is dealt[/quote]
He is out of combat now and tapped. Can I still use an Instant at that point to destroy him?
Sure. He could still regenerate the creature, though, if he is able to activate the ability. You could also destroy it in response to him activating the ability.
Like an Instant that gives target creature -2/-2 and he's only a 1/1.
Since this would send the creature to the graveyard as a statebased effect, and not actually destoying it, if you decrease the toughness below 1, it will be sent to the graveyard, whether it can regenerate or not.
What about cards that say destroy all creatures?
he can activate the ability to regenerate in response, and it will regenerate. Unless of course you cast something like wrath of god which says the creatures cannot be regenerated.
The goal of Dredge is to get a creature with dredge into the yard, and just dump their deck into the yard. Narcomoeba and Ichorid come back and act as fodder for cabal therapy and dread return's falshback cost, which in turn give them lots of zombie tokens from bridge from below. The deck can run on 0 land, by just moving to the end step, discarding a card with dredge, and filling the yard that way. But it much rather prefers one or two, so it can get an early faithless looting, breakthrough, or similar card to speed things up.
LD can be good to create tempo. Its not really great at creating mana screw. It can happen, but you shouldn't count on it.
Geddon Stax might be the exception though. Between Trinisphere, Smokestack, and Armageddon (and Ravages of War, if you want), that can lock an opponent out of mana.
Straight up just trying to sinkhole every land probably won't get you there most of the time, though.
What I've been liking about this is the synergy between all the cards. Sinkhole, vindicate, wasteland, dark ritual and Gatekeeper provide tempo. Bob, Stoneforge, gatekeeper, and hymn create CA. Thalia works well with the 11 LD effects, as does Hymn. Nighthawk, Gatekeeper, StP, Vindicate and Jitte serve as a very large removal package.
I've been including Hyppies in the SB, as well, which has been great against combo and control. Curious if anyone else has considered going this route recently.
First you should be aware that Plateau is the cheapest because the color pairing hasn't had any large success in eternal formats, so don't expect there to be a tier 1 RW deck or really any difinitive answer on what RW deck is the best of any possible choice.
That said, if I were to play that color combiniation, I'd go for RW Sligh. Goblin Guide, steppe lynx, Path to Exile, Lightning bolt, chain lightning, etc. Pretty much burn splash white for steppe lynx and Path. Maybe with a heavier focus on creatures. I'd probably skip on stoneforge or Mom for that deck, and try to just be as aggressive as possible. Though, maybe you could come up with a more midrange version with stoneforge.
As for combo, you may be able to play imperial painter with white for enlightened tutor, but if you're buying plateau because its cheap, then the price of imperial recruiters will probably eliminate that deck as a choice.
If you do splash black, as Spooky mentioned there's Team italia and also Zombardment.
Here's one where you shouldn't cast Brainstorm in response to targeted discard:
Your playing against ANT, it's their turn 3, and they lead with Thoughtseize. Your hand is FoW, FoW, Brainstorm, no other blue cards. If you let Thoughtseize resolve, you still have FoW and a card to pitch, if you cast brainstorm, you could draw into 0 blue cards, and chance losing your protection for when they go off.
You run a huge risk by playing a deck like Belcher or Dredge at an event as large as a GP, espicially without experience with the decks. I think of what you listed Merfolk is a really solid choice.
I don't get the difference between Dead Guy Ale and WB Stoneblade.
Deadguy Ale is a Tempo deck, where WB Stoneblade is a control deck. Many people recently, Deadguy/Stoneblade players included, have been either mislabeling the decks or playing a mix of the two, which does make the distinction more difficult. But the best way to think of it is that Deadguy plays a tempo route similar to RUG where BW stoneblade will go more controling like UW Stoneblade. As Dyne mentioned, traditionally Deadguy used Sinkhole and Dark Ritual to advance their tempo. As Gaka mentioned, Stoneblade prefers chrome mox over Dark Ritual since its a lasting effect, but not quite as good at creating tempo.
Black Vise punishes control decks that try to win through card advantage. It forces those decks to either take huge amounts of damage or not execute the gameplan that allows them to win. Until recently, pure control didn't really have a large place in the meta, and it didn't need black vise to punish it further.
He would have to activate the ability to regenerate before damage is dealt[/quote]
Sure. He could still regenerate the creature, though, if he is able to activate the ability. You could also destroy it in response to him activating the ability.
Since this would send the creature to the graveyard as a statebased effect, and not actually destoying it, if you decrease the toughness below 1, it will be sent to the graveyard, whether it can regenerate or not.
he can activate the ability to regenerate in response, and it will regenerate. Unless of course you cast something like wrath of god which says the creatures cannot be regenerated.
Here ya go
Geddon Stax might be the exception though. Between Trinisphere, Smokestack, and Armageddon (and Ravages of War, if you want), that can lock an opponent out of mana.
Straight up just trying to sinkhole every land probably won't get you there most of the time, though.
I've been messing around with the following:
3 Stoneforge Mystic
3 Vampire Nighthawk
3 Gatekeeper of Malikar
2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Dark Ritual
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Thoughtseize
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Sinkhole
3 Vindicate
1 Batterskull
4 Marsh Flats
3 Black Fetch
3 Scrubland
1 Plains
4 Swamp
1 Karakas
4 Wasteland
What I've been liking about this is the synergy between all the cards. Sinkhole, vindicate, wasteland, dark ritual and Gatekeeper provide tempo. Bob, Stoneforge, gatekeeper, and hymn create CA. Thalia works well with the 11 LD effects, as does Hymn. Nighthawk, Gatekeeper, StP, Vindicate and Jitte serve as a very large removal package.
I've been including Hyppies in the SB, as well, which has been great against combo and control. Curious if anyone else has considered going this route recently.
That said, if I were to play that color combiniation, I'd go for RW Sligh. Goblin Guide, steppe lynx, Path to Exile, Lightning bolt, chain lightning, etc. Pretty much burn splash white for steppe lynx and Path. Maybe with a heavier focus on creatures. I'd probably skip on stoneforge or Mom for that deck, and try to just be as aggressive as possible. Though, maybe you could come up with a more midrange version with stoneforge.
As for combo, you may be able to play imperial painter with white for enlightened tutor, but if you're buying plateau because its cheap, then the price of imperial recruiters will probably eliminate that deck as a choice.
If you do splash black, as Spooky mentioned there's Team italia and also Zombardment.
Your playing against ANT, it's their turn 3, and they lead with Thoughtseize. Your hand is FoW, FoW, Brainstorm, no other blue cards. If you let Thoughtseize resolve, you still have FoW and a card to pitch, if you cast brainstorm, you could draw into 0 blue cards, and chance losing your protection for when they go off.
Deadguy Ale is a Tempo deck, where WB Stoneblade is a control deck. Many people recently, Deadguy/Stoneblade players included, have been either mislabeling the decks or playing a mix of the two, which does make the distinction more difficult. But the best way to think of it is that Deadguy plays a tempo route similar to RUG where BW stoneblade will go more controling like UW Stoneblade. As Dyne mentioned, traditionally Deadguy used Sinkhole and Dark Ritual to advance their tempo. As Gaka mentioned, Stoneblade prefers chrome mox over Dark Ritual since its a lasting effect, but not quite as good at creating tempo.