The argument is a little more nuanced than it appears on the surface. Essentially, you can create a Universal Turing Machine (UTM) in a game of MTG. A UTM can execute any computable function, and can in theory replicate any program that a (non-quantum) computer can execute. So you could, in theory, program the entirety of MTGO in a game of paper Magic. The original article is well worth a read.
Recently bought into this deck on MTGO, and am having a great time with it. Thanks ashtonkutcher for all of the great research and resources. The deck feel...fundamentally unfair, which is a great sign for its overall power level. Getting byes against burn is amazing, especially in the online meta. However, I have been struggling with Ensnaring Bridge/Prison decks. Has anyone had success against these types of decks? Ratchet Bomb is slow enough that the opponent always seems to find an answer in time.
How have people been liking Reflector Mage in the deck? I feel like it dilutes the spirit count, but offers a useful tool against E-Tron. Is it worth it to lose out on the spirit synergies to get a slightly more powerful raw effect? Also, the card is dead against combo.
Game 1: Off to a reasonably quick start with a stacked hand. Geist of Saint Traft did most of the work. And Spell Queller ate a timely Supreme Verdict for the win.
Game 2: The opponent removed a couple of our threats, but didn't have countermagic for a Collected Company, flashing Drogskol Captain and Geist of Saint Traft onto the battlefield. Gideon of the Trials game down, but GoST split time with the angel token to knock down the Gideon and the opponent simultaneously
1-0 in matches.
Round 2 (Ad Nauseam)[1-2]
Game 1: Opponent does their thing; I do mine. They get plenty of mana rocks and manage to go off before I kill them. Went for the Laboratory Maniac win, and I packed it in...WITH A PATH TO EXILE IN HAND AND AN OPEN MANA UP. What a punt.
Game 2:
Stony Silence for the mana rocks and Eidolon of Rhetoric for the Spells leave my opponent high and dry while I beat him to death with an Eidolon.
Game 3:
Hand seems good, with Stony Silence and Double Queller. An early Phyrexian Unlife bolsters his life total and I drop a Spell Queller countering nothing to get he beats in. He resolves AN a few turns later and Pacts my Spell Queller to win off Laboratory Maniac. Rough.
1-1
Round 3 (Omen Valakut)[2-0]
Game 1: Early beats via a T2 Geist puts him dead before he can do much of anything.
Game 2: Mull to 6. Plenty of gas in hand. I Spell Queller an Obstinate Baloth(?). Prismatic omen comes down on the other side, and things look dire as he casts Summoner's Pact. However, Collected Company hits Spell Queller and Aven Mindcensor, leaving the opponent to cast only Chameleon Colossus(??). Opponent scoops a turn later.
2-1
Round 4 (Orzhov Eldrazi) [2-1]
Game 1: Slow hand with PtoE, CoCo, and nothing else. Opponent kills off some early Hierarchs, and makes some Lingering Souls. I CoCo into Spell Queller and Drogskol Captain, which are slowly whittle away by a steady stream of removal. We both build our boards until he drops Reality Smasher, Thought-Knot Seer, and Reality Smasher on consecutive turns. I scoop.
Game 2: Grafdigger's Cage puts a damper on Collected Company fun, but also traps an early Lingering Souls in his graveyard. I build the board out with Drogskol Captain and Geist of Saint Traft, while he fails to draw anything noteworthy. He seemed a bit flooded and I take the game in the air.
Game 3:
Early Lingering Souls looks like it locks up the board, but I CoCo in response to Thought-Knot Seer, grabbing Queller and Drogskol Captain. I mess up his blocks by flashing in another Captain off of Rattlechains and he scoops after.
3-1
Round 5 (Burn)[2-1]
Game 1: I get stuck on two lands and he blows me up with a Shrine of Burning Rage with 11 counters.
Games 2 and 3:
He keeps killing my creatures instead of aiming at my face and I eventually kill him when he runs out of burn spells.
4-1
Overall, the deck feels great to play, if a bit swingy on account of the Collected Companies. Lingering Souls was the card I least wanted to see, as it really prevents us from getting beats on with our creatures. I'll probably cut a GoST and an Image to add some Steel of the Godheads or Nebelgasts.
The highest margin items at almost any game store are food and drinks. Buy a soda and some chips if you spend the afternoon there and they will make more money off you than if you had bought a pack. Everyone wins.
Good questions and comments. The two extra Revokers should actually be Tumble Magnets; thanks for catching that. As far as the SotS goes, it has been really important for mana-fixing, seeing that you often need access to UU on turn 3 and BB on turn 4. Many people won't bother killing it, since they want to hold out their removal for a larger threat.
I'm thinking that you're right about the Sword. It is pretty hard to lose once you connect with it, but maybe I was all ready winning by that point in time. I'll try testing without it.
Commando has been rock solid for me. People underestimate how serious it is to take even one hit from him. Being totally unaffected by targeted removal is also huge. I generally haven't had any trouble punching him through.
Finally, Revoker is incredible. He stops almost all of the most important cards in the format, from planeswalkers to Tumble Magnets. Yeah, he dies easily, but in doing so your opponent usually loses tempo and wastes a removal card on a lost-cost threat. When unanswered, he can swing a game all by himself by shutting down their most important card.
It's been running pretty solid so far. Normally if you can land one hit from the Commando, you can generate enough card advantage to steal the game. In fact, all of your creatures gain you either real or virtual card advantage. The SoFaF + Commando bombo is a little awkward, but the amount of removal that you pack usually guarantees that if you can attach the sword to a non-Commando creature, you'll usually hit at least once. And don't forget the awesome interaction between USZ and SoFaF: hit them, then with the ability on the stack (and 5 untapped lands), tap all your lands, then untap them, then tap them again. Then draw 7 cards and win.
I'm surprised that people are so down on Blue Sun's Zenith. Honestly, I think that card is a format all-star. I'll usually play it around turn 7, and expect to draw at least 3 or 4 cards from it.
Now, of course it really shines in the late game or when you have Sword of Feast and Famine on the board. With SFF's trigger on the stack, tap your six lands, let them untap, then draw SIX cards, leaving three lands untapped for counterspell shenanigans. Can you say gg?
This seems like a perfectly serviceable sealed pool to me. In fact, I think it's pretty good (e.g. my last sealed pool had 5 Psychic Miasmas). For the most part, I agree with your build. But I would try to find a way to splash Fangren Marauder. You've got the Copperline Gorge to prevent screwing up your manabase too much, and the Marauder is some good.
Also, like Solon said, drop the Armor and the Training Drone. Both would just be a little inconsistent in your deck.
Also, Into the Core is way way better than people give it credit for, for a few reasons:
1) It is pure card advantage.
2) It exiles the artifact instead of destroying it. Very important when dealing with Wurmcoil, or indestructible guys.
3) It is an instant! Use it as a combat trick, steal metalcraft, blow up some equipment, go nuts!
Finally, Rebirth is really good, but it got played against me 4 times in a draft last night, and I didn't lose any of those games. I'm sure this is anomalous, but from my limited experience, it wasn't as amazing as I thought it would be.
Interesting to hear other people's impressions of Triple MBS. I was smashing face with my Infect deck yesterday, and it seemed to work pretty well. Rot Wolf is sick with any kind of combat trick or equipment, so combine him with Viridian Claw, Mirran Mettle, Virulent Wound, etc. Viridian Claw really is the nuts, and with and equip cost of only 1, I would usually re-equip it to an untapped blocker after combat. Round it all off with a couple of Morbid Plunders, Spread the Sickness and you've got yourself a deck.
Oh, and Fangren Marauder is good in any deck that runs green. I kept siding him into my infect deck, especially against Rusted Slasher.dek. He is basically impossible to race if even as few as two of their artifacts hit the graveyard. And with a butt that big, he stops almost anything on the ground.
Here's the deal guys: WotC is going to announce the re-release of the P9 concurrently with the announcement of a new rarity. These new cards, which will go by the name of ultra-mega-super-mythic-saiyan rares, will be so valuable that you can't even buy them with legal tender currency. Oh no, the base unit of currency to buy a umsms rare is Jace, the Mind Sculptor. So if you want to get that online Black Lotus, start stocking up on JTMS now.
How does Spikeshot Elder play in this deck? I feel like he's an inefficient means of dealing damage, just because we have so few ways to pump him. I guess he is our only 1-drop creature...Any reports from testing?
Amazing card in limited! Tap down your opponent's best creature every turn, while shrinking him. With proliferate, it gets to be straight up bonkers. And, of course, bonus utility with extra shots out of Heavy Arbalest.
Knight of the WindTrap is a powerful midrange aggro-combo deck that based on older G/W Trap builds that uses Knight of the Reliquary in combination with a diverse land toolbox and powerful mana acceleration. It can easily resolve a Windbrisk activation or a Summoning Trap into Emrakul on Turn 3, but has a resilient mid- to late-game against control decks. With a quick clock and a battery of maindeck answers to current Extended favorites, the deck is a strong counterpuncher.
Without any further ado, I'll present my current version of the deck, then talk about some card choices and match-up audibles in the current Extended metagame.
Knight of the Reliquary--The namesake of this deck, KotR really helps the deck hang together. He fetches your hideaway lands to cheat out your fatties; he protects key creatures by fetching Sejiri Steppe; he combos with Lotus Cobra to generate truly degenerate amounts of mana. And, of course he beats for about 7-8 damage per turn in the late game.
Lotus Cobra--While Lotus Cobra is obviously a great card, it really shines in this deck. Imagine this: you have Cobra and KotR in play, you play a fetchland, crack it to fetch a basic, tap the basic for mana, then feed it to the Knight, and grab another fetchland, and repeat. You just made 4 mana off of one land, and thinned your deck significantly. On top of that, he is an efficient early game attacker since you don't need to tap im for his mana ability.
Emrakul, the Aeons Torn--Your number 1 fatty. Cheat him out with Windbrisk Heights, Mosswort Bridge, or Summoning Trap, and watch your opponent fold.
Sun Titan--Should this slot be reserved for a Primeval Titan? Maybe, but Sun Titan does some awesome things in this deck. He steals back your fetchlands and Tectonic Edges for continue shenanigans. He lets you recycle Pridemage and recover from land hate. He's your second best fatty after Emrakul.
Nest Invader--Puts extra bodies on the field to contribute to Turn 3 Windbrisk Heights activations.
Summoning Trap--Incredibly strong against any deck that uses counterspells. And with all the mana acceleration on hand, it's not difficult at all to hardcast by turn 3.
Notable Lands
Winbrisk Heights and Mosswort Bridge--Quickly cheat our your big baddies. Don't forget that you get to take an extra turn off of Emrakul if you cheat him into play this way.
Sejiri Steppe--This is a great fetch with KotR to protect a key creature against removal. Bonus if you target an opponent's Pestermiteto knock off Splinter Twin.
Khalni Garden--Provides and extra attacker to tip Windbrisk over the edge or a bit of damage absorption.
All those fetchlands--Combine with Lotus Cobra and prosper.
The Sideboard is obviously dependent our you meta, but the one outlined above does a good job of covering most of your bases.
Nature's Claim--Good for the same reasons as the Pridemage. Improves your game against Omen decks, Tempered Steel, and Ascension.
Tectonic Edge--Finishes your maindeck playset for messing with Jund, keeping Cruel Control off of 7 mana, and fighting opposing Tectonic Edges. And, of course, can totally lock down your opponent with Sun Titan.
Bojuka Bog--Tutorable with KotR to fight Ooze combo, Ascension, or any deck that needs the graveyard.
Cards that didn't make the cut, but are definite possibilities:
Primeval Titan--Like I mentioned above, this is a comparable in power to Sun Titan, especially in a deck that thrives on land. However, Sun Titan works overtime by getting you back early casualties, and winning Tectonic wars.
Fracturing Gust--Tempered Steel straight up folds to this card, so if your meta is full of artifact heavy decks swap it in for Nature's Claim. Unfortunately, it's much less strong against Omen and Blossom.
Kitchen Finks--Especially with Sun Titan, wins the attrition war.
I'll finish this up by talking briefly about how the deck plays. I'll report more on match-ups a little later.
This deck is not easy to play. You'll often have as many as 3-4 critical choices in any given turn, including whether to attack or fetch land with KotR, which land to fetch, which fatty to hideaway, whether to develop your board aggressively or hold our for removal. Of course, this challenge belies the true power of this deck, that it is extremely flexible in responding to your opponent's threats, while quickly producing significant threats of its own.
Your play style will be entirely dependent on the deck that your're facing, so know your popular extended decks! Against aggro decks with low levels of disruption (Elves and Tempered Steel) try to combo out ASAP. Against control type decks, apply beats while baiting them to counter a creature, then Summoning Trap all over the place. You can also fight the long game with Tectonic Edge. Finally against other combo decks, work Tectonic Edge and Pridemages.
Ok, that's all I've got for now. I'm gonna run some more tests, then hopefully come back with match reports.
4 Mausoleum Wanderer
4 Noble Hierarch
3 Phantasmal Image
4 Rattlechains
4 Selfless Spirit
4 Drogskol Captain
3 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Spell Queller
Spells
4 Path to Exile
4 Collected Company
Lands
1 Botanical Sanctum
1 Breeding Pool
4 Flooded Strand
2 Forest
1 Gavony Township
1 Hallowed Fountain
2 Island
2 Misty Rainforest
1 Moorland Haunt
1 Plains
1 Razorverge Thicket
1 Temple Garden
4 Windswept Heath
3 Aven Mindcensor
2 Eidolon of Rhetoric
2 Kor Firewalker
1 Kataki, War's Wage
2 Qasali Pridemage
2 Rest in Peace
2 Stone Silence
1 Worship
Round 1 (U/W Control)[2-0]
Game 1: Off to a reasonably quick start with a stacked hand. Geist of Saint Traft did most of the work. And Spell Queller ate a timely Supreme Verdict for the win.
Game 2: The opponent removed a couple of our threats, but didn't have countermagic for a Collected Company, flashing Drogskol Captain and Geist of Saint Traft onto the battlefield. Gideon of the Trials game down, but GoST split time with the angel token to knock down the Gideon and the opponent simultaneously
1-0 in matches.
Round 2 (Ad Nauseam)[1-2]
Game 1: Opponent does their thing; I do mine. They get plenty of mana rocks and manage to go off before I kill them. Went for the Laboratory Maniac win, and I packed it in...WITH A PATH TO EXILE IN HAND AND AN OPEN MANA UP. What a punt.
Game 2:
Stony Silence for the mana rocks and Eidolon of Rhetoric for the Spells leave my opponent high and dry while I beat him to death with an Eidolon.
Game 3:
Hand seems good, with Stony Silence and Double Queller. An early Phyrexian Unlife bolsters his life total and I drop a Spell Queller countering nothing to get he beats in. He resolves AN a few turns later and Pacts my Spell Queller to win off Laboratory Maniac. Rough.
1-1
Round 3 (Omen Valakut)[2-0]
Game 1: Early beats via a T2 Geist puts him dead before he can do much of anything.
Game 2: Mull to 6. Plenty of gas in hand. I Spell Queller an Obstinate Baloth(?). Prismatic omen comes down on the other side, and things look dire as he casts Summoner's Pact. However, Collected Company hits Spell Queller and Aven Mindcensor, leaving the opponent to cast only Chameleon Colossus(??). Opponent scoops a turn later.
2-1
Round 4 (Orzhov Eldrazi) [2-1]
Game 1: Slow hand with PtoE, CoCo, and nothing else. Opponent kills off some early Hierarchs, and makes some Lingering Souls. I CoCo into Spell Queller and Drogskol Captain, which are slowly whittle away by a steady stream of removal. We both build our boards until he drops Reality Smasher, Thought-Knot Seer, and Reality Smasher on consecutive turns. I scoop.
Game 2: Grafdigger's Cage puts a damper on Collected Company fun, but also traps an early Lingering Souls in his graveyard. I build the board out with Drogskol Captain and Geist of Saint Traft, while he fails to draw anything noteworthy. He seemed a bit flooded and I take the game in the air.
Game 3:
Early Lingering Souls looks like it locks up the board, but I CoCo in response to Thought-Knot Seer, grabbing Queller and Drogskol Captain. I mess up his blocks by flashing in another Captain off of Rattlechains and he scoops after.
3-1
Round 5 (Burn)[2-1]
Game 1: I get stuck on two lands and he blows me up with a Shrine of Burning Rage with 11 counters.
Games 2 and 3:
He keeps killing my creatures instead of aiming at my face and I eventually kill him when he runs out of burn spells.
4-1
Overall, the deck feels great to play, if a bit swingy on account of the Collected Companies. Lingering Souls was the card I least wanted to see, as it really prevents us from getting beats on with our creatures. I'll probably cut a GoST and an Image to add some Steel of the Godheads or Nebelgasts.
I'm thinking that you're right about the Sword. It is pretty hard to lose once you connect with it, but maybe I was all ready winning by that point in time. I'll try testing without it.
Commando has been rock solid for me. People underestimate how serious it is to take even one hit from him. Being totally unaffected by targeted removal is also huge. I generally haven't had any trouble punching him through.
Finally, Revoker is incredible. He stops almost all of the most important cards in the format, from planeswalkers to Tumble Magnets. Yeah, he dies easily, but in doing so your opponent usually loses tempo and wastes a removal card on a lost-cost threat. When unanswered, he can swing a game all by himself by shutting down their most important card.
It's been running pretty solid so far. Normally if you can land one hit from the Commando, you can generate enough card advantage to steal the game. In fact, all of your creatures gain you either real or virtual card advantage. The SoFaF + Commando bombo is a little awkward, but the amount of removal that you pack usually guarantees that if you can attach the sword to a non-Commando creature, you'll usually hit at least once. And don't forget the awesome interaction between USZ and SoFaF: hit them, then with the ability on the stack (and 5 untapped lands), tap all your lands, then untap them, then tap them again. Then draw 7 cards and win.
Now, of course it really shines in the late game or when you have Sword of Feast and Famine on the board. With SFF's trigger on the stack, tap your six lands, let them untap, then draw SIX cards, leaving three lands untapped for counterspell shenanigans. Can you say gg?
Also, like Solon said, drop the Armor and the Training Drone. Both would just be a little inconsistent in your deck.
Also, Into the Core is way way better than people give it credit for, for a few reasons:
1) It is pure card advantage.
2) It exiles the artifact instead of destroying it. Very important when dealing with Wurmcoil, or indestructible guys.
3) It is an instant! Use it as a combat trick, steal metalcraft, blow up some equipment, go nuts!
Finally, Rebirth is really good, but it got played against me 4 times in a draft last night, and I didn't lose any of those games. I'm sure this is anomalous, but from my limited experience, it wasn't as amazing as I thought it would be.
Oh, and Fangren Marauder is good in any deck that runs green. I kept siding him into my infect deck, especially against Rusted Slasher.dek. He is basically impossible to race if even as few as two of their artifacts hit the graveyard. And with a butt that big, he stops almost anything on the ground.
Knight of the WindTrap is a powerful midrange aggro-combo deck that based on older G/W Trap builds that uses Knight of the Reliquary in combination with a diverse land toolbox and powerful mana acceleration. It can easily resolve a Windbrisk activation or a Summoning Trap into Emrakul on Turn 3, but has a resilient mid- to late-game against control decks. With a quick clock and a battery of maindeck answers to current Extended favorites, the deck is a strong counterpuncher.
Without any further ado, I'll present my current version of the deck, then talk about some card choices and match-up audibles in the current Extended metagame.
4 Windbrisk Heights
2 Mosswort Bridge
2 Tectonic Edge
1 Sejiri Steppe
3 Misty Rainforest
2 Verdant Catacombs
1 Arid Mesa
3 Khalni Garden
2 Wooded Bastion
3 Plains
3 Forest
4 Qasali Pridemage
4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
4 Nest Invader
3 Baneslayer Angel
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Noble Hierarch
3 Sun Titan
4 Lotus Cobra
Other Spells
4 Summoning Trap
4 Nature's Claim
3 Path to Exile
4 Dauntless Escort
2 Tectonic Edge
1 Bojuka Bog
The Spells:
Knight of the Reliquary--The namesake of this deck, KotR really helps the deck hang together. He fetches your hideaway lands to cheat out your fatties; he protects key creatures by fetching Sejiri Steppe; he combos with Lotus Cobra to generate truly degenerate amounts of mana. And, of course he beats for about 7-8 damage per turn in the late game.
Lotus Cobra--While Lotus Cobra is obviously a great card, it really shines in this deck. Imagine this: you have Cobra and KotR in play, you play a fetchland, crack it to fetch a basic, tap the basic for mana, then feed it to the Knight, and grab another fetchland, and repeat. You just made 4 mana off of one land, and thinned your deck significantly. On top of that, he is an efficient early game attacker since you don't need to tap im for his mana ability.
Emrakul, the Aeons Torn--Your number 1 fatty. Cheat him out with Windbrisk Heights, Mosswort Bridge, or Summoning Trap, and watch your opponent fold.
Qasali Pridemage--Pridemage is amazing in this format. He kills Omen, Bitterblossom, Pyromancer's Ascension, and anything in Tempered Steel. He's also aggressively costed with a little exalted cherry on top.
Sun Titan--Should this slot be reserved for a Primeval Titan? Maybe, but Sun Titan does some awesome things in this deck. He steals back your fetchlands and Tectonic Edges for continue shenanigans. He lets you recycle Pridemage and recover from land hate. He's your second best fatty after Emrakul.
Baneslayer Anger--A great clock that stomps on most aggro decks. Also eats Demigod of Revenge for breakfast.
Noble Hierarch--Makes mana. Pumps attackers. 'Nuff said.
Nest Invader--Puts extra bodies on the field to contribute to Turn 3 Windbrisk Heights activations.
Summoning Trap--Incredibly strong against any deck that uses counterspells. And with all the mana acceleration on hand, it's not difficult at all to hardcast by turn 3.
Notable Lands
Winbrisk Heights and Mosswort Bridge--Quickly cheat our your big baddies. Don't forget that you get to take an extra turn off of Emrakul if you cheat him into play this way.
Sejiri Steppe--This is a great fetch with KotR to protect a key creature against removal. Bonus if you target an opponent's Pestermiteto knock off Splinter Twin.
Khalni Garden--Provides and extra attacker to tip Windbrisk over the edge or a bit of damage absorption.
All those fetchlands--Combine with Lotus Cobra and prosper.
The Sideboard is obviously dependent our you meta, but the one outlined above does a good job of covering most of your bases.
Nature's Claim--Good for the same reasons as the Pridemage. Improves your game against Omen decks, Tempered Steel, and Ascension.
Dauntless Escort--Gives you some game against Volcanic Fallout and other sweepers. Also not a bad body in a pinch.
Path to Exile--Snags Vengevine, Kitchen Finks, opposing Titans, etc.
Tectonic Edge--Finishes your maindeck playset for messing with Jund, keeping Cruel Control off of 7 mana, and fighting opposing Tectonic Edges. And, of course, can totally lock down your opponent with Sun Titan.
Bojuka Bog--Tutorable with KotR to fight Ooze combo, Ascension, or any deck that needs the graveyard.
Cards that didn't make the cut, but are definite possibilities:
Primeval Titan--Like I mentioned above, this is a comparable in power to Sun Titan, especially in a deck that thrives on land. However, Sun Titan works overtime by getting you back early casualties, and winning Tectonic wars.
Fracturing Gust--Tempered Steel straight up folds to this card, so if your meta is full of artifact heavy decks swap it in for Nature's Claim. Unfortunately, it's much less strong against Omen and Blossom.
Kitchen Finks--Especially with Sun Titan, wins the attrition war.
I'll finish this up by talking briefly about how the deck plays. I'll report more on match-ups a little later.
This deck is not easy to play. You'll often have as many as 3-4 critical choices in any given turn, including whether to attack or fetch land with KotR, which land to fetch, which fatty to hideaway, whether to develop your board aggressively or hold our for removal. Of course, this challenge belies the true power of this deck, that it is extremely flexible in responding to your opponent's threats, while quickly producing significant threats of its own.
Your play style will be entirely dependent on the deck that your're facing, so know your popular extended decks! Against aggro decks with low levels of disruption (Elves and Tempered Steel) try to combo out ASAP. Against control type decks, apply beats while baiting them to counter a creature, then Summoning Trap all over the place. You can also fight the long game with Tectonic Edge. Finally against other combo decks, work Tectonic Edge and Pridemages.
Ok, that's all I've got for now. I'm gonna run some more tests, then hopefully come back with match reports.