What aggro decks are running artifact hate in their board and why are they doing so? O_o Realistically, artifact hate is not an issue whatsoever. Besides, Lanterns aren't necessary to win, so if they get destroyed, it's not that big of a deal.
The real problem is the hyperaggro decks (specifically monored and rakdos), which is why the deck ran 10+ cards in the sideboard for it pre-GTC. We'll have to see what shape the aggro takes take when Gatecrash becomes legal before deciding just what sort of plan we need to be alright against them.
Its more the naya midrange, of course my meta is also absolutely strange, but things might change as omnidoor becomes a more tier 1 deck (not that it will), and people decide that siding in artifact/enchant hate is the best way to deal with it.
Besides that, the only things that beat us are a counterspell on omniscience or super aggressive strat and us getting 0 fogs 0 wipes.
I'm curious what, if any, decks are actually favored over Omniscience? Aggro has a chance if they nut draw us, certainly, and as Gatecrash becomes legal I'll probably lean a little toward pre-boarding against aggro. Control can counter ramp or threats, but can they deal with us realistically before we can stick something they don't have a counter for? Jace Memory Adept/Nephalia Drownyard can be problematic I guess - but even then they have to be a bit lucky to mill our win-cons before we can win. It's entirely possible (probable) that I haven't played the deck enough, but I don't see us as worse than 50/50 against much of anything, and generally favored in matchups. Seems we are most often losing to our own varience - not enough ramp/sweepers/etc when we need them.
I'd be very interested to see what people with more experience have to say. If we do have rough matchups, is there anyway we can shore them up without messing up our good matchups?
We lose to artifact hate in aggro decks. GW, RG, or Naya aggro post board (w/ naturalize and the flashback destroy artifact spell), they can stop our tempo in its tracks. Its awful
there's a reasonably high chance that there is already a better creature available that should have been played in the maindeck to start with. Hellrider is obviously better. Restoration Angel is likely better. It has a form of pseudo-haste (can attack before opponent can put new blockers into play, even though it can't attack on turn 4) and lots of other great upsides. Falkenrath Aristocrat is also obviously better, though requires a different color splash (though its possible to play Red, White, and Black in the same deck if you want to).
the bottom line is that its not clear that Spark Trooper is EVER a better choice than the creatures it competes with for that slot. if you factor in the special vulnerabilities that Spark Trooper has, and the relative worthlessness of lifegain for extremely aggressive decks, you have a card that is just not very appealing.
Oh, no doubt hellrider is a superior choice. I just think the trooper can get a place (at least sb) against control decks, as a post board gger.
Also, why the opinion on mystic genesis? In my testing its been an allstar.
I was playing as AP nid yesterday. My team apparently had no idea how to fight with one on the team. I'm new to the character, but won lane and we initiated teamfights at half health. Our olaf though seemed to try and channel voyboy every fight, and ran in alone, and quickly died. That fed their team enough that they could just stomp us and I couldn't poke hard enough to win, and AP nid humping into a teamfight is just suicide.
Is this a store that you work at or just play at? That sounds pretty shady to me. Is there a chance they are just holding out and hawking it on the net?
I don't work there, but no, its an impossibility. I'm friends with the judge and every employee, and we never have had any issues with them doing anything shady. They'd also have a hard time hiding all of the prizes in the store, especially since they moved locations last weekend.
But yeah, I watched the judge sign the store up, and was in the room when they unboxed the gameday materials and the measly bits of prerelease material. I'm quite sure I'd have noticed the 75+ guild packs and 4-5 boxes of prize support somewhere
Heh, you guys are better off than we are. Our store got all of the prerelease signage and swag, but 0 packs. No guildpacks, no boxes, nothing. Upon contacting Wizards, the response was along the lines of this:
"Hello, wizards support"
"Hi, yes, we didn't receive any prerelease packs or support"
"You must not have signed up"
"we did, a while ago, and I realize we might have done something incorrectly, but we received the entire prerelease set up, except for the packs. We are also in the event finder for RTR prereleases."
"Oh, well you contacted us too late for us to help you, is there anything else I can help you with?"
It was gross, especially since this resets us to the lowest level of prize support.
We've also gotten no FNM promos for 3 months or so, and yet we have reliquary towers now. Its strange.
I honestly don't see how anyone can justify dropping gilded lotus. The card quite possibly the best utility in standard.
It gives you a huge resource advantage, allowing you to do things like counter spells/flash things in/play things, and still have mana for whatever you want. Its only downside is that it draws removal like a magnet, which honestly isn't bad when it can defend my other, sometimes more valuable artifacts (like door) from artifact hate.
Apart from that, I love the deck. Played it first time last riday, had no griselbrand, so replaced that with niv and still piloted it to a top 4 finish, beating reanimator and hex-auras, only loss to monored (coincidentally, the only deck that blew up gilded lotus). I'm in love, at least until I start playing Bant or BUG control come GTC proper.
I like the idea of the wincon being EtI, bobby, and 2 worldfire (in case of either super duper life gain, some combo, whatever, just makes the deck safer, and is an alt wincon itsself with thraggums).
This dodges any defense short of a tamiyo emblem with a dissipate in hand, and can probably get around that too.
Rapid hybridisation: Should upgrade to Fringe. You may abuse it in an undying UG aggro deck, should it exist. Get a young wolf or geist. In the right situation, you rapid hybridisation it, and get a 3/3 for just 1 mana! Then you may trigger some evolve, or then you may play a UG Guildmage and remove the +1/+1 counter to draw a card, rinse and repeat.
Spark Trooper: Probably fringe to unplayable trap. It costs more than ball lightning, has a more restrictive color cost than elemental appeal, and even appeal saw very little play when it was in standard.
Trooper wouldn't be played in mono-red. He goes in all-in boros, to finish the game after a boardwipe. He gives double the life swing of ball lightning for 1 extra mana, gives about the same life swing as elemental appeal, for less than half the mana cost, in an overall less restrictive color combination (one that lets you play utility lands).
He's good in boros beats as a 3 of that you want to see against control, but is still value against anything, so you maindeck it not board. It goes down post/pre wipe for 6+ extra points of damage, and some life gain.
To note, you can't use the disccarding as an engine, because the game is rewound. If an effect would trigger from the discarding, even if it triggers for any card, it won't trigger, because the game is rewound. Since the loop would then have no effect on gamestate, you couldn't actually repeat it, as per the game rules.
I am also struggling to see the logic behind a creature which takes a lot of effort to even trade with being 'bad against creatures'. Your opponent gains some life, but life is a mostly irrelevant figure as long as it is above 0.
This standard of all places has shown that isn't the case. Making your clock longer gives me more turns to SPR and gain more life, play more creatures (and gain *more* life), or draw a relevant removal spell or win condition.
Against the current field, he isn't good. You have Naya, Selesnya which just plain has more creatures that you can't block, and gains enough life to not care about your measly 6/6. R/x aggro plays hellrider after this guy, and wins. The control builds wipe him/kill him, and you get nothing from it. He's not good against decks, he's good against an empty field.
Ultimate Price and Searing Spear don't do anything, Orzhov Charm is pretty bad for the caster, Azorius Charm is Azorius Charm, and cards like Unsummon tend to set back a giant Exalted man back much more than a creature which doesn't commit you to one man. Have I missed any?
Sorin is very easily ignored as a defensive option, and is pretty slow as an offensive one. Sickness in the Ranks completely invalidates him (remember, this is the colour combination of Lingering Souls), too. There's a sizeable difference between a chump blocker and a creature that kills what it blocks.
So, since there is a narrow hate card that completely invalidates [part of] sorin, you will play a 6/6 guy that is bad against creatures.
I'm liking the logic.
EDIT: Not to mention that every time I chump this guy, I slow your clock by more than a turn. If I play thragtusk after this guy, I get 8 extra life, and that assume I don't take 6 and then toss out a resto then, stalling for another 4 turns.
Sublime Archangel gets laughed out of the room by the most common removal spells in the format. Angel of Jubilation doesn't see play.
All of which also hit this guy. Every single one (except the token kill all fliers things in green). Sublime is also bigger, is more likely to be played in green, etc.
Why play this over sorin? Why play this when you have obzedat at 1 mana more? What makes playing her instead of sorin->obz better?
I'll post mine. Its unplayable trash. Its more than likely worse than desecration demon, since it doesn't fly, and will just be chump blocked to high heaven. We are in a meta filled with Rx (which will chump it), spirits to chump it, and thrag-angels to chump it and gain even more life. Furthermore, its outclassed by bloodline keeper, Odric, sublime, sorin, and nocturnus, in the same colors at the same cost. There are much, much better choices for a big beater that comes down early, and most of them either fly or win the game with 1-2 attacks, or both.
EDIT: Meta, mind further explaining your reasoning on mystic genesis?
I was considering a scenario where you 0 jace twice, verdict, then zero again. Suddenly you're a jace in hand or a few drownyard activations from winning. Idk, I get what you're saying, but first I'd have to imagine a deck where Legion is good, and nothing comes to mind outside of tokens which is extremely hateable. I don't think tokens is a deck.
The possibility for a boros/WRB control shell exists. And as the self proclaimed MTGS shenanigans distributor: descent into madness.
I also don't see how it would, but American control could find a home for it as an alternate finisher against control or something, especially since it outraces thrag-angel.
Its more the naya midrange, of course my meta is also absolutely strange, but things might change as omnidoor becomes a more tier 1 deck (not that it will), and people decide that siding in artifact/enchant hate is the best way to deal with it.
Besides that, the only things that beat us are a counterspell on omniscience or super aggressive strat and us getting 0 fogs 0 wipes.
We lose to artifact hate in aggro decks. GW, RG, or Naya aggro post board (w/ naturalize and the flashback destroy artifact spell), they can stop our tempo in its tracks. Its awful
Oh, no doubt hellrider is a superior choice. I just think the trooper can get a place (at least sb) against control decks, as a post board gger.
Also, why the opinion on mystic genesis? In my testing its been an allstar.
Then you side it out for burn, or another creature.
I don't work there, but no, its an impossibility. I'm friends with the judge and every employee, and we never have had any issues with them doing anything shady. They'd also have a hard time hiding all of the prizes in the store, especially since they moved locations last weekend.
But yeah, I watched the judge sign the store up, and was in the room when they unboxed the gameday materials and the measly bits of prerelease material. I'm quite sure I'd have noticed the 75+ guild packs and 4-5 boxes of prize support somewhere
"Hello, wizards support"
"Hi, yes, we didn't receive any prerelease packs or support"
"You must not have signed up"
"we did, a while ago, and I realize we might have done something incorrectly, but we received the entire prerelease set up, except for the packs. We are also in the event finder for RTR prereleases."
"Oh, well you contacted us too late for us to help you, is there anything else I can help you with?"
It was gross, especially since this resets us to the lowest level of prize support.
We've also gotten no FNM promos for 3 months or so, and yet we have reliquary towers now. Its strange.
It gives you a huge resource advantage, allowing you to do things like counter spells/flash things in/play things, and still have mana for whatever you want. Its only downside is that it draws removal like a magnet, which honestly isn't bad when it can defend my other, sometimes more valuable artifacts (like door) from artifact hate.
Apart from that, I love the deck. Played it first time last riday, had no griselbrand, so replaced that with niv and still piloted it to a top 4 finish, beating reanimator and hex-auras, only loss to monored (coincidentally, the only deck that blew up gilded lotus). I'm in love, at least until I start playing Bant or BUG control come GTC proper.
I like the idea of the wincon being EtI, bobby, and 2 worldfire (in case of either super duper life gain, some combo, whatever, just makes the deck safer, and is an alt wincon itsself with thraggums).
This dodges any defense short of a tamiyo emblem with a dissipate in hand, and can probably get around that too.
Thoughts?
Trooper wouldn't be played in mono-red. He goes in all-in boros, to finish the game after a boardwipe. He gives double the life swing of ball lightning for 1 extra mana, gives about the same life swing as elemental appeal, for less than half the mana cost, in an overall less restrictive color combination (one that lets you play utility lands).
He's good in boros beats as a 3 of that you want to see against control, but is still value against anything, so you maindeck it not board. It goes down post/pre wipe for 6+ extra points of damage, and some life gain.
This standard of all places has shown that isn't the case. Making your clock longer gives me more turns to SPR and gain more life, play more creatures (and gain *more* life), or draw a relevant removal spell or win condition.
Against the current field, he isn't good. You have Naya, Selesnya which just plain has more creatures that you can't block, and gains enough life to not care about your measly 6/6. R/x aggro plays hellrider after this guy, and wins. The control builds wipe him/kill him, and you get nothing from it. He's not good against decks, he's good against an empty field.
So, since there is a narrow hate card that completely invalidates [part of] sorin, you will play a 6/6 guy that is bad against creatures.
I'm liking the logic.
EDIT: Not to mention that every time I chump this guy, I slow your clock by more than a turn. If I play thragtusk after this guy, I get 8 extra life, and that assume I don't take 6 and then toss out a resto then, stalling for another 4 turns.
All of which also hit this guy. Every single one (except the token kill all fliers things in green). Sublime is also bigger, is more likely to be played in green, etc.
Why play this over sorin? Why play this when you have obzedat at 1 mana more? What makes playing her instead of sorin->obz better?
I'll post mine. Its unplayable trash. Its more than likely worse than desecration demon, since it doesn't fly, and will just be chump blocked to high heaven. We are in a meta filled with Rx (which will chump it), spirits to chump it, and thrag-angels to chump it and gain even more life. Furthermore, its outclassed by bloodline keeper, Odric, sublime, sorin, and nocturnus, in the same colors at the same cost. There are much, much better choices for a big beater that comes down early, and most of them either fly or win the game with 1-2 attacks, or both.
EDIT: Meta, mind further explaining your reasoning on mystic genesis?
The possibility for a boros/WRB control shell exists. And as the self proclaimed MTGS shenanigans distributor: descent into madness.
I also don't see how it would, but American control could find a home for it as an alternate finisher against control or something, especially since it outraces thrag-angel.