- Stapler
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Member for 13 years and 20 days
Last active Wed, Oct, 2 2019 23:09:11
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Feb 4, 2014Stapler posted a message on Launch Giveaway!There are a bunch of cards I could name as my favourite, but for nostalgia reasons I have to go with Kiln Fiend for being in my favourite colour and combining two of my favourite things - casting lots of spells and doing a bunch of direct damage - into one card, as well as being from the set I started with.Posted in: Announcements
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You only played one game against burn, but were you able to reliably trigger Life Goes On? Do you think it performed/should perform better than Feed the Clan?
Answering for him, I'm pretty sure it's because you can't kick it off of Burning-Tree Emissary. Turn 1 Faithless Looting discarding a Vine or 2 into turn 2 Emissary+Reckless is a pretty strong play that isn't possible with the Goblin version.
Temur Ascendancy is the perfect example of this, being a card that basically replaces all the dragons in my hand as I play them while also enabling the numerous on-attack or on-combat damage dragons that I'm running (I'm even going to try out the Elemental Bond that's included in the precon - early game cards that you can slap down alongside or in place of ramp before you start slamming dragons seem best for this style of deck). Lifecrafter's Bestiary is similar, offering the Thassa ability attached to a slightly costly draw engine, though the beauty of the card is that I'm essentially casting my dragons at full retail without the Ur-Dragon cost reduction, they all just have "draw a card" attached to them (plus its optional, so I can skip the first few dragons and start paying once I start losing steam). Selvala, Heart of the Wilds also seems like it will be quite strong, as I should reliably get the most draws out of it playing a ramp-heavy dragon deck while also pretty much instantly catapulting me to Ur-Dragon mana if I want it. Turn 3 Selvala + Turn 4 Dragonlord Kolaghan = Turn 5 Ur-Dragon, attack for 16, draw 2 cards, plop a permanent into play (plus I get a card draw from Selvala).
I'm also running more potentially "dangerous" dragons compared to you (Hellkite Tyrant, Balefire Dragon) that can be disastrous if stolen or Threatened, so I made sure to include a couple of sac outlets, which also draw me cards. Greater Good is a staple in any green deck running large fatties and 5-colour dragons is no exception. Survival of the Fittest's awkward cousin Evolutionary Leap is really good in decks that only play a couple of large, threatening creatures at a time (and thus only need to hold up one or two mana to "protect" them with a sac activation) and whose deck is dense with powerful creatures and few weak, situational ones, and dragons fit that bill. I cut most of the mana dorks and small creatures from my deck so sacrificing a dragon will almost always put another dragon into my hand. It also enables me to play around with Selvala's Stampede, which is exceptionally powerful with many of the dragon tribal cards.
Also, just thought I'd point out you mentioned Crucible of Worlds in your synergies section but it isn't in your list.
Play the Necromancer, getting back whatever (doesn't matter). Before Inalla's trigger resolves, sac Necromancer for 2 mana. Pay the 1, make your token Necromancer, bring back the original Necromancer, triggering it and the Inalla ability. You are now back where you started, except you have 1 extra mana plus a hasty lifelink vampire wizard token. Make infinite mana and infinite haste tokens.
Also works with Phyrexian Altar which works out slightly better as it wins with the general itself as you can first make infinite mana, cast your general, then make infinite tokens and deal 7 to everyone which ignores combat effects (Ghostly Prison etc.).
Can also work with a 0 mana sac outlet and some other way of generating mana via death (Thornbite Staff/Faces of the Past with a Sea Scryer) or ETB (Mana Echoes).
EDIT: Oh woops, Kaltovei already mentioned that. Still, I have to stress how completely ridiculous this card is and how many busted interactions it has. I've never joined the outcries of people calling for generals like Breya or Leovold to be banned, but this general just seems egregious.
My main issue with these two cards is that they ultimately don't do enough on their own to justify a slot. Giving +1/+1 to all my sphinxes is often either winmore or inconsequential - the 3/3 flying body on Avenger is actually relevant at attacking and blocking on its own, and it carries equipment much better than the artifacts. Mimic has the additional problem of doing nothing if it's the last sphinx I've played, and my general will rarely get the counter as I will always want to play my general first and Mimic second. I'm not too worried about enabling surge, and costing a paltry 1 blue mana with surge and Unesh is pretty much the only reason I'm choosing to run it - 1 mana draw 2 attached to a larger-than-Mulldrifter body is excellent.
Playing the deck more, however, I am noticing that blue mana is a bit of a precious resource with the amount of colourless mana rocks and lands I'm running, so if I find I often end up with excess colourless mana and Jwar Isle Avenger stranded in hand, I might consider swapping in Metallic Mimic (I also like that if I can stick Tezzeret prior to Unesh I can tutor it out for a 0 mana FoF). Automaton is simply too expensive for the effect - there are 4 and even 5 mana sphinxes I'm not running (which cost the same or less than Automaton after Unesh reductions) that would have more of an impact than it.
Thanks for the suggestions.
The main idea of this deck is to drop some early acceleration into a quick Unesh, potentially with protection for him (or her ... or it?) and then proceed to open the skygates to many more sphinxes that draw many more cards, including more sphinxes, leading to a chain of card advantage that culminates into a large board of flying monsters smacking everyone's faces. If that doesn't work for one reason or another, all that card draw has hopefully drawn us into Archaeomancer + Time Warp + Crystal Shard/Riptide Laboratory so we can take all the turns and find some way of getting past whatever's stopping our sphinxes.
I played a few games with a version of this deck already (using a picture of Unesh on my phone as my general) and won in convincing fashion, but it is certainly not perfect, so I offer it up to y'all for critique.
1 Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign
CREATURES
1 Shapesharer
1 Trinket Mage
1 Trophy Mage
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Archaeomancer
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Sakashima the Impostor
1 Vizier of Many Faces
1 Argent Sphinx
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
1 Jwar Isle Avenger
1 Sphinx of Lost Truths
1 Glyph Keeper
1 Guardian of Tazeem
1 Master of Predicaments
1 Prognostic Sphinx
1 Sphinx of Jwar Isle
1 Consecrated Sphinx
1 Duplicant
1 Sphinx Ambassador
1 Chancellor of the Spires
1 Sphinx of Uthuun
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
1 Pongify
1 Essence Flux
1 Swan Song
1 Arcane Denial
1 Counterspell
1 Muddle the Mixture
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Ghostly Flicker
1 Forbid
1 Foil
1 Cryptic Command
SORCERIES
1 Preordain
1 Ponder
1 Rite of Replication
1 Time Warp
1 All Is Dust
ARTIFACTS
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Everflowing Chalice
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
1 Expedition Map
1 Fellwar Stone
1 Thought Vessel
1 Grim Monolith
1 Coldsteel Heart
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Empyrial Plate
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Mimic Vat
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Crystal Shard
1 Coalition Relic
1 Worn Powerstone
1 Urza's Incubator
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Vanishing
PLANESWALKERS
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
LANDS
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Command Beacon
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Scavenger Grounds
1 Myriad Landscape
1 Academy Ruins
1 Riptide Laboratory
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Tolaria West
1 Lonely Sandbar
1 Seat of the Synod
25 Island
1 Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign
SPHINXES
1 Shapesharer
1 Argent Sphinx
1 Jwar Isle Avenger
1 Sphinx of Lost Truths
1 Glyph Keeper
1 Guardian of Tazeem
1 Master of Predicaments
1 Prognostic Sphinx
1 Sphinx of Jwar Isle
1 Consecrated Sphinx
1 Sphinx Ambassador
1 Chancellor of the Spires
1 Sphinx of Uthuun
SPHINX IMPOSTERS
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Sakashima the Impostor
1 Vizier of Many Faces
1 Rite of Replication
MANA
1 Myriad Landscape
1 Everflowing Chalice
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
1 Expedition Map
1 Fellwar Stone
1 Thought Vessel
1 Grim Monolith
1 Coldsteel Heart
1 Coalition Relic
1 Worn Powerstone
1 Urza's Incubator
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Riptide Laboratory (... for wizards)
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Vanishing
1 Essence Flux
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Ghostly Flicker
1 Crystal Shard
COUNTERSPELLS (these also protect)
1 Swan Song
1 Arcane Denial
1 Counterspell
1 Muddle the Mixture
1 Forbid
1 Foil
1 Cryptic Command
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
CARD SELECTION
1 Academy Ruins
1 Tolaria West
1 Preordain
1 Ponder
1 Trinket Mage
1 Trophy Mage
1 Archaeomancer
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
REMOVAL
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Scavenger Grounds
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Pongify
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Duplicant
1 All Is Dust
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
1 Empyrial Plate
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Mimic Vat
1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
1 Time Warp
LANDS
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Command Beacon
1 Lonely Sandbar
1 Seat of the Synod
25 Island
Conundrum Sphinx/Curator of Mysteries/Sphinx of Magosi/Windreader Sphinx/Sphinx of the Final Word: Sphinxes that have gone in and out of the deck at various points for one reason for another, whether it be space concerns, too many high cost sphinxes, having abilities that may not be relevant for the deck, or all of the above. I do not consider any sphinxes not listed here or in the list to be playable for this deck.
Panharmonicon/Conjurer's Closet/Identity Thief/Displace: All of these cards blink (or effectively blink) my sphinxes, but aren't good enough for one reason or another. Panharmonicon paints an unnecessary target on my head when I'm already quite happy with one FoF per sphinx, and unless I cast it in the turns leading up to me dropping Unesh, I do not want to be spending my mana on an artifact that can't attack, block, or protect my permanents. Conjurer's Closet and Identity Thief suffer the same problem, and their blink effects don't actually protect my general (unlike Essence Flux and Ghostly Flicker). All three I feel are win-more for this deck, but I'll be paying attention to see if that's what this deck actually needs to win. Displace is simply outmatched by Ghostly Flicker, but I may end up finding a place for it if I want more of that effect.
Jace, Vryn's Prodigy/Snapcaster Mage/Mnemonic Wall: Recursion effects are really powerful when you're casting FoF every turn, and these are some of the best in blue (I especially like Jace's looting ability), but I worry I have too few good sorcery speed spells for Jace and am wary of the additional mana cost Snapcaster puts on the spell he casts. Mnemonic Wall is just too slow and can't carry equipment.
Phantasmal Image/Cackling Counterpart/Stunt Double/Clever Impersonator: Clones are always good, and I like all of these ones especially, but I ended up cutting them for space concerns and because I liked the clones I'm running more. I prefer Vizier of Many Faces for its synergy with FoFs, Sakashima the Impostor for his obvious ridiculous synergy with Unesh, Phyrexian Metamorph due to its interactions with Tezzeret the Seeker and Academy Ruins and its ability to be cast for cheap and without blue mana (which can be an important resource in this deck), and Rite of Replication for its ability to win the game. Phantasmal Image seems the most likely to make it back in.
Kira, Great Glass-Spinner: Kira seems like it should be great at protecting my sphinxes, but unfortunately it does more than that, namely, it stops me from using most equipment, some targeted effects (like Rite of Replication, Crystal Shard, Ghostly Flicker), and overall doesn't add much more to the deck than spot removal protection (and some of my sphinxes already have that). Once I realized that wraths were a bigger problem for the deck than spot removal, I cut Kira for a counterspell.
Rapid Hybridization/Reality Shift: Strong, cheap catchall spot removal in blue. I'm not sure how much this effect is needed for this deck yet.
Memory Lapse/Deprive/Commandeer: Counterspells I decided against including. Memory Lapse only delays a problem, and Deprive creates one for me by setting me back on mana. Commandeer is great occasionally and awful constantly, and considering I would most often want to tap out and hold this up to stop a wrath, and can't, I don't want to run this. If there's any cheap and efficient counterspells I haven't included (excluding Mana Drain and Force of Will which aren't in due to budget constraints), please suggest some.
Mystical Tutor: It should honestly be in the deck just to grab Time Warp, but I'm not sure what to cut and am fine with not jamming my deck full of tutors anyways.
Spellbook/Library of Leng: The Reliquary Tower effect is fairly important to this deck, I'm just not sure putting these cards in my deck is worth it.
And don't forget Morningtide.
That is thirty FoF triggers.
I imagine most opponents would concede once I tell them I have Ulamog in the deck.
Blinks can be used to reset clones onto better creatures, and the deck is probably running some number of blinkable creatures (Trinket Mage, Solemn Simulacrum, Duplicant) to get additional value and utility even if Unesh gets shut down early on. Combine Ghostly Flicker and Archaeomancer with Gilded Lotus to generate infinite storm (Palinchron is infinite mana too, but unlike Lotus it's only useful for the combo) or with Panharmonicon to generate infinite turns if you're having trouble finding a wincon.