I know it seems like a crap card in general, but have you considered Lobber Crew? It's only a 3 drop, fends of aggro quite well, and works great with Curiosity. You aren't running a ton of multi-color spells, but you'd probably get a couple double activation turns over the course of a game.
It's a thought I may try it. Right now the bane of my existence has been Geist of St Traft, as I have no real way of interacting with him. Rolling Tembor is an option but I'll also be wiping my own field Anyone have suggestions?
What about Boros Reckoner? You can put the curiosity on him, and ping him with the staticaster for double draws, if you are able to swing with him as well(and get thru). I know the red's a little demanding, but it ain't like mana's bad this set.
No, a three color mana base can't support a triple cost like that with any consistency. It only works in UWR and Aristocrats because it can be cast using two of the colors.
Yeh i actually threw giant growth in before i thought about simic charm. Your probably right they don't need to be there.
How has it been running for you. I have been running my new burn deck so I haven't had a chance to test it.
So far its definitely been functional, I'm working on tweaking the mana base which has been an issue (I really need all three colors by turn 3) so I've stripped out the basics and upped the shock land count to max. I have some cavern of souls from my Naya blitz deck so I'm debating taking those and putting them in too, almost everything in the deck is human.
My matches have been pretty decent, most of my losses were from being buried under cards and creatures by Bant or Junk, but most losses are 1/2 and are fairly close. I've also played and won versus Aristocrats (I sided in the nightshade peddler izzet staticaster combo) human reanimator, junk tokens, and UG Delver.
The deck seems to function as a almost tempo deck, with the clock coming from small swingers and guttersnipe. I'm actually thinking about moving the peddler and staticaster back main board. Player's have shown a extreme reluctance to block a bonded peddler even with excessive value like hidden strings attached. And the Staticaster can still be functional with the untap I have. Using a combo of hidden strings and Ral I managed to clear the board of 5/5 populated Wurm tokens, Though it was pretty luuck.
Going from a position of almost winning to having lost in the game in the course of 1 turn can be a pretty devastating feeling. I used to hate it in EDH. But I've gotten over it, and I pack answers. Johnny Combo Player is one of the core stereotypes of Magic, so you'll just have to deal with it existence and relish the fact that there are a variety of ways to win in the game.
I like the simic charms since they have a couple of modes that shore up some of the weak points of the deck. The giant growths IMO are too narrow. I'd rather have the mizzium mortars which have been hella relevant when it comes to removal.
The other card I'm trying is Clan Defiance. As a finisher and bomb killer its worked out pretty well. Especially since I rarely miss a land drop once I get going. It serves a similar mana dump purpose as Kessig Wolf run.
Err not really, if I survive to the point where I can play and use him profitably I've probably already got my engine online, most of the time he'll end up being kind of a dead card early game with not too much to add besides a 4/4 flying body late game. His ability to ping is nice though, so maybe in the sideboard against a control match up as a late game trump, I don't see much beyond that though.
I really like this interaction (Druid + Curiosity) However the staticcaster and nightshade peddler may be too cute, because they don't do much for you when they are not together.
You probably want something that works with curiosity other than druid tho. Not sure exactly What but possibly some small evasive beatstick. Maybe invisible stalker would work here.
Some hard Burn may be better here and abuse with that continuous card draw you get with the druid combo. also if you have them snapcaster mage would obviously work here too.
I agree on needing more curiosity targets, I'd like ones that existed outside of the combat step but good old fashioned pingers are a little scarce right now. It's also been relevant that guttersnipe can be bonded/targeted with curiosity for okay value.
The nightshade peddler combo is a concession to the lack of removal the deck actually has, maybe replacing it with hard burn would be better, but it synergizes rather well this everything else, and even without the peddler I can usually stack 2 or 3 damage from a staticaster a turn.
Cipher only works for combat damage, so it's not that great in this deck. Might I suggest Hellrider?
I know it only works for combat damage, but you'd be surprised how well your little guys can swing in with all the tap effects and izzet staticaster. Hidden strings just syngerizes so well with this deck that can't envision cutting it.
Hello folks! Today I'd like to present a deck about turning creatures sideways! But wait, before you roll your eyes, it's not during the combat step!
This deck is about accruing incremental advantage with Zhur-Taa Druid and Curiosity effects. Abusing this with untap effects like Hidden Strings and Ral'Zarek can create an excessive amount of value on each of your turns.
Then we can use Gutter Snipe to leverage all the advantage we gain from cipher and card draw to put the game away. Hoe are we going to cast those spells we Ciphered though? 2/2 and 1/1 bodies don't exactly impress in terms of combat.
We solve this, and the problem of have our skulls crushed in the same way. The old Izzet StaticasterNight-Shade peddler combo. By giving staticaster death touch we can effectively clear the board at our whim, and it can be abused with the same untapping engines that Zhur-taa Druid can.
So, without further ado, here's my first draft of the deck. I'm playing it a bit online, and I'm hoping to have a sideboard pinned down soon, so if you have any suggestions please feel free to post them!
EDIT: Updated version of the deck based on feedback
On gatherer it has the ruling that allows you to play lands with him. What's the justification for this? I want to run this card in EDH and I want to be able to back up my claim with more then just a ruling.
I personally don't see how the card allows this, it almost feels like a copy paste from the Future Sight rulings.
While you may not be able to generate more then 1 mana, I think it is physically possible to kill your opponent on turn 1.
Might need one of these. Perfect for those cheaters:
It's a thought I may try it. Right now the bane of my existence has been Geist of St Traft, as I have no real way of interacting with him. Rolling Tembor is an option but I'll also be wiping my own field
No, a three color mana base can't support a triple cost like that with any consistency. It only works in UWR and Aristocrats because it can be cast using two of the colors.
So far its definitely been functional, I'm working on tweaking the mana base which has been an issue (I really need all three colors by turn 3) so I've stripped out the basics and upped the shock land count to max. I have some cavern of souls from my Naya blitz deck so I'm debating taking those and putting them in too, almost everything in the deck is human.
My matches have been pretty decent, most of my losses were from being buried under cards and creatures by Bant or Junk, but most losses are 1/2 and are fairly close. I've also played and won versus Aristocrats (I sided in the nightshade peddler izzet staticaster combo) human reanimator, junk tokens, and UG Delver.
The deck seems to function as a almost tempo deck, with the clock coming from small swingers and guttersnipe. I'm actually thinking about moving the peddler and staticaster back main board. Player's have shown a extreme reluctance to block a bonded peddler even with excessive value like hidden strings attached. And the Staticaster can still be functional with the untap I have. Using a combo of hidden strings and Ral I managed to clear the board of 5/5 populated Wurm tokens, Though it was pretty luuck.
I like the simic charms since they have a couple of modes that shore up some of the weak points of the deck. The giant growths IMO are too narrow. I'd rather have the mizzium mortars which have been hella relevant when it comes to removal.
The other card I'm trying is Clan Defiance. As a finisher and bomb killer its worked out pretty well. Especially since I rarely miss a land drop once I get going. It serves a similar mana dump purpose as Kessig Wolf run.
Err not really, if I survive to the point where I can play and use him profitably I've probably already got my engine online, most of the time he'll end up being kind of a dead card early game with not too much to add besides a 4/4 flying body late game. His ability to ping is nice though, so maybe in the sideboard against a control match up as a late game trump, I don't see much beyond that though.
That's a lot of slots to use, especially since pairing with Galvanic Alchemist means half my curiosity effects can't be used.
I agree on needing more curiosity targets, I'd like ones that existed outside of the combat step but good old fashioned pingers are a little scarce right now. It's also been relevant that guttersnipe can be bonded/targeted with curiosity for okay value.
The nightshade peddler combo is a concession to the lack of removal the deck actually has, maybe replacing it with hard burn would be better, but it synergizes rather well this everything else, and even without the peddler I can usually stack 2 or 3 damage from a staticaster a turn.
I know it only works for combat damage, but you'd be surprised how well your little guys can swing in with all the tap effects and izzet staticaster. Hidden strings just syngerizes so well with this deck that can't envision cutting it.
Hello folks! Today I'd like to present a deck about turning creatures sideways! But wait, before you roll your eyes, it's not during the combat step!
This deck is about accruing incremental advantage with Zhur-Taa Druid and Curiosity effects. Abusing this with untap effects like Hidden Strings and Ral'Zarek can create an excessive amount of value on each of your turns.
Then we can use Gutter Snipe to leverage all the advantage we gain from cipher and card draw to put the game away. Hoe are we going to cast those spells we Ciphered though? 2/2 and 1/1 bodies don't exactly impress in terms of combat.
We solve this, and the problem of have our skulls crushed in the same way. The old Izzet Staticaster Night-Shade peddler combo. By giving staticaster death touch we can effectively clear the board at our whim, and it can be abused with the same untapping engines that Zhur-taa Druid can.
So, without further ado, here's my first draft of the deck. I'm playing it a bit online, and I'm hoping to have a sideboard pinned down soon, so if you have any suggestions please feel free to post them!
EDIT: Updated version of the deck based on feedback
3 Guttersnipe
4 Zhur-Taa Druid
3 Tandem Lookout
3 invisible stalker
3 snapcaster
2 Thragtusk
Enchantments(4):
4 Curiosity
3 Ral Zarek
4 Hidden Strings
2 Clan Defiance
3 Mizzium Mortars
3 Searing Spear
Lands(23):
4 Steam Vents
4 Stomping Ground
2 Rootbound Crag
2 Hinterland Harbor
2 Breeding Pool
1 Kessig Wolf Run
2 Sulfur Falls
2 Forest
2 Island
2 Mountain
Leeched images removed. ~parinoid
Ah damn, oh well a man can dream! Thanks for the quick response
On gatherer it has the ruling that allows you to play lands with him. What's the justification for this? I want to run this card in EDH and I want to be able to back up my claim with more then just a ruling.
I personally don't see how the card allows this, it almost feels like a copy paste from the Future Sight rulings.