I've been making constant changes as I go but I will give what I have found so far.
UWR Control, Pod, Scapeshift, and Ascendancy are pretty much auto-wins. They don't have it in them to beat mill.
Zoo, Martyr Life and Tribal flames are all in Mills favor to some degree.
UR Aggro, Tron (with eldrazi) and Splinter Twin are usually very good close matchups.
Junk, affinity and storm are hard but doable matchups.
RDW, Hatebear, Infect and Hexproof are really hard for me to even put up a fight against.
There are still a lot of decks I haven't gotten the chance to play against. If I can take one or two of those decks out of the insta-lose columns this might be a viable deck though.
Delve hasn't really scared me that much. It happens, but I have never had anybody outdraw me in a game so straight aggro decks turning mana into damage scare me a lot more. That being said the aggro decks that can avoid Crypt Incursion either by low creature count or by poison counters can be really hard. I also pulled the mainboard ensnaring bridges for Crypt Incursions. Way too much card draw for the bridges to be good all the time.
I've been playing this variant of the deck for about a week now, so not too long, but have had some pretty fantastic results with it. It still needs a lot of work, definitely not at the fine tuning phase, but I see potential for it.
Maybeboard: Duress - If I can get a bridge down this seems to be strictly better than inquisition. Not sure... Pyromancer Ascension - I dont like splashing red because picking up a third color will kill me faster via shock lands but it also allows Izzet Charm. So unsure. Snapcaster Mage I have one of these guys, all I could fit, but he's been amazing so far and I need at least one more.
This deck has one huge enemy, way worse than the rest. Leyline of Sanctity. I run 5 answers to it in the board, but even with all the draw spells they can be hit too late to matter. This is essentially a burn deck and missing 2 or 3 key turns will end you.
This deck optimizes on mana efficiency by playing buttloads of low mana cards, specifically cantrips, also allowing you to minimize lands, even with landfall and fetching, and also hit your sideboards easier against them Leylines. And as you can tell from the deck some cards are still being tested to see which I like more (i.e. Sleight of Hand vs. Serum).
All this being said, the deck really feels like it is missing something necessary to bring it up to tournament level. Here are some of the things I would love to be better at:
1) Gaining life. I almost want to splash white for timely reinforcements. Jk... But not really... Bridge is awesome, but it is not enough. Snapcaster almost always flashes in for a chump block so more snaps might alleviate this a bit, but I'd like to find something else.
2) Red. Everything about red pisses this deck off.
3) An unexpected Choke actually gives me a lot more problems than Leyline, and it's becoming more and more frequent. I run 5 enchantment side hates, but it is really hard to predict who is going to have it in their board, other than pod, which has been a very favorable matchup to date.
4) Hatebear.
Any suggestions to help me deal with any of these issues better would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading!!!
If I have two dark confidant in play does it reveal the top card twice, or does it resolve one whole trigger before the second starts meaning I draw 3 cards and lose life equal to the CMC of the top 2 cards combined.
I understand (hopefully correctly) that games can be drawn out when infinite combos occur which don't result in a victory. That being said, does this abide these rules?
It's interesting to see other people's competitive Azami decks. Here is a quick deck list of mine, which pretty much trolls face the vast majority of the time
You might notice that I am playing pretty land heavy for such an intense draw deck. As you were mentioning when talking about riptide laboratory, which belongs in the deck just because of its interaction with archaeomancer + turnabout/time stretch
Anyways, I have found after extensive play testing and games that this land heavy curve has been much more successful for me. Not only does it allow me to play another FREE counterspell (foil), it makes mox diamond easy to obtain and makes the turn 3 azami happen 50-60% of games with one other artifact accelerator. I find that being able to hit my engine SUPER reliably is worth the -2 or 3 card advantage I will endure through out the course of the games in unusable lands.
TEMPORAL CASCADE Most troll card ever freaking made. I am going to cast temporal cascade for 7 and make sure everybody has no graveyards or hands then draw 5 cards from tapping junky wizards... Nuff said?
well i will leave it at that for now, like the deck bro.
Is this Standard boosters only? I guess ROE boosters are good since they have good political cards and give you lots of late game power (since the multiplayer will go longer).
Any boosters, I have been play drafting RoE, I am going to try it this saturday.
Ok so at my shop every Saturday they host an event "Multiplayer Madness" which you purchase 6 boosters of any set or combination of sets to sealed in 3-4 player games. Last Saturday was my first time competing in this kind of format, and I chose Zendikar, honestly hoping for some sac lands and because they were 4 bucks a booster, but pulling out first place due to a vicious Roil Elemental/Baloth Woodcrasher/Frontier Guide combo (won both games with this same combo). Anyways, to the point of this blithering...
What 6 boosters would you sealed to get the largest advantage in a multiplayer game?
Zendikar seems very good due to the awesome commons it sports aka steppe lynx, bladetusk boar, territorial baloth, plated geopede, journey to nowhere, burst lightning, etc... But then again there are plenty of useless rare lands you can open up with Zendikar, which might be worth a few bucks, but might cost me the 4 packs I would get for winning.
After proxying a bunch of sets on a sealed simulator I was getting really good results with Mirrodin Besieged, will infect make me a target or avoided?, RoE, and Zendikar. Worldwake is 8 bucks a booster so that is out of the question. Anyways, I would love to hear your guys input!
I'd go U/B. You're going to have to play some sub-par cards, but you will have some games where you don't draw those cards and your deck looks really good with double Adept and Drifting Shades.
Stop playing M12 4 pack! Scars is so much better value and lower chance of awkward pools.
You obviously aren't worth listening to if you would neglect to go green with this deck.
UWR Control, Pod, Scapeshift, and Ascendancy are pretty much auto-wins. They don't have it in them to beat mill.
Zoo, Martyr Life and Tribal flames are all in Mills favor to some degree.
UR Aggro, Tron (with eldrazi) and Splinter Twin are usually very good close matchups.
Junk, affinity and storm are hard but doable matchups.
RDW, Hatebear, Infect and Hexproof are really hard for me to even put up a fight against.
There are still a lot of decks I haven't gotten the chance to play against. If I can take one or two of those decks out of the insta-lose columns this might be a viable deck though.
Delve hasn't really scared me that much. It happens, but I have never had anybody outdraw me in a game so straight aggro decks turning mana into damage scare me a lot more. That being said the aggro decks that can avoid Crypt Incursion either by low creature count or by poison counters can be really hard. I also pulled the mainboard ensnaring bridges for Crypt Incursions. Way too much card draw for the bridges to be good all the time.
Mill Mechanisms
Draw Engine
Delay/Survival
Lands
Sideboard:
Maybeboard:
Duress - If I can get a bridge down this seems to be strictly better than inquisition. Not sure...
Pyromancer Ascension - I dont like splashing red because picking up a third color will kill me faster via shock lands but it also allows Izzet Charm. So unsure.
Snapcaster Mage I have one of these guys, all I could fit, but he's been amazing so far and I need at least one more.
This deck has one huge enemy, way worse than the rest. Leyline of Sanctity. I run 5 answers to it in the board, but even with all the draw spells they can be hit too late to matter. This is essentially a burn deck and missing 2 or 3 key turns will end you.
This deck optimizes on mana efficiency by playing buttloads of low mana cards, specifically cantrips, also allowing you to minimize lands, even with landfall and fetching, and also hit your sideboards easier against them Leylines. And as you can tell from the deck some cards are still being tested to see which I like more (i.e. Sleight of Hand vs. Serum).
All this being said, the deck really feels like it is missing something necessary to bring it up to tournament level. Here are some of the things I would love to be better at:
1) Gaining life. I almost want to splash white for timely reinforcements. Jk... But not really... Bridge is awesome, but it is not enough. Snapcaster almost always flashes in for a chump block so more snaps might alleviate this a bit, but I'd like to find something else.
2) Red. Everything about red pisses this deck off.
3) An unexpected Choke actually gives me a lot more problems than Leyline, and it's becoming more and more frequent. I run 5 enchantment side hates, but it is really hard to predict who is going to have it in their board, other than pod, which has been a very favorable matchup to date.
4) Hatebear.
Any suggestions to help me deal with any of these issues better would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading!!!
I cast Ghostly flicker, targeting Gilded Lotus & Mnemonic Wall (returning ghostly flicker). Repeat x1,000,000.
Or since there is the clear break in this combo where I have to recast ghostly flicker would this be unable to auto-draw a game?
This is out of curiosity, I'm not trying to draw out games.
Creature (22)
Sorcery (9)
Artifact (11)
Instant (10)
Enchantment (5)
Planeswalker (2)
Land (40)
31x Island
So I just stole retraced image from your decklist. super pro ramp strategy, never thought of it.
Tolaria West transmutes for a mana crypt, pact of negation, or mix diamond
turnabout is essentially a time warp. super good
kira, great glass-spinner super OP, like really good
You might notice that I am playing pretty land heavy for such an intense draw deck. As you were mentioning when talking about riptide laboratory, which belongs in the deck just because of its interaction with archaeomancer + turnabout/time stretch
Anyways, I have found after extensive play testing and games that this land heavy curve has been much more successful for me. Not only does it allow me to play another FREE counterspell (foil), it makes mox diamond easy to obtain and makes the turn 3 azami happen 50-60% of games with one other artifact accelerator. I find that being able to hit my engine SUPER reliably is worth the -2 or 3 card advantage I will endure through out the course of the games in unusable lands.
TEMPORAL CASCADE Most troll card ever freaking made. I am going to cast temporal cascade for 7 and make sure everybody has no graveyards or hands then draw 5 cards from tapping junky wizards... Nuff said?
well i will leave it at that for now, like the deck bro.
Creatures:
4 Delver
4 Snapcaster
Spells:
4 Ponder
1 Gitaxian Probe
1 Vapor Snag
2 Tragic Slip
1 Despise
1 Surgical Extraction
4 Mana Leak
4 Think Twice
3 Doom Blade
2 Negate
1 Dissipate
2 Forbidden Alchemy
3 Black Sun's Zenith
Lands:
4 Drowned Catacombs
3 Haunted Fengraf
7 Swamp
9 Island
Sideboard:
4 Flashfreeze
2 Ratchet Bombs
2 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Steel Sabotage
2 Negate
2 Deathmark
1 Curse of Death's Hold
Thanks!
Any boosters, I have been play drafting RoE, I am going to try it this saturday.
What 6 boosters would you sealed to get the largest advantage in a multiplayer game?
Zendikar seems very good due to the awesome commons it sports aka steppe lynx, bladetusk boar, territorial baloth, plated geopede, journey to nowhere, burst lightning, etc... But then again there are plenty of useless rare lands you can open up with Zendikar, which might be worth a few bucks, but might cost me the 4 packs I would get for winning.
After proxying a bunch of sets on a sealed simulator I was getting really good results with Mirrodin Besieged, will infect make me a target or avoided?, RoE, and Zendikar. Worldwake is 8 bucks a booster so that is out of the question. Anyways, I would love to hear your guys input!
6 forests 4 plains...
that leaves 10 green mana sources and 5 white mana sources...
You obviously aren't worth listening to if you would neglect to go green with this deck.