[Deck] B/g Baublestalker

[Barook]

I have no idea when I made this pile, but when I found it a few days ago and fooled a bit around with it on MWS, I was quite impressed: Here's the still unrefined list:

2 [ON] Wooded Foothills
2 [ON] Windswept Heath
3 [UNH] Swamp
4 [ON] Polluted Delta
4 [ON] Bloodstained Mire
4 [B] Bayou

4 [TO] Nantuko Shade
4 [FUT] Tarmogoyf
4 [RAV] Dark Confidant
3 [FUT] Tombstalker

4 [TE] Dark Ritual
4 [US] Duress
3 [BOK] Umezawa's Jitte
4 Urza's Bauble
4 [CS] Mishra's Bauble
4 [JU] Cabal Therapy
3 [RAV] Putrefy

A few card explanations:

- Fetches: Deck thinning, feed TS, color fixing

- Creatures: Well, pretty self-explanitory. TS is a friggin bomb in this deck and 3 [I]is the right number. Disrupting the hell out of your opponent with discard while dropping a TS on T2 or T3 is fun. Although it seems rather unlikely, among lots of goldfishing and a few test games, I rarely flipped into TS with Bob. So it isn't a big problem.

- Discard: Cabal Therapy used to be Thoughseize, but the combined life loss of the deck was already too high during gold fishing, so I cut Thoughtseize for Therapy which isn't too bad after all. Between Baubles and Duress, the chance to hit isn't low and you can always use it to get rid of Bob. I'm trying to fit in a few Thoughtseizes, but that's gonna be a hard call, considering the life loss of the deck.

- Baubles: The engine of the deck. They thin the deck, improve your card quality, feed both Tarmogofy and TS and make Therapy better for the low price of :0:.
- Putrefy: Meh - could be something better.

SB: I have really no idea what a good Sb for this deck would look like. Krosan Grip looks like a given, same for Leyline of the Void. The rest is hard.

Potential changes for the deck:
I'm thinking about cutting down 1-2 Fetches for more Swamps. With the high amount of fetches and Bob around, Sensei's Divining Top looks like a good inclusion to the deck. Another problem that occured was the lack of reach to deal the last points of damage and a lack of creature control. Maybe I'm fitting in Cursed Scroll because I'm low on cards in my hand anyway.

So, to sum up potential changes:
-1 Green Fetch
+1 Swamp
-1 Mishra's Bauble
-1 Putrefy
+2 SDT
Maybe:
-2 Putrefy
+2 Cursed Scroll

[Media314r8]

Disropting the hell outta your opponent"= 4x duress+4 c therapy?

Perhaps 4x thoughtseize/c therapy and 4x hymn would better qualify. I dont even see any sinkhole/wasteland... so perhaps sui-black is a better deck to model than disruption.

I do like the nature of the deck, despite it being hard to guage mulls depending with all the free trips.

[Jak]

Disropting the hell outta your opponent"= 4x duress+4 c therapy?

Perhaps 4x thoughtseize/c therapy and 4x hymn would better qualify. I dont even see any sinkhole/wasteland... so perhaps sui-black is a better deck to model than disruption.

I do like the nature of the deck, despite it being hard to guage mulls depending with all the free trips.

You don't need to turn into a control deck to win against combo...

Do you need jitte? You critters are huge and I wouldn't be too worried about flipping a Stalker, because then Stalker hits and will most likely dominate the board. I do think a white splash would be beneficial. You get Doran, Vindicate, and StP. I think it would improve the deck a ton.

[Barook]

Disropting the hell outta your opponent"= 4x duress+4 c therapy?

Perhaps 4x thoughtseize/c therapy and 4x hymn would better qualify. I dont even see any sinkhole/wasteland... so perhaps sui-black is a better deck to model than disruption.
Don't put the statement out of context - Turn 1 Duress, Turn 2 Discard, Ritual, Stalker is brutal when you can pull it off. But good hands aren't the topic.


I do like the nature of the deck, despite it being hard to guage mulls depending with all the free trips.
I didn't find it hard to mulligan so far. The deck is pretty consistent imho.

Edit:

Do you need jitte? You critters are huge and I wouldn't be too worried about flipping a Stalker, because then Stalker hits and will most likely dominate the board. I do think a white splash would be beneficial. You get Doran, Vindicate, and StP. I think it would improve the deck a ton.
I found Jitte very beneficial so far. It compensates the life loss, kills weenies, wins Tarmogoyf duels and puts extra pressure on the opponent. In the few test games I played so far, it already saved my ass a few times. The rather low creature count isn't a big problem.

[Finn]

I hope I am playing the person who upturns two Tombstalkers in a row with Dark Confidant. This is going to be a persistent problem. I have seen many people try playing those cards together, and benefitted from it. It can be done, but not blindly like this.

Divining Top?

[Happy Gilmore]

I think flipping Tombstalker with DC is enough of a reason to cut one or the other. I was kind of thinking that you could cut the Putrefy and the DCs for 3x Shriekmaw 4x Hypnotic Specter. Also, Thoughtseize >>>> Duress.

[Finn]

There are a growing number of very good black cards that Dark Confidant does not play nice with. Shriekmaw is just the newest. I am interested to see what cards come out of the woods if Confidant loses some popularity.

[Maveric78f]

DR looks bad in this deck, as well as Dark Confidant that prevents you from playing Street Wraith as another good card. I would go like this :
-4 confidant
-4 DR
-3 Jitte
-3 Putrefy
-1 Duress
+4 Street Wraith
+3 Shriekmaw
+3 Smother
+4 Ghastly Demise
+1 Thoughtseize

12 fetches is maybe a bit hardcore too ^^. You might know better than me.

-4 green fetches
+1 shockland
+2 swamps
+1 Thoughtseize

[Barook]

@Finn & HappyGilmore: Just asking: Have you actually read the opening post? :confused:
Flipping into Tombstalker with Bob isn't happening often enough to be considered a problem. And cutting Tombstalker is NOT debateable. I would rather cut down the number of Confidants before I would could down the number of TS. The damage from Bob is low in general due to the low curve and the Baubles. Plus, I cut one Bauble and one Putrefy for 2 SDT which really fit nicely into the deck. Cursed Scroll was so-so during goldfishing - testing it against match-ups were it really matters is essential to decide whether I keep it or not.
@Happy Gilmore: I don't think that the deck can support Hypnotic Specter in its current form. Specter is only good when cast really early (especially with Ritual). Problem is that the deck already fully operational at 2 mana. Hitting 3 mana early enough won't be easy, especially when you cut Bob.
And I don't doubt that Thoughtseize is superior to Duress, but as I said before, the combined life loss of the deck is really problematic if Thoughtseize joins the party.
Shriekmaw is definitely sexy, but in that case, Bob is definitely a no-go. The deck would need some draw replacement to refill your hand. Skeletal Scrying looks like a good candidate, especially with its instant speed.


DR looks bad in this deck, as well as Dark Confidant that prevents you from playing Street Wraith as another good card. I would go like this :
-4 confidant
-4 DR
-3 Jitte
-3 Putrefy
-1 Duress
+4 Street Wraith
+3 Shriekmaw
+3 Smother
+4 Ghastly Demise
+1 Thoughtseize

12 fetches is maybe a bit hardcore too ^^. You might know better than me.

-4 green fetches
+1 shockland
+2 swamps
+1 Thoughtseize
DR is bad? Why? And DC is bad because you can't run "good" cards like Street Wraith? :confused:
And I really don't get the logic behind cutting fetches (which feed TS, and in your case, Ghastly Demise, for cheap) for more pain cards.

[Finn]

@Finn & HappyGilmore: Just asking: Have you actually read the opening post?Yes.

Flipping into Tombstalker with Bob isn't happening often enough to be considered a problem. And cutting Tombstalker is NOT debateable. I would rather cut down the number of Confidants before I would could down the number of TS.We can see the gears turning.

Shriekmaw is definitely sexy, but in that case, Bob is definitely a no-go. The deck would need some draw replacement to refill your hand. Skeletal Scrying looks like a good candidate, especially with its instant speed.I think my work is done here.

[Media314r8]

Mulligans are difficult to judge when your opening is Land, TS, DC, discard, three tree cantrips... as those cantrips could net you lands, but they could also just give you mroe spells and you auto-lose. This is why street wraith is not run in many combo decks, as while he does allow you to run a 56 card deck (and allow for mystical tutor shenannagins) when you really need to know if that 7th card is a ritual that will let you go tenrils/EtW for 20 1st turn... he is just another variable that can cause you to fizzle.

Bob + TS = Epic fail. I run brainstorm in a deck with bob, and you dont allways see them together. As someone who has flipped FoW twice in a row to bob, I can tell you tombstalker does not belong in the same deck as bob, perhaps even with top, as similarly with brainstorm, you are not going to put off laying down bob just because you dont have top... and losing 8 life almost guarentees you will lose the game. If you fetch at all, thresh can almost just burn you out at that low a life total.

[from Cairo]

I was excited when I saw the title of this thread its a good concept, but I dont like the direction of this build at all.

I think you want to capitalize on as many ways to get cards quickly into your gy while gaining some benefit, with an obvious bonus if they are different card types for the Goyf.

Cards that stand out to me...

Fetches
Mishra's Bauble
Shriekaw
Dark Ritual
Street Wraith
Land Grant

That starts you off with Land, Artifact, 2 Creatures, Instant, and Sorcery... It's really easy to suplement the Sorcery and Instant counts by adding some discard and removal respectively.

Thoughtseize
Hymn to Torach
Smother

Dark Confidant + Tombstalker is rough and pretty anti-synergy. Nantuko Shade + Jitte + Sensei's Top is also a hard combo to run in the deck since they are all pretty mana hungry.

I would go with ...

4 Tarmogoyf
4 Nantuko Shade
4 Order of Ebon Hand OR w/e the JumpKnight's name is OR 2/2 split
4 Street Wraith
3 Shriekmaw
3 Tombstalker

4 Dark Ritual
4 Thoughtseize
4 Mishra's Bauble
4 Land Grant
3 Hymn to Torach
3 Smother

4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Polluted Delta
3 Swamp
4 Bayou
1 Overgrown Tomb

That gives you 8 Lands, 7 Instants, 11 Sorceries, 4 Artifacts and 4-7 Creatures so it seems like it would regularly support a healthy sized Tarmogoyf. And with Land Grants, Fetches, Baubles and Street Wraiths it should thin/dig through the deck pretty well.

[TheGodOfHouse]

mmm... I didn't test your deck and this is just a quick thought, but Goyf and TS (as well as the newly suggested Skeletal Scrying) look kinda anti-synergetic on paper.
I don't know if cutting Goyf is an option, since it's so powerful, but playing with both TS and Scrying seems reasonable. Again, doing so, would make this deck take it into another direction. :confused:

[Barook]

I would rather hear suggestions on the sideboard which still wasn't addressed in a single post while everybody is making his own build, most likely without any testing. :rolleyes: I won't make drastic changes to the deck until I have more testing against a greater variety of decks.

As I said before, Krosan Grip is pretty much a given. But what else to include?

I'm torn between LotV, Yixlid Jailer and Extirpate as graveyard hate. Leyline does help against graveyard-based decks, Jailer has a body (but is probably too narrow) and Extirpate, while not very good at hating the graveyard in general, is also something to consider against control when combined with discard.

Deed?

Some more aggro control would be sweet, too. I'm especially worried about direct damage. But I wasn't able to find a fitting solution to this problem so far? Suggestions?

edit: I'm thinking about a 3 Duress, 3 Therapy, 2 Thoughtseize split. Something I'll also test when I find the time.

@Media314r8: You can't exactly compare Combo situations with aggro control situations because they play different roles (especially the auto-loss part). Plus, I toyed around enough with the deck in goldfishing to test such hands. Multiple Baubles are normaly a good thing due the consistency of the deck. The situation you described is an absolute keeper after some testing experience because you
a) can play turn 1 discard
b) are going to hit another land (or at least a Ritual) within the next 4 cards with a high chance
c) you have a good chance to play a T2 Tombstalker.

[Maveric78f]

I really like the idea of Land Grant, after a bit of testing I came to this list :

Mana : 18
1 Forest
3 [UNH] Swamp
3 [ON] Polluted Delta
3 [ON] Bloodstained Mire
4 [b] Bayou
4 Land Grant

Creatures : 19
4 [TO] Nantuko Shade
4 [FUT] Tarmogoyf
4 [FUT] Tombstalker
3 Shriekmaw
4 StreetWraith

4 [US] Duress
4 [IA] Urza's Bauble
4 [CS] Mishra's Bauble
3 [JU] Cabal Therapy
4 Ghastly Demise (really huge : turn 3 : play demise, play TS, win)
4 [RAV] Putrefy (I disliked the smothers because it never dodges counterbalance and it was kind of frustrating not the be able to target my opponent's fatties)

SB :
4 Leyline of the void
3 Extirpate
4 Krosan Grip
4 Engineered Plague

This deck packs :
- early big guys
- good disruption
- great evasion
- great SB
- nice cantrip/slowtrip base (ie redundancy)
- a lot of anti-creatures

And it's not that much graveyard dependant. I really like it. Even if you don't want to bargain you DC for shriekmaw, SW and an additionnal TS, props to you Barook for the concept.

[Silverdragon]

Bob + TS = Epic fail. I run brainstorm in a deck with bob, and you dont allways see them together. As someone who has flipped FoW twice in a row to bob, I can tell you tombstalker does not belong in the same deck as bob, perhaps even with top, as similarly with brainstorm, you are not going to put off laying down bob just because you dont have top... and losing 8 life almost guarentees you will lose the game. If you fetch at all, thresh can almost just burn you out at that low a life total.

One question though, have you heard of Rakdos10? Rakdos10 was a deck that played Bob and Greater Gargadon together in Standard. Although it didn't win anything big before it became outdated it at least shows that it's possible to run high cc cards together with Dark Confidant.
The thing is that losing 10 life (or in the case of this deck 8 life) to Bob means you now have a friggin Gargadon/Tombstalker that will win you the game before the lifeloss of Bob becomes relevant.
Saying "Bob + Tombstalker = Epic fail" sounds almost like saying Demonic Consultation is bad because you could deck yourself.

[Hummingbird TG]

Out of all the lists posted here, I sorta like the original post's list the best. I have taken a liking to Tombstalker ever since playing it in Deadguy Ale; Tombstalker is the friggin nuts. But, Tombstalker and Confidant is definitely not just one or the other, especially where Tombstalker wins the game on its own, and pretty damn fast, at that.

Also, no Thoughtseize? wtf?

[Barook]

I think I found finally a good name for the deck which fits, considering its explosive starts: :wink:

TNT (Tombstalker and Tarmogoyf)


Also, no Thoughtseize? wtf?As I said before, you're losing way too much life to support a full playset. However, a few copies could work, but that's a matter of playtesting. If anyone wants to help me playtesting the deck, you can contact me on Aim as magicbarook.

[matelml]

T'nT (Tools and Tubbies) is also a deckname so that's not a handy name.

[Aggro_zombies]

T'nT (Tools and Tubbies) is also a deckname so that's not a handy name.
What the fuck is "tools and tubbies"?

What's the point of Baubles, aside from filling the yard and making Goyf bigger and stuff? Personally, I'd rather run more discard or Night's Whisper or Top or something. The Baubles just seem so...mediocre. If you want artifacts in the yard, run Lotus Petal or something in place of some lands and get a turn-one Goyf.

Hell, Wild Mongrel + Sensei's Divining Top seems better here.

[Barook]

T'nT (Tools and Tubbies) is also a deckname so that's not a handy name.

Meh, I don't care.

@Maveric78f: I like the idea of running a 4th Tombstalker - the deck is often able to play a T2 or T3 Tombstalker. But in this case, running Bob really becomes risky. That would probably be a non-Bob version I'll give a try besides the Bob-version:

2 [ON] Wooded Foothills
2 [ON] Windswept Heath
4 [UNH] Swamp
4 [ON] Polluted Delta
4 [ON] Bloodstained Mire
4 [b] Bayou

3 [TO] Nantuko Shade
4 [FUT] Tarmogoyf
4 [FUT] Tombstalker
3 Plague Spitter
3 [LRW] Shriekmaw

4 [TE] Dark Ritual
4 [US] Duress/Thoughtseize
3 [BOK] Umezawa's Jitte
4 [IA] Urza's Bauble
4 [CS] Mishra's Bauble
4 [JU] Cabal Therapy

I like how this version packs more creature removal which doubles as beater if needed. Plague Spitter gives you at least some kind of MD weenie control, adds reach vs. control and has synergy with Therapy. With Fetchlands and Spitter as only self-damaging sources, Thoughtseize could become more viable (which would up the count of flexible "creature removal" even more). The list looks good on the paper and a bit less consistent than the Bob list in goldfishing. I hope I find some time soon to test it.


What's the point of Baubles, aside from filling the yard and making Goyf bigger and stuff? Personally, I'd rather run more discard or Night's Whisper or Top or something. The Baubles just seem so...[i]mediocre. If you want artifacts in the yard, run Lotus Petal or something in place of some lands and get a turn-one Goyf.

I guess you kinda missed the point of the deck (probably never tested it?). The Baubles also act as hand scouter for Therapy, feed TS to come down as cheap fatty early (just like Tarmogoyf) and free cantrips (although slow) without any life loss.

[Happy Gilmore]

Meh, I don't care.

@Maveric78f: I like the idea of running a 4th Tombstalker - the deck is often able to play a T2 or T3 Tombstalker. But in this case, running Bob really becomes risky. That would probably be a non-Bob version I'll give a try besides the Bob-version:

2 [ON] Wooded Foothills
2 [ON] Windswept Heath
4 Swamp
4 [ON] Polluted Delta
4 [ON] Bloodstained Mire
4 Bayou

3 [TO] Nantuko Shade
4 [FUT] Tarmogoyf
4 [FUT] Tombstalker
3 [IN] Plague Spitter
3 [LRW] Shriekmaw

4 [TE] Dark Ritual
4 Duress/Thoughtseize
3 Umezawa's Jitte
4 [IA] Urza's Bauble
4 [CS] Mishra's Bauble
4 [JU] Cabal Therapy

I like how this version packs more creature removal which doubles as beater if needed. Plague Spitter gives you at least some kind of MD weenie control, adds reach vs. control and has synergy with Therapy. With Fetchlands and Spitter as only self-damaging sources, Thoughtseize could become more viable (which would up the count of flexible "creature removal" even more). The list looks good on the paper and a bit less consistent than the Bob list in goldfishing. I hope I find some time soon to test it.



[b][B][U]I guess you kinda missed the point of the [U]deck (probably never tested it?). The Baubles also act as hand scouter for Therapy, feed TS to come down as cheap fatty early (just like Tarmogoyf) and free cantrips (although slow) without any life loss.

Are you trying to come off like this? We are only participating in the developement because we can see that it has potential in a tournament setting. Dismissing every suggestion isn't going to get you anywhere. If everyone dislikes you they will be less than likely to test anything. The deck is never played in tournaments, and Baublestalker becomes just another N&D deck on page 6.

On a more constructive note; Spitter is a great threat against decks running ETW, but only if you have the rit as well. Specter on the other hand is always a threat to every deck in the format. Try it and I promise it will live up the hype it has gained since 1993.

[Top Deck]

I went the more controllish rock style with the deck. I have been posting about this deck over at mtgsalvation. Anyhow here is my deck list and it has been working quite well.

It doesn't aim for explosiveness rather it can that way but mostly I end up winning with a middle/late game lock with braids and recursion.


// Lands
4 [A] Bayou
4 [ON] Bloodstained Mire
5 [UNH] Forest
2 [TE] Wasteland
3 [UNH] Swamp

// Creatures
1 [FD] Eternal Witness
3 [FUT] Street Wraith
3 [FUT] Tarmogoyf
3 [FUT] Tombstalker
3 [CHK] Sakura-Tribe Elder
3 [UD] Yavimaya Elder
3 [OD] Braids, Cabal Minion

// Spells
4 [US] Duress
1 [PLC] Extirpate
4 [CS] Mishra's Bauble
2 [AP] Pernicious Deed
2 [RAV] Putrefy
2 [DS] Sword of Light and Shadow
2 [LRW] Thoughtseize
4 [IA] Urza's Bauble
2 [BOK] Umezawa's Jitte

[Maveric78f]

I played this version of the deck :

Mana : 18
1 Forest
6 [UNH] Swamp
2 [ON] Polluted Delta
2 [ON] Bloodstained Mire
3 [b] Bayou
2 Windswept Heath
2 Wooded Foothills

Creatures : 19
4 [TO] Nantuko Shade
4 [FUT] Tarmogoyf
4 [FUT] Tombstalker
3 Shriekmaw
4 StreetWraith

Discard 8:
4 [US] Duress
4 Thoughtseize

Free Draw 8: (+4 Street Wraith)
4 [IA] Urza's Bauble
4 [CS] Mishra's Bauble

Removal 7: (+3 Shriekmaw)
4 Dark Blast
3 [RAV] Putrefy

SB :
4 Leyline of the void
3 Extirpate
4 Krosan Grip
4 Engineered Plague

I did a lot of self-testing (against myself with 2 MWS opened sessions) against gob. I don't have the details but I did 15 games on the play and on the draw preboard and postboard. It means 60 games overall. As soon as I get back at home (done), I'll have the data and the Gob's list (a black splashed version that did some result in a local tourney, the main hate of the SB is 3*planar void). The table is this one :
..................play.....draw
preboard......50%......30% (I remove 3 random slots : Wort, Fodder Launch and ??? aginst 3*planar void, maybe I should remove 3*fanatic and 1*randomslot for 4*chalice too but I didn't)
postboard.....73%......53% (I remove 4*duress for 4*plague, maybe I should remove too 4*bauble for 4*grip but I didn't))

Edit: actual numbers are :
..................play.....draw
preboard......7/7......3/7
preboard......11/4.....8/7

The overall is approximately 59% for Baublestalker.

The keypoints of the MU are :
- preboard : 1st : each deck tries to mana denial the other one. Bauble stalker makes him discard (or putrefy) vial on turn 1 (or 3) and destroys (or plays a blocker against) lackey. Dealing with warchief is generally not a problem but it is the first gob to kill in every non lethel situation. Gob uses ports and wastelands in order to slow down the opponent. Then, the most important for baublestalker is to deal with the gob's card advantage. Depending on situation, discard matron or ringleader. The Baublestalker has to be the aggro deck because it's necessarily going to lose on the long game because of the brokenness of gob's card advantage. Gob has the control side but it is sometimes very difficult because it can't gain life and Baublestalker can't be blocked.
- postboard : there is still the same battle for mana disruption but the aggro deck is not as well defined as in preboard MU. As soon as 1 plague hits the ground, gob has to win in 1 or 2 turns or he can almost concede because a second plague would condemn it or a darkblast recursion would be also very difficult to handle without planar void. Even with planar void, you can recur darkblast with the instant draw of Street Wraith. Planar void is blast against Baublestalker only if it is played on first turn on the play. If not, Baublestalker has often already put 3 different types of cards in graveyard at this moment. And Gob has difficulties to play it on first turn because it plays only 3 of them and the black mana was not that much consistent. In conclusion, postSB, BaubleStalker more often took advantage of the late game thanks to the plague lock.

I plan to go until 20 games in every configuration and then to do the same against Ugw and Ugr threshold, and against belcher combo and maybe landstill (but I'm not sure it's relevant because the archetype is not as define as the gob's, thresh's or belcher's and the builds can vary a lot).

The gob's list :
// Lands
6 [ST] Mountain (2)
4 [MM] Rishadan Port
4 [TE] Wasteland
3 [ON] Bloodstained Mire
2 [ON] Wooded Foothills
2 [U] Badlands

// Creatures
4 [AP] Goblin Ringleader
4 [US] Goblin Lackey
4 [AT] Mogg Fanatic
4 [ON] Goblin Piledriver
4 [US] Goblin Matron
1 [ON] Skirk Prospector
1 [ON] Sparksmith
1 [ON] Goblin Sharpshooter
1 [LOR] Mad Auntie
1 [LOR] Wort, Boggart Auntie
4 [LE] Gempalm Incinerator
4 [SC] Goblin Warchief
1 [SC] Siege-Gang Commander

// Spells
4 [DS] AEther Vial
1 [LOR] Fodder Launch

// Sideboard
SB: 1 [LOR] Fodder Launch
SB: 3 [US] Planar Void
SB: 3 [SC] Pyrostatic Pillar
SB: 1 [MI] Goblin Tinkerer
SB: 3 [AT] Pyrokinesis
SB: 4 [MR] Chalice of the Void

[Soto]

I really don't like putrefy in your list. You are running 18 lands, and 3CC will sometimes be hard to get when you want to cast threats and disruptions early on. Also is the darkblast there only for easy dredge because it could be replaced by better cards : Ghastly Demise, Edicts, etc. I r

[Maveric78f]

I play 18 lands in a (virtually) 48 cards deck. It's equivallent to 22,5 in a 60 cards deck. 3CC is really not a problem, or I would never play shade. I very often hard cast Street Wraith or Shriekmaw which have very complementary evasion abilities.
Darkblast wins the gob MU with 1*plague into play and it wins tarmo faces to face. Moreover, it deals with confidant.

The deck has a lot of nice synergies:
- you almost always know the hand of your opponent, you even often know what you opponent is playing before playing a single land thanks to the baubles. The bauble scry makes you choose between fetching basics or dual it also let you know if you should wait before fetching or do it as soon as your opponent is tapped out.
- target yourself with misrha's bauble before choosing to play a fetch or a mana producing land is also a good tech. It's a bit like a mini-ponder for free. If you have also street wraith in hand or if you don't need your mana right now, you can also choose to draw before fetching.
- The ability to put 3 types to the yard on your first turn is amazing and negates a big part of the anti-graveyard solutions of your opponent. 3 types are granted by : fetch/bauble/SW + duress/thoughtseize or fetch + bauble + SW.
- A lot of players will wait before cracking a tormod's crypt, but as everybody knows tormod is bad against tarmo and waiting with tormod is bad against stalker, as delve is a cost and cannot be answered.
- against discard decks, baubles enable to have an empty hand during your opponent turn, and have a bigger chance to make his duress/thoughtseize fizzle. The same about SW. You should keep it in hand as long as you can because with it in hand, your hand is not readable and it may be duress proof.
- multiple cantrip/slowtrip effects can help you to stack the darkblasts and fill like a pig your graveyard. It costs you a lot of card disadvantage, but it can win you a game.
- the anti-creature base is versatile: 3 against everything but black or artifact or regenerant, 4 against everything but big in toughness, 3 against everything but not in first turns. I can't deal with untargettable creatures or black-protected creatures.
- the creature base is versatile and high CC (deed and counterbalance mouahaha). Except tarmogoyf, they are all black. Not really a big problem because they have evasion of different kind : flying, fear, swampwalk. Except the low played Ensnaring Bridge, Meekstone (misses shade) and Humility to some extent, I don't see a single good universal solution against our creature base.