Illissius
12-05-2007, 06:50 AM
People seem to be converging on this deck from several different angles (Landstill, black-splash Threshold, TarmoTog!), and it's been sitting on my hard drive for at least a month now (maybe two -- my sense of time is fantastically bad), and I still haven't managed to gather enough AntiLazy(tm) together to test is properly. WIth exam period upon me, the chances of that happening in the next two months approach zero, so I figured I might as well post it now, and see what people think and/or can do with it.
Sans further ado:
Goyf and Tog [GAT]
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Psychatog
1 Meloku the Clouded Mirror
4 Shriekmaw
3 Pernicious Deed
4 Thoughtseize
4 Force of Will
4 Spell Snare
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
4 Standstill
4 Mishra's Factory
1 Volrath's Stronghold
4 Polluted Delta
4 Flooded Strand
4 Underground Sea
3 Tropical Island
1 Island
SB: 4 Extirpate
SB: 4 Engineered Plague
SB: 4 Dark Confidant
SB: 3 Winter Orb
The original idea I had was, (roughly), "Standstill is the best raw card drawer in the format -- all it requires is some Factories in the manabase in order to work. So why not just splash the two into Threshold?". It thus started evolving from the direction of Threshold, with the two best creatures ever printed, but later iterations were more controllish. It's essentially a blue midrange deck -- just about halfway between Threshold and Landstill (which is reflected in the land count: (24+18)/2=21).
I'm not sure what else I can elaborate on which isn't already apparent from the list. You play a slightly slower early game relative to Threshold (no Daze or Mongoose), in exchange for a big shot of power in the late game, when you can start kicking your Shriekmaws, Deeding the board away, beating down with giant Togs, and filling up with Standstills. Volrath's Stronghold is also pretty awesome.
I expect the toughest matchups to be Landstill and 43lands, and I'm not really sure how to sideboard against them. Landstill plays your own game against you only better, and something like half the deck is dead or mostly dead against Lands. Extirpate and Confidant can come in, but it doesn't seem like enough. I'd like something along the lines of an Armageddon, or a Back to Basics, if you weren't just as vulnerable to it yourself. Winter Orb seemed like the best option which was useful against both of them, but to say that I'm not satisfied with it would be understating things. Other ideas I had include Pithing Needle, Haunting Echoes, Gigapede, Teferi, Dust Bowl, and Sunder, which all have their own problems. I can't find any sort of silver bullet to give you strategic superiority, or at least take away theirs, unfortunately.
I'm interested to hear what people think; though this is sort of a "take it or leave it" thing, with me not likely to have any time for it in the next couple of months, but it's better than just leaving it to rot on my drive.
Sans further ado:
Goyf and Tog [GAT]
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Psychatog
1 Meloku the Clouded Mirror
4 Shriekmaw
3 Pernicious Deed
4 Thoughtseize
4 Force of Will
4 Spell Snare
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
4 Standstill
4 Mishra's Factory
1 Volrath's Stronghold
4 Polluted Delta
4 Flooded Strand
4 Underground Sea
3 Tropical Island
1 Island
SB: 4 Extirpate
SB: 4 Engineered Plague
SB: 4 Dark Confidant
SB: 3 Winter Orb
The original idea I had was, (roughly), "Standstill is the best raw card drawer in the format -- all it requires is some Factories in the manabase in order to work. So why not just splash the two into Threshold?". It thus started evolving from the direction of Threshold, with the two best creatures ever printed, but later iterations were more controllish. It's essentially a blue midrange deck -- just about halfway between Threshold and Landstill (which is reflected in the land count: (24+18)/2=21).
I'm not sure what else I can elaborate on which isn't already apparent from the list. You play a slightly slower early game relative to Threshold (no Daze or Mongoose), in exchange for a big shot of power in the late game, when you can start kicking your Shriekmaws, Deeding the board away, beating down with giant Togs, and filling up with Standstills. Volrath's Stronghold is also pretty awesome.
I expect the toughest matchups to be Landstill and 43lands, and I'm not really sure how to sideboard against them. Landstill plays your own game against you only better, and something like half the deck is dead or mostly dead against Lands. Extirpate and Confidant can come in, but it doesn't seem like enough. I'd like something along the lines of an Armageddon, or a Back to Basics, if you weren't just as vulnerable to it yourself. Winter Orb seemed like the best option which was useful against both of them, but to say that I'm not satisfied with it would be understating things. Other ideas I had include Pithing Needle, Haunting Echoes, Gigapede, Teferi, Dust Bowl, and Sunder, which all have their own problems. I can't find any sort of silver bullet to give you strategic superiority, or at least take away theirs, unfortunately.
I'm interested to hear what people think; though this is sort of a "take it or leave it" thing, with me not likely to have any time for it in the next couple of months, but it's better than just leaving it to rot on my drive.