[Deck] TinFins 3: Return of the Onion Burst

[scottpou]

I have a successful tournament report to write up from last week. Also have some ideas after yesterday's banning. However, before going forward I wanted to look back. In the primer, the CORE of the deck is discussed. There is much to update on the primer, but could we discuss this part for now?

Core Cards
1 Children of Korlis
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
2-4 Griselbrand
1 Tendrils of Agony

4 Brainstorm
3-4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Ponder
0-2 Lim-dul's Vault

4 Entomb
4 Shallow Grave
3 Goryo's Vengeance
1 Reanimate

4 Cabal Therapy
0-1 Silence
2-4 Thoughtseize

1-2 Chrome Mox
4 Lotus Petal
4 Dark Ritual

4 Marsh Flats
4 Polluted Delta
1 Scrubland
1 Swamp
1 Tundra/Island
2-3 Underground Sea

What is actually required at this point in time to draw 7 many times and win on the same turn? When I separate my deck, I keep starting with these 50 slots no matter the version:

// 5 Creatures
4 Griselbrand
1 Children of Korlis

// 12 Business
4 Entomb
4 Shallow Grave
4 (Goryo's Vengeance/Reanimate/Exhume/Unburial Rites)

// 6 Discard
1 Cabal Therapy
3 Thoughtseize
1 Unmask
1 Thoughtseize/Unmask

// 4 Cantrips

// 8 Acceleration
4 Lotus Petal
4 Dark Ritual

// 14 Lands
8 Fetch Lands
2 Swamp
4 Duals

// 1 Combo
1 Tendrils of Agony (Somewhere in 75)

I think going forward, we will see more Surgical Extraction, Faerie Macabre, Rest in Peace and Leyline of the Void. If so, Silent Gravestone still holds tremendous value against the first 2 hate options, and Goryo's, Reanimate, & Unburial lose some of their appeal. Exhume and even Corpse Dance seem to be the best options to fill the majority of the reanimate slots. What about Moon decks? Are we expecting those to go on the rise? If so, do we need more basics, or more discard spells, or use red in our manabase?

[alastair]

This is my take on the basic build, but its on the traditional slant. I've not included Collective Brutality as i'm unsure how good it is now, although as an enabler it is still valuable.

BUSINESS
2-4 Griselbrand
1 Emrakul
1 Children of Korlis
4 Entomb
4 Shallow Grave
3-4 Goryo’s Vengence
0-2 Reanimate

6-8 DISCARD
2-4 Cabal Therapy
2-4 Thoughtseize
0-2 Unmask

8-12 CANTRIPS
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
0-2 Preordain
0-2 LDV
0-4 Careful Study

8-9 ACCELLERATION
4 Lotus Petal
4 Dark Ritual
0-2 Chrome Mox

12-14 LANDS
7-8 Fetches
1 Swamp
1 Island

[.dk]

Since Brutality was printed, Tendrils of Agony is not needed. You can go infinite with Brutality just like you would with tendrils, but it does so many more things. The time of Tendrils for this deck is long past.

If you're scared of Leyline and RIP, play Mentor and Bob and tell them to get rekt.

[scottpou]

You can only go infinite if you run the Emmy. LED's don't play nice with Emmy. If you run LED, non targeting comes into play so goryos is out. So if Emmy, goryos, CB, and chrome mox stay together, you can't run silent gravestone in sideboard. Then LED's, exhume, corpse dance, ToA and silent gravestones go together. Where does the soul of TinFins reside? Is the kill via attack with Emmy or combo with CB / ToA? Do we propose that Tins Fins is via attack and Bizzaro is via combo?!

[Acclimation]

To me, I felt like Tinfins ran at it's best as a sort of Sneak Attack-esque deck that utilizes the GY over the actual enchantment- so a deck that wants to ship Griselbrand+Emrakul across the endzone. The back up plan is definitely a more combo-centric one, but I've found that doing the Collective Brutality loop was much better than jamming Tendrils, as Tendrils is 97/100 times a dead card when drawn, whereas CoBru can do things beyond being a kill piece.

That's my feeling with the deck at its core. You can definitely take it on a more combo bent like you have been doing with your Burning Wish builds, and there's nothing wrong with that- it's just a different style with a similar engine.

[scottpou]

I didn't mean it as an attack on anyone's opinion or a defense on my opinion. However, we have a lot of different "versions" running around, TinFins, Bizarro Stormy, Ice Station Zebra, etc, and the bannings I'm just asking where the line is in order to keep the conversations productive and relevant. I'm just trying to initiate the conversation. I'm not arguing all :) In fact, I'm starting to agree with your opinion! I am struggling with Emmy or not in relation to this deck's identity. I didn't want to post any updates/changes here on unless we could identify where it should go. I figured the bannings were a good initiator.

[.dk]

I didn't mean it as an attack on anyone's opinion or a defense on my opinion. However, we have a lot of different "versions" running around, TinFins, Bizarro Stormy, Ice Station Zebra, etc, and the bannings I'm just asking where the line is in order to keep the conversations productive and relevant. I'm just trying to initiate the conversation. I'm not arguing all :) In fact, I'm starting to agree with your opinion! I am struggling with Emmy or not in relation to this deck's identity. I didn't want to post any updates/changes here on unless we could identify where it should go. I figured the bannings were a good initiator.

Old old old builds (Richard Cheese and mine from 2012) didn't have Emrakul - I think they were objectively worse. Emrakul opens up a lot of options, regardless as to whether you're running Goryo's Vengeance. You can still run Emrakul with Corpse Dance if you'd like - Emrakul just necessitates lots of instant speed reanimation. So that's up to you what you choose - Emrakul works just fine with LED + Shallow Grave/Corpse Dance.

As noted in the primer, Emrakul does serve other purposes than just going infinite though. Sometimes wiping your opponent's board is what you want to do. Sometimes it can act as "protection" in the face of Surgical, Crypt, Relic, Nihil Spellbomb by shuffling your graveyard into your library in response. Sometimes it lets you just attack for 22 and kill them. Since I started playing it in 2013, it always seemed worth 1 slot in the maindeck - the cost is very small.

And even if you want to run Burning Wish and Doomsday or whatever, Emrakul is still fine - it lets you Shelldock Isle off of Doomsday at the cost of 1 sideboard slot in Shelldock Isle rather than 2.

And Acclimation nailed it on Brutality - it just completely outclasses Tendrils when we're looping our library infinite times. I think there has literally been 1 game with Tin Fins I've ever played in the last 6 years that Tendrils won where Collective Brutality wouldn't have. And I've never run into a game running Collective Brutality that I lost where I would have won if Tendrils were in the deck.

[Acclimation]

I didn't mean it as an attack on anyone's opinion or a defense on my opinion. However, we have a lot of different "versions" running around, TinFins, Bizarro Stormy, Ice Station Zebra, etc, and the bannings I'm just asking where the line is in order to keep the conversations productive and relevant. I'm just trying to initiate the conversation. I'm not arguing all :) In fact, I'm starting to agree with your opinion! I am struggling with Emmy or not in relation to this deck's identity. I didn't want to post any updates/changes here on unless we could identify where it should go. I figured the bannings were a good initiator.

It's a good conversation, I hope I didn't come off as combative and dismissive! Someone in the discord asked what the difference between the various Tinfins decks (as well as the Reanimator decks), so the idea has been in my head over the last 24 hours.

As mentioned above, the "stock" version of Tinfins, to me, is a Sneak Attack-esque deck using the GY. Jam the dudes across the red zone, with a back-up combo on the off chance you can't get quite get there.

Ice Station Zebra (or Tinfins Depths, for those that are new here) is Turbo Depths that wanted to run Shallow Grave+Griselbrand as a secondary plan (or primary plan) over some of the more durdle-y Depths cards.

Bizarro is the most combo-centric version by far, and wants to operate as a storm deck that uses the grave yard as an engine, enabled by the Tinfins core (Griselbrand+Shallow Grave). It doesn't need to get across the redzone to win as Magus of the Mind is a busted card, but it's certainly easier when it does.

I feel like, at it's core, Tinfins is Shallow Grave+Griselbrand. Traditionally, it's going to utilize Children, Emrakul, and Goryo's Vengeance to get the job done, but you can call a deck a Tinfins deck if the primary interaction is Shallow Grave + Griselbrand.

To me, Emrakul is definitely a core card of the "stock" archetype, as it can randomly win games on its own- the board wipe mode comes into play a lot, and occasionally you get opponents that fetch themselves below 15, and Emrakul can steal the game. The shuffle trigger gives us the back-up plan of Collective Brutality loops, or to generate enough mana by looping the deck enough times to hard cast it and take the extra turn. As .dk said, the quick Entomb for Emrakul in response to Surgical can be a life saver, as well as Corpse Dance+LED playing fine with her if you're wanting to get around the targeting restriction on Goryo.

I feel like versions of the deck running Emrakul and Dark Depths are very similar in plan- get down a big, dumb monster and win.

Bizarro definitely needed its own thread, since it's different enough in play style that the discussion needed to be split.

I think that the bannings are definitely a great topic starter, as I've been updating all my lists and waiting to see how the hate situation plays out.

[scottpou]

I played in a friendly legacy last week.

// Creature (6)
4 Griselbrand
1 Children of Korlis
1 Laboratory Maniac

// Instant (12)
4 Dark Ritual
4 Entomb
4 Shallow Grave

// Sorcery (20)
3 Exhume
1 Unburial Rites
4 Faithless Looting
4 Burning Wish
4 Thoughtseize
1 Cabal Therapy
1 Collective Brutality
2 Unmask

// Artifact (8)
4 Lion's Eye Diamond
4 Lotus Petal

// Land (14)
2 Swamp
3 Badlands
1 Bayou
2 Bloodstained Mire
2 Marsh Flats
2 Polluted Delta
2 Verdant Catacombs

// Sideboard (15)
4 Silent Gravestone
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Empty the Warrens
1 Exhume
1 By Force
1 Meltdown
1 Reverent Silence
1 Massacre
1 Stronghold Gambit
1 Innocent Blood
1 Toxic Deluge
1 Dreadbore

Round 1 - Br Reanimator (Jeff)

Jeff is my friend who I invited to join me at the shop last week. Unfortunately we got paired against each other in the first round. We've had these games at home quite a bit so we knew each other's decks very well. I'm on the draw and mulligan to 6 when he keeps a snap 7. He did something then I go off turn 1 for a Tendrils kill, onto game 2. I side out -2 Burning Wish, -1 Unburial Rites, & -1 Thoughtseize for 4 Silent Gravestone. I have Silent Gravestone and Unmask in my opener with some combo pieces so I keep the 7. He goes first turn Iona naming Black. I am able to play out a Children to prolong my agony and ALMOST pull out a Burning Wish Empty kill. I had 10 tokens hit him once by tapping sideways, but he was able to beat me by 1 turn. Game 3, I swap 1 Silent for the Unburial Rites, just in case. i mull to 6 and proceed to go off and win turn 2. However, I really should have cast my LED during my first turn because I had a griselbrand in hand. Just in case he tried to Exhume on his first turn so I could crack and ditch Gris in response.

(1-0, 2-1)

Round 2 - Mentor Miracles (Mr. P)

First of Mr. P is how he introduced himself, and he was such an informed, humble, and funny guy. I greatly enjoyed playing with him and hope to see him again soon! I'm on the play and we both keep our 7. I turn 1 Thoughtseize to clear the way and go off turn 2 cleanly. Game 2, I side out -1 UB, -1 CB, -2 LED for 4 SG. We both keep out 7. My turn 1 Thoughtseize is met with a Force of Will. I then try to go for it via Shallow Grave and am met with a Flusterstorm. Conveniently, I have an Exhume in my hand for next turn. I attack turn 3 and draw 7, do some discard, then pass the turn. Turn 4, I attack again and go for the kill.

(2-0, 4-1)

Round 3 - Dark Depths & Taxes (Dillon)

This is the same guy and deck I beat the week before. We're both 2-0 and decide to draw and split the store credit. We play for fun, and I'm going for suboptimal, unconventional lines. We go 3 rounds and I barely lose the third game, but I don't care. I didn't take any notes and had a lot of fun joking with Dillon the whole time. However, I did learn something. He played Sanctum Prelate on 2, and cut me off of a LOT of cards and options.

(2-0-1)

Innocent Blood was a neat little addition to the sideboard that I have liked in testing. However, I wasn't able to play it that day. The Prelate/Chalice on 2 scares me a little bit. I need to remember to keep Unburial Rites in if I suspect either card. I want to explore Dark Petition, Infernal Tutor, and Corpse Dance more going forward after the bans. I have been playing a lot the last week and have made a couple changes to my build. I think we will see more Snapcasters, Surgicals, Macabres, and Blood Moons going forward. So I am going to stick with the Silent Gravestone and BR route. I doubt I'm correct, but this is the shot I'm going to take for next week. I will be attending the SCG Worcester Legacy Classic next Sunday with something similar to this:

Main:
-1 Burning Wish / +1 Tendrils of Agony (I enjoy having 2 in the 75 for several reasons)
-1 Collective Brutality / +1 Conflagrate (I really like being able to fetch this with Entomb)

Side:
-1 Meltdown / +1 Burning Wish (By Force has been doing good work, especially if I have artifacts in play)
-1 Dreadbore / +1 Empty the Warrens (I have yet to cast this card, I'd rather have another Empty available)

[Jblinder]

\So that's up to you what you choose - Emrakul works just fine with LED + Shallow Grave/Corpse Dance.

Emrakul does NOT work with LED + Shallow Grave or Corpse Dance. Put Shallow Grave on stack, discard hand to LED, Emrakul shuffles gy back into library, Shallow Grave resolves returning nothing.

Maybe I am misinterpreting and you just mean that despite their negative interaction you can still play both...I'm not saying you can't have them both in the same deck, but LED and Emrakul are a definite nonbo.

[scottpou]

Emrakul does NOT work with LED + Shallow Grave or Corpse Dance.

I stand by what I previously wrote and agree with Jblinder. If you run Emmy and "traditional" Fins, you probably shouldn't run LEDs.

[.dk]

Emrakul does NOT work with LED + Shallow Grave or Corpse Dance. Put Shallow Grave on stack, discard hand to LED, Emrakul shuffles gy back into library, Shallow Grave resolves returning nothing.

Maybe I am misinterpreting and you just mean that despite their negative interaction you can still play both...I'm not saying you can't have them both in the same deck, but LED and Emrakul are a definite nonbo.

Yeah, I think I was just being stupid and forgot that you had to discard any shallow graves in your hand, as you have an empty hand when Emrakul's trigger goes on the stack. Ignore that sentence - you're correct!

[scottpou]

-1 ToA +1 Mastermind's Acquisition in the main is confirmed. I'm testing -1/2/3 Exhume +1/2/3 Corpse Dance. I still think I like Exhume better, but I want to try it. Sideboard still the same. I can't wait for Sunday! My current 75 is below:

4 Griselbrand
1 Children of Korlis
1 Laboratory Maniac
4 Dark Ritual
4 Entomb
4 Shallow Grave
3 Exhume
1 Unburial Rites
4 Faithless Looting
3 Burning Wish
1 Mastermind's Acquisition
4 Thoughtseize
2 Unmask
1 Cabal Therapy
1 Conflagrate

4 Lion's Eye Diamond
4 Lotus Petal

3 Badlands
2 Swamp
1 Bayou
2 Bloodstained Mire
2 Marsh Flats
2 Polluted Delta
2 Verdant Catacombs

//Sideboard
4 Silent Gravestone
1 Tendrils of Agony
2 Empty the Warrens
1 Exhume
1 By Force
1 Reverent Silence
1 Massacre
1 Stronghold Gambit
1 Innocent Blood
1 Toxic Deluge
1 Burning Wish

[.dk]

How has Mastermind's Acquisition been without running the Cabal Rituals that Bizarro Stormy does?

[scottpou]

How has Mastermind's Acquisition been without running the Cabal Rituals that Bizarro Stormy does?

3 LEDs couldn't support it, but with the full 4, the rare but occasional utility has been useful. Some games I'm going through 3 lotus petals quickly and then can't find the other one, but you have plenty of black via Rituals and LEDs. I haven't noticed a measurable difference between the 1/1 BW swap in game 1. If it's a counter spell matchup where I'm taking out the LEDs, the MA swaps with the BW. Then it's usually down to URites or Conflagarate depending on the matchup. Sometimes both come out and BW will come in along side the MA. I've even been leaving URites in with Silent Gravestones against certain decks where I still want to tutor. I've even blown up my Gravestones to then Rites. If I end up going with Corpse Dances over Exhumes then this will change and some other changes will happen too.

[scottpou]

So I played in the SCG Worcester 1:30 Legacy Challenge today to prep for tomorrow and try some things out. My buddy and I decide not to do the early challenges, take our time, and enjoy ourselves. So after sign ups, lunch, and some beers, we head back over to play some Legacy! My Deck:

4 Griselbrand
1 Children of Korlis
1 Laboratory Maniac

4 Dark Ritual
4 Entomb
4 Shallow Grave

3 Exhume
1 Unburial Rites
4 Thoughtseize
2 Unmask
1 Cabal Therapy
1 Conflagrate
4 Faithless Looting
4 Burning Wish

4 Lion’s Eye Diamond
4 Lotus Petal

2 Badlands
2 Swamp
1 Bayou
1 Scrubland
2 Verdant Catacombs
2 Marsh Flats
2 Bloodstained Mire
2 Polluted Delta

//Sideboard:
4 Silent Gravestone
1 Magus of the Moon
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Exhume
1 Stronghold Gambit
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 By Force
1 Reverent Silence
1 Massacre
1 Innocent Blood
2 Empty the Warrens

Round 1: I’m excited to play some Magic! We get to the board and … I have the Bye. Great. I totally came here to watch, whatever. WIN

(1-0)


Round 2: I'm playing against Matt and win the roll. GRIXIS DELVER

Game 1: I had watched him play the match before against my friend so I knew he was on Grixis Delver. So, I let him know that I’m playing TinFins because he was a very friendly guy and didn't want an advantage. I keep my 7, and he mulligans to 6. I have an easy turn 1 with Ritual, Entomb, Exhume, and I get there with a LabMan kill same turn. WIN

Game 2: we both keep our 7. T1 he Thoughtseizes me and takes the entomb. I thought seize him and take his brainstorm leaving him with Diabolic Edict, Toughtsieze, and something else random, He eventually lands a delver and slowly beats me down. I can't find a fatty nor an entomb or Burning Wish. LOSS

Game 3: We both keep 7. I go turn 1 Thoughtseize, he casts Force of Will. His turn 1, he casts Thoughtseize and takes my Entomb. Turn 2 I go Burning Wish, and he Force's it. He has Delver and Grumag Angler out on the battlefield, I cast Children. I sac Children after combat. I’m looking for answers, but cast shallow grave on the end of his turn two turns in a row to gain my life with Children. Eventually, he gets there, but he was impressed that I was able to Time Walk 3 turns in a row to look for answers. Its hard to beat 2x FoW and 1x TS in their opening hand. LOSS

(1-1)


Round 3: I’m playing against Darian King of Kjeldor. Awesome dude with an ever better name. MENTOR MIRACLES

Game 1: I win the roll, Thoughtseize first turn. I select a Brainstorm and he’s still holding a Mentor, Opt, and Swords of Plowshares. He plays a island, then pass. I proceed to go off and kill with LabMan. WIN

Game 2: We both keep 7. He fetches and passes. Turn 1 is Silent Gravestone. Later I learned he kept a double Surgical, double Snapcaster hand. He also sided out every Miracle card he had. He casts Ethersworn Canonist. I faithless to get Griselbrand in the bin. Get attacked by Canonist. My turn, I go double petal pass. He attacks again, and I shallow grave, Grisebrand, block. I kill the Canonist, and then draw 21. My turn, I thoughtseize myself for Conflagrate. RR, Discard 21 cards and Conflagrate! My first ever Conflagrate kill!!! WIN

(2-1)


Round 4: Playing against Jake. We roll weird D&D dice. I’ve never rolled them before but he explains how they score, and I was excited to learn something new! I win the roll after we tie the first time. BR REANIMATOR

Game 1: Turn 1 I thoughtseize and see Petal, Griselbrand, Reanimate, Animate, Thoughtseize. I take the Thoughtseize. He says good pick as he picks up, plays a land, and says go. I draw a BW and have Grisel, Petal, 2 Rituals and another land. I tell everyone around, “Screw it we’re here to have fun!” Cast everything and BW for Stronghold Gambit. I cast the gambit and he just starts laughing. Everyone is having a good time as I proceed to go off and LabMan for the kill decking myself. We both had a Griselbrand in play, that means it was fair right? WIN

Game 2: He keep 7 and I mull to 5 and leave a Thoughtseize on the top of my library. He proceeds to Turn 1 Iona on black, and my whole hand was black. I did a little interaction to buy myself a turn, but I couldn’t get enough red cards to make it matter. LOSS

Game 3: We both keep 7. I go turn 1 Silent Gravestone. He grumbles. We dilly dilly around for a couple turns. It gets to my turn 4, and I say F-it. Literally I announced it. I cast exhume and we both have Griselbrands in the graveyard. He Entombs in response and gets Iona naming black. I activate twice to get a grip. Cast 3 Petals, 2 LEDs and hard cast LabMan since I know I can not grab him out of the yard. I pass back with my life at 4 and his at 18. He attacks with Iona, and I block. Before damage resolves, I crack Silent Gravestone with LED. I draw an LED from the gravestone. My turn (11-18 now) I draw an Unburial Rites. So I cast LED, crack LED, cast URites, target Griselbrand, attack with LabMan (11-16), activated Griselbrand cast a bunch of spell to Tendrils for exactly 16. I was going to just EtW, but then realized I had exactly lethal and went for it. WIN

(3-1)


I haven't used Therapy in a long time, and really want something in case they remove all Griselbrands. I am torn between Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur and Sire of Insanity. I took a peak at the sellers' inventory and found a Sire for only $1. So I will see how it goes tomorrow. Also, my friend has convinced me that I haven't used 3 cards in my sideboard. With 3 cards and the amount of Miracles I'm expecting tomorrow, I am able to fit 1 Doomsday, 1 Emrakul, and 1 Shelldock. Miracles hates those cards especially along side Silent Gravestones. Also having an Emmy for Show and Tell / Omni might be worth it. I saw a good amount of those being played in the team constructed open today. So, tomorrow I am going to attempt to run this monstrosity:

4 Griselbrand
1 Children of Korlis
1 Laboratory Maniac
1 Sire of Insanity

4 Dark Ritual
4 Entomb
4 Shallow Grave

3 Exhume
1 Unburial Rites
4 Thoughtseize
2 Unmask
1 Conflagrate
4 Faithless Looting
4 Burning Wish

4 Lion’s Eye Diamond
4 Lotus Petal

2 Badlands
2 Swamp
1 Bayou
1 Scrubland
1 Gemstone Mine
2 Bloodstained Mire
2 Marsh Flats
1 Polluted Delta
2 Verdant Catacombs


//Sideboard:

3 Silent Gravestone
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Exhume
1 Stronghold Gambit
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Empty the Warrens
1 By Force
1 Reverent Silence
1 Massacre
1 Innocent Blood
//Because why not?
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Doomsday
1 Shelldock Isle

P.S I did a terrible job on notes today of what I took out for sideboard. I normally take out LEDs when counters/blue is involved, and I know I took out 2 exhume in the BR matchup. I will do a better job tomorrow!

[Jblinder]

After going 4-1, 3-2, 2-3 online with Ice Station Zebra post-DRS-ban, I decided to make the switch to Burning Fins since I think it is currently better-positioned. With DnT on the rise, and no more Czech Pile where the Depths combo shines the most I don't think Marit Lage is super strong right now. More importantly, however, is that Leyline of the Void is on the rise and having access to four copies of Reverent Silence (via Burning Wish) is pretty hot right now.

My very first league I hit a 5-0, losing only one game (to GOBLINS!).

Here is my list and I'll highlight some differences with what scottpou has been up to. I'll highlight each aspect of the deck I think is noteworthy with a *.

4 Griselbrand
1 Grave Titan*
1 Children of Korlis
4 Entomb
4 Shallow Grave
3 Exhume
2 Reanimate*
1 Unburial Rites
4 Unmask*
4 Thoughtseize*
4 Dark Ritual
4 Burning Wish
2 Faithless Looting*
4 LED
4 Lotus Petal
2 Badlands
1 Bayou
1 Scrubland
2 Swamp
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Polluted Delta

SB

1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Empty the Warrens
1 By Force
1 Massacre
1 Reverent Silence
1 Collective Brutality
1 Reanimate
1 Exhume
1 Gamble*
1 Ancient Grudge*
1 Silent Gravestone*
3 Faerie Macabre*
It appears I may have accidentally had a 14 card SB for the event...I threw it together pretty quickly. There should be a stronghold gambit in here but I didn’t have one in my collection.


Grave Titan: He never came up in this league. He is mainly a concession to the fact that this deck is a little less combo-dense than Ice Station Zebra (you don't have Depths + Stage + LED type draws, so most openers need to be doing Griselbrand things, other than an occasional EtW line). GT is no Griselbrand, but if you have an LED or self discard plus a Reanimation spell and Grave Titan in your hand, you're still going to win a lot of games. Even off of a Shallow Grave, Titan is no joke. He slams for 6 and leaves behind four 2/2s. He makes Faithless Looting a little bit better, adds a small amount of Surgical Protection post-board, and pitches to Unmask in a pinch. I'm not sure on him but I want to give him a try. In Ice Station Zebra I win a lot of games by wishing for and hardcasting this guy...I think he will be serviceable here too.

Reanimates: Never cast one this league. Another concession to being less combo dense. Having more reanimation spells means less hands that do nothing, and add to our turn 1 and 2 goldfish %.
I could see dropping at least one of these and maybe both. Perhaps for another looting. I thought reanimator would be really popular, and I like this card Vs them for obvious reasons, but it seems Sneak and Show is the Griselbrand deck that is gaining the most traction.

Only 2 Faithless Looting: I only really want one of these when I have a Griselbrand/Grave Titan in hand, and even then we have 4 LEDs and 8 self discard to bin them. The digging is fine, but with 4 Unmask (a card I really like), the card disadvantage really adds up (and they aren't black cards for Unmask). I really don't think 4 are needed.

4 Unmask/4 Thoughtseize/0 Therapy (1 Silent Gravestone board). I've made it pretty clear I'm not the biggest fan of CT elsewhere in this thread. I think 1 is justifiable but I do believe that the full package of the best discard spells available is correct. I also like the full 8, since I think the best way to fight against Surgical/Macabre is with discard now that DRS is gone. I am down to 1 Silent Gravestone in the board because without DRS it's just not as important imo.

Ancient Grudge: Wouldn't leave home without it. We are already playing Badlands and Bayou (for Rev Silence). This card is invaluable as part of our toolbox vs things like Sphere of Resistance and Needle effects. My last game against lands I beat a Sphere by Entombing Griselbrand eot, Exhuming, sacrificing LED for GGG discarding Grudge and then going off.

Gamble: Never wished for it and it probably does not belong. Still might be intriguing. The thinking was with Unburial and LED this is essentially an Entomb that doesn't cost 3 like Buried Alive. In retrospect that's probably way too narrow, and the rest of our sideboard contains every other effect we might want to tutor for....I'm going to ponder if there are any other good situations to Wish for this card.

3 Faerie Macabre: Again, I wanted to win the Reanimator matchup. I wanted less emphasis on Silent Gravestone for other matchups, so I added these. I never played against Reanimator and never boarded them in. Playing fewer of these or swapping some with Surgicals or whatever is prob also fine. I think Macabre is a little better than Surgical though.

I guess the last comment on what scottpou has been doing is that I really don't think Conflagrate belongs. It's very win-more. Any card that is effective in our deck only after there is a Griselbrand in play is highly suspect, since we are already winning 98% of those games. It's just not going to move the needle enough to make for a worthwhile inclusion after balancing for the times when you draw this miserable card. Convince me otherwise!

[.dk]

Nice writeup. I find Ancient Grudge to be interesting - do you think being able to board it in as an Entomb target outweighs something like Meltdown that you can wish for?

I also agree on the Gamble/Buried Alive front. Almost always seems like something more versatile would usually get the job done in that slot - Dark Petition, Grim Tutor, etc.

I like Grave Titan a lot too - he's easily castable in decks like these, and it such a pain for opponents to deal with. Gravy Train is a house!

[Jblinder]

I find Ancient Grudge to be interesting - do you think being able to board it in as an Entomb target outweighs something like Meltdown that you can wish for?

I have a By Force in the sideboard to Wish for in addition to the option to board in Grudge. If I could only choose one I’d probably keep the By Force but there is enough space for both.

[.dk]

I have a By Force in the sideboard to Wish for in addition to the option to board in Grudge. If I could only choose one I’d probably keep the By Force but there is enough space for both.

Oh derp, I missed that. Whoops!