[article] Squandered Resources: Super Budget Super Series 5

[-Spooky-]

I tested the budget version you listed, and found that I kept getting hands with no red mana at all for a few turns, so the needles definitely sound like a good call to put back in.
I agree on Titan being a 4 of. Great card.

Just a question;
If you're running Burning Wish, why are you running 3x Decree of Annihilation in the side?

decree is an interesting card. Really, I can never see a situation in which you actually want the spell itself to resolve, as that would result in your losing all of your artifact mana. The card is there for your control match ups because of its cycle effect. Think about it. You want a trump card that cannot be countered by their permission. You will never be able to wish for the card against these decks, as the wish will never resolve. Therefore, you run 3 to be able to actually sideboard in. Of course, in the off chance that your wish DOES resolve, you can also choose the decree as your target anyways. That's my thought process behind it anyways. Also, if you are having issues with colored mana you can try replacing some thran dynamo with more coalition relics. Really though, I never had an issue with colored mana with that list. The lotus is insane in that regard.

[zulander]

I've tried. The problem is consistency. Sometimes you get some pretty nuts hands, and other times you sit with nothing to do. This comes from dropping blue's cantrips. Another problem comes from your lack of counterspells. If you get something like griselbrand out you cant protect him if they top deck a removal spell. this forces you to run some sub-par reanimation targets that are harder to remove, like inkwell leviathan. :/

You are right about linking to my other articles. For whatever reason I never thought to do that, even though I know it is a pretty common practice.

You don't need to cut the blue cantrips, just use lands like drowned catacombs.

Here's a proposed $100 list:

Mana: 21
4 Lotus Petal
4 Dark Ritual
4 Underground River
3 Darkslick Shores
3 Darkwater Catacombs
3 City of Brass


Draw/Filter: 14
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
3 Careful Study
3 Lim-Dul's Vault

Creatures: 2
2 Putrid Imp

Disruption: 8
4 Duress
4 Dispel

Combo: 15
1 Sky Hussar
1 Karmic Guide
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
4 Buried Alive
4 Reanimate
4 Exhume

So in the shopping cart this deck is $125 - close enough :(

[-Spooky-]

You don't need to cut the blue cantrips, just use lands like drowned catacombs.

Here's a proposed $100 list:

Mana: 21
4 Lotus Petal
4 Dark Ritual
4 Underground River
3 Darkslick Shores
3 Darkwater Catacombs
3 City of Brass


Draw/Filter: 14
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
3 Careful Study
3 Lim-Dul's Vault

Creatures: 2
2 Putrid Imp

Disruption: 8
4 Duress
4 Dispel

Combo: 15
1 Sky Hussar
1 Karmic Guide
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
4 Buried Alive
4 Reanimate
4 Exhume

So in the shopping cart this deck is $125 - close enough :(

I see what you were saying then, I guess I just assumed you would be mono black. With a few tweaks I think I might be able to get the price down. As an example, going with the phyrexian + ooze kill should be much cheaper, as kiki-jiki is pretty costly. You still win with an infinite combo either way. Of course, the question still becomes, is the deck worth the $100? I guess it would require testing.