I really like Arclight Phoenix, but didn't feel like playing it in a blue deck. Here's a deck I just took through a league:
Creatures (12)
3 Young Pyromancer
4 Arclight Phoenix
1 Scourge of Nel Toth
4 Bedlam Reveler
Planeswalkers (1)
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
Spells (27)
4 Cabal Therapy
2 Entomb
4 Faithless Looting
3 Fatal Push
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Thoughtseize
1 Dreadbore
2 Kolaghan's Command
4 Lingering Souls
Enchantments (1)
1 Blood Moon
Lands (19)
1 Arid Mesa
3 Badlands
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Marsh Flats
2 Mountain
1 Plateau
1 Scrubland
3 Swamp
Sideboard (15)
2 Pyroblast
3 Surgical Extraction
2 Bitterblossom
2 Diabolic Edict
2 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Marsh Casualties
1 Null Rod
1 Blood Moon
L Goblins
W Eureka Rector Fit
L Grixis
W Grixis
L Elves
As you can see it's just a variation on the various Faithless/Pyromancer/Reveler decks. Arclight is nice though. The small entomb package is there because 1) Entomb counts as a spell for Arclight if you need it (and you can grab one with it) and 2) gets Therapy and Souls in a pinch and 3) makes Scourge a nice finisher if tokens aren't going to do it. It's bigger than Tombstalker!
I don't think I want to play spot removal side -- gotta find room for those Edicts. And probably will go for Echoing Calm in the side as well, gotta watch out for Leyline of the Void Null Rod is intriguing and I want to test it a bit more. The MB blood moon doesn't seem as great these days, but it's a nice SB card for lands etc. There are so many Last Hopes around that Bitterblossom is probably ot playable, at least as a two of -- will try to find some other way to harass Miracles. (Probably just more Last Hopes of my own)
Other than that, open to suggestions.
Lol I actually thought about that too. I guess you could max unmask for free spell to make 3. And the backup plan could be bloodghast and scourge.
Like he said, unmask to clear the way for your buried alive probably. It must certainly would've been probe before. Gut shot isn't the worst card in the world iI guess? Especially in a deck that feels like it would get super hosed by Thalia. Ritual is also nice to cast before a reveler as it basically adds 4 to revelers cost, or allows you to have a lot of mana post reveler to unload what you draw.
I sketched this out yesterday for the Buried Alive idea:
4 Bloodghast
4 Arclight Phoenix
2 Scourge of Nel Toth
4 Dark Ritual
4 Buried Alive
4 Faithless Looting
4 Thoughtseize
4 Unmask
4 Lingering Souls
4 Cabal Therapy
That's 38 cards. Figure 19-20 lands so probably room for a 2-of or a couple fun-ofs. Also may not need 4 of everything that's a 4 of. (Likely that the card Entomb should be in here in some number)
The deck I played is more of a fair deck and this is more of an all in combo type deck. Question is whether or not the payoff is good enough. There's also splash hate from reanimator etc to deal with. Of course, Arclight Phoenix does have an alternate casting cost: Tap 4 lands and attack.
I know a lot of the Mardu lists in modern lean on a couple of Manamorphose, might be reasonable to fit a couple in for getting your spell count up on the crucial turn without using mana.
lol no problem I'm happy to explore any options for this card. My real goal is to stick it to my fellow podcasters who thought I was crazy for wanting to review this card. But I'm pretty sure spell vengevine that flies is good.
This deck seems solid vs. Grixis. I lost the first match I played 2-1 but then 2-0'd immediately after once I figured out the deck a bit. My opponent definitely hymned me and hit Souls-Therapy which was pretty funny.
And honestly, I lost game 3 of the first MU because my opponent played a Last Hope and I drew running Bitterblossoms. Going to have to figure out something for white decks that isn't BB, even though I love it, because last hope is such a banger against it. Lingering Souls is probably enough to beat spot removal.
Definitely has crossed my mind. Just being a cantrip/redraw is good as well, but it's hard to cut business in this deck and you can't cut lands since it's 2 mana. I will try to find some room to test though. Actually, probably a good card in the all-in version now that I think about it.
Another card I'm curious about now that I don't think MD moon is as good is Punishing Fire. Like I could go down to 1 mountain, cut 1-2 fetches and/or some other card for 3-4 Groves, then change up the removal suite a bit to get PF in. The reach from Bolt is really nice when you're coming in for 6-9 out of nowhere though. Might make us too soft to Wasteland?
OK i gotta get to work but here is the punishing version
4 Cabal Therapy
2 Entomb
4 Faithless Looting
3 Fatal Push
4 Thoughtseize
2 Diabolic Edict
3 Punishing Fire
2 Kolaghan's Command
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
3 Lingering Souls
3 Young Pyromancer
4 Arclight Phoenix
1 Scourge of Nel Toth
4 Bedlam Reveler
3 Badlands
4 Bloodstained Mire
3 Grove of the Burnwillows
4 Marsh Flats
1 Mountain
1 Plateau
1 Scrubland
3 Swamp
SIDEBOARD
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Pithing Needle
2 Pyroblast
3 Surgical Extraction
1 Abrade
2 Echoing Calm
2 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Marsh Casualties
2 Blood Moon
In an all in version Demigod of Revenge might be something, with enough rituals.
Also what is the sideboard plan to beat Surgicals? Might need Silent Gravestone or some specific plan since Surgical is the most played graveyard hate right now.
The answer is "Gitaxian Probe" but as we know it got banned and made Pyromancer (and Phoenix) substantially much worse.Good God, that is so hot. What is the best third spell to do after that?
List is sweet, just a couple of suggestions. Zealous persecutions seems significantly better than marsh casualties with all the tokens. I'd also run some number of wear//tear in the board. I'd also jam 4 manamorphose in the main to help recur arlight phoenix, the opportunity cost is pretty low imo.
Not having ZP is because it's easy to get wasted off of white in games where you want the -1/-1 effect. (And in the original draft of the deck, there was MD blood moon to cut you off white anyway, which you want against decks where you also want the -1/-1 effect like Delver and some greedier YP/TNN fair decks). Now, I think it's even less dependable because of the groves. But it is one of my favorite cards so it may be worth a shot. Some people have tested Profit/Loss to sort of middle it out (you get the boost if you really need it and can use it, but always have access to instant speed -1/-1 effect)
Manamorphose has to be tested in a new draft. I did a league with the punishing fire version that went like this:
L food chain
L ANT (this was extremely frustrating, I won game 1 with a flurry of discard and then in games 2 and 3 the deck stalled out and my opponent had time to get back into it)
W Miracles (won game 1, game 2 i mulled to 3 and just scooped, then won game 3, beating active Mentor and Counterbalance in both games)
W Grixis Delver
L Grixis Delver (same opponent who restarted league and got revenge)
So another 2-3, but I really do think the deck can be good. Arclight gives it a bit of an unfair aspect that can get you out of some jams. Killing planeswalkers out of nowhere is good, and relevant against Spell Pierces and such. And sometimes you just get a lot of pressure out fast. Punishing Fire did very little. But this deck is goign to burn a lot of tickets before the right build is found. May even use Acorn Harvest (the green lingering souls) and cut the white from a PF version. Ethersworn Canonist hasn't made much of a difference, and can always run Back to Nature over Echoing Calm.
I do want to try the more all-in version, potentially with Demigod because that sounds awesome. Keeping going...
HowHow often do you find yourself not being able to trigger the Phoenix? Obviously blue shell cantrips are the best way to chain together a bunch of spells to trigger such things. Any thought to retrace spells? Ravens crime? I guess therapy does well in this role though.
Lava Dart
You either go all-in or don't go at all. Playing a modern deck in Legacy, with a somewhat underwhelming value creature, seems like a losing proposition.
Honestly it's been harder to get it into the GY than to chain three spells in a turn. The thing about the blue spells is that unless you play stuff like Careful Study or Chart a Course, they don't actually help you get Phoenix in the GY. Or Thought Scour I guess but that doesn't really give you certainty.
I have thought about loam/crime or similar in that sort of Punishing Fire slot. Another thing I should consider is Collective Brutality which gets them into the GY and then you just need to cast two more spells.
I anticipate burning a lot of tix trying to get this deck to work. Lots of different mixes and testing engines etc.
Step 1 - Land, Dark Ritual
Step 2 - Buried Alive for 3 Arclight Phoenix
Step 3 - ???
Step 4 - Profit!
Is there a version of this that runs Hollow One and loot effects?
WotC just put too many of the good cards in blue.
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