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Thread: Mono Blue Painter - Top 8 at SCG Baltimore out of 439 players

  1. #1

    Mono Blue Painter - Top 8 at SCG Baltimore out of 439 players

    I wanted to discuss a new innovative deck Brian Durkin created and piloted to a top 8 at a fairly large tournament

    https://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=20159&d=331269&f=LE

    // NAME : Mono Blue Painter
    // CREATOR : Brian Durkin
    // FORMAT : Legacy
    3 [EX] City of Traitors
    1 [7E] Meekstone
    6 [RTR] Island
    1 [MR] Chrome Mox
    4 [C16] Seat of the Synod
    2 [MR] Aether Spellbomb
    1 [FD] Engineered Explosives
    4 [C16] Trinket Mage
    4 [SHM] Painter's Servant
    4 [C15] Preordain
    3 [] Sai, Master Thopterist
    4 [] The Antiquities War
    1 [AER] Walking Ballista
    1 [NPH] Spellskite
    4 [SOM] Mox Opal
    4 [SOM] Darkslick Shores
    4 [AL] Force of Will
    1 [C14] Tormod's Crypt
    4 [TE] Ancient Tomb
    4 [TE] Grindstone
    SB: 1 [AER] Walking Ballista
    SB: 3 [5E] Hydroblast
    SB: 1 [4E] Blue Elemental Blast
    SB: 2 [8E] Ensnaring Bridge
    SB: 1 [TO] Llawan, Cephalid Empress
    SB: 2 [RTR] Pithing Needle
    SB: 3 [NPH] Surgical Extraction
    SB: 1 [CMD] Flusterstorm
    SB: 1 [] Karn, Scion of Urza

    The use of Antiquites War is brilliant and I would love to get a discussion going about the deck and how to further refine and improve upon it.

  2. #2

    Re: Mono Blue Painter - Top 8 at SCG Baltimore out of 439 players

    We talked about it quite a bit in the Painter-Stone thread starting about here:
    http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/s...r-Stone/page45

  3. #3

    Re: Mono Blue Painter - Top 8 at SCG Baltimore out of 439 players

    Cool. Thanks.

    Wondering if Impulse would be a superior alternative to Preordain in that list.

    I suppose Brainstorm along with fetches would be best.

  4. #4
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    Re: Mono Blue Painter - Top 8 at SCG Baltimore out of 439 players

    Don't forget about thoughtcast, Captain Hammer!

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    Re: Mono Blue Painter - Top 8 at SCG Baltimore out of 439 players

    I’m surprised that transmute artifact isn’t present. It usually was for me when I would build something similar.
    The Parfait Meta-Game

  6. #6

    Re: Mono Blue Painter - Top 8 at SCG Baltimore out of 439 players

    Quote Originally Posted by Weapon X View Post
    I’m surprised that transmute artifact isn’t present. It usually was for me when I would build something similar.
    The list in OP was very budget, per the pilot.

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    Re: Mono Blue Painter - Top 8 at SCG Baltimore out of 439 players

    It's also completely avoiding the UU costs, the bane of the consistency of Ancient Tomb-decks. The manabase takes a lot of deck space (26 cards) but with 15 blue sources you're not terribly off and Mox Opal online brings that up to 19 once you hit Metalcraft. I'd say this is more of The Antiquites War-deck than Painter's Stone-deck and TAW is the card that makes this workable. It's amazing in a Tomb-shell. Painter also handily solves the blue count problem that so often plagues blue Tomb-decks and this deck is actually decked out with a lot of card advantage (Trinket Mage, The Antiquites War, Sai) so it ought to grind pretty well. TAW, Sai and Painter's Stone give it three solid win conditions so it's not just about dealing with the Painter's Stone and it does really well against e.g. Chalice decks as well. The big weakness seems to be combo decks like Show'n'Tell, BR Reanimator and company; we don't have Chalices here so suddenly you're down to FoWs and Trinketables for disruption and there's no MD Needle to deal with Depths, Griseldaddy, SA or company. EE also feels somewhat narrow MD with only two colors of mana with any consistency (sure, Mox Opal + Darkslick Shores + 3rd colored source is three but that doesn't seem to be a typical position for the deck to find itself in) and while I can see the value of EE (deals with Chalice, really good against UB Shadow and offers a MD out to numerous problematic cards), I think MD Needle would probably be more valuable. Of course, Aether Spellbomb is hilarious against Marit Lage and workable against Emrakul without SA though kinda miserable against Griseldaddy.

    You could also certainly do more with the manabase if it were less budget (some fetches and perhaps few duals and Brainstorms over Preordains seems like an excellent start). Also, the sideboard seems weird: 4 BEBs seems to be way too much against what you'd expect to see in the meta and the conspicious lack of Back to Basics (potentially even MDable and incredibly potent here) is just weird.

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    Re: Mono Blue Painter - Top 8 at SCG Baltimore out of 439 players

    Quote Originally Posted by Eldariel View Post
    It's also completely avoiding the UU costs, the bane of the consistency of Ancient Tomb-decks.
    That's the #1 reason to avoid Transmute Artifact.

    The second being it's card disadvantage. This isn't an all-in combo deck, but a grindy deck full of card advantage and alternate gameplans. It just happens to have Painter's Stone as a way to quickly end the game. Getting Transmute Dazed really hurts the Plan B and Plan C.

    I think MD Needle would probably be more valuable.
    I agree 1 MD Needle is probably better than MD EE. I wonder how often he fetched it and needed it to control a game 1.

    Also, the sideboard seems weird: 4 BEBs seems to be way too much against what you'd expect to see in the meta
    BEB isn't red hate. It's 1 cmc Vindicate+Counterspell with Painter's Servant naming Red. He can use it to answer a wide range of problematic cards that his deck couldn't otherwise answer. Maybe that's how he deals with combo. They won't board in creature removal for Painter, especially if they see Painter without 8Blasts in game 1. It's a good surprise.

    the conspicious lack of Back to Basics (potentially even MDable and incredibly potent here) is just weird.
    You're kidding right? Only 6/21 lands are basics. This isn't like other monocolor Legacy decks that might have 6 basics + 6 fetches (12 ways to find basics). 0 fetches. He has only 6 ways to find basics. Some games he will have 0 basics in play. Others he will have only 1-2. How does Back to Basics help him cast his 3-4 cmc spells?

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    Re: Mono Blue Painter - Top 8 at SCG Baltimore out of 439 players

    Quote Originally Posted by FTW View Post
    Getting Transmute Dazed really hurts the Plan B and Plan C.


    I'm not sure I follow... Getting Transmute Artifact countered costs you once card, and that is Transmute itself, as sacing something is part of resolving it.

  10. #10

    Re: Mono Blue Painter - Top 8 at SCG Baltimore out of 439 players

    I wouldn’t cut EE, it’s one of the only ways the deck can blow up an opposing Needle/Spyglass on Grindstone that prevents the deck from comboing off. I think it makes more sense to go...

    -1 Aether Spellbomb (It would still be playing one)
    -1 Tormod’s Crypt
    -1 Chrome Mox
    -1 Grindstone (you can tutor it with Trinket Mage or Antiwar when you’re ready to combo off so 4 maindeck seems unneeded)
    +1 Relic of Progenitus (never a dead card so far more maindeckable than Crypt)
    +1 Pithing Needle
    +1 Urza’s Bauble/Lotus Petal
    +1 Hangarback Walker (the fear of a bunch of 1/1 flyers might deter attackers)

    Hangarback Walker is solid against a Sneaked/Breached out Emrakul. You sac the Walker to Annhilator and will then have 1/1 flyers to chumpblock both it and the Griselbrand they probably also sneaked out.

    -4 Preordain
    +4 Impulse/Thoughtcast(If more artifacts are played)/Brainstorm (if you play some fetchlands)/Thirst for Knowledge

    Ensnaring Bridge and Karn seem like great ideas to borrow from the other Antiquities War deck that’s racking up Top 8s like crazy. https://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=20464&d=334171

    Bridge gives the deck a badly needed answer to Show and Tell/Reanimator etc. Especially since this deck actually has an alternative win condition.

    Or perhaps replacing the Painter Combo with the Thopter Foundry combo, Dimir Signets and Baleful Strix and thereby being able to maindeck 4 Chalice is the right approach.

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