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Thread: [SCD]Bazaar Trademage

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    [SCD]Bazaar Trademage



    Is this card Legacy playable? I would think that there has to be a way to take advantage of a Bazaar of Baghdad effect tied to an aggressively costed creature as a 3/4 for 2U. It can be reanimated for cheap (Reanimate, Unearth) and even 3 mana isn't too much to ask in legacy. In particular it single-handedly allows free Hollow One's and is a creature spell to trigger Vengevines.

    So the question is this: how to glue these cards together to make a fast, aggressive graveyard deck?

    Vengevine
    Hollow One
    Bazaar Trademage


    Would it ever be anything but a worse version of Hogaak?
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    Re: [SCD]Bazaar Trademage

    It seems like it could fit into decks with Heartless Summoning or maybe Emry, Lurker of the Loch and Champion of Wits.

    I think that the "fast aggressive graveyard deck" slot has got some very strong options with dredge and reanimator that are going to be hard to dislodge.

    Honestly, it might not be a terrible option if you want to try faerie stompy.

    It's true that 3 mana is possible in legacy, but it's a lot. Is Trademage going to make as much of a difference as something like Oko?

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    Re: [SCD]Bazaar Trademage

    Quote Originally Posted by rufus View Post
    Honestly, it might not be a terrible option if you want to try faerie stompy.

    It's true that 3 mana is possible in legacy, but it's a lot. Is Trademage going to make as much of a difference as something like Oko?
    We actually had a local play a version of Sea Stompy a couple weeks ago, and despite not having a sideboard made, he didn't do that badly (4-2 in round robin play).

    I feel like something tuned could likely be a decent tier 2 deck. I know he was playing the Trademage, but I don't think he had Hollow Ones.
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    Re: [SCD]Bazaar Trademage

    I think it’s be pretty hard to find a niche for this deck when you directly compare it to the escape-Ox and LED, which has turn 0 capabilities. The card is too slow for Rootwalla, and once you’re going that slow you kinda need controlling elements to survive, which makes losing 2 total cards from hand (draw 2, discard 3 and -1 addition card being the 3/4 leaving hand) not the best plan.
    The benefit of a slow-starting strategy should be increased hand size, and this card kinda ruins the one thing you had going for you. I don’t think you can even begin thinking about this card without ideas like Entomb target Vengeful Pharaoh since you’re so very dead to Goyf otherwise.

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    Re: [SCD]Bazaar Trademage

    Could this work in an Ancient Tomb deck with controlling elements of Chalice of the Void and Thorn of Amethyst backed by some combination of creatures like:

    Bazaar Trademage
    Vengevine
    Hollow One
    Street Wraith
    Champion of Wits
    Neheb, Dreadhorde Champion
    Ox of Agonas
    Magus of the Wheel
    Anje's Ravager
    Rowdy Crew
    Skaab Ruinator
    Dack Fayden


    With a critical mass of those draw/discard effects maybe you could cobble together an engine and make up for the card disadvantage and variance. Cards like Ox are even hardcastable in a Tomb deck.

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    Re: [SCD]Bazaar Trademage

    I was considering trying it out post-board in Breach, but now we'll never know how that would've turned out.

    I think the card could be playable in a Punishing Dack or Loam shell. Discarding fuels Escape, and Uro is very good.

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    Re: [SCD]Bazaar Trademage

    I think the only way to make a deck with this guy that isn't strictly worse than hogaak is to approach the game on a slightly different axis.

    I've tried to fit this into cloudvine builds, but I've struggled to make it work. It's possible I was too all in on this guy.

    I think the key is to try and evaluate cards where this guy is a great mid and late game draw, and less about how to get an explosive turn 2.
    -rob

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    Re: [SCD]Bazaar Trademage

    First off, thanks for all the responses. I nabbed a playset of some interesting cards from MH when it was first released, hoping to find shells for them. Cabal Therapist and Bazaar Trademage were the most exciting for me.

    I really like the approach from mistercakes, it's eminently practical: try to find a shell where playing Trademage t3 is still good, not relying on a fast graveyard boost. I am convinced other decks do fast graveyard shit better, so it has to be a mid-range/utility/toolbox kind of deck where the graveyard becomes a valuable resource but also doesn't roll over to a Leyline of the Void. I'm thinking it would be something that plays similarly to a Gurmag Angler/Snapcaster Mage approach.

    I still want to include Hollow One, simply because it's a free interaction with a resolved Trademage. It would be the decks 'Tarmogoyf', so-to-speak. Having the ability to just cycle it away when dead is really, really nice.

    Another card that I think could be very powerful is Unearth. I would need value-based creatures to make the card advantage count. Trademage itself can be targeted, as well as Snapcaster Mage. Eternal Witness seems decent, but the mana requirements are getting tight at this point.

    So this is where I'm starting:

    4x Bazaar Trademage
    4x Hollow One
    4x Unearth
    4x Careful Study


    So a UGb base shell. Maybe looking at Shardless BUG would give me some insight. Shardless Agent and Baleful Strix are both pretty spicy, with Agent being a lackluster Unearth target but Strix being amazing. Emry + Shardless Agent sounds fun. I'm curious what others thing would be the best 3-mana-or-less value creatures to include in these colors?

    Short list:

    Baleful Strix
    Snapcaster Mage
    Leovold
    Eternal Witness
    Fleshbag Marauder
    Scavenging Ooze
    Vendilion Clique
    Phyrexian Revoker
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    Re: [SCD]Bazaar Trademage

    I tried brewing with this on Cockatrice


    //Lands: 20
    4 Ancient Tomb
    2 City of Traitors
    4 Scalding Tarn
    2 Misty Rainforest
    1 Wooded Foothills
    3 Volcanic Island
    1 Taiga
    1 Tropical Island
    1 Island
    1 Mountain

    //Artifacts: 8
    4 Chalice of the Void
    4 Thorn of Amethyst

    //Creatures: 32
    4 Street Wraith
    4 Basking Rootwalla
    4 Bazaar Trademage
    4 Champion of Wits
    4 Anje's Ravager
    4 Vengevine
    4 Hollow One
    4 Ox of Agonas


    It's still hot garbage but the general engine was consistent with redundant draw/discard creatures. Won some test games vs UR Delver on the back of resistors.

    Whenever I wanted to cast Trademage, Champion of Wits was also decent so I just ran both. Both are great Hollow One enablers on turn 2 or turn 6. Anje's Ravager was also good. It's another draw/discard beater for 2C and later in the game you can madness it off Trademage/Champion, which counts as creature #2 for Vine. Vengevine was great, pretty easy to enable or just hardcast.

    Street Wraith was a nonbo with Ancient Tomb, too much lifeloss. Rootwalla was mediocre, mainly value to sandbag for a draw/discard outlet or Vengevines. Ox was weak. I found it really hard to get 8 cards to escape it. Another escape value engine like Uro might be very good with Trademage. Or maybe Skaab Ruinator.

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    Re: [SCD]Bazaar Trademage

    Cool list, it's definitely spicy. I think if I want to make sure Vengevine is a legitimate threat I need 1-drop creatures rather than leaning on Chalice. I also think 1-drop mana dorks, maybe 4 of them, could not only accelerate into a t2 Trademage but realistically hardcast Vengevine.

    This is the hot garbage I was tinkering with so far:

    4x Death’s Shadow
    4x Elves of Deep Shadow
    4x Bloodghast
    4x Vengevine
    4x Hollow One
    4x Bazaar Trademage
    4x Street Wraith
    4x Cabal Therapy
    4x Careful Study
    2x Reanimate
    2x Unearth

    2x Utility Creature

    4x Polluted Delta
    3x Misty Rainforest
    3x Verdant Catacombs
    3x Watery Grave
    1x Bayou
    1x Breeding Pool
    1x Cephalid Coliseum
    1x Swamp


    I'm not sold on the Bloodghast/Cabal Therapy interaction. It's just another synergy to go with Trademage/Careful Study/Coliseum. If I drop the Therapy/Bloodghast interaction I can focus more on utility creatures, giving me 8 whole slots. They would have to be pretty good, as the deck is light on interaction maindeck.

    Death's Shadow was just a nod towards including Street Wraith, which led me to Reanimate, which led me to a 1-drop that helps me to trigger Vengevines. This is definitely more of a suicide agro deck, which is fine with me, but I don't have enough blue to sideboard Forces (yet!!!) I know at a fundamental level Reanimator and dredge are both more powerful graveyard decks; this one is an attempt to going wider without being totally boned to hard hate (Leyline, RiP.)

    EDIT: Skaab Ruinator seems kind of cool, and the mana cost is reasonable with Elves.
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    Re: [SCD]Bazaar Trademage

    Quote Originally Posted by Mr. Safety View Post
    Cool list, it's definitely spicy. I think if I want to make sure Vengevine is a legitimate threat I need 1-drop creatures rather than leaning on Chalice.
    In my test games (mirror match, Delver) Vengevine was pretty easy to pull off. Delver wrecked me in the games I didn't stick Chalice or Thorn, those cards did a lot of work to buy time to durdle.

    Loot creature (Trademage, Champion, Ox) + madness creature (Hollow One, Rootwalla, Anje) = Vengevines. And you can discard the Vengevines to the Looter. That works even late in the game because so many of them draw you more cards.

    Sol Lands also enable T2 Trademage or T3 hardcast Vengevine.

    Possible sequences:
    T1 - Resistor
    T2 - Trademage/Champion -> draw cards, discard Vengevine -> Hollow One/Rootwalla -> haste Vengevine


    If you want to run more 1 drops and mana dorks, I strongly recommend some other kind of disruption on top of Therapy. Thoughtseize is a natural fit.

    Prized Amalgam might be good in BUG colors next to Bloodghasts and other recursion. Uro seems really good too.

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    Re: [SCD]Bazaar Trademage

    Quote Originally Posted by FTW View Post
    In my test games (mirror match, Delver) Vengevine was pretty easy to pull off. Delver wrecked me in the games I didn't stick Chalice or Thorn, those cards did a lot of work to buy time to durdle.

    Loot creature (Trademage, Champion, Ox) + madness creature (Hollow One, Rootwalla, Anje) = Vengevines. And you can discard the Vengevines to the Looter.

    Sol Lands also enable T2 Trademage or T3 hardcast Vengevine.

    Possible sequences:
    T1 - Resistor
    T2 - Trademage/Champion -> draw cards, discard Vengevine -> Hollow One/Rootwalla -> haste Vengevine


    If you want to run more 1 drops and mana dorks, I strongly recommend some other kind of disruption on top of Therapy. Thoughtseize is a natural fit.

    Prized Amalgam might be good in BUG colors next to Bloodghasts and other recursion. Uro seems really good too.
    Good thoughts, Thoughtseize is definitely on my mind. I think it's fine to count on Chalice/Thorn to disrupt but I didn't want to have to rely on naturally drawing a discard + madness creature to enable the Vengevines. I wanted a way to smooth out the draws and dig for needed cards, so that means Careful Study. I also wanted a way to play a couple 1-drops to trigger Vines if I get stalled, so that's where Death's Shadow and Elves came from. Still hot garbage, and I don't even have Brainstorm in there yet...

    I do like the Ancient Tomb idea, it goes right in line with Shadow. I could definitely play 1-2 as mana booster 5+6.
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    Re: [SCD]Bazaar Trademage

    In your BUG version, 4x Stitcher's Supplier seems good.


    Here's where I'm at with a Chalice-less mana dork plan, using a MOST shell.
    MOST has a lot of things you're talking about... 1cc dorks, discard outlets for Vengevine, creature tutors for consistency, value creatures. Uro is also great value for filling the graveyard. Oko because it feels wrong to play Tropical Island without Oko.


    //Creatures: 25
    4 Noble Hierarch
    1 Gilded Goose
    1 Quirion Ranger
    4 Fauna Shaman
    3 Ice-Fang Coatl
    1 Qasali Pridemage
    4 Bazaar Trademage
    3 Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath
    4 Vengevine

    //Planeswalkers: 3
    3 Oko, Thief of Crowns

    //Spells: 12
    4 Force of Will
    4 Brainstorm
    4 Green Sun's Zenith

    //Lands: 20
    1 Dryad Arbor
    4 Misty Rainforest
    4 Prismatic Vista
    2 Windswepth Heath
    2 Snow-Covered Forest
    2 Snow-Covered Island
    1 Snow-Covered Plains
    1 Tropical Island
    1 Tundra
    1 Savannah
    1 Karakas

    //Sideboard: 15
    3 Swords to Plowshares
    3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
    1 Collector Ouphe
    1 Gaddock Teeg
    1 Scavenging Ooze
    1 Knight of Autumn
    1 Skaab Ruinator
    1 Lavinia, Azorius Renegade
    1 Gilded Drake
    1 Phantasmal Image
    1 Questing Beast

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    Re: [SCD]Bazaar Trademage

    Nice to see some attention for the Trademage. This has been a pet card of mine since it came out, but I had given up. The MOST list looks interesting since it's running Uro.
    Keep up the good work everyone.
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    Re: [SCD]Bazaar Trademage

    Very cool ideas! I definitely want Stitchers Supplier in here, for the Therapy synergy alone. It also eliminates the need for any green mana, so it can stay UB. I tried Basking Rootwalla, oof, just a disappointment.

    Here is the rough list for now:

    4x Sticher's Supplier
    4x Death's Shadow
    4x Bloodghast
    4x Bazaar Trademage
    4x Vengevine
    4x Hollow One
    4x Street Wraith
    2x Gurmag Angler

    3x Cabal Therapy
    3x Thoughtseize
    4x Careful Study
    2x Reanimate

    4x Polluted Delta
    3x Misty Rainforest
    3x Verdant Catacombs
    4x Watery Grave
    1x Bayou
    1x Swamp
    2x Cephalid Coliseum

    Sideboard
    2x brazen borrower
    2x plague engineer
    2x abrupt decay
    4x force of will
    2x stubborn denial
    2x surgical extraction
    1x oko, thief of crowns
    Last edited by Mr. Safety; 03-11-2020 at 06:58 AM.
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    Re: [SCD]Bazaar Trademage

    I think you are using Trademage like an overcosted Hogaak in that list? There is this aspect of avoiding yard hate by playing Trademage and Shadow, but I think the end result is a slower Gaak deck without a combo kill.

    It's really hard to get past the spending 3 mana [assuming you can get to this point] to self-nuke your hand with a draw 2, discard 4 (discarding the 3/4 to the board). You have to enter a main phase with 3 cards just to keep 1 card after casting Trademage and having it trigger; after this point you're hellbent topdecking? The Rootwalla and Hollow One parts seem fine, and you can up the count with Asylum Visitor. The whole Vengevine thing probably doesn't work without a totally free creature (Hogaak), and if 8x slots are Hollow and Trademage you'll have trouble doing the Hogaak channeling as well. Three mana is a sizable investment when you're trying to get to two creature casts a turn if you didn't find a Rootwalla or go in with a 3-card hand and find the Hollow One.

    I think you have to compare the Trademage directly to Looting or Collective Brutality. In most of these list so far, this 3/4 is hanging out at the top of the curve and not really delivering something novel that brings everything before it together. It'll get you hellbent, which has some text with Visitor or a card like Lupine Prototype, but otherwise I'm not really seeing the payoff.

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    Re: [SCD]Bazaar Trademage

    Quote Originally Posted by Fox View Post
    I think you have to compare the Trademage directly to Looting or Collective Brutality. In most of these list so far, this 3/4 is hanging out at the top of the curve and not really delivering something novel that brings everything before it together. It'll get you hellbent, which has some text with Visitor or a card like Lupine Prototype, but otherwise I'm not really seeing the payoff.
    In the MOST list I posted, the main role is pitching Uro and enough cards to escape it, or pitching Vengevines. It's high variance in that deck, so it's also there to pitch to Fauna Shaman or FoW or hide with Brainstorm (many ways to get rid of it).

    In the Sol Land list I posted higher, it's at the bottom of the curve as a redundant turn 2 enabler. Champion of Wits was honestly quite good in testing. On average you're discarding at least 1 card you want to discard, so it's pseudo-card advantage, and it doesn't nuke your hand. If you have any other card in hand, you get to keep at least 1. The main advantages of Bazaar over Champion were the 3/4 flying body and enabling Hollow One for free without Street Wraith.

    Redundant card draw also helped offset the drawback of pitching your hand. Anje's Ravager is very strong when you're Hellbent. "T: Ancestral Recall". Not only does it do that, but it can be cast via Madness or use the discard to enable other tricks. Ox of Agonas is also strong Hellbent.

    What does it do over Hogaak? The big thing is you're not wrecked by GY hate, because the engine is looting instead of milling. Most of the beaters are hardcastable. The graveyard is just extra value. The other thing is the ability to play disruption and plan Bs instead of going all-in on combo. It's grindier.

    I also tested a version with Hogaak, but that requires more green/black cards.

    Hogaak Stompy


    //Artifacts: 8
    4 Chalice of the Void
    4 Thorn of Amethyst

    //Creatures: 32
    4 Street Wraith
    4 Basking Rootwalla
    4 Bloodghast
    4 Champion of Wits
    4 Bazaar Trademage
    4 Vengevine
    4 Hollow One
    4 Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis


    Street Wraith was pretty weak, arguably could be replaced by Asylum Visitor to have another black body and draw engine. I think I had Prized Amalgams in there too somewhere. This one felt like just a worse version of Gaak, because it has less ability to ignore the graveyard, so I switched to the RUG build with more card draw.

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    Re: [SCD]Bazaar Trademage

    I tested the RUG one some more. The redundant card draw opens a lot of lines.


    //Lands: 22
    4 Ancient Tomb
    4 City of Traitors
    4 Misty Rainforest
    4 Scalding Tarn
    3 Volcanic Island
    3 Tropical Island

    //Artifacts: 8
    4 Chalice of the Void
    4 Thorn of Amethyst

    //Creatures: 30
    4 Basking Rootwalla
    4 Bazaar Trademage
    4 Champion of Wits
    4 Anje's Ravager
    4 Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath
    4 Vengevine
    4 Hollow One
    2 Ox of Agonas


    It's not as explosive and fast as Hogaak, but it's grindier with disruption and draw.

    Tested 6 games preboard vs RUG Delver and went 4-2. The grind potential is real. One game I Eternalized 2 Champions. Vengevine also wrecks Oko.
    It has some major weaknesses, but it looks possibly playable.


    Some Goldfish Hands

    T1 Tomb. Chalice @ 1
    T2 Volc. Bazaar draw 2, discard Rootwalla + 2 lands. Hollow One
    T3 Fetch. Ravager. Attack 3/4 flying + 4/4.
    T4 City. Bazaar draw 2, Madness Ravager + discard last card.
    Attack with Ravager #1 + Hollow One + Bazaar
    Draw 3 (2 lands, Ox)

    More card draw available after via Ravager #2 and Ox

    -------------------

    T1 Tomb. Chalice @ 1
    T2 Fetch Volc. Ravager.
    T3 City. Hollow One. Attack with Ravager (discard 3 lands + Vengevine), draw 3 (Uro, Rootwalla, Champion)
    T4 Tropical. Champion draw 2, discard Uro + Madness Rootwalla (countered). Vengevine returns.
    Attack with Ravager + Vine + Hollow One
    Discard land + Uro, draw 3 (Ox, Thorn, fetch)
    Cast Thorn of Amethyst

    More card draw available via Ravager & hardcast Ox. Eventually escaped Uro or Eternalized Champion.

    ---------------

    T1 City. Thorn
    T2 Volc. Bazaar draw 2, discard Vengevine + Bazaar + Champion. 2x Hollow One. Vengevine returns.
    Attack with Vine
    T3 Fetch Trop. Attack with Vine + 2 Hollow One + Bazaar

    This one ran out of draw but had an explosive turn 2 board.

    ---------------

    T1 Tomb
    T2 Volc. Bazaar draw 2, discard Vengevine + Uro + Uro. Hollow One.
    Vine returns. Attack with Vine
    T3 Trop. Ravager. Attack with Bazaar, Hollow One, Vine.
    T4 Attack with Bazaar, Hollow One, Vine, Ravager
    Discard 3 (Champion, Ox, Madness Ravager), Draw 3 (Hollow One, City, Thorn)
    City. Hollow One. Thorn.

    More draw available via 2 Ravagers. 1 more mana to Eternalize Champion or Escape Ox/Uro soon.

    -------

    T1 Fetch. Chalice @ 0
    T2 Fetch. Thorn
    T3 Fetch. Bazaar draw 2, discard Rootwalla + Rootwalla + Uro.
    T4 Champion draw 2, discard Vine + Uro
    Attack with Bazaar
    T5 Champion draw 2, discard land + Ravager. Fetch. Hollow One. Return Vine.

    From there I'm set to escape Uro or cast a 2nd Ravager from hand

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    Re: [SCD]Bazaar Trademage

    Quote Originally Posted by Fox View Post
    I think you are using Trademage like an overcosted Hogaak in that list? There is this aspect of avoiding yard hate by playing Trademage and Shadow, but I think the end result is a slower Gaak deck without a combo kill.

    It's really hard to get past the spending 3 mana [assuming you can get to this point] to self-nuke your hand with a draw 2, discard 4 (discarding the 3/4 to the board). You have to enter a main phase with 3 cards just to keep 1 card after casting Trademage and having it trigger; after this point you're hellbent topdecking? The Rootwalla and Hollow One parts seem fine, and you can up the count with Asylum Visitor. The whole Vengevine thing probably doesn't work without a totally free creature (Hogaak), and if 8x slots are Hollow and Trademage you'll have trouble doing the Hogaak channeling as well. Three mana is a sizable investment when you're trying to get to two creature casts a turn if you didn't find a Rootwalla or go in with a 3-card hand and find the Hollow One.

    I think you have to compare the Trademage directly to Looting or Collective Brutality. In most of these list so far, this 3/4 is hanging out at the top of the curve and not really delivering something novel that brings everything before it together. It'll get you hellbent, which has some text with Visitor or a card like Lupine Prototype, but otherwise I'm not really seeing the payoff.
    Good thoughts. In my limited goldfish testing against some tier decks (Grixis Delver, D&T, Sneak/Show) the issue has been getting to 3 mana to play Trademage. That means I need 1) mana acceleration or 2) a different way to get it on-board, like Reanimate. Careful Study is an incredibly important card for the deck, making or breaking early turns. I might need to just bite the bullet and play red for Faithless Looting.

    Some of the best games have been with just Bloodghast giving value with Therapy. Even 1 decent threat (Vine/Hollow/Gurmag) backed up by some Therapy plays has been very good.

    So in reality, I'm really trying to merge some sort of Vengevine/Hollow One agro strategy to Death's Shadow synergies. I think it's possible, but there needs to be another 1-mana enabler like Careful Study. Hapless Researcher might be the correct path, or maybe just jamming a set of Lotus Petals for acceleration. Petals and Researcher both feed Gurmags, which has been a great card. I think I could even go up to 3 Gurmags. Thought Scour has some potential, but it will be a lot less reliable when it's 'discarding' from the top of the deck rather than goodies in hand.
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    Re: [SCD]Bazaar Trademage

    So I've committed to splashing red for Faithless Looting, here is my tentative plan for Thursday night legacy:

    Threats - 22
    4x Death’s Shadow
    4x Bloodghast
    4x Vengevine
    4x Hollow One
    4x Bazaar Trademage
    2x Gurmag Angler

    Draw/Discard Engine - 11
    4x Street Wraith
    4x Careful Study
    3x Faithless Looting

    Disruption - 6
    3x Cabal Therapy
    3x Thoughtseize

    Acceleration/Utility -6
    4x Lotus Petal
    2x Reanimate

    Lands - 15
    4x Polluted Delta
    4x Verdant Catacombs
    3x Watery Grave
    1x Blood Crypt
    2x Cephalid Coliseum
    1x Swamp

    Sideboard
    2x Brazen Borrower
    2x Plague Engineer
    2x Surgical Extraction
    1x Tormod’s Crypt
    4x Chancellor of the Annex
    2x Abrade
    2x Stubborn Denial


    The plan is to convert post-board into less graveyard dependency, cutting the Vengevines for Borrower/Engineer depending on hate. If I face against Moon stompy or a combo deck I'll side into Chancellors/Borrowers. It will give me more early interaction with the option to loot away, and maybe even reanimate early to feed Shadow and stall even further. Five power flyers aren't anything to sneeze at, either.

    EDIT: I just noticed that Cephalid Colisseum can target any player, so that is one way to interact with Terminus if I should sniff it coming.
    Last edited by Mr. Safety; 03-11-2020 at 12:07 PM.
    Brainstorm Realist

    I close my eyes and sink within myself, relive the gift of precious memories, in need of a fix called innocence. - Chuck Shuldiner

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