[Deck] Death and Taxes

[Plague Sliver]

Read the coverage. Looks like the singleton spirit is good for a blowout once in awhile

I'm guessing that the Crusaders weren't needed, or that BUG is already a decent matchup with Revoker and Rest in Peace?

[Finn]

These cards are not 4-ofs. There is no guarantee that you will ever see any of them, so overlap is a good idea.

[Barbed Blightning]

These cards are not 4-ofs. There is no guarantee that you will ever see any of them, so overlap is a good idea.

Which cards?

[Plague Sliver]

Played in a small local tournament with 28 players, and made top 8. Second time playing the deck.

11 Plains
3 Karakas
4 Port
4 Wasteland
1 Canopy

4 Vial
4 StP
1 Jitte
1 Batterskull
1 Sword of Fire & Ice

4 Mom
4 Thalia
4 Revoker
4 Stoneforge
3 Flickerwisp
3 Serra Avenger
2 Mindcensor
2 Crusader

Sideboard:

2 RIP
2 Canonist
2 Liege
2 O-Ring
1 Cataclysm
1 Manriki-Gusari
2 Spirit of the Labyrinth
1 Pithing Needle
1 Cage
1 Path to Exile

My matches:

Round 1 UWR Delver - Win 2-0
Round 2 Food Chain Griffins - Lose 0-2
Round 3 Burn - Win 2-1
Round 4 Sneak Show - Win 2-0
Round 5 Oops, All Spells - Draw, but we play it out and I lose 0-2
Top 8 Round 1 vs. Elves - Lose 1-2

Sideboarded incorrectly against Elves, having never played against it. Game 1 I stall long enough to win with Jitte, despite him GSZ'ing for Ruric. Revoker named Heritage Druid - thanks to this thread, I remembered and it was funny asking him for the card name since they were all Chinese. Had to pull up Gatherer so I could "name" it. Game 2 he wins with a quick Natural Order into Progenitus, I curse myself for not running Council's Judgment. And in Game 3, when I had the Aven Mindcensor in response to his Natural Order, he still found a fatty in the top 4 cards. Must be nice to run well...

Deck felt extremely tight and fun to play. Playing with an active Vial felt like cheating. I can see why opponents want to shut it down right away. Even Elves brought in Pithing Needle for it, curiously enough. My sideboard wasn't optimal, could have used some more enlightened tutors for consistency. Lots of fun all around.

[Barook]

I'm just wondering against what the Leonin Arbiter/Ghost Quarter build excels against?

I'm currently building a variety of anti-decks and wonder if it has any match-ups where you absolutely crush your opponents, compared to the normal variant.

[Barbed Blightning]

I'm just wondering against what the Leonin Arbiter/Ghost Quarter build excels against?

I'm currently building a variety of anti-decks and wonder if it has any match-ups where you absolutely crush your opponents, compared to the normal variant.

Tempo, I imagine. More than just RUG; any kind of Tempo probably hates Arbiter. Deathblade, too, especially those without basics. Combo probably finds him annoying too, especially Elves

[Barook]

Tempo, I imagine. More than just RUG; any kind of Tempo probably hates Arbiter. Deathblade, too, especially those without basics. Combo probably finds him annoying too, especially Elves

I won't touch the Elves match-up with a ten-foot pole, no matter the D&T build.

I imagine the game vs Sneak & Show gets even more loop-sided than it already is. Probably Reanimator, too.

But it would be nice to have someone comment who has more experience with the build.

[Barbed Blightning]

I won't touch the Elves match-up with a ten-foot pole, no matter the D&T build.

I imagine the game vs Sneak & Show gets even more loop-sided than it already is. Probably Reanimator, too.

But it would be nice to have someone comment who has more experience with the build.

True, I'm just speculating. I played with the card back before Thalia, but those were different times.

[Madmankevinx]

With Miracles showing up in large numbers I want to make sure I have a fantastic chance against it this weekend for SCG Syracuse. I know we have a decent matchup already with revokers, and after sideboard has anyone ever tried Ghostway? Seems like if it resolves it would more than likely be lights out for Miracles. I really expect to face Miracles a couple times on Sunday and would like to make sure those rounds are wins! What are our thoughts?

[porcupinetreeman]

I'm just wondering against what the Leonin Arbiter/Ghost Quarter build excels against?

I'm currently building a variety of anti-decks and wonder if it has any match-ups where you absolutely crush your opponents, compared to the normal variant.

I've played the ghost quarter build quite a bit. I would say it is better vs combo and contol, but worse vs aggro and aggro control. Leonin helps greatly for deck with veteran explorer / GSZ / KoTR.

Unfortunately, Leonin hurts our own stoneforge, making our aggro match worse.

[Barbed Blightning]

With Miracles showing up in large numbers I want to make sure I have a fantastic chance against it this weekend for SCG Syracuse. I know we have a decent matchup already with revokers, and after sideboard has anyone ever tried Ghostway? Seems like if it resolves it would more than likely be lights out for Miracles. I really expect to face Miracles a couple times on Sunday and would like to make sure those rounds are wins! What are our thoughts?

Why Ghostway? Just to negate a terminus?

[Elfkid]

You can play 1 cavern of souls and 2 cataclism on the sideboard, resolve one of this is GG, and vs miracles I like the mindcensor, if the have not top, or we named it with revocer they can only use the terminus in their turn, so just play mindcensor EOT and continue punching!

And what about the Spirit of the Labyrint? Vs miracles seems good, and that 3 power its a reasonable clock i think

Regards :D

[Barbed Blightning]

I've been brewing a bit of a specialized D&T list. One more aimed at squishing BUGs and bullying control:

BUGHUNTER D&T

3 Karakas
4 Rishadan Port
4 Wasteland
10 Snow-Covered Plains
2 Cavern of Souls

4 Aether Vial
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Batterskull

4 Mother of Runes
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Phyrexian Revoker
4 Stoneforge Mystic
3 Flickerwisp
3 Mirran Crusader
2 Mangara of Corondor
2 Aven Mindcensor

Sideboard

3 Rest in Peace
2 Wilt-Leaf Liege
2 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Council's Judgment
2 Spirit of the Labyrinth
1 Path to Exile
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Pithing Needle
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant

I may go back to the Tutor board for more combo-oriented hate; the list has be absolutely savage so far.

Off topic discussion: anyone else really sick of seeing only decks with Delver or Brainstorm in them? Not to flame but I'd like to see some ANT, MUD or something completely rogue just smash a tournament.

[cab0747]

Off topic discussion: anyone else really sick of seeing only decks with Delver or Brainstorm in them? Not to flame but I'd like to see some ANT, MUD or something completely rogue just smash a tournament.

Yes. I would love to see more storm in the top 8's. I would love to see some rogue deck wreck a tourny too. The mono red sneak attack deck seemed really cool. I owuld also like to see the UW standstill deck become a thing(http://sales.starcitygames.com/deckd...p?DeckID=69142)

[Elfkid]

I've been brewing a bit of a specialized D&T list. One more aimed at squishing BUGs and bullying control:

I love Brimaz vs BUG and control decks, u can protect him with karakas for the removal, and It puts lot of pressure with the tokens (that are very good vs liliana and edict effects)

And I never tryed Mangara, is good?

Regards:D

[cab0747]

Hey everyone,

I have this deck built in paper and I am unsure whether I would like to take Painter or DnT to the NJ GP in November. However, I don't play as much Legacy as I would like. To ensure that I could play this at a GP and not embarass myself, I have been considering buying into this deck online.

Is there any reason why this deck is SEVERELY under-represented online? Is it just the costs of Ports that keep people away? Is the meta hostile to DnT? Any insight here would be great.

Thanks!

[Elfkid]

Hey everyone,

I have this deck built in paper and I am unsure whether I would like to take Painter or DnT to the NJ GP in November. However, I don't play as much Legacy as I would like. To ensure that I could play this at a GP and not embarass myself, I have been considering buying into this deck online.

Is there any reason why this deck is SEVERELY under-represented online? Is it just the costs of Ports that keep people away? Is the meta hostile to DnT? Any insight here would be great.

Thanks!

Hey hey!

I started to play this deck a few days, and I readed a lot, and watched a lot of videos (Sam Pardee, Thomas Enelvolsen etc...) and really, it a insane powerfull deck, the hate now its hard, toxid deluge, golgari charm, sometimes zealous persecution etc..., but this year D&T won a lot of scg, and get very good positions on a big tournaments, I like painter too, and u will get lot of free wins thanks to the blood moons, but I prefer D&T

The reason than people arent playing it on modo its cause the rishadan + wasteland its arround 800-900 tix so...

And when I saw Bahra_ playing it, he gets easy 3-1 or 4-0 on each DE

Regards^^

[Finn]

You are going to see some hate. That should be a given. But then all top decks are going to be hated on some. Just play smart and you can minimize the effectiveness of your opponent's hate. Let me clarify that some.

Death and Taxes wants an environment absent of any kind of card advantage. That is, everything from Hymn to Tourach to Fact or Fiction to Wrath of God is bad for this deck. Your only defense against Hymn and FoF are to prevent them from casting the spells. But board sweepers like Wrath, Toxic Deluge, etc. can be managed better simply by managing your resources carefully. Don't overcommit to the board if you have the game in hand and you can scrape out a free win often enough to make a difference. Keep Karakas untapped. Weigh the advantages of flickering a permanent out of the way of the sweeper at the cost of the Wisp. Lots of this kind of thing.

[DudeItsCorey]

Question for the community. What do you do about "Dread of Night"? In my meta both Storm and now Jund is running it and it very difficult to over come. O-Ring/Council's Judgment seems too slow and the only time I can win game 2 and 3 (more so against storm) is if they don't draw it. The several storm players play multiple copies (I think 3) and always seem to have both when I play Canonist. Game 1 is always a sure fire victory (excluding the standard bad draw, mana flood, mana starve, etc.). Any advice would be very much appreciated. Also, Charbeltcher... how do you beat that Deck? I was thinking of a 1 of silence sideboard and cast it while they are going off before they cast the kill spell. I also figured it can interrupt Elves and Storm. Thoughts? I know that Thalia, Ethersworn Canonist and Revoker should do it. However, they go off before I can even get those duders on the field.

[Barbed Blightning]

Question for the community. What do you do about "Dread of Night"? In my meta both Storm and now Jund is running it and it very difficult to over come. O-Ring/Council's Judgment seems too slow and the only time I can win game 2 and 3 (more so against storm) is if they don't draw it. The several storm players play multiple copies (I think 3) and always seem to have both when I play Canonist. Game 1 is always a sure fire victory (excluding the standard bad draw, mana flood, mana starve, etc.). Any advice would be very much appreciated. Also, Charbeltcher... how do you beat that Deck? I was thinking of a 1 of silence sideboard and cast it while they are going off before they cast the kill spell. I also figured it can interrupt Elves and Storm. Thoughts? I know that Thalia, Ethersworn Canonist and Revoker should do it. However, they go off before I can even get those duders on the field.

Firstly, there is no better plan vs any Storm variant than "stick a Thalia/Canonist/Revoker @ LED." If you want some turn one interaction, play some number of Judge's Familiar or Chalice of the Void @ zero. However, expect your other matchups to suffer and your overall consistency to go down. And, as far as a singleton silence goes, you're looking at a Christmasland scenario if you expect to have it with any regularity.

If you want to beat Dread, I think the only real solutions beyond Judgment/Oring/Chalice, is to bring in some kind of buff (Honor of the Pure, Spear of Heliod, Veteran Armorer), plays something like Disenchant/Abolish, or run Enlightened Tutor so that you see your Canonist with greater regularity. Also, for that same reason (Dread of Night) you always grab Sword of Fire and Ice first. Slapping it on a Thalia is usually gg as -6 life a turn makes their ad nauseums terrible.

I want to see your list, however. D&T is a deck where questions like "should I play X card" cannot be considered in a vacuum.