[Deck] Solidarity

[Spigore]

Heya Metalwalker,

Not to ruin your mood, but you need to open slots for Cunning Wish to even be able to beat Emrakul/Progenitus in game 1.

[Silent Requiem]

I've been doing some testing, and I don't actually feel that Snapcaster really belongs in Solidarity or Spiral Tide. Instead, I think he gives birth to a new High Tide archetype that needs it's own list.

For example:

1) To properly abuse Snapcaster, you probably want to run Intuition, which takes up space that Solidarity does not have.

2) If you are running Snap, you might want to run Cloud of Faries to make sure you always have a Snap target; this means running at sorcery speed, which in turn suggests Merchant Scroll and precludes Reset.

3) FoW does not play well with Snapcaster. Pact of Negation loves Snapcaster. Repeal is also clearly better than Remand once you start the combo. Flusterstorm is still brokenly good.

The various synergies push a Snapcaster deck towards a sorcery speed version that runs hyper efficient search/card advantage and uses a very different disruption package.

[overseer1234]

Wouldn't it just be spring tide with snapcaster and intuition then?

That's already a turn 3 deck, so if that's the case I don't really see why it should bother with snapcaster...

And by playing intuition you slow it down again, and it becomes a turn 4 deck.

Then I'd rather play solidarity over that (as I like to abuse the stack... I't my bitch)


However I might be wrong (just my opinion...).

[GGoober]

Heya Metalwalker,

Not to ruin your mood, but you need to open slots for Cunning Wish to even be able to beat Emrakul/Progenitus in game 1.

Yes, I'm playing a MD that loses to Emrakul/Progenitus game 1, but that's accounted in the SB.

@Silent Requiem: I was just discussing your idea with a couple of friends. Basically I was thinking the strengths of Solidarity is dominance over the stack war AND the ability to use a very cost efficient untapper (Reset).

I discussed with my friend a possibility to build a list that has the potential to go off on either opponent's turn or on our turn, with the following possible changes (I have not tested the idea yet)

1) Replace Resets with Candelabras. On turns 1-3, your cantrips and digs should be finding you a Candelabra.
2) Play Merchant Scrolls.
3) Win via Snapcaster Intuition primarily instead of chaining Meditate draws (you still run Meditates).

I talked to my friend that this theorized list should be more often winning on your OWN turn. There is less stack wars dominance but the deck is still primarily instants outside of Merchant Scroll and Candelabra. This doesn't really affect things as much since the rest of the deck is still instant-based and you can primarily still win stack wars. You are primarily going off on your own turn (to maximize drawn Candelabras/Merchant Scrolls) but you can still go off on an opponent's turn if you have 1-2 Candles in play and the Snapcaster/Snap/Intuitions in hand. Going off on your own turn via the Snapcaster-Intuition route guarantees a victory if it resolves (sometimes chaining draws may fizzle). Going off on your own turn retaining a big instant pool of cards will still allow you to usually win stack wars, and it also fights clique nicely (a scary card for Solidarity).

The only problem I'm running into is:
1) This theory/decklist is entirely new/untested/undeveloped (but it's really nice to see that other people are thinking the same way too.
2) Is the Snapcaster/Snap/Intuition package stronger than just playing Spiral Tide? For most parts, I would say yes. I've been goldfishing Snapcaster lists and being able to play a huge pool of instants is critical on the combo phase turn against disruption. Spiral Tide most definitely won't be able to abuse Snapcaster lists perfectly due to post-spiral decrease in consistency with an empty graveyard. Solidarity can very nicely abuse Snapcaster but faces some tight maindeck slot issues (It is incredibly hard to fit the new package of Intuition/Snap/Snapcaster and retain Opts etc).

I haven't gotten to testing the new list that I'm working on but let us know if you have any brainstorming/testing with your list Silent!

[Zinch]

I think you people are overrating the need of intuition with snapcaster mage...

I've been testing the classsic solidarity shell with SCM but without intuitions and it functions very well. During the combo, you just don't need an intuition if you have a mage... your graveyard will be full!

Snapcaster reduces a LOT your chances of frizzling. In 30 or so games I played, I frizzled 2 times: one against zoo on the draw (with only 3 lands... not an easy task) and one against Blade control with a strong start and some counters (this was before MM banning).

On the other hand, some days ago, I had the same idea as Silent Requiem, but in the end I thought that if you go at sorcery speed, it was just better to run Spiral Tides and forget the mages. But who knows?

[ScatmanX]

@Metalwalker:
1 Cunning Wish on the deck solves the Emrakul problem. No worries about that.
That said, I'm skeptic if this version is better than either Solidarity or Spiral Tide.
I built a new Spring Tide (without Spiral) version, that combos easily with 3 lands, but don't know how much I liked it so far.
I'm happy to see that there are more people here exploiting the matter.

[Koby]

I would tend to agree too, that Snapcaster/Intuition package is better suited for the older Spring Tide list, which can't effectively use Time Spiral, but plays more powerful tutors that are Sorcery speed.

The deck described in this thread doesn't appear to need the extra punch from Intuition, but could utilize Snapcaster Mage quite effectively. I'm in the process of testing Snap Tide based upon Spiral Tide, so we'll see. I suspect it will be hard to evaluate effectively because of a marginal gain from adding Snapcaster Mage.

[Silent Requiem]

I've just finished some serious play testing of a preliminary Snap Tide build (goldfishing only; the build is nowhere near ready for real play), and I have some comments. First, though, the list:

Lands:

10 Islands
8 Fetchland

Instants:

4 High Tide
4 Snap
4 Intuition
4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
3 Meditate
2 Cunning Wish
1 Brain Freeze

Sorceries:

4 Merchant Scroll
4 Preordain

Creatures:

4 Snapcaster
4 Cloud of Faeries

To begin with, once you get used to the deck, it goes off on turn 3 like clockwork (absent disruption, of course). You are looking for four cards: High Tide, Snapcaster, Snap & Intuition. If you have those cards you can win on turn three. Outside of pilot error & disruption, the combo is completely fizzle-proof; you WILL win.

The best part (and the reason that I'm posting in the Solidarity thread rather than Spring Tide) is that the combo is still instant speed! Only your initial dig is sorcery speed, and you don't need it once the combo is assembled.

So you can still delay going off if you want to, although there is generally no advantage in doing so. And unlike current builds, there is no "dead space" at the beginning of their turn; go ahead and deck them in their upkeep if you feel like it.

Let's talk specifics, though. How can this build be improved?

Card Choices:

Lands - 18 lands seems about right; I'm rarely land flooded, and I sometimes have trouble making my third land drop off a bad hand. This doesn't stop me going off, you understand, as long as I can find that third land while I combo off. I might even up the number of fetches to improve Brainstorm, but I seem to always have a fetch when I needed it, so perhaps the balance is right.

High Tide/Snapcaster/Snap/Intuition - these make the deck work, and finding them is critical. I wouldn't want to play less than four of each.

Cloud of Faeries - If you have managed to assemble the combo, you never play this card. However, if you are short a card you can use it in a "traditional" free-style combo, albeit on your own turn. However, you can also drop them on turn two without disrupting your dig, which can help buy you some time. Probably worth keeping as an all around solid backup plan.

Meditate - This can almost certainly go. I never cast it, because it is just too slow. I could see it having some purpose in the sideboard to fight discard, but Visions of Beyond is probably better if we are facing massive discard or control. It could be replaced by either more dig or disruption.

Preordain - Yes, it's better than Ponder here. You are digging for specific cards, and you can't afford dead cards on top of your library when you do that. You can only crack one relevant fetch if you go off on turn three, and Brainstorm needs that one.

Cunning Wish - I never find myself wanting Cunning Wish, but we do need an answer to Emrakul in the main, so it probably needs to stay.

That's my initial finding, and I have to say that I'm more excited about the build than I thought I would be; despite running sorceries, the combo is still instant speed.

[Koby]

Silent - Would Impulse work better in the Meditate slot? Would Peer through Depths work better yet?

[ScatmanX]

@Silent: Put at least 1 Pact of Negation on the Main deck.
Instead of Meditate, have you thought about Time Spiral? It also fights discard well. If they take it, you combo off as usual. If they take Snapcaster/Intuition, Spiral for a fresh 7, and win.
I think 1 Wish is fine already. If they counter it, you can Snapcaster it. If they don't, you probably won't need a second.

Another good thing about this build is that Tegg does nothing against it, but in a build with 4 Snaps, that wouldn't be something to worry that much. Also, you don't have to put Snaps on SB, which is a plus.

How about a SB with 4 Resets, 2 Turnabouts? if they bring in Extirpate, it may get hard for you to win with this version, but normal Solidarity isn't so affected by it.

Keep posting your thought here. It's nice to read them. (though I think the Spring Tide would be better suited for this kind of deck...)

[Silent Requiem]

I was perhaps a bit harsh on Meditate. In further testing it has won me a few games where I could not assemble the normal combo. Of course if it had been dig, perhaps I would have been able to assemble the combo...

Peer Through Depths is not ideal; our toughest card to find is Snapcaster (we can't Scroll for him), and PtD can't grab him. Impulse is a decent idea. Ponder and Opt are further alternatives.

Of course, I'm conscious that the deck is currently light on disruption, and I don't know that the extra speed alone will be enough against decks like Merfolk. Strangely, Daze might have a home here. While the deck needs three lands to start off, once we have cast that first High Tide, we only ever tap and untap two lands, so Daze could be used on the combo turn. It could also be used to slow faster decks without disrupting our sorcery speed dig. This would cost us a turn, but against some decks (storm, etc) it would clearly be worthwhile.

The other contender is Pact of Negation, which is purely defensive (although, since we can go off in our own upkeep, a strong hand could allow you to use it proactively).

Edit: Although we CAN go off on turn three, we don't have to. This means that Clique could also be very strong, as well as a alternate win while we chump block/bounce Goyf all day.

[Seraphus]

Why don't you go to the damn New and developement decks folder?

I promise not to do this but for the sake and sanity of Solidarity players will post my list:


// Lands
2 [ZEN] Misty Rainforest
2 [ON] Polluted Delta
2 [ZEN] Scalding Tarn
12 [P3] Island (1)

// Creatures
2 [ISD] Snapcaster Mage

// Spells
4 [FE] High Tide (1)
4 [LG] Reset
4 [AL] Force of Will
3 [FNM] Remand
4 [VI] Impulse
1 [JU] Flash of Insight
4 [FNM] Brainstorm
2 [US] Turnabout
2 [SC] Brain Freeze
4 [TE] Meditate
2 [NPH] Dismember
3 [IN] Opt
1 [MBS] Blue Sun's Zenith
2 [GP] Repeal

// Sideboard
SB: 2 [CMD] Flusterstorm
SB: 2 [ZEN] Mindbreak Trap
SB: 3 [ZEN] Ravenous Trap
SB: 2 [UL] Rebuild
SB: 2 [UL] Snap
SB: 2 [DS] Echoing Truth
SB: 2 [IA] Hydroblast


Why no snap, intuition or some pseudo-snapcaster enhancers? The mage don't need enhancements...
Emrakull question: BSZ is in main deck during play don't waste your mana on draws just select cards more wisely, look carefully for untappers Brain Freeze your op and use remand or a second BF plus the BSZ - i assure you it works (as other things just practice this and you'll get the hang of it)...
Dismember: it's not a pure cantrip, but think of it: killing a nacatl turn 1 isn't cantrip? Now add the possibility of remand 2nd turn or Repeal...
Cunning: sure its good but you'll see that there's no need...
1 FOI: the mage wont be very usefull if there's no grave...

If anyone has more questions just ask i'll answer, if someone whats me to share some plays just ask i'll do it. But sorcery speed high tide decks is named Spring tide NOT SOLIDARITY...

P.s: I promise myself that i would avoid posting here so if you want to continue to divert the idea of an instant speed deck go ahead, i wont bother anymore...

[Silent Requiem]

@ ScatmanX

I don't think Time Spiral plays well with Snapcaster; in testing I've dropped to a single Meditate (which I can Scroll for), and this has been better. I've also dropped to 1 Wish. I've put Opt in the extra slots, but I'm not all that impressed; this will probably get switched out for some kind of disruption.

Extirpate is rough on this deck, but I don't think Reset & co is the answer.

Truth is, while this combo is fizzle proof, it's also made of spun glass; it does not deal with disruption well. In this sense it is much closer to traditional combo decks, as we have no spare mana and very little ability to deviate from our spell chain.

Even Force of Will is mediocre here; if I go off on turn 3, I will have access to 9 cards (opening 7 + 2 draws; dig just replaces itself). 3 of these have to be land, and 4 are combo cards. That leaves FoW and (hopefully) a blue card to pitch. Not much protection. Obviously, the deck does not mulligan terribly well, though it rarely needs to mulligan.

I've already floated the possibility of Daze, and a singleton PoN seems strong. However, because we don't need much in the way of lands, we can afford to splash without opening ourselves to wasteland. Our sideboard could contain a basic land & a dual (for easier fetching when there is no wasteland) and some off color disruption.

Black offers discard, of course. Green offers Autumns Veil and Xantid Swarm. White offers Silence effects. I'm leaning towards white because Silence beats control AND Storm. If Counterbalance becomes strong again, though, black and green become more attractive. Green offers no solution to Extirpate, however.

Edit @ Seraphus

As I said, the reason I posted here is that the proposed deck still combos at instant speed; I've simply added some powerful sorcery speed tutoring to allow us to assemble the combo faster.

[Seraphus]

Edit @ Seraphus

As I said, the reason I posted here is that the proposed deck still combos at instant speed; I've simply added some powerful sorcery speed tutoring to allow us to assemble the combo faster.

And how many times do you start combo and fizzle because you draw lands? Or because you draw the wrong cards?

I don't have anything against new high tide decks, i dedicate my time to perfect the deck that i mostly love ever to play (that's not entirely true since the deck i loved the most was Mind's Desire)...

Even the fact of using situation cards like repeal or remand is very dangerous mid combo... the mage give us the possibility of fighting those empty draws as it can be or a draw or an untapper, but we need to reinforce the maindeck cards (that's why Cunning wish isn't an option here)...

Think about it...

[GGoober]

Just to throw it out, this is the build that I have been working on:


LANDS: 18
4 Strand
2 Delta
12 Island


TIDE/UNTAPPERS: 16
4 High Tide
4 Candelabra of Tawnos
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Snap

DIG: 15
4 Brainstorm
4 Merchant Scroll
4 Impulse
3 Meditate

TUTORS/OTHERS: 5
3 Intuition
1 Cunning Wish
1 Brainfreeze

PROTECTION: 6
4 Remand
2 Flusterstorm

SB: 15
1 BSZ
1 Hibernation
1 Turnabout
1 Rebuild
1 Echoing Truth
3 Repeal
2 Flusterstorm
2 Spell Pierce
1 Mindbreak Trap
2 Surgical Extraction

I know it doesn't have FoW, but the only thing that you should really FoW against this deck are:
Lackey, Wild Nacatl, Hymn, FoW, Counterbalance, Ad Nauseam, Dark Ritual, Show and Tell etc, all of which are answered with Repeal (Lackey/Nacatl/Vial/Chalice/Counterbalance, Repeal is even less dead against these decks and hate-bears since you can use any drawn Repeals on Snapcasters during the combo phase) and with Flusterstorm + Pierce (Hymn, Duress, faster combo, control).

The list that I posted above was built 2-days ago. I have only goldfished about 20+ games. It has the potential to go off on the opponent's turn if you have 1 Candelabra in play and Snapcaster + Draw/Intuition in hand. But for most parts, you are going off on your own turn to maximize Scrolls and Candelabras drawn but in the narrow case, you can go off on an opponent's turn. This situation mainly arises when you want to see if you can get another turn by passing the turn and if your opponent is at risk of just killing you before you get a turn, you can attempt to go off, if they don't, you untap draw another card to improve yet another turn of consistency.

The main reason I feel the above list posted above (similarly Silent Requiem) has an appeal is because the deck is still fundamentally instant-based. Being instant-based and dominating stack wars is ONLY relevant in one crucial situation, that is: fighting opposing disruption/control. Whether you win on your turn or your opponent's turn is purely about weighing the pros/cons of using Resets. Without Resets, you shift your winning turn on your turn. Reset is difficult to trump, because at 2-mana, it untaps ALL lands.

However, playing resets limit the deck's other options, that is forcing the deck to play with a limited card selection (No Merchant Scrolls etc). Reset also forces you to pack a number of turnabouts, otherwise you will lose consistency in untappers. I've done a simple analysis on Candelabra/Turnabout/Reset in the past (many pages back before Candelabra was even popular in Tide.decks with the exception of being played in Permanent Waves).

Reset is of course the most cost-efficient untapper.

Assuming 1 high tide,

2 lands:
Reset: -2+4=+2
Turnabout: -4+4=0 (this is actually N/A since you won't have the initial startup mana of 4, but putting it here anyway)
Candelabra: -2+4=+2 (-1) (the last -1 counts the initial mana investment to have the Candelabra in play)

3 lands:
Reset: -2+6=+4
Turnabout: -4+6=+2
Candelabra: -3+6=+3 (-1)

4 lands:
Reset: -2+8=+6
Turnabout: -4+8=+4
Candelabra: -4+8=+4 (-1)

This simple case shows that Reset is by far the most efficient untapper (no-surprise). Candelabra breaks even with Turnabout at 3-4 lands, which is the fundamental turn of the deck with snapcasters. Any more lands, Turnabout gets better than Candelabra but that doesn't mean Candelabra isn't cost-efficient. There are some other hidden bonuses to playing Candelabra post-MM. Candelabra on turn 1 or early frees your combo-turn mana. Unlike Turnabout which requires you to risk turnabout getting countered and time-walked and a steep initial casting cost of 2UU which limits your ability to fight the instant-stackwar, Candelabra allows you to guarantee an uncounterable untapping (subjected to Needle/Revoker/Stifle though) if it lands in play before the combo phase. With MM gone, it's easier to lose to a Daze/Snare these days, diminishing the power of Turnabout (2UU is pretty steep).

The replacement of Reset with Candelabra in the list above is really based on this simple analysis, to shift the deck's ability to win on either your turn or opponent's turn (if you have a Candelabra in play it is possible). You gain access to Merchant Scroll, and potentially Preordain (I haven't optimized my list and I'm not sure if I would drop impulse for Preordain and really focus the deck on winning on my turn and lose the option to win on an opponent's turn).

I've still a lot of testing to do, but just throwing out my list that I've been working on. As long as the deck still plays primarily as an instant-based deck, going off on your turn instead of an opponent's turn has its merits i.e. you can't get cliqued and autolose, and you gain access to Preordain/Ponder/Merchant Scroll.

[GoldenCid]

2 [NPH] Dismember
...

This addition is great!!! The -4 life deserses the pity!!

And flusterstorm comes in change of Mindbreak trap??

[Seraphus]

This addition is great!!! The -4 life deserses the pity!!

And flusterstorm comes in change of Mindbreak trap??

I still have MB trap, i find flusterstorm to be a little bit weak alone, and against MUD decks MB Trap fits very well sometimes you want to push back vendilions/spellstuter and flusterstorm is useless...

[Vacrix]

Is there a reason everyone is trying Snapcasters in monoblue builds? If it does produce such an absurd amount of mana then why aren't we playing Hunting Pack? It works well against aggro. You go off in response, block all their shit and then swing back for the kill. For example... Remand your opponent's spells, Repeal your opponent's creatures, and then Tangle --> Snapcasting your way to the win sounds like it could catch on.

Also, only playing four 1cc cantrips is not going to work out. Even decks like Doomsday and TES play more cantrips and they have a much easier time setting up as they forgo land drops. Play at least 6 or you will be kicking yourself.

@Seraphus
Its a well known fact in this thread that the deck combos somewhere between turn 3 and turn 5. Our purpose should not be to make the combo more consistent once we are already winning. Fizzling because you draw lands? Play Tolarian Wind in the board, discard 5 lands and 2 cantrips, draw a hand chalk full of biz. Happens all the time.

Further, Solidarity tends to have more than a handful of games in which the pilot loses because of a very subtle play mistake. Then, the pilot compensates for that mistake by setting themselves a little behind and then riding the decks consistency to the finish. Honestly, when I go off with Solidarity, I don't fizz. Its getting to that point that is difficult in the current metagame. Why? Aggro is fast. Mental Misstep might be gone so the metagame is going to shift against Goblins (thank god). Combo winter? No, lets melt the fucking ice and inundate some bitches.


Aside, I've been looking at Quicken as a cantrip again.. for kicks and stumbled upon this:
Flux 2U
Sorcery
Each player discards any number of cards, then draws that many cards.
Draw a card.

It replaces itself and it does a lot of work for us once it resolves. Don't like those lands in your hand? Get rid of them for some cantrips. It could work as a setup card or a combo piece, and now that we have Snapcaster Mage it could function as business spell on our own turn because we don't necessarily need Resets to successfully go off. Especially when the discarded cards can just be played later if need be with Snapcaster, I think that Flux is worth looking into if people feel like exploring some potentially new tech.



But seriously..... Snapcaster is the new tech and I see recycling Fog effects being pretty good in a green splash. Thoughts?

[Seraphus]

LOL seriously i am going to argue this just because i don't want to leave an open debate, but really, "when i combo i don't fizzle"? Man meditate to 3 lands reset never happen to you? That speech talking about players mistakes, you don't need to tell me that since i play this deck for 4 years... But in terms of rates this deck have a high fizzle rate (more than ANT or TES even higher than spiral tide).

If you had sorceries to this deck you'll not allow it to be stronger you'll diminish the percentages of "already winning" situations, yes you can remove reset for sorcery speed but thats not solidarity...

Combo on turn 5-and up its easy (ah, btw, solidarity doesn't combo on turn 3 or 5, that's a common mistake, it combo at the turn its obligated to due so according to variations that go from the cards in hand to board position etc).

You can do was you wish, i am just sharing my point of view on this...
I think i finally found my list to fight through Amsterdam, only one or two adjustments, other folks that i pm and share our knowledge on the deck and plays also have been successfully playing it. So, as i said, if someone wants to work on Solidarity i am here to help, but i don't agree with this kind of transformations... I hand you my List so use it don't use it is up to you...

[Vacrix]

It doesn't. Seriously can't remember the last time I drew 3 land off Meditate because you usually don't want to go High Tide, X untap effects, Meditate. You want to wait to play Meditate if you can afford to because you can dig deeper into the deck, check how many lands you are sending to the bottom (Impulse/PTD) juxtaposed with how many you've played and have in the yard. Even if you did draw 3 lands, it was probably because you needed to play Meditate in a different way.. for example, a few turns later because you could stall aggro with something like Repeal, Remand, or Fog effects.

Solidarity has a higher fizzle rate then other combo decks because people try to play the deck like Goblins is a turn slower than it is. There comes a point where the deck fizzing is irrelevant because Solidarity will literally be the goldfish if it doesn't disrupt the opponents strategy or win first. Dismember is a fancy idea, how is it working? 4 life seems like a lot on top of fetchlands.




Green splash, sample hand below:
My Hand:
Island, Polluted Delta, Impulse, Impulse, Brainstorm, Tangle, Island

Solidarity vs. Goblins G2
T1: Island, go
T/1: Mountain, Lackey

T2: Draw --> Snapcaster, Island, go
T/2: Draw, Mountain, Swing 1 --> Goblin Warchief, Piledriver x2, go
/EOT: Impulse --> [Meditate, Reset, Reset, Fetch] --> Reset

T3: Draw --> Island, play Polluted Delta
T/3: Draw, swing for 17? ................// plays Aether Vial after response
/Response: Brainstorm --> [Twincast, Island, Opt] --> Twincast, Fetch --> Tropical Island, Tangle, go

T4: Draw --> Impulse, play Island,
T/4: Counter on Vial (1), Draw, Wasteland --> Tropical Island ............// plays Goblin Matron --> Ringleader, swing 1
/Response: Impulse --> [Tangle, Fetch, High Tide, Island] --> High Tide, Impulse --> [Fetch, Meditate, Flusterstorm x2] --> Fetch, go

T5: Draw --> Snap, Polluted Delta, go
T/5: (everything untaps), Counter on Vial (2), Draw, Mountain, Ringleader, swing for lethal? ...............//
/Response: Fetch --> Tropical Island, Snapcaster --> Tangle, go

T6: Draw --> Opt, (3 Islands 1 Tropical Island), go
T/6: Draw, Counter on Vial (3), Matron (Vial) --> Piledriver, Piledriver, Lackey, swing for 6, drop Siege Gang Commander,
/EOT: Opt --> Island, bottom, High Tide, go

T7: Draw Island, play Island, go
T/7: Go off comfortably with the following in hand:
Meditate, Twincast, Snap, High Tide, High Tide, Reset

And the following on the field
Snapcaster, 4 Islands, 1 Tropical Island


What was illustrated here?
That Tangle will consistently buy you two turns for 1G and expose your build to a little Wasteland AND that Snapcaster can give it flashback? Even if you get your land wasted.. Snaps and Snapcasters allow the deck to play off very few lands and I find myself going off successfully with 3 or 4 Islands even after Wasteland.

More importantly, Tangle + Snapcaster = 4 protected turns against aggro




@Seraphus
Ah but Solidarity does combo between turn 3 and 5 when you play against aggro, and thats the context I'm referring to. I have no problem with control decks as they lose to well timed countermagic. Aggro decks steam roll us if we take too long to setup. So... we can do one of two things, generally speaking:
Make the Solidarity faster
Make aggro slower

Best way to make aggro slower? Thats the discussion really. I think fog effects are sick, and Tangle is the best one with Snapcaster. You seem to like Dismember, Repeal, and Remand, and obviously your post-board. I like Repeal and Remand in my maindeck, can't say I've played with Dismember but I'd think that Repeal would be better as it hits permanents as well (in the case that you run into permanent hate which should come about if High Tide gets bigger), it replaces itself, and you don't have to pay 4 life. I guess you find yourself targeting Lords with it, which in theory should slow down aggro, but at the expense of 4 life and 1 card, does it get there AS WELL AS something else could?

At the expense of 0 life, you could slow down that attack phase for 2 whole turns, including the one you are in, and again if you have a Snapcaster. Its like a fucking virtual Timewalk for 1G against aggro. Wouldn't you want play that? Also, Tangle lets you drop lands, possibly replacing the Tropical Island that gets wasted (if it does). I think everyone can calm down about exposing your deck to wasteland. We should be playing Snap in the maindeck now, and that will help us go off with fewer lands against an opponent who is Wastelanding our shit. Just be careful with your fetchlands and know that you might need to set up a 4 turn virtual time walk through Wasteland.