Piceli89
01-01-2009, 05:16 PM
So, here we are. I wanted to build a deck quite nice and fun to be played, which could exploit the cards which are currently wrecking the formats (or, at least, very strong), which played my favourite cards ( stifle-wasteland for huge mana denial and blue free-counters for huge opponent's ball -breaking, aether vial which is the card i mostly fear by myself when playing against someone) , which could play saucy beefs without going out the UR colors. No tarmogoyf, then. Fortunately.
I reasoned on what may be some of the most interesting creatures that can be vialed and offer an optimal effect. Here i came to
-Magus of the moon: 2R, 2/2 , " fuck half your opponent's lands colours and toss him in confusion".
-Epochrasite: the alternative beef of the deck which works godly with vial ( 4/4), a good solution without tarmogoyf and, in some cases, even bigger than tarmogoyf, to be vialed and used as a blocker when he's attacking with his silly 1G 3/4 and he's thinking "well, he plays UR, there are no creatures bigger than goyf in those colours". Pff.
Also, this guy can be a good blocker in games which are going to be slow, because of its "almost-immortality" (let's call it in this way).
-Cursecatcher: well, i personally LOVE this dude and think he's way too underrated. the possibility to go "vial and.. surprise !" with a walking daze is too good not to be included in this deck, counting that he represents a consistent problem for all those decks relying on sorceries and instants, and by this i wanna mean landstill, ichorid, and yes, even thresh, which aren't exactly tier 4s. I won many games thanks to him with merfolks, so i wanted to have him also here.
Not to mention that he is a "automatically win counter wars " when you're trying to resolve a magus, opponent is tapped out and FoWs.
- Sage of Epityr: well, i know that you'll think he's more a pauper decks' vintage cards, but he combines well with every form of card drawing- cantripping, and sometimes digs for that card which is required instantly. however, I am still not completely convinced of him in this deck in spite of some synergies with other cards (you'll see afterwards), but i can't find a decent replacement for him.
- Grim Lavamancer: the best 1-cc critter for every fish-esque decks, he kills creatures and even opponents alone, fed with fetched and cantrips.
I couldn't not put him here, he fits perfectly also with the " keep the toilet cleaned " issue (another time, you'll see afterwards).
Da Spells:
Aether vial :the core of the deck, wins games alone if resolved (early). Extremely synergic with every creature forementioned above (perhaps not that great with Grim lavamancer, but you can vial it eot and begin to shot the turn after).
Force of Will: well, it's quite good for a blue deck.
Daze: well, it's quite good for a blue and fishy deck.
Brainstorm: well, it's quite good for a blue deck needing graveyard to be big to be emptied by lavamancer. With fetches, it's nuts.
Fire/Ice: polivalent solution, usually fires tiny creatures' asses ( confidant, etc etc , but can also tap a permanent and cantrips. here there 's a little snergy between ice and Epityr.
Echoing Truth: best bouncer blue has, IMO. Again, another very polivalent card i can't give up, wanted to include it maindeck because it can solve some of the critical cards which wreck this deck- chalice@1 and a resolved dreadnought is really, really bad.
Relic Of progenitus: Maindeck to fight since g1 the overpowered decks of this format abusing the yard: threshold ( which would be quite critical if these weren't here), aggro loam, ichorid, team america ( where relic wrecks completely his win-cons and, with a landed MotM, is almost gg), and many others.
Stifle: Stifle > metagame, no other words needed.
Lands: Of course, since i pack MotM , i can't rely too much on volcanics. And, since red is just a few quantity of cards in this deck, this is already not needed.
Volcanic Islands: UR dual.
Islands: wins games.
(few) Mountains: good.
Wasteland: well , i really wanted the Land Destruction package to be complete, so i decided to put them in spite of Magus Of the Moon. Generally, i saw that i preferred wastelanding an opponent's nonbasic rather than save it to cast magus, this usually because i could slow him down in this way and gain the time needed to charge my vials and toss freely Magus in the game when it was needed. i know this seems to be at least antisynergic, but i can ensure you that it worked msot of the times.
Another antisynergy is the one between Lavamancer and Relic. But i wanted to pack both, and noticed that relic offers an excellent dose of "prevention" just with the first ability if it touches ground since the first turns of the game. Removing one per turn may seem inconsistent, but it remands Tombstalker's arrival ( if he'll ever arrive :laugh: ) , keeps that obesus tarmogoyf on a diet along with lavamancer, and prevents life from the loam from getting too much advantaging with its engine. If it would happen that i need both to shot with lavamancer and remove with relic, i usually opt for relic, since this deck tends to have lots of cc-1 stuff and free counters that fill the yard quite fastly. Moreover, the relic cantrips, giving me new cards to be subsequently tossed into the yard and to be eaten by lavamancer. Of course, this changes from the single situation i'm facing.
And so i came to a list:
Lands- 20
2 Flooded Strand
4 polluted Delta
1 Bloodstained mire
3 Volcanic Island
5 island
1 mountain
4 wasteland
Creatures-16
4 Cursecatcher
4 Grim Lavamancer
2 Sage of Epityr
3 Epochrasite (3 because he is not that good without vial)
3 Magus of the Moon
Spells-24
4 Aether vial
3 Stifle
2 Relic Of Progenitus ( perhaps i'd have to add the third , but i feel comfortable with 2 -ofs for now.. brainstorm, f/i and epityr make my life easier in getting it)
4 Brainstorm
3 daze ( not 4 because magus needs a bit of land count, and vial isn't always there..and the mana is very tight, as in every fish-style deck)
4 FoW
2 Fire/Ice
2 ETruth
TOT. 60
Sideboard (15)- the same ol' stuff
1 relic of progenitus
3 Propaganda (goblins are bastard)
3 Divert ( my tech against the archetypes this deck suffers more: the rock, black discard, and.. burn, sligh, boros.. but also useful against combo )
2 Hurkyl's recall (against Stompies and Staxx- and affinity, with Etruths it pwns hard)
3 pyroblast - because blue sucks, yeah
3 Pithing Needle (mass removals such as EE which is a real pain in the ass)
The possible cards that didn't make the cut are Ninja of the deep hours, which is IMO too weak in legacy to be abused ( since legacy is a format where removals are rampant), and this deck really can't support him, having only few cc1 creatures that don't fly ( catcher, lavamancer- which you usually don't want to take in hand- and epityr). moreover, i think that ninja can be fully exploited only when paired with standstill, and i couldn't pick this up because of the ( not really big, but still existing ) antisinergy with epochrasite. And, of course, also because if i'd run Standstill, i'd have to run also mishra's factories, which isn't very good with magus of the moon.
I tested this on MWS and got quite successful against Threshold , TA and landstill. White staxx and DStompy is a bit harsher g1, but with the proper sb changes it gets easier. Goblins and hyperaggros, of course, are almost an autoloss.
Ichorid can be fought since g1 thanks to the relics and the counters--package ( and thanks to cursecatcher).
ANT is still to be properly tested, but it should be quite favorable (divert is da real pwner against those orims , a real time walk for us every time).
Well, I'd like if some people would like to give this deck a try and tell me their considerations and advices, of whichever kind. Bad flamings and demonstrations of despise towards me are accepted, too, but proposals in how to improve this little son o' mine would be better. :laugh:
I reasoned on what may be some of the most interesting creatures that can be vialed and offer an optimal effect. Here i came to
-Magus of the moon: 2R, 2/2 , " fuck half your opponent's lands colours and toss him in confusion".
-Epochrasite: the alternative beef of the deck which works godly with vial ( 4/4), a good solution without tarmogoyf and, in some cases, even bigger than tarmogoyf, to be vialed and used as a blocker when he's attacking with his silly 1G 3/4 and he's thinking "well, he plays UR, there are no creatures bigger than goyf in those colours". Pff.
Also, this guy can be a good blocker in games which are going to be slow, because of its "almost-immortality" (let's call it in this way).
-Cursecatcher: well, i personally LOVE this dude and think he's way too underrated. the possibility to go "vial and.. surprise !" with a walking daze is too good not to be included in this deck, counting that he represents a consistent problem for all those decks relying on sorceries and instants, and by this i wanna mean landstill, ichorid, and yes, even thresh, which aren't exactly tier 4s. I won many games thanks to him with merfolks, so i wanted to have him also here.
Not to mention that he is a "automatically win counter wars " when you're trying to resolve a magus, opponent is tapped out and FoWs.
- Sage of Epityr: well, i know that you'll think he's more a pauper decks' vintage cards, but he combines well with every form of card drawing- cantripping, and sometimes digs for that card which is required instantly. however, I am still not completely convinced of him in this deck in spite of some synergies with other cards (you'll see afterwards), but i can't find a decent replacement for him.
- Grim Lavamancer: the best 1-cc critter for every fish-esque decks, he kills creatures and even opponents alone, fed with fetched and cantrips.
I couldn't not put him here, he fits perfectly also with the " keep the toilet cleaned " issue (another time, you'll see afterwards).
Da Spells:
Aether vial :the core of the deck, wins games alone if resolved (early). Extremely synergic with every creature forementioned above (perhaps not that great with Grim lavamancer, but you can vial it eot and begin to shot the turn after).
Force of Will: well, it's quite good for a blue deck.
Daze: well, it's quite good for a blue and fishy deck.
Brainstorm: well, it's quite good for a blue deck needing graveyard to be big to be emptied by lavamancer. With fetches, it's nuts.
Fire/Ice: polivalent solution, usually fires tiny creatures' asses ( confidant, etc etc , but can also tap a permanent and cantrips. here there 's a little snergy between ice and Epityr.
Echoing Truth: best bouncer blue has, IMO. Again, another very polivalent card i can't give up, wanted to include it maindeck because it can solve some of the critical cards which wreck this deck- chalice@1 and a resolved dreadnought is really, really bad.
Relic Of progenitus: Maindeck to fight since g1 the overpowered decks of this format abusing the yard: threshold ( which would be quite critical if these weren't here), aggro loam, ichorid, team america ( where relic wrecks completely his win-cons and, with a landed MotM, is almost gg), and many others.
Stifle: Stifle > metagame, no other words needed.
Lands: Of course, since i pack MotM , i can't rely too much on volcanics. And, since red is just a few quantity of cards in this deck, this is already not needed.
Volcanic Islands: UR dual.
Islands: wins games.
(few) Mountains: good.
Wasteland: well , i really wanted the Land Destruction package to be complete, so i decided to put them in spite of Magus Of the Moon. Generally, i saw that i preferred wastelanding an opponent's nonbasic rather than save it to cast magus, this usually because i could slow him down in this way and gain the time needed to charge my vials and toss freely Magus in the game when it was needed. i know this seems to be at least antisynergic, but i can ensure you that it worked msot of the times.
Another antisynergy is the one between Lavamancer and Relic. But i wanted to pack both, and noticed that relic offers an excellent dose of "prevention" just with the first ability if it touches ground since the first turns of the game. Removing one per turn may seem inconsistent, but it remands Tombstalker's arrival ( if he'll ever arrive :laugh: ) , keeps that obesus tarmogoyf on a diet along with lavamancer, and prevents life from the loam from getting too much advantaging with its engine. If it would happen that i need both to shot with lavamancer and remove with relic, i usually opt for relic, since this deck tends to have lots of cc-1 stuff and free counters that fill the yard quite fastly. Moreover, the relic cantrips, giving me new cards to be subsequently tossed into the yard and to be eaten by lavamancer. Of course, this changes from the single situation i'm facing.
And so i came to a list:
Lands- 20
2 Flooded Strand
4 polluted Delta
1 Bloodstained mire
3 Volcanic Island
5 island
1 mountain
4 wasteland
Creatures-16
4 Cursecatcher
4 Grim Lavamancer
2 Sage of Epityr
3 Epochrasite (3 because he is not that good without vial)
3 Magus of the Moon
Spells-24
4 Aether vial
3 Stifle
2 Relic Of Progenitus ( perhaps i'd have to add the third , but i feel comfortable with 2 -ofs for now.. brainstorm, f/i and epityr make my life easier in getting it)
4 Brainstorm
3 daze ( not 4 because magus needs a bit of land count, and vial isn't always there..and the mana is very tight, as in every fish-style deck)
4 FoW
2 Fire/Ice
2 ETruth
TOT. 60
Sideboard (15)- the same ol' stuff
1 relic of progenitus
3 Propaganda (goblins are bastard)
3 Divert ( my tech against the archetypes this deck suffers more: the rock, black discard, and.. burn, sligh, boros.. but also useful against combo )
2 Hurkyl's recall (against Stompies and Staxx- and affinity, with Etruths it pwns hard)
3 pyroblast - because blue sucks, yeah
3 Pithing Needle (mass removals such as EE which is a real pain in the ass)
The possible cards that didn't make the cut are Ninja of the deep hours, which is IMO too weak in legacy to be abused ( since legacy is a format where removals are rampant), and this deck really can't support him, having only few cc1 creatures that don't fly ( catcher, lavamancer- which you usually don't want to take in hand- and epityr). moreover, i think that ninja can be fully exploited only when paired with standstill, and i couldn't pick this up because of the ( not really big, but still existing ) antisinergy with epochrasite. And, of course, also because if i'd run Standstill, i'd have to run also mishra's factories, which isn't very good with magus of the moon.
I tested this on MWS and got quite successful against Threshold , TA and landstill. White staxx and DStompy is a bit harsher g1, but with the proper sb changes it gets easier. Goblins and hyperaggros, of course, are almost an autoloss.
Ichorid can be fought since g1 thanks to the relics and the counters--package ( and thanks to cursecatcher).
ANT is still to be properly tested, but it should be quite favorable (divert is da real pwner against those orims , a real time walk for us every time).
Well, I'd like if some people would like to give this deck a try and tell me their considerations and advices, of whichever kind. Bad flamings and demonstrations of despise towards me are accepted, too, but proposals in how to improve this little son o' mine would be better. :laugh: