Scrabble
03-16-2009, 10:30 PM
Background info (you have permission to skip): One of my pet cards is Rhystic Study. I've been looking to throw that in to any deck packing blue for years now. Largely this has been futile. It's been solid in vintage and against storm decks, but the mana cost really hinders its uses. Then I saw some Vintage deck run Mystic Remora, and I was like "Wow, why have I been messing with this 3cc card when there's a better one for U." So I threw it into all kinds of decks but found it to be less than useful (to say the least), against Goblins and other such aggro (legacy, I stopped playing Vintage a while ago). And then I saw a deck list recently (I wish I knew the name to give credit to, but I don't), that packed Meditate. It's a great draw on it's own (nets +2 if you count their draw) as long as you can protect yourself on that missed turn, but really shines when you have a Remora on the field as you skip the upkeep and still get the benefits of the draws on their turn.
Out of this little combo of Mystic Remora and Meditate (if you want to call it that, but the cards are stellar on their own), sprang the list bellow. The draw cards were easy, the counters to. Next I needed a way to deal with aggro, the bane of the decklist that was shaping up. So I threw in the best blue creature control cards (Threads of Disloyalty and Vedalken Shackles), and decided that it looked pretty good, especially with the manlands as backup. All that was needed now was a win condition. Against creature heavy decks I might have been able to get away with just running shackles and manlands for the win, but against combo I wasn't looking good. I looked into Rainbow Efreet, but it was slow, much too slow. Then I looked at Morphling and other beaters but again, thought were to slow or too mana intensive. So I settled on what many call jank, that being Polymorph -> Progenitus. It gets the job done and can win asap if need be. Backing up the creature target isn't all that hard with 12 "free" counters, so I think this is the best overall solution.
You've heard enough, here's the list I'm looking at:
4 Mystic Remora
4 Meditate
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
4 Commandeer
4 Daze
3 Polymorph
1 Progenitus
4 Threads of Disloyalty
4 Vedalken Shackles
4 Lotus Petal
4 Mishra's Factory
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
12 Foil Island
Mystic Remora- Quick drop, that will net cards. Cumulative Upkeep is easily dealt with through meditate and not needing to play cards on your turn. If you need to play Threads or Shackles it's no big deal not paying the Upkeep as you'll have drawn a sufficient amount of cards already.
Meditate- Biggest draw to fuel the pitches. Works especially good with Mystic Remora, though is great on its own.
Brainstorm- Great draw. May need fetches to fully utilize. Puts Progenitus back if need b, though often you can just discard down to seven it out anyways.
Force of Will- Best free counter/ any counter in the game. Works great off of meditate, an auto-include.
Commandeer- Surprise card, free. When I say free I mean card disadvantage of 2-1 for 0 mana, but really was one of the first cards in the list. With so much cad draw you should be able to have 3 cards and more to spare to counter (take control of) game breaking spells. Works great off of a meditate. Commen targets from top 8 decks from Chicago - Vindicate, Top, Hymn to Tourach, Thoughtseize, Sinkhole, Jitte, Shackles, Counterbalance, Fire/Ice, EE, Burn
Daze- Free counter. Great with Threads, Shackles, and Meditate as you'll be tapped out.
Polymorph- The win. I looked for a cheap way to win that fit well into the strategy of the deck, this was it.
Progenitus- The kill con.
Threads of Disloyalty- Way to deal with aggrro, much needed against Goyf and Dreadnaught. Feeds the Monster Bunny.
Vedalken Shackles- Deal with aggro match-up. Bunny Food.
Lotus Petal- Multiple drop off of Meditate. Helps fuel the quick kill if needed. Not to worried about card disadvantage as there is soo much draw. Could possibly go for fetches.
Mishra's Factory- Great beater, much needed against swarm and other man-lands. Can be used for Polymorph if need be.
Blinkmoth Nexus- Better than conclave if going for quick Polymorph drop, could be switched out.
Foil Island- must be foil, there is no other way
End notes: I looked at Thirst for Knowledge over Meditate but just didn't like the way it looked. There's more card advantage with meditate doesn't require other cards (artifacts) to make it worth while. Thirst for knowledge would be included in another little deck I've been toying around with that has Meditate and Remora for big draw, to be followed by Erayo, Soratami Ascendant and the baubles/ brainstorm/ ponder for the flip. PM me if you're interested in trying to work something out with this idea.
Misdirection is a possibility in here, maybe -1 Commandeer +1 Misdirection? Drawing 2 Commandeers may be too much, though they are always pitchable.
I'm very interested in what you guys have to say, so please expand on the idea as it's in the very early stages of development, the most important part. Do you see any major holes? One person looking over a list will find one or two, but a whole community is sure to find the weaknesses which will then be corrected to make this deck more than just a neat idea. Thanks for any input.
Out of this little combo of Mystic Remora and Meditate (if you want to call it that, but the cards are stellar on their own), sprang the list bellow. The draw cards were easy, the counters to. Next I needed a way to deal with aggro, the bane of the decklist that was shaping up. So I threw in the best blue creature control cards (Threads of Disloyalty and Vedalken Shackles), and decided that it looked pretty good, especially with the manlands as backup. All that was needed now was a win condition. Against creature heavy decks I might have been able to get away with just running shackles and manlands for the win, but against combo I wasn't looking good. I looked into Rainbow Efreet, but it was slow, much too slow. Then I looked at Morphling and other beaters but again, thought were to slow or too mana intensive. So I settled on what many call jank, that being Polymorph -> Progenitus. It gets the job done and can win asap if need be. Backing up the creature target isn't all that hard with 12 "free" counters, so I think this is the best overall solution.
You've heard enough, here's the list I'm looking at:
4 Mystic Remora
4 Meditate
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
4 Commandeer
4 Daze
3 Polymorph
1 Progenitus
4 Threads of Disloyalty
4 Vedalken Shackles
4 Lotus Petal
4 Mishra's Factory
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
12 Foil Island
Mystic Remora- Quick drop, that will net cards. Cumulative Upkeep is easily dealt with through meditate and not needing to play cards on your turn. If you need to play Threads or Shackles it's no big deal not paying the Upkeep as you'll have drawn a sufficient amount of cards already.
Meditate- Biggest draw to fuel the pitches. Works especially good with Mystic Remora, though is great on its own.
Brainstorm- Great draw. May need fetches to fully utilize. Puts Progenitus back if need b, though often you can just discard down to seven it out anyways.
Force of Will- Best free counter/ any counter in the game. Works great off of meditate, an auto-include.
Commandeer- Surprise card, free. When I say free I mean card disadvantage of 2-1 for 0 mana, but really was one of the first cards in the list. With so much cad draw you should be able to have 3 cards and more to spare to counter (take control of) game breaking spells. Works great off of a meditate. Commen targets from top 8 decks from Chicago - Vindicate, Top, Hymn to Tourach, Thoughtseize, Sinkhole, Jitte, Shackles, Counterbalance, Fire/Ice, EE, Burn
Daze- Free counter. Great with Threads, Shackles, and Meditate as you'll be tapped out.
Polymorph- The win. I looked for a cheap way to win that fit well into the strategy of the deck, this was it.
Progenitus- The kill con.
Threads of Disloyalty- Way to deal with aggrro, much needed against Goyf and Dreadnaught. Feeds the Monster Bunny.
Vedalken Shackles- Deal with aggro match-up. Bunny Food.
Lotus Petal- Multiple drop off of Meditate. Helps fuel the quick kill if needed. Not to worried about card disadvantage as there is soo much draw. Could possibly go for fetches.
Mishra's Factory- Great beater, much needed against swarm and other man-lands. Can be used for Polymorph if need be.
Blinkmoth Nexus- Better than conclave if going for quick Polymorph drop, could be switched out.
Foil Island- must be foil, there is no other way
End notes: I looked at Thirst for Knowledge over Meditate but just didn't like the way it looked. There's more card advantage with meditate doesn't require other cards (artifacts) to make it worth while. Thirst for knowledge would be included in another little deck I've been toying around with that has Meditate and Remora for big draw, to be followed by Erayo, Soratami Ascendant and the baubles/ brainstorm/ ponder for the flip. PM me if you're interested in trying to work something out with this idea.
Misdirection is a possibility in here, maybe -1 Commandeer +1 Misdirection? Drawing 2 Commandeers may be too much, though they are always pitchable.
I'm very interested in what you guys have to say, so please expand on the idea as it's in the very early stages of development, the most important part. Do you see any major holes? One person looking over a list will find one or two, but a whole community is sure to find the weaknesses which will then be corrected to make this deck more than just a neat idea. Thanks for any input.