warfordium
12-01-2011, 03:53 AM
(preamble: mods, i feel that this deck is different enough from the RUG build and the UR Aggro thread that it deserves its own thread. if you disagree, feel free to re-classify as you see fit)
so, i've been trying to find a blue deck. having spent my first 6 months back as a Magic player utterly spoiled by a deck running Bobs, Hymns, Thoughtseize, Top, and Swords to Plowshares, and Stoneforge Mystic (maximum card advantage, maximum information, the cheapest spot removal, and the closest card to Tinker we've ever seen), i decided it was time to play something more challenging, yet unique, with Blue cards—and i think i've found it.
props to Bryant Cook for his decklist (http://jupitergamesonline.com/2011/725/cook’s-kitchen-changing-tempo) which got me working on it:
Grixis Tempo (Revenge of the Sith)
Creatures:
4 Delver of Secrets
3 Tombstalker
2 Grim Lavamancer
2 Snapcaster Mage
Instants/Sorceries:
4 Brainstorm
3 Daze
2 Dismember / Go for the Throat
4 Force of Will
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Spell Snare
4 Stifle
3 Mental Note
4 Hymn to Tourach
Non-Basic Lands:
3 Polluted Delta
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Underground Sea
3 Volcanic Island
1 Badlands
4 Wasteland
Sideboard:
4 Red Elemental Blast
3 Thoughtseize
2 Spell Pierce
2 Submerge
3 Surgical Extraction
1 Engineered Explosives
so i took the list to our weekly legacy night... it was not quite a disaster, but the list needed work to be viable in my meta. first to go was Hymn to Tourach (i could never ever get to double black), followed shortly by Tombstalker (lots of Jace and Swords to Plowshares). that let me ditch Mental Note and bring in Vendilion Clique. here's a refined list i ran this past week to a 3-1 second place finish (beating Elves, Pyromancer Ascension, and Goblins) at our monthly 12-man Legacy tournament, netting myself a Jitte for my troubles:
Grixis Tempo
Creatures (13)
4 Delver of Secrets
3 Grim Lavamancer
2 Snapcaster Mage
2 Vendilion Clique
2 Dark Confidant
Instants and Sorceries (28)
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
4 Stifle
3 Daze
2 Fire/Ice
2 Ponder
2 Spell Snare
2 Dismember
Lands (20)
4 Wasteland
3 Scalding Tarn
4 Polluted Delta
4 Underground Sea
2 Volcanic Island
1 Badlands
1 Mountain
1 Island
Sideboard
2 Pyroblast
2 Red Elemental Blast
3 Extirpate
2 Submerge
2 Perish
2 Thoughtseize
2 Spell Pierce
not satisfied with beating those decks, i decided to face off against that RUG build everyone is losing their shit over. sdematt and i rumbled 10 times preboard, and it was pretty even. stiflenaught was also a cakewalk. the main stumbling block at the moment seems to be the Knight of the Reliquary end of Maverick/Bant/Rock (pre-board, at least), and counterbalance/heavy control variants.
so, i'm going to devote myself to playing this deck for the forseeable and would love input and critique from the community, particularly on/of my variation on the list—i think the Grixis variant is capable of being as good as, if not better than, the RUG version. i'll be cockatrice playtesting extensively over the Christmas break (under the same username, PM me if you want to work on the deck), and gauntlet testing once my team is out of exams; matchup analysis will follow in due course.
for now, here's my rationale behind the modifications i made to the deck:
3 Grim Lavamancer: this card is so good right now. it can nuke opposing heirarchs, take control of the mirror (provided yours lives and goes active first), and give late game reach. it singlehandedly defeats SFM, goblins, elves, and merfolk.
0 Tombstalker: not worth nuking a good chunk of your yard for a vanilla beater which is going to get removed straight away. i'd rather fuel Grim and keep Snapcaster active.
2 Vendilion Clique: beats Spell Snare, get you information and eats spot removal before Bob can. cycles Knight of the Reliquary, or Jace. beats for 3 when it sticks. its a great clock, and handy disruption at the point in the game when tempo decks start to wobble. worth every penny of the $30 price tag.
2 Fire/Ice: being able to split the 2 damage, at instant speed, is key; take out two x/1 creatures or eke out that little bit of extra value if there's only one to target. i felt the alternative was Chain Lightning and i'm against sorcery speed burn. tapping a resolved tarmogoyf, knight, or maze of ith with a bonus cantrip isn't the worst either. i'm really hoping to fit in the last 2 spell snares somehow, and this might be the slot that is sacrificed.
2 Dismember: the ability to pay only 1 (generic) mana gives this the nod over Go for the Throat. if this deck ever gets to the late game, your manabase is going to come under attack (my opponents tend to aggressively take me off red), so if you really need to flash it back, the difference can matter. Ghastly Demise is probably superior in the face of Knight of the Reliquary, but would make your fetching more difficult when staring down opposing Wastelands (despite this, i'm going to switch to Ghastly, given the inherent difficulties the deck has with KotR).
2 Dark Confidant / 2 Ponder: i wanted black over green for Dark Confidant, instant speed spot removal, and Thoughtseize plus perish out of the board. with 4 Bobs the instant count for Delver drops to 26—which is too low, i think. Ponder is there to get back towards 30 instants while keeping gas in the tank.
Island, Mountain: I'm of the school that you need to be able to fetch basics—Island so that you can always brainstorm or stifle, Mountain so you can always bolt or activate Grim Lavamancer. Mountain is my probability-confounding 61st card. i'm okay with that.
2 Snapcaster Mage: I'd love to fit a third, since i'm running 20 lands, but have already dropped to 3 Dazes, and i'm loathe to cut down to 3 Stifles.
Sideboard:
Extirpate vs. Surgical Extraction: well, i don't own Surgical Extractions—yet. i think Snapcaster Mage tips this one to making Surgical Extraction more valuable—control is not quite good enough right now to need the uncounterability.
Thoughtseize and Spell Pierce are the loosest slots—as good as they can be against combo, i have no dedicated hate for equipment/other artifacts, and probably not enough for the graveyard. Firespout might be alright as well.
so, i've been trying to find a blue deck. having spent my first 6 months back as a Magic player utterly spoiled by a deck running Bobs, Hymns, Thoughtseize, Top, and Swords to Plowshares, and Stoneforge Mystic (maximum card advantage, maximum information, the cheapest spot removal, and the closest card to Tinker we've ever seen), i decided it was time to play something more challenging, yet unique, with Blue cards—and i think i've found it.
props to Bryant Cook for his decklist (http://jupitergamesonline.com/2011/725/cook’s-kitchen-changing-tempo) which got me working on it:
Grixis Tempo (Revenge of the Sith)
Creatures:
4 Delver of Secrets
3 Tombstalker
2 Grim Lavamancer
2 Snapcaster Mage
Instants/Sorceries:
4 Brainstorm
3 Daze
2 Dismember / Go for the Throat
4 Force of Will
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Spell Snare
4 Stifle
3 Mental Note
4 Hymn to Tourach
Non-Basic Lands:
3 Polluted Delta
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Underground Sea
3 Volcanic Island
1 Badlands
4 Wasteland
Sideboard:
4 Red Elemental Blast
3 Thoughtseize
2 Spell Pierce
2 Submerge
3 Surgical Extraction
1 Engineered Explosives
so i took the list to our weekly legacy night... it was not quite a disaster, but the list needed work to be viable in my meta. first to go was Hymn to Tourach (i could never ever get to double black), followed shortly by Tombstalker (lots of Jace and Swords to Plowshares). that let me ditch Mental Note and bring in Vendilion Clique. here's a refined list i ran this past week to a 3-1 second place finish (beating Elves, Pyromancer Ascension, and Goblins) at our monthly 12-man Legacy tournament, netting myself a Jitte for my troubles:
Grixis Tempo
Creatures (13)
4 Delver of Secrets
3 Grim Lavamancer
2 Snapcaster Mage
2 Vendilion Clique
2 Dark Confidant
Instants and Sorceries (28)
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
4 Stifle
3 Daze
2 Fire/Ice
2 Ponder
2 Spell Snare
2 Dismember
Lands (20)
4 Wasteland
3 Scalding Tarn
4 Polluted Delta
4 Underground Sea
2 Volcanic Island
1 Badlands
1 Mountain
1 Island
Sideboard
2 Pyroblast
2 Red Elemental Blast
3 Extirpate
2 Submerge
2 Perish
2 Thoughtseize
2 Spell Pierce
not satisfied with beating those decks, i decided to face off against that RUG build everyone is losing their shit over. sdematt and i rumbled 10 times preboard, and it was pretty even. stiflenaught was also a cakewalk. the main stumbling block at the moment seems to be the Knight of the Reliquary end of Maverick/Bant/Rock (pre-board, at least), and counterbalance/heavy control variants.
so, i'm going to devote myself to playing this deck for the forseeable and would love input and critique from the community, particularly on/of my variation on the list—i think the Grixis variant is capable of being as good as, if not better than, the RUG version. i'll be cockatrice playtesting extensively over the Christmas break (under the same username, PM me if you want to work on the deck), and gauntlet testing once my team is out of exams; matchup analysis will follow in due course.
for now, here's my rationale behind the modifications i made to the deck:
3 Grim Lavamancer: this card is so good right now. it can nuke opposing heirarchs, take control of the mirror (provided yours lives and goes active first), and give late game reach. it singlehandedly defeats SFM, goblins, elves, and merfolk.
0 Tombstalker: not worth nuking a good chunk of your yard for a vanilla beater which is going to get removed straight away. i'd rather fuel Grim and keep Snapcaster active.
2 Vendilion Clique: beats Spell Snare, get you information and eats spot removal before Bob can. cycles Knight of the Reliquary, or Jace. beats for 3 when it sticks. its a great clock, and handy disruption at the point in the game when tempo decks start to wobble. worth every penny of the $30 price tag.
2 Fire/Ice: being able to split the 2 damage, at instant speed, is key; take out two x/1 creatures or eke out that little bit of extra value if there's only one to target. i felt the alternative was Chain Lightning and i'm against sorcery speed burn. tapping a resolved tarmogoyf, knight, or maze of ith with a bonus cantrip isn't the worst either. i'm really hoping to fit in the last 2 spell snares somehow, and this might be the slot that is sacrificed.
2 Dismember: the ability to pay only 1 (generic) mana gives this the nod over Go for the Throat. if this deck ever gets to the late game, your manabase is going to come under attack (my opponents tend to aggressively take me off red), so if you really need to flash it back, the difference can matter. Ghastly Demise is probably superior in the face of Knight of the Reliquary, but would make your fetching more difficult when staring down opposing Wastelands (despite this, i'm going to switch to Ghastly, given the inherent difficulties the deck has with KotR).
2 Dark Confidant / 2 Ponder: i wanted black over green for Dark Confidant, instant speed spot removal, and Thoughtseize plus perish out of the board. with 4 Bobs the instant count for Delver drops to 26—which is too low, i think. Ponder is there to get back towards 30 instants while keeping gas in the tank.
Island, Mountain: I'm of the school that you need to be able to fetch basics—Island so that you can always brainstorm or stifle, Mountain so you can always bolt or activate Grim Lavamancer. Mountain is my probability-confounding 61st card. i'm okay with that.
2 Snapcaster Mage: I'd love to fit a third, since i'm running 20 lands, but have already dropped to 3 Dazes, and i'm loathe to cut down to 3 Stifles.
Sideboard:
Extirpate vs. Surgical Extraction: well, i don't own Surgical Extractions—yet. i think Snapcaster Mage tips this one to making Surgical Extraction more valuable—control is not quite good enough right now to need the uncounterability.
Thoughtseize and Spell Pierce are the loosest slots—as good as they can be against combo, i have no dedicated hate for equipment/other artifacts, and probably not enough for the graveyard. Firespout might be alright as well.